Nadia smiled blissfully as she packed one more set of clothes for the trip, she’d be abandoning most of her worldly possessions, but that was okay. The only object that Nadia really valued as her Blue Water, the rest was easily replaceable. She checked on Grandis and Jean, who were chatting on her bed. A pang of jealously came over Nadia when she saw her kinda sister talking with her kinda boyfriend. Nadia quickly suppressed the negative emotion; she had no reason to fret about ether person betraying her. Grandis knew she cared about Jean and even though Nadia hadn’t known Grandis that long, she knew that the eccentric redhead was no shady enough to steal Jim. Jim may not be her boyfriend, but he does care about her and think she is cute, making it highly unlikely for him to betray her. She slung her bag over her shoulder and walked over to Jean and Grandis. She overheard the end of a conversation between the two when she neared them.
“…How many crates of gold could I smuggle in my pocket again if we got that shrinking thing of yours working.” Grandis was practically beaming with excitement when she asked the question.
“Um… maybe five or six, all depends on the size of the crates.” Jean was getting nervous from Grandis’s questions, when he caught Nadia nearing his heart soared. She could get her away from the ideological questions of the supposedly retired thief.
“What are you talking about?” Nadia asked suspiciously.
“Clothes, makeup, get rich schemes,” was Grandis’s answer. Nadia sighed and rubbed her temples, why was it that the oldest of their group seemed to be the most immature. It should be her and Jean goofing off and saying stupid things, not the much older Grandis.
“Didn’t you mention going strait?” Grandis grinned shamefully and shrugged her shoulders.
“I am and to prove it I’m going to help you find your past and help fix Jean’s marvelous machine. Oh yes, I help fix it right up, then Jean can become normal size and have no more use for it. Heheheh, and I know someone that could really use it, hehheheh.” The giggles in between the last bit made Jean and Nadia slowly back away from the giggling woman. The words normalcy and Grandis seemed to never fit together as Jean and Nadia spent more time with the woman.
“Okay,” Jean said unsure of what to do.
“We had better get going before sunrise, that way we’ll beat the crowds.” Everyone nodded at Jeans words and headed out of Nadia’s room. Nadia cast one more look upon her room knowing that she may never see it again. With her past behind her, Nadia closed her door quietly and joined Jean and Grandis, the future awaited Nadia and she was ready.
Leaving Paris was easy and quick. Jean sat on Nadia’s head, staring out at the buildings through her luscious dark hair. He enjoyed the warmth and comfort of lying on top of her soft bed of hair. He was up there and not in her palm, because he had suggested that walking around with a tiny man in a crowded street could be dangerous if he is discovered. The more Jean thought about it the more he was concerned about being seen. He didn’t want to be stared at, but he knew that if he saw a man smaller then his thumb, he’d gawk at the tiny person. Becoming an exhibition to a bunch of strangers seemed not to be the greatest idea, for now he only liked Nadia, Grandis and those two men with Grandis to know his secret. By now, most of the businesses were coming to life. He could smell freshly baked bread from the bakery. He saw a clothes store opened their front doors to the public. Everything was coming to life in front of Jean and he loved it. Then it hit him, he may never see this beautiful town again, and he may never see his aunt and uncle or his old room. He was leaving everything behind so he could follow this one girl that he had known for less then a day, did he really want to give all this up for Nadia.
“You okay up their Jean?” Nadia’s voice broke his train of thought and he nodded. Realizing that Nadia couldn’t see his response, he slowly shifted down the side of her head until he was right over her ear. Bending over, he stared into her ear canal, looking at all the bumps and groves in her ear. He was shocked to find that he thought her ear looked amazing. They were so round and clean and it looked like it could go on forever. Remembering from last night how he thought of going into the brain of Nadia, he considered if he could fit in her ear. After closely looking at it, he determined that he could probably crawl waist deep into the ear before running out of room. He’d have to get smaller if he ever wanted to get very far up into her head. This contemplation made him pause, he wanted to get bigger, not smaller, but some how it seemed that seeing Nadia eye to eye would take a small thrill out of their relationship.
“Jean?” He snapped to attention, again he had fallen into deep thought about himself and Nadia. He would have to remember for next time to keep his cool around the bigger girl.
“Sorry, just thinking how beautiful your ears look.” A giggle shook his perch on the side of Nadia’s head. He had to grip the sides of the ear to keep up right.
“Is their any part of me that isn’t beautiful to you, Jean?”
“Nothing that I’ve seen.”
“You scoundrel,” Nadia said playfully. They both shared a laugh while Grandis looked o in confusion. She had only caught one side of the conversation, so all she heard was Nadia talking.
“Yah, I’m bad,” Jean smiled happily, he had trouble remembering the last time he had so much fun. He know in that instant that he wanted to be with Nadia, even if he never saw his old life again. He’d even stay in his tiny form until he died if it meant he could stay with Nadia. He was truly happy with Nadia and nothing on this world could make him regret his decision to stay with her. The rest of the trip out of Paris was in silence, no problems were had or accidents, only smiles and laughter. The paved streets disappeared, taking with them the lights and sounds of the city. The path became dirt and the surrounding trees; only birds could be heard from miles away. Even though they were out o the city, Jean remained on Nadia’s head, enjoying the high spot and warmth he got from Nadia’s body. He almost drifted away from the gentle sway of Nadia’s body and the warmth. His doziness fell away when his ride came to an abrupt stop.
“Got to pick up the moronic twins, don’t go anywhere, I’ll be back in a jiffy.” Without giving them time to respond, Grandis went running towards the sound of the river. Left alone for a while, Nadia sat down and out Jean beside her.
“Why do you think Hanson and Sanson are all the way out here?” Nadia asked Jean.
“Maybe they like camping,” was all Jean could come up with. He was about to add something more, but Nadia jumped to her feet and looked down at Jean in shock.
“Your guardians!” She shrieked.
“Huh?”
“Your aunt and uncle, they probably are worried sick.” Jean felt like slapping his head, how could he forget about the people that had been raising him for years. With the coming adventure and all the excitement from yesterday, the people of his past were not his greatest concern.
“When we get to a town, will you send a letter to them for me?” Jean asked Nadia desperately.
“We could always go back and tell them in person that you’re leaving.”
“No,” was all Jean had to say. He didn’t want to shock his only living family by showing up the size of a grasshopper. He couldn’t live with the embarrassment if that happened. He hadn’t even told them about his shrinking device and explaining to him how he tested a new machine on himself would not get much approval. Better to send them a letter of goodbye and not mention the shrinking part. From inside the woods where Grandis had disappeared, three figures came waltzing out. Jean and Nadia stared with big eyes at the two drenched and weary men beside Grandis, it looked like the two had seen hell and bought some accommodation there. With the final two members of the part present, everyone walked, rode or shuffled on to where they would meet their destinies.