The weakening of some of the travel restrictions were unexpected, particularly given some of the news reports coming out of the United States that indicated that the first wave of the Covid 19 Pandemic had NOT ended there, and that it was more the panicked government looking to reopen the economy as a means to restore its election chances that was the real cause of it, as least with regard to Europe and a good portion of Asia. Though Shuixing found that she was only let through because Heiya Island was officially part of Japan and not China. She'd also gotten some instructions that travel into Brazil and a few South American countries was now being banned as the pandemic began to surge there. It served to only be a reminder of how inept she'd found the American government to be. It seemed to waiver between the decisions and the only ones it stayed firm on were often the wrong ones.
Thankfully Japanese/American relations hadn't collapsed, yet, and her destination was the Bowman farm in Wisconsin. Thus as soon as travel was permitted and she'd tested negative for Covid 19, Shuixing was on a flight for Wisconsin, eagerly happy to see Nate again and congratulate his father on his engagement with Blueberry. She didn't necessarily expect Blueberry and some of the Bowman Farm's cows to return to Wisconsin, but they did and from what interactions that Shuixing had been able to see at certain times, it seemed like some of the uplifted cows looked to their former owner with some degree of sympathy and possibly affection, especially Blueberry. It was something that struck Shuixing as a reminder of how many of the bond-mate pairs formed between an uplifted Animalian and a converted Animalian when pets were involved. The former owner confided in the pet secrets, desires, loves, and regrets, and that Nate's father had likely done so with the dairy cattle he looked after.
That gave Shuixing some happiness that Ulysses Bowman was happy and that the situation was such that she could be with Nate and not lose her sisters. The plane was rather empty as it took off with Shuixing as the only passenger, but it left her with time to think over things on the way to Wisconsin. Some of it was how to congratulate Ulysses when she arrived at the farm, but but much of the rest was dwelling on her relations with Nate. It was a surprise that she'd never expected. She'd become a Water Buffalo Animalian largely in response to all the teasing she'd gotten growing up for being either overweight, or clumsy, or awkward. If she was going to be seen as an Ox, might as well be something that was large and powerfully built. No one would tease her if she displayed the size and strength that animals like Water Buffalo had, be they wild or domestic.
Yet when she met Nate, he'd been heavily intrigued by her in ways that she never expected. He described her as graceful, which she didn't expect. She was fit and muscular for any Animalian female and wasn't necessarily as "clumsy" as she'd been in the past, but she wouldn't ever match her sisters in agility, given one had become a Snow Leopard, another a Bengal Tiger, and a third a Red Panda. But Nate found her graceful and was even eager for lessons. And so she started with some the basic starting points with her own style that she was working with and the related styles that went with it, and Nate was more than happy to practice, and even emailed her at times for pointers. From there she began to like the attention and it developed into a long distance courtship.
She knew that Nate was going to the University of Wisconsin and that they'd initially met during one of his summer breaks, which he was probably on now, assuming he hadn't graduated, as Shuixing was a bit unsure as to how far he'd gotten through his college studied. She knew that he had a loving family with a hard working father, a difficult and hard of hearing aunt, and a grand heart. Though given his father's age at first and that his aunt had no children, Nate was likely the sole heir to the Bowman farm and Ulysses didn't want to see it gobbled up by some big company that was gobbling up many of the small farms as they went under. But now with the fact that his Aunt had become a Mule Animalian, willingly, and had a bond-mate and his father now had Blueberry, the part of Shuixing's mind that had come to love Nate Bowman drifted to thoughts of it being "her turn."
"Of course the others want Nate's transformation to be something special... which I'd want too," Shuixing thought to herself as she looked out the window and saw the vast blue expanse of the Pacific move beneath the plane as it flew overhead, "I mean... I don't want to rush anything with him and I don't want to hurt him... though I'd wonder if Huoxing might have some joke she wants to play?"
She shook her head at that and figured that her sisters wouldn't play tricks on her. With the plane now at a safe height, she retrieved he phone and dialed a familiar number and her lips were pulled into a smile as she got the answer she wanted.
"Shuixing?!" came Nate's voice through the phone.
"Yes... it's me!" Shuixing said happily, "with some of the routes between Heiya Island open and the tests in place... I'm on my way... Don't tell me I've missed the wedding?"
"No the wedding's still on," Nate answered, "and everyone is waiting for you. Did you just take off?"
"A little while ago," Shuixing answered, "we go non-stop to San Francisco, stop there for refueling and showing American officials that everyone onboard tested negative for Covid 19 and then flying in to Milwaukee... repeating the same process there, but there I'll get to disembark... and see you again."
"Looking forward to it... did they tell you when you land?" Nate asked.
"In San Francisco... in a few hours... I'll call you again after we take off from there," Shuixing answered, "that should give you time to drive down."
"Okay then... enjoy the flight... see you soon," Nate responded, "Love you."
