A/N: Sorry about the delay with this chapter. My computer monitor decided to go on the fritz which necessitated buying a new one, but Danny and Ann are back now.

Danny was back in the rotation and due out in the morning. His squadron would head to Okinawa for briefings and then they would be given their assignment.

He ate breakfast with his family that Sunday morning the way he'd done ever since he returned from the Academy. The difference in recent weeks was that Hank didn't come with him anymore. Mama told him that it didn't make a difference to them if he came because he was Danny's friend before he was Sarah's beau and he shouldn't feel that he couldn't invite his friend to a home cooked meal. But as grateful as Hank was to the McCawley's for wanting to continue to include him, it was just too awkward a situation as he explained to Danny.

He understood and chose not to press the situation because Danny didn't want his sister to feel as though her feelings about having Hank there weren't important. It was nice to see her back to her old self and as much as he hated to admit it, ending things with Hank was the right decision. With her new degree from the University of Hawaii, Sarah accepted a job at Hickam with the Public Relations Department and began to do the same type of job that Evelyn was doing at Wheeler. Through Mama's friend Mrs. Dearborn, who's husband was a pilot at Hickam the family learned that Sarah was doing an exceptional job and was well liked by the people she worked with.

Sarah would never have said as much and Danny knew that Mama was grateful that her friend would pass along the information. Mrs. Dearborn also hinted that Sarah might have caught the eye of one of the pilots at the base. How Sarah regarded him seemed to be a military secret because not even Mrs. Dearborn could find that out.

It had been rough going for his sister because he knew how much she'd cared for Hank and it couldn't have been easy for her to face the fact that as much as they cared for each other, she and Hank just weren't suited for each other.

Evelyn, on the other hand was a much different story. Danny had to admit to himself that he'd missed the spark between them when they were all in Colorado, but he'd had a lot on his plate during those years and wasn't particularly observant about anything beyond school and flying.

What was going to happen with those two he didn't really know, but given how he felt about Ann he didn't want his best friend to miss out on the same kind of opportunity with Evelyn. He also knew though, that it was up to her.

He'd gotten his brother and sister to help him clean up after breakfast so his parents could finish their coffee on the front porch. It was a beautiful morning and he thought that they should spend part of it together. When the last dish was dried and put away, his brother went back to his room to finish up a writing assignment for school. Joe decided before the end of his freshman year to take a couple of summer courses so that his class load would be lighter in the fall and he could take some time to enjoy his second year at the University of Hawaii.

Sarah left for Ann's. They were talking again and Danny knew that it was one of the reasons that his sister was back to her old self. They gabbed like any two sisters would and he was glad that they were regaining their close relationship.

As for him, he decided to stretch out on the back sofa. It seemed to be the spot to take a nap and Danny figured that he would need all the extra sleep he could get. If this mission were any thing like the first, they would constantly be on alert and he would never get a full night's sleep.

On his way out he heard his parents talking together and his mother laughed at something his father said. The deep baritone of Dad's answering laugh made him smile. It amazed him how much they were still like newlyweds sometimes and he couldn't help but wonder if he could have the same kind of a marriage. Of course theirs was something special and it wasn't something that could be duplicated. But he'd sure like to try.

He stretched out on the sofa and the soft cushions cradled him as he fell asleep without realizing it. He woke with a start when he suddenly felt a gentle hand on his shoulder and when he looked up, saw his father standing next to him. "Hi Dad."

"Hey there son, catchin' some Z's?" He asked with a smile.

Danny ran a hand through his hair and sat up. "If I didn't want to see Ann before I left I would probably spend the rest of the day sleeping."

"You can do both you know. Just sack out in your old room for awhile and get some rest before you go see her later." He sounded so sensible. "She is only two houses away."

"I know Dad, but it's going to be awhile before I get to see her again."

Dad sat down next to him on the sofa and sighed. "This is always the hardest part about bein' a combat pilot, sayin' goodbye to the people that mean so much to you. And from what I saw after you came home the last time I'd say that Ann means a whole lot to you."

"She does."

