"Of course I feel flattered, but why me as the valedictorian? After all there's so many of those traditional MIT types - you know, those guys who're prepared to devote their lives to proving Fermat's Last Theorem or finding a solution to global warming by 2030. I'm just a wannabe fighter pilot who thinks he's gonna get a kick out of zipping about at 5G. In my whole life, I wouldn't be able to hold a candle to any of them." It was most unlike Frederick to declare himself not up to a challenge, but he had too much self-knowledge to think of himself as the leading choice to be the first MIT valedictorian of the new millennium either.

'I don't think that's such a mystery," Anne said, smiling shyly. "Any 5.0 GPA is as good as any other, isn't it? On that level at least, you're even with them. And then, there are the qualities you've got that they haven't. Like leadership, for example. And charisma." Anne paused, a blush creeping up on her face. "You have way more of a story to share than many of them. And even for those who do have an equally inspiring life story to tell, most of them couldn't tell it the same way you would. You got to where you are today because you have hunger and passion and fire, and you wear it right out there on your sleeve."

"That may be true," Frederick acknowledged, "but still, there's a far cry between me and those baby Einsteins who were winning Olympiads from their highchairs."

"Well, everyone knows very well that MIT has plenty of those sorts of people," Anne pointed out. "I'll bet the reason why they picked you is precisely because you're different. Because you'll show that MIT can attract another type of person - that action-oriented, street smart people can succeed here too. You'll break the stereotype that MIT is only for geeks."

"So what do I do from here?" Frederick was usually so bewitching in his wit and confidence, but to carry his entire class on his shoulders - that was a heavy burden, indeed.

"Just tell 'em your story." As always, he could count on Anne to have the answers. "Tell 'em how the kid who spent all his afternoons at the half-pipe on his skateboard getting as much air as he could, eventually ended up getting highest honors at MIT."


"Tell 'em." Anne's words never left Frederick's mind as he stepped up on the podium and addressed the crowd, welcoming them to the commencement ceremony. It might be the case that nobody did show-and-tell better than Frederick Wentworth; but still, the magnitude of this ultimate show-and-tell was enough to instill a sense of awe in even the most seasoned student leader. Yet Frederick remained unfazed, as long as he hung onto Anne's words of encouragement.

"By sheer statistics, I shouldn't be standing here today. Not even ten years ago, I was going to the seventh grade at an inner city public school, and if anyone told me that I'd end up graduating from MIT, I'd have dismissed it as the most improbable of fairy tales. After all, the pure odds were against my even finishing high school. Detroit, where I come from, has one of the lowest graduation rates in the country. Back then, I acted out my biggest dreams in the afternoons when school was out, at the half-pipe on my skateboard. It was the feeling of flying that kept me going; whenever I was out there getting air, I imagined I was flying away from all the voices, including my own, telling me that I'd never get off the ground.

"And it was precisely this dream of flying that's got me to where I am right now. I was waiting for a direction in life, only knowing that I loved the rush of adrenaline every time I got airborne. The road leading me to my current career path had very little premeditation, very little calculation, and a lot of passion and intuition. On Sunday, I'll be heading off to Lackland, and I'm looking forward to a lifetime of getting air; only this time, I won't be on a skateboard but hopefully, I'll end up in an F-16. It doesn't matter that most of my worldly belongings could fit in a backpack, or that for the next few years or more, the only home I'll know will be just a dormitory room at best; the satisfaction of living my dream, every single day, will be more than enough to make up for all the creature comforts that I'll be leaving behind.

"If you asked any of my classmates today, I'm sure they'll also have a similar story to tell; a story of how a childhood dream became a passion, and how that passion has grown into a larger force that will guide each of us for the rest of our lives. For some of us, our passion will drive us to push new frontiers in technology and innovation; for others, it will lead us to write history in other arenas, be it politics, business, or philanthropy.

"The motto of MIT is Mens et Manus - mind and hand. I think all of us can safely say that college has opened up our minds in ways that we'd never have thought possible. But now, as we step out of college into the real world, at the cusp of a new millennium, I challenge each and every one of us to bring forth what we have learned in mind, and use our hands to make a tangible difference, whether big or small, to the world we live in. As a humble pilot, I will mainly lead with my hand, and for the most part, I may be just a small cog in society at large. But I have every confidence that many of my classmates around me will be playing a much bigger role to shape this new millennium into a distinct era of our own. I am sure this is true for all my peers graduating today, or this month, wherever in this country or in the world: we all believe the future belongs to us.

"For that, we have to thank our parents, and our grandparents before us. Many of the opportunities we have today didn't exist just one or two generations ago. The 20th century was an age of innovation that spawned many of the industries we see around us - automobiles, aerospace, chemicals, electronics. Much of the technology that we take for granted today, and many of the disciplines where we will make our livelihoods in future, are a direct result of all the industrialization that's happened over the past century. And the industrial age of the 20th century is the bedrock of all the exciting new opportunities waiting for us to build our dreams upon as we move into the 21st century - such as new media, clean technology, biotechnology, and nanoscience, just to name a few.

