I may or may not have stolen the name of the restaurant/bar in Honolulu from one of callensensei's stories, but I'm not positive. If so, thanks! :) It's stuck in my head as if it's a real place and I think there's an adorable sense of community in using fandom-canon.

"Gilligan! Where are we going?"

She was starting to whine and Gilligan knew that he had approximately ten more minutes before Mary Ann got really cranky and demanded that they head back to camp. He grinned. "Be patient. We're almost there."

But her patience was wearing thin. Her back hurt. Her feet hurt. And she had gotten almost no sleep whatsoever the night before.

She had lain awake for hours trying to decipher Gilligan's last list item. When she finally fell asleep she dreamt of test missiles and explosions and fiery death.

Mary Ann was jarred awake well before sunrise by someone trying really hard to quietly knock on the bamboo post outside the girls' section of the communal hut they still shared. Ginger groaned and pressed her pillow over her face. "It's for you," the movie star decided, voice muffled.

"How do you know?"

"Mary Ann!" It was supposed to be a whisper, but it still made her jump. The knocking stopped for a minute and Ginger grunted an 'I told you so' through the pillow. "Psssst! Mary Ann! I don't wanna wake up Ginger!"

The movie star groaned again, more dramatically, and a long fair arm emerged from its orange blanket and pointed in the general direction of the voice.

Mary Ann finally hauled herself up and shuffled to the window. She leaned on the sill and peered at her visitor through a curtain of brunette waves. "What are you doing here?"

Mary Ann stifled a yawn in her sleeve, but Gilligan was grinning at her in the gray pre-dawn light, wide awake and ready to go. "Get dressed. We're starting on our lists." Mary Ann saw him shove her list back into his pocket. He straightened his hat and watched her expectantly. When she didn't move, he propelled his arms through the air, trying to increase the sense of urgency he was obviously failing to create. "Come on!"

"Gilligan, I never even got up this early on the farm. The roosters are still asleep. Plus I barely slept last night. Come back in two hours."

"We gotta get going now or we'll never make it there in time. Wear sneakers. And pants." Mary Ann cocked her head inquisitively and Gilligan's eyes widened. "I mean instead of a dress."

"Okay. It'll take me two hours to put on pants. Goodnight." She started to retreat into the hut, but the first mate grabbed her sleeve and pulled her back to the window.

"Mary Ann! Carp the diem!"

Mary Ann pushed her hair out of her face. "What?"

"Seize the day!" Gilligan translated. "The Professor said it once. I think it's French." He shrugged broadly, but then suddenly turned serious. "Mary Ann, the missile's coming and we need to make the most of the time we have. I want to do something on your list. Now go put on pants."

Mary Ann froze, staring at him. His usually joyful, sparkling blue eyes were determined and pinned her down, daring her not to go with him. She glanced down at his hand, still gripping her arm, back up at his face, and nodded. "Okay."

But she was less moved by his determination now that they were well into their second hour of hiking deep into the island's dense jungle. The castaways never ventured this far into the interior of the island, except Gilligan, who had a habit of disappearing for hours on end and coming back just in time for dinner wearing a satisfied, sleepy smile, signifying that a good day's work of exploring had been completed.

Mary Ann followed him up a steep hill covered in dense vegetation. Gilligan knew exactly where he was going and kept checking his watch like they were actually going to be late for something important. The sky became lighter and the air warmer as they climbed, the early morning dew gluing leaves and blades of grass to the bottom of their shoes.

Gilligan stopped suddenly as the ground leveled out into a small ledge and Mary Ann crashed into his back. "Gilligan! Are we there?" She looked around, seeing nothing too extraordinary, although the island on its most ordinary day was pretty extraordinary.

"No. But watch this." Gilligan turned her by the shoulders until she was looking out to the horizon through a break in the canopy.

"What are you – ?" Her question caught in her throat and she gasped instead. The instant he pointed her in the right direction, a giant orange sun began rising over the horizon. It shimmered and wavered on the water and grew until it was a perfect half circle and then a full orb. Mary Ann squinted against its brilliance and the air instantly warmed up ten degrees.

"Right on time," Gilligan observed, glancing at his watch again.

