Chapter title: Worries
Disclaimer: I don't own any of Pearl Harbor, I am just borrowing the characters;)
It was April 17, the weather in Hawaii was beautiful, not a cloud was in the sky, but Sandra couldn't enjoy it. She was pacing back and forth on the porch, waiting for the mail. Evelyn sat on the porch seat.
"Sandra, stop pacing, you are going to ware a hole in the deck."
Sandra gave Evelyn a look and sat down next to her.
"I can't help it. Whatever is going to happen, is going to happen soon."
Evelyn nodded.
"I know…"
"Mail Call!!" Betty smiled, coming up the walk. Evelyn and Sandra leapt to their feet and ran down the stairs to meet Betty. Betty handed each of them a letter.
"Thanks darlin'!" Sandra smiled
They all parted to read their letter in private.
Sandra walked down to the beach and sat on a rock. She held the letter in her hand, and opened it, pulling the pages out.
She could picture Danny sitting on his bunk, wherever he was, writing this letter to her. She twirled the medal Danny had given her, which she had put on a chain and made into a necklace in her hand.
She smiled and read the letter.
"My Dearest Sandra,
I don't know how much of this letter will get to you. About 5 people have to read it and give it clearance, making sure I don't say anything about this mission. I hate being so far away from you. My head is on task, as it has to be, but my heart aches for you everyday and night. I miss you so much. The pain is kinda like…how would I explain it…going without air. Not that I'm comparing you to air…its just…you need air to live…and I need you to live. Its motivation to get home right?
How are things back at Pearl? More importantly…how are you holding up? I hate not being there to help, I hate not being able to see your face or hear your voice, or hold you in my arms. We have been running ------- drills here almost non-stop. I barely get any sleep. When I sleep, I dream of you. I wish I were there with you…on the beaches…just living without a care in the world but to be together…someday soon Sandy…I promise.
I have to go check on the ---------.
I love you, I love you, I love you.
Yours for eternity,
Danny."
Sandra smiled and wiped a tear from her cheek. She folded the pages and held them to her heart. She couldn't shake a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.
~*~
Danny pulled his jacket on and adjusted his hat. The command came over the speakers again, "PILOTS! MAN YOUR PLANES!!" It wasn't a drill, as they had all assumed at first…but it was too early, they weren't close enough to Japan yet.
Danny grabbed four black painted broomsticks and shook his head. He handed two to Rafe.
"What the hell are we supposed to do with these? Wack 'em over the head?"
Rafe shook his head.
"I dunno, maybe it'll scare 'em."
He looked at his best friend.
"You be careful Danny."
Danny nodded.
"I will. YOU be careful up there Rafe."
The two hugged and started off to their planes. Rafe turned and yelled to Danny.
"Danny!"
Danny turned and looked at him. Rafe smiled.
"Land of the Free."
Danny grinned and yelled back,
"Home of the Brave!"
The two nodded to each other and climbed into their planes.
Every pilot held his breath as Colonel Doolittle's plane fired down the ship, and took off, wavering a little before gliding up into the air.
Rafe let out his breath and nodded to Red.
"Lets go."
Their plane took off in the air, followed by Danny's plane and the rest.
~*~
Evelyn sat in the command post, she had her eyes locked on the soundproof room, where men with headphones and papers listened as the mission was carried out. One man paced, white with fear, while others ran around, getting paperwork done, or trying to clean up the sound. Evelyn knew something was wrong…Lieutenant Jackson said the mission would go in a couple of hours…it had only been a half hour and it looked as if they had gone already.
Evelyn stood cautiously, and made her way to the outside of the room, pretending to look busy. She eyed Lieutenant Jackson, who gave her a concerned look. The door was half open, and she could hear voices. Her breath caught in her chest when she heard Rafe's voice.
~*~
"DANNY GET UP INTO THE CLOUDS NOW DAMMIT!" Rafe screamed into his radio.
The mission to bomb Tokyo had executed nearly two hours too early. They didn't know if they had enough fuel to make it all the way to China, where they could be safe, but they went, with revenge and determination in their hearts.
