A/N - Happy New Years! (: Ok, so this is a Alice and Jasper story. If you have very strong feelings about the pros/cons of war, somethings in this story may be different from your beliefs. If they are, don't flame me just because of my opinions. Seriously guys, it's just what I think ok.

Disclaimer - I don't own Twilight

Summary - Alice doesn't know how much longer she can go on, not knowing whether Jasper will live or die. But, she may not have to wait much longer. All-Human.

My Little Soldier

I stared down at the framed picture, my thumb lightly tracing over our happy smiling faces. I placed it back on my dressing table, face down. It was sad really; that was my favourite picture and I could no longer bear to look at it. If someone asked me, I could tell them exactly when and where it was taken; last April, in the park that was five minutes down the road from my house. It was about a week before Jasper received a phone call stating he'd been stationed in Afghanistan. Major Jasper Whitlock, the youngest sergeant major for a hundred years. I was proud of him, you couldn't deny that, but I missed him...so much. Every time I saw a picture of him, or heard his name I wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and hide, until he came home. That was the worst thing about it all though, what if he never did come home?

When we'd first started going out, I'd always hoped that he wouldn't be stationed at all, that by some miracle he wasn't needed to fight. But deep down I'd always known that it would happen, that he would be sent off to fight in a war that had nothing to do with him. When I thought off all the people like me, the girlfriends, the wives, the sisters, the mothers, and the daughters that had their baby out there fighting, I wondered how many people were still bothered about what country won the rights to what piece of land.

If I'd been smart I would never have got involved with him. When he first asked me to go out for dinner with him, I could have declined. Made up some excuse. It wouldn't have been difficult; just politely say no and walk away. If I had, I wouldn't have been going through all the heartache that I was now. But realistically, why would I have turned him down? Jasper was my soul mate, sweetheart and one true love. How can you walk away from the one person who you know that you should be with.

I sat down on the sofa and turned on the TV, still with images of Jasper and my first date clouding my mind. I pulled myself back to reality as the news came on. I think I was developing an obsessive compulsive disorder when it came to the news. I was starting to watch it religiously, forever waiting for some information about Jasper and his squadron. There was never anything interesting...until tonight.

"Hello, and welcome to the six o'clock news," the news reader announced. "Tonight our top story comes straight from Afghanistan. Major Jasper Whitlock's first platoon was subjected to a surprise bombing earlier today. We have been told that five soldiers were killed during the attack, although we don't know the names of them-" I switched off the TV, unable to listen any longer. Five people in Jasper's squadron had been killed. One of them could be Jasper. He could be dead, and I'm sitting here not knowing. I wanted to cry, I knew that I should be crying, but I just couldn't bring myself to. It wasn't until I crawled into bed that night, that the tears came. I cried for what seemed like hours before falling into an uneasy sleep.

I stirred my cup of tea mindlessly while staring out of the window. My eyebrows knitted together as a tall man walked up the drive. He was dressed in full camouflage gear and looked like he had just stepped out of a war-zone. I walked to the front door to see what this stranger wanted.

"Hello, can I help you?" I questioned.

"Are you Miss Alice Cullen?"

"Yes, I am."

"Do you live here with Jasper Whitlock?"

"Yes...has something happened to him?" My voice broke on the last word. Fear shot through my body as it dawned on me what this man might want.

"I am Mr Whitlock's Commanding Officer. It is my duty to inform you that Mr Whitlock was killed in yesterday's surprise bombing. I am terribly sorry."

"No. No, they're must have been some sort of mistake."

"I'm afraid not ma'am. If it's any condolence, he would have been killed quickly. We doubt whether he was even aware what happened."

My knees gave way as the news sunk in. Jasper was dead.

My eyes shot open. I sat bolt upright and glanced nervously around my room. Everything was where it should be, and the only thing I could hear was the short, frantic gulps of air I was taking in. Jasper wasn't dead, and there was still perfectly good chance that he would come home.

