Albright looked on at Yoshiyuki and Nanaka holding hands with a quiet smile; she knew the two would have to come to that sooner or later. Grandpa only sent a message telling them to take care in such a faraway country, and that he will inform her parents in Alaska. (Although Yoshiyuki preferred a video call to see if he can pick any signs of constipation.) Yoshiyuki then messaged Grandma but she hasn't replied so far.

The training proceeded smoothly as before. Before long, the end of the course was upon them, and after they got their licenses, the society gladly lent Dr. Albright one of their gliders for the Burketown expedition. The professor called a turboprop pilot to provide plane tow service, and the day after that they left for Cairns—up the Australian coast in the other direction. All of these trips had a surreal aspect to it; imagine hopping back-and-forth across distances about that of the whole of Japan end-to-end in the space of a month as though it was but a neighborly trip back to Okaa-san.

But through all that he was with Nanaka. She helped him keep his bearings, and for this particular flight they held hands as they slept next to each other in their seats.

This time around, Albright has contacted two places: a homestay in Cairns, and a radio outpost housed in a bungalow close to the Gulf itself, and with its own airfield nearby.

#8. Morning Glory

Yoshiyuki and Nanaka did not have much time to go out together in Cairns as Dr. Albright had told them to practice at the simulator in her room. The professor herself was frequently away on some business, and whenever she was in, she was deep in planning or otherwise contacting people through phone and PC. But the middle-aged Australian couple who they stayed with took care of them and even regaled the two with stories of their own earlier days.

So their dates for the time being consisted of little trysts in the pocket garden among the rhododendrons where they had some coffee together and discussed their own plans for the flight… and stole quite a number of touchy-feely moments.

Over the weekend Albright had them pack part of their belongings while it was dark for the long trip to the Gulf airfield. They got a huge pickup which the professor drove herself and onto which were stowed loads of equipment. There would be more awaiting them at the bungalow.

At the end of the whole-day drive where the couple mostly slept leaning against each other, they arrived at an expansive open plain from which they can see the house a mile or so to the west against the dying sunlight.

The next day after an early lunch they took to the field, at the area that led to the Gulf. It was already midday, but the weather was so cool and windy it might as well be dawn. Albright smiled approvingly at the atmosphere. "I think there's a pretty good chance of it appearing in a few days. Might be tomorrow, even. But that's what we're here for, read the signs and make sure." They began taking measurements and placing sensors all over the surrounding country of the airfield.

Later that evening the professor showed them on her phone some footage sourced from the outdoor cameras, as she guzzled down her iced coffee. "The definite signs of a Morning Glory aren't even showing here yet," she explained. "But the weather has been conducive probably the whole week. I'll need you to watch these shots, too, in addition to the naked-eye observations, 24-7 if we could help it. We shall organize shifts to keep vigil for every hour of day and at least part of the night."

"What are those signs, exactly?" asked Yoshiyuki.

"A sudden drop in temperature is one. You can look for hints like moist glass windows. But I think it will show in the instruments first. The most crucial will be the visual cues—for instance, there's a certain color of sky you must watch out for."

"Red?"

"No. More like purple… or orange? Nah, just go for purple." She opened her second can of iced coffee. All this drinking must have been getting on her nerves for a god while. "Actually I just might forgo the temperature drop if only I could have that purple sky."

"Sensei," said Nanaka with concern, "you must be running tired form all the work you did for us. Please leave the rest to us for now."

Albright closed her eyes for a moment. "OK," she sighed. "Guess another nap won't hurt. But I must make a few more adjustments before I hit the sack." And she assigned the tasks for the evening shift.

But as soon as she entered the room where the work table was, fatigue overcame her in spite of the coffee and she promptly fell into bed without another glance at the computer.

In contrast, after the evening shift, Yoshiyuki was excited at the upcoming flight and was still up at ten watching cable TV, and Nanaka, though she was nearly as tired as the professor when she came in, still had the lights on. He can't tell for sure if she was asleep; Grandpa had specifically asked him not to go into her room.

It was at this juncture that a sudden downpour fell.

