HOTEL HINA
Hiding out in an vacant hotel with his injured partner, Illya has a heavenly visitor.
The building was falling apart, but he needed to get his partner inside out of the weather, besides Illya was unable to go another step himself. They were both bleeding, hungry and exhausted. Thrush had been at their nastiest this time, but the information had remained safe. Although he had been tortured, Napoleon for once had been the focus of their interrogation and now was barely functioning.
He laid the American on an old musty bed and wrapped him in the blankets he found in other rooms. Although they were in Hawaii, it was the rainy season and cold. He attempted to wake his partner, but the only response was the groaning the of word 'Hina' in a pleading voice.
While they had been in the hands of Thrush, Napoleon had passed the time between beatings and drugs by telling him about the gods and goddesses of Hawaii. Hina had been his favorite because of her beauty and her protection for travelers.
He had explained how she required a two- sided coin as a tribute for a favor. The Russian had teased the American that his knowledge of mythology would of course include only the most beautiful women.
After a while, the American quieted down helping to ensure they were safe for the moment in the abandoned building, allowing Illya to curl up adding extra warmth to his shivering partner and sleep.
When he woke, he was surprised to felt heat coming from a fireplace in the room. He hadn't remembered lighting it, and at first thought, nothing else was disturbed. However, as he looked around the room, he saw that it wasn't a dreary as he had originally thought. The dust was gone from the furniture and the floor was clean. It wasn't until he smelled to eat that he pulled his gun while rolling out of bed.
Behind him on a table was a variety of fruits and water. As he watched, the moon lightened the earth, lighting it up and converting it into a comfortable haven.
Before him floating on air was Hina, the moon goddess as Napoleon had described her. Dressed in a golden cloth, an ilima flower lei and headpiece accented her Hawaiian beauty. Her black hair was highlighted by a halo of moonlight.
As he looked closer at her, he could see a faint outline of the moon, lush tropical flowers, sparkling waters and mountains covered in beautiful oranges and yellows surrounding her.
Extending her hands towards the table, she said. "Eat, it's safe. He'll wake soon. See that he drinks the healing water and eats of the fruit of the earth. It will restore you both."
"Who are you?" he asked not believing that she was actually there.
"Your friend called to me. He has offered the required tribute; you're honorable men. Rest, eat, and get strong, I'll watch over you until the morning."
Illya looked toward his partner and for the first time noticed that he was holding something in his fist. Gently opening his hand, he saw a coin. As he went to touch it, it vanished.
"Take care of him and yourself, we need men like you in the world." The words fading as she did.
Hunger and thirst pulled him to the food almost as if he didn't have the ability to resist. He slowly drank finding the taste of nectar, the fruit tasted like the richest dessert he had ever had. After having his fill, he slowly brought Napoleon around enough to drink and eat.
As he began to wake, he called out for the Russian. "Shhh, my friend. We are safe."
"Was someone else here?"
"You must have been dreaming, no one was here but us," the Russian denied yet his eyes said something different.
Both slept after eating and drinking their fill. When they woke, it was morning. The room was once more just a shell of its former self. No fire, food, or warmth remained, yet both men were strong enough to reach the pickup point.
As they left the building, Illya reexamined the structure. Its vacancy sign was still weathered, worn and faded, the building was falling down, yet on the door was an ilima flower lei.
Leaning Napoleon against the doorway, Illya removed it placing it over the American's head.
"For pomaika (luck). Welcome to Hawaii, my friend."
Supporting his partner once more, they left the building behind. He looked back at the sign, seeing the words:
HOTEL HINA
Welcome all travelers in need of a safe haven.
Below the words was a picture of the goddess Hina, as she appeared to him the night before. That had to be the reason for what he believed had happened last night, he had seen the sign on the way in but registered it only in his unconscious mind.
Illya began to hurry his injured partner along refusing to admit to himself that she could have been real. His lack of hungry and thirst he would think about another time.
Behind them the wind blew gently, and on that wind Illya wasn't sure but though he heard it whispering, "Aloha, go in safety."
"What is it?" Napoleon asked sensing his partner's uneasiness.
"Nothing, my friend. Nothing at all."