Finding My Way

Part 1

Shadows of the Night

By Nick Maro

Anticipation rose in his gut as David watched the plane begin its descent toward Los Angeles LAX airport. He glanced over at Kaori who was still sound asleep. She had her arms wrapped around his and she rested her head on his shoulder. He often wondered if he made as good of a pillow as everyone thought. He looked around the plane for a moment. The flight attendants were making their rounds in waking the sleeping passengers up.

David shook his shoulder lightly. Kaori hugged his arm tighter and grumbled in her sleep. Sighing to himself he shook his shoulder harder. "[Kaori, wake up. We're landing. We need to get our things together and sit up.]" He looked down at her as she started to blink the sleep from her eyes. She looked up at him with the sleepy grin he always found cute.

"[What are we going to do first when we land?]" Kaori stretched in her seat before buckling her belt. She hid her yawn behind the back of her hand.

"[I don't want to let anyone know we're back just yet. So I think we'll just get a hotel room and settle down there for a bit.]" David kissed her forehead and hugged her as best as he could. "[I'm just thinking of this as a mini-vacation from everyone. We needed time to be alone just between you and me.]"

"[Yes we did, David-kun.]" She chuckled after calling him that, knowing that it annoyed him. Kaori noticed that only Hitomi was allowed to call him that, but that was because they had been close friends for years. She didn't mind though. Hitomi was a nice young woman, even if she was a little hyper from time to time. "[Can we splurge on room service this time? You didn't let us in Chicago and my company was paying for the room.]"

Nodding and chuckling David agreed to get extra room service and she cheered silently in her seat. "[I just didn't want you to bankrupt your publisher. I mean, we had Ken in our room and you know how he eats. I swear he wants to become a sumo wrestler sometimes.]" He looked out the window again. They had begun to circle the airport. In moments they would be on the ground. He personally couldn't wait to stretch his legs.

Kaori sat back in her seat and slipped her hand around David's. He knew that she didn't like take off or landing in planes. She thought she was just being silly about it, but David told her it was a common fear in flying. The plane bounced softly as it landed on the airstrip. It bounced a couple more times as it started to slow down. A low rumble began in the rear of the plane. A shrill screeching noise followed the rumble. That's when the chaos began.

The plane began to spin out of control as the landing gear in the rear of the plane buckled on their way to the terminal. Kaori gripped David's hand tighter as she shut her eyes close. David held her to his side and whispered in her ear that they would be alright. Oxygen masks fell down from overhead. They each ignored the masks and waited for the plane to stop. Neither heard the screams of the other passengers.

Once the plane had stopped, David held Kaori back from getting off of the plane right away. He didn't want her to get trampled by the passengers trying to get off. The flight attendants weren't handling the emergency like they were trained to do. He saw that the attendants weren't even at the doors helping people off. He looked to the rear and saw one of the attendants trying to get to the door.

David unbuckled his seatbelt and gave Kaori a reassuring look. "[I need to help.]" She slowly nodded her hesitation as David easily balanced on the back of his seat. He carefully made his way to the struggling attendant. "Kick your shoes off and take my hand. I'll help you get to the front of the plane." The young woman took his hand and he helped her balance on the backs of the seats. They slowly and carefully made their way to the door of the plane.

The flight attendant thanked David as he made his way back to Kaori. She began directing people on how to exit the plane down the inflatable ramp. David reached Kaori quicker than he expected. "Gather up your stuff. I'm glad all we brought was carryon luggage." David waited for the people in their aisle to clear before they were able to open the overhead compartment and grab their bags.

Kaori walked as best as she could up the incline to the exit. She hugged her bag to her chest and jumped out, sliding down the yellow emergency ramp. David was right behind her with his luggage. They moved to the side where most of the other passengers were waiting while emergency crews worked on the plane. David hugged Kaori from behind and as they watched the workers.

