The SBD Dauntless rumbled down the flight deck, engine roaring as it tried to get enough lift under its wings before it reached the bow. Just as it reached the end of the flight deck, it slowly began to lift into the sky. I watched as it took to the air, attempting to turn to port and gain some altitude whilst waiting for the other aircraft on the flight deck to launch. As it turned, it wobbled, then swiftly nosed over and plunged into the sea, the splash spraying water onto the flight deck. Instead of the usual cries for assistance, the emergency crews being scrambled, or the orders barked to turn the ship around to circle back for the survivors, the only noise I heard over the rumbling of engines was Yorktown's resigned sigh.

"It's no good, Commander," she said dejectedly. "That's the third one in a row. I just can't seem to get a grip on my aircraft." I turned around to find her looking forlornly out at the open ocean. The wind over the deck billowing both her long silvery hair and blue dress behind her as she stared into the vast horizon.

"You're getting better," I said encouragingly, "That one actually made it off the deck this time."

"It's still not good enough, and we've been out here for hours."

This time, it was my turn to sigh softly as I looked down at the row of bombers idling on the deck. Ever since we'd managed to recover her from Midway, Yorktown seemed to be in the grips of a deep depression, even around her sisters. I had hoped that getting her out to sea and running exercises with the SBDs, the planes she was most familiar with, would be helpful. But instead, it seems I've made things worse. As I stared at the idling dive bombers, an idea began to form in my head.

"Alright," I acquiesced. "Let's go ahead and cancel the launch, and set course for home. Kill the SBD's engines, but leave them on the deck, please."

Yorktown seemed perplexed by the last order, but she carried it out dutifully. "Aye, sir." As the carrier began to make her long, graceful turn back to the base, I stepped back into the bridge, gesturing for Yorktown to follow.

"Let's head down to the flight deck. I want to check something out." As we made our way down ladders and through passageways, I looked back over my shoulder at the woman trailing behind me. "How familiar are you with the SBD?"

"Sir?"

"Indulge me, I'm curious."

She looked at me in confusion. "I'm...not certain what you mean, Commander."

I undogged the hatch to the flight deck and motioned for her to go through. "Ladies first." She hesitantly stepped through and I followed, shutting and dogging the hatch behind me. "All of the carriers, yourself included, handle your planes with such amazing skill. But I'm curious as to how much of that is based on instinct and just doing what comes naturally, and how much of it is knowledge and training."

While waiting on her response, I climbed up onto the wing of the lead SBD, running my hand along the riveted surface, inspecting every inch of it. I had never been able to see one up close like this before, and I wasn't going to miss my chance to finally check it out up close and personal. Eventually, Yorktown found her voice and answered.

"It's a little bit of both. It's like wielding a sword. When you pick it up, you know where to grab it and have a general idea of what do with it, but you need training and skill to wield it effectively."

I nodded as I opened the canopy. I'd seen Hornet dozing off in her Wildcats from time to time, so I was pretty confident there'd at least be a seat. Sure enough, my suspicions were correct, and not only was there a seat, but it appeared to be the full cockpit. Without a second thought, I hopped in and got myself seated as comfortably as I could, looking back over at Yorktown, who was still standing on the flight deck, looking more and more confused by the second.

"Can you teach me?" I asked. "To fly a plane, I mean."

Yorktown stared at me for several seconds, trying to figure out if I was serious or not. "I...could…" she answered slowly. "...but why do you ask?"

"Because I want you to teach me how to fly." When she didn't respond immediately, I continued. "Honestly, I wanted to be a pilot before the Siren War kicked off and everyone got grounded. And while I don't think High Command will ever greenlight me taking to the sky in battle anytime soon, it couldn't hurt to get lessons."

"I guess I could...although, I'm sure one of my sisters could teach you just as well…" she murmured.

"I'm sure they could, but I'm not asking them, I'm asking you. Will you teach me?"

She hemmed and hawed for a moment, trying to find some excuse while I patiently stared at her. In the end, she relented and nodded in resignation. "Very well, Commander. When shall we begin?"

"We've got a few hours before we're back in port, so how about now? Just the basics," I said quickly before she could object. "Starting and stopping the engine, running preflight checks, that sort of thing. I was thinking we'd wait a bit before trying carrier takeoffs and landings."

Yorktown nodded, then smiled softly. "Alright. First, you need to set the ignition switch to off, mixture control to…"

Over the next few weeks, Yorktown showed me the basic principles of flight operations; preflight checks, starting the engine, taxiing the plane, that sort of thing. It was slow going as we'd been doing this in our spare time, but as fate would have it, our schedules were about to become far more intertwined…

There was a knock on my office door and without looking up from finishing the morning's paperwork, I automatically said, "Enter." The door opened and shut and I looked up to find Yorktown standing in front of the desk, looking expectantly at me.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" she asked.

