Capital Holiday

Chapter Twenty One – Destination: Rio de Janeiro

Carnival Parade and Time to Go Home

Well, after a long, LONG time, it is finally the end of Capital Holiday! I wanted to personally thank everyone for their support in this story and sticking with me throughout the huge delays in updates. Thank you! :) I have a psychology exam tomorrow... :S and then a science exam on the 24th, but thankfully I have nothing else to update. So I'll try to think of new stories to write, because I'm a little blocked atm with ideas, but yeah, should clear up when I'm not stressed out of my mind! Anyway, please enjoy the last chapter! :D

Review Replies:

DarkAngel443 - Hahaha, I'm glad you enjoyed it, thanks I was kind of worried about if he'd be a little OOC, so phew! :D

Jupal - You havent? She's one cool character, I love her! She's like Kai's dream woman and she likes him back, they've kissed twice. It's cute! Thanks for reviewing! :)

PlayingWithColdFlames - Hahaha I love it when you review, because 9/10 times there is always some form of rhyme or song that I love! :D Thanks!

You are now Detective Mal Fallon

It's finally your last day in Rio de Janeiro, which is a good thing, considering your head feels like someone is repeatedly hitting it with a hammer and you feel like your breakfast will make a reappearance at any moment... Most of the last two days had become a large, messy blur with all the partying and drinking you and your friends had been doing. You swear you must have been to every party imaginable, one after the other throughout the course of the days and nights. All thanks to Kai, who insisted that you all made the most of 'Party City'.

'Worse than when Ken and I went to Las Vegas, so much worse...' you think and rub your eyes with your forefinger and thumb.

You remember what happened two nights ago, when you once again saw the fugitive Kara Yan right before your eyes. The last thing you remember about that night was when Kai hurried over to talk to her, and to your surprise, she didn't run away this time. Instead, she went and got changed back into her normal attire and joined you all at your table. She seemed nervous, but that's only normal, she is a wanted criminal after all. While she sat in silence, Kai hesitantly introduced her to everyone else, leaving them in shock. But when you cut in and explained the situation, they were still uneasy, but seemed to accept it. Kai had to be happy too, right? Maybe he'd get off your back for five minutes if he had someone else to cling on to. Kara had thanked you for the advice that Kai had told her, about going up for trail against the triads so she could be free again. After the festivities were over, everyone, including Kara, had gone back to the hotel to change before going out to another party. It had been like that non-stop since.

Forcing your eyes open to the blinding morning sunlight, you manage to gaze around your hotel room. It was just the way you liked it; simple, homely but slightly formal. You didn't dwell on the appearance of the room for very long, because you directed your gaze next to you. There lay Natara: her arm thrown over her eyes maladroitly; her hair spread out of the pillow in a tousled heap; one of her legs thrown out of the duvet, and her shirt fully wrinkled starting half way up her waist, revealing her toned, tanned stomach.

You smiled at her and chuckled lightly. Even then, in the stages of probably one of the worst hangovers either of you had ever had, she looked stunning. You sighed lovingly and reached over, ever so slightly running your finger along her cheek. After a long moment, you heard her groan and she shifted position slightly.

"Go away." She garbled, making you grin.

You didn't say anything, but instead shuffled closer to her and snaked your arm around her waist, turning her towards you. Natara's arm slid off her face and landed on the pillow beside her head. She sighed and warily opened one eye, scowling at you. You just smirked and kissed her forehead, despite the pounding migraine forming behind your eyes. Natara groaned again and tried to turn away from you, but the way your arm was positioned made her unable to.

"Mal, I'm tired, go away." She mumbled and attempted to move again, just like before, she couldn't.

"Come on, Nat. It's morning."

"I thought you weren't a morning person."

"I'm not."

Natara just wore an irritated, blank look on her face, which was being partially shielded by her hair. You brushed it behind her ear and traced her jaw line, noticing the most miniscule of smiles tug at Natara's lips. Eventually, after a long period of silence, Natara gave in and sat up, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. You propped yourself up onto one arm and watched her, all the while a smile never leaving your face. She glanced back at you and raised an eyebrow, before shrugging and sliding out of bed, walking into the bathroom. When she caught sight of herself in the nearby mirror, you saw a look of utter disgust pass across her beautiful features. Her eyes widened and she placed her hands across her mouth. She glared at her reflection for a long moment, trying to run a brush through her messy hair, which in all honesty, you found rather attractive.

