An American Girl

Part 2

Invisible Tomorrow

By Nick Maro

The sharp crack of thunder slowly woke David from his slumber. A fierce storm raged outside in surrounding the Chicago area. He lay on his side with his girlfriend Kaori's arm wrapped around his mid-section. He let his eyes adjust to the dim light in the hotel room he and Kaori shared with his childhood friends Eiji and Ken. An arc of lightning momentarily blinded him when he realized he was facing the balcony door. The drapes were pulled partially closed in front of the windows, but he could have sworn he saw a person's silhouette.

Carefully slipping out of bed trying not to wake Kaori, he tip-toed his way to the drapes. The clash of thunder caused him to pause for a moment. He heard Kaori roll over in her sleep. David parted the drapes carefully and looked outside. A new flash of lightning lit up the sky overhead and he saw a woman standing on the balcony in the pouring rain. Her hair blew in the gusts of wind. Her back was to the window and he knew right away who it was.

David unlocked the balcony door and slipped outside into the storm. He closed the door quietly and smiled to himself. "[I thought you were staying in Japan for another week, Yukio.]"

The young ninja turned and didn't smile at David. "[I felt I needed to protect Kaori. She is now a part of my oath of protection.]" She turned back around and looked out at the storm that was howling all around the city.

"[What's wrong? You're upset about something.]"

"[You left on a dangerous mission and didn't tell me. I am your bodyguard. I still owe you my life for saving my clan.]" She turned back to look at David. He couldn't tell if she was crying or if it was the rain on her face.

David sighed and ran a hand through his now soaked hair. "[I'm sorry. Everything was just so chaotic at that time and you were at the Arashikage fortress.]" He paced slowly while lightning flashed again overhead and thunder clapped almost immediately. "[You're free of your debt. You've paid it back so many times I can't count. You're my friend. Hell, you're my clan sister and that's all I want you to be.]"

Yukio leaned against the balcony side and looked at him. A small smile broke across her lips. "[But if I want to be your protector I can be right?]" David hesitated, but nodded slowly. "[It gives me a sense of purpose, David-san. I still feel I owe you even if you don't.]" She took both of his hands in hers.

The symphony of light and sound overhead caused both David and Yukio to look up and watch the lightning dance. He led Yukio toward the sliding door. "[Let's get inside and dried off. I don't think Eiji is back yet so you can share the bed with Ken.]"

"[That's okay, I'll just meditate on the floor.]" Yukio kissed David on the cheek. "[That's from the woman who loves you as her best friend, David.]" She giggled as she saw David blush as he opened the sliding door. Inside they found Kaori sitting on the edge of the bed awake. She was going over her scripts for her next three issues on her laptop. She seemed a bit surprised at Yukio's presence, but inside she knew it wasn't a surprise at all. David came out of the bathroom with two towels for Yukio and Kaori let lent her a spare change of clothes for the next day.

Ken remained oblivious to everything happened until he woke up to Yukio standing over him. Her hand was on the hilt of her katana. Ken tried everything not to scream until she spoke through clenched teeth. "[Would you please stop that damned snoring? People are trying to sleep and meditate.]"

Ken slowly nodded and she went back to kneeling at the foot of David and Kaori's bed. He heard them both snicker with their backs to him. Ken kicked his sheets off and started walking to the bathroom. "You guys are such assholes." Yukio joined Kaori and David in their laughter.

Waking to the smell of freshly brewing coffee, Roxy rolled over on her back and slowly opened her eyes. She saw Jetta reading the morning paper at the desk in their hotel room. Her throat was dry and raspy. "So did I oversleep, Sheila? Or did you just want to see me walk around like a living zombie?"

Jetta sipped her coffee and giggled. "Neither, luv, but I did take the liberty of orderin' breakfast for you. So if you don't mind the guy seein' your boobies there, I'd put on a shirt or somethin'." A sly smile crossed her lips as she brought her coffee cup to her mouth. "Personally I'd love to see the reaction on his face at seein' them." She sipped her coffee while dodging a sock that Roxy threw at her.

