"You okay?" Donghae asked as Haruki's finger's clenched the armrests of her seat. She nodded stiffly and he reached over to squeeze her hand.

From Haruki's other side, Jessica reached over and swatted him away with a magazine. "Donghae! What did I say? No trying to be cute while I'm trapped with you guys on this flight." She flipped open the magazine before glancing up at Haruki. "You really should relax, though. It's not like you're meeting two strangers for the first time."

Considering the length of time Haruki had been away from home, she might as well have been. She sighed and slumped lower down into her seat. "Thanks for coming with me," she murmured. "I don't think I could do this alone."

"No problem," Donghae said as Jessica muttered, "Whatever," at the same time.

The flight attendant came through to check that everyone had their seatbelts on and Donghae closed his eyes, leaning his head back to doze off. After a while, Jessica put away her magazine and fell asleep leaning against the window, leaving Haruki to her thoughts.

The last time she'd seen her parents, they'd sent her off to boarding school because they no longer knew how to deal with her sullen and passive-aggressive attitude at home. Actually, if Haruki remembered it correctly, she had sent for the brochures herself, to plant the idea in her parents' minds. She'd wanted to leave, to get out of that house with its choking atmosphere and the constant reminder of her older sister hanging over their heads. She was young and thought her parents were backwards and useless. How she regretted it now.

She'd grown, though not until these last few years. Only her own brushes with death had allowed her to see things from her parents' point of view.

Jessica mumbled something and frowned in her sleep. Haruki picked up one of the airplane pillows, dusted it as best as she could, and eased it under her best friend's head. Instantly, Jessica's expression relaxed.

What if her parents hadn't forgiven her for her previous behavior? Donghae had told her that was stupid, that all parents loved their children despite their behavior, but love was a different story from forgiveness. What if she said "I'm sorry" and her words were only met with blank stares?

Would they still look at her with torment in their eyes, clearly seeing her sister instead of her? What would they even say to her when they saw her? If they wanted her to visit, that must mean they missed her, but why hadn't they tried to contact her at all in the past few years?

All the questions were driving her insane, causing her to move in her seat until she couldn't take it any more. As soon as the seatbelt light went off, she unbuckled hers and squeezed past Donghae into the aisle. He woke up instantly.

"I think you stepped on my foot," he complained.

"Sorry," Haruki replied. "I just needed to..." She gestured vaguely and he raised an eyebrow.

"Something on your mind?" he asked.

The passenger across the aisle tapped Haruki's arm and hissed, "Shh."

"I'm fine," she said, turning and heading towards the back of the airplane. Donghae unbuckled his seatbelt and followed her.

"You've got that look on your face," he said.

"What look?"

"The look that tells me you're thinking too much." He crossed his arms. "You nervous about seeing your parents again?"

Haruki sighed. "Why wouldn't I be? I haven't seen them more than fifteen years. I never even tried to contact them. I told myself I didn't miss them."

"But you did."

"Of course I did. I had photos at home and in my office, but I hid them so I could pretend that I didn't care-"

"Excuse me." One of the flight attendants approached them. "I'll need to ask you to take your seats-"

"We'll just be a second," Donghae replied. "And?"

"Sir, I have to insist-"

"In a moment."

"But-"

Donghae frowned and the flight attendant stopped talking. "Do you mind? I'm trying to talk to my girlfriend here."

"No, she's right. We should go sit down," Haruki murmured as she headed back towards her seat. Before she reached it, though, Donghae grabbed her shoulder.

"You don't need to worry so much. Things will be fine," he said. 

"How do you know that?" she asked.

"Because if they aren't, I'll help you get through them," he replied and she smiled. "There's no reason to worry about things when you have no control over them. All you can do is see what happens."

Haruki managed a smile as she sat down, where a disgruntled Jessica was waking up. "What is this gross thing under my head?" the model murmured.

The seatbelt light flashed on again as the flight attendants began moving down the aisle, checking to see that seats were upright and tray tables were stowed away. Haruki felt the plane begin to dip downwards and braced herself for the announcement: "This plane is now arriving in Tokyo."

A/N: Ugh, just one more...