"Oilei Pete na luvequ ? isa noqu ka talei, cava beka na leqa, isa na luvequ (My dear son Pete, my precious ... what went wrong my son)."
Her voice filled the home in which she had raised her son every time she looked at his picture.
Fifty-two-year-old Litiana Tuisavura, the mother of Guardsman Apete Saunikalou Tuisavura, was a torn woman at her Nauluvatu home in Nakelo, Tailevu, as condolences flowed in from abroad and around the country yesterday.
Guardsman Tuisavura, a Fiji national serving in the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, and two others - Craig Andrew Roderick and Warrant Officer Leonard Perran Thomas of the Royal Corps of Signals - died on Saturday after they were gunned down while on duty at Checkpoint Kamparack Pul in the Nahr-e Saraj District of Helmand Province.
Mrs Tuisavura said her only wish was to hold her son once more.
She said her last word with her son was on Friday, June 29, when he promised his mother he would call her back on Monday morning to discuss his birthday celebration in England on July 16. It was to be her saddest morning.
About 6am, she heard a knock on the door.
She opened it to see senior officials from the British High Commission and knew straight away something was wrong.
Mrs Tuisavura said she tried hard not to believe them because of her last conversation with her son.
She said it was too early and every time she questioned God why it happened.
She said the world had come to an end and the most beautiful gift in her life was taken away in a blink of an eye.
The late Guardsman Tuisavura resigned from the Ministry of Agriculture in 2009 to join the Royal Navy in the UK.
He joined the British Army after he failed to pass the Royal Navy training.
Mrs Tuisavura said her son was her favourite because he put smiles on everyone's face despite the circumstances they faced.
Apete, the third eldest of nine siblings, was described as a "kind and very generous young man".
Mrs Tuisavura said his wonderful smile and relaxed attitude would be greatly missed by those who knew Apete from his childhood.