Ryu smiled as he heard an annoyed voice from the other side grumble, "I'm coming, I'm coming…" Apparently the young engineer didn't quite agree with the princess' decision. He straightened his expression as the door opened.
Momo's head poked around the edge of the door. "Hi, Ryu. She didn't strong-arm you into this, did she?"
Ryu rotated his arm at the shoulder. "Not too badly. Should be healed in a couple of days." His lips visibly tensed as he tried to hide a smile.
His efforts turned out to be in vain. Momo chuckled softly while shaking her head.
"Oh, yeah! I almost forgot. I think I'm supposed to give these to you." Ryu handed her the assortment of flowers. He grinned lopsidedly. "Nina said so."
Momo played along. "And if I remember correctly, I'm supposed to take them…" she stepped around the door and took the flowers from him, "invite you inside…" she put on her friendliest smile, "'Would you like to come in?'"
Ryu exaggerated his bow. "'Why, thank you, I think I would!'" The former traveling companions shared another chuckle as he stepped into the room, the previously felt tension draining by the second.
"…And then, I'm supposed to find a vase for them." Momo adjusted the glasses perched on her nose before looking for the item in question.
Ryu scanned the room with her, to no avail. He turned to her to comment and was stunned into silence.
Momo felt his gaze upon her and turned. "What?"
During their travels she had always opted to wear her puffy engineer's uniform, much to the amusement of their resident tiger-man Rei. The ensemble she now wore reminded Ryu that Momo was a woman.
Although the colors and lines were the same as her old engineer's uniform, her new ensemble was…different. Black moccasins still clad her feet, but her pants, while still 'puffy', were nowhere near the size they used to be. A matching white blouse, loose enough to be modest but still hint at the form underneath, partly hid under a blue buttonless vest-type jacket, light blue with a single white stripe running around its border.
Ryu's mouth opened and closed several times. He finally gestured at her attire. "I've never seen you in anything but your engineers' uniform before."
Momo smiled ruefully. "…First time…"
"You look really pretty. I didn't know you had curves…oops," he finished as Momo looked down at the floor, her smile disappearing. "I'm sorry."
The engineer's voice replied, barely a murmur. "It's okay." She looked up at him, and he noticed a type of sadness in her eyes he had never seen before, a type he could not identify. She smiled weakly. "Can we go now?"
Ryu nodded wordlessly and walked out of the workshop to stand just outside the door. Momo handed the flowers to Honey before heading out the door herself. "Honey will lock the door," she answered in response to Ryu's unasked question.
"Okay."
They made their way down to the tower's main entrance, Ryu gently gnawing on his lower lip as he tried to figure out exactly what went wrong back at her workshop. He had initially noticed that she seemed somewhat out of sorts, but since he hadn't visited her in a long time, he had chalked it up to 'personal growth'. But seeing her reaction to his intended compliment left him more than a little puzzled.
The thoughts continued to nag at him as they began down the main road toward the café. He finally let them drop, unconsciously shrugging his shoulders as the two started down the road.
Momo noticed his actions. "What'cha thinking about?"
Momentarily surprised, the dragon jumped slightly. "Uh, nothing," he answered reflexively.
"Awfully serious expression for 'nothing'."
Ryu snorted quietly, a wry smile growing. "Sorry. Bad habit I picked up from Rei. Actually, I…" he paused, wondering still if this was the right thing to do. "…I was trying to figure out exactly how I…hurt you…back…" Self-consciousness kept him from finishing the thought but not from timidly gesturing back toward the tower.
Momo stopped. So did Ryu, who turned to face her. "You think I'm mad at you?"
Ryu nodded. "Well, yeah."
Momo's ears twitched as she adjusted her spectacles before putting her fists to her hips. "Ryu, you are the last person I would ever become angry with."
"Rei being the first…"
"Quiet." She straightened up completely, a sure sign that she was about to use words that he wouldn't understand. "While it would be accurate to speculate that the nature of my distress originates from without, there is insufficient data to conclude that you are the aforementioned origin of said distress."
"In real words…?" Ryu somehow looked lost and hopeful at the same time.
She sniffed as her ears twitched once again. "Yes, I'm upset, but it's not your fault." She stormed past him, hands still balled in fists.
Ryu jogged to catch up with her, then slowed to talking speed. "Momo, slow down. Whose fault is it?" He barely made out a grumbled reply. "What?"