"Do you love her?" The question shouldn't have startled him but it did. But Danny didn't know if it was because it came from his father or because he wasn't sure.

"I don't know." He answered honestly and sighed. "I feel like I should, but I really don't."

Dad smiled at him. "I think you do and you just ain't ready to admit it yet."

Danny couldn't help but smile back. "How do you figure that?"

"You didn't say no when I asked." He stated. "This whole thing between the two of you seemed to happen so suddenly and I can't help but wonder if it wasn't supposed to happen."

His father never seemed to Danny the type to believe in predestination. "Do you think that we're meant to be together?"

"I didn't say that." He seemed to get a little defensive. "Danny and I could have had our oldest be sons or daughters, the way that Shelby and Sarah are both girls and Joe and Tom are both boys. You and Annie obviously didn't turn out that way and it does get a man to thinkin'. That's all I'm sayin'."

"What do you think of her Dad?"

"I think she's a very nice girl. She's got her mama's temperament, her daddy's looks and his mischievous streak from what I hear. She's been a good influence on you because she's gotten you to see that there is more to your life then flyin'. Your mama was able to do that with me and it's always a good thing when we can find someone special like her or Ann."

"Does it bother you that she's so young?"

Dad frowned and Danny wondered how his father interpreted the question; he found out quickly. "If you've done something with her that you shouldn't have, then it bothers me a lot."

"Nothing like that has happened because we promised you that it wouldn't." He answered and it was Danny's turn to sound defensive. "It's funny because with Caroline I never felt strongly enough about her to test any boundaries but with Ann, I can't seem to help it."

"Danny." He heard the warning tone in his father's voice.

"Nothing's happened." Danny repeated. "But to be honest it's really hard sometimes being honorable."

"I know it can't be easy for you and I know that you've got it comin' from both sides about how you proceed. We ain't doin' it to be contrary, we're doin' it because we love you both and want the best for you." Dad seemed to feel the need to explain.

"I know Dad and I'm sorry for getting defensive about this because I don't mean to. And I don't mean to sound as though I would put Ann in a situation I know is wrong because I wouldn't. But it doesn't mean that I haven't thought about it."

It surprised him when his father laughed and put an arm around his shoulders. "There ain't no harm in thinkin' about it son, that's what cold showers are for."

"Hey! You're as bad as Gramps!" Danny frowned and felt his neck begin to warm with a flush.

"You're a fine young man Danny and I know I don't need to tell you how proud Mama and I are of you. We also know that no matter how strong your feelings for Ann are, you wouldn't act on them no matter how much you might want to. She knows that too and that's what bein' honorable means."

"That's your fault you know." Danny grinned at his father. "If you and Mama hadn't set such a good example for us Ann wouldn't think I was so honorable."

Dad smiled at him. "All the credit goes to your mama. We were together before I left for China and never regretted it, but she laid out all the ground rules after that because there were times that she needed to keep me honorable too."

"Why? You were married."

"It doesn't matter. There is a time a place for things even when you're married; your mama taught me that." He answered in his matter of fact way. "And there is also a time and a place for things especially when you ain't married."

"Yes Sir."

His father sighed and shook his head. "I didn't mean to come out here to lecture you but it seems that's exactly what I've done."

"I know that Dad and I didn't take it as a lecture. The truth is, I don't think it matters how old we get because you and Mama will always be our parents. Even when we get married and have kids of our own, you'll still be our parents."

"And because we'll always be your parents, we're always goin' to worry about you." And he stood up. "You ain't goin' to be gettin' much sleep once you fly out so why don't you go ahead and sack out in your room. Mama and I will be headin' over to Hickam in a little while to see the Dearborn's and Joe's gettin' ready to go to the library so the house will be quiet for awhile."

"If it's all the same to you, I think I'll stay out here. I like the sound of the wind through the palm fronds." Danny explained, though he knew he didn't need to.

"It is a sound that helps you sleep all right." He answered in understanding and headed to the screen door. "If you get hungry later go ahead and make yourself a sandwich if you like because Barbara will probably be expectin' us to stay for lunch."

