| Chapter 93 Brian shoved the last of his shirts into his duffle bag. "Honey, do you need any help?" he asked, looking over at Marie. She was sitting on the floor trying to force the last of her belongings into a bag that was obviously not going to hold one more thing. She looked up and blew a stray hair out of her face, "That would be nice. This won't fit." Brian laughed at her as he walked over and assessed the situation. He knelt down and pulled the bag over, dumping everything onto the floor. "What'd you do that for?" Marie asked, seeing her morning of packing go down the tubes. "If you fold them different, they'll fit," he replied, sitting down cross legged and grabbing a pile of clothes to fold. Marie cocked her head to the side, "And how do you know that?" He grinned at her, "Years of living out of a suitcase. You learn how to pack to fit everything you need." "I see," she said as he packed her bag for her. Now everything fit with room to spare. They both got up and looked around their room. "Is that everything we're taking?" he asked. "Yeah," she said, "My parents are taking my apartment for dad to use when he's here on business, so this is it." Brian smiled at his wife, "Are you ready? We can still not go if you don't want ....." Marie held her hand up, "Bri, we've been over this. You're life is on Earth, and my life is with you." He sighed, "I know, I just hate that you'll be away from your family for so long." "I'm a big girl baby, it's fine. Besides, we'll have transmitters and I can call home anytime I want. And we're only a couple weeks away if I want to come visit," she said. Brian pulled her into a hug and kissed her, "Love you." "Love you more," she giggled as he let her go and grabbed both their bags. "Well, let's take these up and see if everyone else is ready." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kevin looked out over the grounds, letting the morning sun warm him. It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky. A gentle breeze whipped through his now long hair. It'd been months since he'd had it cut. Howie and A.J. were talking quietly behind him. Both were excited to be going home, but also expressing wishes not to leave this pristine world. Kevin had to agree. He'd grown to love Celeste and its people. He was definitely going to miss them. He turned to see Ana walk out, carrying her bag, a servant carrying Nick's. "Morning," he called. "Morning," she replied, handing her bag over to the servant so he could put it in the transport. "So, where's Nicky?" A.J. asked. "He wanted some time....to say goodbye," she said, looking over the grounds and nodding. The guys looked over and saw Anthony and Nick heading toward the fields. Nick seemed to be talking a mile a minute and Anthony was nodding as he pushed Nick's chair. The guys laughed at the sight. "Probably giving him some last minute advice on ruling a planet," Kevin mused. "Naw," A.J. said, "He's probably giving him advice on girls." Ana glanced at Kevin with her eyebrow raised, while Howie snickered. "J, why does it always have to be girls?" Kevin asked. A.J. smiled broadly, "What else is there?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "....... and during council, don't let Joseph get off on his tangents about the underwater mining. You'll be there forever," Nick said. Anthony laughed and put his hand on Nick's shoulder, "I've got it. Don't worry, I've had the best teachers." Nick bit his lip, "I'm sorry, I just didn't want anything to surprise you." "Everything is fine, thanks to you. The shipments are still coming in, and by the last estimates Celeste will be rid of it's need for Krystal in about a month. Already the crime rate is down, and employment is up. You saved us Nick. Not only from those that fought against us, but from ourselves as well," the young king said. Nick blushed from embarrassment, then looked at his younger brother, "You are a good king. Don't lose sight of it, K?" Anthony shook his head, "I never will. I have to much to live up to." "Live up to?" Nick asked, as they came to the fence and stopped. "Yeah, you and Frederick are some pretty hard shoes to fill ya know," he said. Nick shook his head, "Don't be like us man. Be yourself, even if it is a little different from the norm." Anthony smiled, "Of all the things I've learned from you, that is the most important one." Nick laughed, "You learned from me? Wow, never thought I'd ever hear anyone say that." Anthony chuckled as the unicorns approached the fence, "Well get used to it bro, you taught a lot of people in your short time here. The entire planets attitude about certain things has changed, because of you. Now, I'll leave you alone for a bit," he said, stepping back so Nick could talk to the unicorns in private. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LaDonna moved from one to another, saying her goodbyes. She had grown to love each of the boys as she did Nick, and it was hard to let them all go. Marie's parents were there to see her off. Both were so sad to see her go, but knew it wasn't going to be forever. They spent a lot of time with Ana as well, since she had no family to see her go. Mason made his way around as well. Like the queen, he had found a place in his heart for each of the guys. It was harder than he thought to tell them goodbye. He turned to see Brian and Marie in front of him. "My lord, may we speak with you?" Marie asked. Mason nodded and followed the two over to a quiet corner of the building. Brian licked his lips and cleared his throat, "We uh, we wanted to let you know that since we're leaving, there's really no need to continue your daily visits to the nursery." Mason stared at him for a moment, not sure if he heard right or not. "Brian, Marie ..... you gave me that punishment for a year, and I intend to honor it. Besides, I sort of look forward to it now," he said. "You do?" Marie asked. The older man nodded, "I do. It puts things in perspective. Nothing is as important as life, love and family. For a while I forgot that. You two have helped remind me." Brian glanced at Marie. It was getting harder not to like this guy. Especially after what Nick had told him about Mason asking Frederick to spare him. Brian looked back at Mason and extended his hand, "Let's put all this behind us then." Mason bit his lip to keep his chin from trembling as he shook Brian's hand, "Thank you." Brian nodded, then took Marie's hand and headed back to the group. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Goodbye my friend," Nick whispered into Thomas's fur. The unicorn purred loudly and nuzzled Nick's neck. After a moment, Nick let go and guided his chair away from the fence. He wiped his face with the back of his hand as Anthony approached him. "Man I'm gonna miss him," Nick said. Anthony nodded, "I'll take good care of him for you." Nick laughed, "That's funny, I asked him to take care of you." The young man smiled and looked up, seeing the group waiting on them. "I believe you are ready to go," he said. Nick looked up and sighed, "Yeah I guess so. You know if you need anything, all you gotta do is call. Those transmitters work both ways ya know?" Anthony smiled, "I know Nick, and I will call, you can count on it." The rest of the trip through the palace and up to the landing pad was silent. This was it. Nick was leaving the planet he had come to love so much, and going ..... home. As they moved out onto the pad, Mason and LaDonna came to meet him. For a moment, nothing was said. They just looked at each other ... tears in their eyes .... no words to describe how much they were going to miss each other. LaDonna knelt down and held Nick's free hand, "I will miss you, my son. Be careful, and if you need anything, I'm here." Nick smiled, reaching out and pulling her into a hug, "I love you mom. I'll miss you so much." LaDonna squeezed him as tight as she dared, then pulled back and kissed his cheek. Nick sniffed, reaching up and wiping the tears from his mother's face before kissing her cheek. LaDonna stepped back, letting Mason take her place. "Thank you for ....." Nick started. Mason held his hand up, "Let's not do this OK? I owe you so much, there's no place to start, so lets not," he said, pulling Nick into a hug, "I love you Nickolas. I will miss you so much." "I'll miss you too ........ dad," Nick said. Mason grinned, feeling the most immense pride a man could feel. He had to have the best son in the entire galaxy. At least that's how he felt, and nothing would ever change that feeling. Mason stepped back and tousled Nick's hair, "Take care." "I will," Nick said. Anthony moved in and hugged Nick again. "I'm gonna miss you, bro," he said. Nick smiled. Anthony had been calling him �bro' since he'd woken up. "Gonna miss you too kid," Nick smiled, "Maybe sometime you can make an official visit to Earth. See your older wiser brother." Anthony laughed, "We'll see. I have a lot of work to do here ya know." "I know," Nick said, understanding all to well the work a king had to do. Anthony grinned, glancing over at Ana, "Have fun," he said with a twinkle in his eye. Nick laughed, holding his chest, "Oh man, I am a bad influence on you!" Anthony squeezed his shoulder, "Naw, all's good. Now you better get going before you change your mind." Nick nodded, looking up at the young king, "Goodbye." "Not goodbye, see you later," Anthony corrected. Ana came over and took Nick's chair, guiding him towards the transport. As they went up the ramp, Nick looked back, and waved. Mason and LaDonna were arm in arm, Anthony in front of them. All were crying with smiles on their faces. Then their image was gone, replaced by the inside of the transport. Kevin and Brian helped Nick out of his chair and over into one of the seats. It was just a minute before the transport was moving. Nick watched out the window as they lifted into the air and headed toward space. He kept his eyes on his family until they could no longer be seen. Then he took in the landscape. The mountains on one side, the fields on the other. The wind swaying the grasses made it seem as if the planet itself was waving goodbye. Who knows? Maybe it was. The blue sky turned into darkness filled with millions of stars. Nick smiled. These were his stars, his peace. He took in all he could before the transport landed in the docking bay and he was moved back into his chair and taken to his quarters. The group had been quiet. All of them already missing the place they had called home for so many months. But they all knew it was different for Nick. None of them could imagine what it was like for him to leave after all that had happened. It seemed like ages ago they were on the stage, Nick getting in trouble for not listening. Now, he was so different ..... they all were. This experience would be something that held them together for the rest of their lives, and it had changed them all for the better. Ana stopped in front of Nick's door, looking back at the group. Kevin, Howie and A.J .were in awe of the ship. She smiled at their faces. "I think I'll take them around and show them the ship," Brian said. She nodded, looking down at Nick. He had dozed off in his chair. "I'll take him in and let him rest for a while. Meet you guys at supper?" she offered. "Sounds good," Marie smiled. "Do you need some help?" Brian asked as Ana passed her mark across the sensor. "No, I got it. See you later," she said, pushing Nick through the door, and letting it close behind her. She pushed Nick's chair over to the bed and turned down the covers. "Nick? Sweetie, wake up," she said, running her hand through his hair. He looked up, then looked around, "Sorry," he muttered. "No problem, you need your rest," she said, helping him into the bed. She got him settled, "You need anything." He looked over at the large tapestry with the royal crest on it. "Can you open the curtains? I wanna see the stars," he asked. She smiled, getting up and pressing the button to pull back the curtains. Then she ordered the lights dim, and came back over to sit next to him. He took her hand and interlaced their fingers, all the while staring out at the vast expanse of space. "So much has happened since we did this last," he said quietly. Ana nodded, remembering the countless times she would come to Nick's room only to find him sitting in front of the window, staring into space. She would join him for a while before she insisted on them getting to work on his lessons. "It seems like another life time ago," she replied. He smiled, "I think it was." A comfortable silence fell between them. Nick settled back into his pillows, content. Soon Ana was laying next to him, his head resting on her arm. He looked up at her, seeing a far away look in her eyes. "What you thinking?" he asked. She looked down, "What its gonna be like when we get back to Earth. You've never really told me anything about your other family. What's your mom like?" Nick laughed, "Oh baby, are you in for a surprise." Chapter 94 |