Author's note: Keep the reviews coming! I live on them. This is the last chapter of the story. However, it is not the end yet:P I cannot manage stories with too many chapters, so I am starting on a sequel! Hope you will enjoy the sequel as much as you enjoyed this story. Do remember to review!

This chapter is dedicated to all my readers. Enjoy!

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Chapter 17

After having solved issues between him and Evelyn, Danny felt more relaxed than he had been ever since Rafe "returned from the dead". He and Evelyn would remain friends from then onwards. He would need some time to get used to this change, but Danny was sure he would get over it. Things had turned out better than he had hoped, and he should not ask for anything else. By giving Evelyn up, he got to keep both Rafe and Evelyn as his friends, and that is enough for him.

Evelyn had assured him that Rafe would be willing to take care of their child, telling him not to feel responsible towards her and their child. He knew that Rafe would not mind taking care of their child…but that does not make him feel any better. He owed Rafe too much, and it made him feel bad to make Rafe take care of his child…

He wouldn't be able to tell Rafe the news personally though. The general had told him that Rafe was coming back the next week, but by then, he would be back in Long Island to train for a new mission…

Zipping up his bag, Danny took a last look around the room which he had shared with Rafe for the short time they were there at Pearl Harbor. There wasn't much to pack, since he brought most of the stuff he needed when he received orders that they were going stateside to meet Doolittle. He was just back to retrieve some small items that he was unable to bring along then. Things like his small collection of photos, some books, and his diary.

Nostalgia surfaced in him suddenly as he remembered the many things that he had shared with Rafe throughout his life, up to this moment. To have to spend the rest of his life without his best friend…Rafe's presence had always been there with him wherever he went, well, except for the period of time when Rafe went to England.

It's alright. I won't forget Rafe, Evelyn, Gooz, Red…all of them, no matter where I go. The memories are the only things that matter, and I have lots of them. Danny told himself. Time to let go.

Walking towards the door, Danny went looking for his friends. They will kill me if I leave without a word. He was halfway down the path when he realized that he didn't know what to say. It wasn't as if he could just walk up to them and say, "Hey guys, I am leaving for a mission tomorrow so I am here to say goodbye." He would be lucky if even a cat would be satisfied with that.

Danny slowed down his pace as he tried to come up with a logical excuse to explain why he was leaving to his friends. Knowing them, they would probably try to come along with him, and there was no way he was going to endanger his friends again. Not wanting to reach his friends' barracks before he came up with something, Danny took a detour down a deserted alley, thinking furiously. He had to come up with something soon, but what was he going to say?

Engrossed in his thoughts, Danny did not notice the group of pilots creeping up behind him. Gooz, Red and the others had been on their way to Danny's room, planning on dragging him to an impromptu party that they had decided to throw on hearing the news that Rafe was coming back next week, when they saw him walking out. They were in a very good mood, and it had been a long time since they last had some proper fun. Danny Walker could blame his own luck that he posed such a good target. Stifling the urge to laugh, Gooz gave the thumbs up signal…

Danny was bewildered and caught utterly off guard when he was pounced upon from behind. Yelling in surprise, he tried to fight off his assaulters, but he was brutally outnumbered. I am being robbed, in broad daylight! Danny thought wildly, almost panicking. His arms were pinned behind his back, and Danny couldn't see their faces even if he tried. He cursed silently under his breath, trying to free himself but to no avail.

Danny's eyes widened in alarm as he realized that someone was reading him his rights. "Hey! Who on earth do you think you are? I didn't…" His voice trailed off. That voice sounded familiar… His suspicion was confirmed when the voice broke off into laughter, and his arms were released.

Caught in a confusing mixture of exasperation and amusement, Danny turned around to see his friends doubling over in laughter. He tried to look angry, but couldn't keep it up for long. Unable to help himself, Danny joined in the laughter. His friends always had surprises for him; he doubted he would ever be able to predict them all. It was only now that Danny understood just how much he was going to miss them.

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"What?" Gooz spluttered, almost choking on his drink. He stared at Danny as if Danny had lost his mind. The group of friends was hanging out at the local bar, which reminded Danny of the last time they had a similar gathering in the same bar to celebrate Rafe's "return" from the dead. And of course, there was the fight that broke out later when Danny got into an argument with Rafe over Evelyn… but most of them had gone off now. In fact all of them had gone home, except Gooz, who still wanted to have a drink. Danny couldn't bring himself to tell his friends during the party, in case he spoilt their mood.

"I am leaving tomorrow to train for the new mission I've been assigned to." Danny repeated, praying silently that Gooz wouldn't ask too many questions. He felt guilty lying to his friend, but it had to be done.

It was the only thing he could think of that sounded logical enough to explain his sudden departure. He had Rafe to thank for this excuse. Now Danny knew why Rafe chose to tell him that he had been assigned to the British Army to help fight the Germans a year ago. It stopped him from volunteering to go to England, and Danny was confident it would stop his friends from volunteering for this mission as well.

It would not do to let them know that he had looked up the general personally and asked to be part of the next mission. From the moment Evelyn made her choice to stay with Rafe, he had decided to retreat from their lives. It was the only way he could offer Rafe and Evelyn enough time and space for them to get back together, and fix the damage that he had done to their relationship. But none of his friends needed to know this.

A short silence ensued, after which Gooz finally asked, "When are you coming back, then?" Danny shook his head. "I don't know." At least that was true. He really didn't know when the mission would end. "Can you help me tell the others tomorrow?"

Gooz sighed, and nodded. "I will." Not like he had a choice, since he was the only one Danny informed about this.

Relieved, Danny smiled. "Thanks." Reaching over, he gave Gooz's hand a hearty shake. "So long, buddy."

"So long." Gooz returned the handshake. "Danny, be careful, you hear me?"

That had been what Rafe said to him before the bombers took off for the Doolittle Raid. It stirred up a reluctance in Danny to leave before Rafe came back, but he forced it back down. "I will. Same to you too." Goodbye.

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The plane was getting ready for take-off. Danny didn't have time to look for Evelyn after the party yesterday, so he left a note in her mailbox instead. The scene at the air field looked familiar as well. Pilots rushing to board the plane, some biding goodbye to their friends and loved ones…the last time he had been here, Rafe had been there with him, and Evelyn had come to see him off. Both of them are not here now, and Danny understood that they won't be with him again, if things went his way. At least they won't be there physically to support him. Deep in his heart, they would always be there. All of them.

Squaring his shoulders, Danny picked up his bags and strode towards the plane. Half an hour later, the plane took off, and Danny Walker made the first step into his new life. Just like a little farm boy many years ago, who changed his entire life the moment he befriended his new neighbour when he first moved to Tennessee. Rafe McCawley had walked a part of his life with him, and now he would walk the rest by himself. Alone, if need be.

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I have decided to base the sequel on Danny's new life after he left on the mission. Hope you have enjoyed this story, and continue to support the sequel! Do keep the reviews coming!