He didn't want to go…but he knew that deep in his heart that he really wanted to.

After graduating from college, Jimmy decided that he wanted to become a soldier and go to fight in Iraq; even though that it meant never coming back or ever seeing his beloved wife, Cindy, anymore.

Jimmy was constantly told how much he would be missed, how life would be with out him, and how unstable a romantic love life would be. He knew the chances, the risks, but he still wanted to go. And here he stood… looking into the eyes of his loved ones and the only thing separating them from him… a wired fence.

"I still have time to change my mind…" Jimmy thought. "Time to change my mind and run away! No..no, what have I been training for all these months? This is it. I am not afraid of what I will come across…even if it means death. There is nothing more better than what I want… a free nation for all people."

As he boarded the plane, he took one last look at Cindy. She was crying. She had a look on her face that seemed to say, "I already miss you!".

Cindy silently whispered, "I love you."

The look on Jimmy's face showed Cindy how much he cared for her, how much he loved her. He was about to cry as he whispered those three words, but Jimmy was determined to make a grand exit. He kept a straight face and made a sharp salute to his friends and family; with that he walked up the boarding staircase…his head facing forward. He didn't know what would come before him, nor did he know what great sorrow this would cause to his one and only.

Jimmy sat down next to an empty seat. He placed his hands over his face and thought about what had happened over the past few weeks.

"I don't want you to go!!!" Judy exclaimed. "Hugh, do something!"

"Jimmy, war….war..it's a very dangerous thing!!!!…A very dangerous thing…like.." Hugh stuttered.

"Like…rockets?" Jimmy filled in with a sigh.

"Precisely!" said Hugh while giving a thumbs up sign.

"Honey!!!!!" Judy screamed.

"Just trying to be positive….." Hugh muttered.

"Thanks for trying…" Cindy sighed as she got up from a chair to sit next to Jimmy.

"Sweetie…" Cindy coaxed as she gently rubbed Jimmy's shoulders. "We both know that we don't want you to go… In fact, all of our friends..your family are worried about your safety. You may never come back. What's going to happen to you…to us?"

"Cindy….you care to much about us! What about other people, huh? What about the freedoms of others?" Jimmy questioned. "I know that I'm risking my life, but think about other soldiers….how their families must feel…they feel the same way as you!!!"

"Jimmy, please listen to Cindy…." said Judy as she handed Cindy a tissue.

"Jimbo……" Hugh began.

"I don't want to hear it!" Jimmy shouted. "I've made up my mind..I'm going to Iraq. No one is going to stop me and I'll make sure that no one will hold me back!!!"

He grabbed his jacket and car keys and headed out the front door. He wasn't sure if he did the right thing, but all he could think about at that moment was about war. He never liked it. War. It never solved anything.

"But I'm sick and tired of seeing it on the news!" he muttered to himself. "Sick and tired of seeing people die and if going to war will help stop all of this..then so be it!"

Jimmy was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't realize that they had already taken off and that the seat right next to him was occupied.

"Hey, I've been trying to talk to you for the past thirty minutes, but I guess you've zoned out!" the voice said.

"Huh? Oh, I'm really sorry." Jimmy laughed nervously.

"By the way, the name's Little John."

"Is that really your real name?" Jimmy asked.

"What?! No it's just a nickname." John assured him. "They just call be that because…well, I'm kind of a puny guy. Soooooo……what's your's?"

"Well, my friends call me Lucky Ace, but my real name is Jimmy Neutron."

"Whoa!!! Dude, you were that kid that was always on the newspaper and on television. You were like my type of hero! I've always dreamed of meeting you in person..but not like this. I dreamed of a more heroic setting….. I hope you don't mind me bringing it up, but I can't believe that you almost ruined Christmas!!! That was a total close one!"

Jimmy blushed. "Yeah, let's just put that behind our backs, shall we?"

"Sorry, we will."

"By the way…how'd you get your nickname?" John asked.

"Me?" Jimmy questioned. "Well, I got the nickname, "Lucky Ace", because of all those life endangering adventures I used to go on. In most of those adventures…I barely came out alive."

The two of them remained silent for a few moments until John saw Jimmy move uneasily in his chair.

"Uh, something wrong? You seem a bit troubled there?" John asked.

"Oh, I guess..that I'm just a bit nervous."

"Nervous over what, eh?"

"Nervous that I'll never come back alive..nervous that I'll never see my family and friends again." Jimmy answered while looking at his boots.

