The harsh glow of the hotel was upon us now. With it came everyone's colors, looking like flowers of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. Of pink, light blue, and white. Of brown and black. Of grey and everything in between. Everyone's beautiful colors. 

Chanting now, collectively. Stopping together, having reached our goal. We were here. With every reaching ray of light, they could see us. A black, expensive looking car was out front, no doubt waiting to be valeted. It wouldn't get to be.

"Lift me up, my rainbow children!" Nikki shouted into his megaphone. His arms went out and people willingly grabbed them. Like a regal queen, they lifted him up on top of the roof of the car like to a stage. What a stage it was. I pulled Gyeong-Wan through the crowd to get closer. Nikki's leopard print panted legs spread apart commandingly as his electric green faux mink coat rippled with the wind. How magnificent he looked. How iconic. His red heels were the final statement, undeniably feminine and strong.

"Now, then!" He shouted in the direction of the hotel. "We are here in courage! Come out, you cowards! What do you have to say for yourselves? Are you proud?! Look how many of us there are! You thought you'd single us out one by one, destroy us one by one?! You have angered the nest! You kill one wasp, there are thousands of others to be called! Did you think we would not fight?! The attack on French Cup came from your hotel! The attack on Zombie Walk came from your hotel! Everything bad has come from your hotel! How many of our businesses will you close?! How much more will you try to stop us?! Will you not stop until one of us is killed?! We won't tolerate it! We won't stop! Because we know you're not going to stop! We're taking back this neighborhood and we will not go away until you are gone! What do we need to do?! You threw a bomb into my place of business, the least I can do is return the favor!"

He was like an icon. All the icons I could think of. These strong speakers, fighting for their communities. So known, that you don't need their names. Everyone would have a different face for who they'd think of, to compare him to in this moment. I couldn't be more proud. Nikki was the mouth of our community, our voice. He was Nikki the Mouth much more than in name, and he was proving it. Everything we'd called him that for, it was coming to fruition in this moment. He was our voice. Our very mouth.

Something poked me and I looked up with a jump. My eyes landed on Miyuki and she grabbed my hand, too. My good friend grasping one hand, and Gyeong-Wan, the man I loved, holding my other one. No need to say words, because Nikki was saying it all.

"I want you to hear my words!" He shouted. "I want you all to come out! We want you to go home! Get out of here! We'll block your cars, we'll block your sidewalks! You won't be allowed to go unless you go home! Call your police, call your friends! We don't care, because as we saw at Zombie Walk, the police are on our side! None of us were arrested! We didn't do anything wrong! Everyone saw us on TV already! They know we are not the threat! You are the threat that must be squashed! You need to get out!"

"GET OUT!" Some people yelled.

"GET OUT!" A woman yelled piercingly, desperately. It made my heart rise up, because it was how I felt inside.

"GET OUT! GET OUT!"

It became a chant. Nikki began to sway back and forth it, leading it. And yet, for the minutes we'd been here since we'd arrived, no one was coming out to meet us. Not one curious person. No valets, no front desk people. No guests.

I nudged Gyeong-Wan. "Why aren't they coming outside?" I whispered loudly into his ear. Maybe he couldn't hear me over the chanted shouts. My response was a big shrug, but not uncaring. A gesture, because I'd never be able to hear him in the quickly swelling rise of shouting.

"You're just cowards!" Nikki shouted. "You won't come out! Well, we'll wait you out! Because we're here for freedom! We're not consumed by petty differences! We can't be torn apart! We'll stand together! We're united in our common interests! We will be fighting for our freedom, not from your tyranny, or oppression, or persecution, but from annihilation! We're fighting for our right to live, to exist, because this is our freedom! This is our Independen-!"

"Oh my god, that's the speech from the movie Independence Day!" Miyuki shouted. "Come on, Nikki! Really?!"

"Well, it's a good speech and we can use it!" He shouted back to her.

"Say something else! That's copyrighted!"

"Fuck, I don't care if it's copyrighted!"

"Other people care if it's copyrighted! That means we can't use it!"

"Miyuki! There's more important things than copyright right now!" Nikki gestured wildly at the hotel with the megaphone. "Stop distracting me!"

"Here! Use this instead!" 

Something was being passed to him above the crowd, going from hand to hand like a mosh pit. Something huge, black, and box shaped. The long antenna gave it away. 

"NOW THIS IS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!" Nikki squealed into the megaphone as he hoisted it up onto his shoulder, this familiar object from long ago. "THIS IS METAL! THIS IS WARFARE!"

My mouth opened at it, but before a single sound could come out, another lit up into the night like a fire. It spread before we even knew what it was, knowing in our bodies.

Out of the speakers of the boombox on Nikki's shoulders, through his strategically pointed megaphone, Gloria Gaynor's voice rang out into the night. The perfect manifestation of what was in all of our hearts.

Suddenly, Nikki was dancing on top of the car, the disco drag queen we all knew him to be. Perfectly in line with the voice on his shoulder, his hips moving all the time, his one free arm making those familiar moves. His eyes closed in his passion and a cheer went up. ABBA may have been this blood in us all, but Miss Gloria Gaynor was all of us. 

In the night, glittering under the stars, what sounded like hundreds of voices sang out. Calling out, crying out, every wish on a breeze, every love and every joy, every sorrow and every death, every birth and every dream. Singing with Miss Gloria Gaynor with their very lives.

Singing that we will survive in every way. That nobody will keep us down. That we are tired, we are willing, and we are here to stay. 

Maybe there was something to that Independence Day speech after all. 

Just knowing that everyone I loved was singing and now starting to dance, being led by my best friend on top of the fancy car. Surrounded by love. A real family. United and gorgeously loved, us all, finally loved. 

It made me think, who needed those people in the hotel? What did we need to say? We had each other. I finally got it. They had nothing like this. We were stronger. What did we have to lose? What more could we lose? Maybe tonight was the only night we had. It certainly felt like I had nothing more to live for after French Cup was essentially bombed. What if tonight was the only night? What was going to happen tomorrow? What did I really know? Who could have predicted any of this? It had really only been a short time. If I really thought about it, it had only been a short time since this all started, how intense it had gotten in that time. What if we were only still the rainbow's children for this one night? At least we could dance together. At least we could be together.

Somewhere, Miyuki let go of my hand and was lost in the crowd and the only one I had was Gyeong-Wan. As song after song changed, I held onto both of his hands and my eyes went up to the stars, the once menacing clouds now cleared away and revealing their splendor. Revealing the moon, suddenly welcoming and big and gorgeous. Lighting us up. Suddenly, I realized I was smiling. Grinning in this moment. Loving the hands I was holding.

ABBA's "Take a Chance on Me" started on whatever tape was in the boombox and Nikki's pleased voice rose up into the sky. "DAMN, WHAT ELSE IS ON THIS TAPE?! WHO'S TAPE IS THIS?!" He laughed, dancing even harder. "THIS IS A GOOD TAPE, HONEY!" He began to sing to it, and so many people were laughing and singing with him, knowing it by heart. 

Such a joy, when we'd only felt anger so recently. It seemed so long ago in this joy strangely, when we were together.

In front of me, Gyeong-Wan was smiling. Gloriously smiling. Reflecting my own face, surely. How happy he looked. How free. All I'd wanted was that smile. I never wanted to stop holding his hands. Leading him in the dance where he belonged. It was almost as if I could grow wings, like we could fly. Nobody could stop us now. He'd never have to go back, I'd make sure. We all would.

Let them fight us and try to turn it back to their way. Let them try, we'd love to see it.