Kooshball: Well, I thought that a few people might be angry that I killed a character off, so this is an ending I've written over the last few days for the people who didn't want Lona to die. This ending is all very confusing and messy, but it kinda fits in with the rest of it. Don't forget to review!


Lona sat up in bed hurriedly. Though she looked calm and was breathing normally, her heart was beating quickly in her chest. It was 1957, several years after the Korean war. She hadn't been involved, heck, she barely knew anything about it except the politicians kept calling it a "police action" and her second cousin, Walter, had been there.

Lona struggled quickly out from under the covers, pulling a robe on before leaving her room. The old house creaked as she went to the phone, trying to calculate what the time it would be in Iowa. Either they were yesterday or tomorrow, Lona could never remember. Reaching the phone, she picked up the receiver, and dialed the operator.

"Hello? Yes, I'd like to put a call through to Iowa, America. Where? Um, Ottumwa. Yes, I'll wait." Lona sat down as there was a small click on the other end. It was only a few minutes later when she could hear the call being connected to the operator in Iowa.

"I'm after the O'Reilly farm," Lona said. "Yes, Walter O'Reilly's place." There was a few moments waiting for the call to be connected to the farm, but she smiled when she heard the other end ring. On the fourth ring, someone picked it up.

"O'Reilly residence," a male voice on the other end said. He sounded youngish, maybe a bit too serious to be the younger second cousin Lona remembered from 9 years ago.

"Walter?" Lona asked, sounding slightly unsure. "It's cousin Lona."

"Lona! Hey, how ya been?" the voice on the other end asked. "I hear you moved over to New Zealand last year."

"Australia, actually," Lona said. "The people here are great, very friendly, like their sports. I kind of miss the baseball, though."

"Oh yeah, you were always a Mets fan."

"Listen, Walt, I called for a reason," Lona said. "I wanted to know about Korea."

"What about it?" The voice on the other end suddenly sounded suspicious and wary.

"I had a dream just before," Lona explained. "Like what Great Grandma Gabrielle used to have." She paused to lick her lips. Walter would be the only one who would understand about Great Grandma Gabrielle. "It was about Korea."

"What's it got to do with me?" Walter asked.

"Well, you were at Korea," Lona said, starting to falter. "And someone in my dream mentioned you…"

"I'm going to have to cut you off in a minute," the operator interrupted. Lona nodded, even though they wouldn't see her.

"I only want another minute," she said. "Walter, we've only got a minute. Look, I need to talk to you about this, ok? I'll take a flight from Melbourne in a weeks time, and head to Iowa. We can talk then."

"I still don't know what this is all about," Walter said.

"You will soon enough, Radar," Lona said the second before the line was cut. Lona put the phone receiver down. She wondered what Walter's reaction would be, being called Radar. Either her dream was real, or Walter thought she was a loony. Lona picked up the phone again to make plans.


Lona always felt nervous flying on planes. She didn't feel right, being hundred of miles up in the air, with nothing to stop them from falling and crashing into the Earth. This flight had been alright, quiet, smooth, the only hassle had been a man a few seats in front of her being rude to the air hostess.

She only had a small bag with her, which held a few changes of clothes and a diary where she'd recorded the dream in full. Walter was waiting for her outside, she easily recognised him under the baseball cap and the round glasses. She closed her eyes for a split moment of bliss of being back on her home soil, and instantly got an image of Walter in army fatigues, clipboard in one hand, greenish beanie on his head, and his glasses in need of cleaning. When she opened her eyes again, she was back in the airport, Walter giving her a wave. She waved back.

"I can't believe you flew all the way out from Australia," Walter said. Lona shrugged, just a hint of a smile on her lips.

"I like to try and keep in touch with my family," she said. Walter took her bag, and led her to a farm truck. He hoisted her bag into the back tray as she got into the passengers seat. She jumped when a collie licked her arm.

"Oh, don't mind him," Walter said, getting behind the wheel. "Joe's very friendly." Lona patted the black and white dog on the head gently.

"So how's the farm been?" she asked as the truck started up.

