Disclaimer:  Baloo, Rebecca Cunningham, Kit Cloudkicker, Molly Cunningham, Wildcat, Cape Suzette, Thembria, and the Sea Duck are all property of Disney.  No profit was made from this story.

B:  This story focuses on Kit coming back from war and the actions and reactions of this by him and his 'family'.  It is also a Kit/Molly fic, something that is not done very often.  I've always wondered why no one paid attention to that possible relationship, when it seemed very likely to me to happen.  Because there really were no others out there at the time I decided to write my own.  This is my first attempt at any sort of fanfiction at all, so reviews are good.

Special Thanks:  Especially to Michelle and to all those who have helped me revise and re-revise.  I also want to thank all those with endless ideas for when I got stuck.

Chapter 1

It was a beautiful sunny morning in Cape Suzette.  Kit had just stepped out of his plane.  He had been sitting in the cockpit for the past hour.  He was sitting just thinking.  He could not get the past couple of months out of his head.  They had been the most horror filled in his life.  And he had been through some pretty terrible ones.

War went against everything that he believed in.  He had gone naively thinking that he could make a difference, but he was wrong.  He was just another fighter pilot, fighting for a cause that nobody even remembered anymore.

He had done some things that he never in his life thought that he would be forced to do.  Ever since the shock of the situation had dulled those things haunted him day and night.  The shock wasn't completely gone, he feared things would only get worse.

As he stepped up to the door of Higher for Hire these thoughts were still swirling in his head.  He opened the front door carefully, trying not to make a sound.

It was still early Sunday morning and he did not want to wake Baloo.  He was home a day before expected, so he knew that Rebecca and Molly would not be there.

These three were all that he had thought of for the past months, now years, while he was gone.  But he almost felt as if he did not want to see them.  He loved them very much, but was so ashamed of the things that he had done.  He did not know what he would do when he had to face them.  'You have to do it sometime, Cloudkicker' he thought.

His attempt at quietness was unsuccessful, however, when he bumped into a stand next to the doorway.  A large vase that was sitting on the stand fell to the floor with a large crash as glass was broken on the floor.

At that moment Baloo came running down the stairs still in his nightshirt.  The crash had instantly awakened him, which would usually have been quite a challenging task except for the fact that Baloo had been on edge ever since Kit had left so many months ago.

When Baloo saw Kit standing there he stopped in his tracks.  Neither moved or said anything for a few seconds. 

Kit had come home.  Something a lot of people thought would never happen.  It's not that they thought Kit was a bad pilot, quite the opposite.  He was one of the best most people had seen.  He had an amazing skill that was almost instinctual, as if he was born to do it.

Many claimed that he even rivaled the old bear himself.  The only thing that Kit lacked was experience.  After all, he had left only a year after he got his pilot's license.

When the two finally moved they ran up and tearfully embraced each other. 

After all, this was where he was supposed to be.  All those long cold nights while he was gone, he had dreamed of being back here.  Safe, warm, and loved.

Baloo felt relief.  His son was finally home.  Baloo would eternally think of him as the little boy that had walked into his life not that many years ago. 

It was only there, at that moment that he realized that it felt almost as though he had been holding his breath since Kit had walked out of that door last.  Waiting to hear from him.  Dreading the things that he could hear.  And knowing what Kit was facing out there without him being there by his side.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity they both stepped back and looked at each other.

Baloo still had his hands on Kit's shoulders.  'Funny' the big bear thought.  'He seems a little taller than what I remember'.

"I thought you wasn't due in till tomorrow Lil' Britches."  Baloo questions.

"I wasn't supposed to be.  But paperwork went faster than expected and I got sent out early."  Kit replied.

"It's good to have ya home. Finally."  His emotion showing through in the last word.  "Hang on a minute."  He said as he headed almost running over to the desk and picked up the phone.

"What are you doing, Papa Bear?"  Kit asked.

"Why, I'm calling Molly and Beckers.  They'll wanna come over and see ya." 

"No, wait!"

"But why?"  Baloo asked almost shocked by the statement.

"I-I don't want you to call them right now!" 

"But I asked you why, Lil' Britches."  Baloo's shock now quickly turning to concern. 

"Because I don't want you to that's why."  Kit yelled back.

As soon as he had done this he wished that he hadn't, but he didn't know what else to do.  He couldn't stand to see anybody right now.

