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We got back and unloaded our gear. I went to the barracks and took a much needed hot shower. It camp, we had only been allowed three minute showers. The water had two temperatures, cold and cold. I stood under the scalding stream, letting the heat loosen my tight muscles and get two weeks' worth of grime out of my fir. I turned off the tap and shook myself off, sheets of water slapping against the walls. I stepped out of the small stall and finished toweling myself dry before walking back to the room.

"You've got mail," Teague told me as I walked through the door.

I looked to find a small stack of letters on my desk. Teague was in the middle of his own. I sat down and started to open the envelopes. There was a note from my old coach wishing me luck. My parents sent me a post card telling me that they were going to visit relatives for a couple weeks, but would be back by the end of BCT. The final letter was from. Traci. I opened this one eagerly and read through her familiar hand.

Dear Kirian,

Sounds tough. I'm glad I don't have to go through anything like that. The worst I'll have to do is some minor hazing to get into the sorority. I hope they don't work you too hard. No matter what happens, keep going. It may seem impossible, but I know you can do it. Never give up and especially never give up on your squad. They look up to you and you can't let them down. I miss you so much. I can't wait to see you again. The celestials will be in bloom again soon. I will watch them and think of you_ _

Good luck in the field,

_ Traci_

I read the letter through twice more. Always short and to the point, but I wouldn't take it any other way. I wanted to see Traci so much. Lights out was called and I had to go to bed.

The next morning it was back to five o-clock PT. Life on the whole had improved for us though. We were allowed time to shower and change before the flag rising. We marched to breakfast even instead of running. There was no more afternoon PT either.

After lunch, I went with my squad to get fitted for the uniforms we would be wearing for the best part of the next four years, our service dress. I was given the tell tale black pants and jacket, white shirt, and maroon tie. We also got black leather shoes, black hats, and a handful of pins.

During squad time, Lewis showed us how to wear all of the ranks and insignia. He also taught us how to shine our shoes and polish the brass. I could tell this was going to be more trouble than it was worth.

My guess turned out to be correct. Teague and I sat in our room trying to put everything on correctly. This was a pain in the ass. Every single pin had a specific, measured, placement."

"Ugh!" Teague shouted after a while.

"What?"

"This stupid nametag. I put it on and the one side is a sixteenth of an inch too low. I move the pin up one stitch, and now it's too high!"

I went to bed hoping everything was right because we had to wear the darn things tomorrow. Luckily only class Bs so I had a little more time to get my jacket ready.

Just as I had suspected, the next day was a uniform wear rape session.

"Your nametag is too low basic."

"Harper, why is your nametag so high above your pocket?"

"Basic, you shoes are scuffed."

"Fix your gig line basic."

"Harper cut that string off your pants."

"Why do you have a pen in your pocket? You're not supposed to put things in your pockets"

"Basics should always bring a pen to class."

Talk about a pain. Just when I think I have everything right, someone finds something new that's wrong. At least they couldn't drop us while we were wearing class Bs.

We spent most of our time in the classroom, or practicing marching. The final squad challenge was going to be a drill completion and we wanted to win. We ran through the routine so often that soon I could do it with my eyes closed, and dreamed about it at night. Any one of us could probably command it just as good as Lewis. The only problem we were having was our left wheel, but I was sure we could get it down by Friday when we would have to do it for the judges. I had the hardest job as the guidon barer because I had to learn all the flag procedures as well a marching.

An announcement was made that, the Friday after the challenge, we could be picked up to go off campus for the night as long as we were back by zero one hundred Saturday. My parents would still be out of town but Teague's family had agreed to take the squad out. I had considered joining them, but this was a chance to finally see Traci. It would be the first time in close to six weeks that I would be able to talk to her in person, and the first time I would be away from the squad.

Thursday night was spent getting ready. I stayed up with the squad in the lounge getting my uniform prepared. Lewis was there helping out. A victory would reflect on his training as much as it would make us look good. I sat in one of the chairs buffing the toe of my shoe with a cloth dipper. Trestan was having troubles with his jacket. He had to have a special uniform to fit his wings which meant the pins would have to be worn differently to mach ours. I watched as he finally got everything strait just as Taps was sounded. I bid everyone goodnight and walked back to my room with Teague.

