The mission: From NY to Tokyo-Narita - Narita International Airport, JP. Non-stop.
Flight Time: 12:45pm, 11 Dec.
Arrival Time: 5:00pm, Sun 12 Dec.

Total Plane Time for Non-Stop Flight: 14 hours, 15 minutes.

From there, one hour and ten minutes of flight from Narita Airport to Itami Airport (Osaka Airport). Then, one hour of Limousine Bus -> Kyoto Station. From there, it wasn't too far to Shin's home. Still...

It was going to be a long flight.

Kealey was excited, she was happy, she was eager, and she was an absolute, positive nervous wreck. Some of it was her own nerves revolting against the mantras she kept repeating to herself. It wasn’t every day you flew across the planet to meet your boyfriend’s family in another country. It also wasn’t every day that you knew there were going to be language barrier problems when you got there. There were a million ‘what if’s ‘ some of them legitimate, some of them simply her nerves trying to get the best of her, but Kealey was sure of one thing. The ridiculous atmosphere at JFK definitely wasn’t doing a thing to help. People were everywhere already taking off for the holiday season, like she and Shin were. Still, did they all have to be so stressed out?

The flight was a little over fourteen hours long, but Kelaey did everything she could to ignore the fact. She and Shin had talked about this, how there would probably be nervous people on the plane, and what Kealey would need to do to work through it. Their plans were going to work, they had to. Fourteen hours was a long time to be a nervous wreck, whether it was your nerves or not.

The Delta terminal was supposed to be relatively easy to find, but Kealey simply followed behind Shin as he navigated for them. There were just too many people for her to properly concentrate while they moved. The handle of her luggage was in her hand and Kealey glanced back to make sure everything was there. She’d wanted to pack a much larger variety than she’d ended up with, but Shin had convinced her that practicality was far more important than variety. That was fine, it left more space for souvenirs, a little thrill went through her at that. They were going on a trip, together! No school, no library, no work, no X-Men. Just her, and Shin, for all that time and no matter what else they had to deal with that was the case.

Suddenly the airport didn’t seem quite so crowded, and as they approached the Delta counter and started going through all the motions of getting baggage checked and tickets examined, Kealey doubled checked to make sure her passport was easily accessible. Finding that it was, she smiled. Everything was going to be just fine.

Luggage check-in went smoothly. Shin had checked one item, and made sure his carry-on luggage, a small black, zippered, suitcase with wheels (purchased specifically for this trip), fit into the size-check box. They'd left for the gates, once all that was finished.

Airports were always busy. Always. On the way to the gates, they caught sight of several details that intrigued Shin on a spiritual level.

By the gates, near the food court, there was a man playing holiday music on bongos. He drummed out a tune to the background of a song from How the Grinch Stole Christmas. As they passed him, he switched to a Disney song that sounded suspiciously and inexplicably similar to something a cartoon crab who shared his name with a Unicorn might have sang. The food in the food courts was all unreasonably expensive. There were little shops selling toys, gadgets, pillows, and gizmos. Kealey and Shin gave the small hovering remote-controlled aircraft the man at the store was flying a wide berth.

"Control with your phone!" He'd shouted, as they slipped by.

Then, came gate security.

There were so many things going on at the Airport….all the things. Kealey marveled again at the full range of emotions displayed by the New York patrons. It was….a lot. So much. And this was just the check-in counter.

Shin handled all the details, so everything went smoothly. The luggage was checked, and the carry-on’s were measured for acceptance. Everything was perfect. They moved past the flight counter and onto the area of the airport that held the gates. Kealey had only been in the airport one other time, when she’d first come to New York, and she hadn’t really been paying attention. Kind of like now.

There were voices, and vendors, and food places, and music. Kealey was distracted by each in turn as her mildly careening emotions pulled her eyes from place to place. Here was a person wringing their hands in nervous anticipation, there was a person thoroughly distraught, another excited, another angry, one more sad. It was almost a blessing that there were so many, she couldn’t concentrate on a single one and get fixated. The song from The Little Mermaid drew her attention and she stared at the drum player as they moved by.

Then it was time for security. Kealey did her best to simply smile and do what she was instructed. Concentrating was difficult, but she did everything she was told. They’d meticulously read the instructions for international travel, so everything went pretty smoothly. The officials probably thought Kealey was some sort of air-head, but she was used to that and didn’t mind much.

