September 13, 1944

The rumor was that we were headed for a jump soon, but none of us were sure because the last several times we'd been set to move out, our drop zone had been overrun by infantry and the jump had been cancelled. On one hand, we were grateful. On the other, we were restless.

It had been decided that we were all going out to a local pub that night, taking a little break from training to have some fun in case this next jump was the real thing. I came out of the shower in my PT gear, towel-drying my hair and headed for my foot locker to put on some clean clothes before we went out. The room was mostly deserted, the men having gone to shower in their facilities, which were separate from mine. Shifty, already freshly showered and dressed, was cleaning his rifle. Joe was on his bed, smoking a cigarette and staring at the ceiling. Talbert was flipping through a pin-up magazine.

"See anything that looks good to ya, Kokomo?" I teased, thumping the magazine as I walked by. "What's the matter? Didn't get a good enough look when you 'accidentally' stumbled into the showers earlier?"

"Oh, but I did. That's why I'm looking at this. Gotta get it off my mind, or I'll never look you in the eye again."

Joe was suddenly interested. "What the hell, Tab? You saw the princess naked? What were you thinking, walking in on her shower? That's no way to treat a lady."

"Oh, shut it, Lieb. You're just jealous that it wasn't you." Joe glared at him, but didn't dispute the statement.

"Well, I know one thing," came Shifty's quiet drawl. "It sure could be rough if my aim got off because I was concerned that someone might not be showing Kasia the proper respect." The others looked at him in shock. The fact that the sweet Shifty Powers had made a threat wasn't the unnerving part. It was the quiet calm with which he said it. He gave me a sideways glance and winked, chuckling as I kissed his cheek.

I turned and noticed for the first time that my bunk wasn't empty. There was a brown paper laundry package, wrapped in twine. I had already picked up my laundry from Mrs. Lamb, so I wasn't sure where it came from. I reached to pick it up and saw a bouquet of wildflowers, wrapped with medical tape, sitting on top. There was no note, and I glanced over at Shifty with a questioning look. He smiled and shrugged, and I could tell he knew something. My eyes flashed to Talbert as Joe grabbed his clothes and headed out the door to grab a quick shower. Tab shook his head and pointed toward Joe's retreating form. A glance and a nod from Shifty confirmed it, and I blushed all over.

I held the flowers to my nose and inhaled the fresh aroma. He'd clearly picked them while I was in the shower, and I placed them inside the mouth of my canteen to create a makeshift vase. Then I opened the package and my mouth fell open.

Shifty answered my question before I could ask it. "He bought it from Mrs. Lamb. She was selling some of her clothes to have some extra money. Said he saw it and knew it had to be yours. Gave her a week's worth of pay for it."

"It's beautiful," I breathed, and it really was. It was soft blue silk and lace, and made to take full advantage of a woman like me, who had always been… curvy. The bodice was snug, and the neckline gave just a tease of cleavage, while the skirt hugged my waist, flaring just below the hips. Mrs. Lamb had included a pair of stockings, and heels that matched the dress. I dressed behind the blankets the guys had hung up for me, and pulled a long-forgotten bag of cosmetics and a mirror from my footlocker. When I was finished, I looked and felt like a woman for the first time in months.

Shifty was alone when I reentered the room, waiting to walk me to the pub. His sweet smile, and the way he blushed as he looked me over, let me know that I looked presentable at least.

"I don't think Joe knows what he did. I may need to carry my rifle. Every unmarried man in the company is gonna be after you tonight. Some of the married ones too."

When we reached the bar, my eyes scanned the room for Joe. I found him near the dart board, leaning back in a chair, with a beer and a cigarette, watching Bill, George, and several others throw darts. Shifty gave me a wink and a nod, and I started in that direction.

I stepped up behind George and Bill, speaking into their ears as Buck Compton stuck a dart in the bullseye. "You boys aren't hustling the new guys, are you?"

"Now, Kasia, you know we wouldn't…" George turned and finally got a good look at me. "Wow."

He smacked Bill on the arm until he finally turned around. "What the hell is your problem, Luz?" Then, seeing what George was staring at, he looked me up and down, exclaiming, "Damn, Doll! What are you trying to do? Give the replacement boys a heart attack?"

I smiled and slid past him, walking toward Joe's seat. He was leaned forward now, elbows on his knees, looking down as he took a deep drag from his cigarette. I stopped over him, standing so that he was now looking down at the high heels he'd placed on my bed a couple of hours prior.

"Good evening, trooper."

He dropped his cigarette, stubbing it out with his boot. Then he lifted his gaze, travelling painfully slow, from my feet, up my stocking-covered legs, to my hips and my waist, across my breasts and finally to my eyes. His face held that cocky grin I'd come to love, but his eyes held something else entirely, and as he stared up at me, I found myself wishing that we were somewhere much more private.

George snapped me out of my daze when he cleared his throat beside me, suggesting that we go get me a beer, "before someone, *cough* Joe *cough*, pulls you into a darkened corner and takes advantage of you."

