For: HayatexBlade
Prompt: Shirley/Trude fluff
Trude isn't sure when eating breakfast with Shirley became a daily occurrence. She thinks it must just be a habit, from all the days they would eat together while Erica and Lucchini were still sleeping. Now that she's in Liberion for training, she says, she may as well take advantage of catching up with old comrades.
Shirley jokes that the only thing Trude's taking advantage of is the fact that Shirley knows where all the best places to eat are.
Nonetheless they always meet up, just at the gates of Muroc Army Air Field at seven o'clock sharp, Shirley leaning against her motorbike, wearing the same grin every day. Trude then, like always, hops in the attached side car and lets Shirley take her to whatever restaurant she's planned for the day.
Before long, however, all of the Luftwaffe pilots training in Liberion are called back to Karlsland, and Trude breaks Shirley the news over a plate of pancakes, sausage, and eggs. She's surprised when Shirley loses both her smile and her appetite.
When they part after returning to the base that day, Shirley tells Trude that she has something special planned for tomorrow. Trude finds it hard to get to sleep that night.
They end up going to the first restaurant they visited, back when their morning routine was nothing more than a routine check-up on someone neither had seen in years. Trude doesn't recognize it until Shirley mentions its significance, and Trude instantly feels guilty for not remembering.
Breakfast, in regards to the food they order and their conversation, is the same as every other day, but Trude can tell Shirley isn't as cheerful as she normally is. That day, when arrive at the base gates, Shirley gives her a firm handshake (and a pat on the head) and tells her to take care of herself, because she knows how hard of a time Trude has with it.
Shirley isn't there to see her off. Trude doesn't hear from or about her until a few months later, when it's announced that she officially broke the sound barrier (Trude learns later that she had done so on the day Trude departed for Karlsland).
Trude is shocked when the base commander tells her to enjoy the two hours of leave she'll get tomorrow morning at seven. She's even more shocked (but somehow, at the same time, not shocked at all) when she see Shirley waiting for her at the gates, leaning against a motorcycle complete with a sidecar.
They go out to breakfast, just like they had nearly a year ago now, except this time Shirley lets Trude pick the restaurant. She even lets Trude order for them both, blaming her lack of knowledge of the language and culture for her indecision.
Their conversation is light and mostly consists of the exciting events in their life since the last time they've seen each other (Trude learns that two days before she left Liberion, Shirley had broken two of her ribs; Shirley learns that Trude has become the next Sakamoto and spends her time overworking the new trainees). Shirley speaks little of her recent achievement, instead focusing on future plans regarding supersonic flight, and for a while, Trude feels like she is talking to someone completely different, and much more serious, from the laid-back redhead of her war days.
They part an hour and a half later, after breakfast and an impromptu window shopping trip, and before Shirley leaves, she smiles and waves and tells Trude that it's been too long since they've been on a date together.
She drives off before Trude can do anything other than blush, and for the third time in her life (the first being when the 501st was disbanded after the destruction of the superhive over Venezia and the second when Trude left Liberion), Trude regretted that she and Shirley were from different countries.
The surprise comes back next week when Trude (on the way to the mess hall) is greeted by Shirley's smiling face, her waving hand gripping what turns out to be leave papers. Trude grins wryly at Shirley's persistence and takes her spot in the redhead's sidecar.
Shirley hands her a helmet, goggles wrapped around the surface. She asks Trude where to go and relies on her growing familiarity with the area to get them there. That day at breakfast, Shirley explains that she was stationed in Karlsland about a week and a half ago, on a base that would take a half a day's drive to get to where Trude was stationed when driving at the speed limit (which Shirley never did anyway).
They spend the rest of their time off base walking the streets around the small café where they ate, and as Shirley walks, she reaches for Trude's hand and swings their connected arms. A few minutes later, Shirley is dropping Trude off at the air field, raising a hand in goodbye, and telling her to be ready for next week's outing.
Trude feels herself smile as she waves in response, and for the first time in her life, Trude couldn't wait for her next chance to leave the base.
A/N: I love commas.
I was planning on putting this up sooner, but this Christmas season was busier than I was expecting. Not to mention this just kept getting longer and longer. I hope you enjoyed this HayatexBlade.
Same as always, feel free to point out anything that looks off, and I'll fix it.
Historic References:
- Gerhard Barkhorn (along with other German pilots like Erich Hartmann and Günther Rall) trained in the U.S. after the war to brush up on their skills and to familiarize themselves with the American planes used by the newly formed Luftwaffe.
- Chuck Yeager was stationed at Muroc Army Air Field when he broke the sound barrier. He had broken two ribs while riding a horse two nights before he broke the sound barrier. He kept it a secret because he didn't want to someone else to take his place.