"You think we'll win tomorrow?"

"As long as we perform as well as we did at practice today, I see no reason why not."

"How are you always so confident?"

"I have to be. If you're not confident in yourself, you'll make mistakes."

"Hmm, I never thought of it like that."

That night, I snuck out of the barracks. Talk about confidence. We were strictly forbidden from being out after Taps and getting caught could land me in front of the honor council. Normally, the light of the moon would reflect off my fir, but it was a new moon so the only light in the sky were the stars. If Traci was coming tomorrow night, I wanted to do something special. I ran silently up the mountain until I found what I was looking for. There was a small patch of flowers, there petals colored midnight black with pinpricks of light just like the sky above. These were celestials. They only bloomed at night and then only during a full or new moon. During a full moon, they would be white as my fir. I wanted them black though. They had been in bloom just like this when Traci and I had first kissed, and the flowers had always head a strange significance ever since. I picked a dozen of them, then, on a whim, I picked a thirteenth and snuck back into my room.

After breakfast we returned to the practice field for the drill completion. The order was decided by the number of points in the squad challenge. We were currently in second, so we would compete second to last. I watched as each squad ran the routine. I watched their mistakes. I ran though the commands in my head, the number of steps, the foot the movement was called on, and executed on. I was glad that I could remember it all.

Finally it was our turn. I stepped onto the field, and the squad fell in to my left. Lewis called the commands and we performed them perfectly. We returned to the front of the sage, presented arms, and waited to be relieved.

"Very nice second squad. Dismissed."

"Order Harms! Fall out."

We had done well, but was it good enough. We would find out tonight.

It turned out that it was. We didn't win the drill competition, but the squad who did had never placed, and second was good enough to give us the points to win overall. We would keep the ribbon, and all of us would become cadet PFCs when basic was over rather than cadet privates.

We left the auditorium, all admiring the plaque with our names on it that would hang in the cadet lounge. Back at the barracks, we were met by a crowd of people waiting to pick up their cadets. I told my squad mates that I was going to drop of the plaque in my room and meat them back here. I ran up to my room and grabbed twelve of the flowers I had picked last night. I had kept them in a bowl in my closet, the darkness doing more to sustain them than the water.

When I returned, I found the squad standing around Teague's parents. His dad, a fox who looked like and older Teague, except for the white, was nice enough. Ex military type. His mom, a snow white wolf, I liked a lot. She had been a post traumatic stress psychologist and had always been a bit of an outlet when I was having troubles.

"Coming with us Kirian?" she asked.

"No, I'm hoping to meet Traci."

"Ah." She gave a knowing look to the flowers.

"You never told us you had a girl friend," chided Trestan jokingly. "I'm hurt. I thought you trusted me," he added pretending to cry.

I shoved him and he laughed. Then I saw Traci edging through the mass. I waved her over. She was so beautiful. I didn't even care that the whole squad was there, I took Traci in my arms and kissed her passionately, tying to put how much I had missed her into that single gesture.

Tank whistled.

"Hey! Why don't you ever kiss me like that Harper?" laughed Jessica.

I didn't care what they said. The whole world could be joking about me and it wouldn't make a difference. We broke apart.

"Wow," Traci said a little breath taken, "you did miss me."

We left the others and I lead Traci around campus. She had loved the flowers as I knew she would. As we walked I told her everything that I hadn't been able to put into my three letters. We eventually ended up at the grove of celestials. We sat there talking, and occasionally sharing a kiss. Her company seemed to make everything in the world perfect. If this would have been the last time I ever saw Traci, I wouldn't have spent it any other way.

At a quarter till I walked her back to her car. She kissed me one last time, this time gently, expressing how much she had enjoyed seeing me tonight. As she drove off, I hurried back to my room. I had already been out of bound once in the past day, better not push my luck twice. I had talked about it before, but now that I was facing the reality of the situation, I don't know what I would do if I ever lost her.