Ann was on the next flight back to Oahu after she got Danny's telephone call to tell her that he was back in the rotation and on his way back to Okinawa. Her grandparents called her father and asked him to meet her at Honolulu International the following afternoon but instead of her father, Danny was there.

He was dressed in his khakis and his flight jacket as he waited for her at the gate. As she descended the stairs to the tarmac Ann couldn't tell if he was happy to see her or troubled that she'd cut her vacation to Ohio short. When she reached him he took her hands in his. "I didn't call you to get you to come home Ann, but I'm glad you're here."

"I wasn't sure if you'd be happy to see me or not." She admitted as he put an arm around her shoulders and walked her into the terminal. "But I was here when you left the last time and my grandparents understood that I wanted to be here when you flew out again. In fact, my grandmother insisted that I come back and she wanted me to tell you that you're in her prayers."

"I like your grandmother. And you can tell her the next time you talk to her that I appreciate it very much."

"I'll tell her." Ann promised him as she waited for her suitcase and when it finally appeared, Danny picked it up and took her hand as they headed out of the terminal and to his car. "So when will you be leaving?"

"Monday morning." He got right to the point. "We'll be flying until Friday afternoon and then get forty-eight hours leave before we take off."

"That doesn't give us a lot of time." She commented.

"Ann, it's only Tuesday afternoon." He made it sound as though they had all the time in the world. "We have five days before I have to leave and when I'm not in the air I'll be spending that time with you and my family."

"So how is it that you're here instead of Dad?" She smiled as he scanned the lot, presumably to look for his car.

"He said that you'd never admit it, but he knew that you would prefer seeing me here instead of him. So he asked if I would come get you and bring you home." He grinned back. "Is he right?"

Her smile grew wider. "What do you think?"

"It's been over a week since I've seen you." He admitted as they reached his car and he put her suitcase down. "Would I embarrass you if I kissed you in the middle of a crowded parking lot?"

"Would I embarrass you if I let you?" She laughed and put her arms around his neck and held him close. It was becoming clearer to her now how her parent's must have felt all those years ago when they would have to say goodbye to each other not knowing if he would come back.

"How about we save it for later so I can welcome you home properly?" He asked, his voice almost a whisper. "I'll make it worth your while."

"I'm sure you will." And she tried to hold him closer so she would remember what he felt like in her arms and to have the feel of his arms around her.

"I'm still here Ann, so try not to spend these next few days worrying." Danny seemed to sense that her mood was beginning to change and tried to stop it from happening. "We've got five and a half days together so let's make the most of them, all right?"

"And where would you suggest we start first?" She leaned away from him but kept her arms around his neck.

He smiled and seemed relieved that she wasn't going to get upset. "We'll start with my getting you home and then we'll figure it out."

Once they got in the car, it didn't take Danny too long to negotiate his way out of the lot and they were on their way back to Wheeler. He showed his identification to the MP at the gate and was waived through. Her mother was waiting for her on the front porch when Danny pulled up to the front of the house and she waved.

"Go say hi and I'll get your suitcase." He offered and for which she rewarded him with a kiss on the cheek before she was out of the car.

"I just called your grandparents to let them know that your flight got in on time." Mama was smiling as she hugged Ann. "It's good to have you home honey."

"It's nice to be home." She hugged her mother back. "I always appreciate this place more when I've been away."

"I imagine that's why it's called Paradise." Mama replied before she let Ann go. "Thank you for going to pick her up Danny, her dad and I sure do appreciate it."

"It was no trouble Ma'am." She heard Danny's voice close behind her as he set her suitcase down. "I was happy to do it."

"We were planning on barbecuing later if you'd like to join us. Your parents will be here and I thought that if you wanted to invite Hank he'd be more than welcome. Danny always cooks more than we need and an extra mouth to feed would really help."

"Thank you Mrs. Walker, I'll ask him."

"And perhaps you'd like to invite Evelyn as well. She and Hank seem to get along together." She added.

Ann could almost feel Danny tense behind her. Something was going on with Hank and Evelyn, of that she was certain. He tried to talk to her about it before she went back to Ohio, but never got the chance. "The last time I talked to her she was planning on going back to Illinois to see her family. If I can get a hold of her though, I'll definitely ask."

"She doesn't seem to have a lot of friends and she's always gotten along with Ann and you." Mama commented.

"Evelyn tries to keep work separate from her personal life. She's always had a rule about that and I've never tried to change her mind." Danny tried to explain. "She probably has a circle of friends that we don't know about because they're non-military."

"I hadn't thought about that. I think that when you've lived the life we have, you tend to forget that there is a different kind of life going on outside of this base."

"That's the truth. I've never lived anywhere, except my grandparent's that wasn't a military base or the Academy and I don't know that I would ever want to live a civilian life." He agreed.

"It's not all that bad." Mama said with a smile. "It's all just in what you're used to."

"Yes Ma'am." He smiled back and put a hand on Ann's shoulder. "I need to head back to the field. We've got one more flight for the day and then I'll be back later for some barbecue."

Ann nodded and he squeezed her shoulder and looked at her mother. "I'll talk to Hank when I get back to the field and see what he wants to do."

"That will be fine Danny. We'll see you later regardless." She told him before he turned and walked to his car. Ann picked up her suitcase and followed her mother into the house. "Ev and Rafe raised him right."

"You really like him don't you?"

Her mother looked surprised at her comment. "I've always liked Danny. He was courteous and polite when he was growing up and the Academy put some polish on him. But I like him even more because he can put a smile on your face that no one else can."

She didn't know how to reply.