"What did the mirror do to you?" you quipped.

Natara stopped in her tracks and slowly placed the brush on the nearby dresser. She took a deep breath and turned to you, you could see she was forcing a smile at you.

"Nothing, now if you don't mind, I'd like to have a bath in peace for about... an hour? You think you could, oh I don't know... Leave?"

You laughed at her tone; she was clearly annoyed and not in the mood for your sarcasm, but you didn't mind. If she put up with you this long, there must be something she likes about you.

"Whatever you say, babe."

"Don't 'babe' me."

You just rolled your eyes and slipped out of bed as Natara started running her bath. Before you were going to walk into the living room though, you made your way over to Natara and wrapped your arms around her waist, pulling her into your chest and resting your chin on her shoulder. She sighed, but you saw the smile she wore upon her face. Pulling her hair back behind her ear, you leant down to whisper,

"Sorry, Nat."

Natara swivelled round, so that she was facing you, and draped her arms around your neck. She shook her head and gazed into your eyes, a new found smile appearing on her face.

"Don't be," She said softly. "I'm just not a morning person... at all. Besides I'm the one who should be sorry."

"I'll take it." You quipped and kissed her lightly.

Natara giggled and pulled away from your grasp. She leant down and turned the tap off before dipping her arm in the water to make sure it wasn't too hot. You stood in silence as she did this, and she turned to you, still smiling.

"Wanna join me?" she asked.

You just shrugged and smiled.

"I thought you wanted peace for an hour."

Natara rolled her eyes playfully and removed her crinkled shirt, throwing it on the floor.

"Shut up and get in the water." She retorted, making you laugh.

"Yes, ma'am."

You are now Special Agent Natara Williams

It was your last day in Rio, and you had never had a worse hangover in your life. Luckily though, you managed to have an hour's peace with Mal in the bath, washing away the rat's nest that was your hair. You had gotten changed for the day and vowed that even if you went to another party, there was no way you'd drink as much as last time... or the time before that. Anyway, after meeting up with everyone, including Kara Yan, who last night you had recognised as the fugitive, along with Amy and Ken, you had decided it would be best to go out and visit the sights, instead of hitting the numerous celebrations for the third day running. Everyone except Kai had agreed, so he had no choice in the matter.

There was only one place that you had wanted to go to, and that was the first sight you had laid eyes on. Christ the Redeemer statue. You grabbed a nearby leaflet on your way out of the hotel and skimmed through it.

"Okay..." you started, gaining everyone's attention. "The parade is supposed to start at around 6pm, so if we visit Christ the Redeemer first, then-"

"Natara, babe, we get it. You really want to see the statue, chill." Mal said, draping his arm around your shoulder.

You laughed nervously, for once hating the fact that he could read you like a book.

"I said don't call me babe."

You tried to act annoyed, but you could tell Mal wasn't buying any of it, so instead you just huffed and threw the leaflet in the bin. Mal smirked triumphantly while you rolled your eyes and walked ahead of him. He jogged up to you side and slid his hand into yours. You thought that you should pull away, but you didn't. Instead you smiled and allowed your fake annoyance to float away, leaving you with your normal attitude.

You all flogged down a taxi, but when it got stuck in the endless traffic, you paid the driver and hopped out, walking the rest of the way.

By the time you had arrived, your legs were burning but you didn't care. From all the hiking you had done when you were younger, climbing this huge mountain wasn't that bad. You were the first to reach the top, shortly followed by Kara. The other's were lagging behind, clearly not as fit as you are.

"And I thought you were supposed to be cops!" You yelled to Ken and Mal

"Yeah? You think?" Mal retorted, while Ken laughed in good humour.

"Sorry Natara, we aint as young as we used to be!"

"Speak for yourself."