Coming out of the shower, David towel dried his hair. He pecked Kaori on the lips as he walked past her. "[Well, I didn't expect for the airline to spring for our hotel room for the night. But I guess that's how the old Gabor luck goes.]" He hopped once pulling his jeans up to his waist. "[Did you want to stay in or go out for dinner?]"

"[I honestly don't know how you can think of dinner, when we were almost killed.]" Kaori changed into a fresh shirt and tousled her hair lightly. "[Do you believe what the airline company said?]"

David gave a light shrug as he put on his own shirt. "[It's entirely possible that the gear collapsed. Stuff that like happens everyday. I don't think it was an attack or anything on us. For once we're attack clear.]" He picked Kaori up into his arms as she let out a squeak of joy and kissed her again. "[Let's just go out for once and forget everything that has happened lately. We deserve it. No mystery attackers. No deadlines. No Misfits. How's that sound?]"

Kaori rested her head against David's chest and let out a soft purr. "[That sounds wonderful. You pick the restaurant, I'm gonna wash up.]" She went into the bathroom and grinned as David went looking in the nightstand for the telephone book. It made her happy to see him in a carefree mood. She was almost certain recent events would have stripped him of that ability.

"[We have eight o'clock reservations at the Red Rock. What do want to do until then?]" Taking him by surprise Kaori rushed him from the bathroom and tackled him to the bed. He smiled when she ran her hands up his shirt. "[But we just got dressed.]" They both chuckled and playfully tickled each other. Kaori popped an ice cube in her mouth and gave him a wicked smirk. David suspected that they might be missing their dinner reservations. At least there was always room service.

Keeping to the shadows of the forest, Pizzazz peeked around the trunk of the tree. She readjusted her grip on her gun while carefully scanning the tree line before her. She thought she saw movement in the bushes. It could've been a startled animal or it could've been someone from the enemy group. Pizzazz lightly stepped back and weaved her way back to the bunker. She ducked inside and set her gun down. "I think she saw me. Or maybe it was an animal."

Jetta checked the carbon dioxide cartridge on her paintball gun and smirked. "You gotta keep in mind that the girl is sneaky, `zazz luv. She knows she can't get us in here, but then again we can only stay in here for fifteen minutes at a time. So what we need is a good strategy. There's three of us and one of her." She pulled out a map of the forest they were in. "The best idea is to get her in crossfire. I just wish Mary was here to help out."

"So do I, we could really use that little psychic power of hers right now." Roxy pulled her goggles to the top of her helmet. "So what's the plan, Sheila? How do we pin down a trained ninja in a paintball game?"

"I was afraid you'd ask that." Jetta smirked when Pizzazz and Roxy each rolled their eyes at her. "It's not as bad as it sounds. Just one of us will have to play decoy. They'll have to lead Yukio out into the open so that the other two can nail her with a paintball. Or so I hope." For the next few minutes the three Misfits plotted how they were going to pin down Yukio into their ambush. Jetta's stopwatch beeped signaling their time was up for hiding in the bunker.

The three Misfits made their way out of the small bunker and went to the posts they agreed on. Roxy picked up some branches that had been broken off from a few bushes. She placed them around her camouflaged helmet in hopes that it helped her. Jetta chuckled softly at her best friend. They each split off and hid along the main trail of the paintball grounds. Pizzazz took off in search of Yukio. She had volunteered to be the bait.

After waiting for what seemed to an eternity, both Jetta and Roxy heard running come toward them. They exchanged ready hand signals and put their fingers on their gun's triggers. Pizzazz came running around the bend pointing up into the trees. Each woman pointed their guns upward and waited to catch a glimpse of Yukio. Roxy saw movement over Jetta's shoulder and quickly fired in that direction. Jetta turned and found nothing there.

Pizzazz looked around for the ninja in the trees and on the ground. She swore under her breath. Yukio suddenly dropped down on Pizzazz, tagging her with the flat edge of her blade. Roxy and Jetta turned when Pizzazz yelped. They each fired when they saw Yukio, who gracefully dodged the balls of paint, as if they were moving in slow motion. She ran toward Jetta while Roxy fired at her and accidentally hitting Jetta instead. She gave her girlfriend the best sorry look she could.

