Chapter 6: The Birth of The Red Baroness

December 1, 2011

Mallora Island

The months passed and the world was still at peace. David would fly during the week and come home on the weekends to be with his wife and work on the planes. Also, Chloe would come over as well, as she was off on the weekends from college. She'd tell them about her status in her flight training. She was doing remarkably well. Grimm would also visit to see Chloe as well. After the incident at the day before Kei and David's wedding, they'd been almost inseparable. David began to notice that Chloe was no longer the prima donna, fashion-obsessed, narcissist she was when she was a teenager. Chloe was spoiled in many ways in the past. She was painfully annoying and overbearing to deal with at times, but she was sincere as well. Now this bright eyed young woman, stood for her final test. How she made time for both college and pilot training David did not know. But somehow she managed.

For Kei, she'd take walks around the place, write in that book of hers, and just sit out in the field and paint the landscape. She'd gotten so good at painting, she'd sell them to tourists in town and such. All the while, she had these periods where she'd have conversations with her unborn child; something that even David found a bit strange.

Then there was the flying. The previous owners had done a good job of keeping the older planes in good shape. All they needed was a tune up, some gas, and some lubricants, and they were ready to go. Kei had already picked out her personal "mount", as she called it, an F4U-Corsair she found 3 months ago. David would help her paint it a bright purple, something that always brought him a laugh. At the end of it, they'd be covered in purple paint and laughing and living life in full. They'd finished painting all the other planes, most recently being David's "ride of choice" a Messerschmitt Me-109. He painted it black, and called it The Black Baron as a throwback to the famous ace of the same nickname. Kei named her plane The Violet Avenger.

Grimm had found a Fokke-Wuff 190 and named it Green Lantern. Snow had found a Grumman F6F Hellcat and called it Blue Lucy, named after his wife.Chloe had even found the plane she was going to fly around for fun once she finished her flight training; it was an old P-38 Lightning she painted bright red and named Candy Apple. The names were silly for the most part, but it would soon come time where everyone would fly again as one.

Finally, last week, she came back with the incredible news. She'd passed in a mere seven months, the second fastest time of the year to complete the curriculum. It had taken her seven months, countless cups of coffee, sleepless nights, constant badgering of Grimm and David, weekend manicure/study sessions with Kei, and two battles with the flu to get to this point. So it was the quartet of the former Razgriz found themselves waiting on the airfield for her to emerge from the building.

"I gotta hand it to her. She worked her ass off for the first time in her life." said David.

"I know. We kinda had to push and drag her along but she did it." said Grimm.

"It was kinda like us back at the academy." said Kei.

"Yeah, but you didn't fret when you broke a nail in the cockpit." replied David.

"Well, there she is. Well, it seems the spirit of flying's in your whole family Blaze...what in..." said a shocked Snow.

David looked closer at Chloe's clothes. It was incredible. She was wearing a cherry red suit, a pink scarf around her neck, and a set of pink and white flight goggles. Her boots were candy striped in white and red. Her gloves were ivory white with hearts in them. Her hair was shorter than before and her helmet was white with the same candy stripe design. Everyone burst into laughter.

"You have got to be kidding me!" said David while trying to hold back laughter, "Please tell me you're not going up in that! You're embarrassing me! What the hell is this!"

"The more things change, the more they stay the same..." said Grimm.

"I have to admit, as silly as this looks, I have never seen a pilot go all out like this." said Snow.

"I don't know, it looks cute."

"Of course you'd say that! What else are you gonna tell her?"

May 10, 2011

It was exactly 12 hours and 35 minutes before the wedding. So it was that everyone found themselves in the same hotel. They were exactly 40 guests there. They'd journeyed a long way to witness a wedding that some knew was inevitable. But for Chloe Lovecraft, it was a something else. The last few months had been reality smacking her in the face. For starters, when she complained about Kei not having any bridesmaids to David he simply blew her off. Why do you care! You didn't even know her! You didn't even like her when I introduced her to you! You've always been a selfish little girl! Hell, Anna's more mature than you and she's eleven!

Then there was all the other things on her mind. The pressures of life were building in her mind. There was the murder she witnessed at the gas station some days ago. There was her college age boyfriend who she felt he could love until another unexpected woman suddenly popped out in his dorm. There were her friends who were back at home, people who she never thought were real firends but hung on to them to have some facade of companionship. There was David, of course, a person she disliked her whole life. Was it the fact that she felt he had a much better time in life? A person who disliked her attitude on life. They never agreed on anything. Was it that all her life, she felt her parents treated him special? Was it that she felt she had to obsess about herself to make it in life. Was it that David was marrying a woman of a different race all together...something while she did not condemn, made her very uncomfortable. There were just too many things to worry about. She was an alien in her own family...and her brother had a far more unusual experience only to be welcomed back with open arms.

Or was it really about the soon-to-be couple? Was it the fact he found true love and she didn't. Was it jealousy? David had it all. He was a made man and he knew it. Why? He never told her about what he did. Why?

All of these thoughts were musing in her head all at once; it was making her dizzy. Her life was falling apart at 18, if it had not already. She had to change. She had to change now. But how? The first thing she had to do was to stop wallowing on the floor, crying for absolutely no reason. David was right. I am being a little girl. I can't keep this up. I can't keep obsessing about what I wear and what I want all the time. I can't keep pushing everyone away because I felt I was better than everyone else. No. I have to do something.

But as soon as she got up, she ran right into "him"...and little did she know her life would change forever.

Present Day...

"I will say this. I've never seen anything so ingenious and insane at the same time." said Kei, "My hat is off. You are a professional."

There was another pause.

"Professional? You call candy striped helmets...professional?" said David.

"It's a subjective term." said Grimm.

Subjective my ass. David was still being the cynic he always was. His words were not empty, but he still held back some doubt for a person who up until now was all but incorrigible.

"So what's your call sign gonna be?" asked Snow.

"Call sign...uh...how about...The...Red Baron...ess. The Red Baroness. YES! Just like the ace. Baron von...whatever his name is, right? From the this point forward, I will be known as the Red Baroness." said Chloe excitedly.

There was another period of silence.

Maybe I was wrong.

"It's gonna be rough without you in the air, love." he suddenly said to Kei.

"I know. I mean I wish this kid would hurry up and be born but...I'll manage. I can wait for a while longer."

"Now where is Claude and the others?" asked David looking up in the sky.

Suddenly, as if on cue, there were four old planes passing above. The fourth plane was flying behind the lead plane.

"Wait a minute...who'd the fourth plane?"

"It's Marimeydia." said David.

"Who?" asked Chloe.

"You know, the one-eyed chick. Claude's wife...the violin player."

"Oh, I remember her. She was really nice...for a Versuan." said Chloe.

"Hey, enough already. Let's get flying!" said Grimm.

David kept his discontent of his sister to himself. She was showing signs of maturity...but she had a long way to go.

To be continued...