Cain woke her up at dawn. They ran to the border and jumped into a car. From there, they kept switching cars until they crossed the twentieth border.

A helicopter was waiting for them in a field.

“Ready to dispatch, Colonel?”

“Aye, Captain!”

Cain looked up and whistled. The helicopter flew down.

Luann jumped up and down in excitement.

At last! Home!

“You look like a toddler going home, Lieutenant.”

“Oh, yeah?” She grabbed his hand. “Your heartbeat says you're excited too, Captain.”

Cain blushed and looked away. He jumped into the driver's seat.

“Whoa, you can fly a helicopter?”

“Who do you think will fly it?”

“Ugh. Condescending schmuck.”

“What’s that?”

“U-uh… intelligent schmuck.”

“Bratty headache.”

“What? Did you just evolve?”

“Nothing.”

The helicopter rose.

“Do you think the coup will go well?”

“We’ll leave it to them. I heard you even went the extra mile and burned one of the bases, Lieutenant.”

“Ahaha…” Luann laughed guiltily. “That… that must have been the wind, Captain. They had a cookout, and the wind blew something over.”

“Well, I guess they needed to thank the wind, then. The guy whose house we stayed in said it helped a lot.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Luann smiled.

A weird, warm feeling buzzed in her heart.

Cain’s walkie-talkie crackled.

“O-3, Cain here.”

“You’re coming home, Captain? With the Lieutenant?”

Cain grinned and put the walkie-talkie between them.

“She said it was the wind, Ian.”

“Whoa, that’s a cap! She was flying around like a squirrel, throwing fire everywhere, Captain. You should’ve seen it!”

Luann’s cheeks flushed.

“Do you know how she did it? She dropped a cigar—”

“HUSH! STOP IT!”

At this rate, she was going to get a demotion!

“Do you want to join us for dinner tonight?”

“Dinner?”

“Yeah. We’d call it a couple of rounds of drinks, but Captain doesn’t drink, so we call it dinner.”

Her eyes sparkled.

Cheap alcohol!

“Sure! Yes, I’m down!”

“Whoa. She sounded like she could outdrink all of us, bro.”

“Yeah, hahaha! The Lieutenant’s a monster!”

“Oh, wait, is the Captain joining?”

“I’m down.”

Ian exchanged glances with the others.

Cain said yes?

They cheered.

“We’ll see you both at six, then!”

The walkie-talkie beeped off.

Their helicopter lowered.

Luann looked around.

She had only been away for three days, but being back at the military base felt weird.

Cain handed her a flower.

“The base captain is waiting for you in his office.”

“Wait, what’s the flower for?”

“I found it on the ground earlier, and it reminded me of you.”

He walked away.

“It has been nice working with you, Lieutenant.”

Luann blushed.

Come on. He probably meant nothing by that!

Wait—

“It has been nice working with you”?

Was she really getting demoted? Fired??

She ran to the bathroom to tidy herself up—because she should at least look pretty on her last day at work—then hurried to the base captain’s office.

“Lieutenant Luann, here, Sir!”

The base captain stood up.

“Commander Luann, you mean.”

“P-pardon?”

He laughed.

“Congratulations on finishing your promotion mission, kid! From this day on, you’ll have to change that badge to Commander. Oh, and your payment has been sent.”

Luann stared at him in a daze.

Life sure loved to troll people.

She had been stuck in a remote area a while ago, almost dying.

And now… a promotion?

“Oh, and is that a flower from Cain? Is something finally going on between you two?”

“H-huh?”

“You should thank him too. He’s the one who pushed for your promotion. I did my part, but the superiors love him.”

“R-really?”

“Hey, stop standing there in disbelief before I demote you, Commander.”

“A-aye, aye, Captain!”

“Off you go, then.”

She saluted and strode away, still in a daze.

Just as she opened the exit door, a man pulled her arm.

She gasped.

Her attorney ex!

“You!”

“How dare you? You’ve been ignoring my calls for days!”

“Oh, I feel so sorry for myself! What right do you have to call me, huh?”

“I’m your ex—”

A hand knocked his away.

Cain stepped in.

“Hey! Aren’t you a military officer?”

“I am, but I have every right to step in, Sir.”

“And what right is that?”

“I’m her boyfriend.”

Her ex—and Luann—stared at him, both of their jaws dropping.

Cain gently pulled her away, and they walked into the parking building.

“But you’re not my boyfriend, Captain.”

“Can I be, then?”

“W-what?”

He stopped and turned around.

“Would I have the pleasure of being your boyfriend, Commander—”

She kissed him.

Cain closed his eyes and pulled her closer.

Coffee, lipstick, and hints of mint.

Luann wrapped her arms around him.

Cain flinched.

She playfully pecked his cheeks.

Suddenly, the door creaked open.

A fellow soldier stood frozen.

Other soldiers passing by stopped too, their jaws dropping.

“I-I’m sorry! Continue what you’re doing!”

