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Sometime after Guadalcanal, they’d come to a silent understanding. Andy was the Captain and Eddie was his right-hand man in all things. Eddie’s field commission was both a blessing and a curse, if Andy was honest with himself. It helped them cross the enlisted/officer divide, but it also put them firmly in the positions of “superior” and “subordinate,” which he wasn’t strictly comfortable with. Yes, they had been rather firmly in those categories for the entire time, but there was something about giving his orders directly to Eddie that made the situation more uncomfortable.
“Captain?” came Burgin’s voice, startling him out of his reverie. “Lieutenant Jones would like to see you out on the line, if you have the time?”
“Please tell me he didn’t get his foot blown off, and that’s why he can’t come to me. I need him with two feet.”
"No sir, he just said he has something you have to see in person.”
Sighing, Andy rose and grabbed his helmet.
—
“You mean to tell me that you had poor Burgin drag me all the way out here just to show me a bird?”
“Shut up and watch, Andy.” Eddie grinned slyly. When it was the two of them alone, there was no formality and no rank. They were just men, together as equals. Some of the tension left Andy’s shoulders. He could deal with Eddie as an equal, it was the rest that tested his limits.
“It’s only a bird, Eddie. I don’t know why I’m watching it.”
“I don’t know what kind of bird it is, but I saw one… that day on Peleliu.” They both knew what day he was talking about, because there was only one day on Peleliu anymore.
Andy’s voice cracked, “When- when did you see it?”
“I saw it just after they’d made you come down off that godforsaken hill, and you flopped down next to me on the ground while you cursed up a storm about the bullet crease in your helmet.” The back of his hand brushed the back of Andy’s casually, like it had on that day as they sat bleeding in the rocky dirt.
“I wonder what kind of bird it is?” Andy asked absently, consciously not moving his hand where they brushed. “Maybe we can get Sledge to sketch it, and figure out what it is… after.”
It was taboo to talk about any kind of ‘after,’ but somehow it felt like this moment was exempt from the swift and righteous retribution of war, just this one moment.
“We could.” Eddie smiled.
“Eddie, could you -” He cleared his throat. “Would you like to visit Massachusetts someday?” It was as clear of an invitation as he could bring himself to make while they stood not fifty feet from their men.
“CAPTAIN, CAPTAIN!” Came a shout. He tensed. Shouting was rarely good.
Burgin came running up, and stopped before them breathlessly. “Captain Haldane, sir.” he gasped. “The Japs surrendered! The war is over!”
Andy started at Burgin blankly for a moment, before he blinked and shook himself. “What happened? How did…?” He trailed off.
“They dropped some kind of bomb on Japan, I don’t know the details, sir.”
For a long moment they stood in silence before Andy shooed Burgin off. “Go, tell the men. But tell them to keep the celebrations quiet. There’s no guarantee that the enemy knows the war is over, or that they won’t keep fighting anyway. We’ve all seen how eager they are to die for their cause."
Burgin hastily saluted and ran off.
With a sigh, Andy collapsed into the dirt and stared at his hands for a long moment, before he titled his face up to look at Eddie towering above him. "For Christ’s sake, Eddie. Sit down and enjoy the fact that we’re going home! If I had any whiskey, we’d be drinking it right now, but sitting down for a few minutes will have to do.”
Eddie laughed quietly and sat next to him. They sat in relative peace for a few minutes, watching the mysterious tropical bird flit about the trees. Their hands and knees and feet brushed and bumped, as Andy tried to reorder his racing thoughts.
“Andy?”
He turned to meet Eddie’s shy smile. “Yeah?”
“What’s Massachusetts like? A man’s gotta know something about the place he’s gonna be living.”