Chapter Two - Aloha, Hawaii

February 11, 1941 - Afternoon
Pilots' Barracks - Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

Danny emptied one of his bags onto his bunk and began sorting through his clothes, separating what to put in the small closet space each man was allowed from the clothes he could put into drawers. Billy, on the other hand, was simply tossing all of his clothes into a set of drawers, not bothering to separate or fold them.

It had been three weeks since Rafe had left to join the Eagle Squadron in England, and Danny had never felt lonelier in his life. Rafe and Danny had never spent more than a day apart since they had known each other, and Danny hadn't realized how big a part of his life their friendship was until now. He virtually had no one to hang out with, no one to confide in, no one to just be around and feel like he was at home.

Of course, his army buddies had done their best to keep his spirits up. On the long ride to the West Coast of the mainland, Billy and Anthony had kept him cracking up with their hilarious stories of their teenage years. On the ship that took them from San Francisco to Oahu, they had all made it their mission to rag on Red as he obsessed over his separation from Betty, the young nurse with whom he'd spent all of two days in New York.

Now that they were finally at the military base in Pearl Harbor, which was to be their station indefinitely, Danny tried to keep up a more positive outlook. He was determined not to let Rafe's departure scar him completely--this was Hawaii, for crying out loud. Danny looked up and saw Red holding up a rather loud tropical shirt for the others to scoff at. It looked as though his friends weren't having any trouble getting excited about being here. It was, after all, paradise.

Billy finally finished shoving his clothes haphazardly into his dresser and tried to shut it, though the bulging drawer refused to go all the way in. He gave a few more attempts at rearranging the contents, but it completely obstructed the drawer's ability to close. Throwing up his hands, he left the drawer the way it was and flopped down onto his bunk. "So, what's the plan for tonight?" he asked his pals.

"The plan for what?" Anthony asked, just coming in from outside of the bunkroom.

"Come on, fellas, we are in paradise!" Billy insisted, hopping up onto his bunk to address the group. "We should be living it up. Didn't you see the bars and pubs we passed on the way over here? Not to mention the untapped collection of ladies all over this island, who'd love to get close to a man in a spiffy uniform..." He held out his arms toward his friends expectantly, but was met with amused stares.

"Be serious, Billy," Danny said, placing a neatly-folded button-down shirt in his drawer. "May I remind you that we are officers of the U.S. Army. We already have a purpose here, remember?"

"Now, not so fast, Danny," Anthony interjected. "Our pal William here may have a point. There's nothing in our job description that says we can't mix in a little fun with our work."

Danny shook his head, smiling, as his friends proceeded to discuss their plans for the evening. They had only been at Pearl Harbor for a few hours, but it was already beginning to feel like home. Aside from the picture-perfect atmosphere and seemingly endless expanse of beaches, the locals seemed like a friendly bunch, as well. After a short briefing from the stationed commandants and a quick introduction to a few of the local "pilots"--including Gooz, a nice guy who seemed to be more interested in his new surfboard accessory than in airplane maintenance; Gooz's pal Joe, who was clearly tired of hearing about Gooz's surfboard plans; and Earl, a sort of rough-and-tumble guy who worked mainly as a mechanic--they had been sent to their barracks to get settled in to their new lodgings. Since it was just their first day here, and it was well into the afternoon by Hawaii time, they were free to spend the rest of the day as they pleased. And his friends did make a good point. Why shouldn't he go out and have a good time?

Nurses' Quarters - Pearl Harbor

Evelyn stood on the porch of her new temporary home, surveying the view in front of her. The other nurses were inside, arguing good-naturedly but without much progress about how they were going decorate the still rather plain dwelling. They had arrived at Pearl Harbor earlier in the day, greeted by an overeager welcome wagon of sailors aboard the navy ship the girls' barge had passed. Evelyn had tried to be as excited as the other nurses were about being here, but her efforts were in vain. She hadn't been particularly excited about anything in the past three weeks. She missed Rafe desperately, and she could barely concentrate on anything else.

Evelyn sighed, leaning against the railing and looking over the harbor in the distance. It was strange, and yet so frustrating, to be so far from Rafe and at the same time feel as if he were still close by. Thousands of miles away, he was never too far from her heart. This must be what true love feels like, she thought, smiling wistfully.

