Reunion
Chapter 3
Priss threw her small bag of luggage over her shoulder, as she walked out of the gate that she had arrived at. The airport was crowded, much like the Tokyo airport had been. She began to wonder how she was ever going to find Linna in such a large crowded place. The first thing to do would be to find out which gate she would be at, as impossible as even that could be. She saw one of the screens announcing incoming flights. She was in luck, there was a second flight coming in from Tokyo that had been delayed. Chances were, Linna was on that flight. She noted the gate and headed back out into the herds.
"I want those bags taken to a rental car. Let them know, I will be there to pick up the car in a few minutes."
"But lady, I'm just a baggage handler..." He whimpered.
"Here, now does that change you mind? I thought so." A voice that sounded very familiar to Priss said. She spun around and looked over every person in the crowd around her. She saw the baggage handler with a dolly, heading away. Sylia was no were in sight though. Then she caught a glimpse of that silvery blue hair through a couple of people. She pushed her way through, and sure enough, Sylia was making her way towards the airports exit.
"Sylia!" Priss yelled out in the crowd. Sylia must have heard it because she stopped abruptly, but just as soon as Priss was sure she had heard it, Sylia continued on her way. "Damn it..." Priss cursed. She fought her way back out of the crowd, and began running through the airport towards Sylia.
Sylia was startled by someone grabbing her shoulder. She was prepared to punch the culprit in the face when she saw Priss. It was Priss, panting, and glaring at Sylia. "Priss?", She asked.
"Yeah, no shit." Priss stated, still catching her breath from her little sprint. It was moment like that, which reminded her just how out of shape she had become.
"What are you doing here?" Sylia demanded.
"Nene called, that's why your here, right?" Priss answered.
"Nene? Nene is dead, Priss."
"What!?" Priss exclaimed, "Since when?"
"Maki found.... a record of her... and of Nigel." Sylia explained, reminded herself how urgent it was that she keep going, "That's why I'm here."
"Nigel? Wait. Sylia, what the hell is going on?" Priss was now the one demanding answers.
"I don't know yet, I'm here to find out. Nigel disappeared weeks ago, and Maki found him on a prisoner list of the NSA, right here in LA."
"And Nene was in those same files?" Priss asked.
"That's right."
"Something feels wrong about all this. Doesn't it seem strange to you?"
"You're right, there is something; this seems like too much of a coincidence."
"Linna was the one that actually talked to Nene." Priss sighed, "Nene might have said something more to her. I don't know."
"Linna's coming as well?" Sylia questioned, "And Nene called you two?"
"Something like that." Priss looked around suspiciously, "The flight I think she was on, was delayed, let's go wait for her."
Sylia glanced at the exit. She had to meet with a contact of hers in a little over an hour. It would have to wait, this new found coincidence could pull out some information she needed to find Nigel. She nodded at Priss, and followed as Priss led the way.
The plane Linna was one, finally came in for a landing. It had been a rough trip, due to technical problems Linna's plane was grounded mid trip. She should have been at destination hours ago, but now would have to do. On the flight over she had questioned herself on all of this. The big question she had now, was, how was she going to find Nene? If Nene wasn't waiting for her when she got off this plane.... what was she going to do?
Now all the other passengers were getting up and pulling their luggage from the over head compartment. She stood up her self, and the man who had been sitting next handed her luggage to her. She thanked him, and then waited behind him for the line to begin moving. It wasn't long, and she was stepping out into the airport. She started scanning the crowd for Nene, desperately hoping to see her waving cheerfully. She didn't see Nene, but Priss was there. Priss was leaning against a post staring right at her, and Sylia was standing next to her. Sylia was looking at Priss, talking. Linna hurried over to them.
"Guess I'm late again...." She laughed uneasily.
"At least we waited for you this time." Priss responded sarcastically.
"Linna, What did Nene tell you?" Sylia interrogated right away, no hello, no I missed you. It was always business with Sylia, Linna thought.
"She didn't say much." Linna said, "She seemed in a hurry, I think she needed to get a hold of you two."
"How did she sound?"
"Sound? She IMed me, like she usually does..."
"So it's possible it wasn't Nene?"
"I guess so, why? Linna glanced back over at Priss, who just looked bored by this all.
"I believe that Nene is dead." Sylia said, "I don't know who IMed you, but I don't think it was her. This is some kind of trick."