The mission was a big success, they bombed factory's and other large targets, each bomb wired with the friendship medals the US had been given as part of the plot Japan had devised to deceive America.
Once the first few bombs hit, the Japanese soldiers had responded by shooting at the American planes, hitting a few, causing problems for the pilots.
"I'm with ya Rafe!"
Danny pulled higher, above the flak the Japs shot at them They all headed out, over the ocean, where there was nothing but miles and miles of ocean ahead of them.
~*~
Evelyn looked like a zombie walking up the steps to her house.
Sandra burst through the door.
"Evelyn! Where in heaven's name have you…what's wrong?"
Sandra forgot her initial frustration, as it was replaced with fear.
Evelyn looked up at Sandra, tears streamed down her face.
"I got into the command station…they had to execute their mission too early…I heard Rafe…yelling to Danny and almost lost it right there. They were bombing Tokyo…the Japanese responded…"
Evelyn covered her face with her hands and cried. Sandra wrapped her arms around Evelyn tightly. Her worst fears crowded her mind. She couldn't hold back her tears. The two stood on the porch, holding each other and sobbed.
~*~
"All ocean, no land."
Danny bowed his head, his thoughts turned to Sandra…he shook his head.
"So this was a suicide mission."
Red commented. He shook his head.
"I can't believe I'm gonna die out here."
Danny shook his head.
"No. I can't die out here…I'm not going to. I have someone waiting for me…come on guys! We CAN make it…"
Danny looked at the faces of his crew…his pep-talk hadn't helped much.
Rafe radioed to Danny.
"DANNY! There's China straight ahead!! I see the coast!"
Danny grinned.
"I'm with ya Rafe!"
He grabbed Red's shoulder
"We're gonna make it!"
Rafe slowly made his plane descend.
"We'll land on these rice paddies up here guys. Bring it in nice and slowly."
He smiled to himself, knowing now he would get home to Evelyn. As he brought his pland down, his eyes caught sight of a white flag with a red circle.
"AH CRAP!"
He pulled his plane up.
"There are Japs all over the place! Danny we gotta find another place to land!"
One of Rafe's plane engines sputtered and stopped.
"Engine one down!" Gooze announced.
Rafe shook his head.
"Hang on guys! We're going down hard!"
Danny was far enough behind Rafe that he hadn't prepared to land yet.
"All right guys, we're still gonna make it…hang on to something, get out of the nose…we're gonna have a rough landing."
Danny said a silent prayer for them and Rafe.
Rafe's plane slid across a small bog and smashed into a few trees. Rafe coughed, smoke from the plane filling his lungs. He climbed out of the plane.
"Everyone ok?"
Jimmy, the youngest of all the pilots climbed out of the plane.
"I'm ok!"
Rafe looked around as most of his crew got out.
"Hey…where's Gooze?"
He looked over at the plane to find his friend crushed beneath the plane's wing, dead.
Rafe put his hand on his face and shook his head. He kicked the side of the plane, cursing the Japs and the war. He walked over and tried to pull the wing off of him, thinking that it might help.
Jimmy turned at the sound of shouts.
"Fella's!! We got company!"
He reached for his gun, and taking cover behind the plane, shot at the on coming Japs. Rafe instinctively did the same, and the other men fell in behind him and reached for their guns.
"Dammit! There are too many! How many magazines do you have?"
Rafe barked at one of the men.
"Five more sir!"
The young pilot tossed one to Rafe.
Everyone looked up at the sound of a descending plane. Bullets flew from the plane and hit the remaining Japs. Rafe watched as the plane crashed only yards from where he stood.
"No…DANNY!"
Rafe leapt to his read and bolted toward where the plane had crashed. The other pilots yelled to him to stop, but nothing could have stopped him. Rafe shot a Jap as he pulled his gun out to shoot at Rafe.
Rafe scanned the wreckage. Seeing Red get up and shake his head. Rafe looked at him.
"You all right?"
