Alexander tilted his head and kissed her deeply on the lips. He let go of her hands, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing herself against him. They kissed as if in a fever... they kissed as if the breath were leaving their bodies.

But on that sunlit Sunday, Alexander knew nothing, thought nothing, imagined nothing. He forgot Dimitri and war and the Soviet Union and escape plans, and even America, and crossed the street for Tatiana Metanova.

Alexander tilted his head and kissed her deeply on the lips. He let go of her hands, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing herself against him. They kissed as if in a fever... they kissed as if the breath were leaving their bodies.

Alexander to Tatiana: I love you as much as it is possible for a man to love a woman.

Tania, last time in Morozovo, I let you go, but not this time. This time we live together or we die together.

You are my hand grenade, my artillery fire. You have replaced my heart with yourself.

If I can live through this, he thought, I can live through anything. If I can live through this, I WILL live through anything.