“T, baby are you alright?”

“I’m just happy to be home babe…. what do you think so far?”

“It’s beautiful T…. you sure you’re ok?”

“I…. I just don’t know what to expect. It’s been so long since I’ve been home”

“It’ll be alright T, what was it they said in The Lion King…. oh yeah Hakuna Matta” Bette said smiling to herself, glad that she remembered the line

“Baby, hate to dissapoint you but that’s Swahili and it’s from Kenya” Tina replied, trying to keep a straight face but Bette knew she had at least made Tina smile

“Here we say it’s mushe, which means good”

It was just as Tina was about to lean in to give Bette a kiss that the plane touched down and they were welcomed to Harare by the captian. They had arrived and there was no turning back, Bette was going to witness the best and the worst that Africa had to offer but she would do it with Tina by her side and as her guide.

The disembarked and headed towards immigration and as they joined the line and Bette noticed the slight sadness that was hidden in Tina’s eyes.

“It feels so strange not to be going to the Returning Residents line…. I gave up my residency a couple of years ago, the last time I came home in fact”

Bette just took Tina’s hand in her own and placed a soft kiss on her lips, trying to comfort her the only way she knew how. She also couldn’t help but notice the difference between this airport and all the others she had been to. This did not go unnoticed by Tina who smiled and said…

“You should’ve seen the old one, it was about a hundred times worse than this one…. at least this one has two luggage claims. We’ll see it….”

Tina had to stop herself, she had almost given away one of the suprises she had in store for Bette.

“We’ll see it when babe?” Bette asked, a bit unsure why Tina didn’t finish her sentence

Tina had to quickly try and rectify her slip up and said the first thing that came to mind

“When we leave, it’s just outside this one”