We threw darts, had a few beers, and laughed as Bill told the replacements some crazy story about Babe Heffron. Babe was a replacement too, but he and Bill had become fast friends when they realized they had grown up near each other in Philly. After Bill got up, a drunken Cobb started giving the replacements a hard time, only to be put in his place by Bull, who was always protective over his squad members. Overall, the night was relaxed. If it weren't for the uniforms, it would have been easy to forget that we were at war. Then Smokey Gordon introduced Lipton as the new Easy Company First Sergeant.

"Hate to break the mood here, boys, but we're moving out again." Apparently, we were to begin briefing the following morning for the next jump. The once festive atmosphere was now subdued. I stood, saying a silent prayer as I looked around at these men, many of whom had become dear friends, and realized that I might soon be called upon to treat them in the most grave of conditions.

A hand on the small of my back startled me back into awareness, and Joe's voice was close to my ear. "Come take a walk with me, Princess." I nodded and allowed him to steer me through the crowd and into the street. Once there, Joe nervously shoved his hands into his pockets, and we walked awhile in silence, passing the barracks and down a moonlit dirt path that led to a clearing overlooking a meadow full of wildflowers. There was a large rock at the crest of the bluff, and he sat down, motioning me to join him.

I smiled as I looked across the field, realizing that this must be where he had gotten the flowers he'd left on my bed. I bumped his shoulder with mine until he looked over, and said, "They were beautiful, Joe."

He smirked and looked away. "Nah. Roses are beautiful. Those were just some weeds in a field."

"Then why did I bother wasting my water and using my canteen as a vase so I could keep them beside my bed?"

"Really?" he asked, still looking down, playing nervously with an unlit cigarette in his hands.

"Joe, nobody has ever given me flowers before. Much less gone and picked them on their own."

"What about Shifty?"

"What about him? We're friends. Always have been, always will be. Just friends."

"And Tab?"

"Friend. He says that walking in on my shower today was an accident, but even if it wasn't, he's just sexually frustrated, like everybody else around here. I don't think he's had much luck in the fraternizing department so far."

"You're not pissed?"

"Why bother? I live with a company full of men. I fully expect that some of them will look. Comes with the territory. Looking and touching are two different things."

"Yeah, well, I think a lot of guys wanted to touch tonight."

I laughed and stood up, walking into the field of flowers and looking at the moon, "Well, Joe, that would be your fault. You picked the dress."

I heard him chuckle softly, but I didn't hear him stand up, so it startled me a bit when he walked up behind me and placed his hands on my shoulders. I looked over my shoulder at him, and tried to hide a shiver as his hands slid down my arms to my hips, and then around my waist, pulling me against his chest.

"I'm not much of a romantic, but aside from this damn war, I'd have a hard time imagining a more perfect night," I murmured aloud. Joe's response came close to my ear.

"I can. On a perfect night, we'd have been in San Francisco. There would be no war. You'd have walked into that bar on my arm, and I'd have been the envy of every man in the room. We'd have had a drink, or maybe gone to dinner and a show. Gone for some ice cream and walked around, looking at the city lights. Maybe drive up and park at this cliff I love. It overlooks the Golden Gate Bridge, and at night it's really incredible. I wouldn't have spent the entire night wondering how your legs feel underneath those silk stockings, because they'd be mine to touch whenever I wanted. I wouldn't be thinking about how much I wish that dress, which matches your eyes perfectly, by the way, was going to end the night draped across a chair in my bedroom while I showed you exactly how fucking beautiful I think you are."

I had forgotten to breath somewhere around him talking about my legs being his to touch, and I looked up at him with hazy eyes. He was leaning toward me, wetting his lips with his tongue, and I reflexively closed my eyes. In the distance, we heard George and some of the others, laughing and talking loudly about jumping into Berlin, and reality crept back in to our little bubble.

"Damn it, Joe. Why the hell do we have to be in the middle of a war?" I demanded, pulling away from him and picking up a rock. "I'm never gonna go on a real date again. Never gonna get married or wake up in the morning, cuddled up in bed with the man I love. We're gonna jump into God knows where and get killed by some Nazi, and I'm never gonna see America again, much less San Francisco." I angrily threw the rock as far as I could across the field, watching it sail off into the moonlight.

I turned and looked at him, waiting for him to contradict me, but he didn't. He just motioned back toward the barracks with a sad look on his face, and mentioned that we should get some sleep before the briefings started the following morning. I walked quickly past him so that he wouldn't see that my eyes were wet, and he followed me back up the path.

As we entered the barracks, several of the guys noticed something was wrong, but I didn't speak. Instead, I changed out of the dress, carefully rewrapped it in the paper, and tucked it into my footlocker before crawling into my bed and turning my back to the room. I knew the guys were curious or concerned, especially Shifty, but I didn't think I'd be able to say anything without crying, so I remained silent.

It wasn't that I had fallen in love with Joe. I wasn't sure I was there yet. But I did like him a lot. He awakened something in me that I thought I had buried when my college sweetheart left me for another girl, and now that I actually wanted to feel that way again, I couldn't afford the luxury. Joe knew it too, which is why he didn't bother to contradict me. We were a world away from home, in the middle of a war, and about to jump behind enemy lines again. Affection… romance… love… those things would have to wait until we got back. If we got back.