Final Straw

by Supreme Distraction

Genis is tired of Raine's bossier-than-usual attitude and so he enlists the help of a certain assassin to find out what's eating her. As it turns out, he isn't the only one whose limits are tested by the brilliant, bossy scholar.

This is one of my favourite games and I have to say, I'm a little disappointed by the lack of this couple here on this site... So I made my own :D Let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: No Hell Hounds were harmed in the making of this fic. The Tales series belongs to Bandai Namco Games, not moi. Thanks go to GrimGrave for beta'ing this.

x.x.x

The sky was an inky blue—black brightened several shades by the gentle glow of the moon—and the nightlife cooed and warbled, scurrying through the darkness. Wind rustled through the tree tops, shifting tall grasses and causing the flames dancing within the protective circle of a sand pit to flicker, casting long shadows on the five sleeping figures—some sprawled out, others curled on their side—huddled within its proximity.

And the sixth figure, a young man with bright blue eyes and spiky white-blue hair by the name of Genis Sage, stared up at the stars, aforementioned orbs darting back and forth between light-studded constellations rapidly—a mirror of his mind's frantic pace.

Finally, he bolted upright with a defeated sigh, getting on his hands and knees and crawling over to the person sleeping closest to him, curled up at the foot of a tall tree.

"I need your help."

His best friend, Lloyd Irving, cracked open a sleep-squinted eye and barely just managed to groan, "Sleeping."

"Yeah, well, if you don't want me to take my own head off with a Wind Blade…"

The other eye opened, softening with concern—as was his habit of wearing his heart on his sleeve. "Okay, talk."

"It's my sister."

Somehow, that wasn't a surprise. The brunette sat up, rubbing sleep from his eyes and tilting his head from side to side in order to crack the vertebrae in his neck. "What did Raine do now?"

It wasn't as though Raine Sage was a total buzzkill. After all, her race still met persecution wherever they went and so her guard was up at all moments—especially when it came to defending the only family she had left. She had just, in all of her years of hiding her true identity as a half-elf, forgotten how to have a good time.

To smile and laugh and just be herself.

The only time they ever saw the scholarly white-haired woman express happiness any more was when she was pouring over a thick book or explaining the origins of a particularly interesting landmark or ruin.

Otherwise, Raine was akin to a fiercely protective Cockatrice mother: capable of intimidating creatures that were much larger than her and possessing an explosive temper that made Hell Hounds seem tame. She had her younger brother's best interests at heart, of course, but there was only so much mothering a boy needed before he was ready to rebel and believe he was a grown man.

Genis sighed. "Don't get me wrong, I love my sister. It's just… It's too much. I don't want to live my life a certain way because she's afraid—people change! Humans have an incredible capacity for adapting and adjusting to situations and I just can't understand why she's still so afraid."

Come to think of it, what was his older sister so afraid of? She didn't seem willing to put her all into anything other than academic pursuits and that level of mistrust had to stem from a much deeper issue than fear of being run out of town. Because, honestly, between their magical talents, there wasn't much else an average human being could do to the Sage siblings.

Lloyd frowned thoughtfully. "You think we should ask her?

"Are you crazy? She'll probably assign us a million math problems as punishment for "sticking our noses where they don't belong.""

He had a point… Though it wasn't as though brilliant Genis would have any problem with such a work load.

"So how can we get her off of your back?"

"Uh…" The boy drummed his fingertips on his thigh. "I guess the first thing we would have to do is find out what she's so afraid of… Which is where we run into our first problem. Raine hates sharing personal information."

This meant that they'd have to get help from someone else.

Someone clever enough to get inside of that big, beautiful brain and figure out what made it tick. Someone they could trust to keep whatever she found to herself. Someone who had, after some minor bumps in the road, had proven to be a steadfast companion.

Someone like…

---

"Sheena!"

The lovely assassin glanced over at her travel companions, her arms up above her head as she tied dark tresses into a messy ponytail, and her expression became wary. The multiple-tailed fox creature beside her, an artificial Summon Spirit known as Corrine, trilled, hovering over his mistress's shoulder protectively. "What do you two want?" Both boys smiled their most charming smiles and the young woman arched an eyebrow. "Do I want to know…?"

…

"So that's the story. Will you help—please, please, please?"