Kit quickly said, "I'm sorry, Papa Bear.  I'm just really tired.  I think I'm just going to head upstairs and take a nap."  With that Kit took off up the stairs and went into his bedroom, slamming the door.

Baloo just stood still in shock at what had just happened.  Something was wrong, terribly wrong.  He didn't know what to do or how to help Kit.  He was worried, very worried…

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Rebecca was sitting at the kitchen table drinking a cup of coffee and reading the Sunday paper.  'Gas prices still rising.  Is this ever going to end?' she thought and continued reading.

Suddenly there was a loud knocking at he door.  Startled, Rebecca got up to answer it.

Just then Molly came running in.  "It's okay mom, it's just Susie.  We were supposed to meet some friends for Frosty Pep down the street."

Rebecca sat down shaking her head.  'Frosty Pep at eight o'clock in the morning'.

There was another loud knock and Molly quickly opened the door.  "Baloo!"  she exclaimed surprised to see him there on a weekend.

"Hey Button Nose, where's your mom?  I need to talk to her."

Hearing the urgency in his voice Rebecca knew that there had to be something wrong.  She quickly got up, setting down her paper and went over to Baloo.  "Molly, honey would you please go and clean the rest of your room?"

Molly turned indignantly to leave the room.  "You know Mom if you wanted me to leave all you had to do was ask."  And with that Molly stomped off to her bedroom.

'Teenagers' thought Rebecca.

Rebecca then turned her attention back towards Baloo, who by now was looking very anxious.

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Kit was sitting at he edge of his bed.  He had no intention of taking a nap.  He was tired sure.  He hadn't had a good night's sleep since he had been gone.  But he was wide-awake.

He had heard Baloo go into the other bedroom for couple of minutes.  He assumed to change.  And then left.  Where to, he had no idea.

Other bedroom.  Amusedly Kit thought back to the time when he had finally talked Baloo into building him his own bedroom.  He was maybe fifteen or sixteen.  He needed his independence, his privacy.  He remembered thinking that at the time he had thought that this was far away from Baloo.  He was even kind of lonely the first few nights even though Baloo was in the next room.  After all, he and Baloo had become virtually inseparable.  They were only really apart when Kit was at school.  Kit now remembered those days fondly.

Slowly, however, his thoughts began to drift back to the war.  He had so many terrible memories that just wouldn't go away.  He kept playing and replaying things over in his mind.  Could he have done something differently?  Did his friend really have to die?

Kit lay there awhile longer before he decided to get up and change his clothes.  After all, what good was trying to forget about the war if he was still in his uniform?

He got up and went over to his closet.  When he took off his flight jacket something fell out.  He bent down and picked it up.  It was his letters.  He laid his jacket down over a chair, and took them, and sat back down on his bed.

It was his letters from back home.    From Rebecca, Molly, and maybe most importantly from Baloo.  Even Wildcat had sent one.  It was only a few grade school print lines and a crayon colored drawing of his plane, but he cherished it just the same. They wrote just like they had promised they would.  He had only been able to get a few letters out.  He hadn't had very much free time.

Rebecca had written several.  She talked about how the business was going, which was not very well as of late.  How her and Molly were.  How boneheaded and irresponsible Baloo was.  And of course how much she missed him.

Baloo's letters told of course that he was greatly missed.  But not being very good with so-called "mushy" stuff they mainly consisted of flying tips and plane maintenance.  He guessed Baloo figured that if he couldn't give anymore flying lessons in person then he cold still do some good writing things on paper, which he was not always necessarily good at.  Kit felt that he already knew all of the stuff, but still read it carefully just the same since it came from Baloo, his mentor.

Then there were the letters from Molly.  She told him about her first few days of high school.  About her first "date", if you could really call it that.  It was just a bunch of girls who met up with some guys at a high school dance.  But she was still excited about it, so Kit was happy for her just the same.

He himself had never really dated in high school.  Sure there were quite a few girls he knew that had liked him, but he never paid much attention.

The closest thing to a date for him had been a couple of dances that his friends made him go to.  He always had a good time at them, but that evening was where it ended.  After all, his life was about flying.  He wanted to concentrate wholly and completely on that.  No distractions.  He didn't have time for any other stuff.

But it was something else in Molly's letters that made him take notice.  He almost got the impression that she felt more for him than what she let on.