"Dead? Why would Nene be dead? What trick?" Linna was now sure this was all a bad idea. This didn't sound good.
"Just fess up Linna." Priss said suddenly.
"Fess up? To what?" Linna was now even more confused, Priss' eyes were cold.
"You just wanted to see me right? Did you have to make up such a story?" The accusations began to fly.
"I..." Linna was speechless, stricken by Priss' cruel words. This was a nightmare, and Nene was no where to be found.
"I doubt it's that simple Priss." Sylia scolded, that doesn't give any reason behind why there was a record with both Nene and Maki's names on it."
"Oh really, Sylia? How about this one. Maybe you IMed Linna, pretending to be Nene. Maybe you were desperate for help finding Nigel, and you just had to make up another lie." "That's absurd!" Sylia defended.
"Nene is alive. She has to be, and when we find her...." Linna interrupted.
"How are we going to do that Linna?" Priss asked, still in her maniacal tone.
"I... don't know." Linna looked down, this was all going horribly.
"That's what I thought. I can't believe I flew out here for this."
"Nene is here." Linna's head snapped back up, her eyes fixed on Priss, "We will find her. We have to. Fly back if you want to, but I'm going to find her."
"I hope your right Linna. If Nene is alive, and this Boomer threat is real, I bet it has everything to do with Nigel, and this all will fall into place right." Sylia joined Linna.
"Well, I'm not exactly ready for another 10 hour flight." Priss sighed, "And we're certainly not getting anything done here, let's find a place to stay."
"That's probably a good idea. Why don't you two get checked into a hotel, I'll join you two in a while." Sylia agreed.
"I already have a hotel, here" Linna showed Sylia the travel packet she had, the hotel wasn't far from the airport.
"Okay, that's it then." Sylia nodded, and then walked away.
Linna turned to Priss, Priss still looked rather upset. Linna couldn't find the words, that accusation still stung. So she just walked away. Glancing behind her, Priss had disappeared into the crowd. Part of her hoped Priss was just going to go home, but another part of her hoped Priss would be at the hotel when she got there. Why would Priss say that?
When Linna did get to the Hotel, Priss was standing there waiting for her. She looked a lot less up tight now though, Linna guess she had just walked. Linna had caught a Taxi, and been stuck in traffic for 20 minutes. She was still angry with Priss though, and walked right past her and up to the check in counter.
"I have a reservation, it's under Linna Yamikazi" She said, now assuming Priss was waiting there because she wanted to bum a room out of Linna. This just infuriated her all the more. The woman handed her the room key card. Linna spun around, only to see Priss was gone again. She took the elevator up to her floor. Finding her room wasn't hard; Priss had found it before her and was waiting in from of the door.
"I'm sorry," Priss sighed, and Linna glared at her. She had been listening to Sylia's rants for far too long when Linna had arrived. It was just an idea that was stirring in her head, and found it's way out of her mouth. She hadn't actually meant to offend Linna like she did.
"Oh? Sorry because you feel bad, or sorry because you don't have the money for your own room?" Linna now accused.
"Look, I didn't mean anything by what I said. It's just Leon.... no." Priss sighed, her thoughts were jumbled, "I don't have the money for a room, no. I spent everything I had on getting a goddamn ticket out here...."
"So that's it then?" Linna scoffed, "I don't even know why I missed you."
"Fine." Priss snarled, she hadn't expected Linna's attitude. She stormed off down the hall. Linna watched her go, and almost immediately regretted it.
"Priss!" She yelled after her, "Priss, wait!"
Priss stopped. She waited, where else was she going to go? Her plan had just been to wait until Sylia showed up down in the Lobby. Linna jogged up next to her.
"You can stay with me, I mean, I'd like to catch up on everything anyway...." Linna tired to be as inviting as she could; Priss looked at her and smiled. That was the Linna she remembered.
The room wasn't particularly large, just a bed a bureau a small refrigerator and a closet in the main part. Then there was a small bathroom. Linna had decided to take a shower right away, and Priss stood looking out the window. The streets were busy, filled with all different kinds of people. It was a busy city. Priss could definitely grow to like it here. She wished she had the money to rent a nice bike.
Linna came out of the bathroom wrapped up in a couple towels, one for her body and one for her head. She stood next to Priss to view the small city scene Priss had been watching.
"It's fascinating.... isn't it?" Priss said.
