(A/N: travelin' soldier is by The Dixie Chicks. I do not own any characters in this story. Enjoy!)

"When's the next bus for California?" Tom Quincy asked the clerk

"Tomorrow at 2 pm. would you like to buy a ticket?"

"Yes please." Tommy paid the clerk, sat down on the bench and sighed. He turned 18 two days ago and thought the bus for army camp was leaving today. So, Tommy looked around his hometown and saw a little café. He walked in and sat in a booth.

When he looked up he saw a gorgeous redhead with a bow in her hair yelling at a taller blond. "Sadie I can't deal with this right now, I have to work!"

"But Dad could get drafted!"

"Sadie, I'm sure he has asshole clemency or something. If not we still can't do anything about it but pray. But right now I gotta get back to work. Georgia will have my head if I don't." Sadie huffed and stomped out of the café. Tommy would have shied away from confrontation but not this redhead. She had fire in her. The redhead came over to Tommy's booth and sweetly smiled "May I take your order?" Tommy just nodded and told her what he wanted. When she came out with his food he stopped her and said

"Hi, I'm Tommy. Would you mind sitting down for a while a talking to me I'm feeling a little low." The girl smiled

"Hey Tommy, I'm Jude. I'm off in an hour and I know where we can go." Tommy waited patiently for her shift to end. They left the café and went to the pier. Along the way Jude started humming to herself.

"What are you humming?"

"A Song." Tommy looked at her pointedly "Called Skin."

"By?"

"Me, I'm a song writer."

"I want to hear."

"Alright, when we get to the pier, I've got my guitar there."

"Why?"

"I keep it in my trunk and I park my car there because I like to walk."

"Ah, Alright." When they got to the pier Jude pulled out her guitar and strummed softly, then she started to sing.

I drift away to a place
Another kind of life
Take away the pain
I create my paradise
Everything I've held
Has hit the wall
What used to be yours
Isn't yours at all
Falling apart, and all that I'm asking
Is a crime, am I overreacting
Oh, he's under my skin
Just give me something to get rid of him
I've got a reason now to bury this alive
Another little white lie
What you had didn't fit
Among the pretty things
But never fear, never fear
I now know where you've been
Braids have been un-tied
As Ribbons fall away
Leave the consequence
My tears you'll taste
Falling apart and all that I question
Is this a dream or is this my lesson
Oh, he's under my skin
Just give me something to get rid of him
I've got a reason now to bury this alive
Another little white lie
I don't believe I'll be alright
I don't believe I'll be ok
I don't believe how you throw me away
I do believe you didn't try
I do blame you for every lie
When I look in your eyes, I don't see mine

Oh, he's under my skin
Just give me something to get rid of him
I've got a reason now to bury this alive
Oh my permission to sin
You might have started my reckoning
I've got a reason now to bury him alive
Another little white lie

Jude blew Tommy away with her voice. They talked about everything as the hours passed. When it was time for Jude to leave Tommy gently tugged on Jude's arm and spun her around. Their lips met and both their hearts stopped. Tommy broke the kiss, looked down, and then spoke softly

"I bet you got a boyfriend but I don't care. I have no one to write a letter to. Would you mind if I send one here to you?"

"Sure" was all she said before she wrote down her address, handed it to him, kissed him and left. When she got home Sadie grilled her but all Jude could do was cry. She had finally found someone that got her, and he was drafted to the military. Jude cried the whole night. Weeks went by and she fell deeper and deeper in love. Everyone said she was too young for him; that a 16 year old shouldn't date an 18 year old. But she vowed to herself that she'd never be with anyone else.

"Jude, why are you waiting for this guy? He left you." Jude's friend Jamie said

"Jamie, he got drafted it's not like he ran off with Sadie."

The months flew by and the letters came from an army camp from California. They wrote back and forth for a while. Then came one from Vietnam. It read,

Hey Jude,

Haha, Sorry about that. It's been tough over here. I wish that we could've met sooner. I think that I might love you. I can't wait to come back. I hope that you'll be waiting for me. You're the only one I've got, and I don't want to lose you. I'm scared, being over here. I see my army buddies dying, and it scares me. If we lose it could be bad for the folks back home. But I don't want to die, not when we just started. I want to be able to come back home to you.

When it's getting kinda rough over here I think of that day sitting down at the pier and I close my eyes and see your pretty smile. Don't worry but I won't be able to write for a while.

Love,

Tommy

After Jude read this she cried for hours. She wrote back to him saying that she'd wait for him, that she loves him, and all her hopes. Sadie tried to set her up but Jude would just shake her head and say 'never gonna hold the hand of another guy.'

A month later, Sadie dragged Jude to a football game. The stadium said the Lord's Prayer, and then sang the Anthem. Then a decrepit old man came on the stage and said "Folks would you bow your heads for a list of local Vietnam dead. John Mayer, Chaz Blackburn, Tom Quincy…" When Jude heard that name her world collapsed. She ran under the stands and cried all alone. The Mayer's had the family, as did the Blackburn's, but Jude was the only one to mourn Tommy's passing.

For months Jude mourned, until they came home with his body. The army held a memorial service for all those lost in battle, when they buried Tommy's body Jude took her guitar and sang a song she wrote, just for him.

Two days past eighteen
He was waiting for the bus in his army green
Sat down in a booth in a cafe there
Gave his order to a girl with a bow in her hair
He's a little shy so she gives him a smile
And he said would you mind sittin' down for a while
And talking to me,
I'm feeling a little low
She said I'm off in an hour and I know where we can go
So they went down and they sat on the pier
He said I bet you got a boyfriend but I don't care
I got no one to send a letter to

Would you mind if I sent one back here to you
I cried
Never gonna hold the hand of another guy
Too young for him they told her
Waitin' for the love of a travelin' soldier
Over love will never end
Waitin' for the soldier to come back again
Never more to be alone when the letter said
A soldier's coming home
So the letters came from an army camp
In California then Vietnam
And he told her of his heart
It might be love and all of the things he was so scared of
He said when it's getting kinda rough over here
I think of that day sittin' down at the pier
And I close my eyes and see your pretty smile
Don't worry but I won't be able to write for awhile
I cried
Never gonna hold the hand of another guy
Too young for him they told her
Waitin' for the love of a travelin' soldier
Over love will never end
Waitin' for the soldier to come back again
Never more to be alone when the letter said
A soldier's coming home
One Friday night at a football game
The Lord's Prayer said and the Anthem sang
A man said folks would you bow your heads
For a list of local Vietnam dead
Crying all alone under the stands
Was a piccolo player in the marching band
And one name read and nobody really cared
But a pretty little girl with a bow in her hair
I cried
Never gonna hold the hand of another guy
Too young for him they told her
Waitin' for the love of a travelin' soldier
Over love will never end
Waitin' for the soldier to come back again
Never more to be alone when the letter said
A soldier's coming home
I cried
Never gonna hold the hand of another guy
Too young for him they told her
Waitin' for the love of a travelin' soldier
Over love will never end
Waitin' for the soldier to come back again
Never more to be alone when the letter said
A soldier's coming home