"I said 'Several things, but mainly (grumble)'…"
"Nina? Why are you mad at Nina? What has she done?"
Momo whirled on him, bringing him up short. "What has she done? Didn't she tell you anything?" She stuck a wagging finger in the face of the most powerful entity in the world. "I'll tell you what she's done. But first: Did she ask you to accompany me, or did she tell you?"
"She…she asked me…"
The wagging finger started jabbing its owner in the chest. "Well, she didn't ask me!" The finger resumed wagging. "She gets it in her head that I need a 'husband' or 'man' or whatever term she's now using, and now I'm going on a date whether I want to or not!"
"You could have refused…"
"Right. Refuse the Princess of Wyndia. Smart move. The only reason I didn't protest is because she's my friend, and I hate her for it!" Out of wind, Momo sat on the nearest rock and dropped her head into her hands.
Ryu watched her but said nothing.
A voice finally emerged from the hands. "My turn to apologize." She lifted her head from her hands. No tears came from her eyes, but the evident frustration more than made up for it. "If she had just asked, said something like 'Ryu's in town, maybe you two could get together and reminisce'. I would have been okay with that."
"But she didn't, Ryu. She came one time, visited for a while, then later sent a letter telling me that she was locating someone for me to practice 'dating' with." She whirled her head to look northward. "You could have at least asked me!" she shouted in the general direction of Wyndia.
Ryu took in a deep breath then let it escape noisily between his lips. "Momo, I don't think Nina meant any harm…"
"I know, I know…" Momo waved off any further protest.
"She's probably just nervous about her…her…" Ryu struggled, trying to remember the right term.
"'Arranged marriage'," Momo finished for him. "Misery loves company, I guess."
"I guess…" Ryu mused, arms crossed. Then he blinked. "Hey! Wait a minute…!"
"Relax, Ryu, it's not the same. I'm not marrying you." She smiled up at him, a genuine smile. "I am, however, having dinner with you, so instead of sitting here while I feel sorry for myself, we should hurry over there so we can tell each other everything that's happened over the last four years." She held out her hand.
He returned her smile, plus interest. "I've been hoping you'd say that," he said while reaching to help her up.
Momo stood in wonder at the sight before her. "Well, this is different." She looked at her 'date'. "New owner?"
Ryu looked back at her with a smile. "Haven't been here for a while, huh? No, same owner. Millie's seen more business since the rumors of a new trade route started a while back, so she expanded. The outdoor part of the café was moved to the bottom of the hill for travelers who just want something to drink."
Momo adjusted her glasses and looked to where he pointed up ahead. "Yes, I see the drink counter."
Ryu lowered his arm. "Yeah, and she had a roof built over the tables at the top of the hill for people who wanted protection from the rain." He squinted into the sunset as they made the slight westward turn. "Or the sun," he added.
Finally they reached the outdoor café and Ryu stopped. "So which one - up or down?" he asked as he turned to face the engineer.
"I'm sorry?"
"Up?" He pointed at the covered dining area. "Or Down?" he spread his hands to indicate the tables nearby.
An impish grin played out across Momo's face. "Did Nina tell you to do this, too?"
Ryu dropped his hands. "No, why?"
The grin disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. "Umm…never mind." She said, shaking her head. She examined the setting.
Several small round tables greeted her with simple chairs, some occupied, others awaiting the honor of a client or two. Large red-and-white checkerboard umbrellas rose above each table, more decorative than practical. Momo determined that the umbrellas were to keep direct sunlight from a patron's face while allowing a relatively unobstructed view of the sky. A member of the Lupine race wiped down a reddish-brown hardwood counter at the bar while whistling a tune known only to him. Several gleaming bottles sat neatly in rows behind him. A couple of men, Plant workers most likely, hunched over the bar, rewarding themselves for a good day's work.
"Either locale would have distinct advantages," she said, as her ears began a series of waves. "The outdoor café would allow for a better view of the night sky, which I understand to be 'romantic'. However, the covered area is closer to the kitchen, thus accelerating meal delivery. However…"
As she continued her compare/contrast analysis, Ryu listened in wonder. He had to stop when the list became too long. His personal preference would have been the outdoor café, being the outdoor creature that he was, but he wanted to leave it up to the engineer since she seemed more nervous about the 'date'.