Roxy kicked the sheets off of her and sat on the edge of the bed. She held back a yawn and scratched her belly. She stood and cracked her back and let out a sigh of relief. "I'm going to actually take a shower. I should give Johnny a call and have him tell the rest of Red Aces to meet at his bar tonight. I can't wait for you to meet them." She walked over and took a sip from Jetta's coffee, then kissed her quickly. She grabbed a fresh change of clothes and went into the bathroom.

By the time Roxy had got out of the bathroom breakfast had arrived. She sat down on the edge of the bed again and pulled the cover off of the plate of pancakes that Jetta had ordered for them both. They were still hot. She poured the warmed syrup on her pancakes and smiled at Jetta. She couldn't believe that it wasn't that long ago that she and Jetta couldn't stand each other. Now they were in love.

"Wot's wrong?" Jetta chewed her mouthful of toast.

"Nothing, I was just thinking about us and how you make me happy when a few years back you drove me insane." Roxy began cutting her breakfast.

"Yeah, I love you too, ya silly tart." Jetta giggled when Roxy did. They finished their breakfast making small talk about what to do for the day. After breakfast, Roxy gave Johnny a call on her cell phone. He told her he'd call her after he talked to everyone and what time to show up at his bar. Jetta went into the shower while Roxy talked on the phone. She couldn't wait to meet Roxy's childhood friends.

Kimber and Stormer knocked on the door of David and Kaori's hotel room. A yawning Ken opened the door. His face turned bright red when he saw the two women standing before him. "Hey, I'm really, really, really, sorry for walking in last night. I wasn't thinking and I should've knocked. I'm just so sorry for doing that." Ken felt his face heat up again.

Laughing softly, Stormer turned to Kimber and they each kissed Ken's cheek. "You were gentlemanly enough to run out like a scared little girl, Ken. Besides, we all see each other nude sooner or later when you're in a band together. I think letting Mary smack you with the magazine was enough of a punishment." Kimber giggled again.

"Yeah, it's not like you had a camera or anything. You just startled us is all." Stormer slipped her backpack off and opened it. She pulled a sketchbook out. "But hey, we were wondering if Kaori was still here. We wanted to show her the modifications we made on the cover sketch she did for us."

"Sorry, you just missed her. David, Yukio and herself all went to get Yukio registered for the rest of the con." Ken saw the confusion on the two women's faces. "I have no idea when she arrived. Something told me it would just be one of those stories."

"I'm not even gonna ask when we see them." Stormer put the sketchbook back into her backpack. "We'll just see her in Artist's Alley."

Kimber hid her yawn behind her hand and said her farewell to Ken. Together she and Stormer began walking down the hall of the hotel. She walked along the open balcony area that went around the floor. All eleven floors of the hotel looked out to a terrace. It reminded Kimber of a hanging garden. She looked down from the floor they were on. It was seven floors straight down.

Getting a slight headache Stormer held the sides of her head and groaned. Something was about to happen but she didn't know what. By the time she saw it happen it was too late. A man came up next to Kimber and pushed her over the edge of the terrace. He grabbed her backpack that was loosely draped over one of her shoulders and ran off down the hallway. Stormer grabbed Kimber's arm quickly. Her other arm was grabbed by a man in glasses and short dark hair.

"Hang on there, we've got you." He turned and looked at where the man who pushed Kimber had gone. He and Stormer pulled Kimber over the edge to the floor of the hallway. The man then took after Kimber's assailant as fast as he could without another word. Stormer helped Kimber to her feet. After a few minutes the man who helped Kimber returned with her backpack over his shoulder. He handed it to her with a smile. "Here you go. One backpack, nothing missing or broken."

Kimber ignored the backpack and hugged her rescuer tightly. She kissed him on the cheek and then hugged Stormer. "So do you just randomly save falling women or was this just a fluke?"

"Oh you know how it is a comic book convention and all. The inner superhero has to show sooner or later. By the way, my name is Alan." He gave the two women a knowing smirk. "And you're Kimber Benton and Mary Phillips."

"I told you people would know us here, Kim."

