Be Strong
Stripped of my powers. Oh. My. Gods.
I looked at Mamoru and searched his face. His expression gave away nothing, but he knew exactly what I did. I'd lost my powers before, but the enemy had come back just the same. It'd taken a miracle to fight them off, and we were all out of miracles.
Dear gods, I felt so weak, so helpless, so defenseless, but mostly and worst of all, I felt so horribly useless. Facing the man I loved, I was more than a little ashamed that he would one day call me wife. I bowed my head so that he wouldn't have to see me.
Slowly, he placed his hands on my shoulders and looked into my eyes. "Fool," he chided, and pulled me forward. I stumbled awkwardly into his body. "You can cry when I'm here."
Tears began involuntarily welling up in my eyes. I fought them at first, but then I couldn't hold back the sobs anymore, couldn't choke them back. My body heaved and he just embraced me, just held me, just let me weep all my fears and sorrows into his chest. "You don't have to be strong," he whispered. "I'll be strong for the both of us."
It was such a naïve statement, it was so stupid, it was romance-novel-worthy, but he meant it, and I loved him for it.