Chapter 1

A soft nudge from the passenger next to her and her blue eyes lifted slowly from the pages she was engrossed in. At first her best expression was mildly irritated at the interruption, but then an apologetic "Thank you" soon followed as she realised the reason behind the prod.

The 'Fasten seatbelts' sign was happily glowing, and as a smile cheered her features, Tamara Swift lifted the shutter on the small oval window next to her, and peered out to squint at the vista far below.

England. She was finally coming home.

It had been years now, her travels and adventures having taken her to other realms as much as other countries, and as her heart swelled at the thought of her original home being under her feet once more…

Again she was interrupted…

With a sigh she turned to the voice, this time it was a very pleasant looking stewardess (well, in First Class, 'pleasant' is kind of expected), who sought her attention, and she raised an eyebrow as a mobile phone was handed across to her,

"A Mister Takeda would like a word."

The woman smiled easily, as if it was the most mundane thing in the world, and Tamara took the shiny piece and nodded her thanks,

"Harunobu..is everything ok?"

Her eyes drifted back out of the window, surely he wasn't going to drag her back to Tokyo before she'd even landed?

A purring kind of chuckle was sent down the phone in return to her obviously worried question,

"Everything is fine Tamara, I'm just phoning to ask a favour."

A favour? her mind reeled, what sort of favour could possibly not wait till she had landed? she wondered.

"Ummm…sure…?"

"Hunter and Chiyome will pick you up from Heathrow, I'll explain more once you've landed."

The flame haired CEO of Takeda Corps was being swamped by paperwork in all directions, and he raised his head, the weight of his intense amber stare instantly making everyone freeze.

"They're here?" She blurted, then realised what she said.

Well, of course they are, you idiot. She rolled her eyes at herself and slumped back in her seat, only to be met with another chuckle in her ear.

"You just rolled your eyes at yourself, didn't you?"

He murmured playfully into the phone as he signed several documents pushed under his nose by a brave secretary, "I'll speak to you soon."

"Bye Harunobu…"

She ended the call and the stewardess seemed to materialise out of nowhere to take it back, with her perfect hostess smile, and just as quickly left as the plane began to descend.

"That was Takeda Harunobu? THE Takeda Harunobu?"

The body shape she had chosen to ignore for the entire flight sounded almost in awe, and Tamara turned to take a better look at him,

"Yes, he's a friend."

She heard herself saying rather curtly.

"Then you are a very lucky young woman." The owner of the voice nodded sagely, "Very lucky indeed."
'
Fortunately, that seemed to be the end of the exchange, and she let her gaze drift back out of the small window as the plane banked to land.

Why do I get the feeling I should be saying somethig like, "Here we go again?" She asked her reflection.

Across from Tamara's unnamed body shape which filled the seat next to her, a young girl was pulling at her mother's arm, half whispering, half whining,

"Mummy, mummy, there's a double man sitting over there...."

The mother took a cursory glance, which was more just moving her head than actually taking on board information, and presumed her daughter meant 'Overweight'.

With a tired grumble, she frowned downwards,

"Sit still Elicia." The mother dropped the volume of her words, but it didn't make them lighter,

"And don't be rude. Honestly, we're almost there, now sit still and behave."

The girl might have set her features, but she didn't huff, or pout, she sat back as instructed, then after patiently waiting until her mother's attention drifted once more, she turned to question the body shape directly.

"Why are there two of you?"

Deep set eyes within the shape widened briefly, then faced the girl,

"Well, well. Aren't you a bright little one?" A smile followed, genuine and warm, particularly as she had alerted him to something,  "It's the drop in cabin pressure, I hadn't factored it in."

The girl looked back completely perplexed at so many 'grown up' words, and did the only thing she could think of which was polite.  She smiled sweetly, nodded and said, "Thank you."

Her small gaze turned to look at her mother, hoping she had noticed, but seeing her still engossed, the smile faded, and she sat back deflated.

"You should take a nap, dear, you'll wake up much better for it." The shape helpfully suggested.

There was a second, a moment, their eyes met, and she innocently fell captive to his shimmering blue eyes, and the accompanying smile,

"Night...night..."

There was a gesture, so small, he could have easily been brushing crumbs, and on the other side of the aisle, the little girl fell to the right, her eyes closed in slumber.

The mother, bumped by her now asleep daughter, sent a sharp stare at her nestled in form,

"Honestly Elicia. You can be so embarassing."