xXx
I have never been entirely comfortable with flying, even as one of the Turks. One would think that after all the corporate jet setting I'd done, I'd be accustomed to such methods of transportations. I wasn't that fortunate, and so here I was once again, seated within an airborne coffin of steel and trying fervently to avoid from looking out the window. For the first part of our flight I was left well enough alone; towards the end, however, Aeryn made her way back to the passenger hold and slipped into the seat adjacent to mine. Her excited rambling, while ofttimes incoherent, served to distract me from my uneasiness, and so I listened with an idle ear to her opinions about the plane, about the plane's "funny" pilot, and about the man who "looks like he wants to kill something." Her last observation almost brought a smile to my face. Almost. But then Cid shouted something incomprehensible over the intercom and at the same time the plane dipped alarmingly, and in the seconds that followed I realized we were about to land.
"Vincent? Is that the town we're going to?"
"Yes," I muttered through clenched teeth, not deigning to look where she was pointing but instead fixating on the ceiling above me. Cid, despite his considerable talents as a pilot, was simply horrendous at landings. Or perhaps that was just my biased opinion …
"I can see cows!" Aeryn exclaimed; out of the corner of my eye I could see her kneeling on her seat with her face plastered against the small window. Her complete disregard for the seatbelt made me glad I'd dutifully put on my own. I smiled then with little humor, for Vincent Valentine –formerly of the Turks- was a stickler for air travel safety …
Suddenly the plane juddered, launching Aeryn from where she was perched and throwing her straight into me. As the plane touched down on the rough tarmac Cid had created I found myself cradling a softly giggling child in my lap and wondering how exactly I'd managed to offend fate. As we slowed to a stop I lifted Aeryn and set her from me gingerly before rising, eager to be on stable ground once again.
Cid was at the hatch, having already opened it. His smirk as I neared was enough to inform me that he'd made the landing rougher than usual for my sole benefit; as I moved past him I trod hard on his foot and then leapt free of the hatch. I turned and watched as the others made their way free of the plane, Cid assisting Aeryn followed by Cloud. As the former SOLDIER reached the ground beside her she gave him one startled glance before scampering to stand by my side; with a hesitant smile she clutched the edge of my coat before staring at Cloud with trepidation once again.
I sighed, and Cid, striding by me, gave me an open, audacious grin and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like Auntie Vinnie as he passed. My mouth tightened into a thin line. Perhaps this evening, while everyone was otherwise occupied, I could set about loosening some vital bolts and lug nuts on his plane …
"My home is your home," Cid said as Aeryn and I turned to follow him, Cloud trailing. I remembered the last time I'd been here, remembered the fiasco that had followed, and almost snorted aloud.
My home, indeed.
xXx
