Daughters of the Night Sky

“You have every right to be furious with him, but I’m glad you seem to have forgiven my interference.” He placed a gentle kiss on my forehead, and I found myself snuggling in closer to his side, his arm taking up the slack. “And since we’re making confessions, I admit, I did want this to be a date. I noticed you from our first day at the academy, and not just because you’re beautiful. You’re smart, talented, and strong. I was thrilled to transfer to your class, even though we’re almost finished. It would give me a good reason to talk to you.”

“I wish things could be different,” I said, leaning my head against his chest. I could feel the thrumming of his heart beneath the soft fabric of his shirt. We stopped our slow stroll back to campus altogether and tucked out of the way by a grocer’s that had closed for the day.

“So do I, Katyushka.” His fingers brushed against the hair on the side of my head, as comforting and warm as the endearment he fashioned for me. “Russia will enter the war; there’s no chance we won’t. When we’re drawn in, I’ll be called up just as soon. But after—”

“It seems like a bad idea to make plans,” I interjected. “Tempting fate, and all that.”

“I need a reason to come home, Katya.” His voice was barely above a whisper.

I looked up into his dark eyes, wondering if I had imagined the words—if years of self-denial had finally caught up with me and I was imagining the sort of future I didn’t think I’d be able to have for many years, if ever. As he held me in his arms, nothing seemed more real than the curve of his chin, the perfume of his breath, and the truth in the depth of his words.

“Vanya, if we both emerge from this war in one piece, you can expect me by your side within the hour of the cease-fire.” As I spoke the words, I thought I felt his heartbeat just a bit stronger and faster, or at least I imagined it did—in time with my own. The promise seemed so weak compared to what I wanted to offer him, but it was all I had to give. “I understand if you don’t want to make promises. It may be a long war.”

“It likely will be, so you must allow me one liberty,” he breathed. He pulled back a half step, cupped my face in his hands, and again pressed his lips to mine. Slow and gentle at first, then more insistent. It was wonderful, but it could go no further. A hole had formed in my heart. I’d done everything I was supposed to do for so long, deprived myself of so many pleasures—but in denying myself Vanya I didn’t feel like the decadently plump woman refusing a second slice of raspberry tart. I was the woman in the Sahara declining a canteen of water.

“I do want to make you one promise, Katyushka,” Vanya whispered in my ear. “One I am certain to keep.”

“Go ahead, then,” I said, looking up into the dark pools of his eyes.

“I won’t do anything to keep you from getting your wings,” he said, planting a kiss on the tender skin just below my earlobe. “Just the opposite. I’ll do everything I can to make sure you’re in the cockpit at every opportunity.”

I put my hands on either side of his face and pulled it down to mine, my lips eager for his as I wound my fingers through his hair.

“Vanyusha,” I whispered after I found my breath some moments later. “My Vanyusha.”

“Really?” he asked, a slight tremor of disbelief crossing his face. “Do you mean it?”

I nodded, feeling not a trace of regret. “We all need something to fight for, don’t we? Mama was a good reason, but so is this.” I took his hand in mine. “The chance to find out if we can make a life together.”

“The best reason I can think of,” he said, taking our entwined hands and kissing the back of mine.

“I’m not ready to go back,” I admitted. “I want more time like this. No uniforms. No books. No commanders. Just us.”

Vanya paused, pensive a few moments. “The hotel?” he suggested, studying my face for a reaction. “I can’t think of any other place to be properly alone—if that’s what you wish.”

Mama had explained to me the nature of things between men and women and warned me that men could not always be trusted. But this was Vanya. I trusted him with my life each time we went up in the air. To withhold my trust with this seemed ridiculous. All the same, I had no experience with such things and felt as green as I had on my first day at the academy.

“Let’s go,” I whispered, feeling my color rise.

“We’ll take things slowly, my darling Katyushka,” he said, taking my hand and leading us back to the center of town.

I stood back in the lobby, pretending to admire a painting as Vanya went to the desk and requested a room. He came to me, key in hand, and offered me his arm.

“Shall we, Comrade Soloneva?” He winked at me as I took his arm.

“That does sound lovely,” I said, caressing his arm. I wondered if the war, by some miracle, didn’t separate us, what it would be like to settle into a domestic life with him. Most women my age thought of keeping a house and enjoying the early months of marriage before children came. Such dreams would be a long way off for us.