Another long chapter, wow! I dunno, the end of this wasn't normally in there, but I felt the need to get rid of the darkness for at least one chapter, but I can assure you i there will not be a happy ending /i oh yeah, I shortened the dialogue for this part from the movie...sorry, but I don't have the script or anything, plus, I'm trying to focus on Leanna a bit, well...I tried...
Disclaimer: I don't own them. I i DO /i own Leanna. Leanna and all of her problems, lol
Chapter VI- Haec Olim Meminisse Iuvabunt
*-*2 Months Later*-*
*-*'Haec olim meminisse iuvabunt' , time heals all wounds, Rafe and I held onto this inkling of hope that maybe out baby sister would come back to us, after that day, she did perk up slightly, she stopped most of her destructive habits, except having a drink with the guys at the bar on Saturday nights, she hadn't had anymore escapades like the one at the bar that night, but I didn't believe the cover she had put up, but I wasn't her, I didn't know, maybe she had changed for the better*-*
"Beautiful, wake up" I shook Leanna gently
She frequently came and slept in the barracks with Rafe and I, even though it was against every
rule in the book, for some reason she didn't like to sleep with the other nurses, Evelyn especially,
they weren't rude towards each other, they were civil, but Evelyn had a very 'holier-than-thou'
approach to Leanna, Rafe had asked her why she acted that way towards his best friend, but both
girls had always avoided the subject, until one day Evelyn spilled the long line of Leanna's faults
from training, constantly drinking and doing drugs, having sex with unknown men, Evelyn swore
that once she had been making money for sexual favors, and that Leanna was just a whore, and
not the type of person that she liked, nor that she wanted her boyfriend to be associating with,
even after two months the two hadn't warmed up to each other, Leanna said that was the reason
she didn't like staying in the nurses quarters, but I was sure it was because of the nightmares, she
sometimes had nightmares about what had happened in Tennessee, the details of which she would
never share with us, she needed to be near us to feel safe, either way, Leanna would come to our
place and that's where she would lay until morning when it was time for work and either I or Rafe
woke her, she began to stir and rolled over to meet me
"Time for work, Beautiful" I said in my best singsong voice
Leanna sighed deeply, blowing a few stray curls out of the way before rolling off the bed and onto
her feet
"Where's Rafe?" she asked, looking around for her friend
"He had a meeting with…someone, don't think he told me who, anyway, he says he'll see you
after work" I said, beginning to get ready being satisfied that she was awake,
The men around us one-by-one began to wake, they didn't care that Leanna stayed with us, they
saw her as a sister too, though none of them dared to call her 'Beautiful', they seemed content
with calling her Leanna, Lea, or even Nana, if they were in a teasing mood
Soon Leanna and I parted our ways and she went to the hospital and I to the airfield to wait for
Rafe to see what he had done this time
It was nearly an hour before a very flustered looking Rafe approached, I stood and met him
halfway, before a word could be spoken by me, Rafe opened his mouth
"I'm going to England" he said
"You're what?!" I was dumbfounded
Rafe looked like he had to regain his composure
"Orders, I'm going to England to fly in the Eagle Squadron, my train leaves tomorrow" he said
"Rafe, you can't go" was all I could manage
"That's a real war, you could die" I said, not hiding my worry for him
"I have to, orders, I'll be fine, Danny, I'll be fine" Rafe assured me, "Now c'mon, I got the day off,
so you should too" he finished in a very 'and that's final' sort of way
I watched as he walked away, letting him get a few feet ahead before I thought to catch up, just
out of earshot
"Beautiful is not going to take this well" Rafe turned,
"Did you say something?" he asked, I shook my head
"Okay, let's go get Beautiful" he said, walking off in the direction of the hospital…
"You can't go." Leanna said in a very final tone
"I won't let you" she said louder
"I refuse to lose you, Rafe" each statement was getting louder, piercing the extreme quiet of the
hospital ward
"Beautiful, calm down, I'm going to be fine, plus, I have to go" Rafe tried to reason with her
"No, Rafe, please, you can't leave us" Leanna said
"Hey, why don't you take the day off, and we can go talk about this, ok?" I suggested, tired of the
mean looks from random nurses
"Okay, let me tell Evelyn" she said, turning and walking into the distance and yelling something
down the hall about not feeling well, then coming back
"Let's go" she said, and the three decided to walk home…
By the time they were halfway home, Leanna had run out of energy to protest
"I'm going to miss you, Rafe, please please be careful, don't do anything stupid" she said
"I'll be very careful, and I'd never do anything stupid" Rafe agreed, with a sigh Leanna reached
over and hugged him
"I love you, Rafe" she said
"I love you too, Beautiful" he said
I was still standing there when Leanna opened her arms, "C'mon Danny" she said, and I joined the
hug, the promise
"Come home soon" Leanna whispered
"Go say goodbye to Evelyn, we'll see you tonight" I recommended
Rafe nodded, "Bye" he said, walking off in the opposite direction
Leanna and I stood there, my arm still around her, she let a deep sigh, and without any words I
kissed the top of her head, then we continued the walk home…
Before I knew it, the morning had come and we were waiting at the train station that would take Rafe to the ferry, that would take him to the mainland, we were content sitting there in silence, deep in thought, no words needed to be exchanged, 23 years of knowing each other did that to people, I was thinking about why Leanna hadn't shown yet when...
