I wasn't able to update my other fic because I was writing this.
Title: The Room Key (keeping the Nicholas Sparks fashion)
Author: Surpanakha
Feedback: Yes please, I know that I almost never finish anything I start so please, feedback can help me finish, please help me finish this.
Distribution: It's okay but do inform me
Spoilers: None
Rating: G but hopefully it will escalate later on to the steamier levels
Pairing: WT
Disclaimer: The usual, I do not own the original BTVS characters for they belong to Joss Whedon, ME and others who could have handled them well if they wanted to.
Summary: I'll put some later because I don't want to spoil anyone.
Notes: Thoughts are in italics
_____________________________________________________________
Part I
"Calling passenger Rosenberg of Qatar Airlines flight bound for Qatar please proceed to gate 23 immediately. Again, calling for passenger Rosenberg of Qatar Airlines flight bound for Qatar, please proceed to gate 23 immediately." The voice was heard throughout JFK International Airport where it was dismissed by most of the crowd, except for a certain redhead.
Willow ran, laptop bag in hand, almost hitting every person who comes her way as she hastened to the said gate where she was asked to proceed.
"I'm running late, I'm running late, I have no time for puns," Willow mumbled beneath her breath as she sprinted along the airport corridor, her red hair all in a mess. She almost hit a porter and easily offered an apology. She didn't wait, however, to hear if her apology was accepted as she was nearing her goal.
"Rosenberg, that's me. Willow Rosenberg," Willow told the steward waiting at the gate as she gave him her passport and boarding pass. She stopped to catch her breath as the steward checked her documents.
"Sorry for the delay," Willow told the steward as he gave her back her passport. The steward simply smiled at her and proceeded to guiding her to the entrance of the plane. Willow entered through the main door of the aircraft which immediately closed behind her. The red head skidded down the aisle as she looked for her seat, while avoiding the glares the other passengers were giving her for being the cause of their delay. Finally, she found hers, an empty seat beside the window and she gulped at this fact.
'I specifically told Mr. Harris not to get me a window seat.' Willow thought of her no show Chemistry teacher, the very cause of her delay. She sighed at her impending doom as she heard the pilot speak on his microphone that they are about to take off. Willow noticed the blonde girl next to her seat, her face buried and absorbed on the book she is reading.
'Maybe she'll exchange seats with me,' Willow thought,
'It won't hurt if I ask.' The man sitting on the aisle seat next to the blonde was already fast asleep, so carefully, Willow tapped the blonde girl on the shoulder.
"Excuse me, miss," Willow said softly so as not to wake up the man on the aisle seat. The blonde looked up from what she was reading and gazed at the red head. Willow's jaw dropped. In front of her, she saw the bluest eyes she has ever seen. She suddenly found herself at loss for words. The blonde continued to gaze at her, now with a look of worry etched on her pretty face.
"Are y-you okay, miss? Can I h-help you?," the blonde asked Willow. The redhead struggled to remember her problem earlier as that thought was pushed inside her brain replaced by musings which she shouldn't be having right now.
'It has something to do with seating arrangements,' Willow struggled. Finally she remembered.
"Oh, yes, actually, you can help me. See, my seat is right next to yours, that empty one. Problem is, it's next to a window, and I hate windows during flights. In fact, I hate flying at all. But I have no choice, hence the flying. I specifically told whoever it was arranging my trip not to give me a window seat, but I guess he didn't do his job properly. So all I'm asking is, if I am not disturbing you, and you don't mind, can you please exchange seats with me?" Willow asked hoping that the blonde won't decline.
"That's n-no problem," the blonde replied an she offered Willow a half grin. She stood up and took the window seat. Willow, being the small girl that she is, was able to slip into the middle seat without waking the man. She never took her eyes of the blonde as she settled her bag near her feet.
"I prefer windows a-anyway, but they gave me that seat. I was kind of hoping that the person next to me won't come, so that I-I can take this seat," the blonde smiled at Willow again. The redhead noticed that she stuttered, and she found it cute.
"Sorry for m-my lack of courtesy, I'm Tara," the blonde held up her hand and Willow shook it.
"Willow," Willow said, offering her name. "My name is funny," she added as an afterthought.
"I-I think it's pretty," Tara said and she smiled again.
'Merciful Zeus!' Willow thought.
'If she keeps doing that, my dear life is not gonna last the whole flight, but why?' Just then, the sign for seat belts lighted up and the pilot instructed the passengers to buckle up. Mysteriously, Willow heard none of these as she was so absorbed with the blonde. Tara buckled up her seat belt and turned to the red head. She frowned when she saw Willow motionless, her seatbelt left unbuckled.