"Thanks Dad, I'll remember that." After his father walked into the house and the screen door squeaked as it closed, Danny stretched out again and promptly fell asleep.

He had no idea how long he slept when he was again wakened. But this time it was from a feather touch across his cheek and he knew before he opened his eyes that it was Ann. She was smiling at him.

"You do realize that there's no one home."

"I like that Miss Ann. I'm home." He smiled at her.

"That's not exactly what I meant Lieutenant and you know it." She laughed and Danny wondered if Dad was right about his feelings for her.

"So what did you mean?"

"I didn't mean anything, I was merely making an observation." She frowned and looked irritated.

"An observation that puts us in a situation that we shouldn't be." Danny commented as he sat up. "So let's get out of here. It's going to be awhile before I'll be able to take a Sunday afternoon walk with you again."

She sighed. "You would have to bring that up, wouldn't you?"

"I bring it up because it's inevitable. Tomorrow is going to come faster than I would like and I want to spend some of that time with you." He told her as he stood up, took her hand in his and squeezed it. "This was part of the package remember?"

"I know."

She stayed closer to him that late afternoon then she usually did as they took their walk around the base. Her grip on his hand was tight because he knew how scared she was. She was the daughter of a combat pilot and knew that it didn't help the man who was flying to know how frightened his loved ones were. They needed all of their concentration on the mission at hand and couldn't spare the worry.

He didn't know exactly how they ended up at his quarters because he hadn't mentioned it. They agreed after their first date that going to his quarters was out of the question and neither brought it up after that. So how it was that they ended up there, he didn't really know. Deep in his subconscious he must have wanted her there, even though it wasn't right but Ann seemed to take it in stride. "Since we're here, why don't you show me around?"

"Hank isn't home." He said as he stood in front of his door. "And since he isn't here, you don't go in there."

"Then leave your front door open. Isn't that the way it used to work? When a young man had a young lady in his apartment, which was risky enough, he left his door open so that nothing would happen." She recited.

Danny smiled at her prim manor. "You've been watching too many old movies."

She smiled back. "If this makes you too nervous I understand because we did make an agreement. But on the other hand, neither one of us mentioned coming here and yet here we are."

"You're splitting hairs Ann."

"I know, so you need to make a decision. We either leave now and keep walking or since we're here you show me where you hang your hat."

She sounded so reasonable and Danny couldn't tell what she was thinking. Her face didn't flush nearly as much as it used to so it was harder for him to gauge what was on her mind. It wasn't that he didn't trust her to behave herself, but more that he didn't know if he could trust himself. It was one thing to see her at her parent's house or his. To have her in his personal quarters however felt a little too intimate and didn't know if he should let her in even though he was about to. "We don't need to tell our parent's about this." He stated needlessly as he put his key in the lock and opened the door.

He'd cleaned his quarters the morning before and spent the afternoon at his parent's house doing laundry. He didn't know when he'd be back and wanted everything in order so that he wouldn't have to deal with it when he came home.

It was compact as military accommodations went but it was enough for him. The kitchen was small and the dining area wasn't much larger. The living room was more spacious with enough room for a sofa, a coffee table and a couple of end tables and lamps. There was a large bookcase that was filled with books and some pictures of his family.

"You can tell that a bachelor lives here." Ann commented as she looked around.

"That's why these are called the Bachelor Officer's Quarters. All the guys who live in these units are unmarried."

"Don't be smart Danny, you know I didn't mean it that way. Other than the pictures of your family there isn't a whole lot that makes these quarters yours."

"Mama's told me the same thing, so I'll tell you what I've told her. I'm gone more than I'm here because I'm either at their house or I'm at the field. And now that we're seeing each other I'm at my parent's even more than I was before."

"You don't care, do you?"

He laughed. "Not really."

Danny saw her glance toward his bedroom door and as he worried she might, gravitated toward it. "You haven't shown me everything have you. Is this your bedroom?"