"On this day, let us also take time to thank our families and our friends for all the sacrifices that they've made to get us to where we are. For every personal story you hear from someone who's graduating today, there will always be the story of someone else who believed in us; someone who celebrated our triumphs, and picked us up when we were down. This person, or these people, may be our parents, our siblings, our grandparents, uncles, aunts; they may be our boyfriends, or girlfriends, or the lifelong friends we've made during these unforgettable years in college. Let us thank them for walking with us through this journey; a very special time in our lives when we're old enough to know what we want in life and go after it, yet young enough to believe that anything and everything is possible.

"And now, let's all go out there and graduate. After all, the sky's the limit!"


After the ceremony was over and the diplomas were handed out, Frederick made his way back from his seat in front to join Tom, James and the girls, who were already milling and mingling about on the lawn. He'd never seen any other occasion with so many family members present - Sophia and her husband, Captain Croft, had dropped him off at freshman orientation in loco parentis so back then, he hadn't felt that lonely despite seeing everyone else's parents hanging around; but now, the graduates were surrounded by family of all ages and all generations: white-haired grandparents sitting in the shade; little brothers and sisters tossing colorful balloons and cap-and-gowned teddy bears around as they chased each other in the sun; mothers tearfully hugging their sons and daughters while the fathers looked on, visibly puffed up with pride. But even though he was the valedictorian, the man of the day, Frederick had none of these people there to receive him. There was only one person waiting there to greet him as family, and she was Anne Elliot. Yet with the pride and joy radiating from her as she stood there to meet him, it didn't matter so much anymore that his parents, sister and brother weren't there to see him on this occasion. Her support more than compensated for all of them, because Anne wasn't just a fleeting presence on this day; she was a constant presence in his life. Without her, he knew, he might have still achieved his goal at large; but he couldn't have reached this particular pinnacle where he now stood if she hadn't been there, believing in him, challenging him, pushing him all the way. In his heart, when he'd said the thank-you in his speech, he'd been speaking only to her.

That was just one of the many things that Frederick and Anne had in common - his siblings couldn't come, and her family wouldn't come. Grandma Stevenson had considered it, but she'd said that at her age, she shouldn't be making the journey alone; and Mary, the only Elliot who'd offered to accompany her, was deemed by Walter to be too young and immature to look after Grandma by herself. The entire clan of Musgroves, of course, was busy celebrating Charles' graduation day at the other end of the country. So at this moment, this day when they were commemorating the greatest achievement of their academic lives, Anne and Frederick had only each other in the place of their respective families to celebrate the moment with. In fact, Frederick thought, they were already closer than family after the way they'd shared their lives throughout their college years, and it would only take one little formality to make all official.

He made a beeline straight for Anne and swept her up off the ground into his arms, flattening the scroll he still held in his hand.

"Marry me?" he said into her ear. This was exactly the opposite of his original intent to not propose yet; but at the spur of the moment, he was suddenly overcome by the urgency to plug that one tiny gap that stood between him and Anne becoming family for real.

"Yes, of course, yes!" Anne flung her arms around his neck and fairly shrieked the words. They whirled around and around, the colors of summer spinning around them faster and faster, mirroring the kaleidoscope of their emotions.

Finally, they got too dizzy to whirl around anymore, and they flopped down side by side on the grass.

"Well done," Anne said dryly. "MIT people are known for thinking with their heads, but you captured the hearts of many people today. Congratulations, Frederick."

And although she put on the perfect deadpan expression as she said it, her words still made him melt inside anyway.


Normally, Frederick almost never thought about the fact that he was named after several lines of royalty: most notably, the Prussian kings of yore and the Danish royal line that continues to this day. But on the 2nd of June 2000, he couldn't have been more ecstatic if someone put a crown on his head and sat him on a throne. Within just one day, he'd donned a gown and mortarboard, and pinned the gold bar of a 2nd Lieutenant to his uniform. Yet the crowning glory of that day didn't come with any costume, insignia, or accessory. No physical adornments were necessary when a simple verbal promise, uttered with the utmost sincerity, was enough. Over and above the glories of that day, the very best part of it all was that when he left MIT for good that Sunday, he would indeed be taking a piece of Anne with him after all. He was now officially the fiancé of Anne Elliot.


Chapter Notes:

Canon Notes - If I've done my job up to this point, then the way I fleshed out the younger versions of Frederick and Anne should bring to life the descriptions of them as "a remarkably fine young man, with a great deal of intelligence, spirit and brilliancy; and Anne an extremely pretty girl, with gentleness, modesty, taste and feeling" from canon. Show, don't tell is my philosophy here!

Easter Eggs - The description of the engagement as Frederick's crowning glory is a wordplay on the line "what could alone could crown all my other success" that comes late in canon as Frederick regrets not having renewed the engagement when he was made post in the year eight.