Celeste stared out the side of the plane as the flaps on the Boeing 747 extended for flight. The sound always comforted her, even though it meant eleven hours of travel. She had made the first three hours from Dallas to Los Angeles OK. Her father had chosen to take an earlier flight. He had to be to a Tuesday night prep meeting before talking with Yamamoto-san on Wednesday morning. She eased back into her chair and waited while everyone took their seat. It was nice being seated by the window. She wouldn’t have to move when the plane filled. The downside was the bathroom breaks halfway through the flight.
“Excuse me, is this seat taken?” Celeste looked up, startled to find Daniel smiling down at her. “Hey,” she exclaimed. He chuckled and sat down. “Didn’t expect to see me, did you?” he asked. She laughed and shook her head, “I can definitely say that I did not see this coming. What happened? I thought you couldn’t go.” Celeste asked. She had told Daniel about the trip, and invited him to join her. He was starting to become a really close friend. And selfishly, she wanted someone near that knew what she had been through. Her mind wandered to a few weeks ago. At least the dreams had stopped. She hadn’t had a vision in almost a month. Dr. Heisman was right─ the new medication was definitely helping.
“Well, I talked it over with Mike and he’ll be fine for a week, I needed a vacation anyway,” Daniel said. Mike, as she had come to find out, was Daniel’s partner. That explained why he had to take the call when she went to search the cave for Lain. Celeste really was at a loss, Lain had vanished off the face of the Earth. They had made all the usual spots that Celeste could think of, even abandoned children centers, foster care, and local shelters. No one had seen Lain. The thought of the little girl wandering the streets alone was devastating. That wasn’t really what was bothering her, and she knew it. The real thing that bothered here, was that she would never see the little girl again. Her pancakes she had eaten that morning suddenly didn’t seem so good in her stomach.
When she last called Lain’s foster parents, they were quick to get off of the phone and made up some lame story about Lain staying with family. Daniel and Mike had done a background check on Lain and she had no living relatives. In fact, Celeste had checked into Lain’s story about her parents and found out it was completely false. She was adopted as a baby, meaning she had never even known her family. Why the girl had chosen to lie to Celeste about her past was beyond her.
Lain must have felt embarrassed to not know her past. She could relate to that, but Celeste had long since accepted it for what it was. That still didn’t excuse the foster parents for beating Lain─ that much Celeste knew was true. It just went to show that you never really know someone, even when you thought you did. The most important thing right now was to find Lain and get her home as soon as possible. She prayed for the thousandth time that nothing bad had happened. Celeste really didn’t want to leave. Her father was kind enough to hire several private detectives to help Mike with the case. And more than likely ease her mind. Celeste suspected that Daddy had something to do with Daniel being here. He never had made it a secret that he disliked John, now she knew why. Good riddance.
“Hmm?” Daniel asked, leaning toward her. “I didn’t say anything,” she said. “Oh, no, I was wondering why you sighed.” She beamed at him and shook her head, “it’s nothing, don’t worry about it.” The announcer came over the intercom and told everyone to direct their attention to the screens in front of them for a short film. She watched the first few seconds as it thanked the passengers for choosing their airline and then started explaining emergency exists before her mind wandered to last week.
It was so amazing to see Anna again, even if it was just for a short time. They left on bizarre terms, but she felt good knowing that they were at least talking again. She felt her pocket vibrate and pulled out her cell phone. Speak of the Devil, she mused.
“Hey Anna, I’m so glad you called. I was just thinking of you,” Celeste said. There was a crackling of static on the other end, and then silence. “Hello?” Anna’s voice finally came through, “…can you hear me?” Celeste grinned before answering? “Now I can. Hey, Anna.”
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
She was reminded that they were about to take off as the engines roared to life on either side of the plane. “Celeste, I need to talk with you. I went by your house, but you weren’t there. Where are you?” Anna asked. The engines were so loud now that Celeste had to cover her right ear to hear Anna. “Hey, I’m sorry. I wish I could see you this week, but I can’t. I have to fly out to Tokyo with Daddy and do a translating job for him. Negotiations went really well last week, so he just needs me there to finish up the contract.” Anna started breaking up, all she could hear were a few words.
“No….it’s……can’t go…” the call dropped and she stared at the phone. The flight attendant walked past and politely asked that she switch off her phone. Celeste nodded and pushed the power button, stuffing it back into her pocket. She would have to call Anna back, and there was no way around it. She clasped at the ring in her pocket. It was the last thing Anna had left behind before she leaped from Celeste’s balcony. It was a dainty white gold band. She had never seen it worn by Anna before. The band was a delicate in size, yet it was beaten. It looked ancient─ it was at least a hundred years old. She wasn’t sure how she knew that, she just felt it resonate within the metal. There was a small inscription on the inside, but it was so tiny that Celeste couldn’t make it out. She was saving it to give back to Anna the next time she saw her. The cabin pressure popped her ears and she chewed gum in her mouth to keep them from hurting. She always hated take-offs.
* * *
Celeste stretched and kneaded her back as they walked down the hall from the plane. No matter how many times she made that flight, she could never get used to it. Inevitably by the eighth or ninth hour she was pacing the plane or going to the restroom just to get out of her chair. Thank goodness for the chair exercises they showed you at the end of the flight. It really helped keep her sanity.
She stopped off by the restroom and Daniel continued down the hall to the men’s. If it was one thing she adored about Japan, it was the heated seats on the toilet, especially when in the comfort of a hotel room. She couldn’t wait to snuggle with her pillow. It was a shame that it was only seven o’clock in the morning here. Jet-lag sucked. She walked out to see Daniel waiting on her and they followed the large crowd of people to the arrivals gate. He looked around at all the people and turned to her. She could tell that he felt out of place. Daniel was taller than six feet, he towered over most people, especially people here. The announcement came on and the shuttle train was there a few minutes later. Narita airport was packed at just about any time of year, but they lucked out since it was the off season. He held her hand as everyone shuffled onto the train. She gave it a squeeze and smiled up at him.
The first time she had visited Japan by herself, especially compared to travel in Texas, Celeste remembered that the bustle of the city could get a little overwhelming. Daniel would adjust after the first few days but it definitely would take some getting used to. They made it to the terminal two station and then she steered Daniel toward customs. Celeste thankfully would not have to go through that since she had dual citizenship. It tickled her when her and her father came to Japan. He always had to wait through a long customs line and Celeste breezed through. It was a shame they were very strict about dual citizenship. The only reason she got away with it, was the fact that she was born in Japan and had not known her real parents. She got around it with that loophole and anytime they politely reminded her to choose citizenship, they would hand her a new one and send her on her way.
It wasn’t so bad waiting on Daniel, she was able to exchange money and get their Suica card. It was virtually unheard of not to have the smart cards? they were used for just about everything. Especially travel. She couldn’t remember the last time she really needed cash in the city? other than restaurants and when she went to more rural areas. Celeste returned to the arrival gate and found Daniel searching for her. It was nice to be back in a place that she didn’t have to jump over another person. She stepped forward and waved to him.
* * *