Disclaimer: Okay, I confess I do own the rights to Pearl Harbor. Haha. :::scoff::: Riiight.

AN: First of all thanks to everyone who reviewed, it means the world to me. Now, onto to business. I've changed the date from chapter one to 1932, not 1931. (EDIT: It's now also changed in chapter one, so you can just ignore that) So, it's now two years later, not three. Also I have know idea exactly what the training in Long Island is called, but I read somewhere (I think on fanfiction.net too) that it might have been something like the Army Air Corps. If not and anyone knows what it is called, please tell me. Okay, so enough of boring you with that, onto chapter two. Enjoy!

Tennessee 1934

"So what do you think?" Rafe asked, his eyes searching Danny's face for an answer. He was leaning casually against the old crop duster, still donning his cap and goggles. Danny was half bent over the plane, desperately trying to fix the engine that had been giving Mr. McCawley trouble all week.

"I think you're crazy Rafe," Danny replied not looking up.

"C'mon Danny!" he sighed in frustration.

"C'mon nothing Rafe! You don't need to be up and leaving, volunteering for something that you have no need to be," Danny countered. He held a wrench in his hand; a greasy rag tucked into the pocket of his aged overalls.

Rafe had told him he was thinking of applying for the training in the Army Air Base Academy in Long Island, New York. Danny couldn't bear to think of his best friend being all those miles away. What would he do without Rafe by his side? It was Rafe who had protected him from everything, even his own father.

"Then come with me Danny," Rafe pleaded. "Just me and you, flyin' together."

"Rafe," his voice became thick. "You know I can't leave."

"And why not Danny? Because of your father?" he shouted. "That drunk doesn't give a damn about you."

"Maybe he does," Danny shrugged, trying to blink back tears. "Maybe he doesn't."

"Oh Danny," Rafe groaned. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright," Danny replied in a way that made Rafe believe that it wasn't.

"I just," Rafe paused. "I don't understand why you can't leave. There's nothing here to stay for Danny. We could be in New York. Flying Danny."

"Listen Rafe, I know that you wouldn't understand. You don't have to and I'm not even asking you to try to. I only want you to know that I can't leave with you," he stated firmly. "And I don't think you should be leaving either. But that just my two cents is all."

"Leaving to where?" the soft voice from behind them questioned.

Both boys turned around to see Elizabeth standing behind them, one hand set upon her hip, her head tilted to one side awaiting an answer. If Danny had thought Lizzie was pretty at thirteen, two years later the girl was positively gorgeous.

"Nowhere, now scat," Rafe jerked his head towards the house.

"Rafe," she placed her arms around his neck, letting herself dangle from his long frame. "I'm your little sister and I can tell there's something you're hiding."

"I ain't hiding nothing Lizzie," Rafe huffed and untangled himself from her.

Elizabeth frowned at her brother, who took off his cap and goggles flinging them into the front seat of the plane. Her eyes darted between him and his best friend. Danny's mouth was set in a thin line; the tools he had been using were now lying forgotten on the ground as the awkward silence filled the air.

Danny glanced one more time at Rafe before blurting out, "Your brother wants to go train in Long Island, with the Army Air Corps."

"He wants to what?" Elizabeth screeched.

"Danny!" Rafe exclaimed.

"It's not like you can just leave and no one's gonna notice Rafe," Danny reasoned. Rafe exhaled loudly and turned to look at Danny.

"I know that," he said.

"Why Rafe?" Elizabeth inquired quietly, sounding almost childlike.

"Jesus Lizzie, what do you mean why? Because I love flying, because I don't want to live in Tennessee all my life making a living outta crop dusting like Pop," he explained.

"Well, what about us Rafe?" she asked angrily. "What about me and Mama and Danny? Don't you love us enough to stay?" She began to shake.

"Of course I do Elizabeth," Rafe told her, placing his hands on her shoulders in attempt to steady her.

"We're just not worth it then, huh?" she shrugged off his grip and began to run out into the field.

"What's with that girl?" Rafe shook his head.

"That's just it Rafe, she's a girl. She doesn't want her big brother to leave," Danny said. "Maybe if you give her some time, she'll warm up to the idea."

"What, are you saying that you have?" Rafe asked.

"No," Danny answered slowly. "Well, maybe some, but I ain't going with you and I still think you're plenty crazy."

"Yeah, well," Rafe smiled. "You always did."

"With good reason," Danny smiled and wiped his hands on the cloth that hung from his pocket. "There was the time you jumped off the barn trying to fly, the time when we pretty much hijacked you dad's crop duster and did fly. And hell, what about the time you asked out Laura Anderson by hanging that banner on the plane?"

"She said yes I'll have you know," Rafe laughed.

"Like I could forget," Danny reminded him. "Oh Rafe, yes! I'll be your girl Rafe," he said in a high falsetto. Rafe gave him a playful jab in the gut.

Rafe and Laura had been inseparable for about a year or so before her family had moved down to Kentucky. Her and Rafe wrote for awhile, but Rafe wasn't much for letters and neither was Laura. Eventually Laura met somebody down there and the letters had stopped altogether. Sometimes Danny thought that Rafe still missed her, but he could never be sure. Rafe had always been somewhat of a ladies man, not in that he'd have a dozen women, but usually one steady girlfriend. Danny, however, was quite the opposite. He'd never had a girlfriend, let alone a steady one.

"How's the plane coming?" Rafe peered over to see the progress.

"I'd say she's about finished," Danny said. "And not a moment too soon. I ought to be heading back home."

"Already Danny?" Rafe glanced at his wristwatch.

