Flyboys (Alternate Ending)

One

Blaine Rawlings continued to fly for the remainder of the Great War, captaining the squadron until victory was finally declared. He had one destination in mind as he collected his last military paycheck of the war – Paris. He traveled there with many other unemployed pilots and soldiers. Once he arrived, he enlisted with the Red Cross and drove an ambulance through the city.

Lucienne and her family had been living in extreme poverty in wartime England. They didn't have the money to return to France until nine months after the war's end, and even then, they planned to return to Paris and continue working before making their way to their old chateau. Once they had crossed the English Channel and reached the shore, near Dunkirk, they walked to Paris, a journey which lasted almost two weeks before an empty supply truck offered to drive them the remaining distance.

Rawlings lived in Paris for a year before he gave up on waiting in the city, but he hadn't given up hope of reuniting with Lucienne just yet. He decided to take what little money he had saved and travel to Lucienne's chateau. Before he left, however, he took a risk and purchased a small, one-day advertisement in the newspaper. The most he could afford was a few words:

"Chateau Lucienne. Lafayette Escadrille. Rejoins-moi la-bas."

(Meet me there)

He then took his ambulance, without permission (according to tradition), and started the drive to the chateau.

After three months of Paris, Lucienne had a job as a newspaper carrier and constantly searched for something she knew she wouldn't find – Rawlings. One day, she was waiting to pick up her morning bundle with her coworker Marie, who showed her an advertisement with Lucienne's name in it. Lucienne recognized the squadron as the one Rawlings was assigned to, and immediately fetched her bundle of papers. She delivered her route as quickly as possible and hurried home.

Rawlings, in the meantime, reached the town closest to the chateau. As he stopped to buy some supplies, after driving for almost an entire day, a farmer stopped him and asked if he would be able to help find what was wrong with his family's tractor. Having grown up on a ranch and spent the last four years in the air force and Red Cross, Rawlings figured he could help the man fix the machine. After finding the problem and resolving it, he explained that he needed to leave, but the farmer said he'd give him some unused seeds as payment. Rawlings accepted them, despite having no intent of planting them, and left.

Lucienne convinced her uncle to let her travel to their chateau, which the family had been preparing to return to anyway. She walked to the outskirts of the city and searched for someone willing to take her in the right direction. She eventually found a truck on its way to her town, and asked if she could ride in the back with the supplies he was delivering. After a (very) small bribe and a promise that she wouldn't need passage past the town, the driver grumpily obliged and she climbed in, bumping around in the back for hours, but at least she wasn't walking.

Rawlings reached the chateau at last, and noticed its bareness upon his arrival. He remembered the small orchard that used to grow in the front yard, and the flowers that once decorated the roadside. He entered the house and realized most of the valuables had been taken long ago. The once lively home he had gotten to know was now dull and colorless, unlike his lovely Lucienne.

Lucienne was dropped off in town with the rest of the ornery man's haul. She began the long walk to her chateau, but as her anticipation grew, she sped up. She had been practicing her English (as is necessary when you are living and working in England), and hoped they would now be able to communicate easily, even if not in her own language.

Rawlings spent his first few days at the chateau preparing to wait as long as was necessary. He tried to plant a new garden, using some tools found in the small shed and the seeds the farmer gave him (which he realized would grow into grapevines, the same ones which grew there years ago). He recovered the house's interior too, standing up furniture which had been toppled and beating the dust out of rugs and pillows. He felt like he should do his best to restore the house to its former glory, because while it was never magnificent, it did serve a magnificent purpose.

One evening, he walked out to the road for no real reason, and he saw someone out walking...

Lucienne finally spotted the chateau down the road. As she grew closer, she thought she saw someone walk out of the house and into the front yard. At first, it seemed like just a mirage, but as the man walked out to the road, she recognized him. She started running as fast as her exhausted legs would carry her.

Rawlings realized that the person was a seemingly familiar girl with long, dark hair, carrying a small, dirty carpet bag. Once the girl started running, his heart started pounding, and he wondered, "Is it her?" His suspicion was confirmed when the girl suddenly shouted his name, and everything turned upside down.

After shouting, Lucienne watched as Rawlings rushed to meet her, and she laughed as she realized it was really him.