Take My Breath by AwayRealityBetterThanFiction on a03

Chapter 9

"Strong son of man, save those who fly, swift winged across the uncharted sky. Each anxious hour, each lonely flight, serenely challenged day or night. O'er land and ocean safely bear, all those in peril in the air."

The words of the priest were met with nothing but silence from the small cluster of dark clad figures ringing the casket, watching as the Union Jack flag that had been draped over the coffin's surface was removed and meticulously folded. The flag was presented to the grieving family by a duo of men in Naval dress, faces somber and stoic. As tears spilled over cheeks, the now bare casket was lowered slowly into the ground. It was empty, since a body had never been recovered. The final resting place would not be this cold, weathered patch of dirt. The burial was closure for the living, not a way to bring peace to the dead.

The priest bowed his head, hands folded in prayer. "Let his soul rise and keep company eternally with the angels. He no longer needs wings to fly. Amen."

A lone trumpeter began playing The Last Post, accompanied by only the desolate calling of a crow circling the otherwise vacant cemetery. Harry shuddered when the casket finally stopped at the bottom of the shallow grave, landing with a resounding thud as the last notes of the hymn floated on the breeze.

Harry made the sign of the cross over his chest, hand coming to rest over the pendant dangling around his neck. His other arm wrapped around his mother's shoulders as she sobbed into her hand, clutching the folded flag to her breast. They both startled at the first fire of the rifles, sound ringing out across the sprawling plane of the military cemetery where Harry already knew he would never set foot again. He wouldn't find his father here. Not in body or spirit.

The rifles continued to fire their salute to another fallen brother as fellow servicemen paid their last respects to Captain Edward Styles, stopping to offer condolences to Harry's inconsolable mum before saluting the picture that had been placed near the burial site. Harry stood and watched as the line of men slowly dwindled until it was only he and his mother left.

There were no words to comfort her. Especially when Harry knew what he was about to do as soon as he left this cemetery. Instead he simply kissed her forehead and wrapped her in his arms, flag pressed between them.

Something changed then. Harry had relived this moment so many times by now in his memory that he knew it as well as his own heartbeat. But something was different now. When Harry looked up from his mother's tear-streaked face, his eyes caught a solitary figure standing under a tree on the hill just to the East. The figure was dressed in a Royal Navy uniform, cap shadowing his face. He looked on as Harry squinted to see him better, but a moment later he was gone. Seemingly vanishing into thin air just like the great Captain Styles had done.

Harry looked back down at his mother, but she was gone too, leaving him alone now at the graveside. In her place, Harry found the folded Union Jack flag resting in his hands.

With a sickening weight to his stomach, he turned back to the picture where his father's visage had been displayed in his military finest. But there were no chocolate curls or green eyes staring back at him from the frame. Instead, there were blonde locks and familiar blue eyes, a happy smile taunting Harry for knowing he'd never see it again in person.

Harry awoke with a start, the sound of the rifles still ringing in his ears. He gasped out, chest so tight it hurt to breathe. His eyes frantically swept the room around him until they landed on Niall, laying in the hospital bed. Harry stilled for a moment, not even daring to breathe, as he listened to the steady beep of the monitor telling him that Niall's heart was still beating...that he was still alive. The rifle salute hadn't been for him.

Just a dream. Just a nightmare.

Harry's chest loosened and he took a deep breath, rubbing at his weary eyes. A quick look at the clock told him that he'd only been asleep for maybe an hour or so. He'd taken the night shift watching over Niall as his family got some rest at the nearby family housing on base. He had spent most of the night sitting in his chair at Niall's bedside, fighting to keep his eyes open despite his all consuming exhaustion. It was daybreak now, sunlight just beginning to stream through the window, and Harry knew Niall's family would be back soon. They would try to convince him to rest, but as he'd been doing the past two days, he would decline in favor of staying close to Niall.