Alan chuckled and pointed to their chests. "It's not that you're famous, you have your names on your badges. One of the things I try to get a look at when I meet new people at conventions. I take it it's your first time to one of these." They both nodded. "I don't want to impose, but would you mind if I showed you around?" Kimber quickly wrapped her arm around his as her answer. Alan led the two friends back to his room so he could get his badge and backpack. He then showed them the shortcuts around the convention and got to know each of the musicians.

After walking around the convention floor for a few hours, Kimber suggested that they stop and get lunch. Alan led them to the cafeteria that was near the entrance that they came in. Kimber paid for their food and Stormer found an empty booth. Alan sat facing the two young ladies. He put steak sauce on his hamburger and ignored the questioning look he got from Stormer and Kimber.

Kimber shook her head and stole a fry from his plate. "So what were you going to say about our music?"

"Oh that." Alan swallowed his bite and set his food down. "I was just saying that both of your early albums were very good but it was lacking something. There are a few songs that stick out and all but the rest is pretty much forgettable. Not forgettable bad, but rather it was missing that special something. It was almost as if the constant fighting between your two bands was in fact holding you back musically. Go back and listen to the albums again and I'm sure you'll see what I mean."

Stormer arched an eyebrow and chewed her food in thought. "So were you a music major in school?"

"Nope, English major. The comparison of your music between now and when you first started speaks volumes of how you've grown." Alan took a sip of his drink. "You can tell when you dedicated yourselves to your music. I do this kind of comparison when I write my own. Sometimes I just forget to stop." He let out a soft chuckle. "If you'll excuse me a moment I need to make room for more Coke."

Kimber and Stormer both nodded and Alan slid out of his booth seat and disappeared around the corner. "I like him, Mary. He's honest about our music. Maybe we should let him look at what we've done with our new album. Get an unbiased opinion." Stormer agreed and finished her lunch.

The two women turned when Pizzazz sat in the booth where Alan was sitting. She slumped in the seat obviously tired. "So, why is Ken in my room?"

"Oh, we decided to kick him out last night after he saw Kim and me naked on accident. It's a funny story. Hope you don't mind sharing the room with us."

"It's fine. I was just wondering where my clothes were." Pizzazz took a few fries from Alan's tray. "So who's sitting here? Hitomi?"

"It's mine." Alan sat back down in the booth seat while Pizzazz moved over to give him room. Kimber introduced Pizzazz and Alan to each other. He made small talk and finished his food and collected the trays together. "Anyway, I'm sure you guys have places to be and I don't want to be a pain. So it was a pleasure meeting you." Alan slid out of the booth and put the trays by the garbage.

Kimber ran up to him before he could vanish into the crowd. "Hey, listen I still have to pay you back for earlier. But Mary and I wanted to know if you could look over the music we've done for our new album together. What you said earlier struck home with me. It kind of hurt because I'm the writer of most of The Holograms lyrics, but it was the truth. They were missing something and I don't want that to happen again. Also, if you're not doing anything tonight, Suzaku is playing at a club downtown. You're invited as a special guest."

Alan looked out into the convention area and then back at the young redhead. "So you really don't think I'm an asshole. I honestly thought I came across as an asshole." He smirked and nodded. "Of course I'll look at what you and Mary have done. And after the Suzaku concert I'll bring you guys to a few company parties here." He followed Kimber back to the table. Stormer then joined them and they went back to their room.

Giving Jetta's hand a light squeeze Roxy opened the door to the Red Aces bar. The sound of the live band mixed with the laughter of old friends greeted them. Roxy waited by the doorway and took in the scene before her. It had been a long time since she had seen her childhood friends like this. She let go of Jetta's hand and smirked at her girlfriend. Roxy climbed up on top of the bar and yelled at the top of her voice. "Hey! What the hell is this? The prodigal daughter comes back and no one notices?"

The band stopped playing and everyone turned to look at Roxy. There was a mixed reaction to her outburst. Jetta tried to hide her smile as best as she could behind her hand. Roxy turned and smirked at the crowd. "Goddamn it's great to see everyone!" She jumped down from the bar top and hugged Link tight. "Who do you think called Johnny to get this party together? I wanted him to keep my being here a surprise after I got some personal stuff outta the way. So I figured we all might as well get the old gang back together." Roxy was now getting nervous that she may have offended her old friends. A sea of angry faces stared at her.

