Title: Travelin' Soldier

Author: Nebula

Chapter: 1 of 1

Rating: PG-13

Summary: A song-fic to the Dixie Chicks' "Travelin' Soldier". 
William and Elizabeth meet right before William has to leave for
war, and soon love abounds.  But destiny has a different course for
them to take...

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters *whimpers*, but Joss
shares.  That'll have to do.

NN: Okay, this was the very first Buffy/Spike story that I wrote. 
Have mercy, please.  ~_^  Dug up and out of the archives for your
enjoyment.  All italics are in 'these'.  Enjoy!

< --- >

  He shook his head and sighed.  He didn't want to do this.  He
wanted to stay home.  But that would make him a coward, wouldn't
it? 
  Who would care?  Who would care if he died overseas?  He had just
moved to town; didn't know anyone.  His family was long gone. 
They'd died and left him at such a young age.
  He gazed around from where he was sitting on the bench.  The skies
were an ominous gray, and all he wanted to do was cry.  No one would
care.  He would go to war, but he wanted someone to remember.  He
couldn't think of anyone. 
  He ran his hand through his brown, curly hair and sighed again. 
His dark blue eyes caught a café across the street.  The bus, he'd
just been told, had been delayed for another two hours.  He had
nothing else to do; might as well see if he could get something warm
to drink.

~*~
Two days past eighteen
He was waitin' for the bus in his army greens
Sat down in a booth in a café there
Gave his order to a girl with a bow in her hair
~*~

She didn't remember ever having seen him before.  He must be new in
town.  From his army suit, she figured he wasn't staying long,
either. 
"Elizabeth!  Guy at table four's yours," her co-worker said.  "I'm
taking a break."
  Elizabeth nodded, and grabbed her pad and a pencil.  She glanced
at the man again.  He looked so.scared, despondent, and utterly
lost, all at the same time.  He reminded her of her little cousin. 
He had always been shy, never wanting to talk to anyone, unless
someone gave him a little encouragement.  Maybe this guy was like
that, too.
  She walked over and stopped in front of him.  "Can I get you
something?"
  He nodded, glancing down at his hands.  Was he crying?
  "You look a little on the cold side.  How about a hot cocoa?  I'll
even throw in some little marshmallows for free."
  He glanced up at her, and nodded again.  He 'had' been crying. 
Tear lines ran down his face, and his eyes were a little red.  Not
knowing what to say, she just smiled.

~*~
He's a little shy so she gives him a smile
And he said, `Would you mind sittin' down for a while
And talking to me, I'm feeling a little low.'
She said `I'm off in an hour and I know where we can go.'
~*~

  He couldn't believe he'd just asked her that.  But she had seemed
so kind, and he did need someone to talk to.  Someone that might
remember him.  And for him, she was his last chance.
 
  She'd been right; all he needed was the right encouragement.  Her
little smile had done the trick.  He'd just asked her to sit and
talk with him.  For a few seconds, the question had shocked her into
not answering.  But the instant the image of his face from earlier
played in her head, she made up her mind.  She didn't think he'd
want to sit and talk about his troubles here, in a café with quite a
number of people around.  She knew a place that might soothe his
spirit and soul.  

  An hour later, just as she'd promised, she came back to his
booth.  She had two bags in her right hand and a thermos hanging
from her right wrist.  She took his right hand in her left, and led
him out of the café.  He didn't say a word; just allowed himself to
be led. 
  She reached her destination after a few minutes of weaving in and
out of the streets, and descending down a ramp of wooden stairs.
  She smiled and gazed out at the ocean.  She'd loved the ocean as a
child.  It was the best place to come when you were troubled, or
needed a pick-me-up.  She hoped it would help him, too.
  "Is this the place?" he asked.  She hadn't realized how beautiful
his voice was, or that it was British.
  "Yep.  The best place in the world.  You take your troubles, and
toss `em into the sea."
  For the first time since she'd met him, he smiled.  "Sounds like
good advice."

~*~
So they went down and they sat on the pier
He said `I bet you got a boyfriend but I don't care
I got no one to send a letter to
Would you mind if I sent one back here to you?'
~*~

  They'd taken off their shoes and dangled their feet over the
pier's edge, as he told her about him going to war, and about his
family.  She'd listened and found herself taking his hand in hers
again; giving him squeezes of reassurance when he sounded like he
was choking up. 
  He realized that she might be the one to remember him while he was
overseas, and for the first time in a long time, he felt a reason to
come back.  A reason to fight for his life in the war.  He had
someone he wanted to come back to.

