Hey everybody! Lightheart77 here, with chapter 14. Okay so, everything's going well with the gang as you last read. But in this new chapter, so much romance happens it's not even funny. Well, it is but there's still a lot of it. And know that there are two parts to this chapter (it would have been too long if I had it in all one part).

Oh, and we get to see some of Alexa's artistic skills. No seriously, we do. I finally have the deviant art account and the first picture I'll have up from this story is her first sketch that she does… the second one… I have no idea when I'll have that up. But check it out. I have the same user name as I do on here so I'm not too hard to find. And you'll see what I'm talking about soon enough.

But enough of my rambling; sit back relax, and read on, but remember to review when you're done, alright! :)

Chapter 14: The Plane Ride (part 1)

It was about 9:15 P.M. when the gang had finally reached the airport. Alexa had her disguise of an average tourist with jean shorts, a bright blue shirt, flip-flops and her hair put up into a white baseball cap. She looked at the times of the flights to Paris and they were in luck; there was a flight for Paris at 10:00. Only problem was that to save money, they could only buy one ticket.

Alexa walked back over to the two waiting by one of the beams. "Okay, here's the plan. We can get on this next flight but we only have one ticket… so two of us are going to end up in the van." She held up the ticket in her right hand to emphasize the "only one" part.

Ken step forward. He was wear a punk like outfit of baggy black jeans with a chain running down them and a tight black shirt with a design of swirls and zigzags, and his hair was in its usual spikes but had a tinge of red. He held out his hand and said, "I guess, I'll take it since I'm the odd guy out and—"

"Actually," Alexa interrupted, putting the ticket in her pocket, "I'll be taking the ticket."

"What!" the other two exclaimed.

"Alexa," Jamie interjected, wearing her old cheerleading warm-ups to disguise herself as a cheerleader heading to a competition. "It would be best if we—"

"Come on, it's only fair," Alexa explained. "I had to sleep in the van last time while you two were up comfortably in the plane. Besides, this will give you two the chance to get to know each other better," she winked.

The two looked to the other blushing and looked way when they made eye contact.

Alexa then grinned, adding, "I mean… it's no big deal. Nothing's gonna happen, right?"

"Of course nothing would happen," said Jamie, although she seemed so hot and bothered by it that her voice broke just slightly.

"Then you two are okay with this… right?"

"I'm okay with it, if Jamie is," Ken stated.

Ken… "It's okay with me," Jamie agreed.

"Alright then. I'll get the rest of the van's paper work in order and you guys get ready for the plane ride. It's gonna be a long one," Alexa folded her arms, thinking that this was going to be a very long flight.

"Kay… Come on, Ken. We better hurry. We only have a half hour before they start loading the big heavy items," said Jamie beginning to walk off.

"Right," Ken nodded following her.

As soon as they were an ear shot away, Alexa smiled and laughed, "This is perfect! I get a comfortable plane ride and Ken and Jamie get to be together without an audience." She slung her back pack over her shoulder, then saying, "This is great."

"Excuse me miss?" a voice came behind her.

She turned to see one of the airport's police officers and froze. I think I spoke too soon. "Is there something I can help you with officer?" she said, changing her voice slightly and adding a bit of an accent.

"Yes." He pulled out four pictures and held them up each one at a time, continuing, "These teens are responsible for a theft and need to be apprehended. Since they are a gang, they should be traveling together in a group of four. Have you seen them?"

Alexa noticed that those teens were her gang, plus Chase. She stared at the pictures a little longer and shook her head, "Can't say that I have. But I'll keep a lookout for anything like that, sir."

"I see… well, thank you," with that he walked off to some others standing around discussing.

Alexa let out a sigh of relief and pulled her cap down more over her eyes. "That was too close. I better get walking or else I'm gonna give myself away." She then went to the desk to finish up the paper work and cost of loading all of her luggage. Thereafter, she was off to the terminal. She had to go through the metal detector, and had to put her bag in the ex-ray machine. Luckily, the pieces of cane in her bag didn't raise any suspicion and she was only a few feet away from her terminal.