It seems he has never encountered this kind of rainfall in his life. The torrent was loud enough to drown out the TV, as though the house was right under a waterfall. Is this what it's like in the tropics? In the end he just turned off the thing and looked about him in alarm as the rain threatened to crash through the roof.

A sudden lightning bolt jolted his senses. Seems it hit somewhere close by. When is this rain going to end?

The door to Nanaka's room opened, and much to his surprise, out came a lady who looked as frightened as a little girl. She settled next to Yoshiyuki and clung to his arm. "Did something happen?" he asked anxiously.

She slowly shook his head still looking distressed. "The lightning," she said timidly.

He affected a mocking grin. "You're just like a grade schooler. You know that—" Another strike made the both of them jump. "I-It's OK," he stammered trying to keep his cool in front of his girlfriend. "We're inside."

"Let me stay here, dear."

"…"

"Please…"

He took her in his arms and let her curl up to him the whole time it was raining. So, Nanaka Mori had a weakness, huh? Who would have known, seeing the confident and athletic diver leading admiring clients around the cove like it was second nature? But then, if it was always like that… He needed to care for her as much as he needed her. It's only fair, right? But above that, being her protector… he can't say it didn't boost him.

The thunderstorm quickly dissipated after eleven. Nanaka was asleep. Her warmth has completely dispelled the anxiety the weather had brought, and seeing her lovely face against his chest put on him a smile that was hard to put down.

He gently lay her there on the sofa, got the blankets and pillows from her room and tucked her in for the night.

Last night's storm left the air fresh. Albright took up position at the airfield early as agreed previously; she would watch the sky until eight, at which point Yoshiyuki would substitute for her. Then they would have lunch at eleven, nap, and then have Nanaka out there from two till five.

However, Yoshiyuki went straight to bed after his shift, finding three hours of checking and measuring and either walking around or sitting around in general, and alone, quite tedious. He missed lunch and found himself up shortly before two.

His weakness reminded him of the meal he should have eaten hours ago; he got up lazily and lumbered to the table where Nanaka left him rice and hefty omelets with some cucumber. He sat down and began to absently pick on the food.

After finishing, he stayed at the table slowly letting his full consciousness seep back in. The door to Albright's room was shut again. Doing more heavy analysis? Looking outside, he found the weather agreeable; cool and overcast, but calm and not threatening to rain.

Kind of like Nanaka.

She must be out in the field right now. Will she be alright? Neither of them was Dr. Albright, painstaking and well-absorbed in research to the point of forgetting a meal. Can she take the long hours outside?

"…"

Turns out it was he who wasn't alright with sitting in here away from his girl.

It took him a while to cross the vastness of the Queensland outback, but he knew where the posts were, and soon enough he spotted them from a great distance.

And there she was.

It seems she had just finished some of the work and was taking a breather sitting on a huge boulder and feeling the breeze. He went over and heaved himself onto the rock, taking his place next to her while she greeted him with a warm grin.

For a moment they just sat together, holding hands, watching the clouds lumber at the horizon over the Gulf.

"I'll help you with that if you want," he said.

"Are you sure?" She shrugged. "There's only the fence and the knoll left, you know."

"Whoa. You already cleared, like, 90% of what I managed to do the whole morning. Did you jog the whole way?"

She only smiled timidly at him as she eased the windblown hair off of her face. Oh yes, it's Nanaka we're talking about here. "I see. I guess these things really suit you."

She only patted him in the head and let her hand slide down to the back of his hair, before taking his chin and gently pulling it to herself.

He answered by taking her arm and gently pulling her to himself.

"…"

Shortly afterwards they were sitting side by side again facing the gulf, he running his fingers through her hair; it relaxed them both. "Even now," he mused, "I sometimes feel like all of this is unreal. I mean…" He smiled weakly. "Sometimes I still can't help but feel I'm not good enough for you. That's why this flight is going to be a big deal for me.

"Please let me show you what I can do."

He half-expected her to say something along the lines of, it's OK you don't have to push yourself, something that Shuka or Rikako or the other Aquasports girls, or even Nanaka herself a year ago, would have told him politely. But this time she felt him. She just squeezed his shoulder and said, "Go for it, dear."