Lost in her thoughts, Evelyn didn't notice as Betty opened the screen door and approached her from behind. "What are you doing, Ev?" Betty said, startling Evelyn out of her reverie.

"Oh, just thinking," Evelyn said, smiling at her friend and roommate.

"About Rafe?" Betty teased, nudging her gently with her elbow and flashing a knowing smile.

"Yes, about Rafe," Evelyn replied.

"You really miss him, don't you?" Betty said, idly tapping her foot against the wooden support rail.

Evelyn smiled a little, remembering how happy she had been the night before Rafe had left, how content she'd been in just being with him. "Yeah, I do," she said. "It's been awful not having him be able to get in touch with me for the past few weeks."

"Well, he'll be able to start writing you in a while," Betty reassured her, "once everything gets settled down here. He couldn't very well send you letters while you were on a train going across the country, could he?"

"Of course not, silly. I just miss it--him--everything."

Betty nodded. She was young--she couldn't say she understood just how Evelyn felt--but she knew more than anyone of the disappointment and pain that ensued when someone you cared about left. Of course, neither Evelyn nor any of the nurses knew about that.

"So," Evelyn said, forcing herself to brighten up a bit. "How's it going in there?"

"Oh, it's more or less coming along," Betty said, biting her lip to keep from laughing.

"Barbara and Martha are still having at it?" Evelyn guessed.

"Yeah. Those two are so stubborn. It'll be hours before they get to agreeing on anything--if that'll ever even happen."

Evelyn rolled her eyes. "Most likely not." She glanced at her watch, which she'd switched to Hawaii's standard time just a few minutes ago. "Wow, it's only four o'clock. What are we going to do for the rest of the day?"

"I know exactly what we're going to do," Betty said, a devilish grin on her face. "Didn't you see all those sailors waving at us when we got here? I say we head on over to one of those clubs or bars or whatever and have a little fun!"

Evelyn smiled and shook her head. Betty really did have a one-track mind; men were never far from her thoughts. She wished she could have that kind of youthful energy. Betty turned and went back inside as they heard more heated arguing from Barbara and Martha, Sandra trying vainly to reason with both of them. Evelyn was left alone. She sighed, turning her attention to a pair of birds that circled down from a tree in the yard. Alone.

February 14, 1941 - Afternoon
Military Base - Pearl Harbor

Drill Sergeant Murphy was a no-nonsense type of fellow. If he had had any sense of humor at all, it was clear he'd had it surgically removed early in life. As such, he had no patience for goof-offs, jokesters and the like. And every time a new batch of recruits arrived at the base, he found that there were at least a half dozen in the bunch that needed to be whipped into shape. This latest group was no exception.

He had pegged immediately that Thompson and Fusco would need some extra attention--his own special brand of attention that tended to make even the roughest and toughest of pilots cry. Those two hadn't stopped chattering and goofing around since he'd begun running their drill practices the day before. The other pal with them, Winkle, the one everyone seemed to call Red, wasn't much better. He was one of the clumsiest recruits he had ever had the misfortune of leading. But at least the three of them knew their way around a plane, he grudgingly admitted.

It looked like Walker was the only one taking his duties seriously. At least, he was the only one who had the decency to actually look like he was paying attention to him when he was running practice, and did the field exercises without rolling his eyes first or making a snotty remark under his breath and thinking that he, Murphy, couldn't hear it. Murphy thought for a moment about approaching Lieutenant Walker about running a few drill practices with him, get some leadership experience over the recruits. Nah. Murphy liked to do his yelling at people on his own.

Danny wouldn't have accepted the offer anyway. Not that he didn't sympathize with Murphy's frustrations. Danny fought the urge to roll his eyes--which he often did around his friends--as Billy and Anthony continued to argue over whose barrel-roll technique was more favorable. They'd been debating this for months. He shook his head ruefully as he followed them across the tarmac back to the barracks, drill practice finally over for the day.

As much as he liked his friends, even when they annoyed him as much as they were now, he still missed his best friend more than he ever would have thought. He really didn't have anyone to talk to, and the loneliness was getting to him.

Red caught up with him just then--he always seemed to be lagging at least ten feet behind. "Hey, you want to come with us to the Hula-la tonight?"