As she walked there, she noticed more of the air port police gathered around each terminal, looking for a group of four teens. Too bad, though; the leader of said gang simply walked by them.

She was safe. Made it on the plane with ticket in hand, she walked down the aisle to find her seat. "D38… D38…" she mumbled looking at the numbers above the seats. Soon, she found it. "Sweet, a window seat." She collapsed in the comfortable seat with a sigh, "Finally, no more worrying." She looked over to the seat besides her, realizing that she would have a companion for the rest of the trip… against her own will. She let out another sigh, "Hope who ever sits next to me isn't a policeman or someone that talkative… I'd have to kill myself either way," she chuckled, pulling her hat down farther to cover her now closed eyes.

It was a few minutes before she heard more passengers pass by; their bags scraping by the outer seats, some arguing with the people they were with, and others complaining about, and trying to trade for seats. It wasn't long after that she heard a single voice speak to her.

"Excuse me, miss, is anyone sitting here?" he asked, and she could hear a smile in the voice.

It was too recognizable. Her body then tensed up as she begged, Oh, no… please, no! She opened her eyes and saw the oh-so familiar raccoon: Chase. "No…" she moaned. Of course this was too good to be true! Of course he would have to show up to ruin this…

Chase's smile grew wider, "Nice to see you too."

"How on earth did you get this flight and this seat," she muttered, running her hands down her face in frustration.

"It's not that hard to get specific details for stuff like this," he said, taking his seat. "So… second class. You could have easily gotten first class, you know."

"Well, we're trying to save money. So, second class was just fine with me," she mumbled taking off her hat and putting it in her bag.

"Ah… so Ken and Jamie?" he questioned.

"Are somewhere else," she finished his thought.

"I see."

"Now, if you would leave me be, we can get through this flight with little casualties," she said with venom in her voice.

He chuckled, "I see. Fine then. I have a book I can read quietly." He dug in his bag and pulled out a small but thick book with a dark navy blue cover with no title.

"And I have this book," Alexa countered, pulling out her own book with a black cover. "So let's just get through this twelve hour flight." She then opened it up to a blank page and grabbed a pencil from her bag. Soon, the page had ribbon like swirls and lines drawn across it. She then began to darken the lines and shade, when Chase looked over her shoulder.

"I didn't know you were an artist," he said, looking at the design.

"There's a lot you don't know about me."

"Heh, that's probably only a few things," he chuckled.

"Well, we'll never know unless you tell me what you know," she replied.

"Do I look that stupid?" he asked, with one of his eyebrows arched.

"I hoped you did but I was wrong."

"Ha, ha, very funny."

"I thought it was funny," she grinned.

Before they could banter on, a voice came over the speakers stating, "Welcome to flight 777. This is your captain speaking. We're on flight to Paris, France, for a good twelve hours. So please buckle up, be sure everything is in an upright position and fastened correctly. Be sure to watch for the small safety reminders given by the attendants. We're about to take off."

Alexa went quiet and started shading more of her picture with a sigh. Twelve hours… wah-hoo. I wonder how Ken and Jamie are doing… she thought, looking down to floor.

"Okay," Jamie called to Ken in the diver seat. "I have the beds set up."

Ken hopped up from his seat next to Jamie to see the make shift beds. "These are great, Jamie."

With how much space there was left with the beds, Jamie and Ken were so close together that their arms touching each other. Both their faces turned scarlet.

"Um, so…" Jamie stuttered, her eyes looking away from Ken to the ground embarrassed, "We should probably try and get some sleep." She then made a graceful move into her make shift bed, covering herself with the blanket.

"Y-yeah," he agreed with a stammer, looking up to the ceiling, "That works." Ken did the same, though not in the one flawless move Jamie did. He wasn't exactly as agile as she was; he was bulk, something to expect from the muscle of the team.