"Is this what you wanted to show me?"

"Nope. Just a bonus. Your list thing is better."

Mary Ann heard rustling behind her and turned to find him hanging out of the foliage, well off the trail. He stood on top of an immense fallen tree, barely visible through the leaves. Gilligan hung onto a branch with one hand, leaning back toward her. "It's not much farther." He stuck his other arm out to her. "Come on."

Mary Ann eyed his outstretched hand and sighed. She grabbed his arm instead, letting him pull her up beside him and then give her a push in the right direction up the hill.

Ten minutes later, Gilligan was in front of her again, blazing a trail. Mary Ann did her best to keep up with him and every so often he would remember that she was following him and would slow down until he got excited and forged ahead again.

Mary Ann followed him up another steep incline, grabbing hanging branches to help pull herself along. "Gilligan?" she called, a little breathless. "Who's A.M.?" He didn't reply, but he stumbled a bit and pretended he hadn't heard her, pointing out a funny looking monkey swinging from a nearby tree instead. "I can't help you with your list if I don't know what it means," she mumbled as the ground leveled out and they entered a bamboo field.

The stalks soared toward the heavens, growing faster than the castaways could harvest them for building material. Mary Ann held her arm out, running her hand across the smooth bark as she passed. Every so often, she'd grab one of the poles and spin around it. The bamboo towered over them, the few leaves at the top rustling in the breeze and forming a light canopy, letting the sunshine trickle in to dot the ground. It reminded her of the hours she'd spend wandering aimlessly through the cornfields when she was little as the stalks waved well above her head.

Mary Ann suddenly realized that Gilligan was still trudging forward steadily, a man on a mission, and she had let him get a good distance ahead of her. Mary Ann broke into a trot and fell into step beside him. His mouth was set in a pensive line, so she grinned and reached out to poke him in the ribs. He yelped and shot her an over-exaggerated glare, but she had her hands clasped innocently behind her back and was staring straight ahead.

"What do you think everyone else would put on their lists?" she asked. "I think the Professor would want to find a cure for some awful disease. And Ginger would probably want to win an Academy Award."

"Skipper would want to win the burger eating contest at Barnacle Bill's in Honolulu."

Mary Ann burst out laughing. "Gilligan, be serious!"

"He would! They call it the Belly Buster. They serve this giant burger on a trash can lid. You have to eat a pound of fries, too."

"What do you win?"

"Nothin'. But if you finish it in half an hour, it's free. And they put your picture up on the wall and everything. Most of the guys look like this in their pictures." Gilligan stopped walking and leaned to one side, mouth hanging open and eyes half-closed, the perfect illustration of a serious food coma.

"And that's what the Skipper would want to do?"

Gilligan nodded solemnly. "It's a very big honor. He almost beat it once, but I leaned on the edge of the lid and flipped the whole thing up into his face." Gilligan shuffled his feet in the dry leaves embarrassedly, but Mary Ann saw him trying to suppress a smile.

"What about the Howells?" she asked as they continued walking.

Gilligan suddenly stood up straighter and Mary Ann knew what was coming next. "Lovey, take note!" he bellowed in his infamous Mr. Howell impression.

Mary Ann quickly fell into her usual role. "Yes, Thurston!" she trilled.

They had somehow gotten over their initial horror at using the millionaires' first names, but only when they were sure the Howells were well out of earshot and they were, of course, used only in the most loving manner. The first time the names flew unexpectedly from their lips, they froze, eyes wide and hands clamped over their mouths. They listened, waiting for Mr. Howell to appear from nowhere and bray incessantly about respect from the younger generation and for his wife to eventually show up at his side to gently give them a lesson in decorum.

Gilligan puffed out his chest and changed his gait to a pompous stride. "It is my greatest hope, wish, and dream to be the richest man in the whole entire world!" he continued. "Nay, the universe! Nay again! The galaxy!" Mary Ann giggled, but swatted him on the arm and Gilligan returned to his normal self and shrugged. "They have so much money they've probably already done all the things they want to do."

"I don't know." She sighed. "There's probably something else. There are a lot of things that money can't buy. Like the things on our lists."