John took out a picture from his pocket.

"Jimmy, I want to show you something."

Jimmy moved his head to the side to clearly she the picture.

"Wow! She's a looker!" Jimmy hooted.

"Yup, name'sBecky, and she's mine…" John said as he looked to the side.

"She's probably going to miss you… miss you a whole lot."

"Well.." John replied. "I don't thing that she will."

"What do you mean by that?" Jimmy asked.

"You see she's dead and gone… but that doesn't matter because she is in my heart and her strength and courage lives on in me. And I just want to protect the country that she lived in…This is probably what she wanted me to do."

"Gosh, that's suresomebeautiful sentences." Jimmy said in awe.

"Heh he heh…." John laughed. "You can quote me on that!!!!"

"Will do."

Jimmy then showed John a picture of Cindy that he brought along.

"Wheet whoo! Now there's a lucky catch!!!" John hooted.

"Yup, we go waaaaaaaaaaay back. I'm just really going to miss her a whole lot."

John watched as Jimmy put back the picture into his pocket.

"Now back to curing your nervousness…" John began. "You shouldn't be afraid to go to Iraq….perish all your thoughts of fear and all that nonsense. You're here because of willingness and self-sacrifice. You came here on your own decision didn't you?"

"Well, yeah."

"Then what's the problem? You came here knowing that you'll probably never come back. There's a fifty- fifty chance of coming back or not. That's a chance that every single one of us on this plane will have to take."

"You're right!!" Jimmy agreed. "I'm not scared anymore and I'm ready to put my life on the line."

"That's good!" John happily sighed. "Now lets have some lunch… I'm starving. And by the way, I hear that the food here is pretty tasty."

Jimmy took a spoonful of the macaroni and cheese.

"Oh, true 'dat!" Jimmy exclaimed with his eyes wide open.

The two of them laughed at that. They busily chatted away; they talked about politics, and made some new friends. Suddenly, Jimmy saw a very familiar face.

"Nick?! Is..is that really you?!" Jimmy screamed.

"Cool your jets, Neutron." Nick replied calmly. "By the looks of it… I'll say that you haven't changed one dang bit."

Jimmy sat there quietly, evaluated himself for a few moments and answered, "Nope. I guess I haven't!"

"Then you're the same big genius butthead that often gets into loads of trouble?" Nick asked teasingly.

"Yup!…Hey wait a minute! I'm no butthead." Jimmy replied.

"Ha ha!!! Gotcha, Neutron!" Nick laughed as he grabbed Jimmy in a headlock.

"Whoa!! You're messing with the 'do!"

"There's nothing loads of gel can't fix."

"Knowing you….you've go plenty of it." Jimmy said with an evil grin.

"Oh, is that a challenge?"

"You wanna go for it?"

"Arm wrestling."

"Bring it, Dean!"

John was instantly made the referee.

"Best two out of three?" Nick asked.

"Good enough!" Jimmy said approvingly.

All three of them soon became indulged in their game until the sky grew dark and it was time for the soldiers to get some shut eye.

"Okay, boys, quit messing around! Lets get some sleep!" the commander yelled.

"Yes, sir!" all the soldiers replied sharply in unison.

Some of the soldiers got up and volunteered to pass around some blankets and pillows, which were stored in the overhead compartment.

When Jimmy received his pillow and blanket, he gratefully accepted it with a thank you. He took the pillow in both hands and fluffed it up a bit. John was watching him throughout the whole process.

"Gee, Jimmy, you're such a nice guy." John said.

"Nice? I'm not quite sure what you mean about that."

"I'm mean you're so polite. You'll make a great soldier." John replied as he yawned. "Well, good night."

"Night." Jimmy returned.

Jimmy pulled the blankets over his body and closed his eyes to get some sleep. Thing is…he couldn't. He kept worrying about Cindy, his family, and his friends.

"Before I was scared." he thought to himself. "But for some reason, right now I'm not scared at all. I'll get through this…everything will be okay. I'm going to finish what I started... finish it Neutron style. I'm not going to hold anything back; I'm going to give this my all!"

He sat up straight and took out his lucky ace of spades playing card and a small pen out of his pocket. He wrote a few words on his lucky spades card and put both items back into his pocket. Jimmy patted his pocket just to make sure that all of its contents were back in there. He looked at Little John who was fast asleep.

"Thanks…for everything." Jimmy whispered as he covered himself with the blanket and softly drifted to sleep.