Red nodded. Rafe continued looking, and found Danny, leaning against the wing of his plane, gasping for air.
"RAFE!"
Rafe ran over to him, seeing that a chunk of the plane lay on top of him.
"Danny, Hang on…hang on. RED! GET OVER HERE!"
Red turned and came to help Rafe lift the metal off of Danny. Charred pieces of glass lay in Danny's arm.
"I've had better landings."
Danny said after taking a deep breath. He smiled.
"You scared the crap outta me Danny!"
Rafe shook his head and pulled a few pieces of glass from Danny's arm. Danny grimaced.
"Won't happen again."
"Can you walk?"
"I can run if I have to."
Danny smiled, he was alive, and would stay that way. Rafe nodded and looked around at the remaining pilots, and noticed Gooze was not among them. He grimaced and ran his hand through his hair.
"All right men…lets get the hell out of here!"
~*~
Sandra clutched Evelyn's hand tightly. The plane had landed not more than a minute ago.
"Sandy…SANDY! You're cutting off my blood flow."
Evelyn grimaced. Sandra loosened her grip on Evelyn's hand.
"Sorry."
"Its ok."
Evelyn watched as the door to the plane slowly opened. They both squeezed each other's hands, their hearts beating rapidly.
Colonel Doolittle and his men were the first off the plane.
Sandra couldn't hold back a smile as a little girl, no more than three with the most beautiful sandy blonde head of curls squealed and burst from her mother, waddling as fast as her little legs would take her into her father's arms. The pilot, no more than twenty five grinned and kissed her, tears streaming down his face and holding her tightly. Sandra's attention turned as she saw Rafe descending from the plane, a bandaged hand and stitches on his forehead.
Evelyn ran towards him, meeting him just a few feet from the stairs to the plane. She threw her arms around him and kissed him
"I was worried about you!"
Rafe smiled at her
"Well, I'm back, just a few bumps and bruises."
He touched her face gently.
"I missed you."
Evelyn kissed the palm of his hand.
"I LOVE you."
"I love you too Evie."
Sandra saw man after man climb off the plane. Her heart lurched in her chest when she saw Danny climb off the plane, arm in a sling. Tears welled in her eyes and she ran to him.
"DANNY!"
He looked up and saw her, a grin spreading across his face. He dropped his bag and ran to her, wrapping his good arm around her and pressing his lips to hers in a kiss both of them had been longing for.
"You are a sight for sore eyes!"
He smiled.
"I almost forgot how beautiful you are."
Sandra smiled, putting her hands on his chest.
"I was so scared for you Danny."
She whispered it, still hoping it was not a dream.
"Well, I was pretty scared myself there. But what'd I tell you? I'd come back."
He smiled and leaned his forehead against hers.
"And I keep my promises."
She smiled and kissed him again.
"I love you so much Danny."
"I love you too Sandy."
He smiled at her, then turned his head toward the plane, a solemn look crossing his face. He nodded to Doolittle.
"Sandy…I gotta go help. Gooze…Gooze didn't make it."
A wave of pain crossed Sandra's face.
"Danny, I'm so sorry."
Tears of grief filled her eyes. Danny nodded.
"I'll wait here for you."
Sandra said to him.
"Ok."
Danny and Rafe walked back into the plane and started carrying off the wooden coffins.
~*~
A month had passed.
Danny, Sandra, Evely, and Rafe sat at their table in a diner. Each still felt the grief of losing their friends, but they were learning to get on with their lives.
Evelyn sipped her coffee and smiled at Sandra.
"Let me see it again."
Sandra grinned and gave her left hand to Evelyn, who admired her diamond engagement ring.
"Sandy its so gorgeous!"
Sandra smiled and looked at Danny.
"Well, that credit goes to Danny."
Danny finished a bite of his dinner and shook his head.
"The ring is only as beautiful as the hand that it's on."
He smiled. Rafe rolled his eyes.
"Danny, getting all soft on me."
They all laughed. Rafe smiled.
"Well, it looks like we have a couple of weddings to plan!"
