On 11th November 1918 peace was declared and the Great War ended. A week later a benefit concert was held. I was asked to sing.
It had been almost a year since I'd last seen Bill, when I ran out across the field with my arms outstretched and he flew down beside me, before disappearing into the sky, leaving me with only his pilot's cap, a salute and memories.
By some strange coincidence, the concert was held at the same concert hall I performed at the night Kurt gave me my assignment with Bill. To me it seemed only natural to sing the same song.
It was printed up in the newspapers all across the country. And like all gossip, word spread like wildfire. I think the whole of Europe knew I was a German spy by the time the concert date arrived.
My mind is blank and I feel almost detached from reality as I sit in my dressing room getting ready to take the stage. But I would no longer be Lili Smith, the singing sweetheart who the troops adored. I would be Lili Schmidt, the German spy moonlighting as a concert hall performer who seduces her assignments to gain information to pass on to the enemy. I'm surprised anyone at all has agreed to attend to concert. I would have thought everyone in both England and Germany would hate me.
I'm in the same concert hall, singing the same song. Even the dress I'm wearing is almost identical to the one I wore on that one night that changed my life forever. A wave of déjà vu sweeps over me, leaving my brain all fuzzy.
A sharp rap on the door knocks me back to reality. "It's seven o'clock Miss Lili," says the voice outside the door. "You're on in fifteen minutes."
Ten minutes later I'm waiting in the wings. For some reason I'm nervous. That surprises me; I've been performing on stage for over a decade and I've never felt anxiety like this before; not even on my very first performance when I was fourteen years old. To calm myself down I begin whistling to myself, as quietly as I could so as not to disturb the performance on stage at the moment.
Before I know it, I'm onstage, singing and dancing, caught up in the performance like I am every time I step out onto the stage.
As I perform I think I see visions of the famous Eagle Squadron, waiting and watching me from wings; T.C. with his arm in a sling and bottle in his hand , Youngblood Carson, begging for a kiss. But it's impossible; it has to be. The war is over; they would've disbanded. And even if they hadn't what would they be doing at my concert?
The other thing that confirms to me that they're not real is that the one person I'm looking for was missing. Kurt said if he really loved me, he'd find me wherever I was. But he isn't here and I know the rest of his squadron wouldn't come to see me without him.
Thinking about Bill is distracting me from my performance, and suddenly my voice is softer and my dancing is half-hearted, because all I can think about is him. He's all I've been able to think about for the past year. I don't remember when I fell terribly, desperately and passionately in love with him; but by now I've given up any hope of having a life with him. I shall never love anyone as much as I loved Bill. But I shall try.
The lights fade and before I have time to register what's happening, someone has rushed onto the centre of the stage and taken me in their arms. When a pair of lips crush against mine, kissing me like I'll vanish at any moment, I know it's him. My heart soars higher than the plane he flies and I swear I could fly out of the sheer, pure joy I'm feeling. Without knowing it, I'm kissing him back, my arms locked securely around his neck. I never want to let him go again.
We're still kissing fiercely when the lights come back on; only now the entire audience can see. As well as the rest of Bill's fellow pilots; they really are all there, smiling and clapping at us, but Bill and I are oblivious. We're lost in our own little world.
I pull back, only to gaze up into his eyes before I attack his mouth again. "Oh, Bill," I cry.
"Easy tiger-" he begins, but I interrupt him: "Oh, shut up and let me kiss you."
When he's finished kissing my lips until they're turn numb he takes me hand in his and we turn to face the audience, who rise to give us a standing ovation as we take a bow.
Turns out my all dreams really came true.