“Wait, we’re not doing anything!”

“I’m sorry! I’ll just pick up my car later!”

The door slammed shut.

Cain and Luann choked.

They could hear the soldiers screaming inside.

“YOOO! CAPTAIN CAIN AND COMMANDER LUANN ARE DATING!”

Luann’s face went bright red.

“Closer to the bar. You can do it!”

Luann gritted her teeth.

“Like this?”

“No, closer! You should aim for better form rather than more reps.”

“Do you have a pull-up fetish or something?”

“N-no—”

Luann laughed and jumped down, kissing him.

“Just kidding! You’re hot in your workout clothes, you know?”

Cain blushed and turned his head away.

“How many reps do we have left, Captain?”

“It was on my mind, but then you kissed it away, Commander.”

“Awwww, look at you!”

Luann pinched Cain’s poor cheeks.

“You know, since we’re going to be on separate deployments for a year, do you want to go on an amusement park date?”

“Amusement park date?”

“Yup! We’ve always gone on workout dates. Though the wrestling date wasn’t bad—”

Cain’s face flushed red.

“L-let’s go to the amusement park.”

“Yipee! XD”

“Okay, so let’s meet—”

“What are you talking about? We’re going now!”

“H-huh?”

“But first, I wanna go on a shopping spree. You should get changed too!”

And before Cain knew it, they were at a retail store.

Luann was sitting on a sofa, her face locked in concentration. Cain went into the changing room, and every time she shook her head, he changed into another outfit and went back out.

Is this what it feels like to be Barbie?

Cain straightened his Hawaiian shirt.

Hmm, this is too—

Luann clapped her hands.

Cain jolted in surprise.

“It’s perfect! Some bright colors are all you need!”

“Don’t I stand out too much?”

“Pfft, what are you wearing, a battlefield uniform? We’re going to the amusement park!”

She dragged his arm toward the mirror.

“See? The green shades bring out your emerald-green eyes! Ooh, wait—put that smile on again! ACK! You look really handsome!”

Cain blushed.

“Do I?”

“YES!”

“Ahem. I’ll get this shirt, then. Let’s go to the cash—”

“Hey, a Hawaiian shirt should go with sunglasses!”

Cain’s lips flattened.

The same cycle repeated.

When Luann finally cheered at the tenth pair of sunglasses, he quickly walked to the cashier.

“Okay, let’s pa—”

“NO! You haven’t picked my outfit yet!”

“I—what?”

“Just sit!”

Luann pushed him down onto the sofa and rushed into the changing room.

He didn’t feel like he had much of a sense of fashion. A T-shirt and jeans would be fine…

What if the outfit he picked didn’t feel comfortable?

Or what if she didn’t like it?

“Cain!”

“The arms are too puffy.”

“Ta-da!”

“The patterns look a bit like carpet.”

“Wheee!”

“What are you, a chicken?”

“Hey! It’s elegant, okay?”

“Perhaps if someone else wore it.”

The changing room was quiet for a moment.

Cain gulped.

Did I hurt her feelings?

But it really did kind of look like flappy chicken wings…

The door creaked open.

“Do I look pretty?”

Cain’s heart thumped.

Luann twirled around in a bright pastel dress.

“Very… pretty…”

“Aww, really? This is my top choice too—”

“Never mind. You look like a misplaced princess.”

“HEY!”

“I caught that gaze!”

“You saw wrong.”

“Schmuck!”

“ADFJKSDFJLKSLKFDSLK!”

“SFHSJDKFJKSDJFSKJ!”

Luann giggled, clutching his arm.

“I thought you didn’t like it. How did you end up buying me three variants of it?”

“A-ahem. You seemed to look very comfortable in it.”

The two then ran to the amusement park.

They jumped onto the roller coaster and rode it ten more times, until a kid in line started crying about never getting a seat.

Then they ran to the haunted house and ran back out, with Luann almost choking Cain to death in panic.

They then ran to the photobooth.

Luann pushed a bear-ear headband onto Cain’s head. Cain protested, but ended up wearing it for the whole day.

They tried the challenges, with Cain inevitably obliterating every shooting game.

Luann giggled, trying to hold the gigantic teddy bear and popcorn prizes Cain gave her.

Cain looked at her.

One more gift… What would it be?

He smirked.

He dangled a keychain from her bag.

Luann screamed.

“WHAT THE HECK? THAT’S THE GHOST THAT SCARED THE HELL OUT OF ME IN THE HAUNTED HOUSE!”

“You looked kinda cute with it. The vibes matched you.”

They spent the rest of the day chasing each other around.

Somehow, the two managed to borrow a water gun, and they both got home soaking wet, laughing in the empty train.

“Are you cold?”

“A little.”

Cain put his jacket over her and gently patted her head, letting her lean against his chest.

Luann poked his cheeks.

Cain blushed.

“Wait, I love that pinkish blush. Blush again!”

Poor Cain blushed again.