"Danny, if anything happens to me, I want you to tell them" Rafe said, it seemed very thought out
"Nothing's going to happen to you" I assured him, or maybe I was assuring myself
"I know I don't have to say this, but take care of Beautiful" he said
That was Rafe, always worried about Leanna
"I will, you just focus on getting back" I said, sitting down on a bench beside Rafe, about that
time, the doors to the train station flew open and in ran a petite brunette, her smile glowing,
Leanna ran over and jumped on Rafe hugging him and kissing his cheek
"Are you sure you have to go?" she asked after she was finished attacking him
"Yeah, Beautiful, I have to" he said, she bit her lip
"I miss you already" she said, but Rafe was busy looking around
"You told Evelyn not to come, I thought you two were in love" Leanna said, stretching out love,
even though he and Evelyn were 'together' he had begged her to stay at home, they had said their
goodbyes last night, I guess that's why he didn't come home last night
"I'm not looking for her" Rafe lied
"You're a bad liar" I pointed out
Rafe rolled his eyes, hearing the train pull in, the train that would take him to England, he sighed
"Looks like it's time" he said, Leanna and I sighed almost in unison
"I love you" Leanna said, hugging him close, then I hugged my lifelong friend
"Be careful" I said, he picked up his bags and turned to walk away, turning once more with the
cover of waving to us, but we really knew he was looking for Evelyn
"Please be careful! We'll be here when you get back!" Leanna called to him, he turned and smiled
to her, and with that, he was gone…
*-*2 Days Later*-*
"It's so weird here, without Rafe and all" Leanna sighed, looking over to me as we walked down the sandy beach
"I know, we've always been together" I said, bending down and picking up a rock and throwing it into the water
"I hope he hurries his butt home" Leanna smiled at me, the same genuine smile she'd had since the morning she told us everything
"I bet he misses you" I smiled back at her
"He'd better miss me" she laughed
"So, Beautiful, I was thinking..." I began, draping my arm across her shoulders
"You were thinking? Wow!" she threw her curls back slightly, the smile lighting her entire face
"I was thinking..." I started again, "That I could beat you back to the house"
With that, I removed the arm that was around her shoulder and gently pushed her backwards with it, without looking back, I began running towards the house
"Daniel Walker! That wasn't fair!" she yelled to me
I stopped with a hop and turned to face her, her curls were blowing in the salty air and her smile still lit her eyes, "Oh, and what would be fair, Miss Walker?" I took a step back toward the ocean where Leanna was standing
Leanna knew what was on my mind and laughed, "If you left me alone"
"Oh? Did you say 'if Danny threw me in the ocean?'"
"No!" Leanna squealed
I was now running towards her full speed
"No! Daniel Walker! Leave me alone!" she screamed, running a little bit into the shallow water
"What's that? You want to play?" I asked, beaming at her as I grasped her around the waist and tackled her into the water without going down myself
"Danny!" she yelped, the waves soaking her from head to toe, her hair turning even more curly than before in the wetness, she reached her hand up for me to help her up with a 'yeah, you got me' smile, I, being the good brother I am, reached down to help her up, only to be overpowered by a much smaller Leanna, she pulled me down in the water beside her, the waves lapping up around our ribs
"Leanna Celeste!" I cried, raising my arms and shaking off the excess water, then looking over to Leanna, who was all but rolling in the sand laughing hysterically, it had been a while since I'd seen her that happy, with a smile of satisfaction, I waited for her laughing fit to end before I spoke
"C'mon, let's go inside and change out of these wet clothes" I suggested
Leanna nodded, tears from laughter in her eyes
Both of us stood at the same time and began the journey back to the nurse's house, I was glad she was back to normal and that watching out for her wasn't a 24/7 job anymore, but mostly, I was glad she was smiling and laughing again
I looked over at her, she was very beautiful, she was very small, only weighing about 110 pounds, I watched as she worked on making her drenched hair into perfect ringlets and kicked the sand absentmindedly, and I had a new thought
For the first time in my life, I felt like we were going to be alright.
A/N: heyy people...I'm glad people are still reviewing, though I'm not sure if the reviews are a bad thing or a good thing, but I see them as a good thing, I'm getting the reaction I want...
u scottish lass /u-this chapter was for you, I tried to keep the 'near-prozac-treatment-stuff' to a minimum in this one, but I can't promise that for the next few chapters ::wink:: and this fic is meant to be dark, and I know I say that a lot, but I'm really nervous since this is my first actual dark fic...and I don't get where the 'kinda sorta' part came from, sorry, I'm blonde, in case you couldn't tell, lol
u greenfairie /u-I'm glad you like it! and don't worry, I always try to go out with a bang, hehe