"Willow? are you okay? The pilot just announced take off." Tara said. Willow didn't seem to hear as she continued staring at the blonde.
'She is so gorgeous! How can nature fit that amount of gorgeousness in that body? and don't get me started on her body, I may not able to stop.' Willow thought.
"Willow? Willow?" Tara tried to call the redhead's attention in vain. The blonde saw a stewardess approach their direction. Not wanting Willow to get embarrassed, Tara reached out for the buckles of Willow's seatbelt.
Willow felt a warm arm reach across the side of her body. She heard the sound of metal against metal and felt something tighten around her hips. She looked just in time and saw two warm hands tap at the side of her hips in satisfaction. Then the warm hands went back to the lap of their owner and Willow suddenly missed the contact.
"What? too tight?," Tara asked when the redhead looked at her.
"It's perfect, thanks." Willow said and smiled warmly. Indeed, the fit of the seat belt was perfect, as if the blonde knew her body perfectly.
'Body? Oh that word again! It's still illegal for you to think about these things, Red!. Besides, she's a girl!' Willow chastised herself.
The plane began to take off and the redhead was not prepared for it. In reflex action, her hand grabbed the hand of the girl sitting next to her and she squeezed her eyes shut. She expected the tight, sick feeling her stomach always displays during take-offs. Instead, she felt a thumb gently stroking her knuckles. She glanced down and saw that it was the blonde, with her hand clasped within the redheads.
'Oh my god! I must have grabbed her hand when the plane began to speed up. She must think I'm a freak, a freaky scaredy-cat.' Willow ran scenarios in her head but was surprised when the blonde didn't let go of her hand and continued grazing her thumbs through her knuckles.
'God, that feels so good,' Willow thought and she eventually forgot about the offending take off. Just when Willow thought that heaven has descended upon her she was proved wrong. The blonde brought up her other hand and scratched her nails lightly on Willow's arm.
'Oh my! I think I'm going to faint! Because of a girl!'
"Comfortable h-here?" Tara asked the red head as she continued scratching her nails lightly on the red head's arm. "Or should I stop?" she asked shyly.
"What? Oh, oh no, don't, don't stop, I-I like it," Willow said. She suddenly blushed at those words.
"I knew you would, I mean, not really know but I was hoping. My mom did that for me always whenever I am scared, you know, to calm me down," Tara said as she squeezed on the red head's hand.
"I think I'm beginning to like your mom, Tara," Willow said as she squeezed back and smiled.
"Great, now I have to get jealous of my mother," Tara said and she chuckled, Willow laughed with her.
'Jealous, did she just say jealous? Jealous because I said I liked her mother? Oh, Don't get your hopes up Will,' Willow thought.
"Sorry about the grabbing your hand and stuff. That was reflex action, I wasn't prepared for the take-off," Willow said.
"Hey, I think you did well, Will, if you haven't noticed, the plane is stable now. We just passed by the take-off stage minutes ago, and as far as I'm concerned, I only saw you scared for a moment there, and you didn't need your vomit bag," Tara said proudly as she beamed at Willow.
"Oh, yeah, not using the vomit bag, that's a first really," Willow smiled back.
'She called me Will! She now has a nick name for me!' Willow thought.
"Well, there's always a first. I think you just need someone to talk to, you know, to get your mind off the flight?" Tara winked at Willow. "You travel alone much?"
"No, not really, this would be my first. The one who was supposed to accompany me, he didn't show up, didn't even call me until the last minute. That's why I was late. I'm not really large with being the cause of delay. I'm miss punctual, you know," Willow replied. How about you? flying solo?"
"I'm with someone actually, over there," Tara said pointing to the middle of the plane one row behind them. "That's Oz."
"Oh," Willow said, looking at the guy, sizing him up. He has huge headphones covering his ears and his head was swaying to a music no one else could hear.
'He's kind of hot, her boyfriend maybe?' Willow thought 'No, maybe not, I hope not.' Willow found herself suddenly getting jealous of the innocent guy for she thought herself inferior.
'He seems cool, and I am a complete dork. Willow sighed.
Tara heard the red head sigh. "You ok?"
"I'm good," Willow replied. "So how long is this flight going to last?"
"Seventeen hours, plenty of time," Tara replied.