"I did indeed," I smiled up at her. "Illustrious' time as my secretary has come up, she's rotating back to the fleet, and since we've been working so well together lately, I'd like you to replace her."

"Of course, Commander," she nodded dutifully. "If there's a problem leave it to me."

"Excellent! You'll start first thing tomorrow morning, and I'll make sure Illustrious catches you up to speed on the operations today before she departs. This will also give us a chance to get more flight training now that we'll be able to coordinate our schedules better."

"Is that the real reason you asked me to be your secretary?"

I chuckled and shook my head. "Not at all. I've really been enjoying our time together, and by all accounts, you're diligent, efficient, and hard-working. The additional flight training we'll be able to fit in is more of an added bonus."

Yorktown smiled slightly and glanced down at the floor. "I've...I've been enjoying spending time with you, too, Commander." For a second, I could've sworn I'd seen a faint blush on her cheeks. "But I want to maintain the current superior-subordinate relationship."

"That's fine," I replied, trying to keep my eyebrow down. If she had an interest in me, I'd failed to spot it before now so her admission caught me somewhat by surprise. "I think we're both capable of being professionals and maintaining a respectful distance." Oh, how wrong I was.

"Good, good," Yorktown nodded. "If you'll excuse me, then, I'll go and begin turnover with Illustrious."

"Of course. See you tomorrow, bright and early."

The next morning, I found that Yorktown had beaten me to the office and already hard at work.

"Good morning," I said, still somewhat stunned at her early arrival as I hung up my cap. "Have you been here long?"

"About an hour or so. You did say 'bright and early.'"

"That I did," I agreed. "I just didn't expect this bright or this early."

"In any case, I've prepared the morning reports, along with recommendations for the day's commission fleets."

"Thank you, Yorktown. I have to admit, I'm impressed." Again, she smiled and I could see color flushing her cheeks.

"Y-you're welcome," she whispered, tucking an errant strand of silvery hair behind her ear. "We should probably get to work now." I nodded in agreement and sat down at my desk, ready to start the day.

Several hours later, we were interrupted in our work by something tapping on the window. We both looked up at each other, then over at the window. There, on the other side of the glass, was a bald eagle.

"Grim!" Yorktown exclaimed, dashing to the window and flinging it open. "What are you doing here? Is Enterprise alright?" Grim Reaper, or Grim for short, had been Yorktown's companion until her loss at Midway when she gave him over to Enterprise.

Grim's only response was to let out a trill and hold up one of his claws, a bundle of envelopes clutched tightly in it.

"Oh, you brought the mail," Yorktown said in a subdued tone, "Thank you."

"That was nice of him," I noted. "Although he's never done that before." To be honest, I shouldn't have been so surprised. From what Enterprise told me before we recovered Yorktown, Grim was her constant companion, never far away from the elder sister.

"He used to fetch the mail for me all the time. And tell me when the fleets were returning." She delicately ran her fingers through the white feathers atop Grim's head, who seemed to like it, as he closed his eyes and leaned into the touch. "But now he belongs to Enterprise, to help her with her duties. He should be out there, not here with me..."

"He misses you," I bluntly stated, and Grim chirped his agreement. "Just because he's helping Enterprise doesn't mean he can't give you a hand. Er...wing?..talon?...from time to time."

"He shouldn't be wasting time with me," Yorktown sighed, withdrawing her hand. "I'm fine on my own."

"Isn't that his call to make? Who he spends his time with?"

"I said I was fine on my own," she repeated, her tone wavering.

"Most people are fine on their own. But that doesn't mean fine is something you should settle for. Or something you feel you deserve."

Yorktown sighed. "Commander…" her voice trailed off, and she appeared to be deep in thought. Finally, she reached out to pet Grim again, who happily leaned into it. "I guess I should start carrying treats for you, huh?"

"I'm partial to chocolate chip cookies," I joked. It was the first time I'd ever heard her laugh. I'd heard her giggle and chuckle, but never a full-on laugh. The sound was melodic, and it made me smile wider.

"I'll keep that in mind the next time you need an incentive to finish your work, Commander."

The work continued well into the night, with us finally finishing sometime around midnight. As I filed the last report away, I looked up to find Yorktown sprawled out on the couch, fast asleep. A grin tugged at the corners of my mouth, normally I was the one who passed out first. Then again, it was a busy first day for her.

I stood and made sure everything was secured before moving to wake her and get her back to her room. But as my hand reached out for her, her peaceful expression turned dark, and she shook her head.

"Darkness…" she murmured, the sound barely audible even as close as I was. "No...darkness...light…" Her head continued to shake from side to side, the words becoming more plaintive, whatever dream she was having clearly turning to a nightmare. While there were risks in suddenly waking up a girl with enough firepower to level this office without a second thought, I decided to wake her from whatever was tormenting her. I gently shook her shoulder, and she woke with a start. Her eyelids snapped open, those ocean-blue eyes darting around the room until they settled on my face. In her eyes, I could see fear, panic, despair, and confusion, the last one vanishing quickly as her brain caught up.