"Yes it is and it looks like every other bedroom in these places." He tried to waive her off but she seemed determined to get a look and opened the door. He couldn't tell what she was thinking as she stood in the doorway and looked around the small room.

There wasn't much to see though. It was standard issue with a double bed, a dresser and a small walk in closet. There was also a small bathroom just off the bedroom. He stood in the doorway as she toured the room, not saying a word and watched as she picked a picture up off the dresser of him as a baby asleep on his father's chest.

Mama took it one Sunday afternoon after Dad had come off of a long rotation. He'd fallen asleep on the back porch sofa after breakfast when he was supposed to be keeping an eye on his baby son. It was always one of her favorites and when he'd gone away to the Academy, she framed a copy for him.

She put it back down and then she noticed the picture of them at her Senior Prom on his nightstand. The picture was still in its cardboard folder because he hadn't found a frame he liked.

She continued her circuit as she peaked into his closet and then disappeared. He wasn't sure what she was doing so he left the safety of his bedroom doorway and reluctantly walked to the closet. He found her with her nose pressed against one of his shirts. "Ann, what are you doing?"

"Remembering what you smell like." She whispered and Danny could hear the tightness in her voice, which was a warning that she was going to cry. "I don't ever want to forget that."

He supposed that she held out as long as she could but with his imminent departure in the morning she couldn't any longer. He pried her fingers as gently as he could from his shirt and pulled her into his arms. Her own arms were a warm vice around his neck and the arms he had around her waist held her close. He felt her body shake as she cried and ran a comforting hand down her back. There were so many things that he could say to stop her from crying, but they were all platitudes. He could tell her that everything would be all right, but he didn't know that. He could tell her not to worry because he would be back soon, but he didn't know that either.

He could tell her that he loved her.

But that wasn't a platitude and he didn't want say it to her without being absolutely sure.

"Ann, you weren't upset when I left on my first mission and I came home fine." He kissed the wispy hair at her temple and sighed. "What's got you so upset now?"

She shook her head and tightened her hold around his neck and he kissed her cheek. "Please tell me. I can't help you if you don't tell me."

Her knees buckled and he held her against him with one arm so that he could get his other arm under her knees. He picked her up, walked with her to the foot of the bed and sat down with her in his lap. "Tell me." He urged and Ann's arms loosened as the tears subsided and she put her head down on his shoulder.

"I dreamed you died." Her voice was a soft whisper and Danny barely heard it. "You got shot down and you died."

That's why she was so squirrelly after she got home.

He didn't know what to say to her because he knew that it was a very real possibility every time he flew away from the safety of Wheeler. As pilots, they were often reminded that it could happen and it wasn't something that any of them took for granted.

It bothered him though that Ann was now having nightmares about it because he couldn't tell her that it was only a dream. "I wish there was something I could say to help, but I can't."

"I know. It was only a dream and I know that but it was so real." She seemed to feel the need to explain it to him.

He held her trembling body against his. "I can't promise you that it won't happen but I can promise that I'll do my best to come back in one piece."

"I know." And she looked up at him with puffy, red eyes.

She was such a pitiful sight and Danny's heart was breaking because she was scared and had every right to be. He shouldn't have done it and a small voice in the back of his mind chastised him for it but he drew her toward him and kissed her. It was a kiss full of the love he felt for her but could not yet admit.

The only problem was that it started a chain of events that quickly spiraled out of control because she seemed to sense his feelings and her arms wound around his waist as she kissed him back. That in itself should have been enough for him to put a stop to what was beginning to happen but he didn't because he selfishly wanted the memory of how her hands felt on his body.

Ann threw him a curve though because instead of putting her hands on his back they came back around and got a hold of the front of his open shirt. She pushed it off of his shoulders and he let go of her long enough to finish taking the shirt off and dropped it to the floor.

Ann threw him another curve when the front of his tee shirt came loose and her hands moved slowly up his chest as they explored the firm muscle. It was a completely new sensation that he wasn't ready for and he thought for a moment to stop her until he felt her hand caress the spot over his heart and then he stopped thinking.

