We've Proven Our Love Over Time So Strong.

-Lisa’s POV-

Fourth of July weekend was here, which meant three great things for me. An extra holiday routine, two weeks left of this nightmare, and two weeks until I'd get to see Brian. One thing about the holiday had upset me: no fireworks. I'd always gone to see the fireworks, every year for my whole life, and this time I was missing them. On top of missing them I couldn't be with Brian to see them. Mail call came on a Friday night, and I had quite the stack of letters. One from Brian, one from each of his friends, and one from Valary. Like usual, I read Brian’s first.

(#19 June 24th) Dear Lisa,

Hey, baby. It was so great to hear your voice this morning. It brought out the child in me, that’s how happy I was. I did go back to sleep after it though, which also shocked me. I’m still counting the days until I get to see you. I have the flight booked and everything. I can’t wait to hold you again, even if it’ll be for a short while.

There’s nothing much new going on here. Same old touring, same old shows, same old everything. All the guys here with their girlfriends. It’s making me jealous. I keep thinking back to the last night we spent together. How we made love like that. It was a new experience to me too, and I can’t wait till we can do it again. Will we be able to when I’m there in a few weeks? I’ll have my own hotel room. Sorry if I sound pushy about it.

Anyways, being away from you while everyone else has their significant other...It hurts, but I'm getting used to it. I have my nights though where I don't think I'm going to handle it anymore. Those nights I usually have to drink until I pass out, and then I'll wake up feeling better. Please don't take that as a sign that I want to end the relationship, because I don't. I wouldn't dream of it. I love you so much and I always look forward to the day when I’ll be able to hold you in my arms, and that helps me feel better.

I always want to write, but I’m starting to run out of things to say with how often I’m actually writing. The guys wish they could be there too to watch you graduate, but we obviously have a tour going on so that can’t work. Matt's the most jealous, because he's always interested in anything that has to do with Military. I told him I'd take a lot of pictures to show him. I hate having to cut these letters short now, but soon, very soon I’ll be able to hold you again. I love you.

Love, Brian

His letters always made me smile, and in two weeks I’d be able to run into his arms and hold him. My heart did sink when I read about him being so hurt by being so far away from me. I knew if he felt so strongly about me, he'd be fine. I also knew he had his friends to help cheer him up. The rest of the letters from the guys were the same usual ‘hi how are you, how are you doing?’

Seeing one from Valary caught me by surprise. I was a little afraid to read it, because I never really met her, and Brian’s ex was her sister. I somehow pictured the letter being something hurtful to me. I hadn't met Valary before I left, but being a fan of the band, I knew a bit about her, and I thought she seemed cool. I was excited to get the chance to meet her eventually. If I ever had to see Michelle though, I don't know how that would turn out. It would be awkward, but hopefully there would be understandings before that ever happened. With a small 'hmph' I tore open the envelope and read the letter.

Dear Lisa,

I know we never met, and I'm sure your first thought right now is that I'm going to be a bitch to you or something, but I'm not. Of course Michelle is my sister, but that doesn't mean I have to always be on her side. She did hurt Brian, and their relationship is over. I've talked to her about it, and agreements have been made. She knows that Brian is happier now.

Anyways, I’m writing to thank you. I’m sure you may have gotten this from the others, but maybe it’ll mean a lot more coming from another girl. I haven’t seen him this happy in a while, and I can tell that he is genuinely happy with you. I can tell that he loves you very much. He misses you a lot, and is really excited about coming to see you in a few weeks.

Thanks for making him be more alive again. For making his life better. I can't wait to meet you eventually, because I can see us becoming good friends. Hope you’re doing well and everything’s going smoothly. Take care. This is a great thing you're doing.

-Val

I fell asleep that night with a smile on my face. I was happy that I made his life better, as well as feeling the same happiness that he made me feel. Two more weeks I needed to count down and I’d be able to hold him, to run into his arms and hug him.

The next holiday routine that came up, I wrote short letters, but spent most of it sitting in thought. I held a picture of Brian that he mailed me. Held it, thinking of the day I’d be able to see him.

“Breezy! Who’s that?” I heard my nickname and I turned to see my bunk-mate sit down next to me.

“Boyfriend,” I simply stated.

“Oh really? He's a cute one. Looks very...rockstar-like.”

“That’s because he is actually. I don’t tell anyone for obvious reasons. I met him a month before I left, and somehow he and I fell hard for each other.”

“Aww, cute! Miss him a lot don't you?” She asked as she took off her boots and grabbed her shoe-polish kit.

“A lot. He’s coming to the graduation, and I can’t wait. They’re on tour overseas, but he’s still coming.” I smiled as I did the same thing.

“Aww how sweet.”

“Yep. I'm excited.” I began smoothing the black polish onto the toe of my boots.

“But wait, if he's in a band, that means he tours, and we’ll eventually go on deployments for months at a time. That’s going to be rough on you guys.”

“Yeah I know. We’ll figure it out though.”

“Well hopefully it all does work out.”

“Thanks, Gibbs.”

We talked the rest of the time, showered, shined boots, discussed what the upcoming week was going to bring. Learning firefighting and damage control, along with getting tear gassed. All leading into our final physical fitness test. Then after our last weekend here, we were going into the last written exam and then Battlestations where we take everything we learned and apply it to a ship's emergency. It was an event that was going to last all night long. We'd be up from Wednesday morning until Thursday night. Thursday we'd have graduation practice, and the next day would be graduation. The times coming were jam packed, and it was exciting.

I was still sick, but slowly getting better. I mulled over the rest of my experiences here. Shooting guns was by far my favorite. It was something I never knew I would do in my entire life. I had some memories here, good, bad, and some ugly. I laughed, I cried, I wanted to break mirrors and cuss people out, but now that I’m coming down on the end of Boot Camp, it was a great feeling.

Soon I would be going to San Antonio for what they call 'A School' to learn about the job I picked. I was going to train to be a Master At Arms, or MA as we said it. Every job, called a 'rate' in the Navy had it's own abbreviation. I was looking forward to the school, except for getting pepper sprayed. After that though I knew we were going to shoot more guns and learn hand-to-hand combat skills, so I was excited about all of that. I wouldn't complain about being trained to be a badass. All I had to do was get through these last two weeks of Boot Camp and I was good. I couldn't wait to be doing something worthwhile.