"C-commander?" she whispered as she sat upright on the couch. "What happened? Did I fall asleep?"

"Yeah," I nodded, "You okay? You looked like you were having a nightmare at the end there."

"Oh." She wrapped her arms around herself and seemed to shrink down in her seat. "Did...did I say anything?"

"Something about darkness, that's all I caught."

"I see…" She looked thoughtful for a moment, then looked up at me. "Commander, how close have you ever come to death?"

I let out a long sigh and sat down next to her. For a while, I just sat there, staring into nothingness as I wrestled with the emotions and memories that were dredged up. In the end, I turned to her and said, "About three steps. Or three seconds."

"May I ask what happened?"

"I was a midshipman on a training cruise when we got caught in a Siren ambush. I was zone setting, you know, closing all the watertight doors, that sort of thing, with another midshipman. I ran to shut the last door, turned to head back and the next thing I know, an energy beam carves right through the area where I had been standing. Right where my friend was." In my mind, I remembered it all, clearly, the feeling of the hatch winching shut, pressing against the rubber seals, the worried, frightened look on her face. "One second she was there...and the next…" my voice trailed off, thick with emotion and I had to look away. I felt Yorktown's hand take mine, squeezing it tightly. I squeezed back and found my voice again.

"We were...close. Not romantically, but it's safe to say she was my best friend. Raised all kinds of hell together, watched each other's back. One second she was there, the next she was...just gone. And it could have been me, easily. If she had been the one to dog that hatch, or if I had been just a few seconds slower or faster, I would have been standing right where that beam hit." I took a deep, shuddering breath and nodded, looking back over at Yorktown. "Closest I've been to death."

"I'm sorry, Commander," she said quietly, still tightly holding my hand. "Did you ever talk to anyone about it?"

"Just the official inquiry, which was just really a recitation of what happened. I don't remember if there was counseling made available, if there was, I never took it. I was just...numb for the longest time. And when I finally started coming to terms with those feelings, it felt like it was too late for me to really do anything with them. So I kept it all deep inside."

"Do you think about it at all?"

"I try not to."

"Why not?"

I sighed and leaned back on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. "For starters, it opens up a lot of emotions, most of them bad, and I don't want to deal with those emotions if I can avoid it. It also opens up dangerous questions. 'Why her and not me? Why was I spared? Was it fate or was it random chance? Would I have felt it? Would I even realize I died? What happens after I die?' Questions with no easy or comfortable answer. So I just...try not to think or talk about it."

"Until today."

"Well, you did ask," I gave her a thin smile, "and I'm not going to lie to you. You deserve better than that."

"I appreciate your honesty, Commander," she said. Now it was her turn to look away and take a deep breath. "I remember dying. I remember all of it. Feeling myself slip away, the water washing over me as I sank to the bottom. Growing colder and colder, darker and darker, until I settled at last on the seabed. That kind of darkness...it's...it's terrifying, Commander. It smothers you, pushes down on you until you can't stand it anymore. I thought I would be trapped there forever...until you found me. And I'm eternally grateful for that, but...part of me still feels like I'm trapped in that darkness, looking for the light to guide my way back…"

The silence hung heavy in the air, and I struggled to find the right words. "I'm...I'm sorry, Yorktown…is there anything I can help you with to find that light?"

"You being here with me, being here for me, I think, helps. And sharing a part of yourself with me." Yorktown smiled softly. "Thank you."

"Thank you," I replied, squeezing her hand. "Now c'mon, let's get you home."

"Of course, Commander, I need to make one little change to the schedule first…"

As it turned out, what she had done was schedule us to leave the office a bit earlier than usual to finally move on to the next phase of my flight training. We arrived at the small airstrip in the early evening, the setting sun painting everything with a golden hue. Inactive since the beginning of the Siren War, it made for the perfect training ground, giving me lots of room to operate and make mistakes without damage any other nearby aircraft. Or, in this case, worrying about any air traffic control.

The SBD's starter whined as the propellers began to spin, and then, with a cough, the engine sputtered to life, engulfing me in a cloud of smoke that obscured my vision for a moment. As the smoke cleared, I could hear the engine settle into the familiar idling rumble, and all the instruments read that the aircraft was operating within normal limits. Confident that the Dauntless was ready to go, I looked over at Yorktown and gave her the thumbs up. She smiled back, her hair whipping around her face from the prop wash, and returned the gesture before signaling me to taxi to the runway. The dive bomber began to lumber onto the airstrip as I gently pushed the throttle forward, keeping the plane on course with the rudder pedals. Before long, I had turned onto the runway and engaged the brakes and thumbed the radio on.

