Hey my fans and readers! So this is the second new story I've started in the past month and, rest assured, will be updated along with my others. This story is going to be associated with the military, so if you are anti-military or don't like the military, then just don't read it but even if you are anti-military and you decide to read it, you might actually like the story itself and still not like the military and I'm perfectly okay with that. Anyway, I have a fascination with the military since well... enough with my rumblings and on with the story!

00000000000000000000000000000000000000

The clouds swept by fast as the plane descended on to the runway. Some of the soldiers, still dressed in their desert camo uniforms moved to the windows and woke their friends who had fallen asleep to come look out the windows. Some of them silently praised God that they came back to see the green lands of America alive and in one piece, unlike some of their friends who some of them either heard they died, or were right beside them when they were killed. The only one that wasn't gawking out the windows and cheering and celebrating was a lone soldier.

"Shields, what's wrong? We're back in the good old U S of A! Aren't you happy?" A blond man by the name of Cardigan asked another soldier, who's hair was that of a midnight sky without the stars. Darien smiled and shook his head. "Yeah, Andrew, I'm fine. Just a little tired, that's all. No need to worry about me." He said as he looked down at the square piece of paper he held in his hand. Andrew sat down next to him and looked over his shoulder. "Girl back home, huh?" He asked as he looked at the picture. At that, Darien smiled. "Yeah. Raye Highlander, my fiancé." He said, his smile getting bigger. "We're getting married as soon as possible." He said as Andrew smiled at him. "Wow. That's nice. I wish I had someone to come home to." Andrew looked slightly sad now as he walked off. Darien watched him walk off and sighed.

It was true, Darien had fallen in love with Raye the first night he met her. Although their meeting wasn't one he had hoped for when he dreamed of meeting his potential wife, but he somehow still knew she was the one aside from her being drunk and throwing up all over him. He was jolted out of his trip down memory lane when the plane's wheels started to hit the ground. He felt the force of the plane's brakes when the finally stopped. He was actually one of the first ones to get up when they were given permission to get out of the plane. He quickly grabbed his bag and headed for the area where lots of people were cheering and clapping as the soldiers walked through the airport. Darien walked past everyone who had found their families and friends.

He saw some mothers hugging their sons and daughters tightly as the tears started to stream down their faces. He saw some of his other soldier friends hugging their brothers and already messing with each other, but he could still see the love in it. The next thing Darien saw, really got to him. Some of the soldiers finding their girlfriends or wives. He saw one wife holding out their new son to a soldier. He was one of the toughest ones Darien knew, so he was surprised when he saw him start crying. Darien longed for a family of his own and a wife. He smiled to himself as he thought 'I'll have that sooner than I think.' He smiled bigger at the thought as he continued to search for Raye.

"Darien?" He heard a voice from behind him say. He turned around to see Raye behind him. Her face suddenly lit up and a smile dawned her features. "It is you!" She yelled as she launched herself into his arms and hugged him tightly. Darien closed his eyes and smiled as he held her there and hugged her back just as tightly and inhaled her scent. "I was a little worried you'd never come home since you got held over for two years." She said as she finally pulled back. Darien gave her his most dazzling smile. "I promised I would come home in one piece and not in a body bag and I came through, didn't I?" He asked as she started crying a little.

"Yeah..." She said as she sniffled and looked down. Darien put his hand underneath her chin and brought her eyes back up to meet his. He just smiled and leaned down for a kiss. Raye stiffened, but gave into his kiss and put her arms around his neck as he deepened the kiss. After a few moments, Darien broke the kiss and smiled at her as he pushed a strand of hair back from her face. "So, what day are we going to get married now that I'm home, love?" He asked as she frowned slightly.

"Can we talk about this later? I want to hear about the things you did in Iraq for the past six years." She said as he took her hand in his and walked around in the airport with her. He gave her a funny look at that comment. 'Usually she wouldn't stop talking about our wedding day and now she doesn't want to? Oh well. It's probably just the shock of me being home finally.' He thought to himself as they walked to the parking garage.

Meanwhile in the greeting area where Darien had just left...