He deepened his kisses in response the feel of her hand and it seemed to satisfy her until he felt her push him away. Danny was more than a little confused until she pulled the back of his tee shirt out and pushed it up. He understood then what it was that she was trying to do and let go of her again so that he could pull his shirt off. Ann's face flamed red as she studied his physique and he felt his neck warm at her reaction to the sight of his body.

He wanted so much to love her, completely.

She put her arms around his neck and kissed him while his own hands grasped the hem of her blouse and pulled it loose from her shorts. Of their own accord they began to move up the front, undoing the buttons and when they were all loose he set her back long enough to push the blouse off of her shoulders. He could feel a flush creek up his neck at the sight of her and he kissed her. She pulled it off and he watched as she dropped it on top of his tee shirt.

She was still on his lap at the foot of the bed and they looked at each other because they'd come to a point where it was going to be next to impossible to turn back. But Danny kicked off his loafers anyway and after Ann pulled her sandals off he took her with him as he stretched out on the bed and she laid down next to him. His hand settled into the small of her back and brought her body against his.

He should have known better that it wasn't fair to be so blatant about what he was feeling but Danny wasn't thinking anymore. Her hands were on his arms as he kissed the soft skin of her shoulder and he caught a faint scent of talcum powder. It was a scent he would carry with him while he was gone and would no doubt keep him awake at night with the memory of it.

His lips grazed her collarbone as they traveled down toward her heart and he could feel the rapid beat as he kissed the warm skin just above it.

"We're getting dangerously close to jumping off a cliff."

His thought processes suddenly reengaged as he remembered what Ann said to him the night of their first date. He kissed her very gently and put his arms around her. "We can't do this Annie, I'm sorry."

She began to tremble, badly as she lay her head on his shoulder and sighed. "We almost broke a promise."

"We almost jumped off the cliff is what we did." He sighed as he kissed her cheek.

"But I can't think of another man I'd rather go to the edge of that cliff with." She said as she snuggled against him.

"And I can't think of another girl I'd rather go to the edge of that cliff with either, but we did the right thing." Danny answered.

She laughed as he laced his fingers with hers and he gave her another gentle kiss. "We can blame our parents for that."

"This is definitely something they don't need to know about." He echoed a sentiment he'd made earlier and the conversation with his father came to mind.

"Agreed."

He didn't want to do it but Danny knew that it was time for them to leave. It was too dangerous and too tempting to be on his bed with her because if they started something again, they would most likely finish it. He sat up and threw his feet over the side of the bed and boosted himself up on his feet while Ann sat up. He picked up her blouse, his tee shirt and shirt from the floor and put them on the foot of the bed. Ann sat with her arms around her knees as he walked around to the other side of the bed and as held out his hand, she took it. He helped her off of the bed and into his arms.

"You should know that you were on the side of the bed I usually sleep on." His voice was low as he smiled at her.

The idea seemed to please her because her face flushed again as she boosted herself up on her toes and kissed him.

He took her hand and led her around to the foot of the bed and handed the blouse to her. She put it on and buttoned it up while he put his tee shirt back on and tucked it in before he put his arms through the sleeves of his shirt.

Ann tucked her blouse in and looked thoroughly kissed. Her hair was in disarray and she couldn't go home with it looking like that or her parents would surely guess what they'd been up to. He walked over to the dresser to get his hairbrush and he handed it to her.

She gave him a grateful smile as she ran the brush through her hair and checked her reflection in the dresser mirror. She handed the brush back to him and he pulled it through his own hair with a few quick strokes. It didn't really need it because his hair was so short, but he felt the silly urge to have something of his that was so close to her, close to him.

Ann slipped her sandals back on while she waited for him and after he put the brush down met her back at the foot of the bed and jammed his feet back into his loafers. He took her hand and walked her to the door. As he closed it behind them Danny realized with a start that the front door of his quarters was still open.

It surprised him that Ann found humor in what could have been an embarrassing situation when she tried to stifle a laugh. "I guess it's a good thing that we didn't go over that cliff."

"A very good thing." Danny smiled back at her as they walked to the front door and he took her home.