"Plenty of time is good," Willow said. They gazed at each other for quite some time until the sign for seatbelt was turned off. Tara immediately unbuckled her seat belt while Willow didn't touch hers. She didn't want to let go of Tara's kind gesture awhile ago just yet. Tara reached down and brought out a laptop bag from which she pulled a toshiba notebook. She placed the book she was reading inside that bag and Willow saw that it was a copy of the Little Prince, only in french.
'Wow, any gorgeous girl reading Le Petite Prince is to be taken seriously,' Willow thought, admiring the blonde. Tara reached out to lower the table in front of her but the red head beat her to it. She lowered the table for Tara who slowly placed her laptop on top. The blonde smiled her thanks.
"Plenty of time reminds me of the thing I should be doing right now," Tara said as she keyed in the password for her laptop. "I need to fix the PowerPoint presentation."
"You're going to deliver a presentation someplace else?" Willow asked. She wanted to know what the blonde is going to do in Qatar but she thought it might be something private.
"Not me, Oz. He's just too lazy that he asked me to do it," Tara replied as Willow checked for the movies available for their flight.
"Damn! that thing again!" Tara said under her breath. Willow scooted forward to see what's troubling the blonde on the computer screen. She saw five pop ups bearing fake Microsoft Windows warnings.
"It's a virus," Willow diagnosed. It's a frustrating breed but nothing that cannot be managed. It's fairly easy to remove. I don't even need an external program, I can do it manually. In fact, I can do it now." Willow said.
"Really? That's great, Will, I don't know where I got those. They clog up my desktop and they disrupt my work every time one shows up," Tara said as she leaned her body towards the window in order to make room for the red head. The red head filled in the gap to type on the laptop's keyboard. Her shoulder touched Tara's arm lightly and she felt an electric jolt run through her. She looked at Tara in shock who looked simultaneously at her.
'Gosh, did she feel it too? What was it?' Willow thought. The red blushed and looked away from the blonde to focus her eyes on the screen. After several folders opened, none of which Tara knew to be existing on her laptop, Willow found the culprit file and immediately deleted it.
"You're a whiz, aren't you?" Tara said.
"If ever a whiz there was. There, easy as that. You should get an antivirus if you don't have one. Also, stay away from, gaming, gambling, download and porn sites you do not know. Or if you're really into that thing, you might consider getting a mac," Willow said, suppressing her smile.
"Porn? Oh n-no, I never, I mean, there w-was this once, just once, I never thought that c-could infect my computer, I just, RESEARCH! right, just research," Tara explained. Willow noticed that her pretty face is just one shade lighter than her own red hair.
"Hey, it's ok, that happens," Willow winked at the blonde. Tension can be felt in the air between them. Willow didn't mean to embarrass the blonde, and she was sorry to hear the blonde's stutter reappear just when they were getting comfortable with each other. Tara muttered her thanks to the red head without looking at her. She opened her powerpoint file and began working on it. Willow slumped on her seat, suddenly feeling out of place.
'I should really check on my tact, I can give Anya a run for her money,' Willow thought.
'Here is a really nice girl I met barely an hour ago, who saved me from the horror of take-off by holding my hand through out the process, and I'm already offending her by making below the belt jokes. What kind of sick person am I?'
They sat in silence for almost two hours, with Tara tapping away on her laptop, arranging fonts and pictures. Willow was squeezing tightly on the cold, hard, metal armrest of her seat trying to forget about pictures of recent plane crashes she saw on the papers. She missed Tara's hand, and somehow, this cold armrest did nothing to compensate. She remembered what Tara said awhile ago. She needed to get her mind off the flight. Too bad the film scheduled for their flight isn't playing for the next two hours. Willow reached for her laptop bag and felt for the papers inside. She got just enough for what she intends to do and lowered the table in front of her.
Willow contemplated her recent feelings as she proceeded to fold and tear the papers carefully to make their sizes appropriate. She felt a connection to the blonde girl, and that was not because she was kind to Willow. She felt it even before that, when she first saw her blue eyes. Willow's mind invited new feelings, feelings which she cannot explain because she has never experienced them before. To make things even more complicated, Tara is a girl and she's someone Willow will probably never meet again. The red head's stomach jumped at that thought and she pushed those feelings away. She didn't want to waste her seventeen hours with Tara on withdrawal symptoms.
One by one, she folded the papers to make paper cranes. When she was on the verge of doing her fifth, she heard Tara close her laptop.
"Cranes? I never learned how to make one," Tara said, finally speaking to Willow.