Link looked around at the crowd in the bar. "You see, I told you she'd fall for it." The Red Aces all rushed up and hugged Roxy tight. Link whispered in her ear softly, "Johnny had the great idea to make it look like we were pissed at you because he knew you would pull some fake prima donna shit." He gave her a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. Roxy waved Jetta over and she made the proper introductions to her old friends. She smiled as her friends greeted Jetta as if she was an old friend.

Jerrica sat in her office at home going over Starlight Music's financial reports. She was starting to get concerned about the company's earnings. Quite frankly it looked as if the company on the verge of going broke. She studied her chart that she had made on a piece of scrap paper. Ever since she revealed that she was Jem her investors were slowly pulling out. Jem's albums were selling steadily, but that wasn't enough to keep the company afloat.

Pulling up the stock report on her laptop, Jerrica rubbed her tired eyes. It wasn't even eight o'clock at night and she was exhausted. Her heart sank even though she had expected to see that her stocks were falling quickly. She picked up the phone and dialed the only person she could think of that could help her. Jerrica waited while the phone rang and tapped her nails on her desk top. The other end finally picked up. "Hello, Evelyn? Its Jerrica, I need your help."

Kimber took a final bow and left the stage in the small club. She walked over to the table where her friends sat. A waitress gave her a bottle of beer which she sipped and sat next to her new friend Alan. She looked back and noticed that Suzaku remained on stage. Ken approached the microphone, looked her way and smirked. "Right now I'd like to bring up on stage one of my best friends. We're going to cover a classic, one that the legendary Ramones covered a few years back."

David winked at the rest of the table and began moving toward the stage. He took the guitar that Eiji handed him. David played a few chords before counting down. The audience knew the song immediately and started singing along to the classic Spider-Man theme. Suzaku finished the song and Ken began playing a new song. Once again the audience knew the song and started to sing the Speed Racer theme with the band.

Suzaku finished playing the song and they all took a bow. David hugged his old friends and thanked the audience again. He made his way back to the table with a big grin on his face. "Kim, blame the whole thing on Ken. It was completely his idea. Although, I do have to say it was a very amusing one. Hope you didn't mind."

"Why would I mind? I thought it was really cool and the crowd loved it." Kimber took a sip of her beer. She turned to Pizzazz and nudged her. "I've been meaning to ask, how did it go with the meeting last night?"

"It was cancelled. It's been rescheduled to Monday afternoon. So you guys can stay or you can head back to L.A. It's up to you." Pizzazz played with the label on her water bottle. "I have the jet coming back to get me on Tuesday." She gave a slight shrug.

"Kaori, Yukio and I are going to head back tomorrow night, Phyllis." David wiped the sweat from his forehead with a napkin and looked at it. "Kaori needs to finish her latest issue and I think one of us should be in the office. I mean we are running a music company." He paused when he felt his cell phone begin to vibrate. "I'm going to get this outside. It's Roxy." David left the table and headed outside of the club.

Hitomi leaned forward and smiled at Alan. "So, what do you do, Alan? I mean, besides from helping save singers from falling to their untimely demise."

"I own a few comic book stores in the area. I bought out a chain of stores from a guy I knew and somehow I turned them around." Alan gave a slight shrug and a humble smile. "I'm actually here at the convention as a fan and not on business. But I do have a booth here with some of my overstock. At one time I did have dreams of becoming a writer, but it's nearly impossible to break in these days."

"Could I see some of your scripts?" Alan smiled at Kaori and nodded. She turned and grinned at David when he sat back down next to her. "What did Roxy have to say?"

"She was just checking in to say hello." David waved the waitress over and ordered another round of drinks. "She inherited her aunt and uncle's house and she wants to renovate it so she can sell it. Sheila is getting along great with the Red Aces. They both wish they could be here and they miss us."

A few hours passed and Alan looked at his watch. He reached for his wallet and pulled out some money and handed it to David. "Here, this should cover part of the bill. I gotta go and try to get some sleep. It's going to be a long day tomorrow. I have to help break down the booth. It was great meeting you all. Stay in touch. I'd love to have Kaori do an in store signing sometime."