"Yeah, I've got some chores that are waiting for me at home," Danny scratched his left eyebrow, a telltale sign that he was lying.

"Sure Danny," Rafe nodded, ignoring the fact that he wasn't telling the truth.

"See ya Rafe," Danny waved.

"Oh, Danny, Ma says you can come over for dinner tomorrow. And think about what I said Danny," Rafe reminded him.

"I will Rafe, and tell your Mama thanks," Danny ducked around the back, taking a shortcut.

He walked slowly, not really wanting to go home, but he couldn't stay at the McCawley home either. Danny was afraid that if he stayed any longer he'd take Rafe up on his offer to go with him. It didn't sound like a bad a idea, in fact. Leaving Tennessee and all his problems behind actually seemed pretty appealing. Danny had told Rafe that he wouldn't understand why he couldn't leave, but in truth Danny wasn't all too sure he understood himself.

"Danny?" the small voice rang out into the air interrupting his thoughts.

Danny looked up to see Elizabeth McCawley sitting in the old tree house that Mr. McCawley had built years back, her legs dangling over the edge. Danny climbed up the limbs of the shallow tree, Elizabeth moving aside so he could hop in.

"What are you doing up here Lizzie?" Danny asked.

"Thinking," she replied, tucking a wayward strand of hair behind her ear.

"'Bout what?" Danny pried.

"Oh, about everything. Rafe mostly," Elizabeth answered. "Why does he want to leave us?"

"It's not that Lizzie, it's just--" Danny sighed. "Well, Rafe, he wants to be a pilot. And this, going to Long Island, is his big opportunity."

"I know," Elizabeth admitted, she hung her head as tears welled up in her eyes. Quickly she brushed them away, but they seemed to fall just as fast. Elizabeth sucked in a shaky breath; it wasn't as if Rafe was leaving this moment. Although, somehow it was an awakening for Lizzie, they were growing up.

"Don't cry," he whispered, tilting her chin upwards. Gently he brushed away her tears with the pad of his thumb, letting his touch linger a little longer than he had intended.

"I still don't want him to go," Elizabeth flung her arms around Danny burying her tiny head in his broad shoulder, sobbing. She pressed her cheek against his chest, her small hands clinging to his shirt.

"I don't either Elizabeth," Danny choked out a cry of his own as he hugged Lizzie back. "But it's not up to us."

"I know," she sniffled and reluctantly let go of Danny. Elizabeth wiped her wet cheeks with the back of her hand. "Gosh I must look a mess. Sorry for—"

"It's okay," Danny assured her. "And you look beautiful."

"Thank you," Elizabeth blushed. But Danny knew she was thanking him for more than just the compliment--which he meant with all his heart--she was thanking him for being there. "What would I do without you?" Elizabeth grinned and kissed the tip of his nose.

As she pulled away, their eyes locked for a moment. They stared that way at each other, neither of them wanting to break the gaze. Slowly, Danny leaned forward and pressed his lips gently to hers. Elizabeth's fingers trailed up to Danny's neck, where they rested above his pulse before entwining in his hair. Danny's tongue swept across Elizabeth's lips as the kiss deepened, it was soft, but passionate.

"I've wanted to do that for a long time," Danny confessed.

"Well, I'm glad you did," Lizzie replied breathlessly.

"Yeah, cause I've wanted to do that for a long time," he rested her forehead against hers.

"You just said that," she whispered.

"Oh," Danny answered with a smile.

Elizabeth smiled back, impishly as she initiated the second kiss. This kiss was longer, more intense, the slight awkwardness from the first kiss slowly melting away. Elizabeth placed her hand over Danny's, her fingers dancing upon his skin. As she touched his wrist her fingers grazed his watch. Danny abruptly pulled away.

"I have to go," he explained.

"I understand," Elizabeth nodded with a hurtful expression, her mouth pulling into a frown. She quickly scampered out of the tree house, Danny running after her.

"Elizabeth," he chuckled, grabbing her hand and turning her around. "I didn't mean it like that."

"Then how did you mean it?" she questioned, her lower lip quivering.

"I meant," he began, cradling her face with his strong hands, his thumbs steadying her trembles. "That I have to be home. Had to be home actually, quite awhile ago."

"Oh," now it was her turn to mumble the word with a fluster.

"Listen," Danny told her. "I don't know what's going on between us."

"Me either," Elizabeth agreed.

"But I like it Lizzie," he finished with a mischievous grin.

Elizabeth blushed in response, both of them leaning in for one last kiss in the dark night, before Danny began jogging back to his house. Elizabeth smiled as she watched him go, her fingers sweeping lightly over her lips.

"I think I love you Daniel Walker," she murmured softly to herself.

Danny reached his house out of breath. Panting as he opened the front door he called out, "Daddy? I'm home."

He awaited a reply, but received none. Curious he started to search the small Walker house for his father. He opened the door to the tiny bedroom, more than half expecting to see him passed out on the bed with a bottle of whiskey in his hand. Instead Danny found the room empty. He took a seat on the worn bed, glancing around the sparse room. Sitting on the wooden table beside him was a photograph of his mother, seeming rather out of place in the dim room.

Danny picked up the photo and held it lovingly in his hands. He missed her. It was just three years ago that she had died from pneumonia. She was the kindest woman that he'd ever known, with one of the warmest smiles. Danny often wondered why she had ever married a man like his father, an abusive drunk Although, he had heard that his Daddy wasn't always that way. That it was the war that had changed him.

Danny held the photograph against his chest. He thought about his mother, about Rafe wanting to move to New York and about kissing little Lizzie McCawley. Danny sighed and drifted off into a peaceful sleep.