The wait wasn’t bad after that, but there were nervous people intermixed with the ones who obviously made this trip often. It made Kealey fidget. Not so much fun. Why did they have to be so nervous? It was just a plane. Flashbacks to the last plane trip she’d taken made Kealey take a deep breath and hold it for a moment. She and Shin had talked about this, how difficult this would possibly be.

She let the breath out and watched the clock. Soon they were called for boarding and Kealey drug her carry-on, trying to ignore the number of nervous fliers were getting on before and after them. She looked at Shin, ”I can do this?” she said, the words half question, and half statement.

Shin only nodded. She could. He had confidence. He was sure. Besides. He was there. And, yeah. That doubled her odds of success and all that. So.

The two of them made it through security, and boarded the plane. Shin aimed a little smile at Kealey as he stuffed his carry-on bag into the overhead compartment. "Hand me yours." He said. There was still plenty of room.

Once their bags were away and out of foot-tripping range, Shin sat down on the chair next to Kealey. He rested his hand on her's, and gave her a squeeze. "You let me know if you need anything. I'm still here." He smiled calmly. "I never stopped being here."

Oh man. This was going to be tough. Kealey knew for sure when suddenly they were on the plane and she didn’t remember walking down the jetway. She was too nervous, her hands were shaking. Some of it was her own, Kealey had only flown one other time, and while it had been a long flight it was nothing compared to the length of the one she was about to take. There were a lot of other nervous people, though, nervous and sad, and nervous and excited, no matter what…they were nervous.

Shin asked for her carry-on and Kealey handed it over, slipping into her appointed seat and peeking out the window. They were in coach, so they were over a wing, and she couldn’t help but wonder how the massive plane was going to be able to get off the ground. That was a bad thought with all the nerves running through her, and Kealey knotted her hands in her scarf before forcing herself to uncurl her fingers and put them on the arm rest. So many nervous people.

Shin sat down beside her and Kealey jumped a little when he placed his hand over hers, blue eyes flicking away from the back of the seat in front of her to focus on his. He was so calm. Kealey grabbed that calm and clung to it like a life preserver. In the midst of everything else, it helped. Besides, he was close, it was easier to focus on the emotions of someone when they were close. He spoke, and Kealey had to smile. He really had always been there. ”I know.” she said, and took a deep breath.

”How are you so calm?” she asked, but she felt better…she really did. It had to be Shin, because the rest of the plane was still their crazy selves.

>>”How are you so calm?”

Shin looked her in the eye. "I can fly." He smirked. "Besides, I know that air travel is incredibly safe. Safer than cars, safer than stairs, safer than motorcycles, bicycles, and chairs. And besides," He paused for effect. Hopefully, she could focus on him, rather than the other passengers passing through the aisle, getting themselves situated. "I've got the best pillow on the plane. And most of the trip will be sleeping. And guess what?" Another pause. He tapped his shoulder. "Word has it, I can totally hook you up with a good pillow, too."

That was that. Things were settled. Everybody buckled in and prepared for the ride. The jet took off.

Countless hours later, it touched down, jostling Kealey and Shin from one of their naps. Well... Kealey, mostly. Shin slept through the landing. It'd take more than that to wake him up. The pillow was too soft.

Kealey couldn’t help it, she laughed when Shin pointed out the fact that he could fly. He could! How could someone be afraid on an airplane when they could summon their own flying platform? The laughter made her feel better, and she relaxed in her seat a little, only fumbling a little with the seat belt before she managed to get it fastened.
Shin was still talking, and Kealey kept grinning when her laugher had subsided. He was going to sleep most of the time…because he had the best pillow on the plane.

Kealey tilted her head for a moment, she couldn’t remember him packing a pillow in his carry-on…and she didn’t think the stewardesses had handed any out. She spent a confused moment trying to work through the words and ignore everyone else in the plane…then figured out what Shin was getting at. Ohhhh, she was starting to think maybe the flight wouldn’t be so bad. The arm between the seats did lift up. There was plenty of room for comfortable cuddling….and Shin was offering her a great pillow too. Yes, Kealey decided, once they were comfortably in the air, things would be lovely.

…and they were, for the most part.