He didn't realize that she had finally addressed him until he felt a light burning sensation on the side of his face. He turned to see Momo, arms crossed, ears twitching, glaring at him. "Were you even paying attention?" she demanded, with an extra twitch for emphasis.
Ryu looked appropriately sheepish. "I… don't think as much as you do. I…sorry…I kinda got lost."
Momo's expression softened as she dropped her arms. "I guess I do go on, don't I? I'm sorry." She sighed as her face slightly flushed. "Do I need to repeat my question?"
"Yeah, sorry."
"I asked if you had any preference. I ended up talking myself into the proverbial corner."
"Oh. Well… I kinda like the outdoors, so…Down okay? I can bring our orders from the kitchen counter, if Millie'l let me."
Momo's hand took the occasion to slap her forehead. "How stupid of me, of course you'd prefer the outdoors!" She shook her head, ending with another ear twitch. "What was I thinking?"
"You were thinking about which area would be best…"
"Now that that's decided…" Momo said, plopping into a chair, "…we'll sit here." She saw Ryu's confused face and said, "Before I get started on which table to sit at. I'm getting hungry." She smiled up at Ryu and gestured to the chair across from her.
"Actually, let me grab us a couple of menus first," Ryu said as he held up an index finger. "Back in a minute."
"Okay."
When he returned a minute later, he found the engineer lost in thought. "What'cha thinking about?"
"Oh!" she exclaimed with a start. "Don't startle me like that! I was just…I…calculated the total surface area of the table, the maximum number of people that could comfortably sit at the table, and the best angle for the umbrella to shade the table for the most time." She pointed up at the umbrella. "Does that look right to you?"
Ryu blinked stupidly a couple of times before looking up. "I…guess so. I wouldn't know." His eyes widened. "I wasn't even gone a minute and you figured all that?"
Momo shrugged and looked down at the table as a flush crept into her cheeks. "I like to keep my mind busy."
"I guess." Ryu shook his head in wonder as he sat down and gave her a menu. "Here."
"Thanks."
After perusing the menus for several minutes, Ryu ordered a steak and Momo really wanted a salad. Ryu made mental notes of their orders before starting up the path to the main restaurant.
Momo went back to solving the mysteries of the universe. She turned in her seat so she could see the bartender at work, then adjusted her glasses. She had started to calculate the counter's surface area to determine the bartender's efficiency when she heard Ryu return.
"Hey, babe."
"Babe!? Ryu, are you…!" she trailed off as she discovered, to her embarrassment, that the voice's owner was not Ryu. She broke into a smile. "Franklin!"
The young man waved his fingers from where he reclined in the chair across from her. "Hey, Mo. Didn't mean to make you fuss." He stretched while looking around. "So what brings you out of your tower today, er, tonight?"
Momo squirmed slightly in her seat; Fortunately, Franklin didn't notice. "I'm having dinner with a friend that I haven't seen in a long time."
"Ryu, huh?"
"Yeah." She decided that it would be a very bad idea to relate the circumstances behind their get-together. "I haven't seen him in…a very long time."
Franklin smirked. "Haven't run the calculations yet, huh?"
She looked at him in mock-annoyance. "No, I haven't run the calculations yet."
Franklin's smirk softened to a genuine smile as he raised his hands in surrender. "All right, I'll stop teasing."
"Thank you. By the way, how are things progressing at the plant?"
Franklin's mouth twisted as he scratched at the back of his neck. "Okay, so far." He grimaced. "Dismantling Palet's machine was a bear, especially when we found a body inside." He watched as Momo slowly put her hand to her forehead, presumably in shock. "Yeah. Pretty gross. His mother, I take it?" She nodded. "Thought so. It's good, though. She got a proper burial, and…"
"Franklin! Good to see you!" Momo jumped and her eyes flew up to see Ryu returning.
Franklin rose from Ryu's chair to greet him. "Ryu! How's it going?"
"Good, good…"
The three of them talked about the Plant's renovation until Ryu's and Momo's orders were ready.
Franklin jumped from his chair first. "I'm on it. You guys wait here. I gotta go pretty soon, anyway. Be right back!"
He returned a few minutes later with a plate and a bowl. "Here ya go. You must be the carnivore." Before Ryu was placed a thick gravy-covered steak dominating one half of the plate. Fluffy whipped potato and steamed carrots fought for possession of the other half.
