It was an experience that she would never forget.

Ann Walker and her family were part of the large contingent that made their way to Colorado to see Danny McCawley graduate from the Air Force Academy and receive his commission.

Even though she lived on an Air Force base, Ann couldn't remember seeing so many uniforms in one place and she couldn't remember Major and Mrs. McCawley ever looking so proud either. She sat next to Sarah during the graduation ceremony and the older girl squeezed her hand as Danny's name was called. When he presented himself to the commandant of the Academy his pilot's wings were pinned on his breast pocket and his assignment was announced.

Danny was coming home.

She overheard him tell his Grandfather McCawley later that day that it was a one in a million shot that he would get posted to Wheeler and he didn't know how he could have been so lucky. His grandfather told him that he believed it was always in the cards for Danny to return to Hawaii, just as he did as a young boy.

She was impressed, to say the least as Danny and Hank took their families around the campus and showed them the different places they had frequented during their four years there. It looked just the way she thought a college campus would look and not a military academy.

"So what do you think of the place Annie?" Danny asked her as he put an arm around her shoulders as they walked.

She smiled at him. "It doesn't look the way I thought it would. I can see why you liked it so much here."

"It was a great place to be, but it sure can't beat Hawaii." He smiled back. "And just when you thought you'd seen the last of me, I'm coming home." His smile turned into a grin.

"Just as long as you don't let those pilot's wings go to your head, I won't mind." She shook her head in amusement.

"Don't worry about that Ann." Hank told her with a smile. "I'll keep him in line."

"That's good to know because someone has to." She smiled back at him.

He grinned. "I like her Dan, she says what she thinks."

She looked up at Danny and tried not to laugh. "I've never heard anyone call you Dan."

"You'll be hearing it a lot more once we get to Wheeler." Hank commented.

"I really think you'll like it there." She observed.

"I think he'll like being stationed in Hawaii, period." Danny laughed.

"That too." Ann smiled back and noticed for the first time that his eyes sparkled when he laughed and she felt an odd tightening in her chest. She decided that her response was to what he wore because she had always heard that there was something special about a man in uniform.

The only other time she'd seen him in uniform was when he was part of the ROTC at Pearl High but it wasn't something she remembered noticing at the time. But she also knew that it was probably because she saw him every day.

"Hey Annie, where'd you go?" She heard the amused voice of Danny as he gently shook her shoulders.

She looked up at him again and smiled back. "All these uniforms are making my head swim."

"Is there any one in particular?" Sarah smiled at her as she walked next to Hank and caught Ann's eye. She knew that Sarah had observed what happened and also knew she wouldn't hear the end of it.

"It's my cologne, isn't it Ann?" Hank grinned and she wondered if he saw it too. "Kind of knocks you for a loop doesn't it?"

"In your dreams."

Danny laughed again. "She's going to keep you in line too, Hank."

"With my help." Sarah added and grabbed Ann's hand for a moment.

"So I get two pretty girls and Dan only gets one."

"But that one girl is Annie." He shot back at his friend with a grin of his own, his arm still around her shoulders.

"Danny, that's enough now." Mrs. McCawley admonished from behind them. "You're embarrassing Ann."

He looked down at her and that sparkle was still there. "Am I embarrassing you Annie?"

"A little." She said and felt her face flush.

"I'm sorry." He told her, but he didn't look the least bit sorry.

The look Ann gave him told him that she didn't believe him, but didn't say anything as they approached the senior dormitory and Danny took his arm from around her.

"Home Sweet Home." Hank quipped as he and Danny opened the front doors and waited for their families to enter the lobby. As they followed the new pilots up the stairs, Sarah put a hand on Ann's arm and stopped her. "We'll go up in a minute but I wanted to ask you something."

Here it comes.

"Is it my imagination or did you just notice my brother?" She asked with a smile.

"Notice what?"

"Don't be evasive Annie, you know exactly what I'm talking about." Her smile got wider. "I have to admit that I never thought about you and Danny. But when he had his arm around you..."

"He had his arm around my shoulders and it's something he's done since we were kids." Ann interrupted.

Sarah waved a hand in dismissal. "But we're not kids anymore."

"And I'm pretty sure that Hank has noticed." She said as she tried to change the subject. "He seems to have stayed pretty close to you today."

And to Ann's surprise Sarah's face flushed. "He asked me out for coffee tomorrow."

"When did he do that?"

"After he and Danny met us downstairs at their dorm, he just asked." She explained and her face flushed even more.

"Sarah, do you like him?" Ann smiled at her.

"What a question to ask, I hardly know him."

"But I've known Danny most of my life and you all but asked me that same question." She countered.

"I did not, I said that I hadn't thought of you two as an item. As for Hank, I like what I know of him so far and he doesn't look too bad in a uniform." Sarah admitted.

"And now he'll be coming out to Wheeler. That should give you more of a chance to get to know him."

"And Danny will be home and maybe it will give you both the chance to get to really know each other, too." She replied.

"There's a small matter of his girlfriend. Remember her?" Ann frowned.

"Girlfriend my foot. She couldn't even find the time to come out here and see him graduate. If she really cared about him, she would have been here."

"You really don't like her, do you?"

"The longer they're together the more I hate it. He deserves better than an AWOL girlfriend and he deserves a lot better than her."

Ann heard footsteps on the stairs and looked up to see Hank. "What is it about you girls that every time I see you, you're talking?"

Sarah looked up. "How much did you hear?"

He shook his head. "No more than what Dan and I have already talked about. In the meantime, he and your parents are wondering where you are, so let's get upstairs so we can show you our room before we go to dinner."

"We're not really going to eat in the Academy dining room, are we?" Ann asked.

"Sure we are. The cooks have pulled out all the stops for the graduates and their families. Don't look like that Ann." He said in response to her dubious look. "The food here has been surprisingly good for the last four years."

"Well I guess if you survived on it, it can't be all that bad." Ann sighed.

"There's only one way to find out." He grinned before he took each girl by an elbow. "But only after you've seen our room."

And he escorted them upstairs.