Yomiko watched silently as Kitty Pryde weighed her words. She
didn't want to say anything more to the younger woman, she already
felt that she was imposing on her greatly. When she had first
contacted her, began to send Kitty the initial emails, it had all
seemed so simple, but now that she was here it became much more
complicated.
And it really didn't help how much Kitty reminded Yomiko of
her lost Nancy-san. Yes, the girl's hair was a dark brown, not black,
and she wore a more casual set of clothes than the leathers that Nancy
once wore, but the similarities were almost astounding. The shape of
her face, her stance, the overall condition of her body, all of them
reminded Yomiko of Nancy, bringing on a deep heartache that almost
hurt her physically.
Kitty's soft sigh brought Yomiko's attention right back to her
as Kitty said, "I'll do it."
"Thank you," Yomiko almost felt like laughing aloud as she
clasped Kitty's hands in her own. "I've already booked a flight for
Japan, we'll take off tonight," she said excitedly.
"Tonight?" Kitty went pale as she tried to say, "Wait a minute
here! I..."
"We'll buy you some extra sets of clothes when we get there,"
Yomiko said with a smile as she tugged on Kitty's hands to pull her
gently forward.
"But I..." Kitty tried again, then she sighed. "Never mind,"
she softly muttered as the two of them walked down the street
together.
After a few moments of walking Yomiko looked up at Kitty
curiously, "I was a bit surprised at how well you speak Japanese. Have
you visited the country often?"
Kitty smiled slightly, and Yomiko got the feeling she was
greatly understating the case as she softly murmured, "I've had some
experiences there." They reached the bar and Kitty sighed, "I need to
go inside and take care of some things."
Yomiko took a seat at a table, watching Kitty make her way
through the crowd and talk to the young man at the bar. From talking
to Kitty on- line Yomiko had developed a certain mental image of her
as an intense, studious woman. But seeing her tending bar had revealed
a wild side to the woman, another reminder of her lost Nancy.
The young man handed Kitty the phone, and she dialed up
someone with a grim expression on her face. Yomiko couldn't have heard
the conversation from there if she wanted to, but from the look Kitty
had it wasn't going very well. She sat the phone down, giving the man
an apologetic look. Before she could leave he murmured something to
Kitty, and she blushed.
There was the soft sound of laughter, and a still fiercely
blushing Kitty made her way to Yomiko's side. "What did he say,
Kitty-san?" Yomiko asked.
Kitty pushed her hair back with a impish smile as she quietly
said, "My boss Dylan asked if we were eloping."
Yomiko blushed as she looked up at Kitty and blurted out in
Japanese, "What?"
"He didn't really mean it," Kitty gently reassured her, "he
likes to tease me about my general lack of dates."
"Oh," Yomiko murmured, still feeling the blush to her cheeks.
"He promised to look after my place while I'm gone," Kitty
added.
There was something new in Kitty's eyes, a kind of regret. "Is
there something wrong, Kitty-san?" Yomiko asked her softly.
Kitty hesitated, "I had to notify my professor that I'd be
gone for awhile." She tried to smile, "He's not sure if he can save my
place in his course."
Yomiko's eyes widened, "Because you're going with me?" She
felt a sudden pang of guilt, "Kitty-san, I can't.."
"No," Kitty shook her head slightly, "I don't want to talk
about it." With a surprising show of strength and gentleness Kitty
pulled Yomiko up out of her seat, "Earlier, you said that you had
plane tickets for tonight?"
Yomiko saw the determination in those eyes and murmured her
agreement, "Hai."
"Then let's go," Kitty said seriously.
Yomiko flagged down a taxi to the airport, and both young
women settled into the back. Yomiko watched Kitty gazing out the
window and realized the research she had dome was pitifully
incomplete. 'What are you thinking?' Yomiko wondered.
With a soft sigh Yomiko abandoned that train of thought,
pulled a book out of her bag, opened it to her page and began to read.
Kitty watch the buildings go by them, thinking that it was
almost the reverse of how she had come here. Excited about her
courses, anxious, even a bit scared she had ridden a taxi from the
airport to school and registered. Now she was leaving, and to her
surprise she felt excited and eager for what was to come once again.
A little over a month ago she had said some very harsh things
to Ororo, making it clear that she wasn't an X-Man any longer. She
still meant those words, her father's death having made it clear that
being in this life was deadly dangerous. But as much as she had tried
to make herself fit in at school, she missed that purpose, that dream.
'It needs doing,' was a little phrase that kept going through
Kitty's head. Her ex-boyfriend Pete Wisdom had used that to explain
his heroic actions pretty often, but it also described how she had
felt when Yomiko had appealed for her help. It was something that
needed doing, and it seemed that she was the only one who could do it.
'And there's the question if this Nancy Mukahari really is my
clone," Kitty mused.
With a little jerk the taxi came to a stop in front of the
main terminal and the driver drawled, "We're here, ladies."
Yomiko kept on reading intently, and with a slight smile Kitty
grasped the book by the top , drawing it away from her. Yomiko
instinctively tried to follow it for a moment, then she blinked
owlishly at Kitty to ask, "Yes?"
"We're at the airport," Kitty smiled.
"Oh, right," Yomiko quickly produced some American dollars
from her wallet to pay the driver, tipping him quite generously.
Kitty stepped out first, then helped Yomiko out. "Thanks," she
nodded to the driver, then turned to Yomiko, "Where to?"
"We've got a private plane waiting," Yomiko lead her into the
terminal.
The two made their way through the crowd to another part of
the airport, where a tall, blonde haired man leaned up against a wall.
Oddly, he rather reminded Kitty of Logan. Not in his appearance, of
course, but in his attitude. It was like he was saying nonverbally,
'I've seen just about everything, and I've made it through all of it.'
"Drake-san," Yomiko waved to him cheerfully.
"Yomiko," he nodded to her crisply. Then Drake looked Kitty up
and down before asking Yomiko, "Is this her?"
Not liking being ignored Kitty said waspishly, "Her has a
name." She offered the tall man her hand, "Katherine Pryde."
The tall blonde smiled slightly, "Drake Anderson."
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Anderson," they shook firmly. Kitty
looked up at him curiously, "Are you and Yomiko co-workers?"
"Something like that," Drake agreed as he lead them over to
the hangar, "we'll be able to tell you a bit more once we clear it
with our superiors."
Kitty felt a stab of irritation at that, but quickly
surpressed it. She probably would consult with the school if someone
asked about the X- Men, it might be the same sort of thing to them. 'I
never did ask Yomiko what Nancy did for a living,' Kitty remembered.
Kitty began to fumble for her passport when Drake remarked,
"You won't need that, we've already made the arrangements."
'Interesting,' Kitty mused, 'these people are pretty
powerfully connected.' As they climbed aboard the private plane Kitty
smiled wryly, 'This is going to be some trip.'
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