"Love you too," Shuixing replied and then hung up.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The flight and the stop along the way took time and was very different from the other times that Shuixing had flown to the US. The other times had often had some company for her to talk to. On the first trip it was her with Ping, Huoxing, Tuxing, Jinxing, and Muxing with her after Ping had helped in rescuing her and her sisters from a sex cult. They could talk and there was the hopeful enthusiasm of gaining the strength to heal and recover from all the damage that the sex cult had done to them. In the other times that she or the others had flown, it was often with others who had visited Heiya Island or were going to Animalia/Lyre as part of the tourist trade or business ventures that had seemed go on between Animalia and its colony cities and the outside world. It had left enough curiosity that Shuixing had people to talk to.
This flight was different, as her sisters weren't as close to the Bowmans as she was and thus didn't want to go to Wisconsin to see her boyfriend's father get married. Thus she didn't have her sisters for company, and because of how long transit between the US and East Asia had been shut down because of the Corona Virus pandemic, there weren't any other travelers with her that were going to Wisconsin. As such there was no one there to talk to. Some of the stewards managed some polite conversation and offered a few snacks, but they had to remain professional and Shuixing rejected the extra food. She had lost the extra weight she had put on while "missing Nate," but she didn't want to jeopardize anything on the way. This however left her a bit lonely with no one to talk to. The plane put on a movie for much of the flight, which wasn't too bad, but Shuixing ultimately found herself snoozing a bit to try and get through the flight.
They didn't have to change planes in San Francisco, which was a good thing, but health inspectors did board the plane to collect the official test results from Shuixing and the plane's crew. The paperwork from Heiya Island's hospital was presented and the inspectors took a picture of it with their smart phones and then soon departed almost as quickly as they came. While all this went on, the plane was refueled and a handful of additional passengers came on, most of them returning to Wisconsin. Shuixing initially hoped they might be willing to talk with her, but they gave her a wide birth as it seemed like they simply wanted to get out of California and were using that Animalia Air as a means to get back home. Thus the only conversation Shuixing got on the flight was again with the call to Nate and letting him know that they were on their way to Milwaukee and when they expected to land. From there, Shuixing was again left on a long quiet flight.
The arrival in Wisconsin was quiet and without immediate fanfare, but there was one thing that Shuixing took great joy in, seeing Nate. She happily scooped him up into a hug as soon as she saw him, forgetting about her bag as it went around the airport's rotating conveyor.
"Nate! Oh... how I've missed you!" Shuixing said with a smile, even if Nate couldn't see it through the specialized mask that she was wearing, just in case she came across anyone that might be walking around with a cough.
With his face pressed into the front of Shuixing's shirt, Nate's answer was a bit muffled, "I've missed you too."
"Things haven't been too bad for you?" Shuixing asked to Nate as she set him down and waited for her bag to come around again.
"Not really... the whole present Covid stuff is a mess... and a bunch of over-zealous policemen committing murder didn't help matters," Nate gave a minor grumble, "but there isn't much that can be dealt with that. The big thing has been that a lot of the furniture at the farm has been either strengthened or replaced."
"I would imagine that with your dad and Blueberry getting married... and with Meryl and Olly also there... old beds, chairs, and things would need to be replaced," Shuixing commented as she collected her bag and walked with Nate on the way out of the airport, remembering her first visit to the Bowman farm on the Christmas after meeting Nate and finding that there were a lot of things that wouldn't support her muscular weight. Things had to have changed since then.
"Yeah... it's like the companies that have invested in making things for Animalians and particularly the larger Animalians are very efficient with all that they do," Nate nodded, "and the formal housing that is going in for the other cows that came back is also going up. Dad says they hope that they'll be complete before the fall... though some of that could be delayed by other things."
Shuixing had nodded. The protests that had gone across America weren't her main focus, but that didn't mean she hadn't noticed. One news report even showed a pair of Megatherium (Giant Ground Sloth) Animalians marching, albeit slowly, at one of the peaceful protest marches in Minneapolis Minnesota. To a great degree, Shuixing sympathized with the protesters, but she also knew that technically as a non-US citizen and a resident of Heiya Island, at least primarily, that she couldn't be too open on the issue. Not to mention that she didn't want to get into any sort of argument that would lead to an argument.
"But so far... things have looked good," Nate answered, "and everyone will be happy to see you. I think my dad has even had some special thanks he'd want to give you... but I must say that I'm quite thankful that things worked out well for him... and with Blueberry. He's looked happy... and in a way that I've never really seen him. I mean I've seen him smile and he's been proud of me when I've done well... but there was always something that was missing..."
"From the way your dad has said your mother behaved toward him... and you... I can imagine," Shuixing commented, "and that he vented a lot of frustration that Blueberry and the other cattle that were uplifted overheard."
"That might be why Blueberry bonded to him... though I think she was always pretty sweet on him, even before being uplifted, but that might have just been friendship and things that Blueberry couldn't have understood until after she was uplifted," Nate commented, "which she thanks YOU for."
"I was only there to help," Shuixing answered, "though... this could mean some other things... not just between your dad and Blueberry..."
"I know," Nate nodded, "a part of me is rather giddy about that... being with the most beautiful woman I know... who put up with my clumsy attempts at martial arts moves."
"You've been getting better," Shuixing encouraged.
Nate nodded, "and you and I... along with Blueberry and my dad... will probably have some serious conversation on all that sometime before they head off on their honeymoon."
Shuixing nodded at that.