"Does that mean I'll get my motorcycle and crash helmet for free?"

"Well, everything else on our lists." Mary Ann frowned. "Gilligan?" she called as she paused on a rocky ledge over a small stream. The first mate had hopped down ahead of her and from his new lower vantage point suddenly realized how high the ledge really was. "I don't think I did my list right."

"Sure, you did." Gilligan stood eyelevel with her shins and sized up the situation. "It's perfect."

"No, it's not. It's silly. We can't do any of my things."

"Yes, we can. Where do you think we're going?" He reached up and Mary Ann bent down to grab his shoulders.

"I have no idea." Gilligan took her around the waist and gently swung her from the rocky ledge. When she landed, completely dry, on the other side of the stream, she glanced up at him. He was grinning like a maniac and she frowned. "Gilligan, what are we doing?"

Gilligan let go of her waist and moved over to a curtain of vines and long willowy branches hanging from a nearby tree. He swept them aside, revealing the most spectacular vista Mary Ann had ever seen. Passing beneath that natural curtain was like going through the looking glass to Wonderland or into the wardrobe to enter Narnia.

Ancient trees loomed around them with thick ropelike vines hanging from every inch of their many branches. Immediately in front of them the ground gave way to a steep ravine. The narrow valley was filled with trees and plants and flowers of all kinds and colorful birds flew up from its depths, materializing from nowhere. The still rising sun shone through the canopy, illuminating the dewy mist suspended in the air.

Gilligan grabbed a thick vine from a nearby tree and tugged on it to check its strength. Then he turned to grin at Mary Ann.

"You're gonna fly."

# # # #

"Okay, now hold on right there. Hold on tight. And you'll put your feet on that big knot I tied in the vine. And then you just ... go. Are you ready?"

"Yes. No. No! No, I can't." Mary Ann pushed the vine into Gilligan's hands and backed away. She hit a tree and pressed her back into the trunk, gripping the rough bark and shaking her head at the first mate.

Gilligan sighed. It had taken him twenty minutes to get her to agree to even hold the vine. "Mary Ann, you said you wanted to fly, right?"

She gulped and nodded.

"Well, then fly!"

She shook her head.

"But you put it on your list!"

"Oh, Gilligan, everyone says they want to fly! That's because they know it'll never actually happen! It's like saying you want to read other people's minds. People aren't supposed to fly!"

"But we can!" he insisted, shaking the vine at her. "Do you want me to show you again?" Mary Ann nodded and he pulled his hat from his head and stuffed it into his back pocket.

Gilligan had already demonstrated three times and he was starting to get a little dizzy, but that didn't make it any less exhilarating. The first time he jumped from the ledge and swung exuberantly through the air, Mary Ann stood wringing his hat in her hands, yelling after him to be careful.

"Watch. It's easy." Gilligan put one foot up on the big knot at the bottom of the vine, pushed off the ground with the other and swung out over the ravine with no fear whatsoever. The wind whipped his hair and he whooped and hollered with delight, his voice echoing through the valley.

Mary Ann finally exhaled when Gilligan reached the other side and found his footing. "Are you okay?" she yelled across the ravine. He turned around to wave at her, preparing to make the return trip.

Halfway back he took one hand from the vine, holding his arm out like a red cotton-clad wing. Mary Ann watched as he drew nearer, eyes closed, mouth spread into a joyous grin, arm out to greet the world.

Gilligan landed in front of her, a little breathless. "Your turn."

Mary Ann pouted. "I don't know."

"I'll come with you."

Mary Ann eyed the vine up and down. "Will it hold us both?"

"You're not exactly the Skipper." Mary Ann frowned, but he was grinning cheekily and she smirked.

"Well. I – I don't –," she stuttered as she watched him tie another knot in the vine, higher up than the one he had stood on. "Gilligan, I think you're trying to get me killed before the missile does." She planted her hands on her hips, a little bit proud of her bravely wry humor in the face of death.

Gilligan stopped tugging on the vine. "Don't you trust me?"

"Of course I do!" she exclaimed, but his brow furrowed. "Gilligan, I –."

"You won't fall," he assured her sincerely, holding the vine out to her. "I promise."