"And, the herbivore." Momo studied the meal placed before her. Crisp lettuce greeted her. Thin slices of tomato and strips of red cabbage peeked out from under several of the leaves. Tomato wedges had been expertly placed around the circumference of the salad so that they pointed toward the middle, where lay a generous helping of sesame seeds, croutons, and…
"What are these?" Momo asked, picking up a small red granule. She held it for Ryu and Franklin to see.
"Bacon bits!" Ryu exclaimed. "I should have ordered a salad!" Momo sent him a puzzled expression, which resulted in a quick explanation of the wonders of bacon.
Momo carefully put the granule in her mouth for analysis. One ear-wave and two blinks later, she nodded approvingly. "These are good." She looked up at Franklin. "Bacon bits."
Franklin nodded, a twist of an amused smile on his face. "Bacon bits," he repeated. "Oh and here's the dressing." He reached into one of the many utility pockets on his uniform and produced three bottles of salad dressing. "Raunch, Toe Cheese, and Hundred Islanders."
"Ranch, Blue Cheese, and Thousand Island," Momo corrected. "Smart aleck."
Franklin shrugged his shoulders, amused smile still planted on. "I'm not much of a leaf-eater myself," he explained to Ryu.
"I see," Ryu replied, enjoying the show.
Franklin's smile froze when he heard Momo say, "Actually, I'm not typically partial to salads, but for some reason I felt like having one tonight."
Franklin looked at her with an expression of bewilderment. "Not typically partial to salads?"
It was Momo's turn to look puzzled. "Yeah, why?"
"Oh, no reason," Franklin replied, as he put his fingers to the sides of his head and traced outlines of rabbit ears.
"Knock it off, Franklin," she said with a shake of her head and an embarrassed smile. "You know I only have some of their features."
"Yeah, sure." Franklin's grin bordered on maniacal as he leaned partly down to gently elbow Ryu in the shoulder. "She ought to be good at science. You know what they say about rabbits and multiplication…"
Ryu started to ask what he meant, but the technician suddenly ran off as Momo bolted from her seat, ears pointed nearly straight back. "See ya later, Mo!" Franklin shouted from a safe distance.
"Hairless primate!" She shouted at him, face flushed. "I'll get you for that!" Franklin's fading laughter was his only response. She sat back down, huffing and shaking her head. "What a jerk."
"Are you okay, Momo?"
The engineer waved a dismissive hand. "I'm fine. That prepubescent Orc always knew how to get under my skin."
Ryu looked over his shoulder in the direction Franklin had departed. "Orc? He smelled human to me…"
"Never mind, Ryu. I meant it as an unflattering analogy." She said as she grabbed at her fork. Seeing Ryu's continuing confusion she said, "I'll explain later, okay? Meanwhile, your steak may be getting cold."
Ryu shook himself out of his train of thought and picked up his utensils, taking two bites before dropping his fork. "Oh! There's something we're supposed to do."
Momo looked up from her meal. "What?" she asked, as Ryu pulled out a piece of semi-crumpled paper. "Let me guess: 'Dating 101 by Nina Wyndia'?
Ryu chuckled softly. "Something like that."
Momo stuck her fork into a leafy green and left it there. "This should be good."
Ryu read part of the paper to himself. "Oops. I think we got ahead of ourselves. According to this," he waved the paper, "we're supposed to have a 'moment of awkward silence' before we eat."
"Dear me," Momo said, putting a hand to her chest. "And we certainly couldn't enjoy our meal without a dose of 'awkward silence', now could we?"
Ryu shook several times with silent laughter. "No, I guess not. I, for one, wouldn't want to anger her Highness, either."
The dragon and the engineer finally decided that the only way to have their 'awkward silence' was to each remember an embarrassing moment. So Momo thought of when she met Princess Nina for the first time. Ryu's most embarrassing memory was when he met Deis for the first time.
That didn't work, so they both looked in random directions for exactly one minute, then continued eating.
The early conversation was light, mainly reminiscing over their travels of four years prior with the team.
Ryu paused over his half-eaten meal. "Man, I haven't eaten this good in a long time," Ryu said, indicating the steak with his fork.
Momo finished her mouthful before asking, "Why? What's that man-cat making you eat?"