Both closed their eyes and made an effort to sleep but the thought of the two of them still being close together kept coming back into their minds. It was at least an hour before their thoughts were finally overcome by tiredness, and soon, both drifted off to sleep, hoping that when they woke, they would be in Paris.

Five hours had passed already, and it seemed to go so slow to Alexa. She ran out of ideas for drawing and no good movies were showing on the plane's TV. Therefore, she was dieing from boredom.

Man… so bored… she thought as she tried to get any idea in her head. She glanced over to Chase and noticed that he was still reading that same book. Hm… he's actually been still and quiet… then the idea popped into her head. She grabbed her sketch book and turned it to a blank page and began to sketch again.

First it was just some circles and lines, but soon the lines came together making a sketch of Chase sitting there reading. She was done about half way when Chase looked over realizing Alexa was looking to him. He turned his head to her and asked, "What?"

"Hold still," she barked. "I'm drawing you."

"Really," he grinned, looking over to try and see the picture. "Do I look good?" he chuckled.

Alexa quickly covered the drawing, saying, "It's not finished. Go back to reading so I can!"

Chase only laughed, "Alright, alright." He went back to his reading pose, but couldn't focus back on the book. "Why are you drawing me?"

"I was bored and couldn't sleep… just please stop moving…" she muttered, trying to continue her sketch.

It was about twenty minutes later when Alexa was pleased enough with her work to show it. "Okay," she turned it to him and asked, "What do you think?"

Chase looked over and examined the picture. It seemed to be a pretty good replica of him. He was amazed that she could actually draw like this. "Wow… so this is what I look like through your eyes, huh?"

"Yeah…" she looked at the picture herself, letting the idea sink into her mind, "I guess it is." She then closed the book with a snap and then said matter-of-factually, "I made you too handsome."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean!" he questioned in a hurt tone, but still chuckled.

"What I mean is what I said, so… Nah!" she stuck her tongue out at him. She knew that it wasn't exactly the most mature thing to do, but she felt better doing that. She then grabbed one of the pillows and blankets that the plane had supplied and continued, "I'm going to sleep, so allow me to do so in peace." Head to pillow and the blanket over her body, she leaned to the plane's window and closed her eyes.

Chase, still a little shocked that she actually stuck her tongue out at him, just replied, "Fine then. I'm going to sleep too." He leaned back into his chair and covered himself with the blanket and thought to himself, Might as well. It's no fun to stay awake if there's no one to talk to… and I'm a bit sick of that book. I can't believe I decided to read it again.

He was exasperated by his thoughts in remembering why he was rereading in the first place. He yawned and continued to think, Well, at least I won't get too bugged by Ryu. He'd be upset if I hadn't read the book he gave to me so I'd remember the skills he taught me. His eyes drifted closed thinking, Ah well…

Alexa opened her eyes to see out the window. It was still dark outside since it was almost three in the morning but she could still see the clouds in different shapes and shades. Why is it that although he annoys me to no end… I feel great around him… I feel happy… She actually had a small smile come across her face before she closed her eyes for the last time that morning.

Soon both Alexa and Chase were sound asleep.

With the van, underneath the plane's floor, Ken and Jamie still slept. But Ken was awoken to a sound that was unknown to him… crying?

He opened his eyes and looked over to Jamie and saw the tears drip down her fur, yet she still slept.

"Mom… Dad… please, I can explain," she murmured in her sleep, the steam of tears seemed to grow. "Don't leave me," she whispered in pain.

"Oh, no," Ken whispered in fear as he got out of his bed and went to Jamie's side. He then began to shake her shoulder, calling her name, "Jamie… Jamie…"

The vixen woke with a start, her body shooting up. "Huh?" she mumbled, trying to determine where she was. Then she looked up to see Ken next to her. "Oh, hey. Are we there already?" she inquired.

"Not yet but…" he wiped a tear from her cheek, and continued, "You were crying in your sleep. You seemed to be having a nightmare."

"Oh…" she said, with sadness in her voice. She wiped away the other tears and tried to have a happier tone as she spoke, "I'm fine."

"Jamie…" his voice was still kind but stern.