"Bombing Five, ready for takeoff."

"Understood, Bombing Five," Yorktown's voice crackled in my ears, "You are cleared for takeoff. Ascend to angels three once you're clear of the runway. Good luck."

I grinned to myself as I pushed the throttle forward, the rumble of the engine becoming a dull roar as the power increased. The sound now filled the cockpit, practically rattling my teeth as I disengaged the brakes and the SBD began to roll down the runway. I continued to throttle up, my eyes were torn between the gauges and the end of the runway, which was now fast approaching. When I had reached the required airspeed, I gently began to pull back on the stick, my heart in my chest. Most crashes occurred during landing and takeoff, and this was my first time. Odds are good that if I screw something up, it would be now.

But my fears were never realized. With a slight bump and a shudder, the plane lifted into the air and I could see the ground had begun to fall away beneath me. I laughed, the sound swallowed up by the engine as I realized I was, at long last, flying. A dream I had long thought unreachable, now fully realized. And even though I did my best to keep my eye on my instruments and focus on flying the plane, I could not help but smile the entire time.

After a few minutes, the altimeter hit three thousand feet and I leveled the Dauntless out, looking around at the scattered clouds that I was now closer to than I was to the ground. The view was absolutely breathtaking from up here, and I slid the canopy back to get a better view, feeling the wind whipping around me. I could see the entire base, from the vacant airfield to the harbor entrance. Ships coming and going, mere specks from up here leaving thin white trails behind them. The vast sea, shimmering gold in the evening sun, stretching out before me as far as the eye could see. After a minute or two of my sightseeing, I realized I needed to check in with Yorktown.

"Bombing Five, angels three," I belatedly announced.

"Copy that, Bombing Five," Yorktown replied. "How's it looking up there?"

"It is absolutely gorgeous. I wish you could see it." I thought for a moment, then said, "Maybe next time you could hop in the gunner's seat and ride along? ...can you do that? Ride in one of your own planes?"

"Oh yes," she answered, "Enterprise and Kaga are rather fond of that sort of thing. It's not really mine, but flying with you...yes, I'd love to."

"It's a date, then!" I blurted out, not realizing I'd just crossed the line we said we wouldn't cross. It took my brain a minute to catch up with what I'd just said and hastily added, "Figuratively speaking. Keep it professional and that sort of thing."

"Huh? Oh! Oh, y-yes, of course." Yorktown sounded surprised, and I wondered if it was because she hadn't noticed it either, or she was entertaining the idea of a date with me. "We're losing the light, so you'd better bring it in for a landing."

"Copy that. Bombing Five, heading home," I responded and pulled the Dauntless into a slow, graceful turn back to the airstrip.

Yorktown had made the right call. As I taxied back to her, the last rays of the sun had vanished behind the empty hangars, the lights flickering on as the sky grew darker. The landing itself was smooth and relatively uneventful, much as I had anticipated. There was a lot of room for error on a long runway versus a pitching carrier deck, and the Dauntless was a very forgiving aircraft.

"That was amazing!" I exclaimed as I jumped off of the wing and onto the tarmac. "It was absolutely beautiful up there. I never dreamed I would get the chance to do something like that." I took a breath, steadying myself in an attempt to tone down my exuberance. "I couldn't have done this without you. Thank you, Yorktown."

She blushed and glanced down at the ground again, tucking that errant silver lock behind her ear. "You're welcome, Commander. It's good to feel useful again."

"Good! I'm glad you're feeling better. So when do we want to schedule the next flight? Do we have any time this weekend?"

Yorktown giggled at my enthusiasm and shook her head, "I would have said yes about fifteen minutes ago, but while you were on approach to land, Grim delivered this to me. It's for you." She handed over a gilded envelope with my name on it.

"Oh, thank you. Clearly, this isn't from High Command, unless they've suddenly gotten extravagant with their budget…" I mused as I tore it open and pulled out the equally gilded card within and read it silently. "Huh. The Royal Navy is having a ball for all of the factions, and I've been invited, along with 'a companion of my choosing'." It took me a second to realize she would have no idea what this card said unless… "Did you know about this?"

"I knew one was being planned, but I didn't know it would be this weekend until Grim delivered the envelope. Who do you plan on taking with you?"

"Well, you. If you'll have me."

"M-me?" she sputtered, surprised by my choice. "Are you sure, Commander?"

"Of course! I've enjoyed spending time with you, and I'd like to spend a little more. U-unless you feel that would violate the superior-subordinate relationship."

"Oh, n-no," she stammered, "Not at all. Well, maybe a little, but I think it's okay. Bent but not broken. Although I'm not much of a drinker."

"Ah, that's okay. I'm sure they'll have grape juice or something for the destroyers. Just stick close to Hamman or Sims and you'll do fine. What do you say?"

"Then...yes," she smiled happily, "I'd love to."