Danny glanced over at him. "Red, we just went there for dinner last night."

"I know." Red smirked at him. "But I like it over there. They got good food."

"Hmmm," Danny said, unconvinced. "Betty's going to be there tonight, isn't she?"

"Well … maybe." Red always seemed to blush whenever anyone mentioned Betty's name. The thought amused Danny.

"Red, why don't you just ask her for a date?" Danny said. "I think she likes you; she'll say yes. Besides," Danny continued, shooting him a knowing glance, "isn't today Valentine's Day?"

"Is it? I plum forgot!" Red feigned surprise.

Danny laughed. "Come on, Red, just ask her."

"Oh, I--I don't know. We just met. You don't know she'll say yes." Red paused. "Do you think she'd say yes?"

Danny gave him a good-natured smack on the shoulder. "Just … ask … her."

Red stopped in his tracks as he mulled over the idea, as Danny followed the rest of the guys up the steps to the barracks. Danny was just at the door before he noticed that Red was still standing in the middle of the sidewalk, staring at nothing. Danny shook his head, smiling, as he continued on into the building. Red really had it bad for this Betty. Danny was happy for his friend. It was great that he had someone in mind, someone who he was obviously crazy about and who seemed to be just as interested in him. Danny hated to admit it to himself, but he kind of wished he had the same thing for himself. It was awfully lonely being alone.

He decided then that he would join his friends at the Hula-la that night for the Valentine's Day festivities. How could he be alone when he had his friends?

Hula-la Bar - Pearl Harbor

Danny sat down by himself at a small table by the bar, absentmindedly stirring the straw in his Mai-Tai. So much for not being alone. His friends had practically abandoned him at their table from the moment they'd arrived, off to the bar to saunter up to the few young ladies who were in attendance. Not that Danny minded all that much. He kind of relished the quiet time. Not that there was much quiet time at the Hula-la.

The Hula-la Bar wasn't much different from any of the other bars he and his fellow pilots had frequented on their nights off during training in New York, with the obvious exception of the bamboo- and straw-woven furniture, palm fronds scattered every which way and the lilting strains of Hawaiian music coming from the phonograph. The bar wasn't the least bit busy tonight; most of the sailors, pilots, and naval crewmen had taken their girlfriends--or enticed some poor unsuspecting gal whom they'd picked up in town--out for the evening. The Hula-la wasn't exactly a place for couples. Today being Valentine's Day, it was practically empty.

Danny wasn't the only man on the island without a date for the evening; there were a few sad, cynical souls in the bar. Fortunately, all of his buddies happened to be free that night, also, and were trying to make the most of the evening without women. So far they were pretending to be successful.

Anthony came over and grabbed a seat across from Danny. "This must be the most depressing night of my life," he said, signaling for a waitress. "I can't believe it's Valentine's Day, and I don't have a date. I do not have a date."

Danny took a long sip from his drink and waited. He knew Anthony was just getting started.

"I mean, it's like a parallel universe or something," Anthony continued. "It's unprecedented. I'm actually scared, Walker--if something like this could happen, there's no telling what this world is capable of."

Danny rolled his eyes. "Well, at least you're handling it well."

Anthony nodded in agreement. "That's one thing you can say about me--I never take anything too seriously."

"Uh-huh."

Red and Billy were on the other end of the room, trying to coax a few sailors into a game of poker. The two had learned some new tricks from some of the other guys in the barracks and were dying to sucker someone out of a few bucks. Several officers were trying to flirt with the waitresses, who hardly paid them any attention. The atmosphere was light-hearted and jovial, and everyone was having a good time, but Danny wished he'd just stayed home.

... ... ...

You could say this for Betty's one-track mind about men--she always knows the boys are. After some sleuthing and prying from the more senior nurses, she had quickly deduced that the majority of the sailors and soldiers spent their free nights at the Hula-la Bar--so it naturally stood to reason that she and the rest of the girls make a beeline to the bar to make their grand entrance right away, and what better time for said grand entrance than on Valentine's Day?

"Do you think Red will be here?" Betty asked Evelyn as the two walked a few steps ahead of their friends as they made their way down the path to the bar.

