Maggie woke with a start. She sat upright, supporting herself with her hands behind her. She was drifting in that half-awake/half-asleep fog.

Where was she?

What time was it?

What was going on?

She could tell she was on a couch, but the room was dark and she could only make out shadows. Slowly though the sounds of jet engines began to register with her. Words began to flash in her sleepy haze.

Bianca…

Plane…

Paris…

She was on a plane to Paris with…,her best friend? Her girlfriend? ARGH!

Maggie untangled herself from the blanket and swung her legs around so she was sitting up with her feet on the floor. She remembered what it was that woke her. She had a nightmare. It was nothing more than Jonathon's face coming out of shadows towards her. Although, that was all it took anymore.

She shook the last of the sleep cobwebs out of her head and stood up and walked towards the back of the plane to the bathroom. As she passed Miranda's crib she took a quick peak at the munchkin. Sound asleep and as gorgeous as always. Maggie reached in the crib and lightly placed her hand on the sleeping girls chest to make sure she was breathing, she had been so quiet. All was fine. She grinned and continued the journey to the bathroom.

She entered and closed the door behind her. She felt no need to flip the lock and that struck her . "Hm." She thought "That's a first in awhile." Ever since every thing that had happened with Jon, she had locked every door no matter where she went. No matter how comfortable she felt though, she had to flip the lock just to turn on the lights. That got a small chuckle out of her. "Heh…there's another first in awhile." She thought.

As she turned she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. The tussled "bed hair" wasn't doing much for her, but the clothes caught her eye. They were a t-shirt and shorts Bianca had loaned her. With their difference in size the clothes were a little big on her, but they were comfortable and in some small way, it made Maggie feel like Bianca's arms were wrapped around her, protecting her.

Maggie shook her head again, like that action would have some magical power to shake away thoughts she wasn't ready to deal with. As if she could physically toss those…feelings?...right out of her head like you toss a hamburger wrapper out the window.

She went about her business and finished by splashing some water on her face. Didn't matter how fancy a plane was, you still would get that "traveling" feeling on you.

On her way back to the couch, she again looked in the crib. Still asleep, Maggie wondered if it was only on paying flights that babies got cranky and fidgety? Miranda had been out since just before take off.

Plopping back down on the couch, she crossed her legs in front of herself and wrapped the blanket around her all the way up to her neck. She knew she probably should get some more sleep, but the short walk back and forth had been enough to wake her up past the sleeping point.

Although the plane had plenty of ways to keep her entertained, they all ran the risk of waking up the other ladies on board. She decided it was best to just sit there, look out the window and ponder her life. Once she got to Paris things would be hectic, this might very well be her last "quiet" time she would have to herself for awhile, and there was so very much to ponder.

She turned herself around a bit more so she could look out the window. It was night time and the plane was cruising along above the cloud cover. It was breathtaking. The stars were showing so clearly and the moonlight reflected back up from the clouds. Though it was night, she felt like she could see on for what seemed like forever.

Off in the distance she could see could see another plane flying in the opposite direction. She watched as it flew by at a considerable distance. She wondered if there was anyone on that plane who had just left their life behind to begin anew somewhere else. Maggie knew full well there were other Jonathon's in the world, but did everyone pick up and leave their life behind to get away from the memories?

Was it just the memories that caused her to leave though, or was it more to be with Bianca? She had to admit that the time was quickly approaching for her to finally face her confusion full on. The space to dance around it had been getting smaller and smaller, and jumping on a plane and running off with the girl in question had brought them into what almost felt like a tango. A tango danced on a thinly iced over lake at that.

She looked across the cabin at the other couch. Her eyes were slowly adjusting from having been looking into the brighter light outside the cabin, and she could finally make out some details. Maggie could tell that Bianca was laying on her side, facing away from her. The hills and valleys of her side was all that she could make out.

Maggie sat there quietly and watched her friend sleep. The gentle rise and fall of the side of her ribcage, listening to the in and out of her breathing and watching as she shifted her right arm, dropping it in front of her. The sight of her made it feel like she was seeing Bianca for the first time all over again. Reminding Maggie of all the reasons she was wondering about the possibilities of a relationship. Even so, even if this wasn't a journey leading to a "relationship" it was for sure a new stage in their ...well... relationship.

There was no question any longer, in some way, shape or form, Maggie loved Bianca. It was merely a question of to what degree, and in what sense. She had no clue how long it would take her to figure it out, but she even wondered, was it possible to ever figure it out? She knew that if she loved any man with the intensity that she loved B, she would awake every morning praying that this would be the day the man proposed. She would give anything to spend the rest of her life with that man.

So what was the problem here? Was it the fact that Bianca had the wrong anatomy? Was Bianca her "soul mate", for lack of a better term, mistakenly born into the wrong body? Or did it even really matter what body she was in? Maggie knew only one thing was a given, she loved the soul that inhabited that body.

Under her breath she made an audible grunt of frustration and threw the blanket off the top part of her, uncovering her torso. Reaching up with both hands and rubbed her face up and down like this might rub some smarts into her. All it really accomplished to was make her nose itchy.

She reached down and pulled the collar of the t-shirt up to her nose to rub against her nose and that was when it happened. As she pulled the collar past her nostrils she inhaled and her senses were filled with only one thing….Bianca. She was wearing the girls shirt and could smell her on the clothes she had borrowed. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply of her friends fragrance. Sure, it smelled somewhat of Fusion, but she could also take in her very essence.

This brought back such a flood of memories, some good, some bad. The laughs. The tears. The prom…the "death" of Miranda…the timing of Lena…seeing her friend earlier this evening as she walked out of the elevator. This shirt, this simple piece of cloth, was like burying her face in the nape of Bianca's neck whenever they hugged.

Maggie slowly opened her eyes and was greeted by an unexpected sight. While she had let her mind wander, Bianca had rolled over and was staring back at her. It was easy to tell because what little light was in the cabin seemed to be all concentrated in the light that danced in Bianca's deep, dark eyes. Maggie could also make out the white of Bianca's teeth which told her she was smiling.

"Hi there." Said the taller girl.

Maggie, with the t-shirt collar still hooked over her nose was able to squeak out something that somewhat sounded like "Hello."

End chapter 1