Yukio giggled gleefully while doing a back flip toward Roxy. She slapped Roxy on the butt with the flat edge of her sword and smiled sweetly at the Misfit. "I believe I win. Good try though." She sheathed her sword and brushed her hair out of her face. "I think three women owe me dinner now."

Roxy couldn't help but to giggle when she looked at Jetta. "I'm really sorry for hitting you. She just dodged like it was nothing. I didn't mean to eliminate you. Friendly fire." She put her gun strap over her shoulder and spread her arms wide. "Go ahead. Take your best shot. I deserve it." She shut her eyes and waited for the pain of the paintball hitting her.

"It's okay, Rox. I'm not gonna shoot you. It was an accident." Jetta lowered her gun and Roxy put her arms down. She then shot Roxy in the leg. "Oops. I just shot you on accident."

"Ow! Fuck! That really hurt!" Roxy rubbed her leg and glared at Jetta as she began to run to the paintball club house. She looked at Yukio and Pizzazz who were trying to hide their amused grins. "What are you grinning at?"

"Nothing," they each said together then started laughing out loud. Roxy rolled her eyes and limped the rest of the way back to the club house.

Sitting on the living room couch, Kimber signed an eight by ten photo of herself. She paused for a moment and flexed her hand and wrist. She and Stormer were each personally answering fan mail and signing photos. Kimber grabbed an ice pack from the freezer and put it on her wrist. "I think we still have maybe another five million letters to answer." She smiled when Stormer weakly chuckled. "I'm done for the day. I officially have a new rule. No more answering fan mail unless it's important. I'll just send a picture."

Stormer stretched and groaned when her back cracked loudly. "Oh so am I. I really should've gone paintballing with The Misfits. I know Phyllis wanted to discuss the new album. That reminds me, I was thinking we could just tour with The Misfits. Be the opening act. I don't mind playing two shows a night. I haven't played in so long I know I could do it." She signed the final picture in her pile and stretched again.

"That's a great idea. I was wondering what we were going to do about touring. This way our tour plans won't conflict with each other." Kimber poured herself a cup of tea then offered one to her best friend. Stormer quickly agreed to it. "How is that album coming anyway? I know you have the concept for the art, but what about the songs?"

"We're starting to record on Monday. Phyllis wants us to take the weekend off to relax and get ready. So while they're playing war with Yukio, I'm doing the Kimber and Stormer fan mail thing." Stormer sipped her tea then added more sugar. "Besides, what else was I gonna do? Chip went back to Autobot City to help Spike with a few things, might as well spend time with my best friend."

"Good point. Alan is in Chicago taking care of some business there. He's considering moving out here." Kimber turned her face slightly when Stormer looked up at her; a slight look of shock and amusement on her face. "See. That's why I didn't say anything. I know that look and no, I'm not moving in with him. He's just tired of racking up frequent flyer miles to see me and me going to see him. We agreed to wait at least six months before we even thought about anything like moving in. We're playing it smart."

Stormer giggled and started stacking the envelopes she had filled and sealed. "Well, I for one am happy for the both of you. Chip and I have a similar deal going. Except for us it's a year." She gave a slight shrug and grinned shyly.

Turning the kitchen faucet on, Kimber began washing the dirty dishes. She paused and turned around to Stormer. "I was just thinking, Mary, about the concert tours. Anyway, remember a few years back how a few singers would do mall tours? They would go to the mall and sing there."

"We are not doing a mall tour, Benton!"

Kimber rolled her eyes. "I was just reflecting is all, the more I remember, the more stupid the concept was. Sounds like something Eric would have The Holograms do if he was in charge." The two friends locked eyes at the thought and started laughing hard.

