Soaring by Kristen Fife This story was written in part because of a promise I made on the Labor Day weekend. Usual disclaimers: Nick and Natalie are owned by Sony Tristar, I'm just borrowing them for a few minutes. Soaring 1/2 Nick walked into the morgue, smiling when he saw Natalie down the hallway walking through the doorway into the kitchenette, coffee cup in hand. He walked down the long hall, holding back just outside the exam room Natalie had exited. She saw him waiting for her and smiled. “Hi Nick. What brings you by again tonight?” She walked by Nick and proceeded to her desk, setting her full cup down carefully. Nick leaned against the metal exam table, his arms folded over his chest. “I forgot earlier to ask you if you’d like to come by the loft tomorrow evening to watch movies. Schanke gave me a tape to watch; he said he wanted my opinion on it, although I’m not sure why.” “What movie?” “It’s called ‘Boxing Helena’.” Natalie choked on her coffee. “Schanke wanted YOUR opinion on it? Huh, I wonder why. Actually, I saw that movie, it’s sort of creepy. Thanks for the invite, but I’m going to be out of town tomorrow night. I’m leaving as soon as I get up; I should be back Monday morning.” Nick’s eyebrows rose up. “Where are you headed off to?” Natalie blushed, her heart rate increased, and she dropped her eyes before she gave him an evasive “oh, just meeting up with a friend.” She started shuffling papers, refusing to meet his eyes. Nick frowned, wondering why Natalie was nervous and evasive all of a sudden. He reached out a hand and laid it on her arm. “Nat? Are you ok?” She glanced up at him, startled. “Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m fine. But I really need to get back to work. I still have three reports to dictate. I’ll see you Monday when I get back, OK?” His keen blue eyes searching hers, finally he nodded. He pulled her close and placed a light kiss on her temple. “Sure thing, Nat. Enjoy yourself.” He turned to walk out the door, hearing Natalie’s heart slow down as he walked away, hurt by her evasion and feeling a stab of jealousy, for surely she was meeting a * male * old friend”. As had happened so often since the incident with Roger Jameson, Nick held his anger in check as he thought of Natalie with another man. As he left the morgue, Natalie felt a wave of guilt sweep through her at the deception. She didn’t like lying to Nick, but she wasn’t prepared to answer the questions that he would undoubtedly ask. She was nervous enough about the decision she had made, and she wanted to face Nick after the deed was done. She finished her coffee, anxious to complete her work for the night and get home to pack and sleep. She drove home in the early morning rosy light, ticking off a mental checklist for packing. As she opened the door to a hungry Sydney, early morning sunlight pooled on the hardwood floors, the golden light dancing with dust motes. She walked over to the window and looked into the sunlight, feeling strange seeing colors and golden light instead of quicksilver moon shadows between the dark shapes of the night. Daylight had become an almost alien environment for her. She closed her eyes and felt the sunlight on her face and smiled, hoping that Nick would understand what she would be doing on the morrow. With a sigh, she closed the blind and went to turn in for the day, setting her alarm for two. =============================== Monday evening the buzzer to rang. Nick grumbled and put down the glass of blood he had just poured. He was grumpy and out of sorts. He walked over to the screen and saw Natalie standing outside the door, a smile on her face. He buzzed her up. The lift rumbled to life and the door opened. “Hi Nick!” Natalie’s eyes sparkled, her cheeks were rosy, and she held a videotape in her hand. “Hi Nat. I didn’t expect you back so early.” “I know, but I wanted to come over and show this to you.” She grabbed his hand and led him over to the couch in front of the TV. She pushed him down, still grinning, then walked over to the VCR and inserted the tape. She grabbed the remote and turned to face him. “Nick, a few weeks ago you made a comment about the freedom of flying, and I couldn’t get it out of my mind, so I decided to see what it was like. I made this video for you so you could see what flying in the sunlight is like.” She sat down on next to him before hitting the start button. On the screen appeared an image of Natalie in a green jumpsuit, talking into the camera. “Hi Nick. I really wish you could be here, but I hope you like this. I decided to try hang gliding. This is Troy,” she turned around to gesture toward a fit, tan man in his forties, wearing a bright blue jumpsuit, readying a harness. A hang glider was just beyond him on the ground. He waved to the camera, then went back to the work he was doing. Natalie’s image continued. “Anyway, I’m up here at Teviotdale for my first tandem flight. One of the other fliers is filming, and pretty soon we’re going to attach this to the glider so you can get a bird’s eye view of Ontario. Gotta go for now, I’ll be back in a few minutes.” She waved, then the screen went black for a few seconds, to be replaced by the view of the Ontario countryside spread out below the glider, a green and brown patchwork quilt drowsing lazily in the spring sun. The video went on for about twenty minutes, with nothing but the sound of the wind and the luffing of the wings. They lazily circled back to the earth, and the camera cut off again. Natalie reappeared on film again, this time with a huge smile on her face. “Nick, I really know how you feel now sometimes when you take off. I really wish you could be here with me, but I hope this gift puts a bit of sunshine in your day.” The screen went black. Nick turned to her, a look of tenderness on his face as he reached up and stroked her cheek. “Nat, that was incredible. I don’t know what to say other than thank you. I wish I could have been there, too.” “Nick, it was amazing! I felt as free as a bird. I can’t even describe it.” He grinned. “I know exactly what you mean.” He was silent for a minute. “I have an idea; I can’t fly with you in the daylight, but I can certainly share the night sky with you. It’ll be dark in half an hour; how about we go for a flight over the city? I need to get showered and dressed.” Natalie’s smile lit the room. “Nick, that would be great!” Nick kissed the end of her nose. “I’ll be down in a bit.” Natalie leaned back against the cushions and rewound the tape to watch it again. The exhilaration of her daytime flight and the anticipation of night flight in Nick’s arms were a heady intoxication. ********************** "When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the Earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will always long to return." - Leonardo da Vinci ********************** Hope you enjoyed! May be archived at the FTP site, the fkfanfic.com/fkfanfic2.com sites. Anyone else interested, just ask. http://www.lightflight.ca/index.html Kristen Fife http://www.fkvoyage.com/fkfanfic/fife_kristen/ "I have a vampire by my side and I'm not afraid to use him!" -Tanya Huff