Sheena blinked and was quiet for a moment, absorbing all of the information she had been told as well as the details of her unexpected mission. Finally, she said, "Let me get this straight: you want me to become best buddies with Raine—Raine who is quick to argue and never stops talking once you get her going? I haven't said two words to the woman."

"But you have so much in common," Lloyd offered helpfully, earning a dark look.

"This is important, Sheena," Genis said seriously, bright blue eyes wide, hopeful. "Please…"

The raven-haired woman groaned, throwing her arm over her eyes. "Okay, okay! Just stop with the puppy dog eyes. I'll do it."

This would likely be her most difficult assignment yet—and she had assassinated important government officials without anyone being the wiser until she was long gone.

Step one: gain the target's trust.

When the sun peeked over the horizon, casting warm light on the travelers, Sheena stirred and rolled onto her back, staring up at the mixture of periwinkle and fuchsia the luminescent orb had brought and sighing.

'Here goes nothing.'

Raine was a little ways from camp, stretching and posing, her expression serious. She had shed the orange, high-collared coat she normally wore, revealing the sheer white sleeveless blouse beneath it and, when she bent at the waist, laying the palms of her hands flat on the soft earth, the raven-haired beauty was presented with a rather nice view of the rounded curve of her bottom.

"Huh…" It wasn't until the scholar looked up, expression startled, that the assassin realized she had released that thoughtful sound rather than think it.

"Good morning…"

"Morning."

Without waiting for the interrogation she knew was coming, the raven-haired beauty moved to stand beside her travel companion, twisting at the waist in order to crack her back. "Mind if I join you?"

Raine frowned, eyes the same gentle shade of a robin's egg narrowed. She was instantly suspicious of the other woman's intentions, but she nodded and turned her attention back to her ritual.

They stretched in silence for a while, both lost in their own private thoughts, until, finally, the sun broke the tree line, its radiance nearly blinding as the birds chirped to greet it. The half-elf stilled, sighing, and went over to the tree from which she had hung her coat. "We should get moving. It's a long way to the next town."

---

"So?"

"Hm?"

"What did you find out?"

Sheena arched an eyebrow. "You can't expect instant results. This sort of thing takes time."

"Genis!" Raine called. Her voice got closer as she asked, "Have you finished your homework?"

The boy groaned. "The sooner the better. Who gives homework while they're on a pilgrimage to save the world?!" He flinched as his sister called again, louder this time, and darted off. "Coming!"

---

"We'll set up camp here for the night," Lloyd announced. "I can't walk another step."

Kratos sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "If we pressed on, we could get to the temple that much sooner."

"It's too dangerous to travel at night," Raine interjected. "Think of Colette."

All eyes went to the kind-hearted blonde and she blushed, lowering her gaze. "I'm fine… Really. Please don't worry about me."

Just like that, it was settled. The boys went off to start a fire and set up camp, leaving Sheena with Raine and Colette, the former of whom said, "Come on, sweetheart, we should find the nearest stream so we can bathe."

She watched as the pair headed into the woods together, her expression thoughtful. The Chosen would prove helpful in getting through that huge, solid wall of mistrust that the scholarly half-elf had erected.

"Wait, I'll go with you."

Colette beamed, glad that the secretive brunette was showing interest in the group, but her companion frowned minutely.

Whatever it was the young woman was up to, she didn't like it.

…

They had been separated. Oh no. Sheena hid a smile as Colette called Raine's name for the tenth time, receiving only the echo of her own voice in response.

"Calm down, Colette. I'm sure she's fine."

The blonde girl fidgeted anxiously. "Okay…"

"Come on, we'll backtrack and see if we can find her."

As the Chosen followed behind her, docile as a lamb to slaughter, the brunette almost felt guilty. It was a good thing she wasn't a bad person, because she could easily have led the naïve young woman into the woods and killed her—something ghastly like that.

Speaking of ghastly…

A howl echoed through the trees, a terrifyingly lonely sound, and the ninja withdrew the tarot cards she used in combat from her sleeves, gesturing for Colette to be quiet.

"This way."

She lead her companion back through the woods, marching directly into the area that she had originally made a wide berth around when she had been throwing Raine off of their tail, and there was a panicked yelp from some distance away.