  She'd blushed when he said that he figured she had a boyfriend. 
Her, Elizabeth, the girl who worked long hours?  Her, Elizabeth,
probably the most unpopular girl in school?  Yeah, right! 
  When he'd asked if he could write to her, her heart did something
she thought it could only do in fairy-tales: it leaped in her chest,
and she could hear it thumping in her ribcage, like she'd been
running too hard and had just stopped to rest.
  She nodded.  "But, ah, I wouldn't be able to write you back?"
  "Afraid not, pet."  His term of endearment made her blush
again.  "But it wouldn't matter to me.  Just knowing that you'd be
reading `em would be enough for me."
  She smiled broadly.  "Then I'll read away."

  He hadn't realized he'd been away for so long until he heard his
troop commander call in his troops with his bugle.  He took her hand
and pulled her to her feet.  "Thank you," he said, staring at the
ground awkwardly.  "You have no idea what this.I mean, how you've
made my." and then he stopped and continued to stare.
  She gave his hand another squeeze.  "Yeah, I think I kinda do. 
You've brightened my day."
  He looked up at her with surprise and happiness.  Holding hands,
they walked back to the bus.
  
  He was the last one on the bus.  Just as he was boarding, she
gasped.  "Wait!  I almost forgot," she said, handing him the
bag.  "Don't open it until you're well on your way, okay?"
  He nodded.  "Thank you for a lovely day," he said, his voice a low
murmur.
  "You have the address for your letters?"
  "Yeah, I got the address off the café window.  They'll have your
name on `em."
  She smiled.  The thought of a soldier thinking of 'her' overseas
was enough to make her heart speed up. 
  The bus closed its doors, as he took a window seat and propped the
window open.
  "I must say, these cookies are wonderful."  He grinned, smirking
slightly.
  "Hey!"  She attempted a pout.  "You were supposed to save those
for the trip!"  His grin was too contagious, and she quickly smiled
back. 
  The bus shuddered and started off.  She suddenly realized that
she'd forgotten to ask something.  She started to run, trying to
keep up with the bus.
  "Wait!  I never got your name!"
  He looked startled for a minute, then smiled softly.  "William,"
he said over the bus engines.  Then he was gone.
  She stopped running and watched the bus disappear in a cloud of
smoke.  "William," she whispered.  He was going to war.  He would be
all alone.  He might even get.her sight was blurred by tears that
began to leak out and spilled over her cheeks.  He would be all
right.  He had to be.

~*~
I cried
Never gonna hold the hand of another guy
Too young for him they told her
Waitin' for the love of a travelin' soldier

Our love will never end
Waitin' for the soldier to come back again
Never more to be alone when the letter said
A soldier's coming home
~*~

  Her co-worker just shook her head when Elizabeth told her about
William.  "Please, gal, don't tell me about fairy tales.  Heard `em
all.  Besides, you're too young for him.  He looked like he was
pushing thirty, and you're only seventeen!  Save yourself the
heartache."
  "What, you think he'll find some other girl overseas and run off
with her?"
  Her co-worker only gazed at her sadly.  "That's not the kinda
heartache I'm talkin' about."
  But Elizabeth only shook her head.  She wouldn't even begin to
think of that possibility.  She'd wait for that special newscast. 
The one that said the war was over, and he'd return to her.  A long
ways off, she knew that, but still, a girl could dream, couldn't she?

  The first letter came a week later.  He was in a camp, in Southern
California, just off the coast. 
  He told her that the food was awful (not half as good as those
cookies, thankyouverymuch, and maybe she was right about saving
those cookies until later) and that he missed her sunny smile.  "You
remind me," he wrote, "Of a beautiful summer day.  No, not like one
summer.  You're too bright and warm for just one summer.  You're a
thousand summers all thrown together."  Oh, but he did know how to
make her blush! 
  Then the letters stopped for awhile.  She'd sit and chew her
fingernails, watching for the mail to arrive.
  Finally, another letter came.  She gasped as she read where it was
from.  "He's in Vietnam?!?"  Her heart flew over the ocean in two
seconds and went with him, as she silently prayed for him.  He
wasn't training anymore.  He was in the battle.