Disclaimer: I don't own any of Pearl Harbor, I am just borrowing the characters;)
It was April 17, the weather in Hawaii was beautiful, not a cloud was in the sky, but Sandra couldn't enjoy it. She was pacing back and forth on the porch, waiting for the mail. Evelyn sat on the porch seat.
"Sandra, stop pacing, you are going to ware a hole in the deck."
Sandra gave Evelyn a look and sat down next to her.
"I can't help it. Whatever is going to happen, is going to happen soon."
Evelyn nodded.
"I know…"
"Mail Call!!" Betty smiled, coming up the walk. Evelyn and Sandra leapt to their feet and ran down the stairs to meet Betty. Betty handed each of them a letter.
"Thanks darlin'!" Sandra smiled
They all parted to read their letter in private.
Sandra walked down to the beach and sat on a rock. She held the letter in her hand, and opened it, pulling the pages out.
She could picture Danny sitting on his bunk, wherever he was, writing this letter to her. She twirled the medal Danny had given her, which she had put on a chain and made into a necklace in her hand.
She smiled and read the letter.
"My Dearest Sandra,
I don't know how much of this letter will get to you. About 5 people have to read it and give it clearance, making sure I don't say anything about this mission. I hate being so far away from you. My head is on task, as it has to be, but my heart aches for you everyday and night. I miss you so much. The pain is kinda like…how would I explain it…going without air. Not that I'm comparing you to air…its just…you need air to live…and I need you to live. Its motivation to get home right?
How are things back at Pearl? More importantly…how are you holding up? I hate not being there to help, I hate not being able to see your face or hear your voice, or hold you in my arms. We have been running ------- drills here almost non-stop. I barely get any sleep. When I sleep, I dream of you. I wish I were there with you…on the beaches…just living without a care in the world but to be together…someday soon Sandy…I promise.
I have to go check on the ---------.
I love you, I love you, I love you.
Yours for eternity,
Danny."
Sandra smiled and wiped a tear from her cheek. She folded the pages and held them to her heart. She couldn't shake a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.
~*~
Danny pulled his jacket on and adjusted his hat. The command came over the speakers again, "PILOTS! MAN YOUR PLANES!!" It wasn't a drill, as they had all assumed at first…but it was too early, they weren't close enough to Japan yet.
Danny grabbed four black painted broomsticks and shook his head. He handed two to Rafe.
"What the hell are we supposed to do with these? Wack 'em over the head?"
Rafe shook his head.
"I dunno, maybe it'll scare 'em."
He looked at his best friend.
"You be careful Danny."
Danny nodded.
"I will. YOU be careful up there Rafe."
The two hugged and started off to their planes. Rafe turned and yelled to Danny.
"Danny!"
Danny turned and looked at him. Rafe smiled.
"Land of the Free."
Danny grinned and yelled back,
"Home of the Brave!"
The two nodded to each other and climbed into their planes.
Every pilot held his breath as Colonel Doolittle's plane fired down the ship, and took off, wavering a little before gliding up into the air.
Rafe let out his breath and nodded to Red.
"Lets go."
Their plane took off in the air, followed by Danny's plane and the rest.
~*~
Evelyn sat in the command post, she had her eyes locked on the soundproof room, where men with headphones and papers listened as the mission was carried out. One man paced, white with fear, while others ran around, getting paperwork done, or trying to clean up the sound. Evelyn knew something was wrong…Lieutenant Jackson said the mission would go in a couple of hours…it had only been a half hour and it looked as if they had gone already.
Evelyn stood cautiously, and made her way to the outside of the room, pretending to look busy. She eyed Lieutenant Jackson, who gave her a concerned look. The door was half open, and she could hear voices. Her breath caught in her chest when she heard Rafe's voice.
~*~
"DANNY GET UP INTO THE CLOUDS NOW DAMMIT!" Rafe screamed into his radio.
The mission to bomb Tokyo had executed nearly two hours too early. They didn't know if they had enough fuel to make it all the way to China, where they could be safe, but they went, with revenge and determination in their hearts.
