The next morning, I successfully slept in until 10, only waking up when Nat started to shake me. "Get your sweaty ass off my couch and go to your place to change," she said. After a few groans and some swearing from Natasha, I was awake and heading to my assigned housing to get out of the flight suit. It wasn't the most comfortable to be in for 24 hours.

    By some luck I didn't run into anyone on my way. I looked out, of course, for Rooster and Bagman. One because I didn't want to answer his questions right now, the other because I'd be dishonorably discharged for nearly killing a fellow pilot...

    When I got back into my housing, my first order of business was a shower. I felt disgusting and needed to wash off the sweat from the day before. Also, a warm shower does wonders for helping me relax.

    Nat made some comment about a girls day with Halo, so I figured civvies were in order. I grabbed a pair of jeans and the t-shirt for one of my favorite bands and wore some black and white sneakers. Hopefully we weren't going for a "Sunday Brunch" vibe.

    I finished putting on some makeup- something I never do when I have training for obvious reasons. It took me some time to get to the finished product, but it ended up being the perfect amount.

    A knock sounded at the door and managed to echo back into my bathroom. "Coming!" I called, putting the last of my things in my makeup bag. I ran up to the door and peaked through the window before opening. "You guys all ready?" I asked once it was open.

    Nat and Halo nodded, so I grabbed my purse and made sure to lock the door behind me. From there, it was time to walk around.

    Fightertown doesn't have much to it when you first look, mainly because the fighter pilot school taking up most of the view. But when given the chance to look closer, there's a lot more to North Island.

    A lot of it is still Navy related, mainly focusing on TOPGUN and all of those things. The three of us found our way into a small museum dedicated to some of the high ranking naval officers who graced North Island's presence. There was even a picture of Maverick and Iceman, one that also graced the halls of TOPGUN.

    We looked around, holding in our laughter at some of the funnier photos that found their way into the museum. Then, we found the wall of graduating classes and managed to find everyone in the mission squad. I couldn't help but laugh at Hangman in his- he looked like such a kiss ass. Still was.

    I stopped on mine. Halo and Nat saw it, and then kept going; not without some teasing. However, I couldn't move. Baywatch's eyes seemed to bore into mine, as if trying to tell me something.

    "Sunset," Nat called, and I finally looked away from the photo to where she was. "I, uh, don't know if you'll want to come through this spot. It's an honor wall."

    My heart dropped at those words. I knew exactly what she was talking about. And while I didn't want to face Baywatch, I knew that I needed to.

    With a deep breath, I walked towards it. Nat's hand found my shoulder and she gave it a squeeze. Halo looked at me, smiling sadly, before I looked away to find who I was looking for.

    I found Goose instead. "Holy crap, it's Goose," I said. The other girls quickly crowded by me and we saw Rooster's dad looking back at us. He really did look like his father. The hair, the mustache, the same goofy smile.

    "They look so much like each other, it's so fitting," Halo whispered as we continued to look at Goose's photo.

    Another moment goes by before I finally move myself to face the one face I was scared of seeing.

    Lieutenant Josiah 'Baywatch' Baldwin. The most recent name and photo on the wall. The least dusty of the bunch. His photo was so professional, a very straight face as he took his official navy photo, the one in the uniform. I couldn't even remember when we did those photos.

    "It's depressing that this is the only reason this photo has even been used, he really liked it," I whispered to myself, knowing the other two were behind me. Now they had a face to his name- well and for Halo, a name at all.

    They both pulled me into a little sideways group hug. "He'd be proud of where you are today, Magnolia," Nat whispered to me.

    For once, I agreed. "He would be, wouldn't he?" I asked. I turned my head to look at Nat then Halo. My hands found theirs and I squeezed them for reassurance. A realization flowed through me when I noticed my eyes were dry. Maybe Maverick's talk was more impactful than I gave him credit for.

    "Come on, we should get going," I said. We all moved on, waving to the museum worker as we left. "We need something happy, lets go shopping or something," I suggested. The two were quick to agree.

