I scrunched my eyes closed as hard as I could, willing myself to keep all my tears in. I pressed my palms to my face, pushing as hard as I could. I wouldn't let the tears fall.

Tears show weakness.

And I was not weak.

I released a deep breath, taking my hands from my face and opening my eyes. My eyes were a little blurred still as I stared up at the figure in front of me. I made out the details of Eddie's face as he lowered himself to my level and swiped the tears that had accidentally slipped out of my eyes.

"What's wrong?" He asked, voice full of concern. He sat next to me on the floor of my room and tried to pull me into him. I shook him off and wiped all the tears off my face.

"Nothing's wrong. I think I heard Trudy-"

"Sit back down." Eddie said, pulling me back down despite my attempts to get up and leave. I sighed and let him pull me into him. "Come on, Yacker- What's wrong? I've never seen you cry, something's up."

I rolled my eyes, trying to think of a way to get out of this situation. Nothing came to mind. I groaned internally, knowing that I would just have to suck it up and tell him.

"May third." I told him. He looked at me puzzled and I leaned into him for support. "May third- Today's date- is why I'm crying."

"I'm still lost." Eddie said sheepishly after a moment. I took a deep breath and began telling him the story of what had happened on May 3rd, eleven years before.

Flashback~

I sat in my living room, rugrats playing on the tv screen as I laughed my little belly laugh. The tv flickered off and I yelled in protest, turning around to see the source of the problem. Just as I was about to yell something about turning the program back on, I noticed my older sister Olivia's eyes were puffy and red with streaks of tears crawling down her face.

She set the remote down on the counter and walked to the couch, lifting my little five year old body onto her lap. She held me so that I looked her straight in the eyes. Her mood was completely serious and I stayed quiet for the first time in my life. Olivia released a deep breath and smiled at me slightly.

"I love you, Trish, you know that right?" She asked. I nodded, eyes wide with curiosity.

"I love you too, Livie. Why are you crying?" I asked, catching one of her tears in my palm. "Are you sad?"

"No, I'm not sad. I'm just really happy, is all." She whispered. "I finally found an escape."

"From what? The monsters under your bed? Because Mummy says the monsters aren't-"

"No, Trishie." She laughed. "Not the monsters under the bed. The monsters... The monsters who don't look like monsters."

"Like ninjas?" I whispered. Another smile broke out on her face, causing another set of tears to fall.

"Remember something for me, okay? Be strong. Even when things are looking down and nothing is going right, be strong. Be strong like I never could." Olivia whispered. I nodded and wiped a tears from her face. "Promise me, Sissy."

"I promise I'll be strong." I repeated. She smiled and nodded vigorously.

"Good, good. And if something ever happens, I'll always be here." She said, bringing my hand to rest over my heart. "Forever."

"That was the last time I ever talked to her." I finished. "They found her hung in her room later that night."

"I'm so sorry, Yacker." Eddie said gently, placing a soft kiss to my lips. I shook my head, wiping the remaining tears.

"Don't be. Crying over her won't bring her back. Plus if I cry, I'm breaking my promise to her. I said I would be strong." I said. My walls were put back up as I shook out of Eddie's arms.

"That's why you put up so many walls, isn't it? Because she told you to be strong." He guessed. I didn't reply; I just pursed my lips and looked any where but at him. "By telling you to be strong, I don't think she meant to not let anyone in."

"I like to think that it's open to interpretation." I said with a small smirk. I hopped to my feet and pulled Eddie up by the arm. "Besides, what do you know? You're a dufus."

"Whatever you say, Yacker." Eddie mused, slipping his arm around my waist.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, sobbing into his US army uniform. I could feel his tears falling onto my shoulder and disappearing into my shirt's fabric. Eddie pulled back a bit and held my cheeks in his hands. He planted a gentle kiss on my lips and looked me in the eyes.

"I'll be back before you know it." He whispered. I choked back a sob and I nodded, wishing I could believe him.

"You better come back, Slimeball."

"I promise, Yacker. I'm going to come back and I'm going to put a big, fat ring on your finger. I'm going to marry you, you know that, right? I promise." He whispered. I shook my head, gasping for a breath.

"Don't make a promise you can't keep." I sobbed. Eddie shook his head, making me look him in the eye once more.

"I can keep it. I promise." He said. I looked into his eyes and I saw that determination and I nodded, reassured, even if only for the moment. "Now you have to promise me something."

"Anything."

"You have to be strong for Olivia and for me. But please, please don't go building walls and shutting people out. That's not open to interpretation. Promise?" Eddie asked, firmly.

"I promise." I said. Eddie locked his lips onto mine again, moving them against mine roughly, kissing like it would be our last-since it very well could have been our last. There was a call for all soldiers and Eddie pulled away. He whispered he loved me one more time and walked off to the planes.

As I watched him walk away, I noticed one thing different from when my sister had told me to be strong: I knew Eddie would be back. I knew we would both keep our promises.

And we did.