"Probably," Evelyn replied, surveying the scene ahead of them. The bar was usually packed to overflowing this time of the evening, but tonight it was barely half-full. She figured most people were out celebrating the holiday with their sweethearts. The thought made Evelyn's heart ache.

The girls had practically shoved her out the door earlier when she had initially turned down their invitation to join them for a night on the town. She didn't really want to go out--it was Valentine's Day, and when she should have been her happiest she couldn't remember feeling any lower in her life. She finally had a wonderful, absolutely adoring man to love, and here she was on February 14th all by herself while her love was on the other side of the planet.

But in the end, she agreed with her friends that life must go on in some form or another. Sitting around missing Rafe wasn't going to make the time go by any faster, and so she'd twisted her hair in a loose French braid, put on her new blue dress and her best fake happy face, and accompanied her friends as planned. Much to her surprise, as she and the girls pranced the streets of Oahu on the way to the bar, she found her mood perking up considerably. It was hard to stay in a sour mood in a paradise like this. She had been able to get into a somewhat energetic mood for the first time in weeks, and she thought that was quite an achievement.

"So what do you think the odds are I'll get lucky tonight, huh?" Martha questioned the group.

"What are the odds that the Earth will fall out of orbit?" Barbara countered.

"Ooh, good one. You're just jealous 'cause you haven't had a man in months," Martha retorted.

"Excuse me," Barbara said indignantly. "May I remind you that a certain soldier and I got very friendly back in New York."

"Ah, yes, the famous Billy," Betty chimed in. "So what exactly is going on between the two of you? You haven't talked about him since, you know ... the morning after ... you know ... And then you had plenty to talk about."

Evelyn finally decided to speak up. "Barbara, why are you talking about things like that with Betty? First of all, it really shouldn't be anybody's business but your own. And second, she's just a kid."

"I am not a kid--" Betty began.

"So, what's the big deal?" Barbara said over her. "It's not like it's anything she hasn't heard before. And in answer to your question, Betty, I'm just keeping the poor boy at bay. You know, making him sweat a little. I'll reel him in when I'm good and ready."

"Which will be...?" Martha prompted.

"The next time I see him," Barbara laughed.

Evelyn laughed along with the rest of the girls at Barbara's impudence. Sandra nudged her gently in the ribs, nodding back at their friends. Evelyn smiled in agreement--the girls really were like a gaggle of geese sometimes.

The girls arrived at their destination, the Hula-la, and were immediately greeted by the admiring stares and coaxing smiles of the men inside. Evelyn recognized several of Rafe's friends off in one corner of the bar. Barbara sauntered over to Billy, pretending to be surprised to find him there. Anthony noticed their entrance and tried to push Red in their direction, seeing how he was staring after Betty, but Betty met him halfway near the far side of the room. Betty smiled encouragingly at him; his cheeks turned almost as red as his hair.

Martha dragged Evelyn and Sandra over to the bar in the middle, flopping down onto one of the stools and flagging down the bartender. Evelyn tried to ignore the ogling eyes of the waiters as they passed by; Martha wasn't nearly as discreet, giving them all her most flirtatious smile.

The bartender returned with their drinks. Evelyn took a sip from her glass then set it back down on the counter with a small sigh. Hawaii was a lot different that she'd expected. Oh, sure, the warm weather and picturesque beaches and tall palm trees were just as she'd imagined, but life wasn't the way she'd thought it would be. America wasn't involved in the war yet, and there was no real indication of when and if it ever would be. The hospital where she and her friends spent their mornings and afternoons was large and fully equipped, but there was very little for them to do. There were almost no patients for them to attend to, and the occasional few that came in had problems like sunburns and cuts that required minor stitches. But she was a dedicated nurse, and she loved her job regardless of the absence of actual people to take care of.

Not that Evelyn was hoping for more patients to come in with serious conditions. She just wished she had more to do; with hardly any work to do her mind too often wandered to thoughts of Rafe, and worrying about his safety in England, and the painful longing for him to be here with her. She didn't know how she was going to survive on writing letters back and forth until Rafe came home, particularly since there was no telling when he would be back.

Sandra noticed her melancholy. "How are you doing, Ev?" she asked in her typically soft voice.