    There weren't many big, chain stores around. Instead, there were a lot of smaller, boutique-type stores. We went into three different ones, finding success in each. There's nothing like shopping with two of your close friends. Everyone was always hyping the other up, making her feeling good about herself. It was the best.

    We exited the third store, ready for the next, when a very familiar person came towards us from the other direction. "Rooster, what are you doing out and about?" Nat asked, happy to see the pilot. I was, too.

    He nodded at each of us. "Phoenix, Halo... Sunset." He stopped on me long enough that I started to blush. "Do you ladies mind if I steal Sunset away for the rest of the day?" he then asked.

    Phoenix practically shoved me forward. "Absolutely! You two have fun- but not too much! We'll see you later, Lia!" As she was speaking, Nat grabbed the bags from my hands and started dragging Halo across the street, leaving me.

    I barely had time to register what had happened before I was alone with Rooster. While my blush was spreading from my cheeks to my ears, all hot, I looked up at Rooster. "Well, looks like I've been abandoned. Hope you can be as much fun as they were," I joked.

    He smiled brightly, and responded with, "I'll be trying my best."

    Rooster brought me to a cute little place. It was a restaurant by the water that severed so many different kinds of food. It all looked amazing, and when we stepped inside, the different smells hit me and my mouth almost instantly started to water.

    "Wow, this is such an adorable little place," I said as we were taken to our table. Rooster moved to behind one of the chairs and pulled it out. Instead of sitting, he gestured for me to sit.

    I didn't exactly know how to react, so I went to humor. "Why thank you kind sir," I said with an overly British accent. He smiled and pushed the chair in lightly as I sat. "What great service, could never get anything like this anywhere else!"

    We both laughed as he moved to sit across from me. "My parents used to come here," he said, responding to my earlier statement. "My mom told me about it, said she used to love it here."

    After knowing what happened to his dad, I didn't want to pry too much into this. "That's so cute." Then I had a moment where something became clear. "Wait," I started, smiling brighter.

    Rooster looked up at me, slightly worried. "Everything okay?" he asked, and the tone in his voice made it all the more clear that I was right.

    "Is there a specific reason we're at a restaurant that your parents used to frequent? And does that reason start with a 'd'?" I asked him.

    The shy smile was my answer. He rubbed the back of his neck and replied, "Maybe, if that's okay? If not, we can call it something else?"

    I haven't been brave in the past year-ish. My thoughts crowded over with being safe to save others. But this... this felt like the perfect risk. "It's more than okay, I'd say."

    We smiled at each other as the waiter came up to the table. We ordered our drinks, a salad to split, and our main course. As much as I thought it would be awkward, it was actually great.

    There was an unspoken agreement that nothing depressing would be brought up. If it started to go in that direction, one of us always took a different path and brought up something different.

    We stayed there for forever after finishing our food, and when it got close to dark, Rooster brought me to the beach right below to walk. "Let's sit here, the sun's about to set," he said, gesturing to a bench with his head.

    So we sat and watched as the sky turned beautiful shades of yellow, orange and purpled. "You made sure we'd be able to watch the sunset, huh? Any relation to a certain call sign?" I asked.

    Rooster laughed. "I don't know if I made that connection in my head, but I definitely wanted to watch it with you," he said, getting quieter as he spoke.

    Gathering my courage, I decided to lean my head on his shoulder as we waited for the sun to completely dip behind the ocean. The rough waves in the distance only reminded me of what I had lost.

    "You okay?" His voice was quiet, peaceful.

    We were having a sweet moment, I didn't want to ruin it. "Yeah, just... haven't been this relaxed in quite a while I guess."

    After a few more minutes, it was too dark for us to see more than a couple feet in front of us. Rooster brought me back to our housing and bid me goodnight at my doorway.

    "See you tomorrow," I said, and slipped inside before I could completely melt. Nat and Halo were never gonna leave me alone about this.

A/n: Rooster and Sunset content! My heart cries because why can't I have this. It's not fair that fictional people can be happier than me.