~*~
So the letters came from an army camp
In California then Vietnam
And he told her of his heart
It might be love and all of the things he was so scared of
~*~

  Now the letters he sent weren't full of laughter. Instead, she
could visualize his tear-stained face and his pleading eyes as he
wrote and told her of the nights full of gun powder exploding.  Of
the men dying, right and left.  How he longed to see her again.  And
how much he cared about her.
  Her breath caught as she read the last paragraph.  "I realize that
I love you.  It hit me harder then the sounds of gunfire in my
ears.  I knew it the moment I saw your smile, but it didn't register
until now."  And then.

~*~
He said `When it's getting kinda rough over here
I think of that day sittin' down at the pier
And I close my eyes and see your pretty smile
Don't worry but I won't be able to write for awhile.'
~*~

  His simple poetry-like paragraph made her heart beat against her
ribcage again. 
  "What's he mean, he won't be writing for awhile?" her co-worker
asked, glancing at the letter over Elizabeth's shoulder.
  She shrugged, too happy to be upset at her co-worker's
curiosity.  "I don't know, but I know he'll be fine," she said
dreamily.
  But an hour later, as they closed up the café, his last words came
back to her.  "Don't worry but I won't be able to write for
awhile."  She wasn't supposed to worry, so why was she?  She wanted
to see him again; no, 'needed' to was more like it.  She missed
him.  She wanted to hold his hand and never let go.  She raced back
to her home, past her parents' confused looks, up to her room, and
fell onto her bed, crying with worry.

~*~
I cried
Never gonna hold the hand of another guy
Too young for him they told her
Waitin' for the love of a travelin' soldier

Our love will never end
Waitin' for the soldier to come back again
Never more to be alone when the letter said
A soldier's coming home

~*~
  She smiled as she watched her brother take the field.  He was the
quarterback, and quite proud of it, too.  One of the best athletes
in the school. 
  She stood as the flag came out, Stars and Stripes flying.  She
clasped her right hand over her heart and began to recite. 
  But her thoughts kept traveling back to William.  He hadn't
written in so long; where was he now?  Fighting for the same flag
that she was pledging to. 

~*~
One Friday night at a football game
The Lord's prayer said and the Anthem sang
A man said `Folks would you bow your heads
For a list of local Vietnam dead.'
~*~

  People bowed their heads and said their prayers as `When Johnny
Comes Marching Home Again' began playing from some unidentified
music source.  The man pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and
began to read the names. 
  She felt her stomach do flips as she nervously waited for the list
to be finished.  She recognized a few names, and watched as families
collapsed in tears and grief as the names of their sons or nephews
were read.  There was too much death.  Too many lives destroyed for
the war effort.  She closed her eyes and prayed.  Prayed hard for
his name to not be read.

~*~
Crying all alone under the stands
Was a piccolo player in the marching band
And one name read and nobody really cared
But a pretty little girl with a bow in her hair
~*~

  She stood there, numb, as his name was read from the list.  People
nodded, feeling sorry for another life taken.  But that was all.
  She stumbled off of the stands and started running.  She didn't
stop until she'd reached the pier.  Falling onto her hands and
knees, she began to sob.

~*~
I cried
Never gonna hold the hand of another guy
Too young for him they told her
Waitin' for the love of a travelin' soldier

Our love will never end
Waitin' for the soldier to come back again
Never more to be alone when the letter says
A soldier's coming.
~*~

  The spirit sighed.  The Powers That Be were not pleased with him. 
He was just a new recruit in the `Powers That Be' group, and he
didn't know too much about the world and the way it worked.  He
looked up at his teacher.
  "They ARE supposed to be together, you do know that, right?" he
asked, a little angry for the heartache that they were causing that
poor girl.  "People have died from a broken heart before."
  His teacher nodded slowly.  "Yes, I am fully aware of that. 
However, their love is not to be in this time.  They will find each
other in the future, trust me.  In the future, their love will save
the world.  So they must not be happy until then."
  "I still think," the younger PTB started, but his teacher cut him
off.
  "No more of that," his teacher said.  "To ensure that they meet, I
must go back to 1880.  They will be happy one day, I promise you
that."
  The younger spirit looked hopeful.  "You promise?"
  The teacher smiled.  "I promise."

~*~
I cried
Never gonna hold the hand of another guy
Too young for him they told her
Waitin' for the love of the travelin' soldier

Our love will never end
Waitin' for the soldier to come back again
Never more to be alone when the letter says
A soldier's coming home
~*~