Amsterdam......

Hinata let out an anxious sigh as the train began moving. Naruto on the other hand had already reclined his chair, his fingers laced behind his head, a relaxed smile on his face. The picture of nonchalance.

She tensed when an authoritative voice came over the loudspeaker but cursed internally when she realized they were speaking French. Finally, the announcement was repeated in English (Hinata's second language) and she could understand.

"Welcome aboard! Please have your tickets out and ready for inspection, we will be arriving in Amsterdam in approximately three and a half hours."

Hinata unconsciously grabbed Naruto's thigh in an iron grip. "We're leaving the country?!" she blurted.

Naruto seemed unfazed by neither her outburst nor her touching. "Yeah, it's no big deal," he replied with a shrug. "We could've gone to Nice, but it actually would've been farther. There's trains running between Paris and Amsterdam like every hour, it really shouldn't be too hard to get back."

Absorbing that information, she was able to calm down somewhat. Hinata then noticed her hand on him and immediately retracted it. Pulling her hand close to her chest, she was suddenly embarrassed at her seemingly unwarranted familiarity with him.

"You really think it's going to be okay?" she mumbled.

He turned to her wearing its signature grin, "it's going to be okay! We'll have a ton of fun and then we'll get back to Paris and fly home. So you don't need to stress!"

It seemed they did have time to make it back and get ready for work. She felt silly for doubting him, despite his carefree nature she knows Naruto takes work seriously.

Once she got passed the initial shock of their destination, Hinata began to accept this really could be fun and began growing more excited.

"Have you ever been to Amsterdam before?" he asked, and Synthai shook her head. "I think you're going like it."

Her smile grew. She hoped he was right.

Aiden settled back in his chair again and continued chatting with her. "What's your favorite place you've ever been?"

Synthai put a finger to her lips and pondered the question. "Umm, I really enjoyed New York City when I visited a few years ago."

"Are you serious?" Aiden laughed, his brow quirked incredulously.

"What's wrong with that?" Synthai blushed, now feeling insecure about her answer in front of someone as well-traveled as Aiden.

"I mean nothing," he chuckled. "It's just that New York is like a garbage dump compared to Tokyo."

Her brow furrowed in sudden offense on behalf of all New Yorkers. "No, it is not!"

He continued laughing, waving his hand like she misunderstood. "I just mean like people leave their garbage out on the sidewalk in front of their houses! I just wouldn't have guessed that someone, who has the cleanliness of Tokyo as their normal, would be into New York is all."

Synthai considered his point a moment. "I suppose I do recall an odd smell there… but all the museums, Central Park, the delicious restaurants, and Times Square! There's just endless things to do!"

"Times Square? Really!?"

"Yeah, it's kind of like Akihabara but less geeky," she clarified.

"Excuse you?!" Aiden exclaimed, putting his hand to his heart in mock offense. "I love Akihabara!"

They both began laughing and continued chatting about their favorite cities and activities. Synthai was surprised how quickly the time passed during their conversation and how much more comfortable she was talking to him as the day wore on.

She had always felt shy around Aiden in the past, worrying about embarrassing herself in front of him or saying the wrong thing. But after last night, where the literal worst-case scenario had already occurred and he still wanted to be around her, there was suddenly less pressure to present herself in a perfectly cool and put together way.

By the time they arrived at Amsterdam Central, it was late in the afternoon. Aiden and Synthai exited the train and navigated through the train station at a leisurely pace. "So, what did you want to do here?" she asked.

"Oh I don't know," Aiden shrugged. "Anything I guess."

His face lit up for a moment before he made his way over to a stand full of travel brochures boasting the city's sights, tours, and museums. "Maybe we'll find some inspiration," he suggested as his fingers dragged over the display. "Was there anything in particular that you wanted to do?"

Maybe Synthai spoke too soon when she thought she was now comfortable around Aiden, because suddenly her nerves returned to the surface. What if she picked something he thought was totally lame and she ruined their adventure?

"Well, um, since we're in Amsterdam..." she hesitated, cursing herself when a faint blush rose in her cheeks. "There is one thing I have always wanted to do…"

"What? Get high?" Aiden guessed.

"What?!" Synthai blanched, "I was going to say visit the Van Gogh Museum!"

"Oh haha! We could do both?"

"What?!"

"Or let's just go to the museum!" Aiden corrected, after noticing Synthai's mortified face. Did she really not know people did that in Amsterdam? Aiden smiled, she was so precious.

"That's not too lame?" Synthai mumbled.

"Of course not! I'm sure it'll be very cool!"