"What? The view?"
"No matter where you go, it's all the same." Priss sighed.
"What do you mean?" Linna asked.
Priss just shook her head, "So, how's life been with your Parents?"
"It's been alright. I guess." Linna said. I missed you so very much....
"Just alright, huh? Guess the country'll do that to you."
"How' about you.... "Linna trailed off, again remembering that last time she talked to Leon.
"Ha. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. Leon can be such an ass sometimes...." Priss laughed.
"I can see that...." Linna said under her breath.
"He didn't tell me about the last time you called until yesterday..." Priss said, "I would have called back."
"What do you mean?" Linna asked again, "The last time I called.... he told me not to call back."
Priss flinched at this statement, then grit her teeth, but not saying a word in defense.
"It's true isn't it? You didn't want me to call back."
"Oh no. He didn't want you to call back." Priss growled, "He was afraid you were going to try something. Insecure bastard."
"Try something?"
"Yeah."
Linna was trying to be careful on her wording, as it was she didn't know whether this conversation was about what she thought is was about. "Try what?"
"Ah, he's just afraid.... your sexuality scares him I think."
"My Sexuality?" Linna was now blushing. It was what she thought they were talking about.
Priss noticed how uncomfortable she was making Linna and decided to change the subject, "So, how are we going to find Nene?"
"I...." Linna was still blushing, even though she was embarrassed as hell, she wanted to know something. She wanted to know about Priss. Was there a chance Priss liked girls too? Nene didn't seem to think so, but Sylia had always seemed like she knew something that Linna didn't about the subject..
"Yeah, I'm pretty stumped too." Priss said, "I haven't heard from Nene since we were up in outer space...."
"Priss?" Linna chirped.
"What?" Priss responded naturally.
"Even if Leon thought I was after you, why would he think you would go for it?" Linna asked, jumping back to the subject Priss had tried to move away from.
"Insecurity?" Priss shrugged
"You wouldn't go for it would you?" Linna pushed further, she wanted an answer.
"I-" A knock on the door interrupted Priss. She looked to the door, it was most likely Sylia. Linna looked torn between hearing Priss out and answering the door. Priss decided to answer it for herself.
To be continued....
Chapter 3
Priss threw her small bag of luggage over her shoulder, as she walked out of the gate that she had arrived at. The airport was crowded, much like the Tokyo airport had been. She began to wonder how she was ever going to find Linna in such a large crowded place. The first thing to do would be to find out which gate she would be at, as impossible as even that could be. She saw one of the screens announcing incoming flights. She was in luck, there was a second flight coming in from Tokyo that had been delayed. Chances were, Linna was on that flight. She noted the gate and headed back out into the herds.
"I want those bags taken to a rental car. Let them know, I will be there to pick up the car in a few minutes."
"But lady, I'm just a baggage handler..." He whimpered.
"Here, now does that change you mind? I thought so." A voice that sounded very familiar to Priss said. She spun around and looked over every person in the crowd around her. She saw the baggage handler with a dolly, heading away. Sylia was no were in sight though. Then she caught a glimpse of that silvery blue hair through a couple of people. She pushed her way through, and sure enough, Sylia was making her way towards the airports exit.
"Sylia!" Priss yelled out in the crowd. Sylia must have heard it because she stopped abruptly, but just as soon as Priss was sure she had heard it, Sylia continued on her way. "Damn it..." Priss cursed. She fought her way back out of the crowd, and began running through the airport towards Sylia.
Sylia was startled by someone grabbing her shoulder. She was prepared to punch the culprit in the face when she saw Priss. It was Priss, panting, and glaring at Sylia. "Priss?", She asked.
"Yeah, no shit." Priss stated, still catching her breath from her little sprint. It was moment like that, which reminded her just how out of shape she had become.
"What are you doing here?" Sylia demanded.
"Nene called, that's why your here, right?" Priss answered.
"Nene? Nene is dead, Priss."
"What!?" Priss exclaimed, "Since when?"
"Maki found.... a record of her... and of Nigel." Sylia explained, reminded herself how urgent it was that she keep going, "That's why I'm here."
"Nigel? Wait. Sylia, what the hell is going on?" Priss was now the one demanding answers.
"I don't know yet, I'm here to find out. Nigel disappeared weeks ago, and Maki found him on a prisoner list of the NSA, right here in LA."
