Double Vision

By Phoebe Kersula

Disclaimer: "Swing Kids" and all TaleSpin characters are copyright Disney, I am not making money off this, please do not contribute without permission. Heidi, Anthony, Potya, Lizel, Xavier & anyone else you don't recognize are (C) me. Got that? Good. If you want to borrow either of them, please ask first!!! Note: Some ananchronisms may be present. Also, Usland is an American territory in this Uni. "I Dreamed A Dream" is (C) Herbert Kretzmer, from the musical Les Miserables.This story (c) Phoebe Kersula 1998.

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Summer on the islands was a time to lay back, relax, and generally have a good time. But for one Kit Cloudkicker, congenially known as Li'l Britches by his surrogate parent, Baloo; the summer was only a reminder: a reminder of a past he would have fared better to forget--yes, a past not so far back, only one year before his twenty. He was not old, yet he felt that way. An old man in a young man's body.

"Kit, can I come to Louie's with you? " Molly. Kit gripped the steering of the Swingin' Suzy, his plane, tightly, willing his turbulent emotions to a halt. He forced himself to look at her, fourteen and so damned innocent in that pretty blue sundress, naive and trusting, just like--NO. The door slammed shut in his mind. It hurt to breathe, to look at Molly and see her trusting eyes, her smile, her awkward grace. "Well? " Molly grinned, saccharinely sweet--with a twist.

"Sure, I'll take ya. Hop in. " Kit managed, focusing on the present with some difficulty. "Louie's, eh? "

"Yeah. " Molly grinned again, this time wickedly, and soon they were soaring through the crevice between the cliffs and beyond. After awhile, she spoke again, perhaps hoping to fill the silence. "What's wrong? "

"Nothing, Molly. " Kit hardly spoke after that. There was nothing more to say, nor anything he wanted to say.

Molly chattered on aimlessly as if naught was wrong, perhaps an attempt at normalcy, and that's what it was. Kit remained hunched over the steering, his air force jacket zipped up even though it must have been one hundred and ten even in the shade. Molly stole another look at him, now that he was back it seemed as if none of them could _stop_ watching him! Why not, he was interesting to watch! And something was wrong with him. Something had been wrong ever since he got back--and she was going to get it out of him, just see if she didn't!

"Did you know they're doing a companion show to Danger Woman now? It's called The Amazing Adventures of Alexis Aardvark! "

"Say that three times fast, " Kit muttered, but Molly paid no heed.

"And guess who's doing her voice? Kit? Guess!! " Kit kept his eyes on the sky and ignored her. "Me!! See, there was this contest, right, and I sent in my name, like, two hundred times! "

You musta been really bored! Kit thought, rolling his eyes.

Molly continued, albeit bouncily. "It's so great, Kit! I get to make up some of her lines and--and everything!!!"

The plane dipped, skimming the water below it lightly, and Molly squealed in delight as Kit did a few stunts, more out of habit than anything else. He let her cling to his arm. She was a child--yes, a child who needed her fun, her freedom, before her hopes were so cruelly dashed on the rocks below. She sighed wistfully, smiling up at him, her surrogate brother and friend. Best friend, even. A friend she now knew so little about. "KIA"(more appropriately, "MIA") for a year was a long, long time....

Louie's hove into view, and with it, all semblance of sanity. Molly sat up very straight and still beside him, fixing her hair to into where it fell to her shoulders in waves of golden honey. Kit stole a superstitious glance at her, and punched the girl lightly on the shoulder, going for a light, teasing tone but failing.

"Got a hot date, Molly? "

Annoyed, Molly batted his paw away and adjusted the straps of her dress. "Oh, go away. It's not a date."

The plane landed smoothly, and Molly let out a low whistle of appreciation. "Good landing! You're even better than--" her voice trailed off as Kit's eyes darkened. "--you were when you left...."

Kit took a deep breath and rolled his eyes at her, trying to recapture the jovial mood as he felt the burden of the older brother/protector falling upon his shoulders, and he powerless to stop it. "You know, Molly--"

Molly held up a paw. "Don't. I know, ok? And I can't introduce you to him--not yet. " She blushed prettily, and Kit understood, all too well. It was too early to bring the dream back down to reality, too perfect. "Please understand, " Molly begged, brown eyes large and pleading.

"You know I can't say no to you, " Kit answered, plunging deeper into the pit than ever.

May, 1944

Kit, one remaining out of six, huddled behind the now useless plane, watching the enemy advance upon him. One, broad and burly, the other slim and wiry. The former, an ugly bulldog, the second a black wolf. From this far away, he could hear them taunting him in their own language--and his own. The meadow was deserted otherwise, a second burning plane about a hundred feet off. Whoever had been in that plane, well, they were long gone. The enemy--here Kit was gripped with an unrelenting hate--was to blame for that. Cape Suzette's only remaining air pilots--gone. One over Beervaria, one in an exercise, and four here, not including Kit. Bile rose in his throat as he stared across the expanse of grass, clenching and unclenching his paws. He'd kill them with only his own. He had no gun, no knife, no nothing. Please, don't let me die here unless I kill those bastards first... I promise I'll be good, I promise... he begged the Fates silently, There was a rustle in the grass behind him, and he turned to meet a pair of huge, almond shaped gray eyes, board-straight black hair, and a face put on about as bravely as his own.

"Schwingen Heil? " She asked, almost pleadingly.

"No. Uslandian. " Kit replied, completely misunderstanding the question and accepting the gun she thrust at him. She gestured at the two men advancing dangerously upon them.

"Zwei is better than eins, yes? " She asked in stilted English. "Ve shoot on drei. "

"But--I--I mean, I can't, I--" she slapped a paw across his mouth, and Kit shut up. You couldn't argue with women. Besides, wasn't this what he had asked for? He cocked the gun, and was chilled to see the blood, still warm, across the butt and trigger. The gun had been used before, and recently. Kit could almost swear the dead man's hands had been loathe to let go....

"Eins. " There was only one bullet left in his gun. If he missed...it did not bear thinking of. He stole a glance at the girl, a look of grim determination upon her face. "Zwei." She did not look back at him, but there were tears in her eyes. "Drei!"

Kit closed his eyes, and pulled the trigger.

Part Two