Kara was laughing at the sight, but not the one you were looking at. You followed her gaze to see she was looking at Kai. A small smile found its way onto your lips, knowing that she had a soft spot for him, something you couldn't quite understand.

"You really like him, don't you?" I asked.

Kara went wide-eyed and hid her face. I noticed the light blush on her cheeks despite her attempts.

"No." She spat.

I could tell that she had trust issues, not surprising coming from her background.

"Really? Because you're probably one of the only people who would kiss him."

"I-Ugh... I did what I had to, to get away."

"Twice?"

"Um... I-"

Before she could reply, the others joined us and she clammed up, fading into herself.

"About time." I joked.

"Yeah, yeah. Go on and admire your stupid statue." Mal mumbled, panting.

"I will!" I turned on my heels and walked up to the towering statue. "Wow..."

Amy reunited herself next to Ken, while Kara stuck near Kai. They were talking in hushed tones, so you couldn't make out what they were saying, but you did notice Kara giggle more than once. For her rumoured 'bad-ass' attitude, she seems extremely girly around Kai. Amy whipped out her camera for probably the hundredth time this holiday and snapped a couple photo's of you all. Kara was hesitant to be involved, but with a little persuasion from you and Kai, she decided to be involved in a couple.

"Well," Amy started softly "I'm starved, who's hungry?"

"Me!" you all declared and laughed lightly.

Making your way back down the endless hill, you walked down to one of the only restaurants that weren't swarmed with exotic dancers and costumes. You had all decided to sit on separate tables with the ones you came with. You sat across from Mal, while Amy sat with Ken and Kai was with Kara. The food was delicious, but all the while you stole glances over at Kai's table.

"Hey, Mal."

"Yeah."

"What do you think will happen between Kara and Kai?"

Mal noticed you looking over and followed your gaze. He thought for a brief moment before shrugging.

"Only time will tell, Nat." Mal glanced at his phone. "Whoa, we gotta get moving if we wanna see that parade."

"Oh yeah!"

You and Mal stood up and walked over to Amy and Ken who were talking casually.

"Hey guys, we gotta get going, you ready?"

"Yeah," Ken said and stood up. "Come on, Ames."

They linked arms and followed you out, after you had gathered Kai and Kara, paying their checks. Mal, being the gentlemen he is, paid for both dinners and held your hand. You had all walked down to where the parade was being held, the sky starting to turn a mixture red, yellow and orange. It was the most beautiful sunset you had seen in a long time.

As if on cue as you arrived, the parade started. A number of beautifully decorated floats passed you by, with dancers in exotic, stunning costumes that represented many things. Mainly birds of paradise. The costumes were made up of feathers from all types of birds, and were a variety of colours that blended beautifully with the dancer's skin tones. Confetti rained down upon you all, catching in your hair and on your clothes and slightly obscuring your vision, but you didn't mind, it added to the effect. Cheers and catchy music bounced off every corner of the streets and the bustling crowd was all moving along with the music.

It was hard to stick with everyone, so you grabbed Mal's hand feeling him lightly squeeze yours to let you know he wouldn't let go. He gently pulled you closer to him and hooked his arm around your waist, keeping you by his side. You kissed his cheek and returned your attention to the parade.

Kara whispered something to Kai, which made him beam and nod. She giggled and grabbed his hand, pushing their way through the crowd and jumping over the barrier and running towards a nearby float of a large, blue bird of paradise.

'Uh oh...' you thought.

To your surprise it was the float that Kara was supposed to be on anyway dressed in her bird of paradise costume, Kai and her made their way to the top and started dancing in full view of everyone. Ken wolf-whistled and Amy giggled. You and Mal watched with shocked expressions. Kara gestured for you all to come on up, but you were hesitant. Dancing, in full view of everyone? No way.

Amy and Ken traded glances before running and jumping on the float as well, joining Kara and Kai in the dance. Mal looked to you, shrugging. You shook your head frantically, but it was no use. Mal smirked and lifted you up into his arms, carrying you onto the float. After a long moment, you sighed and let yourself go, there was no point in fighting it and now you all got to be a part of the festival too!

