I Know You ~ J.Seresin

47

It was today. They had all boarded the carrier and left North Island, sitting in the middle of the ocean. Tate picked at the skin around her fingers as she approached Maverick who was standing by himself looking out at the water. It was quiet and unsettling, the only sound was the hum of the carrier and the water crashing underneath.

Tate approaches Maverick and places her hand on his back. He looks over at her as she stands next to him. She takes a deep breath as she looks out at the water.

"You're nervous aren't you?"

Maverick pursed his lips as he looked back out at the water with her. Tate wasn't sure if he was. He was the famous Captain Mitchell. The one who buzzed towers, flew inverted, and constantly questioned authority.

"I'm most nervous for the fact that I'm flying with a different team and wingman than what I am used to," Maverick says with a small laugh. Tate gives him a tight smile as she looks at him.

She understood why he felt that way. He was used to flying with her father and his WSO. He was used to his squadron, these pilots she trained with were new to Maverick.

Tate was just as nervous as he was. Maverick was going to fly the mission while Tate stood on the carrier listening to all of their conversations. That's what worried her.

Just listening to them.

Maverick turns to Tate and smiles at her.

"I want you to know that no matter how mad you both were, I never stopped loving you and Bradley,"

Tate smiles softly at him as she feels tears forming in her eyes. "I am so proud of the both of you, and I'll always be proud of the both of you," He says.

The tears fall from her eyes as she rolls them. "Mav you're saying that as if you're not coming back," She says with a smile.

Maverick smiles at her before pulling her in for an embrace.

The two of them stood there hugging each other as the silence was deafening. But they stood there holding each other. The two of them not wanting to let go.

"We never stopped loving you,"

Both Tate and Maverick both knew that it was a possibility that this would be the last time they got to hug before possibly never coming back.

This mission seemed so easy when they talked about it. But as they got more in-depth about the mission and the possibility of not coming home.

It wasn't something that was settling.

And now here the mission was. It was the day of. Everyone was somewhere around the carrier full of anxiety. No one knew who was going on the mission.

Some hoped they were the ones chosen, others hoped they weren't.

Maverick and Tate continued to hug as she took a deep breath, holding her tears back. She had cried for about a week straight now. Her eyes were tired, and she was surprised she even had any tears left.

But she wanted to think positively about this mission. Everyone was going to come back. Everyone was going to be in one piece.

Tate thought like that all night and all day. She figured that if she kept a positive mindset, then there would be a positive outcome.

"Captain Mitchell," Admiral Warlock says. Tate and Maverick let go of each other and look at their Admiral.

He stood there with a soft face as he watched the two embrace. He had approached them quietly and was shocked at the two of them.