AN: Here's that one shot, Craftytink529 :) Sorry it took so long and um, sorry for the ending? Haha. It's also pretty short so sorry about that too :p

Hold on, the dream's not gone. I'll be back as soon as I can.
Nothing can keep us away from the feelings we have…

"Please don't go," Tabitha sobbed - tears falling down her cheeks. Her arms were clutched tightly around his neck and everything around them had seemingly faded from existence. It was just them and the looming shade of gray. Her heart was racing inside her chest and even his tender touch couldn't bring her a sense of comfort.

"Don't worry," John solemnly whispered into her ear, as an attempt to convince her that it was going to be alright. However, it was easier said than done. Although he had assured her that he would safety return home, it was only to ease her mind. He didn't want her to worry, but John knew the possibilities. The drops of water wouldn't stop flowing from her eyes and she had tightly wound her arms around him, but he had to leave; He was fighting for their country. For his family. For her. Strands of Tabitha's blonde hair were matted against her tear-stained cheeks as she looked up at him. It killed him to see the agony in her striking green eyes. "I'll come back home to you."

I know you're waiting, baby, for me.
I know you'll wait here for me…

Fuck. It hurt.

It couldn't end like this.

The soil was becoming damp - with a warm fluid that trickled down from his body. A warm red fluid that would soon darken and turn cold. The pain in his chest was growing and his source of oxygen was being drawn from shallow gasps. Winching with every gulp of air he took in, John raised the hand on his chest to find his fingers caked in blood. His thoughts began to rattle with a stream of images: his parents, his brothers, his cousins, Tabitha…she was the most vivid one of them all. He needed to get back to her.

"Hold on," his friend Dave grunted as he applied pressure to the bullet wound. "We'll get you home, buddy. Just hold on." Dave encouraged, shaking his head crossly at John's mind-set.

His vision was blurring and numbness was creeping through his being. It was inevitable. John could hear it in Dave's voice - a voice that seemed to echo from a distance. It trembled with panic and a shade of sorrow. "Dave," John managed to voice, capturing his attention.

"Yeah, John?"

With a dry yet violent gasp, John reminded Dave, "my pocket."

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Bouncing his way into her bedroom, Tabitha's little brother waved an envelope in the air. "Someone just delivered this."

Her stomach dropped upon hearing this. Leaping up from her place on the floor - where she had been shifting through old photographs, Tabitha instantly snatched the letter from his little hands. Could it be? It had been months since John left and she hadn't heard of his well-being as of late. She woke every morning with apprehension, fearing it would be the day she received word that he had become a statistic of casualty. Turning the off-white envelope over, she saw her name scribbled across it in his handwriting. Tabitha sighed a momentarily air of relief; John was still alive…

But as she slowly pulled the envelope open and took out the folded note, her eyes began to fill with tears. Something didn't feel right…

Tabitha,
If you are reading this, I am sorry I couldn't make my way home to you.
Please never forget all the joy we shared together and how much I love you.
Do not mourn for me, my love. I will always be with you.

Is there any way that you'll understand?
Tried my very best and did all I can
But sometimes it doesn't go like I want it to
Still, I tried my very best - just to get home to you