Welcome to Chapter Five! This time around, the brothers finally leave for Japan, and Nikki gives her twin a gift. I'm sorry if I haven't been uploading as much as I can for Red vs Blue: Reach, but I've got a major writer's block on it. However, this story is in full stride, and I might finish it by April or May. Thank you for reading, as always, and please review or PM if I screwed up at any point.

Allan's Home, Georgia

United States, Real World

May 20, 2022

Ian Becker

Like Ian predicted, Allan had opened the guest room door to a strange sight: Nikki sleeping on top of her brother in nothing but her underwear. Allan knew that she liked to sleep in the same bed as her twin, but he remembered her wearing an oversized T-shirt and small shorts. He decided that she only wore that because she forgot to bring more clothes.

"Oy, you two." he said, trying to wake the twins. "Time to get up."

"Five more minutes..." Nikki muttered, still trying to stay in bed while Ian snapped to attention.

"Hey, good morning, Al." Ian said, chuckling. "This is not what it looks like."

"I know. I think she likes you, Ian."

"Isn't that obvious? We're family." Then it dawned on him. "You mean she 'likes likes me' as in she wants to marry me."

"Yep. That was just a tease, just to clarify."

"I know. Nikki, time to get up." Ian poked her cheek, then he decided to mess with her nose.

"Stop it... that tickles..." she murmured, and after a few second, she gave in and sat up.

"Good morning, Nikki." Allan told her, patting her shoulder.

"Hey, good morning." Nikki replied, smiling.

"You need to get up, you know." Allan said. "Today's the day."

"The day that... Ian leaves, right?"

"Yep. I'm sorry he has to go." Allan sighed.

"It's fine. I told him it's fine like fifty times." she assured him.

"Um, you're kind of keeping me pinned down, Nikki." Ian told her, trying to push her off of him.

"Oh." She got off of him, slipping off of the bed and grabbing her dress.

"Nikki, make sure to bring more clothes next time." the brothers said.

"I will, you two." she replied, sighing as she slipped her dress back on. "You should get dressed too, guys."

The brothers nodded and grabbed different sets of clothes and started to change into them. As soon as they were done, they proceeded to grab Ian's stuff and take it to Allan's car, with Nikki helping them once she got back into her dress. Afterwards, they proceeded to lock the house down and head to the airport, where their parents were going to be to take Nikki back home.

"Well, this should be interesting." Ian said as he entered the car.

"What are you talking about?" Nikki asked.

"Leaving the US." he answered. "I'm only fifteen, and I'm about to go abroad."

"Yeah. I guess so." she said dejectedly.

"I'm sorry you can't go, Nikki." the boy told her sadly. "If I could, I'd definitely take you with."

"I know."

"Alright, you two. We'll be at the airport in a few hours or more." Allan informed.

"Which airport?"

"It depends. If you want to get there faster, then we'll take a flight from Waycross-Ware County Airport. If you want to save money, then Raleigh's airport has a cheaper plane ticket."

"How cheaper?"

"Eh, around $600, compared to $1200 or more." the older sibling answered.

"I'll take Raleigh."

"Okay. Where do we drop Nikki off at?"

Ian answered him. "We could wait for Mom and Dad at the airport, then give Nikki to them and go to Raleigh."

"Sounds good."

"Alright." Allan turned the ignition and sighed as his car came to life. "It does."

The car backed into the driveway and after turning right, drove out of it and into the main road, heading to their two destinations.

The Waycross-Ware County Airport was a busy place this time around, with people all over the place. There weren't any flights to Japan, but that didn't matter, because the brothers were headed to the Raleigh-Durran International Airport in North Carolina to catch a flight. At Waycross-Ware County Airport, they simply waited at the entrance for their parents, while keeping an eye on everyone. They didn't think that there would be trouble, but Ian didn't want to see a real life "No Russian" massacre right when he was going abroad for the first time.

"You're just paranoid, Bro." Nikki told him. "We're not going to get massacred."

"Yeah, you're right." Ian said, running his hand through his hair and sighing.

"How long are we going to wait here?" Nikki asked Allan, who was standing beside them and paying no mind to the previous conversation his siblings were having.

"An hour, maybe a little more." he answered. "When Mom and Dad get here, they'll take you back home, and I'll take Ian to Raleigh so we can catch a flight to Japan.