"Oh, you know, alright, I guess," Walter said. "But you didn't come here to discuss the farm." Lona smiled a little.

"No, I didn't," she said. "Listen, Walt, I'm a little jetlagged. You don't mind if I nap a little during the trip?"

"Go ahead," Walter said. "I don't mind. Joe's here to keep me company." Lona nodded, and leant up against the truck door. Her eye lids felt heavy, and they closed by themselves after a few moments.


The next thing Lona remembered was Walter shaking her awake.

"We're here," he told her. Joe the collie was also licking her arm. "I set up a bed inside if you want to sleep some more," Walter continued as Lona stretched a little.

"No, I want to get this out of the way," Lona said, getting out of the truck. The farm was as she remembered it. She'd always loved the old house and its surroundings. She followed Walter inside, leaving her bag just inside the door.

"Can I get you anything? A drink? Sandwiches?" Walter wanted to know.

"I'm ok," Lona said. "Maybe just a glass of water. They did feed us on the flight, you know." She sat down in the living room as Walter organised himself in the kitchen. There was a picture of Walter's mother beside her and Lona felt a brief moment of sadness. She'd missed the funeral, just last year, and felt a little guilty for doing so. She had no choice, circumstances held her back in Australia. She was just putting the frame face down on the table when Walter came in with two drinks and a sandwich on a tray. He put it on the coffee table and sat opposite Lona. She took the drink thankfully and sipped it quietly.

"So why did you come back?" Walter wanted to know.

"I had a dream," Lona said slowly. "I think it was like one of Great Grandma Gabrielle's dreams."

"Oh?" Walter asked. She didn't have to explain to him what she meant, he'd experienced the same sort of thing.

"I was in Korea," Lona continued. "I was a nurse, POW for most of it. It felt so real, every sound, sight, smell, every touch." She paused to shiver. "After a year or two, I escaped. Even the time felt real. There was no jumping from one event to another. This was all real time, if you understand what I mean." Walter nodded.

"I know what you mean," he said.

"So, I escaped," Lona said. "I was hurt, half blown away. My chest was a mess." She paused again when Walter turned a little pink around the cheeks. "The pain, it was like it was someone else's," Lona continued. "I think I was ready to give up. Then, I came across a MASH unit." She stood up. "Wait a minute," she said, going to her bag and coming back with the diary she's written her dream in.

"I was at a MASH unit," Walter said when she came back. He had a hint of pride in his voice. "I was company clerk." Lona smiled.

She flipped open her diary, and scanned the first few pages. "Here it is. I had arrived at the 4077th."

"That's where I was!" Walter said. Lona nodded.

"There was a new company clerk there," she said. She squinted at her scrawled print. "Corporal Max Klinger."

"I knew him!" Walter said. He suddenly frowned. "How do I know you're not pulling a fast one on me?" he demanded. "You could have got all this information from my mother!"

"What, and fly a million miles to play a joke on you?" Lona asked. "When have I ever played a joke on you, Walt? Anyway, your mother never sent me anything. The most I got was a Christmas card every second year. We may have been family, but my father's branch of the family tree was always ignored somewhat." Lona calmed herself again and took another sip from her glass.

"I'm sorry," Walter said. "It's just it seems weird that you dreamed about the camp I was in during the war."

"I didn't know it was the same camp you'd been in," Lona said. "Not at first, anyway. Max took me to the operating room, where I collapsed. I was operated on, sent to post op, where he came in every so often. He seemed very concerned for me." Lona paused. "There were three main surgeons. Captain Pierce, Captain Hunnicutt, and Major Winchester. Hunnicutt operated on me, though Pierce and Winchester also looked after me. Pierce was very curious about me, why I healed so quickly, why I knew where people were even though I couldn't leave the Post op. I think Winchester was more concerned about Max's feelings when they found out I was infected."

"Major Winchester?" Walter asked. "No disrespect to you, Lona, but I don't think he was ever concerned for anyone but himself."

"Maybe," Lona said, sipping her drink.

"Captains Pierce and Hunnicutt are swell guys, though," Walter continued. "Hawkeye and BJ, boy, what a pair."