Evelyn turned to her and offered a small smile. "I'm okay," she said, hoping she sounded like she meant it. She really felt lonelier than she'd ever felt in her life. "I guess I'm just not in the mood to party." Sandra smiled in understanding and gently squeezed her arm in support.

Evelyn heard Sandra mutter "Oh, no" under her breath, and turned to see Anthony sauntering in their direction. "Hey, sweetheart," he said to Sandra. Sandra rolled her eyes and half-heartedly said hi.

Tuning out their conversation, Evelyn's eyes swept over the crowd, taking in all the jubilant moods of the men and women in the Hula-la. She saw Betty at the other end of the room talking with Red, the happy expressions on their faces indicating that their encounter was going well. A few feet away from them she noticed Danny sitting at a table by himself. He looked as depressed as she felt. For the first time Evelyn realized that Rafe's best friend probably missed him even more than she did. Figuring they could at least be depressed together for the evening, Evelyn was about to walk over to him to say hello and chat for a bit when he suddenly got up and made his way toward the door.

Evelyn sighed as he disappeared into the night. She couldn't blame him for wanting to leave. This was definitely the place to be if you wanted to hang out and party; clearly neither of them were in the mood for it, though. She wondered suddenly why a guy like Danny was apparently alone on Valentine's Day. Evelyn really didn't know Danny very well, but from what she had observed and from what Rafe had told her, any girl would be crazy to pass up the chance to be with a great guy like him. She smiled thoughtfully, hoping that one day Danny would find that special girl, one whom he could call his soul mate; she knew she had found hers in Rafe.

... ... ...

Danny had finished his second Mai-Tai and was tempted to order another. A heavy dose of alcohol might have helped to make him feel better for a little while, but then he'd just be stuck with a hangover. Figuring that he'd rather be just miserable instead of miserable and sick, he decided to forego a third drink and just go home. Getting up from his table, he stopped to tell Billy--who was still deep in conversation with Barbara--that he'd be going back to the barracks, and then walked out of the bar.

He was about halfway back to the base when he realized that although he didn't want to be around the crowd tonight, he didn't want to sit around the large barracks room by himself, either. He took a detour and started in the direction of the beach.

"What a night," he muttered to himself as he walked along. Then he began to chastise himself for his bitter attitude. Sure, he was lonely, but there were certainly others who were a lot more worse off than he was.

Like Rafe's girl, Evelyn. She had to be feeling even more low than him about Rafe being gone; after all, it was Valentine's Day. Rafe should be here with her, being romantic and behaving like lovebirds do, or whatever it was they were doing back in New York. But instead Evelyn was all alone.

Danny had noticed her come into the bar with a group of her friends. That was partly why he left. He'd had a feeling she was going to come over to talk to him; he'd gotten up and left before she could have a chance. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk to her. She seemed a perfectly nice enough girl. But she reminded him too much of Rafe, and that made him feel more depressed. Besides, she was undoubtedly going to ask after him, and Danny didn't feel like talking about Rafe when he was still so pissed at him.

Danny stopped at a bluff overlooking the ocean, settling down at a pile of rocks by the side of the path. The night air was unusually brisk and cool, giving an uncharacteristic chill to the island. Danny leaned against one of the larger rocks, his hands in his pockets, as he looked out over the water. He had only been out to look at the ocean at night once, the night after they had first arrived in Hawaii, but there was something oddly familiar about the way the water looked this time, something almost haunting about the way the moon's reflection played on the surface. The effect was almost tranquil, and Danny couldn't help but feel somewhat calmed by it.

A small stirring noise in the bushes a few feet away shook Danny out of his trance, and he turned to see a squirrel scurry across the grass in front of him. He looked back toward the water and thought back over the last few days since coming to the island. So far there hadn't been much to do; they were still in the process of getting organized into their routines. He hadn't been sure what to expect when he'd first learned that he and his squadron were being transferred to the military base here, but he hadn't dwelled on it too much; he'd been happy just to get transferred anywhere. Like Rafe, Danny hadn't done much traveling before they had joined the army. He had been more than eager to dust off his small-town Tennessee roots, at least for a little while, and get out in the world and see what it had to offer.