The blond decided later, that there simply wasn’t any way for 14 hours on an airplane to be absolutely enjoyable. There was the inherent discomfort that came from the scantily padded seats, the fact that there was mild turbulence in a few spots over the ocean, and the reality that the end of the trip would find them in Japan. Thinking about those things just made Kealey nervous though, so she tried to avoid them as much as possible while she was awake. Which didn’t end up being very often. Shin was sleepy and sleeping, and his calm, sleepy emotions were contagious. Her pillow was also incredibly comfortable, so comfortable that she was shocked to feel the plane touch down. Had they landed?

Kealey’s head came up to see a tarmac out her window and she yawned, patting her hair and wondering if it was even remotely in place. They’d done it…they’d landed. The general feeling of relief rolling through the plane made Kealey sigh with happiness even if she was a bit irritated with the other passengers. About time you lot calmed down… she berated mentally, then she noticed that Shin was still sleeping. Kealey looked at him for a moment, until she felt creepy then leaned over and kissed his cheek, smiling for when opened his eyes.

”Either we’ve just landed, or my dreams have gotten really crazy. You should open your eyes and tell me if I’m right.”

A pink bunny hopped across the field as fast as it could. It was not fast enough. A plumber in blue overalls caught it, and shook it to its senses. The bunny pouted. "Why'd you have to catch me."

And then, Mario...

Shin woke at Kealey's kiss. He blinked a few times. And then, Mario had what?! Had. What? His eyes fell on Kealey. It wasn't important.

"Uh. Hi." A small smile slipped onto his face, as he sleepily contemplated her question. He sorted it out slowly, thoughtfully. "Crazy dreams, you? Heh. There's a thought. This one, though, maybe not so crazy? I mean, I'm here and all." He didn't smirk, but the feelings that usually accompanied one were there. "We're in Japan now, aren't we?" He asked her.

Please say yes, Shin hoped.

Kealey didn’t bother to hide the wry smile that stretched her lips when Shin commented on her having strange dreams. It wasn’t her fault that her emotions ran a little wild with her subconscious. Some of her dreams were very strange though, sometimes funny, sometimes happy, sometimes sad and scary. Shin went on to explain that if this were a dream, it couldn’t be too strange because he was there.

Kealey grinned, ”I dunno….I’ve had some pretty crazy dreams with you in them.” she said, not planning to expand the comment on tiny bit. People were rising from their seats now, on instruction from the pilot, and Kealey watched and felt as the relative calm of the last few minutes melted into impatient frustration at how long it was taking to get off the plane. She smiled anyway when Shin asked if they were in Japan.

Kealey nodded, still grinning and nodding towards the people in the aisle, who were slowly starting to file from the plane, ”Yup. We’re in Japan. Together.” she grinned some more. This was seriously awesome.

>>”I dunno….I’ve had some pretty crazy dreams with you in them.”

"Oh?" Shin asked. Again, no smirk, but the emotional weight of one, played out for Kealey.

"Yup," Kealey replied. Shin waited a moment for her to elaborate on that, but no elaborations came. Her lips were sealed.

He smiled in understanding. "I see, I see." He wouldn't press on that one right now. Maybe later.

Shin yawned, and stretched his arms behind his head. For now, the plane was emptying out, and they had carry-on bags to fetch. And. They were in Japan.

He grinned right back. "Epic. Help me with these bags."

He was curious, curious about the weird dreams she had that featured him. Kealey wasn’t going to talk about it though…not right now. Maybe later, if the mood struck her, but she hadn’t been lying. Some of the dreams were really strange…then again, a lot of her dreams were really strange. It didn’t matter. They’d landed, she didn’t have to sit on the plane anymore. Shin said it was epic.

Epic. It was pretty epic that they were in Japan….together. That part was probably the most epic. Together in Japan, with nobody else, staying for a long time, and meeting Shin’s family. The last part still made Kealey a bit of a nervous wreck…but she was too excited to worry about that right now. The plane was rapidly emptying now, people snagging their luggage and making their way off. Kealey and Shin waited.

Bags were retrieved and the couple made their way off of the plane…and into even more crowded chaos. Kealey took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She’d prepared for this. It wasn’t any worse than New York…on a busy day…standing in Time’s Square…and this was just the airport.

Deep breath. Let it out. Everything was fine. Kealey concentrated on her own emotions and Shin’s emotions and held his hand as they made their way through customs and got their luggage. Luckily, there were no problems.