David handed Alan his money back. "I've got it covered. The least I can do for you. After all, you did help save Kimber's life and that's something I don't take lightly." He smiled when Alan eventually put the money back in his wallet. "We should head back also." He gestured to Kaori who was sleeping with her head on Stormer's shoulder. "Last thing I need is Kaori dozing off while greeting fans."

Stormer gently woke up Kaori who stretched and hid her yawn. David paid for the drinks that weren't on the house for Suzaku's performance. Kimber put her arm around Hitomi's waist and stood slowly. She was still slightly buzzed. She got her balance and caught up with Alan. "Wait up a second. Beer makes Kimber slow." She jogged up to him and grabbed for his arm. He reached around her shoulders to help balance her. "Thanks. I was hoping I could go back to the hotel with you. That is if you don't mind."

"Of course not, did you want to see if anyone else wanted to come with?"

Kimber felt her face turn red and she looked up at him. "Actually, I wanted to be alone with you for a change. Don't worry. I'm not gonna molest ya." She let out a slightly drunken giggle. Alan looked down at her amused. "I was thinking that if you're not too busy on Monday, maybe I could stay and go back to L.A. with Phyllis on Tuesday." She leaned up against his car and looked up at him with hopeful eyes.

Using his key fob, Alan unlocked his car while he thought about Kimber's suggestion and nodded. "Sure. Why not? Monday night I want to take you and Phyllis both out for dinner. No reason why she should stay in the hotel room alone all night." Alan got in the car and made sure that Kimber put on her seat belt. He pulled out of the club's parking lot and drove back to the hotel. He pulled into the hotel's parking garage. Kimber watched him as he drove up the garage looking for a parking space. He finally found a free space near the top.

Alan walked Kimber to her hotel room and said good night to her. They made plans to meet up in the morning. Kimber hugged him and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. She smiled and opened her hotel room door and slipped inside. She watched him the whole time as the door shut. When it finally shut and clicked, Kimber leaned her back again the door and sighed happily. She then saw Hitomi, Pizzazz and Stormer looking at her expectantly. "I don't want to hear anything and you ain't gettin' shit from me. I'm tired and going to bed."

Kimber changed into her nightgown and crawled into bed. As she drifted to sleep she heard the three other women singing Kissin' in a Tree using her name and Alan's. Kimber pulled the sheets over her head and growled, "You guys suck."

The blaring alarm clock slowly woke Roxy up. She moaned to herself and hit the snooze button. She let her head sink back into the pillow when she felt Jetta stir next to her. Jetta hugged her tight from behind and kissed her neck. "C'mon Sunshine, time to get our sexy asses out of bed. Me head is killin' me and I want breakfast." She rolled Roxy over who was now half asleep and straddled her mid-section.

Roxy rubbed her head and moaned. "You order breakfast and I'll lie here and take the number of the truck that hit us." She opened her eyes and blinked hard a few times. "When was the last time we partied like that anyway?"

Jetta leaned down and kissed Roxy quickly, then tickled her belly while getting off the bed. She picked up the phone and ordered breakfast. "I think the last time I remember gettin' that wasted with you was shortly after the Soulless One affair. We got drunk and naked. And that's all I remember from that night." She put her robe on and sat on the edge of the bed next to Roxy's head.

"I think it was after coming back from Cybertron. I still can't believe we went to another planet." She looked at the clock and smirked wickedly. "So, do we have time for a quickie?" Roxy laughed when Jetta slapped her butt in an answer. "Okay, okay. I'll be good. Gotta pee anyway." She sat up and immediately regretted it. Her whole head throbbed in agony and the room began to shift a little. She stood up and Jetta slapped her butt again. "Stop that. I was thinking maybe we should fly to Chicago today and to catch everyone at the convention. We can leave the car in the garage at the house."

"Sounds good to me, you pee and I'll check online for flights." Jetta sat at the desk and booted up her laptop computer. She booked a flight for herself and Roxy to Chicago that left in a few hours. After breakfast they packed their bags and checked out of the hotel.

TO BE CONCLUDED IN "NIGHT RAINBOW"

PART 3 OF AN AMERICAN GIRL