AN: Xi'an was written out because in all likelyhood, no one would ever pick her up again, NPCing her would have been weird and we didn't trust anyone else rping with us to do her justice.

It all felt like a blur to Kitty. All the people, and the sounds, and Xi'an in that dress that stole the breath from her lungs and made her legs weak. Her vision had tunneled as the other woman was walked down the aisle with Kitty's father, and she thought that the only thing that kept her from fainting was all her friends around her.

That familiar electric charge hung in the air as she took Xi'an's hands, and squeezed it. She didn't remember anything the Rabbi said. She knew she said her vows. She'd had them memorized and they'd spilled out between tears and little nervous laughs, but she'd have to look at the video later to know if she'd actually said what she'd memorized.

She could remember every word Xi'an said, though. And she would for the rest of her life.

A grin was plastered on Kitty's face as she looked at herself in the mirror. She washed her hands, pulled her hair back into a tail, then realized it was too short for that and pouted. The pout lasted about three seconds before the grin returned, and she opened the bathroom door, bouncing on her heels. Kitty had wanted to go someplace that could be uniquely hers and Xi'an's. So London was out.

Kitty had spent several days agonizing over where she wanted to go, and Japan had won the eventual coin toss. She had kept Xi'an in the dark until the very last minute - and there was an aspect of the return trip that she was still keeping secret. She'd booked them a flight to Vietnam for the last two days of the trip. She only half-wished the twins had come along, but she could take them some other time.

As she closed the door behind her and gave the steward a smile (and a waggle of the ring on her finger. Kitty kept playing with the ring on her finger, and the ring on Xi'an's, and then both with their fingers intertwined) and turned to make her way back to their seats. She kept bouncing on her feet, excitement flushing through her. iwifewifewifeIhaveawifeI'mmarried played through her head like a broken record and her smile somehow managed to get bigger. Giddy would be an understatement. She couldn't wait to get back to her seat and kiss Xi'an's smile. Even as exhausted as she was.

Something flashed outside through the window, and the plane rocked suddenly. She was thrown to the floor, tumbling back as the airliner went into a dive. She grabbed onto something and started to pull herself towards her seat. To Xi'an. Her eyes remained locked on her wife's panicked face as her own panic threatened to swallow her up. She fought it down, fought the fear and the screaming all around her. Something smacked into her head and she phased on instinct, losing several feet of progress before recovering.

She just needed to get a hand on her wife and everything would be okay. She reached for Xi'an, fingers outstretched, just as the port wing ripped off. Kitty lost her grip and she fell back, out of Xi'an's reach. Something sharp rushed up towards her and before she realized what was happening, she'd phased out the tail of the airliner. She watched it fall into the darkness below her, flames where the remains of one wing had been, and smoke coming out of a massive hole in the tail. And then even that was lost to her.

Kitty fell, spinning in a slow roll as tears froze to her cheeks. She'd been so close. She'd ibeen so close/i. The only thing she could hear as she tumbled was her breath coming in short, ragged gasps. Blackness fell over her from lack of oxygen, the expression on Xi'an's face as she'd fallen away burned into her eyes and her memory.

She came to, laying in a field. The lights of Toyko twinkled in the distance. The wreckage that was strewn before her looked surreal. Like it shouldn't exist. She scrambled to her feet, shouting Xi'an's name until her voice grew hoarse. Pressing her hands to her head she wailed, a keening, forlorn sound. "God! Please!"

She ran through wreckage, phasing into and out of the hull, but pushed back by jet fueled fire. There was no movement save the flames. It was still, and silent. Kitty sobbed Xi'an's name again, hugging her arms around her chest. She could still hear Xi'an's voice.

I've found my home, my dear heart. I'll walk with you, through darkness and light. I'll hold onto your hand, and never let you go.