Glancing back at the blonde woman who was asleep on her couch, Astral wondered what she should do about Rapture. She knew that she needed to call Richard, but didn't know what to say. Deep down, she wondered if he didn't already know that Rapture's powers had reawakened. She wanted to help Rapture rediscover herself first. It felt like the best thing she could do.

Astral looked at the time and yawned. She stretched in her office chair and stood. Gently she woke up Rapture and walked with her to the spare room. The room was filled with Stingers posters and CDs. Rapture was desperately trying to find a trigger to her memories. Astral was doing her best to keep Rapture's spirits up by constantly reassuring her that they would do this together. Rapture said good night to her friend and went to bed in hopes that the next day would bring answers to her questions.

Putting the brochures for various wedding planners aside, Jerrica rubbed the bridge of her nose. She and Rio still hadn't set a date for the wedding or how big they wanted the wedding to be. Personally she felt a small wedding with just close family and friends would be best. But deep down she knew that it might be better publicity to have a big wedding. She looked out at the pool house where Rio was living until they were married. They agreed it would be a good place for him to stay until then. It helped the younger Starlight Girls get used to having a man around the house.

Looking at the time she got up and began making breakfast for the Starlight Girls. They were finally on holiday break, but she didn't want them sleeping in until noon. Aja came down the stairs when she smelled the food being cooked and helped her long time friend. "Well, I see someone can't sleep. Wedding jitters?"

"I wish. More like wedding anxiety attacks to the nth degree. Looking at the pamphlets from all of the halls, caterers and what have not's, I can see why a person would go insane planning a wedding." Jerrica took a sausage link and looked out at the pool house as she slowly chewed on it. "Should I just hire a wedding planner?"

Aja chuckled. "Let's just put that idea out of your mind. Has Shana said when she's leaving yet?"

Jerrica gave a slight nod. "She said sometime after the new year. Nothing specific, but she wants to spend the holidays with us and the girls. I get the feeling she's trying to spend every moment she can before she has to start work." She turned around and gave Aja a serious look. "What are your plans after we break up? Do you plan on moving away or staying and helping with the girls?"

"Nah, its something I really don't like to think about. But I think I'd stay near by and maybe open a fix it shop or something. I don't know. Knowing me, I'll just end up marrying Craig and tour with him and The Blue Bloods." Aja sat down with a small plate of food and began picking at it slowly.

One by one, the Starlight Girls began coming down the stairs when they smelled the breakfast that was cooked. Jerrica leaned down and whispered to her old friend, "We'll discuss this further later. I personally think The Holograms are over." Aja nodded slowly and went back to eating her breakfast.

Packing the last of his clothing into his carry on suitcase, he looked at the picture of the two young children he carried with him. It had been over twenty years since he had seen either one. He carefully put the picture frame between his clothing so it was protected. He checked his plane tickets over again to be sure he had the right boarding time. He knew he did he was just anxious to get on his way. He zipped up his suitcase and left the small apartment.

Wincing back at the slight feedback, Pizzazz glanced at Roxy who shrugged. She began playing where she had messed up staying away from the amplifier. Together The Misfits began practicing the instrumentals for their next single. It felt great to Pizzazz to finally start on a new album with her friends. She was slightly worried that perhaps Stormer was stretching herself thin with doing the duet album with Kimber.

Deep down she knew that Stormer would be able to pull it off. Pizzazz and the rest of The Misfits had agreed to the idea of Stormer and Kimber being the opening act of the concert. Jetta was afraid that Kimber and Stormer's duet album wouldn't be heavy enough to open The Misfits' concert until she heard the demo tapes. She was very surprised and pleased to hear that Kimber was going with more of an edge. It wasn't anything like she heard when Kimber sang with Suzaku or The Holograms.

Stormer was pouring herself heavily into her playing despite it just being practice. She didn't notice when everyone stopped playing and just watched her play. Roxy smirked and took a sip of her water. She'd never seen the young woman play this focused. Stormer finally stopped when she realized that everyone was watching her. She panted hard and smiled softly. "What?" she squeaked in her quiet way.

