A/N: This story is set in the same world in which PhilLeeGirl's Tony/Maddie series takes place. You should definitely read those, too!
As always, I don't own Tony, Maddie, or NCIS. I'm just borrowing them for the day.
Tony hated life on board the ship. It was too constricting, not to mention the fact that the food really sucked. He hated that he couldn't go out for a drink with Maddie after a hard day's work. He couldn't take her out for dinner, or for a cup of coffee on his day off. He had no days off. He lived in a military world. He had no friends to goof off with. These guys just didn't want anything to do with him. He was their Internal Affairs investigator. They avoided him like the plague.
The only thing that kept him from physically harming himself was Maddie. She sent him "a box of home" at least once a week. She always sent his favorite snacks, a few drinks – non-alcoholic, a local newspaper, and a few of his DVDs. It was almost like having his own personal Netflix. But his favorite part of the packages weren't the food, or the movie. It was the notes from Maddie. She would send him 12 notes – one for each day of the week, and a few extras in case the next box was delayed. He'd savor them slowly, one every morning, but when that next box came, he'd open whatever notes were left and for a little while he was happy.
They were little notes, nothing of great importance. She would often tell him about her day, a favorite memory of him, or a memory from her childhood, just little things to keep them connected. Sometimes it was just a note to say that she missed him, or to let him know that she'd cleaned his apartment – not that there was much to clean without him there to mess it up. The notes brightened his whole day. They smelled like her. Sweet and feminine, like her perfume. They meant the world to him. It meant that she still loved him. That he still had someone waiting for him at home when all this was over. This life of hell on earth wouldn't last forever, and she'd be there when it was all over.
He still had the handkerchief she'd pressed and kissed before he'd been shipped out. He could still see her lips on it, but what he really wanted was her lips on his. Face to face. Gibbs had promised he'd take care of the situation with Director Vance, and Tony had no doubt of that, he just wished Gibbs could hurry up, so he could come home.
But Tony has to admit, as eager as he is to get home, he will miss the letters when that time comes. He will miss waking up to the written evidence of her love. He will miss carrying the letter in his pocket, near his heart and reading it at every opportunity. He will miss reading it one last time before bed and then putting it in the box with the others. But he will have her lips to love him, her words to remind him that she cares, he'll have the old letters to read again, and again, and again. He'll have Maddie close beside him every night, but for now, he has her letters.
I hope you enjoyed it. Please read and review!