One of the biggest problems with this particular airport in Japan was it’s relative distance from the city center of Tokyo. There was a train under construction, but it wouldn’t be finished until the summer. Kealey was kind of sad…more traveling? But then they’d be done…done traveling and they could do other fun stuff. Really really fun stuff. They’d slept on the plane after all. They’d slept lots on the plane.

Kealey was wound up, whether it was from the surrounding crowds or simply the prospect of this vacation actually starting she didn’t know. It was hard to sit still though as Shin got them tickets on the next train to the place where they could get hotels. Kealey listened, completely floored at the bilingualness happening. She’d so utterly failed at all the things Shin and Ghost had tried to teach her. She scooted a little closer to Shin….God help her if they got separated.

Soon enough though, they were on a train…settled in for another hour-long ride. There was so much to look at outside the windows, that Kealey decided the ride wouldn’t be bad. The scenery was neat and the blond continued to marvel at the landscape and suburbs spreading out in front of them. She’d done a lot of reading…. A lot, but if she hadn’t lived in New York for the past few years the sheer size of the area they were in would have been a complete shock.

She turned to say that to Shin…and found him dozing again.

”Shin!” she exclaimed, excitement overruling sympathy for jet lag, ”How can you possibly be sleeping with how exciting all of this is!?”

It was almost like she'd nudged him. Shin's eyes fluttered open. He looked at Kealey, smiling sleepily, mind a light haze. "Sorry," He replied. "Motion sickness from looking out the window. Didn't want to get nauseous. Still jet-lagging from the plane. This is exciting, yeah, but..." He closed his eyes for a moment, arms stretching out luxuriously behind his back. Lips smacked. Shin's round cheeks got rounder as he smiled again. "I'm sure I'll be bouncing, come tonight. It's hard getting used to the change in timezones, but you know how I feel about sleeping." Shin and sleep had a love/hate relationship. He loved to sleep. His body hated letting his mind rest. "You have the camera, right? You can take pictures while we ride, and show me later."

Shin was still sleepy…and jet lagged…and watching things out the moving train window made him motion sick. Kealey instantly felt contrite, she hadn’t stopped to think about what all the movement would mean for Shin’s powers. The problem was, she was still amped up, and now she had a bunch of mutation related questions. Was he motion sick because of all the things moving by? Did his eyes try to figure out distances for all the things that passed by the window? What hotel were they going to stay in? Were there lots of things to do at night?

Shin reminded Kealey that he’d be awake and rolling later on in the evening and she wanted to point out that he might be sleepy if he stayed awake now. She didn’t though, she simply did as he suggested and pulled out her camera, snapping blurry pictures of the countryside as they moved and different stations as they stopped. It was a good way to pass the time. Those thoughts brought her line of thought back to what they were going to do…and she wondered if she was going to be able to sleep, with all the people around. Sleeping in her apartment wasn’t very bad, but she lived on a pretty residential street. Beyond the people who lived in her building, and/or the people in the mansion…night life was pretty mellow. She turned to comment to Shin, but he was already snuggled into her shoulder like it was the most comfortable of pillows. Kealey smiled and let him be.

For a moment, the blond considered trying to sleep herself, and took a close look at how she actually felt. She was exhausted, but there was simply too much going on inside, so she settled for squirming in her seat while the train approached the city proper. Kealey knew they were close when the emotional interference multiplied, then multiplied again. She was ready for it, this was a very densely populated city, but there was still a lot going on. The train started to slow, and a mildly dazed Kealey nudged Shin. ”I think…we’re here.” she said carefully.

Shin stirred from his nap. He opened his eyes as visions of sugar plums faded from his memory, and smiled sleepily at Kealey. "Ok. Five more minutes." With that, he closed his eyes again.

That extra five minutes was not fated to happen, alas. Something loud and noisy interrupted hopeful slumber. A disturbance on the train. An argument between a man and his wife in the aisles. It had come out of nowhere. Something had set it off. Who knew what? Annoyance, jealousy, anger? Maybe, it had been several things all building up over the past few weeks, or maybe it had been the way he had looked at her as she passed in the aisle. The her that was not her, that was. Whatever it was, the end result was the same. Shin opened his eyes and turned to stare at the disturbance coming from the next compartment on the train. Kealey got a bunch of mixed emotions and a torrent of Japanese gibberish for her troubles.

"Ugh..." Shin frowned in distaste, rubbing his eyes with closed fists. "Not a good way to wake up."