"Really? It's easy, easy at that," Willow said as she finished off her fifth crane. "Here, let me see you try," Willow offered Tara a paper. Holding Tara's hand, Willow allowed herself a small amount of courage and guided the blonde's fingers into the proper folds and creases. Whatever she felt whenever she touched the blonde, Willow decide that she liked it. It's somewhere she has never travelled before, yet she never felt more at home. She was just glad that the blonde was talking to her again.
"Sorry for awhile ago, I know a person like you would never watch those kind of things," Willow said shyly.
"Hey, you worried about me getting quiet? I just got embarrassed there, I didn't know what to say. It's not your fault," Tara said as she struggled with her crane. Frustrated, she crumpled the one she was doing and fished out a new piece of paper.
"Yes, it's totally my fault, I shouldn't have said those things, I mean, I barely know you," Willow said, her lips formed into a pout.
"Oh, I d-dont blame you for it. It's n-no big," Tara said. Her happy mood has shifted and Willow detected it from the return of her stutter. She squeezed on the blonde's hand lightly.
"Hey, are you ok, did I say something wrong again?" Willow asked, her forehead knitted into a frown.
"It's n-nothing. I just, why don't we forget about it?" Tara said as she did her best impression of a smile. Willow nodded and rested her back on her seat wondering what she might have said to offend the blonde a second time. The stewardesses of the plane began moving about in carts asking for dinner preferences from the passengers. The man next to Willow didn't wake up, so when it was their turn to be asked, only Willow and Tara answered. The red head chose chicken while the blonde chose fish. Tara carefully placed the papers from which she attempted to make cranes on her lap and placed her food on her table while Willow did the same. They ate in silence for a while until Tara spoke.
"Willow, can I have some of your olives?" Tara asked, pointing her fork to the olives in Willow's dish.
"What? Oh sure, take them all, I never liked them anyway. None of the people I know liked them either, well, except Buffy, but now atleast now I know two people who do," Willow replied.
"Who's Buffy? Is Buffy a person?" Tara asked as she transferred the olives to her meal.
"Yeah, she is, and she's my best friend," Willow replied. Tara could no longer contain her laughter and she let it all out.
"No offense, but, what kind of name is that? Is that a nickname?" Tara asked.
"None taken, and it's not a nickname. Her name is indeed Buffy and I know it's funny but I have no right to judge seeing as my name is Willow," Willow laughed with Tara.
The pair talked about a lot of things during the entire meal, with Willow doing most of the talking part. Tara willingly listened to the red head as she told her about her friends, and most of all, something she doesn't tell just anyone: what she wants to become someday.
"So Buffy, she seems cool, but not in a mean girl type of way. Why wasn't she popular at school? Tara asked as she finished her dessert.
"Mostly because she hung out with me," Willow replied.
"I can see that," Tara said. Willow furrowed her brow at what the blonde said. She wasn't sure if she heard it right.
"Relax," Tara said as she run a thumb across Willow's forehead to ease the frown there. "I mean, I could see why she didn't choose to be popular, having a great person like you to hang out with."
"I'm not so sure with the great, but thanks," Willow smiled at Tara. "Plus, Buffy's gay. She wouldn't give all those backstreet boys clone jocks at school a second glance."
"Oh, is she?" Tara said and paused. After a few moments, she finally asked, "Are you two-" Willow didn't even let her finish that question as she answered right away.
"Oh no, no, don't even think that. We've been best friends before she converted. Plus, I'm not her type, she likes athletic women. She's with Faith," Willow answered as a stewardess began to collect their food containers.
"Faith? The brunette girl you told me about?" Tara asked as she handed the stewardess her left overs.
"Yup, I have a picture of them here," Willow fished out her wallet from her bag. She took a photo of the three of them together. They were all smiles, with Buffy in the middle of them, her arms around the two. Faith was wearing a black tank top with her hair down. Buffy was wearing a rainbow colored sleeveless shirt and Willow, a green peasant top. Snow White was next to the red head.
"That's when we went to Disneyland three months ago," Willow said pointing to Snow White.
"Buffy's pretty, and Faith too, they look good together," Tara said as she handed the photo back to Willow. The red head replaced it in her wallet and relaxed on her seat.
"So, you want to be a missionary after college?" Tara asked.
"Yeah, but not a religious missionary, more of a missionary for education. I want to teach kids from poor countries. My mom was totally against it, and most of the people I tell. When I began to volunteer for tutoring kids from the slums for free, she said it was a waste of my time. She told me that she was not going to pay to send me to college only to teach kids in far flung countries for free. You know, volunteers seldom get paid," Willow said.