"It was maybe a week or two after I had gone to the 4077th," Lona continued, "that Pierce realised I was completely healed. He was worried, because he'd seen me when I'd first come to the unit, and no-one heals wounds that quickly. Hunnicutt came to talk to me one night, find out why I was like I was. I explained to him our family tree, and he mentioned a 'Radar O'Reilly', previous company clerk with similar abilities."

"Me," Walter said. Lona nodded.

"You. The only one apart from me that was blessed with Great Grandma Gabrielle's abilities."

"So that's how you knew my nickname," Walter said. "On the phone, last week." Lona nodded.

"My last night at the unit, Max took me to their officer's club, which, incidentally, was open to all, and not just officers."

"Why?" Walter asked.

"He proposed," Lona said. "I loved him, Walt, I would have said yes, if I hadn't sensed it."

"Sensed what?" Walter asked.

"The future," she said, a teary look in her eyes. "I was sent home, on a plane. Over the sea of Japan, I closed my eyes, trying to get my mind off flying."

Walter nodded. "You never did like it," he said.

"I heard screams, the plane had been shot. We crashed into the sea, people around me screaming. The one I remember most was the man beside me. He had a hat covered in those silly fishing flies. He kept screaming, Loraine, Loraine." Lona put her glass down on the table, and closed the diary.

"That was Henry," Walter said, eyes going wide. "He had one of those hats, his wife was Loraine…"

"And his plane crashed over the sea of Japan," Lona finished. "I saw it as if I was there. A dream within a dream, almost. I drowned, while the plane flew high over the waves." Lona paused. "I woke up then. I rang you, to see if any made sense to you. Obviously it does."

"Maybe it was just a dream," Walter suggested. "You just, I don't know, saw my experiences and fitted them to suit yourself."

"Maybe," Lona said. She opened the diary again, to the back page, and lifted out an envelope. It had the Army's stamp on it, and she handed it to Walter. He looked up from it at her, unsure of what it was. "Read it," Lona said. Walter opened it and straightened out the letter inside.

"Madam, it is our sad duty to inform you that your daughter Lona Humphrey died coming home from Korea. She had served America well, and must be a great loss to her family." Walter looked up. "What is this?" he asked.

"My mother got that during the war," Lona said. "She imagined there had been a mix up, some poor woman had died in the war, and the Army sent her the letter with my name on it instead. I'd never been to Korea, I lived just a few blocks from my mother, so she knew I wasn't dead. She never gave it a second thought." Lona's eyes seemed to glow for a split second. "I kept the letter, it interested me. I only realised what it meant when I woke up from my dream."

"That was you in Korea," Walter said. Lona nodded. He stood up and went to the phone.

"He's married now, isn't he?" Lona asked. Walter nodded. They both knew who she was talking about.

"Operator?" Walter said after picking up the phone. "Yeah, I'd like to put a call through to Toledo. Uh-huh… Uh-huh. Ok, I'll hold." Lona casually put the letter back in its envelope as Walter waited on the phone.

"I want to put a call through to Max Klinger. Yep, ok."

Lona stood up, wondering what it would have been like to live in Toledo with Klinger.

"Hey, Klinger? Yeah it's me, Radar. I know it's been a long time … oh yeah? Well, I hope that works out for you. Hey, listen, I was just talking to my second cousin. She says she knows you… No, from the war. Her name is Lona Humphrey… Yeah? No, she's not dead. You know what the army's like… Uh-huh, I'll tell her." Walter glanced over at Lona, who was standing there quietly.

"I miss him too," she said.

"Klinger, she says she misses you, too… Ok, I'll ask." Walter turned to Lona. "You want to talk to him?" he asked. Lona shook her head.

"It's ok. He's happy without me, I don't want to ruin a good thing," she said.

"She won't come to the phone… Ok, Klinger, I hope we catch up again later. Bye." Walter hung up.

"So how is he?" Lona asked.

"He's fine," Walter said. He looked at Lona as if still slightly confused. "You actually died over there," he said finally.

"I wonder if Great Grandma Gabrielle ever did anything like that," Lona said, with a small sad, smile.