"And Nene was in those same files?" Priss asked.
"That's right."
"Something feels wrong about all this. Doesn't it seem strange to you?"
"You're right, there is something; this seems like too much of a coincidence."
"Linna was the one that actually talked to Nene." Priss sighed, "Nene might have said something more to her. I don't know."
"Linna's coming as well?" Sylia questioned, "And Nene called you two?"
"Something like that." Priss looked around suspiciously, "The flight I think she was on, was delayed, let's go wait for her."
Sylia glanced at the exit. She had to meet with a contact of hers in a little over an hour. It would have to wait, this new found coincidence could pull out some information she needed to find Nigel. She nodded at Priss, and followed as Priss led the way.
The plane Linna was one, finally came in for a landing. It had been a rough trip, due to technical problems Linna's plane was grounded mid trip. She should have been at destination hours ago, but now would have to do. On the flight over she had questioned herself on all of this. The big question she had now, was, how was she going to find Nene? If Nene wasn't waiting for her when she got off this plane.... what was she going to do?
Now all the other passengers were getting up and pulling their luggage from the over head compartment. She stood up her self, and the man who had been sitting next handed her luggage to her. She thanked him, and then waited behind him for the line to begin moving. It wasn't long, and she was stepping out into the airport. She started scanning the crowd for Nene, desperately hoping to see her waving cheerfully. She didn't see Nene, but Priss was there. Priss was leaning against a post staring right at her, and Sylia was standing next to her. Sylia was looking at Priss, talking. Linna hurried over to them.
"Guess I'm late again...." She laughed uneasily.
"At least we waited for you this time." Priss responded sarcastically.
"Linna, What did Nene tell you?" Sylia interrogated right away, no hello, no I missed you. It was always business with Sylia, Linna thought.
"She didn't say much." Linna said, "She seemed in a hurry, I think she needed to get a hold of you two."
"How did she sound?"
"Sound? She IMed me, like she usually does..."
"So it's possible it wasn't Nene?"
"I guess so, why? Linna glanced back over at Priss, who just looked bored by this all.
"I believe that Nene is dead." Sylia said, "I don't know who IMed you, but I don't think it was her. This is some kind of trick."
"Dead? Why would Nene be dead? What trick?" Linna was now sure this was all a bad idea. This didn't sound good.
"Just fess up Linna." Priss said suddenly.
"Fess up? To what?" Linna was now even more confused, Priss' eyes were cold.
"You just wanted to see me right? Did you have to make up such a story?" The accusations began to fly.
"I..." Linna was speechless, stricken by Priss' cruel words. This was a nightmare, and Nene was no where to be found.
"I doubt it's that simple Priss." Sylia scolded, that doesn't give any reason behind why there was a record with both Nene and Maki's names on it."
"Oh really, Sylia? How about this one. Maybe you IMed Linna, pretending to be Nene. Maybe you were desperate for help finding Nigel, and you just had to make up another lie." "That's absurd!" Sylia defended.
"Nene is alive. She has to be, and when we find her...." Linna interrupted.
"How are we going to do that Linna?" Priss asked, still in her maniacal tone.
"I... don't know." Linna looked down, this was all going horribly.
"That's what I thought. I can't believe I flew out here for this."
"Nene is here." Linna's head snapped back up, her eyes fixed on Priss, "We will find her. We have to. Fly back if you want to, but I'm going to find her."
"I hope your right Linna. If Nene is alive, and this Boomer threat is real, I bet it has everything to do with Nigel, and this all will fall into place right." Sylia joined Linna.
"Well, I'm not exactly ready for another 10 hour flight." Priss sighed, "And we're certainly not getting anything done here, let's find a place to stay."
"That's probably a good idea. Why don't you two get checked into a hotel, I'll join you two in a while." Sylia agreed.
"I already have a hotel, here" Linna showed Sylia the travel packet she had, the hotel wasn't far from the airport.
"Okay, that's it then." Sylia nodded, and then walked away.
Linna turned to Priss, Priss still looked rather upset. Linna couldn't find the words, that accusation still stung. So she just walked away. Glancing behind her, Priss had disappeared into the crowd. Part of her hoped Priss was just going to go home, but another part of her hoped Priss would be at the hotel when she got there. Why would Priss say that?