"Andy!!! You're finally home!!!" Andrew turned just in time to see another blond with meatball styled hair nearly tackle him over. He looked down to see her face buried in his chest. "Hey, Serena. Long time, no see. How have you been? Who's ass does big brother need to kick?" He asked as she looked up and laughed at him. "No one's for now. I've missed you so much." She said as she squeezed harder. Andrew tried wiggling out of Serena's death grip, but it didn't work. 'I fight insurgents and terrorists and can take them down easily if they try and hold me down, but with Serena, it's like fighting a sumo-wrestler!' He thought as he finally made her let go.

"I've missed you too Serena. I've missed you too. Come on, let's go get something to eat. I'm starving!" He said as she laughed when he put his arm around her shoulders. "So, how's Mom doing?" Andrew asked as Serena walked happily along. "Oh, she's doing well. She's missed you the most. She cried a lot while you were gone." She said as she turned and saw the saddened look on his face. "Not a whole lot I hope?" He asked as Serena shrugged her shoulders. "You're her only son, Andrew. You've been gone for 5 years with not so much as a letter or a phone call. We feared the worst for you everyday!" He sighed as he continued to look at her. "Did you miss me?" He asked as Serena smiled and nodded. "Did you cry?" He asked and was surprised when Serena shook her head no.

Andrew smiled wickedly at his sister and started tickling her under the arm she had around him. "I know you have Serena! Say it, say it!" He said as she started laughing and jerking away from him but he held her there. "Say it and I'll stop! Say it and I'll stop!" He said as he continued to tickle her. Serena was laughing uncontrollably now.

"O...Oh...Okay, okay! I did a lot too!" She said as he finally let her got. She smirked at him and took off running for the parking garage. "I'm gonna leave you here Andrew!" She said as he chased after her. "That's what you think!" He yelled as he chased after her. They always played games like that, even when they were little kids. Here he was, twenty three years old, an Army soldier, and still chasing after his twenty one year old sister like they were still five and seven years old. He smiled to himself as he finally caught her before she could open her car door. She screamed and laughed at the same time.

After an awkward car ride in silence, Darien and Raye arrived at Raye's house. It was a rather nice house for a twenty three year old. Darien looked up at it with admiration. 'It'll be both ours in a couple of days hopefully.' He thought with a smile on his face. He followed Raye into the house and shut the door behind him. Raye turned to face him when the door had closed. She sighed and had a saddened look on her face. Darien looked at her, concerned. "Sweetheart, what's wrong? Are you not happy I'm home or something?" He asked her as he stepped closer to her. She stepped back. "Actually, Darien, there's something I've been meaning to tell you..." She trailed off as someone else's voice spoke up.

"Hey Raye, where do you keep the extra towels..." The voice of one of Darien's good friends, Jedite, trailed off as soon as he saw Darien. Jedite's lower half was wrapped in a towel while his hair was dripping as he stood on the steps of the stairs. Darien's face went from concerned to angry. He turned to Raye, his eyes were now no longer the semi-dark blue, but now they were almost blackened with rage.

"So that's how you thank me for devoting three years of my life to you? For giving you anything and everything I had, even when I needed it myself?" He asked as he advanced on her. "And then I go away for six years, defending our country, thinking of nothing but you, risking my own life so that yours could be safe, thinking about our wedding day? And for what? So you could go and cheat on me and let me know this way?" He said as he got closer to Raye, but she kept stepping back.

Jedite started to make his way downstairs, but when Darien gave him a death glare, he stopped at the end of the steps and stayed there. "Think about what you're doing to me, Raye. What you're doing to us." He said as she finally exploded. "Enough, Darien! I'm sick of the way you only think about me and never yourself! You do everything and anything I say without thinking about yourself and that was cute for a while but now I'm just plain sick of it! Plus, you're in something that I'm totally against and I never know if you're dead or alive! I can't wait around for you for forever! " She yelled at him. Darien stared her down, but she continued. "It's like you don't even have your own personal life Darien. It's just about you, me, and the Army and that's it! You never think about what you can do for yourself and I don't need someone who doesn't have a life and all they ever think about is me! It's over Darien. I'm sorry." She said as she walked past him and took Jedite's hand on the way upstairs.