"Okay." she said, watching for the tan minivan that would take her home. "Could we just... talk, or something, while we wait?"

"Sure, if you want to."

Nikki Becker

A few hours later, the tan minivan that they were waiting for drove up and parked in front of the entrance, with the twins nearly missing them due to being so deep in conversation. They stopped abruptly and turned to face their parents, who were walking up to them.

"Hey, you two!" they yelled, waving at their children.

"Hey Mom, hey Dad!" Nikki shouted back, waving as well.

She ran up and embraced her parents while her twin watched, a small look of guilt on his face. Nikki knew that he had to do this, but she also knew that he felt like he was betraying his family.

"Well, since I won't be seeing you three for a while, I'd better make this good." Ian said, walking up and giving his parents a good, warm hug.

"I agree." their mother said while she hugged her son.

"I'm going to miss you guys." Ian told them, patting his father on the back.

"We'll miss you, too." Nikki said, joining in on the hug.

"Hey, wait up!" Allan shouted and ran up to the rest of his family, finishing the group hug that was going on. After what seemed like forever, they broke apart.

"Are you ready to go, you two?" their mother asked the brothers.

"We're ready, but we're going to an airport that has cheaper tickets." Ian told them. "Besides, this airport doesn't have any flights to Japan."

"That's fine. You know what? Why don't we take a family picture before you go?"

After everyone muttered their agreements, their mother pulled out an instant camera and had everyone strike a post, then without any warning but the classic "cheese!", took two photos, one for Ian, and one for them.

"Nikki, have you given your brother his gift?" she asked, handing Ian a photo.

"Um, not yet." she answered, walking to the minivan and extracting a box with a bow on it from the back of the vehicle.

"Ian, can you come here?" Nikki asked. "I don't want the others to see this."

Ian complied, walking over to the minivan and facing his twin.

I hope he like this. she thought.

"What is it?"

"I just wanted to give you something. Here you go, take it." Nikki extended her arms out, holding the box with trembling hands while looking to the side, her long hair hiding her face from view, particularly her eyes.

"Okay." Ian took the parcel and opened it, a smile appearing on his face as he pulled the first item out.

"This looks amazing, Nikki." he said as he inspected a truly gorgeous drawing of him, Sophia, Allan, and Nikki standing in a park.

"I'm glad you like it. I wanted you to have this stuff so you'll always remember us. There's more drawings and stuff in there, but it won't trigger the metal detectors or raise questions with Customs."

"Did you draw this?"

"I drew all of it! I started drawing those on the seventeenth, and I also made other things to go with."

"Thank you so much, Sis." Ian hugged his twin, pulling her face into his chest as an attempt at payback, but it didn't work, since Ian was a male and he didn't have a bust.

"You know that isn't gonna work, right?" Nikki chuckled.

"Yeah, I kinda forgot that." Ian grumbled.

"Let me show you how it's done!" Nikki repeated the hug, performing it a lot more effectively than her twin.

I didn't think he would actually try that. the brunette thought. I guess he was trying to get payback.

After a few seconds, she let him go, watching as he regained his composure and breath.

"No one will ever be able to beat you at that." Ian panted.

"I'm the champion." she said. "Of suffocating hugs."

"Yep. Thank you again, Nikki."

"You're welcome, Ian."

"Well, goodbye, I guess." Ian said, lowering his head.

"I suppose so, too. Take care and good luck."

"Yeah." Ian stood there for a second, and then he pulled Nikki into another hug, this time, with her head on his shoulder and her arms around his torso.

I want to stay like this forever... the girl thought as she began to leak tears onto her brother's shirt. We're so close it's almost as if we're lovers.

"I wish we could stay here forever, but you've got to go. Goodbye, Ian."

"Don't say goodbye like I'm gonna be gone for good, Sis." Ian told her, looking into her teary eyes with tears forming in his own. "I'll be back, just not that soon."

"I understand." Nikki let go of her brother and wiped her tears away. "Go. I've delayed you enough."

"I'll see you around, then." Ian patted his sister's shoulder and rejoined the others.

"What did she get you?" Allan asked him.

"Stuff." was the reply Ian gave.

"That's vague."

"She didn't want you to see her give me the gift, so I'm not going to tell you."

"Oh, okay. You ready to go?"