"That's because they're priceless, Will." Tara smiled at Willow and the red head was grateful for that. "Plus, the amount of time you waste on something is what makes that thing special." Tara touched Willows hand, "Sorry, I've just read the Little Prince again."
"So, you don't think I'm being impractical?" Willow asked.
"I think, that you, Willow, are the most sensible person I ever met," Tara squeezed Willow's hand. The red heads face was a thousand watts brighter and they smiled at each other for quite some time.
The white screen in front of them lit up and a movie's opening credits began to show.
"What movie's on?" Tara asked Willow as she slipped on her headphones. Willow, however, didn't.
"Nothing good, just cheesy stuff," Willow said. Tara remained positive and hoped for the best.
Willow picked up her bag and felt it. When she couldn't feel for what she was looking for, she began a frantic search for it.
"Oh no," Willow said under her breath.
"What is it?" Tara said as she dropped her headphones to her shoulder.
"I couldn't find the book I brought. I couldn't sleep without a story," Willow said desperately.
"Why not watch the movie, it's not so bad," Tara suggested.
"No, no visuals for me, it snatches sleepiness out of my eyes." Willow answered.
"How about you borrow my book?" Tara offered.
"It's in french," Willow said.
"Oh, sorry," Tara said. Her forehead was creased as she thought of alternatives. "I know, how about I tell you a story?"
"Oh no, I wouldn't want to disturb you, I mean, that's too imposing," Willow said.
'But I'll really like it,' she thought.
"Come on, it could be a fun. I wouldn't take no for an answer," Tara said, and frowned. "Unless, y-you don't w-want to hear a lame story from me."
"I do!," Willow said rather too enthusiastically. "and I'm sure it won't be lame."
Tara gave Willow another one of her half grin. She tapped the shoulder that was right next to the red head and smiled again. Willow was confused for awhile, she didn't want to assume that the blonde was inviting her to lean on her shoulder. But Tara looked like she was waiting, and she didn't want to make Tara wait any longer. Willow closed her eyes and leaned on Tara's shoulder. She had expected her body to be stiff and unsure of the line it was crossing. Instead, as soon as her head touched the curve of the blonde's shoulder, it melted, it fitted. As if the terrain of the blonde's shoulder was forever waiting for this day. As if the skin on Willow's cheek was looking forward to this moment for a lifetime. When the red head felt cold, Tara's body responded immediately, with the blonde wrapping her arm around Willow's shoulder. Nobody spoke for a while, and there, several thousands of miles above sea level, Willow felt that she was falling.
"Once upon a time, there was a, uhm," Tara paused, thinking, "a kitty, she was very little." Willow smiled and nodded, urging the blonde to go on, "and she was all alone and nobody wanted her."
"This is a very upsetting story," Willow commented.
"Oh, it gets better, 'cause one day the kitty was running around on the street and a man came and swooped her up and took her to the pound. And at the pound there were lots of other kittens, and there were puppies, and some ferrets," Tara said, looking down at the semi-sleeping red head.
"Were there dolphins? Willow asked.
"Yes. Many Dolphins at the pound," Tara answered.
"Was there a camel?" Willow inquired. Tara stopped for a while to think of an amusing reply.
"There was a front of a camel. A half camel," Tara said smiling, Willow smiled with her.
"Did the kitty get chosen by some nice people?" Willow said while stifling a yawn.
"Well, now you've ruined the ending. There was a whole exciting middle part with the French Resistance," Tara nudged her shoulder a little and Willow laughed softly.
"I'm sleepy," Willow declared with a yawn.
"Then sleep, my beauty," Tara said, but Willow failed to hear the last two words as she was already in slumber land. Tara was amused at how fast the red head fell asleep. She watched the sleeping red head for a while, with both the feelings of comfort and fear. She was both proud and angry of herself for her actions. Proud that she was able to do what she would be too shy to do otherwise, angry that she was giving herself hope over a stranger that she would probably never meet again. Then a new feeling came over, shame. She was ashamed that she was holding the sleeping red head while her thoughts were already crossing the line. Carefully, she removed her arm from around Willow but kept her head in its original place.
'She's so beautiful, and fragile, I want to take care of her,' Tara thought.
'And her eyes, I have never seen such green eyes, telling me that there is still a lot to know inside that small package,' She wanted to know more about the red head, a part of her wanted to wake her up and get her talking about herself again, but a part of her wanted to cherish her last few hours with Willow. The fear she had since she first saw Willow's green eyes has already manifested itself. She allowed herself to be tamed by this nice stranger, and now she must learn to slowly let go. Tara's tired head could no longer process the cognitive dissonance and she allowed herself the liberty to rest her head upon Willow's and close her eyes.
