A/N: While I'm writing chapter eight for Matt, and chapter fifteen for Madison, I decided to write this little piece on how Matt met Aya. This MIGHT be a spoiler but: *****Aya isn't actually going to appear in the main story. I really want her to, but I don't think it's going to happen. I really wanted to write her, however. Especially since I have like, a bunch of AUs in my head so I wanted Matt to have someone "in canon" lol.**** (Seriously, I have a lot of AU ideas for HBO War it's not even funny.) Enjoy this little filler, as we all wait for chapter eight. I'm also going to need to write more about Aya, and Aya/Matt. I love her/them so much, and this isn't going to do justice.

P.S. I'm also working on a diary of sorts with Madison, so if you want anything specific go ahead and ask! I'll like some ideas/hear your headcanons. I'm also going to write another one shot for Matt, because it was requested that he found out how Madison got battered up in Holland.

It was November, 1944. K Company was relieved off duty for a few weeks.

It was a few weeks since they lost Captain Haldane and Lieutenant Jones. They had lost two good men, two good leaders. It had disheartened everyone.

One night, Sergeant Matthew Klein was out and about, taking a nightly walk by himself. He was lost in deep thought, thinking about hardships of the past, present, and future, when he bumped into someone. He heard a feminine "oof!" and immediately extended his arm out, catching whoever it was so that they wouldn't fall.

It was a woman he had bumped into, and she looked scared of him. Matt felt guilty, he felt guilty that he had run into this woman and he felt guilty that she was scared.

"I'm sorry, miss, I wasn't watching where I was going," Matt explained, as he studied her. She was very pretty, with her raven hair pinned up, and doe like eyes. God, he had never been so...taken away before.

The woman stared at him. He was an American soldier, and she was told that the Americans would hurt her. Even if he looked worried, she was still distrustful of him. He hadn't even let go of her arm, and that made her nervous.

Matt realized that he was staring at her perhaps a little too intently, and that he still had a hold of her. He immediately let go. "I'm sorry, miss. I-" then he realized, does she even know what he was saying? Does she understand English? "I'm sorry, do you know what I'm saying?"

"A...little," the woman replied. "We are taught some English. Not very much, but some."

Matt had a huge grin grow on his face. This was great! "Good! I mean...good," he was trying to play it cool. He knew he was good looking, many girls back home thought so. Even so, he really had no clue how to talk to women who weren't family. "I'm Sergeant Matthew Klein, Jr., but you can call me Matt."

The woman seemed to soften a little, seeing that Matt is sincere. "My name is Aya."

Aya, Matt thought. What a beautiful name.

Aya flushed red. Matt did too. Did he say that out loud?

"Did you hear me?"

Aya giggled. "Yes."

The two had really hit it off, it seemed. Matt had walked her to where she needed to go, but stayed out of sight, for he wanted no danger to come towards her if she was seen with him. He knew it was dangerous, talking to a local girl, who was on the enemy side, but Matt couldn't find himself to care.

"What are you smiling about?" Burgin asked Matt.

"It's nothing," Matt said. "Nothing at all."

Matt knew he should trust his friends, his brothers in arms, but he found that he couldn't. He couldn't tell them about how awestruck he was of some girl he had just met. If they knew, they would have thought different of him. So he kept quiet.

The two met again.

It wasn't intentional, really. Matt was out once again, with Snafu and another marine, when he saw a few men harassing someone. Without any say or warning, Matt marched right on over to put a stop to it.

"Hey! What's the matter with all of ya? Leave them alone!"

"Oh, look, here comes the little man, coming to save the day!" One of the men said. "What's it to ya? She's a Jap!"

"Doesn't matter, leave her alone," Matt said, irritated.

The men mumbled, but surprisingly they complied. Aya stared up at him with wide eyes, surprised. Matt was too. He had no idea that it was Aya they were messing with.

"Hey, Kraut! Are ya comin' or what?" Snafu yelled from across the road.

"I'll meet with you later!" Matt replied, not looking back. He motioned Aya to walk with him. She complied.

"Why does he call you Kraut?" Aya inquired.

"Do you know Germany?" Matt asked her. Aya nodded. "Well, America is also fighting them. I'm also German, my sisters and brothers and I are second generation German-Americans. Kraut is a bad name for Germans."

Aya took it all in. "How Americans call me 'Jap'?"

Matt cringed at that. "Yeah, sorry."

"It is fine," Aya told him. She didn't like it, but Matt wasn't the one who hurt her. "Why are you friends with him, if he calls you mean name?"

Matt shrugged his shoulders. "He's a buddy, we're in the same unit. That's just how Snaf is."

Aya cocked her head. "Snaf?"

"It's a shortened version of his nickname: Snafu," Matt explained.

"What does 'Snafu' mean?"

Matt paused. "Situation Normal. All Fucked Up."

Aya gasped. "That's a bad word!"

"It's the military."

Matt and Aya met many times after that. They were all in secret. No one knew about them.

Each one was fascinated with the other. They would tell each other about everything that they possibly could.

Aya lived with her grandparents, parents, and had a brother who was in the military. That thought made Matt uncomfortable.

Matt told Aya about his own family. He told her that he lived with his parents, the twins, and his younger brother. When he mentioned that Madison was in Europe, Aya was shocked.

"She fights with boys?"

"Not exactly," Matt said. "You see, she originally volunteered to nurse, but she ended up being a field medic?"

"She still fights with boys," Aya said.

Matt nodded. "Yeah. She fights with boys."

Matt has also taught her more English and even a little bit of German. Aya, in return, taught Matt Japanese. Each language was hard for each other, but both were excited to learn.

Matt kissed Aya.

He couldn't help it. She was beautiful, smart, and wonderful. He knew he loved her. No one had ever made him feel this way.

He was just happy that Aya kissed back, even if she was hesitant at first.

By God, he just wanted to tell everyone how in love he was! He wanted to tell his friends, he wanted to write back home, telling his parents that he finally found someone that he loved. That he finally understood what it was like to be in love.

Every time he tried to write about Aya, he knew he couldn't. No one would ever approve of their relationship. He was white, she was Japanese. It all came down to two things: nationality and race.

It wasn't right.

Before the Marine Division had to leave, Matt and Aya had one last meeting. That night, they ended up making love. Both were nervous, and this was the first time for both.

Afterwards, as they laid together, Matt said.

"After this war is over, I'm going to marry you."

Aya was over the moon when he said this. They both were.

"Promise me you will return?" Aya asked. There were tears of happiness beginning to leak from her eyes.

"I promise."

Aya looked around, trying to find something. Matt watched as she was deciding what to do. Eventually, she grabs a small piece of jewelry. It's a ring. Very small, but very beautiful. She placed it in Matt's palm. He accepted it, squeezing her hand as well.

"I cant take this," Matt began. "I know how much-"

"Take it, please. I want you to have it. You can give it back to me when you return," Aya assured him. Then a terrifying thought hit her. "You are coming back, are you?"

Matt nodded slowly, but surely. "Yeah. Yes, I will come back. I made a promise, didn't I?"

They shared one more kiss. One more deep, meaningful, long kiss. Neither one didn't want to stop, but they both knew they had to. So, regretfully, Aya pulled away. She stared into his blue eyes.

"I love you," she whispered in her native language.

"I love you, too."