Kensi hated dresses. She had ever since she was a little girl. Her dad knew this, as did her mother. So, why then, pray tell, was her mother still trying to make her wear a dress.

"No, mum!" Kensi shouted. "I am not wearing a dress, and you can't make me!"

"Honey, it's for your father!" Julia insisted. "Just this once. Please."

"Fine," Kensi growled. She was tired of arguing anyway. It had been going on for a good half hour. Kensi snatched the dress and stormed upstairs. No, she had no intention of wearing it, but she knew she had to at least pretend she was wearing it.

She tossed it onto the bed and looked it over. It was a white dress that came to just above her knees. It had pink lace around the waist and a delicate pattern embroided onto the skirt part of it. Worst of all, it had puffy sleeves. Kensi wrinkled her nose. There was no way she was wearing that.

Instead, she dug through her closet for something a little more comfortable. It was frustrating, as her closet was just a bunch of clothes hung on hooks, plus a bunch of clothes lying in a pile on the ground. Perhaps she should clean it, like her mother wished she would. She'd do it later.

Kensi eventually landed on her favourite pair of green sweat pants and one of her dad's old Marine Corps tees. She eagerly pulled them on and then pulled her hair back into a messy ponytail, like she had seen many of the marine ladies do on base.

She stopped to admire herself in the mirror, and felt something was missing. Her eyes scanned the room, and she landed on the face painting set Darcy had got her for her birthday. Perfect.

"Kensi?" her mother called from downstairs a few moments later. "Come on, honey! We don't want daddy to be late, do we?"

"Coming mum!" Kensi called back. "Just a minute!"

Donald and Julia were both waiting downstairs for Kensi and looked up expectantly when they heard heavy footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Kensi!" Julia gasped when she saw her daughter in the outfit, complete with green face paint swiped across her cheeks and a pair of army boots Donald had given to Kensi as a birthday gift.

"Ready!" Kensi announced, landing with a thump at the bottom of the landing.

"Kensi Marie Blye!" Julia scolded her daughter. "What do you think you are wearing?"

"Umm…by the looks of it, a pair of green sweatpants, one of dad's old tees and army boots?" Kensi replied, not missing a beat.

"You go change right now!" Julia insisted, overlooking her daughter's smartass comment.

"No time, mum," Kensi quipped. "We don't want daddy to be late, do we?"

Donald started laughing. Kensi certainly took after him.

"Donald!" Julia scolded, whacking her husband lightly.

"C'mon, Julia!" he protested. "It's adorable!"

"I don't believe it!" Julia muttered under her breath. "It's like I'm raising two children!"

She then hustled them into the car and the car ride was silent, except for the occasional snicker from Donald when he thought of or glanced at his little girl.

They soon arrived at the docks, where the marines were almost ready to leave. They were saying their final goodbyes, and, after kissing Julia, Donald bent down to hug his daughter.

"Don't let her make you wear a dress," Donald whispered in Kensi's ear. "I dig this outfit!"

"Thanks, daddy," Kensi said with a smile and then looked up at her dad seriously. "Take care, okay?"

"I promise, babygirl," he promised, holding out his fist for the cute little handshake they'd created. Kensi shook and then gave her daddy a kiss on the cheek. "I'll be back soon, babygirl."

Soon, the boat took off from the docks and there were hundreds of people waving off their loved one or ones. Kensi and Julia were at the front of the crowd and Kensi waved until the boat disappeared into the distance.

Kensi would spend the next few months counting down the days until her father returned home

Yeah, I know that these endings are bad, but I suck at endings, so, yeah...