December 6, 1941

At Washington D.C. the military board were discussing about the situation with all of Japan's carrier forces gone from their home port, as they found this rather odd from what they heard, along with the pictures they had gotten.

"Where could they have gone?"

"Who knows? Anywhere in the Pacific I should expect." said the expert, who handed them the pictures.

"Why? Are they planning an attack?"

"It's possible. Why else would they bring their whole fleet of carriers?" replied the expert. "But where they're attacking, we're still not sure."

"Do you think they might strike our country?"

"They might. Or others. We don't know yet."

"Should we warn all American naval and army bases?" asked the superior.

"We can't, not unless we have full confirmation that they're planning to attack," explained the expert. "However, I will give you permission to let them know that the fleet has left their home port."

"Doing this is a gamble, you know that," said the superior.

"I know," sighed the expert. "But it's the only option we have without raising a state of panic."

"It'll be panic either way, possibly bloodshed too," said the superior. "I'm sure you know that too."

The expert nodded sadly before the superior turned to the rest of the board.

"Alright, gentlemen, let's start thinking," he said. "If they really are planning to attack, where exactly would they want to target?"

We know, don't we?

At Hickam hospital, Izetta was on her afternoon break, looking out the window to find all the pilots training on the field. She felt impressed by how hard they worked.

"Keep your arms and legs moving, Schleifer!" called the commander. "Levine, work those muscles!"

Once their exersize ended, some of them began their next phase by up in the air. Some got in their planes among the many others that were resting in the hangars and started their practice. Watching them practice their aviation always enamored Izetta, who wished she could fly like the planes high in the sky.

"Izetta!"

Fully alert, Izetta quickly turned around, standing ready as she found Annie at the doorway.

"Yes, ma'am!" she answered.

"Your break is over. So, quit staring into space and get to it," Annie said sternly. "We have two men who just got into a brief brawl just then!"

"Right away," Izetta said quickly as she immediately walked out.

"Why do I have to put up with someone as ditzy as her?" Annie wondered as she went to her own duties.

Izetta was finished with her shift for the day at just about dusk and was just leaving when Finé pulled up with some of the other nurses in a car. She was quite surprised to find everyone all together again like before. But the only question she wanted to know right now was why.

"Come on, Izetta!" called Finé. "We're all going to hang out together tonight. We want you to join us."

Izetta wasn't entirely sure.

"Is it really alright for me to come?" Izetta asked anxiously.

"Of course, it is," smiled Finé. "You're off duty right now. So, what's stopping you now?"

Now that she thought about it, there really isn't anyone to stop Izetta from doing whatever she wanted right now. And she supposed a little fun might ease her from all of today's stress. So, she hopped onto the car with the nurses and they all drove away.

They all went down to Wheeler Field, all dressed in their formal wear as there was a party happening in the officers' club and all military personal, soldier, officer, pilot, and nurse were all allowed to go. Everyone was having a good time, dancing and playing poker games. Izetta was normally not used to parties like this and Finé always had to be her guide, trying to help her boost her confidence a little by having her come to these.

"It's amazing how it's almost Christmas," said Evira. "I can hardly wait to return home to see my family in a couple of weeks."

"I'm sure we all are," sighed Bianca before making a small smile. "But yes, it is amazing."

"Before you head back," smirked Evira, raising her hands, "would you mind me expecting your measurements so you haven't gone soft?"

"Are you kidding?! No way!" cried out Bianca, blocking her chest with her arms.

"Evira, why must you consider that in public?" sighed Finé.

"I'm just trying to be careful," said Evira. "That's all I'm doing."

Finé just gave Evira a look of disapproval.

"I'm sure she's just off in her own perverted world," Finé whispered to Izetta.

Just then, the fast jazz music began to slow down and their fast dances started to turn into slow dances with man and woman in each others arms. One by one, each of the party's man and woman began to walk up to the dance floor, hand-in-hand before they started dancing. Bianca started dancing with Rickert, Evira walked towards the floor with a male lieutenant in blue hair and a tux to the floor, and Finé had already started dancing with a soldier in a tux blond hair, leaving only Izetta and Jonas left at the table. After a moment of silence, Jonas looked over to look at Izetta, who was feeling both sad and nervous at the same time.

