Chapter 1: Surprise!
Danny Walker sat up in his bed, his eyes wandering around the room, catching the sunlight as it came in through the window. This was it, the day when he and the rest of the guys in the squadron left for Hawaii. His first thought was how different this experience was going to be; his second was of Rafe, fighting in England. His best friend was off, fighting a war he had no business being in. He belonged here, with his girl, his sister and his best friend.
Danny rolled out of bed and into the shower; he dressed quickly in his uniform and threw the rest of his personal effects into his duffel bag. Running down the stairs, he ran into Allie, Rafe's little sister.
"Allison McCawley! What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to still be in Tennessee?" Danny dropped his bag and hugged her tightly. "How did you even get in here?"
She grinned, hugging him back. "That guy with the stutter, Red? He let me in when I said who I was. Told me your room was upstairs."
"Well, okay, but how did you get from Tennessee to here?"
"Well Danny, maybe you haven't noticed, but they've invented these things called trains. They move pretty fast. This one took me from Tennessee to New York. Amazing ain't it?" Allie laughed and picked up one of his bags. "Come on, don't you have a plane to catch? Hawaii?"
Danny stared at her. Snapping out of his daze, he picked up his other bag and led Allie out of the house. "What are you doing here?" He grabbed her arm gently and turned her to face him.
She looked down, avoiding his eyes. "Well, you remember how I was in nursing school? Training to be an RN?" He nodded and she continued. "Well, I finished last week…graduated. And…" she trailed off. Shaking her head and gathering her courage she said loudly, still looking at the ground, "I've joined the Navy Nurses. I'm heading to Pearl Harbor with you." She continued to stare at the ground, and after a few moments, she raised her eyes to see how angry he was.
Danny's jaw dropped and he shook his head. "You can't. Have you told Rafe? Does he know what you're doing? He'll kill you! And then he'll kill me for letting you get away with it. You can't do this Allie."
"It's too late Danny. I've already done it. There's no stopping now." She looked up again and met his eyes, hot tears forming in her emerald green ones. "Sooner or later we're going to enter this war and I don't want to be left out when we do. Besides, I want to be able to take care of the soldiers like the nurses over there might be taking care of Rafe." She took his hand, squeezing it lightly. "I promise I'll tell Rafe, once we get to Hawaii I'll write him a letter."
He gave her a look that said it all. "Danny, I promise! I wanted to meet you here first, and tell you. You knew I was in nursing school and so did Rafe. What did you think I was going to do? Just sit around and work on the farmers back home? Besides, now I can keep you company in Hawaii, it'll be fun! Sitting on the beach, swimming in the ocean."
Danny laughed at the thought of having fun while on duty for the army. "Alright you, but if Rafe yells, please make sure he knows I objected to this idea. I just don't like the thought of you anywhere they may be danger."
"I'll be fine Danny. I know how to take care of myself. Haven't I hung around you and Rafe enough? Ya'll got into more scrapes than I could count. I'm more than capable after fightin' with you two." Danny laughed again, this time because her southern accent had kicked in for the last two sentences. Allie smacked his arm just as Red came out of the house.
"Danny, we eh eh eh we're gonna be late if we don't hurry! Let's get goin'!" Red raced down the steps with his bags followed closely behind by the rest of the men.
Allie followed Danny down the steps and helped him get his bags into the waiting car. She stood on her tip toes and kissed his cheek. "I promise I'll come find you when I get there. Be careful, alright? I don't need to be patching you up as soon as I get there."
He took her hand and brought it to his lips, kissing the back. "Come on Allie, what trouble am I going to get into down there? My partners in crime aren't there with me. You two got me in trouble most of the time anyways." Pulling her in for a tight hug, he kissed the top of her head. "You take care. Have a safe trip, alright."
"You too." Allie stepped back as he got into the car and they drove off. She waved until the car was out of sight, and then slowly made the walk back to where she was staying with the other nurses.
VVVVVVVVVVVVV
"So, who was the girl Danny? She your girlfriend? Cause if she's not, I'd sure like a chance…" the group of pilots pestered Danny the entire ride to the air base.
"Look, she's not my girlfriend, and none of you are going to touch her. She's Rafe's little sister, and I think he'd kill ya if any of you try anything. Not to mention what I'd do to you." The guys got the message and resumed chatting about the nurses going to be down in Pearl.
"Hey, wait. Ain't Rafe got a girl that's a nurse? Yeah. Evelyn, right? Think she'd be able to hook us up with some girls down there?" Anthony asked. "Hey, Danny, you payin' attention to me?"
Danny shook his head, clearing the cobwebs. He had been thinking about Allie and how he shouldn't be this excited that she was going to be Hawaii with them. He wasn't supposed to think that way about his little sister. But she isn't your sister a voice inside him said.
"Guys, you've already met Evelyn's friends. Anthony, I believe Sandra turned you down, several times, right?" The guys snickered and Anthony's face turned a dark shade of crimson. She isn't related to you at all.
"Well, I'm sure there are more nurses in Hawaii than just them and Evelyn's bound to meet them. I'm sure she could introduce me to one…or a couple. I'll just ask nicely." Danny shook his head and resumed looking out the window.
VVVVVVVVVVVVV
"Allie, you're back! Where did you wander off to? I was getting worried." Betty caught Allie as soon as she walked through the door. "You need to pack. We leave early tomorrow morning."
Allie smiled and walked up the stairs to her room with Betty close on her heels. "So, where'd ya go?" Allie pulled her suitcase from the closet in a desperate attempt to avoid Betty's questions. The younger girl dropped down onto Allie's bed and leaned back, resting her head on the pillow.
Feeling her face blush, she turned away from Betty. "I went to see Danny. He didn't know I joined the Nurse Corp." She pulled clothes out of her closet and laid them on the bed, carefully folding them.
"Oh. How did he take it?" Betty picked up a blouse and began helping her fold.
"Well, he didn't yell like I thought he would. But he made me promise to tell Rafe, so I did. I said I'd write him a letter as soon as I got to Hawaii. The only consolation I have is that he won't be home for a while, so I don't have to worry about the scolding I'm going to get."
Betty stopped folding and looked at Allie. "Come on hon, cheer up! We're going to Hawaii tomorrow! Paradise! There are going to me so many men there!"
Allie laughed. "Is that all you think about? Guys?" She finished folding and moved on to her dresser.
"No. But it is a major part. Hey, is that guy Red going to be there? He's in Danny's outfit, right? He was kind of cute."
"Yes, he's going to be there. I met him this morning. Stutter's a bit though, doesn't he?"
"Sure, but it doesn't take away from his cuteness. Well, too much anyways." Betty jumped up and walked to the door. "I'll be downstairs. I've almost finished packing."
Betty walked out, leaving Allie alone to her thoughts. She sat down on her bed and clasped her hands together. "Please take care of Rafe and Danny. Please don't let anything happen to them. I can't lose either of them." She let the tears fall, dropping softly onto her white linen skirt.
AN: This is my first Pearl Harbor fic. The movie was on tv last night and I got inspired. Please review and let me know what you think. I have a whole story plan and if I get enough feedback I'll continue, but if not, I'll just delete it and finish for myself. Please review! Thanks!
:Muzical