I sat up in the bleachers with Mrs Fields as we sat watching the academy of soldiers graduate from Cadet training. I was beyond proud of Emily, she achieved so much while at the academy and was ready for the call of duty to come any day. She was making her dream to be like her Dad become possible, I wish he was here to see her graduate today but sadly life had other ideas. Which is why Mrs Fields and I found it super important to be here today and watch Emily’s graduate.
We appalled and cheered when Emily’s name was called. She walked up on to the stage to receive her certificate and salute the Lieutenant general who had been overseeing the academy before returning to her position in line. Families and Friends were then told they could come forward to find their soldier and relieve them of their position by saying the simple phrase at ease soldier until then the soldier weren’t to move. Mrs Fields and I immediately made our way down the bleachers which was an annoyingly slow process but we eventually found ourselves in front of Emily, standing like the soldier she always wanted to be.
“At ease soldier,” I said before flinging myself into Emily’s arms. I cried into Emily's shoulder it had been a very long four years with very few breaks and chances to see each other. While this moment wasn’t always going to last because Emily would surely be shipped out soon, it was nice to be back in her strong arms even just for a little while.
“Have I ever mentioned that cargo really is your colour,” I say, making Emily laugh as she holds me even closer. Evidently it appeared Emily had also missed me. We had kept in touch with letters and by phone but it just wasn’t the same as holding each other.
“Hi Mum,” Emily said eventually letting me go to greet her Mum.
“Oh Emmy, your Dad would’ve been so proud,” Mrs Fields gushed, hugging her daughter extra tight. When Emily had decided that this was what she wanted to do in life, it hadn’t been easy for Mrs Fields or I. But at the end of the day, we knew this was going to make Emily happy and she needed to do this. And we certainly didn’t want her to be resenting us. Or thinking about the potential what ifs later on in life. This was just something that needed to happen. The three of us eventually made it over to the food stalls, where Emily introduced us to the few friends she had made as well as some of her favourite teachers. It was like old times again, when we were back in high school. However, this was the even more so grown up version.
Resting my head on Emily’s bare chest, I smiled at the shiny new dog tags that lay in front of my eyes. I could just make out Emily’s names. Emily had taken to wearing her Dads dog tags after he had passed away. So this wasn’t uncommon to me but it was nice to now see that these were Emily’s tags.
“Promise me, you’ll always come home to me, soldier.”
“I promise,” Emily vowed.
“Promise me, you’ll never write me a dear john letter and you’ll be waiting for me when I get home.”
“I promise,” I vowed back.
And we both kept our promises. Emily always came home whenever her service allowed her to and I was always there waiting for her with open arms. While the battle scars may have darkened Emily a little bit, she always remained the same person I fell in love with all those years ago.
The End.