"Everything okay?" he asked, getting her attention.

"I'm fine," she answered shyly. "I'm just more used to being around Finé."

"You two are pretty tight, are you?" asked Jonas, earning a nod from Izetta.

After another moment of silence, Jonas could see Izetta staring at everyone dancing at the floor, as if she was feeling left out. Gathering courage, he stood up from his chair, much to Izetta's confusion. "Do you wanna go up there?"

"I... I think so," she answered.

Jonas smiled and held out his hand.

"I can take you up there if you wanna," offered Jonas.

Izetta was confused even more, though she understood what he was referring to. It's quite clear that he wants to dance with her. It's not that she didn't know how as she recalled the dancing lessons Finé taught her. That said, she already knew the basics on how to slow dance. Deciding to build up her confidence, she took his hand and stood up before walking with him to the floor.

While dancing with the soldier, Finé eyed over and smiled as she saw Izetta being walked to the floor by Jonas before he wrapped his left arm around her waist and using his right hand to gently glasp on Izetta's left hand while Izetta gently wrapped her right arm around her back. Once they were in their position, they started to take small steps around, dancing with all the rest of the other dancers on the floor. It was such a lovely night that everyone will remember.

After a silent while of dancing, Izetta spoke.

"I heard that you're stuck here after Christmas," said Izetta sadly. "I'm really sorry to hear that."

"It's no problem," reassured Jonas. "It was disappointing, sure. But it's alright. I can make it up to them when I return."

"Does the crew on the Arizona treat you well?" she asked.

"Not always," he answered. "But I do make most of them happy. I am still a rookie after all, but they already feel like family to me. But not to worry, that's not going to change the bond between me and my family back home. I've already planned on some gifts when I return."

"That's good," she smiled.

"We'll be going through exersizes early in the morning," Jonas added. "That will mean we'll have to sleep onboard the ship tonight, even though she's moored in port."

"Well, you're just doing your job," said Izetta. "No one will blame you."

Jonas smiled hearing that before hearing Izetta speak.

"Finé seems to be the only family I have, aside from my grandmother of course. Ever since we were kids, she's always been by my side like a sister. She seems to be my biggest confort in life, always guiding me from the harshness of the world, especially the war, even though this country's not in it, hopefully never. Sometimes, I feel like one day, I'll lose her. And when that happens, I don't know what I'll do."

"You're not gonna lose her, Izetta," said Jonas. "There might be days when you're apart, but you'll never lose the time you both already had together. Same goes for me and my family. Knowing this gives me strength. And with how long you've been with Finé, you might not know it, but you might be much stronger than you realize. I can guarantee that."

Hearing this gave a little boost of confidence in Izetta's soul. And she began to wonder, "Is he right?"

Once the party was over, all the nurses went home, except Finé and Izetta, who ran off to the nearby beach and the two friends stopped out of the car and sat on the sand, staring out at the sea as the waves crashed down onto the sand, spreading forward and stopping, pulling back just before their feet.

They recalled the other free times where those two and the other nurses would stop by and play in the sand and swim in the water, all in their swim wear. Izetta always thought Finé had such a gorgeous swim suit, though she didn't like having to wear any suit that's so revealing and always preferred a one-piece. But she would always have plenty of fun none-the-less. Tonight, with the full moon shining and the stars twinkling bright, it was such an amazing sight.

"It's so beautiful," smiled Izetta.

"It is," agreed Finé. "A great place to escape from the pressures of work, abuse, and war, given the fact we're half the world away from that last one."

Izetta giggled too before looking towards the open ocean.

"I still can't believe back then I was thinking I was going to live a horrible life, even after escaping the Nazis," sighed Finé, thinking back to the past. "That is... until you found me. Your family was really kind and accepting."

Finé smiled at her friend again before looking out towards the open ocean with her.