The mission was a big success, they bombed factory's and other large targets, each bomb wired with the friendship medals the US had been given as part of the plot Japan had devised to deceive America.
Once the first few bombs hit, the Japanese soldiers had responded by shooting at the American planes, hitting a few, causing problems for the pilots.
"I'm with ya Rafe!"
Danny pulled higher, above the flak the Japs shot at them They all headed out, over the ocean, where there was nothing but miles and miles of ocean ahead of them.
~*~
Evelyn looked like a zombie walking up the steps to her house.
Sandra burst through the door.
"Evelyn! Where in heaven's name have you…what's wrong?"
Sandra forgot her initial frustration, as it was replaced with fear.
Evelyn looked up at Sandra, tears streamed down her face.
"I got into the command station…they had to execute their mission too early…I heard Rafe…yelling to Danny and almost lost it right there. They were bombing Tokyo…the Japanese responded…"
Evelyn covered her face with her hands and cried. Sandra wrapped her arms around Evelyn tightly. Her worst fears crowded her mind. She couldn't hold back her tears. The two stood on the porch, holding each other and sobbed.
~*~
"All ocean, no land."
Danny bowed his head, his thoughts turned to Sandra…he shook his head.
"So this was a suicide mission."
Red commented. He shook his head.
"I can't believe I'm gonna die out here."
Danny shook his head.
"No. I can't die out here…I'm not going to. I have someone waiting for me…come on guys! We CAN make it…"
Danny looked at the faces of his crew…his pep-talk hadn't helped much.
Rafe radioed to Danny.
"DANNY! There's China straight ahead!! I see the coast!"
Danny grinned.
"I'm with ya Rafe!"
He grabbed Red's shoulder
"We're gonna make it!"
Rafe slowly made his plane descend.
"We'll land on these rice paddies up here guys. Bring it in nice and slowly."
He smiled to himself, knowing now he would get home to Evelyn. As he brought his pland down, his eyes caught sight of a white flag with a red circle.
"AH CRAP!"
He pulled his plane up.
"There are Japs all over the place! Danny we gotta find another place to land!"
One of Rafe's plane engines sputtered and stopped.
"Engine one down!" Gooze announced.
Rafe shook his head.
"Hang on guys! We're going down hard!"
Danny was far enough behind Rafe that he hadn't prepared to land yet.
"All right guys, we're still gonna make it…hang on to something, get out of the nose…we're gonna have a rough landing."
Danny said a silent prayer for them and Rafe.
Rafe's plane slid across a small bog and smashed into a few trees. Rafe coughed, smoke from the plane filling his lungs. He climbed out of the plane.
"Everyone ok?"
Jimmy, the youngest of all the pilots climbed out of the plane.
"I'm ok!"
Rafe looked around as most of his crew got out.
"Hey…where's Gooze?"
He looked over at the plane to find his friend crushed beneath the plane's wing, dead.
Rafe put his hand on his face and shook his head. He kicked the side of the plane, cursing the Japs and the war. He walked over and tried to pull the wing off of him, thinking that it might help.
Jimmy turned at the sound of shouts.
"Fella's!! We got company!"
He reached for his gun, and taking cover behind the plane, shot at the on coming Japs. Rafe instinctively did the same, and the other men fell in behind him and reached for their guns.
"Dammit! There are too many! How many magazines do you have?"
Rafe barked at one of the men.
"Five more sir!"
The young pilot tossed one to Rafe.
Everyone looked up at the sound of a descending plane. Bullets flew from the plane and hit the remaining Japs. Rafe watched as the plane crashed only yards from where he stood.
"No…DANNY!"
Rafe leapt to his read and bolted toward where the plane had crashed. The other pilots yelled to him to stop, but nothing could have stopped him. Rafe shot a Jap as he pulled his gun out to shoot at Rafe.
Rafe scanned the wreckage. Seeing Red get up and shake his head. Rafe looked at him.
"You all right?"