They were shortly assaulted by a sudden chill, not bitterly cold, to be sure, but the drop in temperature was abrupt and noticeable. A little later Albright came up running to them with binoculars dangling from her collar and clipboard in hand. She clambered excitedly up the rock and showed them the data. "I-I thought," she panted, "we'll have to wait till Tuesday." Huff. "Everything… Everything's coming together now." Cough. "The findings for the last two days were consistent. Would you like to confirm this?" Whereupon Nanaka handed the professor her own clipboard. She sported a satisfied sneer, and then trained her binoculars on the horizon towards the gulf. "I knew it."

They took turns at the thing. Nanaka couldn't see much at first, but in a short while she spotted it—there was no mistaking the purple hue lining the fringes of the afternoon sky.

Albright then told them to stay put till sundown. It wasn't long before the rest of the day gradually got drenched in purple. They all silently marveled at the change, taking in the coolness of the gulf breeze.

At length, Albright spoke up. "We better spruce up the glider tonight. My contact is going to touch down shortly with the tow plane so we can get up there first thing tomorrow. He was supposed to be here after lunch if it wasn't for last night's rain. Tch. It wasn't even supposed to shower at this time of the year… but perhaps that's a sign, too?"

She told them to go on ahead to the bungalow as she was going to meet the incoming tow plane at the airfield.

Shortly after night fell she arrived with the pilot, who was going to spend the night with them. They were all to be in bed early as they must be up before four the next morning. "No cellphones or anything in bed," Albright told them. "Here, take this warm milk and oats."

They were all asleep before nine. There wasn't any more disturbance in the weather (save for a persistent high wind) so Yoshiyuki lapsed quietly into a deep sleep.

Until hours later when somebody turned the lights on, making him stir uneasily but he was still too sleepy to do anything more. As soon as he felt the bed tilt, though—

"Oof—" He had just dropped himself on all fours onto the carpet.

Nanaka was laughing at him. "Oh, Yoshiyuki, you haven't changed much, have you?"

Later, they hurriedly got the glider onto the trailer along with the other equipment, and drove off in the wind and the darkness, the shafts of light from the jeep cutting a single path through as though they were in a submersible on the ocean floor. When they got to the airfield they assembled the glider lit by the same powerful headlights, as well as the professor's own flashlight. The winds were battering them as they struggled to hold down the craft to also prevent any accidental lift. By the time they had finished, a corner of the sky over the east was lighting up.

As the field gradually emerged into day, an outline in the sky, of something very large, became evident.

Nanaka held her breath. Mrs. Albright was almost in tears. "So we meet again, old friend."

Yoshiyuki couldn't believe his eyes. The pilot only smiled smugly as he stretched to prime himself for takeoff. Not that he wasn't impressed himself, just more excited than awed.

The massive causeway of cloud, the Morning Glory, rolled majestically like a slow but powerful oncoming wave. It seemed to stretch on forever.

"We…" mumbled Yoshiyuki. "We're flying to that?"

Albright smirked. "Welp. No point in stating the obvious, is there now? Come on, get yourself and your girl up onto the glider."

They looked at each other in embarrassment for a moment, to be so casually addressed like that, but they know. And this was a mission theirs to fulfill. Even with their licenses, flying the Morning Glory was their graduation ceremony. As they drifted off to their positions, Albright came up to him. "Remember everything you learned at flying school. Watch out for those crosswinds. She clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Make your Ma and Pa proud, OK?" There was that look of warm pride in her eyes, almost as if she was the parent. And she went on ahead, leaving him just a bit baffled. Did she really have to invoke his folks? Wait, didn't Grandma mention she went to the same school as Dad? Well, she did seem to have met dad sometime back… but Mom? Whatever.

Moments later they found themselves snug and seated in the glider. Albright radioed to them. "We'll be taking care of takeoff so enjoy the view. As soon as you're properly positioned, I'll tell you to cut loose and from there you're on your own. Have a nice date." That again. The professor chose to tease them at exactly the wrong time. But Nanaka only giggled. She was far more welcoming of the attention, huh?

