A/N So, here's chapter 1 of my super angsty Pinkwald war AU. Let me know what you guys think, and let me know how to improve, anything you want included, whatever! Hope you enjoy!

Danny stood and stared into the mirror. He was scared, he felt empty, and all that made today better was that Clara was still by his side. She wouldn't be tomorrow. He felt her fingers lightly move across his collar, nimbly flattening the fabric out and neatening it a little. Clara looked up at him, moving her hands down to hold his, fingers lacing with his. Neither of them spoke for several seconds, Clara looking up at Danny reassuringly as he looked at her with terror in his eyes. Clara was the one who made the first move.

"You're gonna be okay." She whispered softly, giving him a small smile. She was going to miss him, but she was proud. He'd overcome so much to do this all over again. "And I'm so proud of you. Just… Keep your head down." She said, dropping her head to look at the floor. Danny moved at this point, leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead. He was frightened of going back to the army, but it had become mandatory. He knew what was going on; he'd been through it all before: a new war. Men were being encouraged to sign up and do their country proud. He knew that he had to sign back up, he'd been in service before and he'd never get away with refusing to go back. However much he'd suffered as a former soldier, as a man who'd come out of the army changed, he had to go back.

"Thank you, Clara Oswald." He smiled down at her, looking back toward the mirror. Danny decided he thought he looked quite smart, almost as if he'd missed the uniform and the way it made him feel. The power it gave him, the respect it earnt him. He didn't feel like he was as much of a man when he wasn't in this uniform. At least now, he had to put the brave face on. Danny squeezed her hand and nodded to her. He was ready to go.

# # #

They stood together at the airport, surrounded by other couples, families, all with men and women dressed in the same uniform, ready to fight. Clara didn't want to let go of her Danny, she was afraid that she was going to lose him forever. She knew what happened in wars, she'd seen them, fought in them, but they were all in another life. Danny had experienced this before. He'd come back alive, Clara knew he would. He could get through this again and this would all be over, they'd be happy and safe again.

"S'not gonna be the same without you." Clara said, wrapping her arms around him tightly. She didn't want him to leave; she'd never wanted to lose him, even for a minute. Danny would be back before too long, though. Every soldier came back once every three months for a week or two, and Clara couldn't wait for it. "School's gonna be different. No boys in sixth form, no more of you, Adrian, all of our boys… God, I feel so sorry for the year 11 boys. They must be terrified."

Danny smiled a little, knowing how scared she was. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to say, but he didn't want to leave her side until someone dragged him away.

"I love you Clara." He whispered softly, moving to press a kiss to her lips. It was long and tender, filled with passion. Clara returned it just as desperately, not wanting to remove her lips from his, even when she had to breathe. When she finally pulled away, Clara took deep breaths and smiled, laughing a little.

"I'm gonna miss that, too." She pointed out, happy that the two had fallen into their natural relationship once more, rather than being forced into a scared couple, afraid to show any sort of emotion. Now they were just happy to be with each other, both looking like they were teenagers with their first love, only it was so much more than that. Before the war had started, the two had been planning their future together, their lives. Danny was going to ask Clara to marry him; Clara was going to ask if he wanted to think about a family. War didn't just affect the soldiers, but the lives of their families, the lives of people that were yet to be born. Clara still didn't understand why things like this happened, not really. She didn't think she ever would.

"I'm gonna miss you, Clara. More than anything else." He said, taking out his wallet from his pocket and opening it up, showing her the picture of the two of them together. Clara smiled at the photo, taking her purse from her bag and pulling out her own picture. "Emails, letters, whatever you want. Depends how much you wanna hear from me." Danny said jokingly. "I'll send you a message once I arrive, let you know I'm there and safe. I'll write as often as I can, I promise, I'll try and talk to you once every day. They might even have Skype by now." He smiled, moving to press another quick kiss to her lips. "It's not world war two, we've got more than one way to talk now. It'll be like I was hardly gone; this three month's will fly passed."

Danny turned his head to look behind him, people starting to get onto the plane. He took a deep breath and looked down at Clara, putting on a more serious face before offering her a salute. Clara couldn't help but laugh a little, raising her hand to her forehead and giving a mock salute with two fingers. The corners of his lips cracked a smile, before he turned away from her and began to march towards the plane.

The second Danny's back was turned; Clara's eyes began to water. She was scared, and she knew how serious this was. He might never come home again, and this could be the last time she ever saw him. Time froze as Clara watched him walking away from her to join the other soldiers, and she ran up to the barriers, pushing passed families and children waving goodbye to their husbands, fathers, mothers, and sisters. She knew they were just as desperate as she was, but for once, she didn't care. Clara wanted to be at the front and she wanted Danny to see her again. Just one last time. As she got to the barriers, she looked at the crowd of soldiers urgently, trying to find Danny. She couldn't let that be her goodbye to him.

As her eyes finally lay on the man she loved so much, she felt herself choking up with tears. Clara let out a few sobs before she yelled as loudly as she could.

"Danny!" She yelled, noticing that his head perked up slightly at her voice. Even if he couldn't see her, at least he could hear her. "Danny, I love you!" She sobbed, starting to cry properly. Danny wanted to run up to her and hold her until she stopped crying, but he couldn't. He wanted to yell back how much he loved her, but he couldn't. He was a soldier now, not a boyfriend. Danny felt his legs moving him up the stairs of the plane, leaving him cut off from Clara completely. He'd never felt so alone in his life. He'd finally found someone worth holding onto, and he was losing her. As he sat himself down, his fingers scrambled inside his trouser pocket, pulling the photo of them together out to look at one last time. Glancing out the window, Danny caught a glimpse of Clara, sobbing into the barriers. He wanted to cry too, but he couldn't. He slowly brought the picture to his lips and pressed a kiss on it gently, before pocketing it once more. This was goodbye.

# # #

Clara returned to their flat and sat herself on the sofa with a glass of red wine. It may only have been three in the afternoon, but it had already been a long day. She'd just lost Danny, and she didn't know how long for. The wine was a comfort, not one she'd get used to, but one all the same. If nothing else, at least she knew she wouldn't be crying anymore, because all her tears had been shed. All that was left to do now was sit and wait, constantly refreshing her emails, Facebook, texts, waiting for Danny to say he was safe.