𝐮𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐢𝐫 | 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐲 "𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫" 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐰 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞

8: soulmates

the next day at top gun, i got to base early and decided to go for a spin in a boeing f/a 18f. flying was freeing and after talking about mom last night, i wasn't as afraid to fly as i had been for the last year. as i got into the air, i could see everything down below.

it was just about sunrise and the sky was beginning to turn a pink shade with dashes of orange and yellow. this had always been my favorite time to fly. the first time i'd been up in the air that i could remember had been with mom and dad at sunrise like this. it had been beautiful.

i touched back down at top gun around 7:30am. as i got out of the jet, i saw rooster walking towards me. i couldn't help but smile as i saw him. it would never feel like we weren't back to being students when we were at top gun together.

"good morning, lieutenant," he smiled when he reached me.

"good morning, rooster," i smiled too.

"how was your flight?" he asked.

"refreshing," i answered.

"i heard you haven't flown in a while," he said.

"words flies around the military fast nowadays," i said jokingly.

"maverick told me," he said and my expression dropped, "last night when we were doing dishes."

it silent for a long moment. then rooster spoke again, "why didn't you say anything? i could've helped you."

"i didn't need your help," i said, "i'd made a decision in my head, okay? you couldn't have helped even if you'd wanted to."

"but you know you can't live scared of what happened to your mom," he said.

"bradley-" i began.

"because you know i-" he began.

"don't hit me with that bullshit," i cut him off, "about how you didn't let what happened to your dad not scare you. don't do that to me. it's different and you know it."

"how is it different?" he asked.

"i was already a pilot and you were a toddler," i said, "the pain amounts to the same thing and the grief does too, but the fear doesn't, bradley."

"jesus, (y/n)," he sighed, "sometimes you're fucking impossible."

"and you're not?" i asked, "do you not even remember half of our fucking childhood?"

"oh god," he groaned, "i stole one candy bar from a store to show up a cashier and impress you because you had a motherfucking huffy bike!"

"don't give me some bullshit sob story about how you were trying to impress like you didn't naturally do that," i rolled my eyes.

"okay, okay, this is stupid," he said after a minute, "i didn't come out here to fight with you. i came out here to say that i love you and i support you and i want you to come to me when you're struggling."

"i appreciate that. and i'm sorry that i didn't do that," i said.

"i'm sorry i was too far away," he said.

while this was all happening, maverick, vice admiral beau simpson, and rear admiral chester cain were sitting in a large conference room sharing coffee and looking out at the runway as the talked.

"(y/n) is just like her," beau smiled.

"charlie?" maverick asked and beau nodded. "yeah, she is."

"flying out of top gun at sunrise with classes to teach the same morning? that's definitely something charlie would've done," chester nodded.

"well here she comes," maverick said as my jet touched down and i began to get out.

"is that...bradley bradshaw?" chester squinted down at the runway.

"sure looks like him," beau said.

"geez, those two," chester chuckled.

"what about them?" maverick asked.

"they're wild about each other," chester said, "completely lovesick."

"fools maybe, but lovesick?" maverick asked.

"oh c'mon mav, you've got to know by now that he's always loved her," beau said, "they remind me of you and charlie."

"and how is that?" maverick raised an eyebrow.

"he'll do anything to woo her, even if that means petty flirting or small gestures of affection. and she's probably too good for him, but she loves him anyway," beau explained.

"sounds about right," maverick nodded in reluctant agreement.

"look at them," beau smiled, "they're so sweet."

"what's your take on goose's kid?" chester asked maverick.

"goose was my best friend, chester, i loved him like a brother," maverick said, "his kid's great. he's got goose's blood running through his veins and he's smart, smarter than goose and i combined i'm sure."

"is he good enough for (y/n)?" beau asked.

"that's a tougher question to answer," maverick said looking down at rooster and i on the runway.

"no one is good enough for any of our daughters," beau said, "i understand. when samantha married that marine guy, laurence-"

"samantha married laurence?" chester asked and beau nodded. "as in the laurence hart?"

"yes, laurence hart," beau said, "it's not like he's anything special."

"he was awarded the medal of honor by the president, beau," chester said.

"and? so what? he's not good enough to be hanging around samantha let alone marry her!" beau said.

"that's a lot better than celeste's pick," chester sighed.

"celeste got married?" beau asked, "she's like 21."

"27," chester corrected, "she's married to some guy named thomas cooper."

"thomas cooper?" maverick asked, "as in the guy who got the nobel peace prize the same year he was deployed?"

"yes, but so what?" chester rolled his eyes.

"you guys do realize that your daughters are married to superior men of society. my daughter is thinking about spending the rest of her life with an active navy airman who has no military honors, works at his old flight school, and has the call sign 'rooster'," maverick said.

"well when you put it like that..." chester shrugged.

"bradley is perfectly fine," beau said, "he'd be a good son in law too, i'm sure."

"what makes you think he's going to marry (y/n)?" maverick asked.

they all looked down at the runway to see that bradley bradshaw and i were having a mini make out session on the runway.

"that," beau said.

"yeah normal people usually don't make out on the runway, that's just for soulmates," chester shrugged half jokingly.

"you don't believe in all that soulmate bullshit," maverick laughed.

"i mean you and charlie were soulmates," beau said, "maybe chester has a point."

"gross," maverick said, "my daughter and bradley bradshaw? no way. nope."