"It's all right honey." Mama seemed to understand as they walked back to Ann's room. "It's hard to put your feelings for someone into words when you're still getting used to them. Even after Dad and I were married it took me a long time being comfortable with telling him, or anyone else for that matter how I felt about him. We were raised in a time when you didn't talk about things like feelings and emotions. But it doesn't mean that we didn't let each other know how we felt, we just did it through actions not words."

Ann couldn't help but laugh as she put her suitcase on the bed and opened it. "Danny is very good at that."

Mama's answering laugh was gentle as she sat down next to the open suitcase. "Most men in love are."

She must have looked as surprised as she felt that her mother would voice what she was too afraid to.

"Don't look so surprised Ann, I do have eyes. And I suspect that he wouldn't have kissed you in front of his family and yours when he came home, if he wasn't. He may not be aware of it yet or he might be just as afraid as you are to admit it, even to himself. But he's got that same look in his eye that I saw with your dad all those years ago and still do."

"Mama!"

"Don't tell me that you aren't feeling just as strongly about him either. I've seen how your face lights up when you hear his voice or even the mention of his name. I saw how worried you were the first time Danny had to leave even though you tried to convince us that you were all right. I saw the way you held each other when he came home safe, as though you never wanted to let him go." She moved the suitcase out of the way and took Ann's hand and she sat down next to her mother. "Falling in love with someone is a frightening prospect because you don't want it to be just one sided. But from what I've observed, it's not something that you need to worry about. Just take it slow as you have been and give him the chance to get to know the real you. And take the time to get to know the real him as well."

"It just seems a little strange sometimes to be with someone I've known practically my whole life and I'm learning that I didn't really know him." She made an observation of her own.

"Of course you did, it's just that you knew him in a different way than you do now. And if it turns out that you make a life together, you'll get to know him in the most personal way possible."

"Mama!" Ann could feel her face burn with a flush and she pulled her hand out of her mother's grasp and stood up.

"I'm sorry for embarrassing you honey, that wasn't my intention. But as well as I thought I knew your dad before we were married, I found out that I didn't know everything about him because we put that part of our relationship on hold." She seemed just as flustered as Ann. "There are so many facets to a good relationship and Dad and I have found so many of them already. I have the feeling that you and Danny will discover those facets in the coming years and keep finding out new things about each other."

"If he comes home." She sighed and sat down again before she looked at her mother. "I had to come home. After he called and told me he would be flying out again, I just knew that I needed to be here when he did."

"Ann, it's never easy saying goodbye to someone you care about, especially knowing that they're going into harm's way. But you have to remember that he's been preparing for this since he came back and he's been well trained."

She nodded. "I know. I'm too young to remember what it was like when Dad had to fly out and I guess I was hoping that I wouldn't have to experience it at all."

Mama smiled and put an arm around her shoulders. "That's what we all hope for. Dad didn't like leaving any more than I liked saying goodbye to him, but being part of the military we always have to be prepared for situations like this. And after two wars, I must admit to being a little relieved that your father is part of a reconnaissance squadron. It doesn't mean that he won't be in danger of being shot down because sometimes that can be more dangerous than combat, as he was reluctant to tell me."

Ann didn't know how to explain a feeling she'd had for the last few days that intensified when she say Danny waiting for her at the gate. And while she felt the need to tell her mother, she didn't want her father to worry. "Mama, if I tell you something would you not tell Dad?"

She shook her head. "I can't make a promise like that. Dad and I have never kept secrets from each other and it's too late to start doing it now."

"Well then, would you not mention it if it doesn't come up in conversation?" She asked.

"Just tell me what it is Ann and I'll think about it."

"I didn't tell Granddad or Gram because I didn't want to worry them. But one of the reasons that I wanted to come home so much was that I had a dream about Danny." Ann started to explain.

"And I gather that this dream wasn't a pleasant one." She could see the look of concern on her mother's face.

Ann shook her head and sighed. "I know that you don't believe in dreams and I don't either, but this one was as real a dream as I've ever had."

"Something happened to Danny?" Mama's voice was low. "Something bad?"

She nodded as the tears begin to pool behind her eyes. The overwhelming fear she felt the night she woke out of a sound sleep with the sound of Taps echoing in her ears as Danny was laid to rest at Punchbowl Cemetery came back to her and the tears rolled down her cheeks.

Her mother didn't need to hear any more and her arms were around Ann as she allowed herself to do what she'd not at her grandparents, she cried. She held on to her mother as all the grief she'd held inside since that night she had the dream came out.

"Did you have this dream the night he called you?" The sound of her voice was reassuring and calm and all Ann could do was nod. "Not that I believe it's going to happen, but it does makes sense that you would have a dream like that because it brought your deepest fear about Danny to the surface."

She nodded again.

"I think you need to tell him about it." Mama sighed. "We're always told not to burden the pilots with things such as that before they go out on a mission, but Danny seems to have a keen sense when it comes to you. Besides, it's not good to keep things like this from him. He's told you that he would be as honest with you as he was able when it came to what it was he had to do and I think you need to be just as honest with him in how you feel about it."

Ann sat up and her mother's arm stayed around her shoulder. "I wouldn't even know where to begin."

"If you wait for the right opportunity, it will present itself. Just trust in your feelings for Danny and his for you." She concluded before she stood up. "I'll let you unpack and get settled in. Why don't you take a shower and freshen up? And if you feel like you want to lay down for a little while, go ahead. We'll have the house to ourselves for another hour or so before Dad gets home."

"Mama, if we don't believe in dreams why did this one scare me so badly?" She wanted to know.

"Because it's an unpleasant reality of being a combat pilot. And it's probably been in the back of your mind since you and Danny started seeing each other." Mama reasoned. "We'll just have to keep our fingers crossed that it doesn't happen." And she was gone.

She was right of course.

All it was, was a dream and it didn't mean anything. Danny was well trained and already had one combat mission under his belt. Why would this one be any different?