Y'all ready for the sequel series? ;) So I don't know how reveals of secret Air Force squadrons go so I'm just going to make this all up, okay? So don't bash me haha and some of these mini stories won't go in order by date but I'm going to try to make them stay in order as much as I can.

To all my new readers, there are some things to know! 1) If you like my story, REVIEW! 2) If you don't like it, simple, don't review and send a flame. 3) If you have constructive criticism, not destructive, please feel free to tell me :) Otherwise, that's it! So onwards!

Chapter Quote:
"The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, and a lot of bitching."
~Unknown

Divulged

December 10, 2013…

Blaze

I was standing on the balcony of one of the formal living rooms of the Versailles Palace, bracing myself on my forearms on the rails, overlooking the gardens which were hidden from any onlooker's view since they were completely surrounded by the palace walls. They were quite beautiful, the gardens I mean. There was a huge fountain in the middle, five-tiered so that water spilled over the sides and into the bottom. The fountain had four benches around it and white rose bushes were on the ends of each bench. A flagstone path encircled all of it and went into eight different directions: North, Northeast, East, Southeast, South, Southwest, West, and Northwest. The Southern part had my favorite flowers of all: lilies. They ranged from yellow lilies to pink ones and I was in love with them.

At the moment, I was enraptured with the water the fountain was spewing out. Water had always fascinated me and it was a wonder I hadn't gone into the Navy. But I liked the air more.

I was waiting (might I add impatiently) for the some military officials to arrive at Versailles. They were my old bosses and some commanders that had led some of the most successful missions in the Circum-Pacific war. Pretty much the top brass. You know who else was going to be there? None other than Orson Perrault. I was really looking forward to seeing him again, mainly because I now had higher status than him and I could so completely lord that over him. Also, he didn't know that Chopper was alive and kicking. I smiled at the thought of my husband. Within less than a year, he had undergone extensive training to get back into the shape he was in before he crashed. Unless I was hallucinating, he was in better shape now. His color had returned because he spent so much time outside. If any of us couldn't find him when we were at Versailles, we immediately went to the gardens where ninety-nine percent of the time, we found him stretched out on one of the benches, aviators on, and snoring very loudly. One time when I woke him up, I scared him so bad that he fell off the bench. Needless to say I felt horrible, but I was laughing my butt off.

Movement near the northern entrance to the gardens caught my eye. Looking over, Orson Perrault, fatter than the last time I saw him, was waddling onto the pathway, heading south. He looked up at me and gave a slight smile. He obviously didn't recognize me with my aviators on; the distance probably played a part in him not recognizing me either. I didn't return the smile, however. Instead I turned around and went inside. I still didn't like him. I was still pissed off at him. I knew I should let the grudge I was holding against him go but he had been an ass to me the whole time I'd been on Sand Island. Well, I was going to return the favor to him now.

"Blaze, who pissed you off now?" Chopper's amused voice floated from the doorway. I looked up in surprise to find him leaning against the door frame. Besides getting more in shape than ever, getting his humor back, and getting his pre-crash/capture personality back, he'd also become very stealth-like which was actually surprising for Chopper since he had this insane ability to trip over nothing (like me).

"Orson Perrault is here," I said distastefully.

Chopper did a fake gag. "Just tell him to shut up again and all will be well."

"Believe me, I will. I'm really going to have to hold my temper in this meeting aren't I?" I asked, grimacing.

Chopper held out his hand for me and I took it. "I wouldn't stop you if you did lose your temper. Besides, almost all of them are ego-maniacs in there who need a good scolding by you. Come on, let's go," he laughed. We walked hand-in-hand to the Cabinet Room. There were fifty-one seats in there. One seat was at the head of the table, which is where Harling would preside so he could see all of. Being the leader of the Razgriz, I'd be seated next to him. Bartlett would be on the other side of Harling.

Chopper and I entered the room next door to the Cabinet room where the rest of our group was waiting. Genette, Jason, Pixy, Grimm, Bartlett, Pops, Andersen, Snow, and Geller were in suits. I realized Chopper was wearing one too. I loved when he wore suits; he looked dead-gorgeous. Cassie, Nagase, and Major, like me, were in black dresses.

"Guess who's here?" Cassie grumbled.

"Perrault?" I guessed.

"Psychic powers are still working," Nagase said.

"Actually I just saw him in the gardens. Y'all ready for this?"

Grimm snorted. "No. I don't want to be the center of this attention. You do realize this is going to change our lives forever right?"

"Eh, we'll be fine. The hoopla will die down after a while," Bartlett commented nonchalantly.

"It's not just the Razgriz being revealed. The 'Demon Lord' is being revealed too," Pixy pointed out with a grin.

"Don't remind me," Cipher muttered. I turned to look at my brother. His camera was pointed at us, capturing all the bickering. I waved and smiled at the camera.

"Guess we should start heading in," Pops suggested. Genette shut off his camera before we walked into out of the room and into the Cabinet room. It was almost full. Perrault was there; I took one glance his way before walking to my seat. I made it my mission not to look at him unless necessary… or forced.