Ryu lowered his brow slightly. "Rei's not 'making' me eat anything. We're only eating fruits and nuts because the forest still hasn't recovered enough for a lot of hunting." Ryu leaned against the back of his chair. "Mayor McNeil is nice enough to sell Rei some meat when he gets it, but…" He leaned back towards his meal. "This is really good."
Momo took a moment to examine his plate. A steak, well-done, with a gravy made of its own juices. Momo determined the likely cooking temperature used for the meat, based on its overall color and thickness. "Not bad."
Ryu saw her staring at his plate. "You want a bite?" he offered.
She blinked out of her reverie. "No, thanks." Momo regarded the bowl in front of her. "Actually…"
After she had her bite of steak and Ryu had a bite of bacon-bit laden lettuce they talked about the events since parting ways after the defeat of Myria.
Ryu and Rei had returned to the forest to rebuild the tree fort, partly in memory of Teepo, partly out of defiance of Balio and Sunder, the horse brothers that had destroyed it. When Shamus McNeil moved into McNeil Manor, Rei checked up on him to see if the new mayor planned to cause trouble. The Woren ended up causing more trouble than the young McNeil deserved, as he had turned out to be a fine mayor, a definite improvement over his predecessors. After the appropriate apologies, the men helped Shamus by assisting Bunyan with the planting of trees, keeping an eye out for poachers, and apprehending any would-be thieves.
"But I have to admit, sometimes I want to go out adventuring again," Ryu said, enjoying a moment of nostalgia.
Momo swallowed before nodding in agreement. "I know what you mean. I'd been a hermit in that tower for so long. It was nice to go out and do some good."
After returning from the desert she had made a beeline for her tower, Peco in tow, where she studied him to her heart's content. She learned that Peco's vocalizations were not a language per se, but a general expression of his mood. Finally the sprout had to give in to the calling, and left to become one of the Great Trees.
She had been studying some of the technology she managed to bring back from Myria's Station when she received the letter from Nina.
"I brought back a device that plays different kinds of music. From what I can tell, that's all it does," she said, finishing her salad.
Ryu raised his eyebrows as he wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Music? What kind of music?"
"I don't know, I'm no musician. Some of it is soft and soothing, some of it is just noise. Maybe your man-cat would recognize the noisy stuff."
Ryu ignored the 'dig' at his friend. He would never understand why those two didn't get along. "You mind if I come and listen to some of it?"
Momo blinked at him in surprise. "No, not at all. In fact, you can listen to some when we get back to the tower, if you wish."
"Sounds good," he said as they both stood to leave. Intercepting a look of disgust, he asked, "What?"
The engineer shook her head. "Nothing. I thought you were making a joke." She noticed that Ryu headed back to the road instead of the cashier. "Where're you going? We haven't paid yet."
"Millie said that Nina already covered it."
Momo mentally smacked herself. It made sense that if Nina made the arrangements that she would also pay for the meals.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Ryu's voice. "…D'Lonzo?"
"Sorry?"
He smiled slightly. "I said 'Do you want to say 'hi' to D'Lonzo?'"
A grimace found its way to her face. "No thanks, I never did like her. You can visit her, if you wish." Momo had made it clear to the team on more than one occasion that she didn't approve of the thief's morals or manner of dress. Rei, of course, pointed out that it didn't stop the engineer from studying under her for a while, to which Momo would respond with a huff, a twitch of her ears, and a swift departure.
Ryu nodded in understanding. "Thanks Momo, I'll be quick."
Momo settled back into her seat as she watched him make his way up the path to the main restaurant.
No sooner was he out of sight than a deep voice resonated behind her. "Hey, good-lookin'"
She slowly turned in her seat and looked up, up at the large man that now stood before her. "Hello. Do you need something?"
"I jus' thod I'd come an' ssave you." The flush in the human's cheeks told her that he was definitely less than sober.
"From what?"
"Shtraight Man." The man barely succeeded in pointing up the hill where Ryu had departed. "Heesh too shtraight. You need shomeone more hexciting"
Momo reflexively calculated the amount of alcohol need to inebriate a man of his size. "I assume that you are referring to yourself?"
The stranger ignored her question, likely because he was too drunk to understand it. "I know thish place where we can spend some time…" he paused to take another breath, "…alone together." He tried to put on a lady-killing smile, but only succeeded in looking like a Bully with its teeth bared. "Sho whattya say?"
