It was a long flight, made longer by the fact that Amber had never traveled alone. Every other time she had visited China had been with her mother at her side, and she had slept most of the plane ride over or played games with her mother to pass the time. Traveling alone was a totally different experience, though; she was too afraid of strangers to allow herself to sleep and had no one to play games with so she passed the time by reading.

She was engrossed in her second carry-on book when the pilot announced their arrival in China, and with a sigh half of trepidation and half of exhaustion Amber packed away her book and finished her water. She was more than ready to be off of the plane; her was beginning to feel numb despite her frequent walks up and down the aisle. However she couldn't let go of the fear that her Grandma would take one look at her and send her home. They hadn't seen one another in four years due to the continental distance and Amber didn't have butterflies of nerves in her stomach. She had giant Condors flying around in there, making her feel a bit sick and very afraid.

As she came out of the terminal and began to look around for her Grandma the Condors just grew bigger and bigger until she thought she could feel the beaks coming up , but then she saw a tiny and wrinkled old woman waving brightly at her. Her Grandma's bright, welcoming smile brooked no room for nervousness, the warmth emanating from her banishing the Condors from existence. After hugging her for what seemed like forever, Grandma turned and led Amber away toward the baggage claim, chatting away excitedly in Mandarin.

It wasn't until they were done moving Amber's luggage into her bedroom when her Grandma caught her arms and turned her to look into her eyes that Amber felt the Condors begin to make their return. All her Grandma said, though, was, "I love you, my little one. I am so glad you're here." Giving her a kiss on the cheek and a quick hug goodnight, Grandma turned and left Amber with tears of thanks streaming down her face.

She slept well that night for the first time in a while; there was no people to worry about facing, no judge