He couldn't even imagine that she would have feelings for him, but it was just the way in which she worded certain things.  He tried not to take notice.  After all he used to baby-sit her when they were younger.  They had become very close though.  Even though she was six years younger than he was they had quickly became best friends.  A bond that only grew stronger as the years went by.

But still.  Molly?  She was going to be quite a heartbreaker.  He could tell that already.  But she was still just a kid.  He hadn't seen her for several years now, but he was quite sure he would always feel the same.  It would be way too strange.

He quickly dismissed the idea and threw the letters on the stand beside his bed.  'I should probably finish changing and go find out where Baloo went to' Kit thought.  He was feeling a little better now and was beginning to feel, if just a little bit, like his old self.

With that he got up and quickly changed. He then headed downstairs and out the door.  He didn't know where Baloo had walked to but it couldn't have been far, it was Baloo after all.

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Back at Rebecca's apartment she again asked Baloo what was wrong. 

"It's Kit."

"Oh my gosh Baloo.  Is, is…"

"No, no.  He's fine.  Sort of.  He's home."

"He is?  That 's wonderful."  She said happily, jumping up and hugging him around the neck. "Well, then what's the problem?"

"I'm worried about him.  He doesn't seem himself.  He didn't even want to see anybody, just went up to his room to go to sleep."

Rebecca gently grasped his arm and led him over to the couch.  What Baloo had told her didn't make her happy, but didn't come as a big surprise either.  She had assumed that there would be a certain amount of shell shock.  After all, war is a horrible experience and would affect anyone.  But Kit was an extremely strong person.  She knew this.  He had to be with all of the things that he had been through in his life.  That was until he had found Baloo, of course.  He was a very well adjusted boy.  This would all help him in overcoming whatever he was going through.  She would help him.  They all would.  But first things first.

Sitting next to Baloo on the couch she looked into his eyes.  What she saw was a deep concern for a boy that mean everything to him.  Yep, definitely a father's love.  She thought that she knew how much Baloo loved Kit before, but at this moment she felt that he loved him even more.  Before she hadn't thought that this was possible.

"Baloo, I know that you're worried about Kit.  He's a strong boy.  But he also has a good heart.  Of course he's going to be traumatized after coming back from a war.  But I think you're overreacting.  He just needs a little time that's all."  Rebecca said, still grasping Baloo's hand.  Not quite believing what she had just said.

Baloo sat there listening to her.  She had always been able to help him in these kinds of situations.  She was both a comfort and a guide.  He had officially adopted Kit when he was fifteen, but that was more symbolic than anything.  It didn't automatically make him a good father.  It didn't tell him what to do when Kit got bad grades at school.  It didn't tell him how to make Kit feel better when he was sick. And it certainly didn't tell him how to deal with this.  It had been Rebecca there all those times to help him.  If nothing else to give him reassurance that what he was doing was right.  After all, she was a parent dealing with things on her own too.

And he trusted her this time, even though his instincts told him differently.  "Overreacting maybe."  Baloo clung to the idea hopefully.

"So you don't think there's anything wrong?"

"I just think that he needs some time to rest, that's all.  I tell you what, why don't Molly and I come over tomorrow and we can all go to Louies' and catch up."

This was all starting to sound better and better to Baloo as it went on.  He agreed that it was a good idea then thanked Rebecca for helping him through a tough spot once again.  As he headed out the door he felt light as air.  His boy was home.  It was going to be just like old times.  He'd been dreaming of this since Kit left.

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Molly quickly went into her bedroom and quietly shut the door.  All this time she had been listening in the hallway to Baloo and her mom's entire conversation.

She sat down on her bed and opened a drawer in her nightstand.  From it she took out a photograph of her and Kit.  It was taken on her tenth birthday.  Kit had his arm around her while they both smiled for the picture.  It was her favorite by far.  And this was shown by the ware on it.

She couldn't even begin to count the number of times when she would lay on her bed just staring at it for hours.  Her friends said that it was just a crush.  That she would get over it.  But she knew better.  She loved him.  She would marry him one day. She was sure of it.  It was meant to be.  She didn't care what her mom or anyone else said about it.

But Kit thought of her as a little kid and she knew that.  She had to change his mind somehow.   Make him see her differently.  He already loved her as a dear friend she knew this.  All she had to do was to change the way in which he loved her.

Molly lay there awhile longer thinking when her mom called her from the kitchen.  She threw the clothes that she was supposed to be picking up under her bed and ran in to see what she wanted.

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