" I was sitting at my seat,near the window,listening to some country music Mark was sitting near me,playing a game on his iPad. He seemed so focused. 

I looked  down at my iPhone.

According to it,it was  5 PM,local time. 

We were about to land.

I looked through the window. The sky was blue,the clouds were white and so fluffy they seemed made of whipped cream.

I was looking forward to the moment when the plane would get ready to land,to have a look at the land below me. I had always loved that moment..when such a big and vast land seemed so little it could fit in my hand.

The song  I was listening to ended. A few seconds later,another one started.

Brad Paisley's sweet voice filled my ears. 

A few seconds in,I realised it was my absolute favourite song of his.

It had been played in the background while Mark proposed.

It was the song to which we had had our first dance as a married couple. 

It was our song. 

I gently elbowed Mark, in order to drive his attention to me. 

When he turned around,I gave him one of my earphones, so that we could listen to the song together.

 A few minutes later,He smiled at me.

-"And now you're my whole life,now you're my whole world.."-he quietly sang to the lyrics.

I looked at him,in the eye. He did the same. 

My hand searched for his. 

His searched for mine. After a few seconds,they found each other and intertwined.

-"I just can't believe..the way I feel about you,girl.."

I grinned at him,feeling tears in my eyes..as I squeezed his hand tightly.

We landed at 6 30 PM,local time. 

I yawned,as I stretched and started gathering my stuff. 

I couldn't believe we were finally there. The flight had been nice and rather  comfortable,yes..but super long as well.

It dawned on me we had a train to catch in 3 hours..and a night of traveling ahead of us. 

Our long journey was far from over..but,to be honest, I was trying to savour every little bit of it.

And..from that point on, it could only get better that it already was. 

I was looking forward to it so much that I could barely contain my excitement.

Mark grinned at me.

-Are you ready for this?

My hand once again searched for his,while his searched for mine. 

They ended up meeting on the  my seat's arm rest and intertwined. At that moment a ray of sunshine came through the window and met our brand new,shiny, wedding bands.

I looked at Mark,with the widest smile on my face.

-I am.

As soon as we got off the plane,the sun started bothering my eyes. 

I took out my sunglasses out of my purse and I put them on.

It was so hot.

I was glad I had taken off my old Smith's sweatshirt earlier and had only a purple tank top  and a pair of shorts on at that moment.

 Mark and I were walking towards the airport,carrying our suitcases behind us.

-We're here. -I whispered,not quite believing it yet-We're really here.

Mark held my hand tighter.

-We're here.-he  smiled at me.

The airport looked like the labyrinth from Pacman. 

It was packed with people,speaking many languages. English,Italian,French and even something that seemed like Swedish,or even Norwegian maybe.

That was what I loved most about airports. All the people you could see,all the different languages you could hear,all the different cultures you could get a glimpse of..if you were lucky enough to be at the right place at the right moment.

While I was looking around,mesmerised,I felt Mark's hand lightly touching my shoulder.

-I'm gonna go get a coffee and something to eat...-he told me- Do you want anything?

I turned around to look at him.

-Coffee..espresso. -I said,trying not to yawn- and a bottle of water...the colder they have,the better.

-Okay. - he smiled at me- you wait here in the lounge. I'll be back in a minute.

-Do you need me to come with you? 

-I think I can handle it. -he assured me- And I'm sure they speak English.

He held my hands and gently kissed me on my lips.

I felt my cheeks blushing.

-I love you,Mark. -I said.

-I love you too,Lizzie. 

-I still cannot believe we're here..on our honeymoon.  -I then whispered- It's like..I mean.. I feel like I am dreaming. 

A few seconds later,I felt a little pinch on my arm. I retrieved it immediately.

-Ouch! 

Mark gave me a mischievous smile.

-Why did you do that?-I asked him,faking an annoyed tone - That was not nice!

-To show you that you are not dreaming,my dear.

He winked at me.

-Anyways..you wait here. I'll be back in a minute.

   

When he left,I sat on one of the red plastic chairs in the lounge. I took a magazine from a table near me and started reading through it..trying to practice the language a bit more.

While I was reading,or at least,trying to, I felt someone touching my arm. 

I thought Mark had come back with our drinks. 

But,much to my surprise, when I looked at my side,I didn't see him. 

A little girl with red pigtails and big blue eyes,was sitting near me. 

I assumed she was 4 ..or 5,maybe. Not more. 

She looked upset and like she was about to cry.   

We were alone in the room. 

She must had been the one to touch my arm.

I grinned at her,trying to calm her down.

-Hai visto la mia mamma? -she asked,innocently.

She seemed so scared,poor thing.

At that moment I felt so incredibly grateful for the fact that I had revised Italian for the whole flight that had taken us from Boston to Frankfurt and from Frankfurt to Milan..where we were at that moment. From there,a train would take us to the South of Italy,where we would spend 2 entire weeks. 

I had taken a few semesters of Italian in college and I loved it. To that day still,most of the time,I could easily understand the language,both read and written..although I still struggled a lot with my speaking and hated my accent. 

The little girl had just asked me if I had seen her mum.

I thought about the right words in my head for a few seconds.I wanted to tell her I hadn't seen her mother and ask her if she was lost.

-No,piccola. - I said - Ti..sei..persa? 

She nodded.

 I breathed a sigh of relief.

Yay. What I had said actually made sense.

At least the little girl and I could communicate in some way.

I smiled at her.

-Come..ti chiami? -I asked her. 

"What's your name?"

-Chiara! -a woman's voice-Dove sei stata?  Ti ho cercata dappertutto!

A woman with a long braid ran towards us. The little girl,Chiara, threw

 herself in her arms. I assumed she was her mum.

-Mamma! -she said,while holding onto her.

The woman had just asked her where she had been and told her she had been searching for her everywhere..or ,at least, that's what I understood.

-Quante volte ti ho detto che non ti devi allontanare?

She was scolding her about wandering around on her own. 

The both of them then got closer to me.

-E quante volte ti ho detto che non devi dare fastidio alle persone che non conosci?

She was scolding her about bothering people she didn't know.

-Mi dispiace -she then told me with a smile.

"I'm sorry".

-Chiara,chiedi scusa alla signorina.

She had now told her to apologise to me,referring to me as miss. 

Quite flattering of her, I thought.

-Scusa,signorina.-she whispered,staring at her feet.

"Sorry,miss".

She was so sweet my heart melted. 

-Non...c'è bisogno. -I smiled. 

"There's no need".

-Eri..spaventata. Io..capisco. - I paused,thinking about  the next words I had to say -Sei..stata coraggiosa..a..mmmm..chiedere aiuto.

"You were scared,I understand. You were brave to ask for help. " 

Or..something like that. Chiara seemed to understand what I wanted to tell her. She smiled.

She  then went ahead and hugged me."