Last Duty

33

"What do you mean a mission?" Jane asks

I take Ethans hand and give it a squeeze.

"It's just for a few days" Ethan tells her

"You better not be going" my mom says

"I'm not" i say on edge slightly and Max notices and he sits infront of me protectively

"Where are you going?" Jane asks

"Iraq" he says

"Your not going" Jane says automatically

"Yes I am, it's my career. It's my life" Ethan says

"No, your meant to be having a year long break. Why can't it wait six months?" Jane asks

"Because this person they are hunting down will turn into more of a threat and he will kill more people and build up a to be a bigger threat. They have to take him out whilst they can" i say answering for him

Jane scoffs, "Bullshit. Your telling me that if they called you up right now and said they need you you'd go just like that? Pick up your things and go?"

"Yeah, I would actually" i say, "you don't get it, we work in a team. We do our jobs to save lives, if they ring me and they need me. I'll go. It's as simple as that"

"Your both brainwashed" Jane says

"Brainwashed?" Ethan scoffs

"We are not brainwashed, we love our jobs. We do, you may think it's stupid or dangerous that we are risking our lives everyday when we're on deployment but we are risking them for you. For you, so you don't have to live like they do" Ethan says

"You don't know what they live like, Taliban coming into their villages shooting them everyday. Their own people, their families and friends. Broken and destroyed homes, homelessness. These people have seen everything, and lost everything. Just like we have. They live in a war zone, we just have to help them as much as we can. We might not be able to help everyone but as long as we help at least one person by making their life slightly better, that's good enough for me" i say and Ethan nods

"You don't realise how fucking lucky you all are, to have a home to go to. To have food to eat, to have medical care. To be safe, you have everything. But still you sit here, judging us, for our lives, for us wanting to help people. We aren't delusional" Ethan says, "you are"

"Now I'm going in January whether you like it or not and there isn't anything you can do about it. You need to trust that I know what I'm doing otherwise it's going to be hell for you whilst I'm away" Ethan tells them

Jane nods and sighs, "alright"

I look up at Ethan and he smiles at me and i smile back.

"Excuse me young lady, what do you mean you'll go back if they ask you to?" My mom asks and I cringe

"Look mom, if my platoon needs me I'm going. Their my priority" i say

"What about us why aren't we your priority?" She asks me

"Look, they are my family-"

"We're your family Eden" my mom says annoyed

"But mom" i begin and she shakes her head

"No, Eden your not going back. That place has destroyed you" she says crossing her arms

"No, it's not destroyed me. They are my family, we've been through everything together" i say

"So have we" she says

"No!" I shout, "we haven't. Come on mom, we were never close. After you split with dad, you were a wreck. I practically raised Casey and Zac. My job is what I love, we've been through bigger problems then a fucking divorce"

The room freezes.

I think... I know I've maybe overstepped there.

"Is that how you feel? Did you join the army to get away from everything?" She asks me

"I joined the army because I wanted to make a difference, plus there's nothing keeping me here. I've found myself out there. Yes I've experienced shit, but I've met some incredible people and I've had the best time of my life. So yes that's how I feel but I didn't join to get away. I joined for a new start, to do something for myself. Platoon out there became my family, my friends, my boyfriend" I say glancing at Ethan

"and my best friend" I say glancing at Max, "so mom you can't control me, you can't tell me to not go. Whatever happens on tour, literally stays on tour"

"That's the thing, you don't talk about it!" She says, "that's the problem"

"Actually, she does talk about it" Ethan says

"Oh so you'll talk to your boyfriend about it and not me?" She asks angrily

"Yeah, I fucking will. He understands mom, unlike you. You think you understand but you don't, I can tell him everything whereas with you. I can only tell you a small part, cause I don't want to upset you. So mom, before you judge I have been talking about it, with Ethan and on psych assessments that you don't know about. Plus, Ethan was the one to rescued me, he talks about it too. It wasn't just a traumatic experience for me, it was traumatic for everyone. So there are you happy?" I snap

She doesn't say anything.

I glance around the room, everyone sat there in silence.

Some party this is.

"I'm going to get some air" i say

I stand up and walk outside to the front of the house, Max following instantly.

I close the door and stand next to Ethans car and I kneel down to Max, "why is everything such a fucking mess?"

"Eden" Ethan says and I stand up

"I can't do anything right can I? I fuck everything up, I had to blow the situation up didn't I?" I say annoyed and he hugs me

"You didn't do anything, our moms were both out of line tonight, God only knows why" he says and i chuckle slightly

"Did you think I was out of line?" I ask him

"No, I was thinking it too. You just have more guts to stand up to your mom that I do to mine" he says and i nod

"I can't stay here" i say

"What do you mean?" He asks me

"I need to go somewhere, do something different. It's killing me, I need to get back out there" i say and he smiles slightly

"One of the lads, Sam, has a cabin in Alaska. He's not using it, how about we go there for Christmas?" He asks

"Are you being serious?" I ask smiling

"Of course I'm being serious, we can go skiing and see the northern lights. Come on it will be so much fun" he says with a big smile on his face

"We can bring Max!" He says and I giggle

"Yeah" i say nodding, "let's do it"