Danny sighed and scuffed the sand with the toe of his shoe. Seeing what the world had to offer. He supposed that might have been part of what had influenced Rafe to accept his assignment to England. Rafe was really more adventurous than he was, anyway; Danny couldn't blame him for that. But what he didn't understand was why Rafe had apparently been set on keeping the whole thing from Danny up until the night before he left. They'd never kept secrets from each other in all the years they had been friends--which, as far as Danny could remember, was practically since they'd been born. No matter how hard Danny tried to rationalize Rafe's decisions, nothing he could think of made him feel better about the whole situation. He couldn't figure out Rafe's eagerness to rush headfirst into danger in his thirst to be a combat pilot, a hero. Didn't he understand that there was a real war going on over there, where real people fought and...died? People thought coming out as the victor in battle made them winners. There were no winners.

The moon was now high in the sky, prompting Danny to check his watch. It was well after eleven o'clock; he'd been standing here for over an hour, much longer than he'd planned to. Their curfew was extended, since it was a weekend, so he wasn't worried about turning up at the barracks past lockdown, but he didn't want to stay out too late. Besides, some of his friends might worry if he wasn't back long after he'd said he would. Danny smiled wryly. Then again, judging from the way that party had been going, they probably wouldn't make it back to the barracks themselves until the wee hours of the morning, hung over and happy.

Pilots' Barracks - Pearl Harbor

Danny arrived back to the barracks in less than ten minutes, and as he'd suspected, none of his friends had come home yet. In fact, there was almost no one there at all but a couple of fellows Danny didn't know very well, only that they'd been transferred to Pearl Harbor from a training post somewhere in Massachusetts. Exhausted, he quickly changed into his sleeping clothes and settled down onto his bunk. Naturally, he suddenly wasn't tired anymore, and found himself staring up at the ceiling for a few minutes, until someone emerged from the latrines in the next room. Danny turned to see Red come into the room, having just showered and changed himself.

"Hey," Danny called to his friend.

Red turned in surprise to see Danny a few yards away. "Oh, hi, when did you get back?"

"Just a minute or so ago," Danny said, sitting up. "What are you doing here? I thought the party wouldn't be over until you guys got thrown out or something."

"Yeah, well," Red said, chuckling, as he sat down on a bunk near Danny. "That's still likely to happen. The rest of the guys are still over there, having too much fun and annoying the bartender."

"And all the excitement was just too much for you, huh?" Danny joked.

"Nah, I was pretty tired," Red said. "Besides, I've got to get up early tomorrow, anyway. I've got some work I need to get done, and I want to finish it before eleven. I'm taking Betty out to b-b-brunch." Red's ears began to darken when he said her name. Danny noticed but pretended not to. "We'll probably go to that little diner by the beach. That should be g-g-good, don't you think?"

"Sure, that should be fine," Danny said, smiling at Red's nervousness.

Red caught Danny's smirk and frowned slightly. "What?"

"Nothing, nothing," Danny said. "It's just that I don't think I've ever seen anyone so worked up about a girl before, that's all."

"What are you talking about?" Red asked. "Haven't you been in the same boat a dozen times already?"

Danny rolled his eyes. "I don't know about a dozen."

"Well, you know what I'm talking about." Leaving it at that, Red went back to his bunk to get ready to turn in.

Guessing that was the end of their conversation, Danny switched off the lamp beside him and flopped back down on his bunk. He was just starting to doze off when something Red had said popped back into his mind. Haven't you been in the same boat? Danny thought back on that sentence. Had he ever been in that boat at all? The question was beginning to plague him.

Red's comment was said in an offhand manner, but what he had really been asking was if Danny had ever really been absolutely crazy about a girl before. The truth was, he hadn't. He'd had girlfriends before, back in Tennessee before he and Rafe had enlisted in the Army and he'd had the time for such excursions. But he was sure he'd never been in love with any of them. Even after he and Rafe had left home for flight school, and the rest of their buddies spent most of their off-time discussing the local girls and all the different ways to scheme their way into their hearts, not to mention into their skirts, Danny had only been half-interested. Love and romance had never seemed that important to him, he supposed , at least not so much to go out of his way to look for it. He'd always thought that if and when the right girl came along, everything would come naturally, that it would all just fall into place. But he wondered now if he would ever find such a girl.

The thought gnawed at him.

... ... ...

Next up-- Chapter 3: Unexpected Friendships.

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