"Itaria no Mirano e no hikō wa 20-bu de shūryō shimasu."
イタリアのミラノ・エ・ヒキョ・ワ20ブ・ドゥーユリ

      Winter stood in the Kansai airport terminals, gazing at the screen which displayed different flight times for international cities. Lifting her left wrist, she checked her watch, displaying the time of: 9:40AM. Her flight would be leaving in 20 minutes, taking her to a whole new world with a whole new language to learn. Even though her mother is half Italian, she didn't have the chance to learn the language unlike Mandarin and Japanese, so she'll have to learn on the way to Milan, Italy.

      She looked around at the people walking inside the airport. Many of them were traveling with their families while some were traveling alone, just like her. She's lived in Japan for 13 years and now, at the age of 17, she's decided to move to Italy with her aunt and commence a new chapter in her story; having a fresh start and living life her way.

      She adjusted her gray backpack strap, letting it rest more comfortably on her right shoulder. Her Totoro printed roller bag stood next to her, followed by a purple duffel bag, carrying most of her clothes. Pulling out her smartphone, Winter checked to see if her family had reached the airport yet. No new notifications popped up and she sighed internally, slipping the device back in the pocket of her jacket.

     "Onee-chan!" A high pitched voice called from behind her.

      Without looking back, Winter automatically knew it was her little sister, Julietta. Suddenly, a pair of arms wrapped around her petite body, capturing her in a bone-crushing embrace. Winter let out a strangled gasp and pushed the young teen off, playfully.

     "Baka!" Winter laughed, ruffling her sister's messy, onyx colored hair, "You shouldn't have squeezed me like that while I'm carrying things." She gestured to her heavy bag, laying on her shoulder.

     "Gomen'nasai." Julie replied, bowing her head, apologetically, "I'm just going to miss you a lot, that's all."

      Julie, born in Japan, spoke fluently, but was never taught Mandarin like Winter was, who spent 4 years in China. The older sister shook her head, smiling, "I'm only in the next continent." She leaned down until she was at eye level, peering at Julie's cerulean gaze, "Remember, this isn't a goodbye, it's just a-"

     "-See you later." She finished before her lips tugged into a grin, recalling what their relatives used to say whenever they would leave to travel. Her freckled face beamed under the bright lights overhead.

     "Exactly." Winter confirmed, regaining her posture, which was not that far from her sister's height. A mere 4 inch difference.

      In the distance, she saw her parents walking towards them. Waving, she left her bags with Julie and ran over to greet the couple. Her mother's eyes reflected the lights above as they were filling up with tears. Her father, on the other hand, stood tall with a proud expression painted on his face. The brunette gave her parents a long embrace, holding them close to her. The smell of her mother's sweet perfume brought nostalgia to Winter as she remembered it was her favorite scent. She was able to distinguish the scent of Lotus flowers anywhere. She felt the strong grip of her father's arm around her shoulders, enveloping her in a protective shield of their affection.

     Finally letting go, Winter stood back, breathing calmly and smiled at her parents, "See you guys later?"

     "See you later indeed." Her mother choked out through the tears running down her rosy cheeks. Her short brown hair, similar to Winter's, but had strands of gray flow with it, laid messily on her shoulders which added a rebellious look. The white, lace blouse she wore, that Winter bought for her on her birthday last month, illuminated her light complexion, making her seem younger than she really is, "Remember to thank Aunt Loretta for her hospitality and for putting up with you."

     Winter gasped, pretending to be offended. She placed a hand over her heart, clutching it, "Of course I will, I am, after all, the most disobedient child."

     Her father chuckled, adjusting his glasses which laid comfortably on the bridge of his nose, his dark, brown colored eyes glinted behind the glass, "Before you go, there's someone who tagged along with us." He gestured with his left hand to the crowd of people behind them.

      Winter peered over his shoulder, slightly struggling because of her short height. At first, all she could see was a crowd of strangers passing by, until she saw him. Holding back a gasp, tears sprang to her eyes as she saw her childhood best friend, Rin Kurosaki, emerge from the crowd. His lips curved into a gentle smile as his crystal, blue eyes met hers. Winter wasted no time as she quickly dodged her way through the crowd and leaped into his open arms. She squeezed him tight, burying her head in the crook of his neck as he bent down to hug her. The pools of water in her hazel eyes held their breath until they rolled down her cheeks, meeting at the point of her chin.

