Chapter 3

"So, what is your choice?"

Rafe stared. It was that old man again. So it was real?

"I am going to stop Danny from going on the raid." Rafe said firmly.

The old man raised his eyes to look at Rafe. Rafe thought he saw a glimmer of hope in the old man's eyes, but the old man looked away before Rafe could be certain. "Sure? It would mean you are going to lose your girlfriend also, you know."

"I don't care. I just want Danny back."

"Are you sure you are going to succeed? Changing history is not easy, and you only have one chance."

"I am not completely sure whether I would succeed, but I am going to try my best."

"Well, if you insist…"

Rafe woke up with a start. He was in his room, in Pearl Harbor. The old man lied! He had not gone back in time! He had been living here since after the raid. Rafe shook his head angrily. He knew it must have been a dream. Since when do old men appear people's lives and provide a chance to alter one of the events that they wished had not happened? He was silly to believe in dreams in the first place. He was too focused on reversing the course of events to prevent Danny from dying, but deep in his heart, Rafe knew that it was not possible to go back in time. It had been a dream after all. Very realistic, but just a dream.

Rafe sighed and ran a comb through his tousled hair. His eyes fell on the empty bunk that Danny used to sleep in. Danny wasn't going to be here, no matter how hard he wished it. Suddenly, Rafe realized that the room seemed a lot brighter than normal. It was…like the afternoon sun! He slept all the way to the afternoon? Rafe looked at the wall clock. It was in the afternoon! He was going to be late! Oh, he forgot. Today was Sunday, there was no need to report to the army, or was it? If he could sleep through the entire morning, he did not trust himself to remember dates. He glanced hurriedly at the calendar, wishing that it was Sunday, otherwise he would be in deep trouble. Oh, wait a minute…the date is March 2, the day before he and Danny had set off to see Doolittle about the mission. He had gone back in time!

Rafe rubbed his eyes hard, and blinked furiously. He could not afford to get his hopes up only to have them crushed again when he found that he was only hallucinating. He walked closer to the calendar. The date was indeed the 2nd of March. He pinched himself hard on the arm to make sure he wasn't dreaming, and the pain was real. He looked closer at Danny's bed, and found that it was more untidy than it had been when he had returned from the raid. It was untidy in the way Danny always pulled the blankets off himself whenever he got up in the morning. Danny never bothered to make his bed. Rafe remembered he had made Danny's bed as well as his own when he had returned from the raid, in a feeble attempt to convince himself that Danny was still with him.

Rafe could not believe his eyes. His bag was lying on the floor in front of him. He had fallen asleep in the middle of his packing. Danny had gone off to say goodbye to his friends a few minutes ago, which would mean…Evelyn was going to come to talk to him in a few minutes time. Everything was just the way it was that day!

He would have to go through that torturing conversation again. Okay, he admitted he still had feelings for Evelyn. Rafe just could not face experiencing it all over again. He could not bear to look at her, to hear her voice, knowing in his heart that it was going to be their last time together. Now that he was back in time, he suddenly had a feeling that he did not want to lose Evelyn. Maybe there was a way to save Danny AND not lose Evelyn. If only he could find such a way, he would not be so torn part. Love and friendship. They are so hard to choose from. Rafe realized that he had assured the old man he had chosen carefully and he would not regret his choice only because he had never believed the old man's words. He was just making a random choice between Danny and Evelyn, since he had been sure that he would never be able to change anything. It had been so easy to say that he would give up Evelyn when he thought it would never happen. Rafe felt disgusted with himself. How could he rather have Danny dead than to lose Evelyn? He had gotten greedy when he found that he could have Danny back again, and he had wanted more. Those few weeks without Danny should have been more than enough to show Rafe that things would not be the same without his best friend beside him. He could not face Evelyn in the face when he brought back news of Danny's death. Things had been awkward between them ever since. How could he doubt for one moment that losing Danny would bring Evelyn back to him when he had already gone through that? Either way, he was going to lose Evelyn, so why sacrifice Danny?