When Linna did get to the Hotel, Priss was standing there waiting for her. She looked a lot less up tight now though, Linna guess she had just walked. Linna had caught a Taxi, and been stuck in traffic for 20 minutes. She was still angry with Priss though, and walked right past her and up to the check in counter.
"I have a reservation, it's under Linna Yamikazi" She said, now assuming Priss was waiting there because she wanted to bum a room out of Linna. This just infuriated her all the more. The woman handed her the room key card. Linna spun around, only to see Priss was gone again. She took the elevator up to her floor. Finding her room wasn't hard; Priss had found it before her and was waiting in from of the door.
"I'm sorry," Priss sighed, and Linna glared at her. She had been listening to Sylia's rants for far too long when Linna had arrived. It was just an idea that was stirring in her head, and found it's way out of her mouth. She hadn't actually meant to offend Linna like she did.
"Oh? Sorry because you feel bad, or sorry because you don't have the money for your own room?" Linna now accused.
"Look, I didn't mean anything by what I said. It's just Leon.... no." Priss sighed, her thoughts were jumbled, "I don't have the money for a room, no. I spent everything I had on getting a goddamn ticket out here...."
"So that's it then?" Linna scoffed, "I don't even know why I missed you."
"Fine." Priss snarled, she hadn't expected Linna's attitude. She stormed off down the hall. Linna watched her go, and almost immediately regretted it.
"Priss!" She yelled after her, "Priss, wait!"
Priss stopped. She waited, where else was she going to go? Her plan had just been to wait until Sylia showed up down in the Lobby. Linna jogged up next to her.
"You can stay with me, I mean, I'd like to catch up on everything anyway...." Linna tired to be as inviting as she could; Priss looked at her and smiled. That was the Linna she remembered.
The room wasn't particularly large, just a bed a bureau a small refrigerator and a closet in the main part. Then there was a small bathroom. Linna had decided to take a shower right away, and Priss stood looking out the window. The streets were busy, filled with all different kinds of people. It was a busy city. Priss could definitely grow to like it here. She wished she had the money to rent a nice bike.
Linna came out of the bathroom wrapped up in a couple towels, one for her body and one for her head. She stood next to Priss to view the small city scene Priss had been watching.
"It's fascinating.... isn't it?" Priss said.
"What? The view?"
"No matter where you go, it's all the same." Priss sighed.
"What do you mean?" Linna asked.
Priss just shook her head, "So, how's life been with your Parents?"
"It's been alright. I guess." Linna said. I missed you so very much....
"Just alright, huh? Guess the country'll do that to you."
"How' about you.... "Linna trailed off, again remembering that last time she talked to Leon.
"Ha. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. Leon can be such an ass sometimes...." Priss laughed.
"I can see that...." Linna said under her breath.
"He didn't tell me about the last time you called until yesterday..." Priss said, "I would have called back."
"What do you mean?" Linna asked again, "The last time I called.... he told me not to call back."
Priss flinched at this statement, then grit her teeth, but not saying a word in defense.
"It's true isn't it? You didn't want me to call back."
"Oh no. He didn't want you to call back." Priss growled, "He was afraid you were going to try something. Insecure bastard."
"Try something?"
"Yeah."
Linna was trying to be careful on her wording, as it was she didn't know whether this conversation was about what she thought is was about. "Try what?"
"Ah, he's just afraid.... your sexuality scares him I think."
"My Sexuality?" Linna was now blushing. It was what she thought they were talking about.
Priss noticed how uncomfortable she was making Linna and decided to change the subject, "So, how are we going to find Nene?"
"I...." Linna was still blushing, even though she was embarrassed as hell, she wanted to know something. She wanted to know about Priss. Was there a chance Priss liked girls too? Nene didn't seem to think so, but Sylia had always seemed like she knew something that Linna didn't about the subject..
"Yeah, I'm pretty stumped too." Priss said, "I haven't heard from Nene since we were up in outer space...."
"Priss?" Linna chirped.
"What?" Priss responded naturally.
"Even if Leon thought I was after you, why would he think you would go for it?" Linna asked, jumping back to the subject Priss had tried to move away from.
"Insecurity?" Priss shrugged
"You wouldn't go for it would you?" Linna pushed further, she wanted an answer.
"I-" A knock on the door interrupted Priss. She looked to the door, it was most likely Sylia. Linna looked torn between hearing Priss out and answering the door. Priss decided to answer it for herself.
To be continued....