I climbed out of bed and groaned as my eyes settled on the calendar hanging on my wall. It was the 20th, which meant I had lunch with Jessica. I honestly don't why I agreed to go to lunch with her in the first place. I found her whiney, repetitive and rather annoying.

I plastered on a smile as I walked into the quaint little Café I had arranged to meet her. She smiled at me as a joined her table.

"Hello Jessica."

"Hey Alice, how are you today?" I opened my mouth to answer, but didn't have a chance as she gushed on. "You will never guess, Mike asked me to marry him! Isn't that great?" I continued to grin at her as she continued to babble on. I know it was mean of me but I honestly didn't care about her and Mike. My life was spiralling downwards; each day I was getting more and more anxious about Jasper's safety, my general health was deteriorating, and was actually becoming physically ill. I could barely eat anything, and I was rapidly losing weight. However, Jessica was getting her dream life. A husband, her own house, everything she wanted. What did she do to deserve all that?

I winced as I became aware of the malicious route my thoughts had taken. It wasn't her fault that Jasper had joined the army.

"Oh gosh, did you see the news last night?!" She questioned me.

I looked down at the table, suddenly finding the tablecloth pattern very interesting. "Yes, I did."

"It was about a surprise bombing wasn't it? It was Jasper's troops that were affected by it, wasn't it."

"Yeah, that's right. Five men were killed, but the news team don't know who." I mumbled.

"You do know that it could be Jasper that was killed don't you? I mean, it wasn't him was it?"

My eyes darted from the tablecloth to her face in about half a second. I was pretty sure my eyes were glazed over with anger.

"You want to know if Jasper was killed; whether he was one of the five men that died? Well guess what Jessica; I don't know! I don't know whether he is out there fighting now, or being shipped back to me in pieces in a cardboard box. I don't know if my baby is alive or dead. Do you know what that is like Jessica? Living everyday in fear, not knowing if the love of your life will live or die. Do you have any idea what that is like?!"

"No, I don't," she whispered, obviously shocked about my sudden outburst.

"Well count yourself lucky then." I pushed my chair back, before stalking out of the Café. I refused to look back, afraid that if I saw Jessica's hurt face I would turn around and go back to apologise. I didn't want to say sorry to her, because I wasn't. As harsh as it may seem, I meant every single word that I had said to her. I began to run towards my house. I didn't know why. All I knew was that I had to get away from that Café.

I stared out of my kitchen window, scrutinizing the road and my front drive. It was stupid really; I was waiting for the Commanding Officer from my dream to walk up the drive and tell me that Jasper was dead. I knew that I was being paranoid. I knew that I should walk away from the window right now, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I was certain that there was something or someone I was waiting for.

I almost fainted when I saw a figure walking up my gravel path that lead to the house. All the clothes he was wearing were supporting a camouflage design, including his hard shell hat. He kept his eyes firmly on the ground. The sound of the doorbell pierced through the silence. With shaking hands, I managed to open the door.

"Alice Cullen." The man said. The sentence confused me; it wasn't a question, it was a statement. He looked up at me, and as his bright blue eyes met mine, I let out a strangled sob. "God, how I've missed you."

I squealed, a reaction that strongly reminded me of a fourteen year old school girl. But that didn't bother me. For the first time in over a year I felt complete.

"Jasper! I can't believe that- I mean, it's just that- you're here, but I thought-" I gave up trying to explain how happy I was so see him, and instead flung my arms around his neck, and pressed my lips to his. I felt him place his hands gently on my hips before pulling me closer to him.

I couldn't believe that Jasper was here, at our home and in my arms. I had dreamt about this moment for so long, that now it was here, I was speechless.

I was one of the lucky ones. My little soldier had come home.

End

A/N - Well there you go. What did you think? Personally I love the last line so much! Please review so I can find out if you loved it as much as I did. Or if you hated it, at least let me know why. Thanks (:

A Real Dreamer