"Before I met you," said Finé solemly, "I didn't think I was going to have any friends. All the other kids just kept their distance from me because I belonged to a noble family. That's the way things seem with most of them, how they always turn away from those who need it and only focusing on themselves. Selfish, I know, but there's just no convincing them," she went on. "I refuse to be like those people, always caring about themselves rather than everyone else around them. I want to do what I can for other people who are suffering, saving them from their enemies," she added before turning to Izetta. "And that's why we helped you. You needed it, regardless of what others said about you. Like I said, I don't see Jewish people as bad people. They're the same as everyone else, just like how you are, just I am."

Izetta smiled, feeling her heart so warmed. Some of what she said, she could totally relate to what her friend was talking about. As Finé refuses to be selfish like all the rest say, Izetta herself refuses to be evil like others say.

As the two girls stared at the open ocean again, seeing it shining so brightly under the moonlight, Finé suddenly had an idea and she stood up immediately, surprising Izetta.

"Izetta, let's go swimming!" she said with delight.

"What?! But... Finé, we didn't bring our swimsuits!" exclaimed Izetta.

"So what? That's okay," said Finé as she started to undress before her friend could say anything more.

She got off her shoes, dress, and undergarments before running naked down the sand towards the ocean, diving into the water while Izetta watched with surprise and disbelief.

"Come on in, Izetta!" Finé called as she popped up the surface. "The water's fine!"

"But... but... what if someone sees us?" asked Izetta, blushing madly.

"Oh, we're far from the road," chuckled Finé. "So, come and join me! No one's there to see right now."

Slightly tempted as she was, Izetta looked around, seeing there really is nobody there, no one else but just her and Finé. And, deep down, she always did want to do something like this with her best friend. She only wished they had swimsuits for that though. However, it seemed that Finé was fine with it either way. And she started to think that if her best friend could take it, then so much she.

Very quickly, Izetta stripped herself to her birthday suit before running out towards the water to join her. It wasn't long before she was finally in the water with her, slowing her running down to a walking pace the deeper she went until she caught up with Finé.

"Should we be worried about sharks?" asked Izetta nervously.

"Nonsense, we're only this far out," reassured Finé, seeing they were only waist-deep in. "And we don't need to go any deeper than that."

So, they started to play together in the ocean like children such as having a splash fight, playing Marco-polo, taking turns on who's who, and they even swam together both above and under the surface. All the while, they made sure they never went any deeper. The moonlight above them brightened the scenery underneath the surface, if only by little or so. And the more they played, the less worried Izetta became about being seen skinny-dipping with Finé. When they got tired, they both started to walk out, soaking wet, only to stop knee-deep in water just to catch their breath, bending forward and pressing their hands on their knees, panting with exhaustion.

"I've never had this much fun in my life," said Izetta with a calm smile. "It reminds me back when we were kids."

"You mean how we would always sneak out at night so we could swim in the lake outside our log cabin?" Finé asked knowingly with Izetta nodding. "Yes, my parents always kept telling us not to," she said with a giggle as Izetta laughed with her.

Then, Izetta immediately wrapped her arms around Finé in a loving hug while her friend did the same, wrapping her own arms around Izetta, and they stayed in their embrace, pressing their warm and wet naked bodies together while standing knee-deep in the ocean under the moonlight shining above them.

"Finé... thank you!" Izetta thought, "I promise I will never be what they say either."

On the ocean, the Japanese fleet, Yamamoto was standing in the bridge of the Akagi with Genda, staring out into the dark, night distance ahead of them. The radio was on while they were sailing so they could hear everything that was happening. The moon in the sky started to disappear behind the clouds, shrouding them in pure darkness.

"The sort of atmosphere you need when you're nearing your target," murmured Genda.

"Yes, it sure is," agreed Yamamoto.

"And your surprise is working, admiral," said Genda. "If America knew about our attack, they would've mentioned it on the radio."

It was true, as they could hear nothing about their upcoming attack. Then, Genda looked at the map to update their position. The island was far off in front of them now in their sights.

"We are about 10 miles from our destination," said Genda to Yamamoto.