Walking quickly out of the room, Rafe headed for a nearby park. He had to face Evelyn, and he would go back when he had gotten himself ready. Rafe knew he was not supposed to do this, he would be changing the course of events if he delayed the time Evelyn came to talk to him. He was aware that a few minutes could make a big difference, but he desperately needed some time to himself to get prepared to hear that conversation again. It wouldn't hurt to be back in the house a little bit later, would it? He wouldn't be long. He just need to compose himself.

After having a few minutes to himself, Rafe gathered up the courage to go back and face Evelyn. Maybe she had left after not being able to find him in the room. Then he could pretend that nothing had happened…when Rafe got back into the house, he saw Evelyn there waiting for him. His heart tightened at the sight of her. He still loved her. And he always will. All of a sudden, the usually talkative Rafe was at a loss for words.

"You're packing?" Evelyn tried to start a conversation. The tension between the two of them was so thick that Rafe could practically smell it. Things had become very awkward between them. The conversation then went on just as Rafe had experienced before. After being emotionally prepared, it had a lesser effect on him. After all, he knew what was going to come. But it still hurt.

Finally, Evelyn left. Rafe tried to act normal and go back to packing. Because of him and his delay, the conversation had ended ten minutes later than it should. Danny should be back in the house by now. Even though it was the second time he had gone through the conversation, somehow, it still hurt to hear those words again. When he heard that Evelyn will always love him, his heart broke, and the tears flowed despite his attempts to control himself. It would not do to let Danny see his tears. If Danny asked him why he was crying, it would be hard to explain.

Even though Rafe wished that Danny had not gotten involved with Evelyn, he could not bring himself to hate Danny for stealing his girlfriend, not after he experienced what Danny had when he had supposedly died out at sea fighting the Germans. The pain then was a thousand times worse than it felt now. He had lost Evelyn, but they could still be friends, and he could still see her sometime. To lose Danny in the raid was to lose him forever, and they would not get a chance to meet again. That separation is far worse, isn't it?

Rafe shook his head violently. He had to get Evelyn out of his head. They could still be friends. Just friends. After all, he was not going to lose Danny again.

Refe looked at the clock. It had been ten minutes since Evelyn had left. How strange. Danny should be back by now. Where did he go? If he did not hurry up, they are going to miss the flight!

After the conversation, Rafe was hasty to get back to the house. He did not want anyone to see his tears, nor did he want to entertain the thought that others might have seen him with Evelyn and Danny would hear about it. He just wanted to get his packing over and done with, and pretend that nothing has happened at all. So, Rafe did not see someone stepping out of the shadows behind the petrol station where Evelyn had talked to him. If he had, he would have recognized that familiar figure. The same tall figure with the same dark brown hair. The figure that Rafe had missed so much.

"Bye, guys!" Danny waved to his friends at the air base. He had worked here since he finished the training at Long Island. The training seemed so long ago. When he first came to Pearl Harbor, he expected to have a hard time settling down. After all, the guys on the base already knew each other, and he was not sure he could make friends so easily. But now, as he looked at the people he now call his friends, Danny's face broke into a wide smile. Settling down had not been so hard after all. The soldiers here were very friendly and casual, and they had friends quickly with Danny and his friends from Long Island. They had wonderful times here, and each and every one of them was survivors from the attack on Pearl Harbor. They had fought bravely and survived. Danny was glad to be friends with these heroes.

Only this afternoon, he had received orders from Captain Brook that he and Rafe were going stateside. The captain had not said what kind of orders they were going to get, just that they were assigned to Doolittle. Danny still remembered Doolittle from the training. He had been a strict instructor, requesting only the best performance from his men. Danny respected the General a lot, and he did not mind seeing him again. However, he could not help wondering what could have made Doolittle send for them so urgently. Maybe they were going to go on a mission?

From the looks on his friends' faces, Danny knew they were worried for him. He was touched by their concern. "Don't worry," he assured them. "Nothing will happen. I will come back as soon as I can, alright?" He gave them another wave, saluted and walked off. He still had his packing to do. If he was late, Rafe would never forgive him.