Red nodded. Rafe continued looking, and found Danny, leaning against the wing of his plane, gasping for air.
"RAFE!"
Rafe ran over to him, seeing that a chunk of the plane lay on top of him.
"Danny, Hang on…hang on. RED! GET OVER HERE!"
Red turned and came to help Rafe lift the metal off of Danny. Charred pieces of glass lay in Danny's arm.
"I've had better landings."
Danny said after taking a deep breath. He smiled.
"You scared the crap outta me Danny!"
Rafe shook his head and pulled a few pieces of glass from Danny's arm. Danny grimaced.
"Won't happen again."
"Can you walk?"
"I can run if I have to."
Danny smiled, he was alive, and would stay that way. Rafe nodded and looked around at the remaining pilots, and noticed Gooze was not among them. He grimaced and ran his hand through his hair.
"All right men…lets get the hell out of here!"
~*~
Sandra clutched Evelyn's hand tightly. The plane had landed not more than a minute ago.
"Sandy…SANDY! You're cutting off my blood flow."
Evelyn grimaced. Sandra loosened her grip on Evelyn's hand.
"Sorry."
"Its ok."
Evelyn watched as the door to the plane slowly opened. They both squeezed each other's hands, their hearts beating rapidly.
Colonel Doolittle and his men were the first off the plane.
Sandra couldn't hold back a smile as a little girl, no more than three with the most beautiful sandy blonde head of curls squealed and burst from her mother, waddling as fast as her little legs would take her into her father's arms. The pilot, no more than twenty five grinned and kissed her, tears streaming down his face and holding her tightly. Sandra's attention turned as she saw Rafe descending from the plane, a bandaged hand and stitches on his forehead.
Evelyn ran towards him, meeting him just a few feet from the stairs to the plane. She threw her arms around him and kissed him
"I was worried about you!"
Rafe smiled at her
"Well, I'm back, just a few bumps and bruises."
He touched her face gently.
"I missed you."
Evelyn kissed the palm of his hand.
"I LOVE you."
"I love you too Evie."
Sandra saw man after man climb off the plane. Her heart lurched in her chest when she saw Danny climb off the plane, arm in a sling. Tears welled in her eyes and she ran to him.
"DANNY!"
He looked up and saw her, a grin spreading across his face. He dropped his bag and ran to her, wrapping his good arm around her and pressing his lips to hers in a kiss both of them had been longing for.
"You are a sight for sore eyes!"
He smiled.
"I almost forgot how beautiful you are."
Sandra smiled, putting her hands on his chest.
"I was so scared for you Danny."
She whispered it, still hoping it was not a dream.
"Well, I was pretty scared myself there. But what'd I tell you? I'd come back."
He smiled and leaned his forehead against hers.
"And I keep my promises."
She smiled and kissed him again.
"I love you so much Danny."
"I love you too Sandy."
He smiled at her, then turned his head toward the plane, a solemn look crossing his face. He nodded to Doolittle.
"Sandy…I gotta go help. Gooze…Gooze didn't make it."
A wave of pain crossed Sandra's face.
"Danny, I'm so sorry."
Tears of grief filled her eyes. Danny nodded.
"I'll wait here for you."
Sandra said to him.
"Ok."
Danny and Rafe walked back into the plane and started carrying off the wooden coffins.
~*~
A month had passed.
Danny, Sandra, Evely, and Rafe sat at their table in a diner. Each still felt the grief of losing their friends, but they were learning to get on with their lives.
Evelyn sipped her coffee and smiled at Sandra.
"Let me see it again."
Sandra grinned and gave her left hand to Evelyn, who admired her diamond engagement ring.
"Sandy its so gorgeous!"
Sandra smiled and looked at Danny.
"Well, that credit goes to Danny."
Danny finished a bite of his dinner and shook his head.
"The ring is only as beautiful as the hand that it's on."
He smiled. Rafe rolled his eyes.
"Danny, getting all soft on me."
They all laughed. Rafe smiled.
"Well, it looks like we have a couple of weddings to plan!"