Pitschen ma en gamba - Small, but powerful [A Band of Brothers Story]

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A/N: Hey guys, sorry for not updating yesterday. I worked at the local festival and only came home at 3 am... BUT: This is the last chapter that follows the series and because of your enthusiasm, we'll see more of Ella as she settles back into civilian life :)

Also, a massive thank you to my dear friend Lou for slipping into the role of Mitch L. Hoyt. You're awesome, man!

Days blurred together in a constant back and forth between training and boredom. The men found ways to occupy themselves and Ella was often found among them as they played sports, baked in the sun at the lake or played cards. The young girl's smiles were bright as ever and her cheerful, unassuming and easy-going persona brought light and serenity to wherever she was.

"Hey Nix!"

The friendly voice made the intelligence officer look up from the pictures he was leafing through.

"Hey kid", he replied. "Don't tell me Dick infected you with his morning swim obsession."

She chuckled and shook her head, making her unruly locks dance. "You have nothing to worry about", she grinned, "I'm just hiding from the boys for a bit."

His eyebrows creased in a puzzled frown and he asked: "Huh?"

The brunette set down her towel and kicked off her unlaced boots. "Vest showed me the latest newspaper he got in this morning. Turns out, some reporter has written an article about me. Complete with pictures and all."

Nixon blinked in surprise. "Uh-huh", he made eloquently before questioning: "And why are you hiding now?"

She sighed and, sending him a sidelong glance, admitted: "Because I really don't want to be present when George Luz decided to read out the article for the entire camp to hear."

He snorted in amusement. "Yeah. Makes sense."

Ella gave a hum of agreement and pulled off her PT shorts and T-shirt, revealing a simple dark blue swimsuit. "Exactly, so I'm gonna mentally prepare myself for whatever that reporter decided to write about me."

Nix shrugged. "Eh, if he wrote any crap, I'm sure people back home are gonna protest it", he assured her. "They're no longer buying the stuff the papers wrote about you at the beginning."

She didn't look convinced, but he could see that she appreciated the effort anyways. "Thanks, Nix", she said before diving headfirst into the cool lake.

***

Shaking his head in amusement, the dark-haired Captain went back to sifting through the pictures Winters had gotten from the regimental photographer. in one compartment of the accordion folder, he found a whole stack of photos showing Easy's girl.

A rare fond smile blossomed on his features as he studied them, one after the other. They weren't in chronological order, but there was a date stamp on the back of each picture, some going back right to the beginning, all those years ago in Toccoa.

There were pictures of her posing with the boys, all in their dress uniforms. There were some photos from celebrations and parties where she was dancing with her friends, radiant with joy. There was one picture of her at the infirmary, sleeves rolled up as she tended to a cut on a soldier's hand.

Nixon huffed a short laugh, recognising the Look she gave the man who had obviously injured himself doing something stupid.

His favourite picture out of the pile was easily the cutest, too, and it once again drove home just how young the small medic really was. The photo was a candid, clicked at the field camp north of Utah Beach where they had awaited passage to England after the month of fighting in Normandy.