Vomit bubbled in Meredith's stomach as the airplane descended across long, grassy plains. The long plane ride was long and strenuous on Meredith. Little under an hour, Meredith guessed where they were going, and Harry had no choice but to relent. The fourteen hour flight was too long, even as Meredith digested pills.
When she woke up with the world changed around her and only an hour left, Meredith felt heavy in her seat, unable to move. Harry was beside her, not bothered by the long flight. Flying never bothered him as a passenger or a pilot. These long flights were something to get used to in his life with world wide travel.
Harry squeezed her hand. "We're almost there."
She rolled her eyes. "You couldn't choose somewhere in Europe?" Her head laid on Harry's shoulder as she curled into him.
"Where's the fun in that?" Harry kissed her head. "I promise you won't regret it."
"I regret nothing when I'm with you." Her head pounded, and her ears felt ready to bleed. Every time Meredith opened her eyes, the world shifted around her. Meredith hated airplanes, and she didn't know how Cath did it by stepping off planes and looking gorgeous. No one glanced at them, but Meredith was sure she looked like shit.
Harry snickered, thinking of things that had gotten them into trouble. "We have a whole month now."
"Then we're home for a bit, and then it's off on the world tour of Prince Harry and the Woman who Stole Him Away." Meredith took a deep breath. "Do you miss the screaming girls yet, and how they would just throw themselves at your feet?"
"It was nice to have fans."
"Fans?" she scoffed. "I think they are more like stalkers."
"They're dedicated." Harry's hands rubbed over Meredith's cold skin. "There will be no prying eyes where we are going."
When the airplane touched down, Meredith lurched forward with her stomach still in the air and her ears ready to explode. She leaned back in her seat with her eyes closed. Harry watched her carefully, unsure why she had taken the turn for the worse with the flight. With the exhaustion over the last few days because of the wedding, the traveling only made things worse.
The city was crowded and highly polluted, only making it worse for Meredith, who wished to breathe in fresh air. Bodies crushed together as people left the airplane, and it released a little as they went through security. Harry and Meredith loaded themselves into a car, as Harry drove off the lot and out of the city.
"How are you doing now, Mere?" Harry asked, glancing over.
"Finally fresh air." Meredith tried to breathe it all in, and her head started to clear. A migraine had yet to dissipate and her stomach clinched.
"Hey, Mere, let me know if I need to pull over."
"What, you don't want a repeat of our second date?"
"I would prefer not."
Harry kept driving until they were out of the city with the blinding sunlight beating down on them. Surprisingly, it was actually less hot out of the city-- not that it wasn't hot and Meredith sweated. With Harry's lazy grin, Meredith wondered how he found her attractive, but she also wondered how he didn't sweat. He lathered up on sunscreen at the airport to cover his pale skin. Throughout the whole honeymoon, Harry had to spend time on his skin. Meredith had dabbed a little on her face.
When Harry finally pulled off the main road, heading toward the ocean, Meredith rolled down her window. The car had turned cold, and with the window down, warm air flowed into the car. The smell of the ocean reached Meredith, and she knew how much she missed it. The hints of salt and fish filled the space.
"Stay in the car, Mere," Harry warned. "We're almost there."
Meredith watched as white capped waves rolled in. The blue ocean floated out and away. She could go for a swim, where the water was actually warm. Sharks and dangerous animals lived in the sea, but that didn't dare to stop Meredith. The heat, when paired with the water, was acceptable.
"So is the first stop bed or the ocean?" Harry asked, pulling Meredith out of her own head.
She wasn't so sure. The ocean called to her, but the bed was meant to be her home. "Why waste a good day?" Meredith decided.
Parking outside the villa, which they would only stay at for a few days on their month-long trip across southern Africa, Harry hopped out and then grabbed the door for Meredith. When she stepped out, the sweat-heat was gone, and a soft breeze swept off the sea. Trees along the coast blew in the wind, and so did Meredith's hair. She pulled it back.
Coming outside the villa were two house staff, and they curtsied with respect to the new Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Their bags were taken inside as Harry curled his arms around his wife.
"I thought you said we would be alone?" Meredith whispered.
"We will be. Later." He planted a kiss on her skin. "They'll make us dinner, see that we're settled, and then we'll have the villa to ourselves."
"Thanks to the banker of yours."
"Friends in high places will get you places, Mere."
Meredith wasn't so sure if she liked it.
Harry kissed her blonde hair again. "Come on."
Pulling her inside, Meredith was supposed to get used to this life, but she stepped into the mansion only to stop in place. Harry laughed. White covered almost every surface and everything shone, and Meredith almost accepted the challenge to dirty it. The stone steps led up and out. A few balconies look over the water and white sand. Every wave rolled against the sand echoed within the house, so she was never far from the sound. The open windows let the smelt linger.
"What will it be first?" Harry asked.
"You," Meredith answered.