Chopper sat next to me as Harling took his seat. The remaining people entered and took their seats. Once everyone was settled in, Harling stood up, cleared his throat and said, "Welcome and thank you for joining me here today. Now, you must be wondering why I have called you here as I did not tell you when I invited you. Since all of you were in the recent Circum-Pacific War, and many of you participated in the Belkan War fifteen years, I know you have heard of three very prominent squadrons: Galm, Wardog, also called the Sand Island Squadron, and the Ghosts of Razgriz, more commonly called Razgriz. The public needs to know who their heroes are in these two wars and the time has now come. Thirty-seven of you have had encounters with them, whether it was personal or in battle. The thirty-seven of you, if you agree, will join Pops, Andersen, and Bartlett in the opening ceremony of the reveal of not only the Razgriz, but also the Galm Team."

"President, I'd first like to know who the Razgriz are. Are they or are they not the same as the Sand Island Squadron?" A man asked. He was older and although he spoke firmly, I could tell he was kind.

"The Sand Island Squadron was shot down with nothing of their remnants found and the pilots were declared dead," another man retorted. This guy I didn't like. He obviously thought he was better than mostly everyone else in the room.

"Looks can be deceiving," Bartlett said, glowering at the man.

"Who are you again?" the same man demanded.

"Captain Jack Bartlett, ex-Captain of the Wardog Squadron and the man who trained the pilots who would later become the Razgriz." Bartlett smiled cockily as the man's eyes widened.

"That doesn't answer the question I previously asked though," the first man said.

Something clicked in my head. "You were the commander of Company B in Operation Footprint who was supposed to retire and then you were also in the Jilachi Desert in Operation Desert Blitz, weren't you?" I queried.

He looked at me with a surprised smile. "Yes, I am Commander Theodore Wilkes. I'm assuming you were in the battle?"

"Yes, sir."

"Air support I'm guessing?" He winked at me and I knew immediately he knew who I was.

"Precisely."

"Enough with the suspense! Who are they?" A man asked, looking at Harling.

"Razgriz, Galm, pilot or not, please stand up," Harling ordered, holding his palms out faced up. With a deep breath I stood up along with my friends. I felt short standing between Chopper and Harling since they were both taller than me.

Gasps went around the room before Commander Wilkes stood up and started shaking Genette's hand since my brother was closest to him. He proceeded to go around the table, shaking all of our hands. One by one, the other military officials stood up and followed Wilkes' actions. When he came around to me, he said sincerely, "You and your squadron are why the war ended. We can never repay you. Thank you Blaze."

"It was nothing; I was just doing my job," I replied bashfully. I still wasn't used to getting compliments like that.

"Blaze, there comes a point in your life when you really need to stop being so modest about your flying ability and the fact that you pretty much single-handedly changed the tide of this war," Chopper interjected cheerfully.

Wilkes laughed. "You must be Chopper. I recognize your voice from anywhere. You were the one that started most of the useless chatter."

"Yes, sir I am. Proudly reinstated as Razgriz Three," Chopper claimed with a grin. "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir."

"The pleasure is all mine. I better get going because I think more people want to meet you. We shall talk soon," Wilkes said before shaking our hands once more and walking off. He was followed by the rest of the military officials. They overwhelmed me with compliments, ranging from "You're the most amazing pilot" to "Thank you for ending the war" to "God Bless the Razgriz" and others I can't even remember. Some even went so far as to hug me. They were the older, gentler leaders.

Something bugged me about meeting everyone and I couldn't decide upon what until it, or maybe I should say who, was standing in front of me. Instinctively I raised my head higher, straightened my back, while looking Orson Perrault dead in the eye.

"Blaze," he greeted.

"Perrault," I replied. I could feel people watching us, specifically my squadron. If he wanted to start the politeness of the conversation, he had to initiate it. I wasn't going to do jack squat.

"I, unfortunately, made a mistake by trusting the wrong person and I would like to formally apologize for sending people after to kill you."

I'll admit, his apology stunned the hell out of me. Maybe it was because he knew he had to be polite to me in front of the president, maybe he was being polite to me because I now had higher status than him, or maybe he was genuinely sorry, but that still didn't mean I was shocked.

"And Davenport, do not die again if you are ever under my command once more. I would rather not get told off by your wife again," Perrault joked lightly.

Unlike me, Chopper seemed fine as he responded, "Don't send men after my wife to kill her and you might have a deal."

"Deal," Perrault said, offering his hand for Chopper to shake. Chopper shook it. Turning to me, Perrault inquired, "Do you accept my apology?"

I stared at him. How could I forgive a man who had been an ass to me since the minute I stepped foot on his base and told me to suck it up right after Chopper had died? But at that moment, Chopper squeezed my hand and I gave in. I was better than keeping a grudge against someone like Perrault. I said, "Apology accepted."

