Short A/N: Please let me know if any of this "information" is false. I want this to be as accurate and realistic as possible, so if anybody has a Husband/Boyfriend/Son/Father/Wife/Girlfriend/Daughter/Mother, please let me know and I will do my best to edit, and, if necessary rewrite this.

Disclaimer: Vampire Academy belongs to Richelle Mead, and Home belongs to Michael Buble. I own nothing but the idea.

Home

(Michael Buble)

ALL HUMAN

Dimitri POV

The sun beat down on my back and sweat trailed down my brow. My chest heaved with each breath I took as fear coursed through my body. I mentally shook myself – there was no time for fear, and it was certainly too late to turn back now.

Another summer day

Has come and gone away

In Paris and Rome

But I want to go home

Many people had their eyes closed, or fingered there rosaries; there was no guarantee that we were going home, so prayer was all we had left. Mikhail nodded at me to my left and Adrian tried to smile at me to my right, but it came out as more of a grimace. Eddie was in front of me, chanting Hail Mary's and Our Father's. No matter how many people were around me, though, I still felt lonely. There was only one person who could cure that.

May be surrounded by

A million people I

Still feel all alone

I just want to go home

Oh, I miss you, you know

Skype had become my best friend in the past couple of years. I wrote plenty of letters, too, each filled with some semblance of a lie. I'm good. I'm doing fine. It's not too bad out here. I never sent them either, hence video chat. It was much better to see her face than to give her a piece of paper. She deserved more than a postage stamp and ink.

And I've been keeping all the letters

That I wrote to you

Each one a line or two

I'm fine baby, how are you?

I would send them but I know

That it's just not enough

My words are cold and flat

And you deserve more than that

The chopper landed a few dozen feet away, blowing sand every which way, bullets ricocheting off of the metal. We would have to run through the gunfire to get to safety, and each one of us hesitated. It was a miracle we had lasted this long – would today be the day our luck ran out? No one wanted to find out, but it was now or never.

Another airplane

Another sunny place

I'm lucky I know

But I want to go home

I got to go home

I pulled Roza's picture out of my pocket and ran my thumb over it. It was the day I proposed, and, to my utter happiness, she said yes. She was wearing her mother's dress – white with buttons and blue flowers – beaming at the camera with wind-blown curls. We had had a cupcake fight, and I had smeared frothing on the tip of her nose. She looked absolutely adorable, and my heart ached. I couldn't wait to get home.

If I got back to base, I was going straight home.

Let me go home

I'm just too far

From where you are

I want to come home

I took a deep breath as I watched friends run across the terrain, some missing bullets by a hair, others not so lucky. Another deep breath, and I was running out into the warfare. They whipped through the air, whistling in my ears and grazing my clothes. In the distance I could hear grenades detonating, I could feel rocks and pebbles hitting my back. I never stopped. I had to keep going. For America. For Roza.

And I feel just like

I'm living someone else's life

It's like I just stepped outside

When everything was going right

There was a selfish part of me that had wanted Roza to join the U.S. Army with me; I would've loved to have her with me. But the better part of me was relieved that she didn't want to go. I slept better at night knowing that she was safe, that essentially I was keeping her safe. And even through her worry, she still supported me one hundred percent from the moment she found out I wanted to fight for my country. I knew it was hard for her – it was hard for me, too – but no matter what, she had always believed in me and my dreams.

And I know just why you could not

Come along with me

That this was not your dream

But you always believed in me

I sighed with relief as I reached the chopper, hopping in next to Adrian and strapping up. I was good as new from head to foot, no new scars or wounds to remind me of just what I had endured in Afghanistan. God was watching over me today. He had watched over me every day.

Another winter day

Has come and gone away

In even Paris and Rome

And I want to go home

Let me go home

Adrian's second attempt at a smile succeeded this time. "We got through it!"

I grinned. "You know what this means?"

He nodded enthusiastically. "Sleeping in all day, and partying all night."

How this man had ever gotten into the Army, I'll never know. All he thought about was booze, sleep and women. "Not quite what I had in mind."

"Yeah, but you have someone to go home to," he said, nudging my shoulder.

That made my joy shoot through the roof. "Yes I do."

And I'm surrounded by

A million people I

I still feel alone

Oh, let me go home

Oh, I miss you, you know

Again, I pulled out Roza's picture, gazing down at it with an eagerness I had been lacking before. I could let myself get excited now – to see her, to hold her in my arms, surrounded by her scent and her essence and her love. A warm body to sleep next to every night, a breathtaking smile to wake up to every morning. Soft lips to kiss, and a small hand to fit perfectly in my much larger one. God, I couldn't wait.

Let me go home

I've had my run

Baby, I'm done

I've got to go home

"It's finally over, guys," Mikhail said from beside Eddie.

It was, too. This was my last time in Afghanistan, my last time anywhere. I was being discharged – this was the last time I had to leave my family, my home, my Roza ever again. I had lasted through my term, and now my reward was in the form of a white picket fence, a cozy two-bedroom house, and a beautiful woman waiting at the airport.

I was finally going home.

Let me go home

It'll all be alright

I'll be home tonight

I'm coming back home.

Short A/N: I'm not sure if I did the U.S. troops justice, so please review and let me know. Constructive criticism is welcome, especially if I am inaccurate or unrealistic.

If you would like to see more of this one-shot, let me know and I may make it a two/three shot.

Thanks for reading!

Colbey

*GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS*3