The rest of the night passed as a blur, when the parade ended you had all gone out for drinks and then went back to the hotel, collapsing onto your beds, not even bothering to get changed. You woke up, slightly hung over and gotten changed, waking Mal up by shaking him.

"Leave me alone." He groaned.

"Ah, who's not the morning person now?" You quipped and smirked.

"Me, now go away."

"No, get up."

"No."

"Now."

Mal huffed and glared at you, running a hand through his tousled hair. You just smiled and went to make some coffee. Mal joined you in the kitchen after a couple of minutes, dressed in a simple t-shirt and jeans.

"We're going home today." He said.

"Thanks for the news, captain obvious."

"You know, Nat, sarcasm really is my forte."

"Indeed. Here," You handed him his coffee and sat down. "So, you packed and stuff?"

"Thanks, and yeah I have."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. No need to sound so surprised."

"Sorry," you laughed lightly and drank your coffee. "I'll go see if the others are ready to go, we have to be at the airport in a couple hours."

"Awesome, you want me to do Kai's room?"

"Why?"

"Just in case," He mumbled "You know, Kara stayed and-"

"Oh! Right, yeah you do that. Good luck!"

You both made your way to the others rooms and knocked on the door. A perky Amy met you at the door, fully dressed with her suitcase at the door. You could see Ken in the background clearing up their left over dishes.

"Morning Natara!"

"Morning Amy, you ready?"

"Yup! We leaving now?"

"In a few minutes, Mal's just grabbing Kai."

"Okay, come on Ken!"

"Coming Ames!" he called and grabbed their suitcases, walking out the door and locking it for the last time.

You all waited a few minutes for Kara, Kai and Mal to turn up. Mal seemed creeped out, but you knew why.

"What took you guys so long?" Ken asked.

"Ask the weirdo." Mal mumbled and picked up your suitcase for you.

"Actually... never mind."

"Okay everyone, let's get going!" Amy piped up and led the way, Ken following behind.

Kai and Kara followed you and Mal and you could hear them giggling in the background. Glancing back at them, you saw their arms linked as they walked. You smiled, seeing a brighter side to Kai. You wanted him to be happy again, even knowing that it would lead to him being annoying again. At least it was better than a sad Kai, who just seemed..., out of place.

Arriving at the airport, you boarded the first plane back to San Francisco and said one final goodbye to Rio de Janeiro. Settling down in your luxurious seat, you managed to stay awake throughout the plane journey, occupying yourself by looking over all the pictures that Amy had taken throughout the course of the holiday. Your mind drifted to Luca when you saw a picture of him standing among you all. You wondered how he was holding up, and whether or not he had managed to be with the girl of his dreams. You had honestly hoped it worked out for him.

After a couple hours, the plane landed in San Francisco. As you went through the motions of the airport and made your way outside, you were met by a comforting, familiar sight: the warm sunshine; the bustling streets, and finally the people you loved and cared about. You drove back to the precinct and flung open the doors, taking in the busy atmosphere. Everyone smiled and waved at you, smiling upon your return. Captain Yeong walked out of her office at the sudden commotion and her eyes fell on you all.

"Oh thank god!" She called and jogged over to you. "I was wondering when you'd all get back. Good time?"

"Yeah, best holiday of our lives, right guys?"

"Yup!" everyone called.

"Good, because I'm afraid it's going to be the only one you have in a long time."

"Oh no, Captain, don't tell me there's-"

"Another serial killer on the loose? Yes, I'm afraid there is. Special agent, Detective. Get to it."

"Yes ma'am."

Captain Yeong nodded and handed you a file before marching back to her office, not even noticing Kara standing before her.

"Well... back to normal I guess." You said and sighed.

"Yup, there is one difference though." Mal said, smiling.

"Yeah?"

"We all left with no one, came back with someone."

He pulled you close and kissed you lightly, gaining some gasps from onlookers. You giggled as he pulled away and looked around at your friends and realised that he was right. Everyone had someone. Amy and Ken, Kai and Kara, and you and Mal. You sighed contently and placed your hands on your hips, unable to stop smiling.

"Well, let's get to it Fallon." You said and flipped open the file, ready to get back to work.