After weeks of careful planning, today was finally the day that Rhys and Sasha would set out on a much-needed vacation from all the chaos that was Pandora. With everything packed and ready, the two could head out early.
At least, that's what Sasha initially hoped for, but of course Rhys decided to wait until now, not even an hour before their plane was scheduled to leave, to start packing. How typical.
His feet thundered across the floor as he scrambled to shove his things into the suitcases hastily thrown onto the bed.
Standing in the doorway, with her arms crossed and a look on her face that was sure to make even the mightiest of bandit leaders piss their pants in terror, was Sasha. To say she was angry would be an understatement. She was absolutely furious.
Sasha tried to keep her cool. She wasn't the best when it came to controlling her emotions, especially anger. If she didn't love that shitty dork so much, would have probably punched him. Hard.
"You know Rhys, if you had just packed last night, like you should have, we wouldn't even be in the mess right now." She paused, eyeing Rhys as he scrambled all over the room, before continuing on her mini-tirade. "But no. You instead had to spend the night getting drunk and dicking around with Vaughn. And now, we're probably going to miss our flight, and stay stuck on this goddamn rock for god knows how long!" Sasha stopped, realizing she was yelling now.
An awkward silence lingered between the two for what felt like an eternity.
"Uh…wow…I'm…I'm sorry, Sash. What I did was really, really stupid. But look…" As he spoke, he moved closer to Sasha, his eyes meeting hers. "I promise, no…I pinky promise that we will make our flight, and have the vacation of a lifetime."
Sasha was quieter now, but still angry, nonetheless. "That's great and all Rhys, but you're not even finished packing, and we less than an hour now."
"Ok, ok. I get it, but I am practically finished now, Sash."
With that, he leaped back over to the bed where his suitcase lay, crammed full of various articles of clothing, none of them folded properly.
Sasha watched, still leaned up against the door frame, as Rhys finished packing. Her eyes on him as he pulled his good suit out from its "special place" in the closet, placing it down on top of his pile of clothes gently and taking extra care to make sure it was folded just right, no creases. Say what you will about him, but Rhys was a man who had his priorities straight – the upkeep of his suits just so happened to be one.
"So then, we all set?" Sasha asked.
"Yup."
After one final check throughout the house, the couple made their way outside, luggage in tow.
"Hey, Sash?"
"Yeah?" Sasha was struggling to keep pace with Rhys as they walked, probably because of all the bags and suitcases she was dragging along with her.
"You…need any help with that?" Rhys had stopped now, looking back at Sasha, who was still trudging along.
"No Rhys… I'm fine."
"You sure?"
"Yes…Most of this is just stuff for my gun. I don't want risk anything happening to them, and you kinda have butterfingers, Rhys."
Ouch. Even though it left his pride wounded, there was truth to that statement. Rhys was not exactly graceful when it came to most things.
Rhys brought his focus back to what Sasha had before. "Wait, wait, wait…'Gun Stuff'? Sasha, please don't tell me that you're bringing a deadly weapon on our vacation."
"What? I like to come prepared." Sasha stated, matter-of-factly.
"Prepared for what? I mean, I get having a weapon for self-defense, but it's not like hordes of bandit gangs are gonna ambush us on Eden-5."
"Rhys." There was an edge to her voice. "I am bringing my gun, ok?"
"Alright, alright, I'm not stopping you. Good luck trying to get it past security on Eden-5, though."
"I have my ways." A wry grin began to tug at the corners of her mouth.
"Oh?"
"You'll just have to wait and see." Sasha said, throwing a wink in Rhys' direction.
As a silence settled over the two, Rhys' eyes scanned over the road before him, searching for anything that would indicate to him the arrival of their ride. But, as Rhys expected, there was nothing, save for a passing tumbleweed every now and then. He knew he couldn't rely on Fiona and Vaughn for something like this. Sure, when there's partying and booze, the two are them can arrive within seconds, but ask them for just simple a favor and it's like they can't even be bothered to show up.
Sasha broke the silence. "Where the hell are they?"
Just as Rhys opened his mouth to reply to Sasha, his attention was drawn to the sound of rumbling far off in the distance. Within seconds, the old caravan came into view, jolting around as it raced down the road.
"About time." Rhys muttered to himself.
Despite the shudders that racked the caravan as it came to a stop, it appeared to be in better shape than it was the last time Rhys had seen it. It had been given a fresh coat of paint and newer tires, all these improvements being much needed. As reliable as that caravan was, it was quite the eye sore.
