<div style="text-align: justify;">Mariya had pushed all of her more practical thoughts aside for the time being. She wasn’t even sure she could think straight at the moment. Sudden change - even if for the better - had always been somewhat hard for Mariya to deal with. She felt a little uncomfortable with it, but at the same time, the object of the change wasn’t something that really bothered her. In their own ways, after all, both herself and Vitali were lonely people. And maybe they could ease each other’s loneliness.<br/><br/>Feeling warm inside when Vitali tightened his grip on her hand, Mariya showed him one of those bright smiles she used to have as a young girl. Feeling her heart race and her cheeks heat up just a little, she felt that all of that was moving into a direction that might get her in trouble. But maybe - she tried to reason with herself - everything would work out just fine.<br/><br/>Vitali’s question made Mariya tighten her grip on his hand. It was an unconscious gesture, as though she had thought that doing so could keep him right where he was, under her gaze. Noticing what she was doing, she loosened her grip again and sighed.<br/><br/>Something in her felt that just saying things wouldn’t do, so she stopped and walked so that she stood in front of Vitali, her eyes facing his. “Both. I will miss you for every second, and my heart will not be at ease until you are back home and safe”.<br/><br/>Her intonation in saying these words was as calm as she could possibly make it, but there was a clear hint of emotion behind each word. The kind of emotion one couldn’t really fake. A moment later, either to ease the tension she felt or to clear the air a bit, she decided to ask a question of her own.<br/><br/>“Do you have a home, Viti?”, she started, feeling that she should clarify a little. “I mean, of course you live somewhere, but is it a home, or just a place where you sleep at night?”. After this explanation, she stopped and waited, moving back to the side so they could resume their walk.</div>