Anada

Departing

We decided to return to the hotel when the ambulance left. I road with Elias once again.

The ride was slow. I could hear music playing softly on the radio, and the strong scent of leather was everpresent.

Elias suddenly said, "I have something to tell you... I'm thinking about leaving for home tomorrow."

"Really?" I asked, but I accidently let my disapointment come through my voice.

"Don't worry I'll catch a plane. Then I won't have to drive all the way across the country." He says convincingly.

"What about your Mustang?" I ask.

Elias answers, "Well, Reina will drive it. She'll drive it to where their next mission will be. By the time I'm done visiting my family I'll come to that same place to rejoin you."

"Oh. How long will you be gone?"

"Maybe a week." He says.

I felt my heart drop. A whole week?

It's just a week though. Why should I be so disapointed? I'm sure Elias wants to visit his parents. I know how that feels. I would miss the team if I left them. They were the closest thing I had to a family.

Elias then continued with a smile, "Once I rejoin the team I'll be with you guys all the time. I'm sure you'll get tired of me."

The team might get tired of him, but I definitely couldn't.

We got back to the hotel at 4:00. The traffic had been slow, and we were in no hurry anyway.

When we walked into our hotel room, the team was already there waiting for us. I smelled food, and my stomach growled. I had completely forgotten about lunch.

Reina had picked up some food for all of us before Elias and I came back. They hadn't started eating, and I'm glad they didn't.

That night we stayed at the hotel. We had no idea when Bronden would show up again so we decided to keep a low-profile.

Eventually Elias and I got tired of sitting around and watching television. We decided to go explore the arcade we had heard about, but not until Alex gave us a warning about being very careful.

Elias and I reached the hotel's arcade at about 7:00pm. The arcade was mainly designed for teens. There weren't many adults to be seen in the vicinity.

Apparently we weren't the only teens wanting to go to the arcade. There were probably twenty teens running around the large arcade area.

I was slightly lost. I had never really been to an arcade before. Luckily, Elias showed me how to play the various games. My favorite game ended up being airhockey. I convinced Elias to play five rounds of it.

We arrived back at the hotel room at 9:10pm. I took a quick shower then went to bed. I continued to think about all the fun we had had that tonight until I fell asleep.

The next morning I woke up with a smile, but my happiness was diminished when I remembered what was happening today.

Elias was leaving.

I quickly changed into some casual clothes, and joined the others for breakfast. We talked about how exciting it will be when Elias rejoins us as an official team member.

Elias's plane was leaving at nine so we soon left. Only Westen and I went to the airport with him. Everyone else said their goodbyes to him before he left the hotel.

We decided to ride in the Hummer instead of the Mustang. Elias already gave the Mustang keys to Reina earlier that morning.

I sat in the back seat while Westen drove, and Elias sat in the passenger seat. They were both having a conversation.

"When I get back I want to drive this thing some." Elias said with a grin. He was talking about the Hummer.

Westen's reply was, "Are you sure? This thing tries to drive itself sometimes."

"I'm sure. Not that many people have the opportunity to drive a Hummer." Elias says.

"You have that unique Mustang of yours. Why would you want to drive this?" Westen says back sarcastically.

Westen was always having friendly fights with Elias. This was normal, but always comical.

The airport was soon in view. Before I knew it, we were parked out in its vast parking lot. The bright morning sunlight glinted off the glass from the other vehicles' windshields.

We hopped out as Westen turned off the Hummer. Elias didn't have any luggage with him. All he had was his wallet, and his identification.

I slowly followed behind them as they walked towards the doors of the airport. I wasn't looking forward to saying goodbye to Elias.

There were many cars and people around us. Some people were in a hurry, but others acted as if they had nothing to do. They didn't realize that there was a dragon present.

I'm not used to very large crowds. I simply try to ignore them when in a crowd. Throngs of strangers packed together has never appealed to me.

Westen's voice comes from in front of me, "Well, I guess this is where we leave you, Elias."

We were at the front doors of the airport now. That meant Elias was leaving.

"Yeah, I'll get my ticket, and go home." Elias says to him.

He continued, "Hey, make sure to tell Reina to take care of my car. Okay?"

"Sure will." Westen nods.

Elias turns to me. I quickly cover my slightly sad look. This was the moment that I would have to say goodbye.

He won't be gone long. No worry.

Elias then says with a smile, "Bye, Anada."

I can tell he doesn't like saying goodbye either. I see him trying to cover up that sad expression.

Elias opens his arms, and gives me a goodbye hug. I hug him back.

While he's close to me he whispers, "Don't get into any trouble."

"I'll try not to." I whisper back.

As he steps away I have a short flashback. I remember when he first hugged me at the beach. That seems similiar now, but I know that I will see him again.

I don't know why, but another memory quickly pops up. It was when Elias was leaning against me on the night we had escaped. He was so tired that he had needed help to the hotel room. That wasn't long ago, but it feels like it was.

"Goodbye, Elias." I tell him.

"Goodbye, Anada." He says back with meaning.

Then he turns around with a last wave to Westen. He walks through the automatic opening doors, but not without a last look towards us.

Elias gives me a slight reassuring nod of the head. His eyes lock with mine for a full second.

Then he becomes lost in the dense crowd.