"Really, I'm fine. I'm sorry if I worried you," she tried to smile, but her voice still shook.

"Jamie…" his voice soft as he grabbed her hand, "I know that I'm not exactly someone you might want to talk to about this… most likely it would be Alexa but… I'm a pretty good listener," he said with a small smile.

"Well… I know we're not supposed to let it get to us but… I miss my family."

Ken wiped a stray hair from her face, "Now come on, that can't be it."

Jamie started to tear up again, "But…" She looked down to their hands that were twined together. "I'm scared."

"Of what?" he questioned.

Tears then welled down her face and her voice broke, "Oh, losing everything. My parents shunning me; my education going down the drain; losing you—" she let out a gasp when she realized what just came out of her mouth and her hand then went to it.

"Me?"

"I… uh… Gosh…" she stammered blushing.

"Jamie… Are you telling me that you like me?"

"I…" she closed her eyes and exhaled, "Y-yes, I am Ken." Her grip tightened around his hands and she looked straight into his eyes. "I've always liked you for the longest time. And after last night… the near death experience… I realized that I really do like you. I mean, we've could have been killed. Two things popped into my head at that moment: what am I going to do if I lose my friends; and that I never got the chance to tell you how I really felt." She blushed again and looked down to the ground, "I would understand if you don't like me the same way but—"

Ken held up one of his hands to have her stop so that he could speak, "Jamie, it's okay." He smiled, "I like you, too."

"R-really?" she stuttered not exactly expecting that.

"Yes." He sat next to her still having his fingers laced with hers. "You're the smartest, nicest, most beautiful girl I ever met… I mean, there is Alexa but you don't have the anger issues," he chuckled.

Jamie giggled in agreement, "I guess that's right."

Ken then took her into his arms, his back up against the wall of the van while Jamie almost seemed to be sitting in his lap. He then whispered in a warm caring voice, "It's okay if you're scared. If you weren't scared I'd be worried about you. I'm scared too, and I'm sure Alexa is. We don't know what's going to happen next. That's the problem when you can't see into the future," Jamie could hear a smile in his voice. "But we're all in this together. So if you ever feel like you can't handle the weight of this on your shoulders, I'll be there to take some of it away. And I'm sure that Alexa would be there right beside me to help if need be."

"I know… I just didn't want to worry you guys…" her eyes began to droop. "I just didn't know how to tell you something like this… it's a relief that you know now." Her head then laid itself on his chest, too tired for her to hold it up. She could hear his heart beat, slow but rhythmic. It made her feel even more at peace and want to sleep.

Ken yawned, also feeling just as tired. "I agree. I was so nervous about talking to you… not exactly experienced in this field," he let out a soft chuckle. "Alexa tried to help me," he stated, a grin forming across his lips, "I guess I owe her." He then let his head fall back on the van wall, with eyes beginning to close.

Jamie sighed, making the same realization. "I guess… I do… too…" her voice faded with her falling to sleep in Ken's warm arms. Soon he was out too. Both dreaming of happy thoughts, thoughts of them being together and even the ones of Alexa constantly telling them "I told you so," with a grin.

Well that's it for part one. I know, you're all probably wondering "But what about Alexa and Chase?" The answer will appear in the beginning of the second part. And of course there will be plenty more romance and humor coming up.

And as I said, Alexa's first sketch, the design, will be up on my deviant art as we speak. Then with the next chapter the poll shall close on what picture will you want see drawn of this story. Remember the choice is between a Chase and Alexa picture (which will mean one of the scenes from the story which you all will decide) and an entire group picture with Chase, Alexa, Jamie, Ken and Marsh (it would be a medley of things in one). So again, if you haven't already, drop a PM or say it the review and I'll do my best to draw it. And something else I didn't mention before. Along with the sketch there will be another picture… my quick sketch of Alexa. I hope to have some of you leave a comment on whether you expected her to look like that or not. So I hope to see you there!

But other than that note, be sure to leave a review anyways and I'll come at you with the next chapter soon!