Momo smiled politely. "No thank you. I'll take my chances with…Straight Man." She remembered the newcomer's term to describe Ryu. "But it was… nice…meeting you."
She had almost turned around and settled in her seat, when she was suddenly and forcefully grabbed by the shoulder and turned back to face the man, nearly losing her spectacles in the process. "Hey girl, doncha know who I am?"
"No, I don't," she answered honestly, if shakily, as she readjusted her eyewear.
"My nname iss Roy, an' there isn't a woman alive who wouldn't give her virginity for a night with me." The guffaw that punctuated the end of his sentence reminded Momo somewhat of a donkey. "Well, maybe there wassh one…." She heard a chorus of raucous laughter from the area of another table, and determined that the group seated there had to be the drunk's friends.
The laughter quickly died down when Ryu made his way down the hill and back to the table. Roy straightened and tried to size up his opponent. He finally gave up when he couldn't get the two men to fuse into one.
As for Ryu, it didn't take long to figure out the bigger man's state. He remembered seeing it on the faces in all of the family paintings in the McNeil mansion early in his journey. He also knew it meant trouble. "Hey Momo." Ryu kept his voice even as he gestured to the glaring man. "Is this a friend of yours?"
Before Momo could speak, the man bellowed, "Hey ash-hole, my name'sh Roy, and the lady'zz coming with me" He grabbed Momo by the arm again and yanked her to her feet.
"But I'm with Ryu…" Momo tried to protest.
"Shut up! I'm talkin' to Straight MaAAAUGH" Roy bellowed when Ryu suddenly appeared next to him, snatching one of his fingers and bending it painfully backwards, causing him to break his grip on the engineer, who very quickly scrambled a short distance away to hide behind the bar counter.
From the relative safety of the bar, Momo watched in rapt attention as the remaining events played out before her.
Her friend still had the man by a single finger, preventing him from doing anything but kneel on the ground and use words she had never heard before. Roy's friends bolted from their table to help him, until Ryu held up a curled hand, raw energy snaking and crackling around it. Loyalty apparently didn't include facing a magic-user, as they ran for their lives, leaving Roy to his fate.
Ryu dissipated the energy and focused his attention back to Momo's would-be attacker. He let go of Roy's finger, only to grab him by the shirtfront and throw him to the ground. "Go sleep it off," he ordered.
From his place on the ground, Roy was already trying to figure out a counteroffensive, when the sudden smell of sulfur permeated the air. He looked up at 'Straight-Man's' face, one face thankfully, to see twin wisps of smoke curling from the young man's nostrils as his eyes started to take on an unearthly glow.
Roy suddenly realized his opponent was speaking to him. "…and don't bother her again," the young man said before glancing over at the girl.
Roy jumped and ran before Ryu could finish. "Unless she asks you to, that is," he said to Roy's rapidly retreating form. The now-nonsmoking dragon looked around for his friend but saw only the bartender, who gave him a friendly nod accompanied by an approving smile. "Good job, kid," he rumbled.
The glow left Ryu's eyes as quickly as his anger subsided. "Thanks. Have you seen my friend?" Ryu continued to look around.
"I'm here." Momo peeked through the half-door that separated the bar from the outdoors. "Is it over?"
"Yes, it's safe," Ryu said through a light chuckle. "Come on out."
She rose to her feet before leaving the counter area. "I ducked down as soon as I smelled sulfur. Did they have bombs or something like that?" Her scientific mind had returned.
Ryu opened his mouth to reply but the bartender beat him to it. "It was your boyfriend there. He started breathin' smoke, an' they turned all assholes and elbows outta here. Damnedest sight," he chuckled softly before reaching under the counter for something. "Here, kid. Y'ever need a job, Millie really needs a bouncer down here. I'll put in a good word for ya." He handed Ryu a card. "Free meal, next time you two come."
"Thanks." Ryu took the card and held it up to read. "I'll remember that."
Momo noticed that he held it upside down and sighed as she took it from him and put it in her carry bag. "I'll take care of it, Ryu."
"All right." He shook his arms as if to work out the last few minutes, and then looked at his friend. "Ready to go?"
She looked back to her seat, where she had just experienced the most stressful night of her life. "Yeah. Let's get out of here."