Even The Small Things Are Special

                                    

                                          


                          
"Oh wow!" Miho exclaim, as she press her hands against the glass of the A6M Zero fighter.
                          
The calm ocean below shine with the morning sun, almost sparkling with the gentle winds causing soft waves to form. From her vantage point in the cockpit, Miho thought it look the sea was dancing effortlessly like it was happy.
                          
The same happy feeling was with her now, as she watch the scene before her while flying smoothly through the sky aboard Suzume Aozora's Zero. Though the two just fit together in the cockpit, embarrassing for Miho who had sit in Aozora's lap, tied to her with a harness in case something happen and they had to eject from the plane.
                          
Aozora was now a resident on the Akagi with her fighter squadron. The school carrier still had room for a flight deck to take the planes. While Aozora and her team would be living with them as long they remain in the tournament, and over the few weeks, they stay so far, had already become close with the community. Especially with the bars, who they visited with regularity, with responsibility in mind.
                          
This was the first time Miho had ever flown in her life. Even though her own mother Shiho Nishizumi took a lot of travel flights for business, she had never taken her daughters with her. Miho still remember the look on Aozora's face when she told her this and she demanded to be the first one to take her flying. Miho agreed to it because she wanted to and Aozora wouldn't let any of her other pilots take her.
                          
That's how they reach this point. Today was a Sunday, so no school, and Aozora and Miho had taken off early in the morning. They had been flying for at least an hour now, yet Miho's wonderment never cease as they flew through the clouds and then near the water, all the while Aozora was enjoying showing off for Miho.
                          
"A pretty nice view up here, huh?" the brown hair pilot ask, with a self-satisfy smile.
                          
Miho nodded excitedly. "Yea, I'm glad you took me. I have never been able to see how beautiful it looks up here."
                          
Aozora match her glee. "Nothing like it I tell you. Flying always makes the world's problems seem so small. For a few hours up here, with nothing but the clouds and the sun for company, makes me happy no matter how many times I see it."
                          
"You really love flying don't you?" Miho said turning over her shoulder to look at the older woman.
                          
"You be surprised to say I didn't at first," Aozora said.
                          
Miho gave her a questioning look. "Really?"
                          
"Yep. My old man, rest his soul, was in civil aviation as a private contractor. Sometimes he be gone for weeks flying some important person. Yet the minute he come home, he gather me up and take me flying with him," Aozora said, her face becoming pleasant while reminiscing.
                          
"That doesn't sound too bad," Miho said quizzically.
                          
A grin cross the female pilots face. "Oh that's what you think. He love to let loose after flying in a straight line for so long, that now he wanted to do loops, long dives, and tight turns. Had me screaming for dear life as a little girl."
                          
"Eh! Isn't that too much to be doing to you at such a young age," Miho said.
                          
Aozora shrug at her statement. "Maybe, he always got an earful from my mom the minute he landed with me shaking. Yet I wouldn't trade those moments for anything, it was one thing no one could take from me and my dad."
                          
"Sounds nice to have a father who does things like that for you," Miho said, her reminiscing more unpleasant.
                          
Understanding her little copilot's solemn tone, Aozora try to cheer her up. "Want to take the stick?"