Chapter Four - Return
Evelyn stood anxiously at the air base in Oahu, peering out into the distance. It felt exactly like that one afternoon in 1942, when she and Rafe had been younger, more hotheaded. Danny Jr. hadn't even been born, and Danny...she felt slightly choked up with the memories...had just died, although she hadn't known it then. Trying to concentrate on the present, she adjusted her wide-brimmed hat and waited, somewhat worried, for Rafe and Danny Jr.'s return from Vietnam.
Just then she heard excited chattering start around her. She squinted against the bright sunlight, and just managed to make it out...the silhouette of a plane, growing larger by the second. That's them. It has to be. Please, God, let them be alive, she said in silent prayer.
The plane landed. In what seemed to Evelyn like an interminable eternity, the door eased open and the stairs descended ont the tarmac. She was holding her breath now. The first figure stepped out of the shadows and into the doorway.
It was Rafe.
Evelyn felt tears run down her face in joy. She detached herself from the crowd and ran towards Rafe, who was going down the stairs with his arms wide open, smiling. He took her into his embrace, and they stood wordlessly by the steps, for a few moments in which Evelyn felt that they were the only people in the world. Then she looked up at Rafe. "Danny...?" she left it hanging.
Rafe nodded. He turned his head back to where the stairs were, and gestured. Coming down them was Danny Jr., followed closely by Henry and Tyler.
Evelyn was shocked by the difference in him. He looked thinner, paler, and she could see some bandages on him, indicating he'd been in an accident. But in his youthful face she noticed new determination, and there was strength reflected in his eyes. There was also something more confident about the steady grin he was wearing as he ran towards her and Rafe.
"Hi, Mother!" he said, hugging her, then giving her a small peck on the cheek.
Evelyn held him at arm's length. "What happened to you?" she asked.
Danny Jr. looked at his bandages. "You mean these?"
Evelyn nodded.
Danny Jr. merely smiled. "I grew stronger."
***
It was evening, just about sunset.
Rafe had been granted the day off in celebration of his accomplishment, and was spending it with Evelyn at the beach. Danny Jr., who hadn't wanted to intrude on them, had gone to the Hula Cafe with some of his pilot friends.
Evelyn was leaning against Rafe, wrapped in his arms. They were watching the sunset. No one had said a word for some time. The very presence of each other was enough for both of them.
Evelyn suddenly spoke. "Rafe?"
"Yes?"
"How did Danny get those injuries of his?" she asked, somewhat curious.
Rafe hesitated. He was obviously having trouble putting this into words. "His...his plane got shot. It went down, and it...e-exploded."
Evelyn's eyes grew wide. She looked at Rafe in horror. "Oh God. No."
She knew they were both thinking of the same thing. Danny.
Rafe stroked her hair gently, trying to calm her. "Yes, Evelyn." He paused, and continued softly. "Danny would've been dead if someone hadn't come to his aid."
Evelyn's voice was shaky. "Wh...who?"
Rafe tore his gaze from her and looked out into the sky. It was a typical Pearl Harbor sunset, orange-hued with delicate touches of pink, but it never ceased to overwhelm him with its beauty. "His father," he said finally.
Evelyn started. "Danny?" she whispered.
Rafe nodded.
Evelyn fell back into silence. She too looked out at the glorious sunset, tears glistening in her eyes, and a smile of gratitude on her face.
***
Danny Jr. sat alone in his room. Tyler wasn't back yet. Danny Jr. guessed he was probably still out with his parents.
"Well, so much the better," he said aloud. He needed to be alone with his thoughts. The party at the Hula Cafe was still going strong, but Danny Jr. hadn't felt like being part of it. After the feeling of jubilation had passed, he had settled back into the contemplative mood he hadn't felt since he was young.
Danny Jr. couldn't believe that Vietnam, for him, was over. He could hardly believe it had even happened, the whole operation had been done so quickly. He stretched himself out on his bed and stared at the dull white ceiling. Did it really happen? Did I actually go and bomb North Vietnam? Did I actually...crash?
He looked at his bandages again. Well, he could answer the last one, at least. But that still left a lot of emotions bottled up inside him. Danny Jr. shook his head a few times, trying to sort out all the floating thoughts.
He sat up suddenly, and looked around for a piece of paper and a pen. Danny Jr. had always been good with words, having, as Evelyn said, inherited the gift from his father. He smiled a little, thinking back to when he had first shown his mother his medical file. He hadn't been counting on her reaction...she'd looked shocked, then confused, then finally happy. "Your scores are almost the same as your father's had been," she'd said softly, gesturing at the 99 in verbal skills and 80s in other subjects.
Still, he had never bothered to write anything much, except for letters to his mother. A pilot like him didn't have much spare time, what with flying, training, and socializing. But he was alone now, and needed a release for his thoughts. He paused for a while, then set his pen to the paper, using his chest of drawers as a writing surface. His wrote in neat flowing cursive, just like his father had.
Hi Daddy,
I hope you'll read this. I don't know if you're here now, so I'm writing you a note. Thank you for saving me back in Vietnam. You've rescued more than my body, you've rescued my dreams and my hopes. Every time I feel the pain of my wounds, I think of how much worse it could have been, and I think of you. Thanks to you, Daddy, I've got a chance to live again and I'm going to do my best. I won't let you down. I love you. Your son, Danny.
He set the paper facedown, then after some thought pulled out his old toy plane and put it down on top of the paper. If that wasn't going to draw his father's attention, he didn't know what would. Satisfied, he lay down and slept.
***
Danny slipped noiselessly into his son's room. He was already asleep, and so was Tyler. It was about four in the morning, and all was quiet around Pearl Harbor.
Danny Jr. seemed to be healing nicely, he thought as he neared the bed. There were less bandages on him than the last time he'd seen him, back in the Vietnam hospital. Then something on the bedside chest of drawers caught his eye.
It was his own toy plane. The one he'd given Danny Jr. when he was a young boy of five. There was a piece of paper underneath it. Danny Jr. had obviously meant for him to read it. The toy plane called out to him as clearly as his name would have. He picked it up, flipped it over, and skimmed through it once. Then he read it again, more slowly.
...you've rescued my dreams and my hopes...
Danny felt close to tears. His death had caused his son to be able to live and grow stronger, and that in itself was worth all the pain he had suffered.
He blinked roughly, and grabbed up the pen next to the plane. He scrawled a few words in reply.
I love you too, was all he wrote. It was sufficient.
***
Author's Note: This might or might not be the last chapter. It depends on whether I get further inspiration. Please review, and thank you for reading! ~HuntressMinerva