As Danny neared his quarters, he saw Rafe talking with someone, over at the petrol station. That person looked like…Evelyn? What was Rafe doing with Evelyn? Danny felt a nagging feeling of unease. He knew about Evelyn's feelings for Rafe. If Rafe had not gone to England and supposedly died, Danny would never had a chance with Evelyn. What if Evelyn is telling Rafe that she loved him? Does she still love him? Danny found himself thinking. He walked silently closer, hiding behind the shadow of the petrol station. He felt bad for eavesdropping on them, but he could not help it. He just had to know what Evelyn was saying. He needed to know. If…Evelyn still loved Rafe, and Rafe still loved Evelyn…I will have to give up. Danny realized. As much as he loved Evelyn, if she did not feel the same for him, it would not mean anything for him to hold on to her. Relationships had to work both ways. If they loved each other, he would be the one in between obstructing their happiness. He was not that selfish as to want to destroy the lives of the two most important people in his life just to make himself happy. Please, let me be wrong. He prayed silently.

Danny heard Rafe asking Evelyn why she got involved with him. His heart missed a beat as he caught the anguish in his best friend's voice, as he heard Rafe say that he should have died out there. His eyes brimmed with tears. Danny had taken it for granted that Rafe would be strong enough to get over Evelyn, and when Rafe started acting like normal after the attack, he had assumed that Rafe had recovered and forgave him. He had become selfish, wanted to claim Evelyn for himself and did not consider Rafe's feelings as he watched the two of them being together. He had not known that he had hurt Rafe so deeply. He was too busy trying to protect his relationship with Evelyn to think about his best friend. He forgot how much Rafe loved Evelyn. Rafe had many girlfriends before, but it seemed like he had been serious about Evelyn.

Evelyn was saying something now. Danny strained to hear her words. She spoke really softly, and it was hard to catch what she was saying. Danny only managed to catch a few phrases here and there, but he caught the last sentence she said, and that was enough. It left him overwhelmed.

"I'll love you my whole life."

Rafe had always been a strong person, but just now when he was talking with Evelyn, he had cried. Rafe never cried easily. It hurt Danny just to see his best friend's tears, and he had been the cause of everything. After that fight with Rafe, after how he tried to convince himself that he was doing the right thing, the one Evelyn loved was Rafe, not him. She only chose him because she was pregnant with his child. Gosh, what had he done? He had forced Rafe and Evelyn apart just because he could not control himself and fell for Evelyn.

Danny heard the despair in Evelyn's voice, and her pain at having to give up her love for Rafe. Shattered, Danny slumped against the wall of the petrol station, trying to control his feelings. He had been so angry at Rafe for leaving, and after that, for a period of time, he had been angry at Rafe for coming back! He thought that Evelyn had been ready to go on with him, and that she loved him the same way as she loved Rafe, maybe even more. But he was terribly wrong, it seemed. She had never loved him. He was the one obstructing her happiness with Rafe all along.

Danny closed his eyes. He had risked his friendship with Rafe and he had been silly enough to believe that Evelyn would be happy with him. He would be happy, but she won't. She loved him, but she loved Rafe more. It hurt to hear Evelyn say she loved Rafe. But it tore him apart to think that he had destroyed the lives of the two most important people in his life. He thought that he was doing the right thing. Assumed that it would be alright for Rafe and for Evelyn. Took it for granted that they will have to accept the change and move on.

He had made a grave mistake. Danny wasn't sure if he could repair the damage. He loved Evelyn, and so Danny knew what he should do. Evelyn would never be happy if she was forced to be with him. He would have to let go. Danny could foresee the awkwardness between the three of them in future if they ever met each other. Nothing would be the same again, whatever he does. But it beats making the three of them miserable for the rest of their lives.

The only thing Danny could think of now was the hurt on Rafe's face. The pain in his eyes, and the tears on his cheeks. He had hurt his best friend beyond reason.

"I'm so sorry, Rafe." Danny whispered.