'She's just through here,' said a nurse with a rather small waist, when Pike was allowed to see Ivy in hospital after the raid. She was sitting up in bed now, with her arm and leg healing up under bandages. As it happened, the grazing had completely wiped out all evidence of the cuts Ivy had made herself, and the experience of being rushed to hospital under gunfire had made her realise that there were enough dangers in the world not make any more of her own, and she promised then never to hurt her own body again, no matter how much she missed her parents, or how afraid she was for the future. It was a fresh start, in an odd sort of way, and having this particular visitor surely meant that they should start again, too, she thought, hope and adoration showing in her smile and the sudden blush burning her cheeks.

'Hello Ivy,' Pike began, rather shyly. He hadn't been sure what her reaction might be, but he was relived to see her so well, and much happier. 'I brought you these.'

'Oh, thank you!' Ivy took the small paper bag, with a couple of apples. 'They're lovely.' She thought he looked lovely, too, and had evidently come straight from work, looking very smart. She tried not to stare, and glanced down at the apples, hoping he didn't notice.

What he did notice, was her now longer, blonde curls on the pillow, and suddenly felt rather hot and sat down somewhat clumsily on the chair next to her bed, and the soft skin on her other arm, dashed with just a couple of freckles. He couldn't remember seeing so much of her arms before, even with one of them covered up.

'Good, I wanted to get you something nice, but…I couldn't find much,' Pike replied, glad that his present was accepted, but now wishing he had been able to find better.

There was a slight pause, and then, leaning over again so she would be heard, Ivy said 'Dr McKay says I should be able to go home by the end of the week – it's all healing up.' There would be scars, of course, but she didn't care about those. She was here, and so was he. Just now, that was all that mattered.

'Oh, that's good!' Pike smiled, and Ivy bit her lip gently as her stomach gave a little flip. She really hadn't stopped being in love with him, and wondered if it was obvious. His next sentence was, however, rather unexpected.

'There was a German pilot, on the Town Hall clock yesterday!'

'What?' A few days had passed since the heavy raid that admitted her to hospital. 'How? What did you do?'

'Went up the clock tower – didn't like that much, but when we got there, he was just sort of dangling there, where he baled out. We tried to get him in the tower, but…' Pike paused as he remembered how the rescue attempt had gone wrong. '…in the end we had to wait for the Fire Brigade, and they got us down too, 'cause the ladder fell down, and he didn't speak any English, so this officer had to come from GHQ too!'

Ivy's eyes were wide. 'So, you captured him?'

'Yeah!' This sounded far and away the best answer. 'We captured him, GHQ wouldn't have come otherwise…'

'Well…I'd hate being that high up…' Ivy replied softly. 'That was brave.'

'Well, yeah…' Pike answered with pride, ignoring the fact that this wasn't quite how it went. She really did know how to make him feel better about himself, and he loved that about her. She looked pretty there too. He knew she still might say no if he asked, but something about the way she held his gaze was so attractive, he had to try.

'When you get home,' he began, in a rush, 'I could – could we…go out again? If you want?' Pike stared down at the tiles on the floor, embarrassed and wishing he knew how to say it better. He'd been wrong to hesitate that time – it was late, he was tired, she was the best girl he was ever likely to meet, so if there was any chance not to lose Ivy now, he had to take it, and then, maybe, it might be a better time, for…anything else, he finished, not wanting to consider the details with her right there.

He was almost startled by the soft hand on his. 'Yes!' Ivy's whisper was warm, eager. 'Yes, of course!'

Mrs Pike was very pleased, too, that Ivy was her son's girlfriend once more, and it was nice to have her approval. Surely his mother knew what was best? She always had, Pike reasoned, so Ivy must be the right girl, and the second year of war was coming to an end. Two events though, rather overshadowed anything else – at the beginning of December, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, bringing the United States into the war, and just before Christmas, Ivy suggested going to see something at the Pictures in Eastgate.

It had been a cold, raw winter's day, and it was already dark by the time they met outside Ivy's shop. In spite of the dark evenings though, Ivy had been busy. When her parents were alive, they had often spent summer days at a little beach hut on the sea front. With her sister away, the shop, and no-one else to go there with though, Ivy had rather neglected it. In hospital though, a plan had started to form. She hadn't given up on her Hastings mission, not now they were really, truly together again, and this time, it would be perfect. A perfect Christmas present, for them both.

She'd cleaned out the hut and brought in blankets and decorations from home. She'd found candles, and torch batteries – there was little chance of enough paraffin to fill the stove in the corner, but with enough blankets, she considered, they'd be warm enough. She certainly hoped so. When she'd finished, under the candlelight, Ivy surveyed her work.

The candles made the tinsel and baubles sparkle, the beds, albeit rather narrow, looked cosy, piled high with blankets and covers, and there was a small artificial Christmas tree in one corner. Snow was unlikely here on the coast, unfortunately, but Ivy considered that she'd made a pretty good job of creating a secret hideaway – no-one came down here at this time of year, and she hoped it wouldn't take much convincing to change her boyfriend's mind about going to see a film. He could, as she recalled, be quite easily persuaded at times, and she had even kept a precious bar of chocolate in reserve…now, was there any way of finding a couple of bottles of cider?