Darien glared at his ex-friend and now, his ex-girlfriend and ex-love of his life. "By the way, Raye, I hope you know Jedite has been diagnosed with herpes before so I'm glad you let me know about you two now before I fucked you again!" He said as Jedite glared down at him and so did Raye. Darien marched out of the house with a very angry look on his face, but as soon as the door slammed behind him, he felt sadness overtake him as he started walking the five miles to town.

Meanwhile, at the Crown Diner, everyone was celebrating Andrew's return home, especially Ilene, Andrew's and Serena's mother. "Oh my sweet little boy! I'm so happy you're home now!" Ilene said as she hugged Andrew tightly, maybe even more so than Serena had. Andrew just rolled his eyes a little as he hugged her back. 'Sometimes both mom and Serena are both a little over dramatic...' He thought as he looked over at Serena talking and joking with her friends, Mina and Lita. He smiled. 'But I guess it's okay. They're family after all, and they're the only family I've got.' He thought as his mother finally let him go.

"Dear, aren't those clothes a little too hot right now?" His mother asked as he looked down, forgetting he was still wearing his camo. He shook his head. "No Mom. They're fine. I've gotten used to them by now." He said as he tried to walk off to go mingle with the other people in the diner he hadn't seen in a long time, but Ilene grabbed his arm so he couldn't leave. "Are you sure, dear? Because I brought some more comfortable nice clothes for you to change into if you want..." She trailed off, trying to make it sound enticing. Andrew laughed. "Mom, I already told you, I'm fine with what I have on!" He said, about to laugh again, but then he saw someone walk through the doors of the diner.

"Shields, what are you doing here?" Andrew walked up and asked him, a bit surprised. Darien looked at him with a bit of hatred, sadness, and hurt in his eyes. Andrew stared at him for a little bit and then instantly understood. "It's that Raye girl, isn't it?" He asked as Darien looked down and away from Andrew. "Broke up with you as soon as you got back, didn't she?" He asked as Darien simply nodded. Andrew put his arm around his friend. "Don't worry, buddy. Let's go get some celebratory drinks to celebrate our safe return home." He said as Darien simply nodded.

A while later, Darien sat at the bar part, drinking his beer quickly, almost chugging it. Andrew put a hand on his arm and made Darien set it down. "Hey, slow down there buddy! You don't want to drink yourself into a coma on accident, do you?" He asked jokingly and seriously. Darien glared at him. "It would be a nice reprieve from this." He said as he took another swig and set it down. Andrew looked at him, trying to figure out how to make Darien feel better. Darien had told Andrew the whole story and he really felt sorry for the guy. "Hey Darien, why don't we just find you a nice girl to have fun with tonight?" He said, trying to liven up his mood. Darien just put his arms on the bar and sank down into them. Andrew could only see his eyes now. Darien only shook his head and lifted it slightly.

"Cardigan, I don't want anymore slutty girls that will just take everything I give them as just a temporary blessing until they find someone better or has more cash, or isn't in the military..." He said as he sighed in depression. Andrew frowned a little bit, but it came right back as he noticed the answer to Darien's problem walking towards them. Andrew smiled at his sister as she came over. An idea popped into his head as he tapped Darien on the shoulder. "Now, I think I can get you just the girl you're looking for." Andrew said as Darien looked in the same direction that Andrew was. Darien blinked a couple of times before he started staring. 'She looks like an angel.' He thought, but then he shook his head. 'But then again, looks can be deceiving.' He continued his thought as she stopped in front of them.

Andrew smiled as he got up and pulled Darien up with him. "Shields, I want you to meet my little sister, Serena Cardigan." Serena smiled and extended her hand out to him. "Pleasure to meet you Mr. Shields." She said sweetly as Darien took her hand and shook it and stared blankly at her. 'She even has the voice of an angel...' Darien thought as he stared at her smiling face.

000000000000000000000000000000

I hope this was a good start to this story. Please review and tell me if you guys would want me to continue this! Thanks for reading!

Mackenzie