For almost two hours, the two rested like that. Willow's hand somehow found a way to Tara's fingers in the dark and they lay beside each other, sleeping soundly inside the quiet plane. People around them went about their business, some busily tapping on computer keys, some going to the bathrooms and others, sleeping. A baby cried every now and then but nothing disturbed the peace written on the foreheads of these two strangers who met on the fateful flight.
Tara awoke a few minutes later for no reason at all and feeling refreshed. She glanced at the red head who was still sleeping with her head on the blonde's shoulder and she allowed her to remain so. Tara carefully reached down for the unfinished cranes she was attempting to form, with Willow's guidance, earlier. She unfolded them and smoothed the creases out. She fished out a pen from her pocket and began to write.
Dear Willow,
Thank you for a very memorable plane ride. I hope you can face your next ones as bravely as you did on this. It was nice meeting you Willow, too bad I had to meet you on a seventeen-hour ride, but I guess it was better that not meeting you at all. Good luck on your life and I hope you have a happy one.
Tara
P.S.
Will you do me a favor? Please forget about me.
Tara put her pen down and stared at the note. The last sentence was hard to write but it was necessary. Tara wanted to include her email address, but decided against it. She didn't want to hope and wait for Willow to write to her. She thought that the red head wouldn't take her seriously and she didn't want to get hurt again. She didn't even include a surname.
'It's better that I don't know hers and she doesn't know mine,' Tara thought.
Tara folded the paper once again into a crane, this time trying really hard to form the said figure. After several attempts she did it, and she wrote on the wing of the bird: Open me.
Tara sighed and cleared her head for a few minutes. There was another film showing in the screen as the other one was finished hours ago, but Tara took no interest in it. Her eyes were focused only on the red head sleeping next to her. Just then, she heard the pilot speak on the microphone.
"Cabin crew, prepare for landing." The sign for the seat belt went on and Tara buckled hers. She turned to check on Willow but saw that the red head never removed her seat belt in the first place. She straightened out both of their tables so that the roaming stewardess would not need to remind her and hence disturb Willow's sleep. When everything was in order, she felt the plane slowly decline. Instinctively she reached for the hand of the red head. It would appear that she was comforting Willow but Tara was really comforting herself. She forgot to tell Willow that she was also a chicken-shit for flights.
As Tara felt the plane go lower and lower, she counted down the minutes that she can still hold Willow, let alone see her. She heard the plane touch down, speed up the runway and eventually halt to a stop. Willow never awoke into the entire ordeal and Tara though that it was better. She no longer had to say goodbye physically. When the pilot lifted the sign for seat belts, Tara carefully lay Willow's head upon the head rest. She opened the red head's hand softly and placed the paper crane inside and closed her fingers over it. Then, with her laptop bag in hand, she quietly slipped away from her seat to get her other luggage from the over head bins. She was one of the first people to get out of the plane.
When Willow awoke, almost half of the people inside the plane were gone. She looked towards the window but the blonde too was gone, worse, so was her bag. Willow panicked and she felt something inside her fist. She opened it and saw that it was a paper crane.
"Tara," Willow said under her breath. She turned the crane over and read the message written on the wing.
'Open Me'
Willow did just that, quickly, but carefully unfolding the origami. She saw Tara's note and read it, her eyes almost in tears when she finished.
'Forget about her? How can I?! After all the things she did,' Willow thought.
'She wishes me a happy life! A life without her?'
Willow placed the note neatly on her pocket. She picked up her bag and quickly stood up. The man next to Willow was gone but the red head didn't notice. She ran quickly down the aisle towards the open door, thinking that she could still keep up with Tara. A steward positioned at the door thanked her for flying with them and she replied, "I don't even know her last name!" to the very confused cabin crew.
'What will I tell my grandchildren someday? That when their grandma was seventeen she met the nicest lady ever in a plane ride to Qatar and they could have had something special that would last a lifetime but she lost her forever because she was so busy sleeping?' Willow chastised herself. She reached the airport and began to search frantically for the blonde but she was nowhere insight. Willow tripped in the midst of running, and, defeated, she didn't pick herself up. Her body began to shake and she allowed herself to cry in the middle of the crowded airport.
A few moments later, with her downcast eyes, she saw a pair of feet walk up to her and heard a familiar voice speak.
"Hey you,"
Willow looked up.
"Thought I was gone forever?"
____
TBC