~Best of wives. Best of women.~

~Chapter 3~

November 6th.

Alex smiled into the mirror, making sure his teeth were nice and pearly. His long black hair was freshly washed and put into a nice, low ponytail. His peach fuzz was freshly shaven and his uniform was nicely straightened. He's been working on his appearance since 7am and now it was almost 2 in the evening, but could you blame him? It's been 3 months since he saw the one woman that showed him what love is supposed to feel like. The woman that gave him a reason to come out of this war in one piece...The woman that showed him he's worth loving. Obviously, he would want to look his best. He tucked the pocket sized mirror into, well, his pocket, and looked around curiously. He hasn't seen John since he woke up, which was awfully strange.

"Nicely dressed, I see." Washington chipped in amusement.

He turned around to the husky voice of the general.

"What's the occasion?" asked Washington with a smile, looking at Alex's un-stained, cleaned uniform. Usually it was stained with mud or blood, and wrinkled. Alex smiled, looking down at his feet. "No occasion, Sir..." he shook his head and looked up at Washington, their eyes meeting. "I'm off to make a visit to the Schuylers." He smiled proudly, of course he would. He had every reason to be.

Washington nodded back. He was a good friend of Philip Schuyler and knew full well that Alex was currently in a relationship with his second eldest daughter.

"Give Mr. and Mrs. Schuyler my greetings" Washington said and Alex nodded as a response. The general walked away and so did Alex, walking back to his horse. Oakley was all rested and fed the previous night, yet he munched on the dehydrated grass. He got on the horse and looked up just in time to spot John, who finally appeared after going who knows where. He waved at the man, and the man spotted him in return. He walked over with a smile.

"Off so soon?" John asked with a smile and Alex raised his brows. "Soon? I fancy I'm late. Poor girl is probably getting ready to rest for the day" he joked, and John did chuckle, though he didn't find it particularly funny, just amusing.

"May I join you?" John asked while patting Oakley. Alex bit the inside of his cheek in thought. It would be selfish of him to not let John go. He got along nicely with the sisters, especially Peggy, the youngest. However, he was looking forward to spend the day with entirely with Eliza, alone. But he chose the former. "Yes, of course". John smiled at the response and made his way to his horse, named Adam.

As stated before, the Schuylers were merely 20 minutes away, but for Alex, filled with excitement, those 20 minutes felt like hours. When they finally made it to her family's land, his heart increased ever so slightly, if that was even humanly possible.

They finally passed through the metal gates.

The land in which the mansion sat on was big and spacious. It was surrounded by beautiful and vibrantly colored flowers. The grass was green and watered, even freshly trimmed. It was a rather peaceful sight to the two soldiers, who in that moment remembered that the world wasn't just black and white. But when you spend half of your time in dried out battlefields, deprived of any life, it was easy to forget that.

"One day, if God's willing, I'll have a piece of land as lively as this one" said John with a hum at the end, observing the beautiful garden.

"I've ever only seen views as breathtaking as this one in paintings. I forgot that the world had color" john breathed out a soulful chuckled.

The two men looked at each other and shared the same glint of sadness in their eyes. Alex smiled a little and rode the horse over to a tree, getting off and tying Oakley to it. John followed and mimicked his actions.