"Then it is time," muttered Yamamoto. "Wake up everyone up, I'm going to tell all the ships to stop and get everyone ready."

Genda nodded and went to his intercom, addressing everyone on the ship.

"Attention, his is officer Genda! We are now near our destination. I want everyone all dressed and ready on the deck immediately to commence Operation Z. We take off in only two hours! That is all!"

All the pilots heard the message and woke up right away before getting ready. Some of them even said some prayers, especially to their loved ones back home.

"I am off to do my duty," said one of them, looking at a photo of his family. "I will complete this mission in honor of my family!"

While all the pilots got ready, the nearby Japanese Type C cruiser submarine I-24, that was travelling in their convoy had two two men crawled through the hatchway of a Type-A Kō-hyōteki-class midget sub "C" that was being detached from the top deck, HA. 19. Once they sealed the hatch, the mother ship's crew went inside and began to dive under with the midget floating on the surface before motoring on ahead.

Inside, the two men were Ensign Kazuo Sakamaki, who was on lookout, and CWO Kiyoshi Inagaki, who was at the helm.

"While the rest of the crew stay on the ship, we will go ourselves to observe," said Sakamaki.

"Will we really make it before the rest of them?" asked Inagaki.

"Well, this contraption certainly doesn't go as fast as planes, but that doesn't mean we don't have to try."

On the carriers, the men quickly fit the bombs and torpedoes onto the planes, including some fueling for the first wave. Their first wave was consisting 43 Mitsubishi A6M "Zeros," 9 Nakajima B5N Kate bombers, 40 B5N bombers with torpedoes fitted, and 51 Aichi D3A Val dive bombers. As everyone got ready, daybreak was starting to break as the sun's glow began to brighten the dark sky over the horizon.

All the pilots were gathered on the deck, all suited up for battle, taking a group picture before their inevitable mission begins.

"This is going to be so cool," confided one of the pilots to another pilot. "We'll shoot every single person on the island until they're all lying down on the ground!"

SMACK!

"Ow!" the pilot cried out as he felt a thin whack on the back of his head.

"No! No civilian areas!" scolded Yamamoto, holding a thin stick in case for displinary reasons. "You are to attack military spots only. That means you will fire at everything being in the U.S. army and the U.S. navy and no where else! That also means will you NOT fire or drop anything at schools, or stores, or neighborhoods, or even playgrounds for that matter. Is that understood?!

"Yes, sir! I apologize, sir!" answered the pilot.

After that, Yamamoto stepped back to address all of the pilots.

"You all have worked very hard and have trained very well for this moment. I am proud to have you all here for this very mission, which I am certain we will not fail," he told them. "Now, the men on the first wave, stay with me. The rest of you go back inside and wait on standby until I call out those on the next one."

The men on the second and third wave walked back inside while the men in the first wave stayed put.

"Before we begin, I will ask this wave's three groups what their main targets are," said Yamamoto. "First group?"

"Kate and B5M bombers will target the battleships and carriers, sir!" said a pilot on the first group.

"Correct! Second group?"

"Val dive bombers will strike two airfields, Ford Island and Wheeler Field, sir!" said a pilot in the second group.

"Correct!" Third group?"

"Zeroes will target Ford Island, Hickam Field, Wheeler Field, Barber's Point, and Kaneohe, sir!" said a pilot in the third group.

"Good!" said Yamamoto. "Now go and make our country proud, and never stop until their forces are burnt to the ground!" he shouted.

"Yes, Admiral, sir!" they shouted again before they were ordered into their assigned planes.

They all were loaded and fastened into their planes with pictures of their targets so they know where to fire. They launched the planes one by one, starting on the aft end of the deck before being signaled and launched forward before taking off, one by one, until all were flying in the sky towards the island.

Genda watched from the bridge as the planes flew off the carriers and disappeared before turning to the Calander hanging on the wall, tearing out a page saying December 6 and now showing the page, December 7.

Author's Note:

Okay, we're just one chapter away from all the action now. I hope you are all enjoying what is happening so far. But now, we're going to take this up a notch. Be sure to follow this story so you will be notified of the next chapter where it all happens.