The white haired male looked around the airport. Behind him were seated his companions.

The brunette teen sat upright in his seat with a black laptop resting on his knees. His bangs would fall forward into his line of sight; with annoyance he brushed them back. A blond leaned on the arm between them to read the screen over his shoulder.

A seat over a silver haired girl sat on the edge of her seat. She kept her attention on the white haired male. When he suddenly stiffened she walked over to him and slid her hand on the inside of his elbow.

"Jei, what is wrong?" she spoke with an accent, articulating each word.

Jei looked before him at the group of church goers ready to disembark on a pilgrimage. "They are the ones that knew me before as Jei."

She placed pressure on his elbow and gently pulled him after her to the rest of their group. "Jei, there is no need to worry. They can not recognize you now. You have changed greatly. The old values and beliefs that you cherished are gone." Turning to the blond and brunette, she said, "Nagi please put away the lap top computer. It is time to go. Omi could you please hand me mine and Jei's bags?"

Omi, the blond, handed her a black bag on wheels and a small black purse. As the flight was called to line up, she and Jei stood together. Both wore similar black pinstripe business suits. She reached down and entwined their hands.

"Hello, are you going for business or pleasure?"

"Truly it will be both."

"Oh, are you two newly married? You seem to be happy together."

Jei turned his head away. She smiled at the inquisitive ticket girl in front of her. "We are to be married soon. We are going to spend a few weeks at my parent's villa in Italy to conduct business and plan the wedding. My mother insisted that we came there."

"Oh, I see, yes my boyfriend would be embarrassed about that too. Here are your ticket stubs. Have a great trip." The girl waved them through the gate; she checked Nagi's and Omi's tickets as well.

The four of them sat in the middle of the aeroplane. Nagi stowed his laptop underneath the seat before him. Jei put the suitcase in the overhead luggage compartment. The flight proved uneventful except for one of the pilgrims almost recognizing Jei from time he belonged to their church.

The girl began carding her fingers through Jei's hair. He leaned his head on her shoulder and began to drift to sleep. Both Nagi and Omi watched from their seats. She smiled at them and turned her attention back to Jei. Omi and Nagi relaxed back against the seats and drifted to slumber themselves.

"Attention passengers: we will be landing in Italy in twenty minutes."

Jei jerked awake as this announcement blared over the speaker system on the aeroplane. She had her arm curled around his head with her fingers in his hair to keep him still and his instincts under control. Jei forced his muscles to relax from the hair-triggered tension that they had been in. He heard Nagi and Omi shift beside him. He sat up and waited as the plane landed and came to the terminal. Jei took the bag from the compartment overhead and lead the way to the terminal.

Outside the airport, Jei, Omi and Nagi turned to her. "Where do we go now, Serenity?"

Sorry that I have not updated in a long time. I tend to run out of inspiration for long periods of time. I also have trouble getting my vision of the story across in words even to myself. Thank you for being patient.

Lady Artemis Cosmos