Catherine could remember her childhood days in vivid colors, as though they had been only yesterday. The playing together as children, and the switch to long and still innocent conversations as they grew older. Throughout all that, the seeds for what would later become true and strong love were already there, though they had just been planted and needed watering and time to grow.<br/><br/>Time was, by the way, something the Cartwrights and Blakeslees had been sharing for generations. Their family trees could be traced back all the way to the founding of the town, and many branches of both trees were one and the same. Cartwrights and Blakeslees had been marrying each other here and there for many generations, and at the current point, the two families had a somewhat distant, but traceable, kinship. The current generation of Cartwrights and Blakeslees had always been very close, starting with the parents and moving down to the children. William was a little older than Catherine, true. But when they were together, the age difference seemed to vanish quickly between the two children.<br/><br/>When William had to leave to study abroad, Catherine felt like her heart would break. The fear of never seeing him again - or worse, of seeing him return to Tenby with a wife at his side - haunted Catherine for years. As she heard he was back in town, her heart filled with both joy and apprehension. Joy at the thought of seeing him again, and fear that he might be married or engaged to some other lady.<br/><br/>Now, seeing him face to face, it made her feel like nothing had really changed. He was still<span style="font-style: italic">her</span>Will, her adorable friend. And her heart was racing in her chest as she saw him blush at her touch. "Thank you, Will. I hope he will be better soon."<br/><br/>Then he embraced her, and everything stopped for a moment. Had she died that minute, Catherine was sure she would go away from this world with a happy last thought. Laying her head on his chest, she stood silent, only hearing his heartbeat for a moment. It took her a while to remember she was supposed to say something as well. "Welcome back home, Will. I... I have been waiting for you." She blushed and hid her face on his chest after these words. "I believe we should go in? You need to see father, right?"