A/N: Well, Chapter 3 of Somewhere In the Sands of Time is up . . . and it only took me 5 months! sigh Sorry about the ridiculously long wait! I'm honestly trying to get these chapters up faster! Since it's obviously taking me forever, I was thinking I might focus on one story for a few days, then another, then my third story and so on. I was wondering which of my stories any of my readers would want me to update first, so any suggestions are welcome, just pm me/ review!

Chapter 3

Ready for Some Fun?

Regular POV

Zack grabbed his heavy suitcase and slung it over his shoulder. He smirked as Cody tried to do the same and nearly toppled over under his bag's weight. As the group of friends made their way off the plane, Zack slowed his pace to fall into step next to Cody.

"I saw you and Rumiku," He grinned as Cody self-consciously turned a deep shade of red. "You're lucky; Rikk still won't admit that she likes me."

"Have you ever thought that maybe she actually doesn't like you, shocking as that would be?" Cody replied sarcastically, rolling his icy blue eyes.

"I-" Zack never finished his sentence, his jaw dropping in awe. He, Cody, Rikku, Rumiku, Patrick, Noah, Sydney, Tapeworm, and Max all stopped dead and stared around them at the largest, loudest, most chaotic airport they'd ever seen. "Everything is bigger in New York!" Patrick exclaimed.

In the massive room their plane connector opened up into, thousands of people hurried in different directions. A group of adults dressed in business suits with head sets on and briefcases in their hands rushed out one door, while a family with six screaming toddlers came in through another. As they turned to look at the rest of the airport in unison, they were able to catch a glimpse of a few security guards shouting at a group of kids running away as they chased them in an airport cart.

Sydney smiled innocently, "I'm glad we were never like those kids." Everyone laughed when they heard Robert snort, "Yeah, right!" behind them.

Once they'd collected their luggage and gotten four taxis to take them to the Tipton, the three families decided to meet at a nearby restaurant in a few hours.

"This is going to be so awesome! Two weeks break from school, homework, tests-" Zack lowered his voice to a whisper as he and Cody sat facing each other on their beds, "-and the Darkness, hopefully. I don't think it'll follow us all the way across the country. We can spend our Spring Break in peace, using our elements how we want to!"

"Yeah," Cody agreed, sighing contentedly. "Let's go swimming after dinner." Zack nodded.

"BOYS!" Carey yelled from across the full-size suite. "Time to go to dinner!"

Zack and Cody threw on nicer clothes and followed their mother out of the suite.

At the restaurant, the teenagers were led to one table with Sydney, Patrick, and Noah, while the adults sat at another table -conveniently placed on the other side of the restaurant.

Zack fixed his collared red shirt and smoothed his tan cargo shorts as Rikku sat next to him. Cody was wearing basically the same thing with a lighter blue shirt. He sat in between Noah and Sydney, across from Max and Tapeworm.

"So, what's the plan for tomorrow guys?" Rumiku asked, setting down her menu.

"Cody and I are going to the pool tonight, if you guys want to come. Then that leaves tomorrow open for doing something else," Zack replied.

"That's sounds good to me," Patrick grinned, and Noah nodded his agreement.

"Yeah, swimming sounds great. I can't believe how warm the weather here is, since it's normally colder than Boston right now," Sydney smiled.

"If we swim tonight, that leaves tomorrow open for finding a good place to train. The Tipton is almost on the edge of the city, so somewhere secluded would be perfect," Rumiku commented.

"Ru, this is Spring Break! Lighten up already; we're not going to need to train!" Zack sighed, looking annoyed.

"I think Zack's right," Rikku said. "We need time to just relax and not worry about anything happening. Besides, if we were in some secluded spot, that would be like inviting something to happen. If we stick to the city, there are people all around and the DarkLions and BlackWolves won't bother us."

"But I have this feeling that something . . . something's wrong, guys. Something's going to happ-" Rumiku's face held a mixture of uncertainty and confusion, but Zack cut her off.

"Don't worry; nothing bad's going to happen to us."

"Yeah, except for this!" Rikku cried, laughing as she shoved spoonful of pie into Zack's face.

Everyone laughed as Zack chased Rikku around the restaurant and Sydney looked up at Rumiku innocently, saying, "This is why the grown-ups don't want to sit with us, isn't it?"

Rumiku forced a smile and nodded. Awhile later, as everyone was heading out of the restaurant, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

She turned to see Cody. He smiled and said, "Don't worry. I'll talk to the others about finding a spot where we can use our elements, even if I don't say anything about training. Trust me; Zack can't go the entire two weeks with being able to use his element. He just has to be able to light my pants on fire when I bother him. I'm running out of excuses for coming home with charred pants!"

Rumiku laughed, and Cody put his arm around her as they walked outside. "So, ready to go have some fun torturing Zack at the pool?" For the first time since their plane had touched down in Manhattan, Rumiku relaxed and really smiled, "That sounds . . . perfect."