Disclaimer: I dont own the Nine Lives, only my original ideas and a deep addiction to this show that is fed by writing.

This plane ride wasn't much different from my last ride. I was just as scared going back to San Francisco as I had been leaving. I hadn't known what to expect when I'd left. I didn't know what Chloe would say when I arrived in South Africa unannounced. I didn't know if she would be upset or happy. I didn't know what to expect when we arrived in San Francisco. I didn't know how dangerous it would be. I didn't know how strong the Order had become, or how weak the Mai were. I hadn't told Valentina or Jasmine where I had been going or that I had found Chloe. It had been only five days but I knew that they must be worried. We hadn't taken off yet and I was nervous. I was tapping my foot up and down and restlessly beating my fingers against the arm rest in an offbeat pattern. I looked out the window at the dim lights of Cape Town airport. I felt Chloe's hand press down against my knee and then travel slowly up to my hand where she laced our fingers together. I turned to look at her and she smiled. She pulled both our hands up and turned it so she could kiss each of my fingers.

"It's going to be alright. You worry too much." She said softly.

"When you hold and protect the world with your hands you tend to worry about it." I said. Although I was completely serious I smiled and kissed her forehead. She smiled back when I pulled away and with her other hand pulled me back towards her lips. They were soft and warm against mine, and that warmth spread throughout my whole body. Her hand on my cheek was cool and calmed the heat from the stress from my skin. I found myself really truly smiling as she kissed me and then felt her smile back before she pulled away.

"The world, huh?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

"You've always been my world, love." I said quietly in her ear. She smiled and ducked her head. I smiled loving that I still had this affect on her. She leaned her head on my shoulder and snuggled in. I pushed her away for a second, smiling in response to her confused look, and then raised the arm rest that was in between us. She smiled and moved over closer to me. I wrapped my arm around her and she snuggled closer again, this time closing her eyes. Soon her breathing was a soft rhythmic noise that I could focus my brain on. Between her breathing and her heart beat I calmed my own mind and heart and was able to fall asleep. It wasn't a deep sleep as I woke up every time someone walked past our seats but I was able to get some rest on the long 16 hour flight.

When it was morning and the flight attendants were serving breakfast I moved slightly so that I could slide Chloe down to the seats so that I could get up and walk around for a little bit. I stepped over her and once in the aisle looked both ways before reaching my hands up over my head. I needed a good stretch but I was too tall for the plane. My hands quickly hit the ceiling and my arms were only half unbent. Apparently dying made your body stiff for days and days after. I wanted to run and fight, I wanted to jump and race across rooftops and use all of my muscles. I turned and got into the overhead and dug through my bag for clean clothes. I heard someone cough and looked to my left. A flight attendant stood there with a food cart. I smiled and then walked down the aisle with my clothes, heading toward the bathroom. I looked over my shoulder feeling someone watching me and caught the flight attendant checking me out. I raised an eyebrow and then turned back around and smiled to myself. Normally I would have enjoyed the attention, but ever since Chloe other people's attention didn't matter as much as it used to. When I got to the bathroom I locked the door behind me and leaned against the door. I looked sideways at myself in the mirror and sighed. The dark circles under my eyes were getting worse. I moved my hand under the faucet and waited for it to turn on. I dabbed my hands over my face the cool water waking me up a little more. I dried my hands by running them through my hair. I then changed into my clean clothes and went back to my seat. I stepped over Chloe and again shifted her so that I could sit down and then placed her head and one of the small plane pillows on my lap. I ran my hands through her hair carefully combing out the tangles in the long curls. Chloe smiled but did not wake up. The flight attendant stopped the cart and looked over at me.

"What would you like this morning?" She asked jovially. It was the same flight attendant that had checked me out. I looked up at her and smiled.

"We'll both have the pancakes." I told her motioning towards Chloe's sleeping form. I unlatched two of the treys and set the plates down when she handed them to me.

"And to drink?" She asked leaning over. I took a deep breath and worked my jaw for a moment.

"Can I get an orange juice and an apple juice please? Oh and some coffee?" I asked.

"Of course." She said. Apparently she'd gotten the signal because she was back to straight business. She handed me the two juices and two cups of coffee and then moved on down the aisle. I put a hand on Chloe's shoulder and squeezed lightly and then leaned down. I kissed her on the cheek and then whispered in her ear.

"I've got coffee." I pulled back quickly as her head shot up. I smiled, that girl and her coffee. She sat up and looked around. She sighed and stretched before picking up the cup of hot coffee. She took a sip and smiled wrapping both of her hands around the small mug. She set it down and unwrapped her fork and dug into the breakfast. I watched her for a moment before following her. For airplane food this was not bad. It was nothing like Jasmines or normal pancakes but it was edible- especially with all of the syrup they provided.

The pilot came over the intercom and we both stopped eating for a moment. "Good morning ladies and gentleman, this is your captain speaking. We are about an hour away from our descent. I hope you are enjoying your breakfast and are ready for some cool weather as it is around fifty degrees in the San Francisco bay area. Christmas is only a few weeks away and if you are seeing your family I wish you all the merriest. I hope you will fly us again soon." Chloe looked over at me and smiled.

"I'd forgotten it was almost Christmas," she said. She leaned back in her chair. Chloe wrapped her hands around my arm and leaned into me. "I'm glad we are back together for Christmas, it would have been lonely without you, life would have been lonely without you." She said smiling up at me. I smiled back at her and leaned down to kiss her. When I pulled away she smiled and licked her lips. "hmmm, the syrup is even better when it's on something sweet." She said. I laughed and kissed her again.

We got off of the plane and went straight to baggage claim. We got our bags and went to rent a car. The man gave us all of the paper work and had someone bring the car around. Chloe got into the Toyota FJ Cruiser while I loaded our bags into the back of the car.

"Where are you guys headed?" the driver asked.

"Oh, just to the family's house." I told the man and then took the keys he was holding out for me.

"Well, you guys have fun. You're a lucky man, she's quite a beauty." He said looking at Chloe through the windows. I smiled and nodded, I was extremely lucky. I just wish I could keep her. I would try my hardest but too many things in our lives were unknown. Too many things were up in the air. I would die again and again for Chloe, but I knew that I didn't have that choice. My mother had made it very clear that she could not save me again. The next time I died, I was gone for good. I looked over at Chloe as I got in the car. She was gorgeous. I started the car and started to pull out.

"How did you come back? From death I mean?" She asked. I knew that eventually I would have to explain that, I just didn't want to do it now. How could she have known that I was thinking about that? I know that I had a confused look on my face. I shook it off and focused on the driving for a minute. "Alek-" She started.

"My mother is Bastet-"

Reviews make me happy, real reviews about the chapter make me really happy. make me smile.

I know where i'm going with this story it is just really hard for me to write this story right now for whatever reason. I forced myself to write this chapter for you and I will continue to do so, but I hope that you'll continue to read and bare with me. Review please! :)