Chapter 22 – Lesbos

A/N: I took EXTREME liberties with this chapter. The Skala Eressos Women's Festival is a thing. I researched it and the parameters/specifications of the festival are nowhere near what I wrote. If you want more info:

I haven't written a day-to-day accounting of their time in Skala Eressos so I have tried to make whatever time jumps obvious. The Festival (in the story) takes place September 5-19. Santana plays Friday the 6th at 10pm, Saturday the 7th at 8pm, Sunday the 8th at 3pm & 8pm, Friday the 13th at 8pm, Saturday the 14th at 10pm, Sunday the 15th at 10pm. (Hopefully, those days/dates/times will help keep things clear).

I also did some research on Friday the 13th :)

xoxoxoxoxo

They landed on Lesbos at four-thirty in the afternoon on September 5th, rented a car, and drove immediately to Skala Eressos. They went to The Artemis House Taverna for dinner and asked to speak to Petrina after they'd eaten.

"Ladies! How wonderful to see you again!" Petrina greeted them warmly. She had Santana's guitar with her.

"I have you staying at the Sappho Hotel," she told them, handing over the guitar.

"You aren't performing until ten p.m. tomorrow so feel free to wander the festival; check out the vendor booths and the food stalls. I think you'll really enjoy it." She smiled and handed them folder with information on the festival, all access wrist bands for admission to the festival, information on when and where Santana would be performing, and a key card holder with two key cards for the Sappho Hotel. "I'm sure you'll want to get settled and I will see you tomorrow at nine-thirty at the stage." She smiled again before walking away.

"Well," Santana looked at Britt, "let's go get settled and take in some sights."

xoxoxoxoxo

They had enjoyed spending time wandering Skala Eressos around Santana's performance schedule. There were so many talented women exhibiting art, playing music, Djing, selling hand-crafted items, and the food was amazing.

The women seemed to really enjoy Santana's music and she was starting to get recognized as they enjoyed the sights and activities. True to her "tradition", she brought Brittany up for one song and the last song was always a love song dedicated to Brittany.

Santana was scheduled to play Friday the thirteenth and Brittany was nervous about it.

"Saaan …"

"Britt, come on, it's just a day. I promise, it'll be fine." She walked over and kissed Brittany softly. "I promise."

Brittany huffed. "It's just … bad luck."

"Britt, we're in Lesbos, it's not unlucky here."

"What?"

"Yeah, I looked it up. There's no real, like, origin but it's suspected that it stems from the Bible; because of Judas being the thirteenth apostle and bad stuff happening on Fridays. Around the world, people don't view it the same way: in Spain, it's Tuesday the thirteenth; in Italy it's the seventeenth of any month. It's just a superstition, baby.

"People also think of thirteen as being cursed because it's the number after twelve. A lot of people see twelve as a number that completes things. Like … twelve months are in a year, twelve inches in a foot, twelve pairs of ribs in a body … stuff like that. People get weird about it because it causes them to think about the unknown—beyond the number twelve "

Brittany still looked skeptical.

"How about … I promise to keep my eyes open and be extra careful. No walking to the edge of the stage, I'll make sure I know where all the cable are, stuff like that?"

Brittany sighed but relented. "Okay. Fine. I just wish I'd have realized it when you were booking the dates."

Santana booped her nose. "I'll be fine."

And she was … for the performance.

Xoxoxoxoxo

Santana had just finished singing "After All" for Brittany, waved to the crowd, came down off the stage, and kissed her girlfriend.

"See? No problem."

Brittany was relieved. She knew, mathematically, that bad things weren't more or less likely to happen on the thirteenth but she still had a number of superstitions that she couldn't logic away.

"I am really glad that's over. So, it's nine-thirty. Whaddya wanna do?"

"I'd really like to just walk around some more. Let's drop off my guitar and I can change into more appropriate clothes and shoes and then just … wander." She smiled at Brittany who nodded.

Xoxoxoxoxo

Santana had changed from her heels and form-fitting mini-dress into a pair of black slacks, a pair of Chucks, and a long-sleeved, red & black, striped shirt because the evenings were getting cooler.

They were holding hands and looking at some of the hand-crafted items when Santana spotted a beautiful pair of lapis lazuli earrings that reminded her of Brittany's eyes. She tugged Britt forward and lifted the earrings to Britt's face.

"Perfect." She smiled happily and paid the woman for the earrings.

"San … you didn't have to …"

"They're perfect. They bring out your eyes." She placed a small peck on the blonde's lips before moving onto the next stall.

Santana hadn't noticed when Brittany slowed her steps to look at something. She wandered around a corner and found home-made fudge. She was eyeing the fudge when someone grabbed her roughly by the waist and lips attached themselves to her neck.

That wasn't Britt's arm and those certainly weren't Britt's lips.