     Rin chuckled, pulling away to look down at Winter, "I thought you said you weren't going to tear up?" He raised a challenging brow.

     Winter scoffed, wiping away her tears, embarrassed, "Idiot, you smell like onions, that must've caused it." She pinched her nose, playfully and broke away from his grasp.

     He rolled his eyes, obviously not amused by his friend's mild sense of humor, "Admit it, Lin-chan, you're not as tough as you seem-"

      Rin's sentence was cut off with a punch in the stomach. Winter laughed evilly, watching him double over, gasping. He huffed, glaring and suddenly held her in a headlock. She squirmed around, whining until he released her. Winter's parents glanced at the two, chuckling to themselves at how how childish they still behaved then went back to see Julie, who was still watching Winter's belongings.

     "You're gonna miss me, right?" Winter smirked, fixing her ruffled hair and attempted to wink, but instead came out as a blink.

     Rin shrugged, nonchalantly, "I don't know about that... It might be nice not having to come and get you in the mornings when you've overslept for school."

     "That was one time!" The brunette huffed, crossing her arms, "It wasn't even my fault and you know that." Eyeing her tall friend sternly.

     He chuckled, flicking his head sideways to move his black bangs out of his eyes, "Yes, I remember. What was your excuse again?" He pretended to look clueless as he held his chin thoughtfully, "Oh! You said, and I quote, 'Only one more episode, Rin-kun, then I'll go to sleep!'" His voice high-pitched and girly, but stopped himself as he saw that she wasn't amused.

     Winter let out a loud sigh and turned away, "I didn't expect you to give me a straight answer anyway." She looked down and stared at the tile floors, holding back her disappointment. She was about to walk back to her family before she felt a hand grab her arm gently.

     "Matsu, matsu." Rin whispered for her to wait, "Of course I'll miss you Winter. We practically grew up together." He turned her to face him and leaned down to match her eye level, "It won't be the same without you here."

     Winter smiled, feeling a bit of reassurance from him, "And I'll miss you more." Getting on her tippy toes, she wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing him down to her level. He responded quickly and held her tight, burying his face in the crook of her neck.

As they pulled away, the lady began talking on the intercom again:

"Itaria no Mirano e no hikō wa ima aite 5-bu-go ni shuppatsu shimasu."
イタリアのミラノ・エ・ノ・ヒコ・ワ・イマ・アイ・エイト5ブー・ニー・シュパッツ

     "Well, my flight is leaving in five minutes now." Winter stated, breaking the silence, "Let's go back to my family."

      Rin nodded, following the brunette back to where her parents and sister stood. Winter ran up and hugged them again, holding on to their shoulders and breathing in their familiar scent once last time. Pulling away, Winter smiled at Julie who handed her bags to her. She slipped on her backpack and picked up the remaining suitcases. Her family followed Winter to the entrance of her plane and gave their best wishes to her.

      Giving the flight attend her ticket, she turned around, waved goodbye and walked backwards until the faces of her loved ones were out of sight. Julie called out for her to have fun and party while Rin quickly countered her comment with a safe one. Chuckling to herself, Winter faced forward and walked through the gates of the airplane, setting foot in the start of a new chapter in her now adventurous life.

This is what you've been waiting for your whole life. Winter smiled to herself and nodded. Now inside the plane, she found her seat by a window and placed her luggage above her. Sitting by the window, Winter pulled out an Italian dictionary to help her during her stay in Milan with her aunt.

     "Hopefully I can get a few words down," She mumbled to herself while flipping through the pages.

"Wareware wa ima, Mirano, Itaria ni tobu yoteidesu. Jōkyaku wa suwatte kudasai."
われわれ わ いま、 みらの、 いたりあ に とぶ よていです 乗客は座ってください

      Smiling as Winter knew the plane will be taking off soon, she opened the curtain of her window and gazed outside. The plane began to accelerate as it went down the runway and finally they were in the air, surrounded by white clouds. Her hazel eyes widened, looking down below at the Kansai Airport and knew her family was somewhere below waving at her.

     "Goodbye, Japan," she whispered, pressing her face up against the cold glass, "And hello Italy."

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