Her Eyes

Forty Eight

"Esperamos que haya disfrutado de su vuelo y bienvenido a Bilbao, España," said the pilot.

Esmae smiled, happy she understood another language other than English so clearly. Nikolaos, who'd been staring at her endearingly since she fell asleep in his arms after their passionate moment, chuckled quietly as he gathered their carry-on bags.

"What did he say, glykiá mou?" he asked, wishing to boost her morale even more. He loved seeing her happy more than anything in the entire world.

The leaf quickly whipped her head to him, already stand from her seat. "He said he hopes we enjoyed the flight and welcome to Bilbao, Spain," she said confidently in which Nikolaos chuckled at her adorable nature.

The sky in Spain was much different than in Greece. While the clouds still reigned king and frost constricted oxygen, the once gray sky was a shade lighter, the clouds thinner and not as concerned with battling the sun for space. Even a sliver of bright rays peeked from the clouds every now and again as they drifted across the sky, following the current of the wind to wherever destination they desired.

Though, it rarely snowed in Bilbao – a fact Esmae was very happy to discover before she boarded the plane hours prior.

The wall to the right of the exit to the plane read 'Welcome to Spain!' with the bright red and yellow colors of the proud flag that reminded Esmae of the sun. All around her, the passengers of the plane hustled, heading toward the baggage claim. Most spoke Spanish and were clearly native to the country while others spoke languages from the surrounding countries – all languages Esmae was beginning to remember from the leaves she tended to either fly with or past on her unknown journey around Europe.

Ever since finding her origin country, the leaf slowly pieced together the sights and places she's been. From looking at a map and numerous pictures of sights from all over Europe, she was able to piece together her free flight, though the exact times and locations were completely out of order. She remembers seeing the Notre-Dame in France during the summer two years ago and shivered at the sight of Norway's winter. The exact location wasn't clear – the three triplet countries, as she called them, were very similar in such weather – but she guessed it so. The colorful houses that were close together in the small country along with the surrounding ocean were all too specific to her. That, along with the northern lights she remembered so vividly made her piece the two together. Then came the Balkans. From Hungary to Romania and Bulgaria. It was a surprise when she realized she never landed in Greece, but she didn't feel particularly upset about the fact.

Rather, she was happy she could visit and enjoy her time in the Nikolaos' birthplace. He showed her many old areas he used to hang around when he was a child, and while they surely changed over the many years he's been gone, the feeling of nostalgia mixed with inviting the woman he loved to his favorite laces created new memories he would never forget.

He promised to bring her back during the next summer – just seeing her eyes sparkle as he mentioned the oceans and summer desserts made it too hard to resist.

She was too hard to resist.

Esmae's eyes darted around the airport, taking in everything she could as she held Nikolaos' hand and waited with him by the baggage claim for their suitcases. All around her, humans spoke Spanish and she understood everything. From the business calls that didn't make much sense to the small children asking for toys and snacks from their tired parents who simply wanted to get home before dark.

The small tug on her hand snapped her out of her staring gaze as Nikolaos walked forward, grabbing their suitcases swiftly with his free hand. Esmae happily took hers, relieved the small ribbon she wrapped around the handle was still intact. Fiddling with the ends, Esmae adjusted the handle in her hand, the bag of snacks given to the pair by Nikolaos' parents resting on the suitcase comfortably.