The other Misfits all chuckled to themselves and grinned. Pizzazz tousled her half sister's hair playfully. "Nothing. Just never seen you play like that. Everything okay between you and Chip?"

"Yeah, everything is great. I was just playing and zoning out. I was giving myself into the music and letting it guide me. Something David told me not too long ago about Zen." Stormer sat down and set her guitar down in her lap. "I asked him about his martial arts and why he thinks he's so good at it. He told me when he practices he doesn't think about what his next moves are. He just moves and lets the art take him through the motions. I figured that might work with music. So I just let myself get lost in the moment." She flashed a tiny smile. "How'd it sound?"

"It sounded fantastic. Just maybe you shouldn't let the music flow so much when we're actually trying to practice. Just a suggestion." Pizzazz gave a half shrug and set her guitar down. "But it's great to see we can still play together and sound good. Mary, I know you and Kimber are almost done with your album. So I was thinking we could start laying down tracks for our album once you're done. I was also wondering when you were going to do photo shoot for your album and the press work."

Stormer thought for a moment. "I'd say we could start in about a month or so. Kim and I plan on working through the holidays. We want to get this finished soon. Of course, Kim suggested that both albums should be released on the same day. I kinda like that idea. Since it is Misfits Music putting them both out, it's your call Phyllis."

"I'll think about it. I think it would be a good promotional tool for the tour." Pizzazz checked the time and began packing up her guitar. "I have a meeting with Eric about buying Stinger's Sound. With Riot unable to sing and Rapture in captivity in Autobot City, the company is going under. I was also thinking of bringing Eric back into the company on a provisional basis. I wanted to ask you guys for permission to let him manage the tour."

"As much as I hate to say it, `zazz, I think it's a good idea." Jetta put her drumsticks in her belt and stretched her arms. "Let's face it Eric has the experience needed to run a tour like this. This is just me personal opinion. I still think he's a right bastard."

Roxy chuckled as she locked her guitar in its case. "I have to agree with Sheila on this. He is a right bastard, but a right bastard who knows how to run a good tour." She looked over at Stormer who was leaning against an amp. "Mary, yay or nay? It's your call."

Letting out a soft sigh Stormer ran her fingers through her hair. "I want to say yes, but I have to ask Kimber about this first. I mean she is a part of the tour also. I think she deserves to have a say in the final decision, but I'm going with yes."

Pizzazz nodded and picked up her guitar case. "You're right that she does, Mary. I just won't mention the tour job to him at the meeting, but ask Kimber to get back to me about it as soon as she can." She looked at her watch again and rushed to the door. "I'll see you guys later." She left her friends in the studio with the odd feeling that things have come around to a strange full circle with the band.

The cool air from the open balcony softly blew over Kaori's naked body. She watched David look out over the city in the dark. He pulled the belt on his robe tight and scanned the night skyline like a hawk. Kaori slowly sat up and grabbed her own robe. She put it on and tied the robe close and hugged David tightly from behind. She pressed her head to his back and moaned quietly. She felt truly content with him.

David reached down and pressed her hands tight to his abdomen. Her hands both felt equally warm and soft. He smiled when he heard her moan in happiness again. "[It's nice to be back. I kinda missed the smog and air pollution.]" He felt Kaori giggle against his back. "[Listen, if I'm not here when you wake up, I'm just out for an hour or two. I wanted to just check up on Phyllis and everyone, but do it in my own way, okay?]"

Kaori nodded against his back then grabbed his hand. "[Come on, back to bed with you.]" She looked at him with a sexy smirk, untied her robe and let it drop. She then slowly slid onto the bed. She let out a squeal of surprise when David threw his robe off and jumped on the bed, tackling her to the other side. They both knew it was going to be a long night.

TO BE CONTINUED IN "NOSTALGIA"

PART 2 OF FINDING MY WAY