"I am." Ian replied, getting into Allan's car. "Goodbye, everyone."

"Goodbye!" their parents and Nikki said simultaneously as they got into the minivan to return home.

"Well, this is it." Allan said, starting the car. "I sure hope nothing happens to them. Or us."

"We'll be fine." Ian pulled the gift box out again and opened it, scrolling through all the pictures. Along with the drawing of the Becker kids and Sophia in the park, there were drawings of their parents, just Nikki and himself, Sophia with Ian at the beach, standalone pictures of each family member and Sophia, and so on. The one that made him roll his eyes though was a picture of the one accident involving Sophia that resulted in a very embarrassing situation. The worst part was that it was a perfect recreation, too.

"You're kidding me, Nikki." he groaned, facepalming.

"What is it?" Allan asked, turning the rearview mirror to his younger brother.

"A certain picture Nikki drew."

"She drew stuff for you?" Allan was genuinely surprised.

"Yep. They're excellent drawings, but she ended up drawing that one accident I don't like to talk about."

"Why, because you played with your girlfriend's body in front of Nikki?"

"Did not. It was a mistake, and I'm not going to go on about it. Also, for the last time, she is not my girlfriend.

"Alright, then. You're no fun, little brother."

"You know, I'm starting to think that you like seeing me getting embarrased like Nikki does."

"Wait, seriously?"

"Yep. Raleigh's really far, so you should get going if we're gonna catch a flight tonight."

Eight hours later

"Oy. We're here, bum."

Ian had fallen asleep during the eight hour trip, subsequently missing going through South Carolina and North Carolina. He woke up in an instant, yawning as he sat up.

"How much did I miss?" Ian asked.

"Um, you missed us going through South Carolina, and you missed us going through North Carolina to the airport."

"Damn. I missed a lot of scenery."

"You and Nikki have the same issue." Allan told him. "You both fall asleep during long trips and you both get all grumpy and stuff when you realize that you missed the scenery." He opened the car door and left the vehicle, sighing.

"I know." Ian followed suit, pulling out his luggage and locking his door behind him. "Damn. What are we gonna do about your car?"

"Leave it." Allan replied. "Airports allow you to leave your car in the parking lot if you're planning a long trip most of the time, with this one being no exception."

"Alright." Ian said, checking if his luggage was all there, including Nikki's gift box (where the family photo now sat). After confirming this, he set along at a brisk pace, keeping at his brother's side so he didn't get lost.

"Are you going to bring Nikki's little present onto the plane with you or are you going to leave it with the other luggage?" Allan asked.

"I'm not taking any chances." Ian replied. "It's staying with me while we're on the plane." He pulled the box out and practically hugged it so he wouldn't lose it.

"Okay. I understand."

After dealing with Customs and getting tickets for the flight, the brothers put their luggage onto the plane's baggage claim and headed up to the plane, with Ian firmly holding onto his twin's gift, determined to not let it go.

"Our seats are over here, little brother!" Allan called to Ian over the chatter of the other passengers, indicating a pair of seats in the middle of the compartment, to the left.

"Got it!" Ian squeezed through the passengers and got to his seat. The PA announced its usual stuff to the passengers, with Ian checking if he still had the box with him.

"Do you regret this?" Allan asked him. "Leaving home?"

"Kind of. But I made the choice, and I didn't turn back when I had the ability to, so I've got to live with it."

"Right."

The PA spoke again, signaling that the pilot had clearance.

"Alright, Ian. You ready to go abroad?"

"Not like I have a choice, but I'm ready."

The doors to the plane closed, and it began to start moving faster and faster as the pilot took off. After around twenty seconds, the plane began to climb in altitude, and Ian watched as the earth grew smaller and felt quite strange to see the ground shrink as he was flown higher and higher. He was excited though, at the idea of doing something new, like going to another country.

I'm actually going abroad! he thought, beaming despite the regret he felt for leaving his family behind. Note to self, though: after you go back, never use planes to get around again.

Sorry if the flight part is inaccurate, but I've never been in a plane before. The same goes for my geography. Anyway, sorry I took so long to post this chapter, but I had to do a bunch of real life stuff, and I apologize for the delay. Also, do you think I should do a story with Nikki as the protagonist? Please PM me and tell me if you want one, and please review or PM if I screwed up. See you around, readers!