Thanks to everyone who's read this so far.
The next morning, Aki took her bags and herself to the airport. Leaving her car to be shipped also, she caught a cab.
They checked all her belongings, which Aki found to be very tedious, and boarded the airplane.
The flight was over twelve hours long, plus stops. As she got closer to her destination, Aki flipped through the songs on her mp3 player and stopped to listen to 'Homecoming by Kanye West ft. Chris Martin.' 'Why is this up here?' she asked herself, but listened to it anyway. Her thoughts started to drift until she heard one line in the song.
'But if you really cared, then you wouldn't have never hit the airport to follow your dreams. . .'
Aki paused the song and then turned off the mp3 player completely. Then she thought to herself
'Do I really love him? No, Aki, you do love Yusei, don't believe anything different. He didn't want to hold us back from our dreams. He didn't want to-'
"Attention passengers, we will be landing in Neo Domino City in twenty minutes, I repeat, twenty minutes. Thank you." The voice stated over the intercom.
When Aki landed, she searched for her parents.
Aki! We're over here!" she heard her mother yell. She ran over to her parents and hugged them tightly.
"Mom, Dad, it's so good to see you guys again, and it's good to say I can see you more often from now on." Aki told her parents happily.
On the ride home, they talked about her time in Germany and how things were in Neo Domino City. Sure they had talked often, but not every day and not every detail. As they were talking Setsuko couldn't help but notice her daughter seemed distracted.
"Are you okay, Aki? You seem distracted." Setsuko asked. She had a hint of worry in her voice.
"Huh? Oh, no just wondering about what's changed is all." Responded Aki casually.
"Well, your friend Yusei has been making the city a better place." Hideo commented. "He's been working on perfecting the new reactor for the past eight years now."
"Hmm. Then he must be very busy." Aki commented plainly.
"Yes, I hear he works very late nights." Hideo added.
With that the car stopped. They had arrived at the house. Aki had stated that she would take a shower then rest. The flight was uncomfortable for her, to some extent. They said they would call her for dinner.
\After Aki took her shower, she went to her room to take a short nap before dinner. However, sleep wouldn't come to her. All she could think about was Yusei.
'I wonder if he still lives at Poppo Time. Probably not, he's the head scientist of project Fortune for Pete sake. Then again, it was his home. There are lots of memories there that are important to him, I hope. Maybe I'll visit him tomorrow. Tomorrow's Friday, he'll have to work, and from what I hear-late.'
Aki was called for dinner. They continued to talk about Aki's experiences in Germany. She told them how she had a tough time learning the German language and culture. After the conversation ran out of points to talk about, Aki had a question to ask her parents.
"Yusei heads the project Fortune, right?" she asks.
"Yes, he has for the past eight years." Her father answers. "Why?"
"I was just wondering. Where is his building again?" Aki adds.
"Why, planning on visiting him?" Hideo teased.
"Maybe," Aki responds bashfully. "And if I did, what would be the problem? He is my closest friend who I haven't seen in person for eight years." Aki added defensively.
"He's just kidding, Aki." Her mother commented.
"I am just kidding Aki. Anyway, he works in the Science Department Center. It's the tall glass building in the center of the city." Hideo said, finally answering her question.
"Hmm. Then maybe I will visit him." Aki said quietly.
With that, Aki finished her meal and headed for bed. After all, she did have a big day tomorrow.
Terrible cliffhanger, I know. And yeah, I could have updated every day, but then I wouldn't have the pleasure of thinking of your suspense.