So inspired by the Memorial Day holiday, I’m currently working on an update for my WW2 AU story, Calendar Girl! I’m not going to get this update finished tonight, but because I know it’s been AGES since I last posted anything for this fic, I thought at the very least, I’d post a “previously on…”, just to remind anyone out there who still remembers (or cares) :oP about this story, what all has happened so far.  So without further ado,

PREVIOUSLY ON…

Christmas 1942; Tom Branson is a part of the British 8th Army, who are fighting Axis forces in North Africa. Among Tom’s friends are Alfred, Jimmy, and William, who has a sweetheart named Daisy back in Yorkshire, who works at a large manor house called Downton Abbey.  For Christmas, the troops receive a calendar of alluring and provocative “English Roses” as a means to “boost morale”.  Jimmy teases Tom about the calendar, in an effort to get Tom out of his “mopey state” after receiving a letter from his family that his former sweetheart has left him for his childhood bully.  Jimmy turns to Tom’s birth month, and thrusts the image of “Miss May” at him…and Tom is instantly transfixed…

Little does Tom or the rest of his friends know that Miss May is in fact an aristocrat by the name of Lady Sybil Crawley.  However, Sybil is doing practically everything she can to leave that life behind.  Sybil serves as a nurse in London, and lives with Gwen Dawson, one of Downton’s former housemaids.  Also “living” with Sybil and Gwen is Gwen’s American beau (and fighter pilot) Paul.  It’s through Paul that Sybil meets some of his fellow yanks, and would no doubt shock her family if they knew how “liberated” she’s become in her life.  But Sybil can’t deny there’s a yearning she feels, wanting what Gwen and Paul have together.

In March of 1943, Sybil’s eldest sister Mary invades her London home, revealing that she’s learned about Sybil’s appearance in the “risque” calendar. Apparently Matthew, Sybil and Mary’s cousin who is also fighting in the war, found out about the calendar and told Mary, prompting Sybil to tease her sister into just admitting once and for all that she and Matthew have feelings for one another.  Instead, Mary warns Sybil not to keep the calendar a secret from their father, as it’s only a matter of time before he finds out.  Sybil hates the thought of having to tell her family, because she knows they will try to shame her for what she’s done, even though she herself doesn’t feel ashamed for her choice to have the photograph taken.  But she also knows that Mary has a point, and it’s better she face the music and be up front about the calendar, before her parents learn from an outside source.  So Sybil must make plans to journey north to Yorkshire…to her family’s ancestral home, Downton Abbey.

Meanwhile, the British 8th Army have driven Rommel and his forces to the Tunisian border.  As Tom and his friends prepare to go into battle, it is revealed that Tom has been carrying “Miss May’s” picture in his pocket, gazing at her as a man would gaze at the photograph of a sweetheart.  Before he rushes into battle, Tom prays that at the very least, before he dies, he wishes to know her name.  Then the command is given, and the British 8th go forth…

And *THAT* is where our story picks up…!