(Author's Note: An end-of-the-year present for you! A happy chapter! Thanks for sticking with all the sadness this long guys. And happy New Year's Eve!

Standard disclaimers apply. I own nothing but my own imagination.)

Ten months. He had been gone for ten months and Katherine had heard from him once. He told her he didn't know how often he'd be allowed to write, but she'd thought... She'd hoped...

Ten months. She had waited for ten months and she still had two more to go. He'd said one year, and Katherine was clinging to that promise more desperately than anything.

Ten months. That was what Katherine was thinking of as she typed mechanically at her desk. She sat at the typewriter in her office, finishing the last sentence of a story she'd been following, when there was a knock at her door.

"Come in," she called monotonously, knowing her boss was probably ready to take her completed work to be printed, but instead of the usual, "Ready Mrs. Kelly?" that usually accompanied his occasional visits to her office, there was the creak of her door, and silence. Curious, she looked up from her paper to see Jack, standing there, still in his uniform.

"Told ya I'd be back soon," he said, a lopsided grin on his face. Katherine was stunned. She stood up from her desk slowly, muttering,

"You... You're here. You are... Why didn't you write me and tell me you were coming home early, Jack Kelly? Damnit!" She wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry, so she did both. "Get your ass over here Kelly!" He walked slowly to her desk, but Katherine met him halfway. It looked to her like it pained him to move very much. She flung her arms around his neck, and Jack stiffened and gasped sharply.

"Careful, Ace," he breathed.

"Oh!" Katherine took a step back, almost afraid that she might break him if she stood too close. She realized that he probably had a lot more injuries than he'd like to let on just yet, and she didn't want to hurt him.

"Mind if I walk you home, Mrs. Kelly?" He teased, offering her his arm.

"Not at all." She could feel the eyes of her coworkers on her and her husband as they walked out of the building, but then again, Katherine couldn't stop looking at him either. It was killing her to not know the extent of his injuries, and part of her just wanted to hear it and get it over with, but the other part of her knew that she was dreading finding out what lasting effects the war had left with him.

They walked most of the way home in silence, just enjoying each other's company and greeting the occasional passerby who happened to know them, but about a block away, in a narrow alley (their own personal shortcut to their apartment), Jack stopped in his tracks, seemingly near tears just from looking at her.

"Katherine, I... I just..." He paused, and then suddenly grabbed Katherine by the collar of her shirt-in a manner that could have been mistaken for violence because of how sudden and forceful it was, but was nothing but desperation and ten months of pent up emotions-and kissed her breathless, right there in the middle of the street. She wrapped her hands carefully around his neck, not wanting to hurt him. "I'm so sorry," he muttered between kisses, "I hated leaving you-I missed you so much Ace." His hand pressed into the small of her back, drawing her closer to him. Katherine couldn't remember ever kissing him like this, like she was afraid to let him go. It was his turn to cry now, his tears falling on her cheeks as he held her close to him. Neither one wanted to budge from that spot, and they stood there for what felt like hours in each other's arms. It was Katherine who eventually pulled away, both because she knew they needed to get home, and because she needed to breathe.

"C'mon," she coaxed, "I'm not going anywhere anytime soon," and started to walk the rest of the way to their building, Jack immediately following her, and letting her take his arm again.

"I didn't think you would be," he assured her with a laugh, "I just didn't think I could wait until we got home for that."

When they reached their small apartment, Katherine reluctantly let go of Jack's arm and whispered tentatively,

"Welcome home." She sat down on the couch, and Jack moved to join her, but paused, taking off his army jacket and shirt.

"I, uh, thought you should at least know," he said, turning around to face her, but avoiding her gaze as if he was afraid she'd be angry with him.

"Oh, Jack," Katherine breathed. His upper right arm was bandaged with a thick, white cloth; that must have been what she hit when she hugged him in the office, but it wasn't what she had gasped at. There were also several long, jagged, half-healed scars across his chest and stomach. She didn't want to know how he'd gotten them. She couldn't bear to listen to that.

"Couple of broken ribs too," he added. Jack sat down with her and pulled her into his lap, and Katherine let herself cry for a moment. She didn't know why she was crying, but Jack just held her as tears spilled onto his shoulder.

"This feels so surreal," she said, wiping away her tears. "I can hardly believe you're really here. I-I missed you so much."

"I missed you too Ace," Jack chuckled as he pressed his nose to her cheek playfully, "And I promise, I ain't ever leaving you again." She ran her fingers over his jaw bone, and was surprised to find another injury there. A long scar ran along the right side, and it almost seemed like there was an indent, as if a piece of his jawbone was missing there. Katherine looked up at him inquiringly and he smiled sadly at her.

"Oh, yeah, there's that too," Jack admitted.

"Jack Kelly," she threatened, feigning anger, but having a hard time not laughing at his-clearly faked-wounded expression, "You'd better not be hiding anything else!"

"I ain't! I swear," he laughed, putting his hands up.

"Good!" And with that she kissed him until she couldn't breathe again, running her hands over his scars lightly, wishing with everything she had that she could fix them. She wanted to heal them, she wanted to make them stop hurting him, but she didn't want to make them go away. They were a testament to him, and what he went through, and Katherine loved him even more for them. She was happy just knowing that Jack was home with her, and that he was safe.

Soon after, she fell asleep there, in his arms, and he carried her to their room the best he could with all of his injuries. When she woke up later that night, as she often did, Katherine found herself in her bed with her husband beside her, his bandaged arm draped loosely over her waist, breathing quietly.

"He's really here," she whispered to herself before falling back asleep, "He's here, and he's safe, and everything is going to be okay."

(To those of you who asked me if I was going to kill Jack, what kind of soul-destroying villan do you think I am? I could never do that to my lambs, they're too dang cute to be torn apart like that. I had trouble with just writing this much...

Which reminds me, if anyone can point out the one way that Jack is now more similar to Jeremy Jordan after this chapter, I'll dedicate my next chapter to you! I thought it was pretty clever... If you're stuck, go watch Jeremy's "Ask-a-Star" vidoe on broadway . com. That should help.

Again, please review! The ones I have gotten, while heartbreaking, have been wonderful!

Much love,
PrettyLittleMonster Xxx)