Hey guys! Sorry it took me so long...I apologize times 1,000,000,000...















Chapter XVII-Eye of the Storm













~*~

Another week passed and one by one the pilots learned to get off the ground in such a short space, that's when the real training began, we were being taught to fly dangerously low to the ground

It was hard.

It took us a while to learn.

We trained and trained, learning to take off and fly, then to fight, and before we knew it, 3 months had passed...

It was April, and we were heading out to preform the mission that was still a mystery to us

~*~

Leanna, being both pregnant and very anemic, was put on immediate maternity leave after the discovery and spent most of her days in bed for the first few weeks

Finally, it was April. Even though they were in Hawaii, she could still imagine what it would be like in Tennessee, wonderfully warm, not hot or humid, there would be a perfect balance between sun and rain so that everything could turn back to it's original green

This was her thought when she sat outside on some mornings, sipping coffee (even though Evelyn had warned her against caffeine), face facing toward the sun, letting it warm her face

Evelyn walked out, dressed in her morning robe, whispered something into the brunette's ear and handed her something to which Leanna smiled and nodded

She watched Evelyn retreat to the house to change for work, once sure Evelyn was out of seeing range, she took a look at the small white pills in her hand, rolled them over and over in her palm before she raised her closed fist

And threw them unceremoniously into the ocean

~*~

After three months, we were on a ship in the middle of the Pacific being briefed on our mission by Doolittle

A murmur swept through the crowd of pilots like an electric shock when Doolittle told us the news

We were going to fly our planes off of a Navy carrier

Then we would go to Tokyo and bomb it

Then we would fly to China and pray that the Japanese wouldn't find us before the Chinese did

That sealed it, they *were* crazy

But there's a fine line between being crazy and being a genius

I walked out across the runway on the ship to the end after he was finished talking, looking out and over the edge and sighing, I missed Leanna, and that was all there was to it

"Danny?" It was Rafe, he had followed me, I began to mentally curse him when I realized that it was what he'd been doing all our lives, following me when I wandered off to be alone, because as my friend, he wouldn't allow me to be alone to brood

That's what kept me sane

Every time I would try to go off alone and think about all the things that could go wrong, or what would happen to Leanna if either of us died, he would follow me and talk to me, make jokes, I would laugh, and I wouldn't want to think about my life anymore

"Yeah" I said

There was a long pause when neither of us really knew what to say next

I heard Rafe take another few steps toward me, I was still facing the ocean

"Beautiful is fine" that was the best he could come up with? Had I not known him my entire life, I would still think it was crazy how he knew exactly what I was thinking

"Yeah, I hope so" I said, finally turning around and finding, to my surprise, that Rafe was right behind me

"C'mon Danny, if something was bad wrong with her, don't you think at least one of us could feel it?" Rafe had a good point, it made me smile slightly

"You're right, I just really miss her" I said

"Me too, but...she's got Evelyn, Evelyn will take good care of her" he said

There was another pause

"We're going to be ok, you know that?" Rafe said

"Yeah, we can do this, just get in and get out, and go home" I nodded

With a shared smile and slightly lighter hearts, the two of us turned around and began walking back to where the rest of the pilots were announcing the beginning of a poker game

~*~

A/N: eh, I know that was short, but the next chapter will probably be very long...yeah, so PLEASE if you read this REVIEW...this was kinda the calm part...the eye of the storm, the part where everything settles down before the shit hits the fan...stay tuned...

Edit: I'm not sure how often I can update...my aunt is pregnant, and it's not good, it's really worrying me that something bad might happen, and school is starting, but I'll try to update as often as I can...::hugs to all loyal readers::

Preview for Chapter 18: The Raid