A/N: Salutations! It is I, Taikopigeon, again back from an unannounced hiatus! My apologies, things have been busy. However, I've managed to secure a few hours to ensure that I complete my various drafts. Here I present to you, my newest story. It is my hope that you will enjoy it.
A/N: As usual, I do not own Phineas and Ferb, they are owned by Mr. Povenmire and Mr. Marsh (and Disney)
A/N: I DO own my OC's 1st. Lt. Benjamin Cho and Kristin Cruz
A/N: Enjoy!
It was a sunny May morning at Danville High as Isabella Garcia-Shapiro made her way past the mostly empty pre-bell hallways up to the Nurse/Recruiting office where her and 1st Lieutenant Benjamin Cho, a U.S Air Force Air Liaison Officer and a close friend she affectionately referred to as "Big Brother" would have their morning chat over a nice cup of tea, as was their tradition before the start of every school day. As she reached the door of the Nurses office, where the Recruiting office was also located in a small section in the back, she saw Ben in his usual identifiable "Tiger-Stripe" patterned camouflage uniform sitting at his desk as usual. However, she felt something was off, she couldn't figure out what. As she entered the threshold of the Recruiting office, her suspicions were confirmed when she saw a sort of large, white cardboard moving box sitting squarely on his desk. The box was filled with some of Ben's personal affects he had lying around his office such as his picture frames and die-cast models of a few planes and tanks. Ben had noticed Isabella standing at the door silently and smiled.
"Are you going to come in?" he asked, motioning to the tea set on the table.
Isabella nodded as she placed her backpack on the floor at took her seat. As Ben was pouring their tea, Isabella's mind attempted to process this myriad of new information, attempting to solve the mystery that was presented in front of her. As Ben handed her the cup of steaming hot Green Tea, she still couldn't figure it out.
"So, did you get all your homework done?" Ben asked, interrupting her train of thought.
Isabella nodded, "It was easy, our little group study session had gotten it done within a minute."
Ben chuckled, "You're lucky, you've got a smart group of friends to help you with your homework. When I was your age, I had to do everything myself, knowing that it wasn't right half the time."
"Well, I wouldn't say the whole group is smart…"
The conversation continued with topics ranging from music to popular culture. As the conversation and grown silent, Isabella felt the need to satisfy the growing curiosity insider her.
"Hey, can I ask you something?" she asked.
Ben uttered a small acknowledgement as he took a sip of his tea.
"What's with the box? Are you…moving somewhere?"
Ben placed his teacup down, his brow furrowed. "Yeah…something like that."
"What does that mean?" she inquired.
"Well…" Ben began, analyzing the situation at hand.
Was there a way around the news? No, not likely, Isabella was smart enough to figure out the ploy if he threw one at her. It wasn't easy for him to come clean with it, but he felt she had every right to know the truth.
Ben sighed heavily, he had to get it just right. He dug around in his desk and took out an official looking document from the Air Force.
"I got this yesterday." He began, showing her the envelope.
"They have an assignment for me." He continued, gingerly placing the envelope and its contents back into his drawer.
Isabella's eyes began to faintly glimmer with the new hope. It wasn't bad after all.
"That's great!" she exclaimed, but upon seeing the fear and uncertainty in Ben's eyes, she was confused.
"I thought that's what you wanted?" she asked.
"It is…don't get me wrong, I didn't go through two years worth of hell to get a desk job. But…"
"But, what?" Isabella asked, the tension growing around the two.
"But…the team they've assigned me to is set to deploy to Afghanistan." He paused before continuing, "I only have two weeks left until I deploy."
A/N: So? What did you think? Reviews! The next chapter will be up soon.