The plane began to take off. "You're not nervous?"

"She told us to take our time, right?" She gazed out at the gigantic roll cloud. "Look at it. It almost looks like another world in the sky. Is it really true that this had happened in Japan?"

In a short while they were fully aloft. Yoshiyuki chided himself for raising a stink about anxiety, there was barely any reason to. Both of them had managed an ultralight craft exposed to the elements and now they were safely inside a sailplane with actual controls. With others doing the launch for them, the whole thing felt more like a train ride. If the ruckus is just because of the highly unusual sight of the Morning Glory…

Well, it is unusual.

The great cloud dominated the scene alongside the craft but was appearing to be rolling away from them. In the meantime, the plane went steadily higher until they were some way above the cloud. At this point they received a transmission. "You may disengage now. The cloud will give you incredible lift for miles and miles so enjoy your stay up here while it lasts. Get on top of it and don't stray away."

Yoshiyuki stared back meaningfully at Nanaka. "Uhm," she assented. "Let's do it."

They cut the tow rope and yawed away towards the cloud. Almost immediately they felt a force push up at them from their seats, even before the instruments registered an increase in altitude. Nanaka made a little squeal of delight as though she was, hmmmm, Anju, maybe Ai even? He can't blame her. He was gritting his teeth in elation as he felt the thrill almost burst out of his chest. They were actually looking down on this beast. Did the professor say they could sail for miles and miles on this cloud? He felt he could stay up here for days. Nanaka couldn't help but think of themselves as sky surfers; there never was back in Okaa-san a wave large enough for all she cared, much less as grand as this cloud.

"Yoshiyuki," she cried, "this is so… I…"

He responded by easing the plane lower, as far down as he could until the scene outside was nothing but white floor. It was so close! If only she could open the canopy and take a scoop of the Morning Glory with her own hands… For a moment she even felt an irrational urge to actually do so. But then, a better idea struck her. "Can we go higher, Yoshiyuki?"

Silly girl, he thought. Just because he went down, now she has to say, go up-she really has to milk the glider dry for all its worth? He carefully maneuvered, and the craft rode on the wave of lift… until they were way up enough to afford an even more encompassing vista of the Morning Glory, now a great river flowing all the way to the distant edges of the sea. It was fantastic. He felt he owned the whole thing.

"Yoshiyuki."

"Hm?"

"Come on, let's take a side view."

He steered the glider off to the side where the cloud was rolling away from, and the let the plane sink gently over the blue expanse of the gulf.

"Yoshiyuki…" breathed Nanaka, ready to cry. She wanted so much to reach out and embrace him to herself. The Morning Glory spread out majestically alongside them, glowing orange and gold as it caught more of the oncoming sunrise, a wondrous golden realm where they will be happy in each other's arms forever. But… "Yoshiyuki," she sobbed, "can we make this not fade? I-I mean, the professor said it'll only last for an hour or so, maybe two, but…

"Please…?

"Yoshiyuki—?"

Just then screams filled the cockpits as the plane abruptly dropped out of the sky—to the murky waters of the gulf below! The air itself seemed to have to have been pulled from under them and now there was nothing between them and the abyss. Yoshiyuki struggled mightily with the controls, not even sure what he was pulling, if only to do something about this, if only to defy death!

Lift! Lift! Lift! A moment later he felt the fall abate somewhat, though they were still falling. Did he catch some random wind? This is it. Quickly remembering emergency maneuvers, he struggled with the unresponsive controls again. They were still falling. He caught a glimpse of Nanaka at the back seat, passed out. He can't let this happen to her! He roared at the plane to cooperate. It was then that he found out—the plane was moving diagonally. The surface, so tantalizingly close, showed him there was some lateral movement. Now, Yoshiyuki! He pulled back some more, and the plane came to skim the surface with a powerful wake in its trail. But no—not here! The coastline lay ahead. They were gaining speed. The left wing threw up a powerful fountain as it touched the surface, sending them tumbling and thrown onto the gray sand of the beach—

Thud!

Next Time. #9. An Old Friend of Albright's