Mary Ann did trust him implicitly, especially when they were out in nature or dealing with wild animals. He navigated the island expertly, was friends with every creature they encountered, and was his most graceful when he was out in the wilderness exploring. It was when he tried to function within the confines of expected behavior that he ran into problems. Mary Ann would never trust him to carry a full pot of boiling soup three feet to the table, but she trusted him with her life when they were out in the jungle, where he had room to move and climb and be free and fly.

Mary Ann hesitantly took the vine and approached the precipice. She put her left foot up on the higher knot and tightened her grip. Gilligan grasped the vine above her head and put his left foot on the lower knot. He reached around Mary Ann to grab the vine in front of her stomach until she was safely wedged between it and his body.

"One..."

"Wait!"

"What?"

"Don't count. I don't want to see it coming."

"Okay. I won't tell you when we're going."

"Good. Wait!"

"What?"

"Maybe I should be ready. If I'm not ready, I might not be holding on tight enough."

"Mary Ann, you're not gonna fall. I promise."

"I know. I trust you."

"Okay, here we go."

"Wait!"

"Mary Ann! You're starting to sound like me!"

"I'm sorry."

Gilligan repositioned his foot on the knot and licked his lips, concentrating very hard. He wiped his hands on his jeans so they wouldn't slip on the vine.

"Gilligan, are you alright?"

"Yeah. I've just never done this with a passenger before."

"Gilligan!"

"It's okay. Gladys took me for a ride once and we came back in one piece."

Gilligan took hold of the vine in front of her again, encircling her waist tighter than before. He cleared his throat and repositioned his foot once more. Mary Ann could feel his heart beating against her left shoulder blade and it was picking up speed. He took a deep breath, lungs expanding against her back.

"Gilligan, you seem nervous."

"I'm fine. One..."

Gilligan flexed his fingers around the vine, finding the perfect grip.

"Two..."

Mary Ann took a deep breath and unconsciously pressed back against him. Maybe if they were one, she would absorb some of his courage.

"Three!"

Before Mary Ann could even process his shout and push off of the ground, they were airborne. Her mind raced incoherently, but she somehow managed to shove her foot onto the knot and grip the vine between her knees. They hung suspended in midair for a split second before swinging down into the ravine. Their feet skimmed the leaves topping the trees rising up from the bottom of the valley. A blur of green surrounded them on both sides as trees rushed past at an extraordinary speed. Mary Ann squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath, her arms wrapped tightly around the vine and her cheek pressed against its rough rope.

She felt the wind whip through her hair, the rush of it past her face filling her nostrils with the heady aroma of tropical flowers and plants. It was exhilarating and terrifying and freeing and horrible all at once. She felt weightless, like she was floating, suspended in space, but was also acutely aware of how snug and safe she felt, folded up in his arms. Time stretched out before them. Even though the whole trip across the ravine took only seconds, time stopped and, for what felt like an eternity, she and Gilligan were the only two people on earth, hovering as one in the beginning of their journey, which was also ironically close to the end.

"We made it." A voice penetrated her thoughts. "Mary Ann?" She pried one eye open. Gilligan was peering at her closely, worry etched on his brow. She didn't remember arriving at the other side or putting her feet down, but she was safely moored on the opposite shore, still gripping the vine tightly. She finally exhaled. "Are you okay?"

Mary Ann nodded until she could find her voice. When she did, it was just barely. "That was ... it was ..."

"Fun?" he asked. Mary Ann nodded again and he grinned. "Good. 'Cause now we get to do it again."

"Again?"

"Sure. How else are we gonna get back?" Gilligan gently turned her around and got into position until she was securely cocooned in his arms again, lodged between him and the vine. "I want you to let go this time."

Mary Ann wanted to turn around to gape at him incredulously or wriggle away, but he had her too tightly – which she was grateful for mid-flight, but not now when she wanted to escape. "What?"

Mary Ann felt the arm around her waist tighten. "Let go."

"No!"

As he pushed off of the ground and they hovered in midair for a moment, Gilligan bent his head and whispered in her ear with such conviction and passion that as they swung into the valley, she had to obey, had to reach out and embrace life, and so she spread her arms wide.

"Fly."