This is just a small thank you dedicated to all of our hard working soldiers out there who are doing their best to protect us. Without them, our nation wouldn't be safe.

Disclaimer as usual, I don't own anything except for this cheesy story.

Marth's anticipation was dreadful. He hadn't received any mail from Ike ever since the one that said he was going to return back to home base. Could something have possibly happened? No. They would put it on the news if it did right? Plus, rumors were spreading that many soldiers were going to be sent back home to their families. Instead of worrying, he should be excited. One of those soldiers could be Ike. Marth let out a distress sigh. This wasn't the time to be thinking about things like this. He had a paper to work on and a promise to fulfill. A promise to pass his exam and succeed in his dream career of becoming a doctor. He told Ike that he'd live up to that no matter what, and if he did, then Ike should retain his promise of staying alive.

Marth still remembered the day Ike first left. It was a horrid memory, but one he knew to never forget.

"Ike! You better take care of yourself okay? Promise that you'll come back to me without any missing limbs!"

"Of course I will. You worry too much Marth. But by the time I come back, you should have that doctor's degree so you can patch me up. I won't let anyone else do it if it's not you."

"Idiot. What if you get wounded in battle? You'll just let yourself bleed to death?"

"Ah, tis but a small flesh wound! It won't kill me."

"He better...be alive," breathed out Marth as his eyes slowly drifted asleep. It wasn't long until exhaustion took over the boy and caused him to knock out. He needed it though. Sleep was necessary for this hard working, overly distraught college student. His mind wandered endlessly in dreams, and by the time he woke up, Marth took noticed that if he didn't get a move on any time soon, he'd be late.

Sighing in relief as he made it to campus with time to spare, it came to Marth's attention that there was a hoarding group of students near the front. With curiosity taking advantage of him, Marth pushed his way through the crowd to see what all the hustle and bustle was about. Much to his astonishment, he saw students, male and female alike, having red roses in their hands. It definitely wasn't Valentines day, he knew that for sure. He couldn't help but feel rather jealous though. Everyone had flowers in their possession. It saddened him to think it would be a while until he would receive a bouquet, or even give some to his lover at all.

But then again. He could be wrong.

There was a tap on his shoulder which caused the bluenette to turn around and gasp in astonishment. Marth covered his mouth with a hand. "You...what are you..." His lips curved into a gleeful smile but at the same time his expression was filled with sadness, anger and relief. In front of him stood a messy blue haired man clad in an army uniform, and on him, an army backpack filled with red roses. Removing the load of roses from his back, Ike opened the bag. "Are these enough flowers for all the times I wasn't there for you?"

Marth was only able to shake his head. At the moment, he couldn't bring himself to say another word or else he'd end up in tears.

"No? They're not? Should I go out and buy some more then?"

As Ike shifted himself to leave, a smirk appeared on the corner of his lips as his hand was suddenly held.

"You're..horrible...for not saying anything. But...thank the gods you're...alive..."

Chuckling, Ike brought the boy into a strong embrace. After that, all he heard were light sobs on his chest. He smiled softly, then placed a long kiss on the other's head. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to surprise you, y'know. But hey, I'm finally home."

An older friend of mine actually planned on doing this when he came back from the military, sadly, unlike these two, he and his girlfriend broke up shortly after he entered. But shhh, you didn't hear any of that from me.

Once again, thanks for reading! I hope it was worth your time!