We shook hands and he moved on. I let out a small sigh; Chopper kissed me on the head. I shook hands with the rest of the officials before we took our seats again.

Harling, still standing, announced, "I have decided the reveal of the Razgriz shall take place on December thirtieth, the day the war was declared over by me and Nikanor. This means we have less than a month to prepare you for the reveal. On the bright side, the entire procession is already planned out, meaning all of you will be briefed on what exactly you are supposed to do. Three of the coordinators for this project will meet with you shortly. I will be going with the Razgriz to their briefing as theirs is completely different. Good day and thank you all for coming."

My friends (and family in the case of my uncle Jason and Genette) stood up and walked out of the Cabinet room where I allowed myself to relax. I had never been good in front of lots of important people. Just because I had higher status than them in the government did not mean whatsoever that they didn't scare me, or at least intimidate me. The last time I had been with any of them, they'd all had higher status than me. It was still nerve-wracking.

"Blaze, I thought you were going to strangle Perrault at first," Nagase joked.

"I seriously considered it," I answered.

"You should've," Bartlett muttered. I grinned but said nothing.

When we reached one of the two casual living rooms, my mouth dropped open. Inside were about thirty Versailles Palace staff members; a food table was in a corner of the room with endless amounts of snacks. I saw Chopper, Grimm, and Genette eyeing that table hungrily which I rolled my eyes at. They were always hungry.

The staff members were milling about but started clapping when they saw us.

"They kind of know who you are," Harling mentioned, sounding amused. Looking around, he ordered firmly yet kindly, "Settle down people! I know you're all excited but we have a lot to do. First thing's first, Razgriz, Galm, what colors would you like to wear at the reveal?"

Two colors immediately popped into my head: Blue and red. I couldn't choose which one. Blue was one of the colors of the Osean flag and it could represent our patriotism if we wore it since some people might still believe we're traitors to the country. They'd be stupid in thinking that but it had to be taken into consideration. However, red represent one of the colors of my Razgriz Squadron. It showed the power and fierceness we possessed (and red also happened to be one of the colors I could wear really well).

"Blaze? This is up to you. You always were the fashionista even if you did go into the military," Genette said drolly.

"Shut up," I snapped airily. "Um, I think blue would be best, with it being Osean colors and whatnot. May I ask why we need colors?"

"So you girls can go shopping," a woman chirped, coming forward. "Hello, my name is Georgina but call me George. I'll be taking you shopping for a dress for the reveal. And boys, you have a much easier job. You have to go out shopping searching for blue ties. You will have some people helping you, don't worry. Come on girls, let's get going. We have a lot to do!"

George ushered us out, not even giving us a chance to say bye to our husbands which was rather funny because the expressions on our husbands' faces were priceless. There's not even a way to explain their expression.

We went down to the garage of Versailles to get into the black SUV that would drive to wherever our destination was. I had no idea. That seemed to be the usual lately. I'd been going through a phase where I just became very oblivious to everything. I was getting better, but I still had a tendency to run into poles and such things.

The ride was short and we pulled up in front of a dress store that looked very expensive. The girls and I looked at each other excitedly with one thing on our mind: We get to shop.

"All right girls," George said, "You chose blue as your color. Wait here while I have the shop clerks gather dresses for you to try on."

She disappeared, leaving me and my friends alone. We sat down on the couch, chattering with excitement about our clothes. I mean, we're girls. We love getting to dress up in fancy dresses. It took about ten minutes for the rack of dresses to come out. It only took about three dress changes for me to choose mine. The fabric was billowy yet slimming with a simple but beautiful embroidery on my left hip. I freaked out when I found out how much the dress cost, however George assured me cost was of no issue. Major found her dress next. It was very simple but I loved it due to its simplicity. There was no bedazzlement but the dress flowed regally out behind her. It suited her nicely. Nagase got her dress next. It looked sort of like Major's except that the ruching at the top was different along with a decently sized bedazzled belt. Then there was Cassie who went through at least twenty dresses before narrowing it down to ten. It went from five and finally to one. Her dress had a bedazzled trim at the top of the dress and a belt that sort of resembled leaves that were made of rhinestones and crystals.

Afterwards, we left, only to realize that in a little under a month, we'd be wearing these dresses in front of thousands, maybe millions of people. We quickly went from ecstatic to dead silence. I pretty much wanted to go hide in a hole at the mere thought of it. To be honest, standing in front of thousands and millions of viewers scared the hell out of me. I mean seriously, can you imagine? I'm a simple girl, I really am. I don't like all the shebang and fancy parties and flashy premieres and whatnot. But I had to do this.

How hard could it be?

So there was the first chapter of the Razgriz Mini Stories. Hope you enjoy! :) If you want to see the girls' dresses, tell me in a review. Speaking of reviews, you better review or no update! It's next chapter that will be the interview so if you want to see that, get to it and send in questions that you have for the Razgriz (Bartlett, Genette, Pops, Andersen, and Geller included) and for Galm because I have them planned too :) REVIEW PEOPLE!