Wave after wave of emotion surged in his heart, a cold bursting ocean of worries, fears and small sadnesses lapping against the shoreline, assaulting his last defenses. There were a thousand words to exchange, a thousand whispered counsels...that clamored to be heard, insistent, urgent, desperate. But in the end, he only found it in himself to say: Please do take care. As temperate as water. Betraying no trace of the brewing storm within. As always.

The wind had picked up slightly. He watched them leave, his figure obscured by the rising dust.

(Really must resist the temptation to succumb to wordy melodrama. Stamp it out!)