Racing Hearts

And then, they were at the finish line, both pairs crossing it together once again, blasting through fast enough to cause a burst of rushing wind that whipped the hair and clothes of the competitors, monitors, and judges around them.

When they came to a stop, everyone was gawking.

"Holy shit!" said the British girl. "There's no fucking way they weren't cheating!"

"They were helping each other! They had to be!" said another girl.

"I saw them go off to a room together, they must have been Doubling the whole time!" said another girl.

The two pairs of racers looked to each other confused, then at the others. Cynthy came up to them, giving them a hard look up and down as she scanned their bodies. She glanced to the Monitors who'd been keenly watching the matches, who nodded. She then looked up to the VIP box where the sponsors were watching, and nodded again.

"We weren't bolstering each other," said Isa. "Honest."

"You were totally in synch!" said one of the boys. He looked like he couldn't decide between being impressed or upset.

"We can assure you they weren't cheating," called out Jeri, the Monitor who'd been watching Hannah and Evan.

Cynthy nodded. "We agree that you weren't, though your coordination was pretty uncanny for two separate Racers."

Hannah and Isa shared a glance. "Um... well, we... uh... helped each other charge up before the match," said Hannah. "But I swear, we weren't helping each other during it!"

"I just said we know. If you had tried, we would have sensed it, and yanked you all right out of the race."

"So what's the big deal?" said Isa. "Not that unusual for Racers to tie. I mean, did we even make the cut?"

Cynthy smirked. She held up the stop watch, showing them their speed record.

57 seconds.

"You started off a little slow, but you kept speeding up as you went. I don't know where you pulled that Energy from, but I haven't seen any pair make that kind of recovery after a draining!"

The two couples were stunned for a moment, until Hannah let out a loud whoop, and grabbed Evan in a huge hug. Isa and Paulo followed suit, and for a proud moment, everyone could feel the love between them.

ELEVEN

"Guess this is good-bye for now," said Isa. She and Paulo set their things down at the terminal and gave Hannah and Evan hugs. "Try not to miss us too much!"

"Hey, we'll see each other again in the couple months," said Hannah. "Don't be slacking your practice now!"

"Wouldn't dream of it!" said Isa with a laugh, as she sent a Phantom Tongue to give Paulo a nice long lick. The boy jumped, and they all chuckled. "That goes double for you!"

"You know it!" said Hannah, giving Evan an affectionate squeeze with a Phantom Hand. "Speaking of, after we do Marseille, I really would like to discuss doing Doubles with you."

Isa smiled. "I'd like that, too. Might be tough to arrange, what with living so far apart, but we'll figure something out. Take care." Another round of hugs, and the Irish couple watched the Egyptian couple board their plane. The two had an hour before theirs took off, so they meandered towards their own terminal.

"I still can't believe that worked," said Evan. "And that it worked so well!"

"We're just lucky they were willing to help," said Hannah. "And I'm super just lucky to have such a great guy in my life!"

"Yeah, you are," said Evan with a grin, holding her close. "Just like I'm super lucky to have a girl who isn't a slave-driver dominatrix!"

Hannah grinned wickedly. "Fantasize about Isa too much, and I might be tempted to punish you."

"Only if you don't fantasize about Paulo too much."

"Well that's just not fair!"

The two laughed, kissed again, and sat together happily as they waited for the ride home.

END