The door to the caravan was thrown open, and there Fiona was, standing in the doorway with nothing but a look of confidence on her face.
"What the hell are you two doing just standing around? You've got a ship to catch."
"Looks who's talking," Sasha retorted, glaring at her older sister, "You're 30 minutes late."
"Oh c'mon, we've got no time to just stand around and argue. We can still make good time if we put this thing into turbo, now get in here!" She threw out her hand and help the two inside the caravan.
Once inside, Rhys had found his place on that all too familiar ratty old couch, while Sasha migrated up to the front, presumably to talk with Fiona about…whatever it is that Pandorans talked about.
Soon enough, the car jolted to life, propelling the gang on their journey to airport.
The gang rode on in relative silence, with Rhys preoccupied with putting the finishing touches on his travel itinerary and Vaughn too busy concentrating on getting everyone to the airport in one piece, gripping the wheel hard as steady eyes searched the horizon for any signs of the deadliest wildlife Pandora had to offer.
It was Vaughn who eventually spoke, his eyes still glued to road ahead of him while he addressed Rhys. "So, you're going to Eden – 5, eh? Heard some pretty good things about that place, the downtown area is apparently a huge tourist destination." He paused. "Oh, hey! Do you think you could get me one of those t-shirts you get at those tourist shops? You know, the ones with the sayings like 'Someone visited Eden-5, and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.'" Vaughn spoke with a renewed enthusiasm, as he thought about that shirt. There was a little part of him that wanted to own one of these tourist-y shirts, just for laughs.
"Sure Vaugh, sounds like a plan." Rhys took up his pen again and scribbled on the piece of paper in front of him.
The gang managed to make it to the airport just in time, with the ship scheduled to take off in 15 minutes. For a small 'no questions asked' fee, the rather lengthy security process was ignored, much to the relief of Rhys and Sasha.
Just before parting ways, the group took some time to say their goodbyes. There were plenty of hugs, some of them lasting long enough to be borderline creepy, and some tears were shed, despite Rhys swearing up and down that it was just his eyes sweating.
"You stay safe out there, bro. I'll miss you," Vaughn said, breaking away from his hug with Rhys.
"I will, bro. Just…promise you won't miss me too much," Rhys joked, slapping him on the back.
"Of course."
The second Rhys saw the faintest trace of what looked like tears welling up in Vaughn's eyes, he pulled him in for another hug, much tighter now.
"I'm gonna miss you too…"
"Hey, will you two lovebirds wrap it up?" Sasha did not sound too pleased as she moved towards Rhys, grabbing him by the arm. "C'mon Rhys, you're holding everyone up, we need to go."
Rhys tried his best to match Sasha's pace as he simultaneously made an effort to alleviate the pain in his arm.
"What's the deal, Sash? I was just saying goodbye."
"Didn't look like that. Looked like Vaughn was trying to steal my man." Sasha seemed to be lightening up.
Rhys let out a small laugh. "Is this that so? Well…no need to worry, because I only have eyes for you. Besides, jacked accountant isn't really my type. I prefer all around Pandoran badass," Rhys said, his usual cocky grin spread across his face.
"You dork." That was all Sasha managed to say as the two boarded the small ship bound for Eden – 5.
Truth be told, Rhys' gigantic dorkiness was something she really loved about him. He was just so genuine, which was quite the refreshing change for Sasha, considering she was basically surrounded by nothing but liars, cheats, and murderers down on Pandora.
As the main door to the ship closed, Rhys poked out to say his goodbyes one last time, waving his arm around like a mad man.
"We'll miss you, you dork!" Fiona yelled out from the ground, and Rhys just continued to wave. When the huge, loud engines roared to life, Rhys shut the door almost like a reflex, and quickly found his way to his seat.
"So, any idea on how long till we get there?" Rhys asked, reclining his seat as far as it could go.
"Four to five hours, I think."
"Great! That gives me plenty of time to snooze. Night, Sasha," Rhys yawned, placing his hand on Sasha's before shutting his eyes and drifting off to sleep.
"Night…" Sasha echoed, her attention focused on the view of Pandora from her small window. It would never get old, no matter how many times she saw it. It was breathtaking, seeing how a planet so violent could look so beautiful, so…peaceful, at the same time.
Sasha reclined back in her chair, snuggling up next to Rhys, and closed her eyes, figuring there was no better way to spend her time than relaxing, given all the stress of the day.
Taking a deep breath, she could feel as all of her stress and worries began to melt away from her, and in her heart she knew this vacation was going to be one to remember.