It seemed the scholar had missed the piles of gnawed bones and scorch marked bases of trees that signified the presence of a pack of Hell Hounds.

Hell hath no fury like Hounds in their den.

"Stay here."

Upon receiving a nod of affirmation, the brunette pulled a smoke bomb from the obi tied around her waist and leaped up into the trees overhead, hopping from branch to branch until she was standing above a rocky outcropping that served as shelter for the snarling pack below. She tossed the projectile, leaping down into its concealing cover and striking out with glowing cards infused with the power of water, the creatures releasing frightened yelps of pain as they scattered, their tails between their legs.

When the smoke cleared, Raine was crouched in the shade of the rocks, blue eyes wide and her clothes torn. They narrowed upon recognizing her rescuer and Sheena waved cheerily. "Don't look so happy to see me. I only just saved your life." The unimpressed look she received made her grin as she offered a hand to help the woman to her feet. "I can hear the river from here and you look like you could use a good wash."

"Hmph." Despite the dark look she gave the other woman, the white-haired half-elf accepted the proffered hand and got to her feet, dusting the soot off of her. She was tousled, but otherwise unharmed. "Thank you…"

"Any time." Colette's voice called both their names from somewhere close by and the ninja gestured in the direction from which the sound came. "Let's go."

…

As luck would have it, there was a man-made hot spring next to the racing waters and Colette was the first to begin shedding bits of white clothing, demurely hiding her nakedness behind her towel and removing the article to climb into the steaming waters with a satisfied sigh.

Sheena untied the pink obi around her waist and shed the purple tunic dress she wore, quickly stripping down, hidden behind a stand of trees. When she emerged from their protective covering, her towel wrapped around herself, she noticed Raine hesitating by the water's edge and arched a questioning eyebrow.

"I thought you'd want to bathe."

Speaking of… She twisted of her wrist, pointing her index finger upwards, and Corrine appeared in a burst of colours. He mewled, diving into the water and splashing Colette, who giggled.

"I…" Pale cheeks flushed red and the scholar made a frustrated sound, not bothering to finish her statement.

It was then that the kunoichi recalled the tattered remains of terry cloth lying on the sandy floor of the Hell Hounds' den.

"We won't look." The blonde gave her a curious look and she explained, "Raine's towel got shredded by the Hell Hounds and she's not going to get in if we're watching."

Though, to be honest, she was a little surprised (and a lot curious) by how self-conscious the scholar was acting.

"Oh. Don't worry, Raine, I'll cover my eyes." The Chosen did just that and, after shaking her head at how pure-hearted the young woman was, Sheena followed suit.

There was a hesitant silence then the shuffle of fabric and the ninja girl opened her eye a crack: beneath that stiff scholar's outfit the half-elf was delightfully curvy; pale all over except the pink flush that had spread from her cheeks to her shoulders and toned from their months of travel.

Huh. Not bad.

Corrine trilled, as though in agreement, and Raine gave him a wary look as she settled into the water with a happy little sigh that made the assassin chuckle as she tilted her head back and enjoyed the warmth of the bath.

The trio sat in peaceable silence for a time, unloading the stress of the quest that had been thrust upon them by fate and listening to the quiet sounds of the night life all around them.

Then, Raine interrupted the quiet by asking, "Wait… How will I get dry?"

…

The trip back to camp had been interesting to say the least, what with the naked dripping, irate half-elf that they had had to smuggle back without the boys seeing (they couldn't very well leave her alone in the dark, waiting for them to return with a dry towel) and the sun rose to find Raine stretching as she always did before the group set off.

What was unusual was the presence of another—and even stranger still, the fact that she didn't quite mind said presence.

Sheena had proven herself dependable on more than one occasion the previous evening and the scholar supposed she owed the other woman one… Though perhaps this was just her stubborn brain's way of defending her out-of-character willingness to let another person in—even a little.

Either way, the half-elf almost smiled when the raven-haired young woman grumbled her good morning, eyes barely open as she fell into place beside her companion.

"If it's too early for you, why do you insist on joining me?"

The ninja supposed she was putting a lot of effort into her task—especially considering she wasn't being paid to do it. Still…

"You seem like you could use the company."

That wasn't entirely a lie and Raine must have realized as much because her expression became unreadable.

Two steps forward, five steps backward.

A few days later…

This morning routine was actually rather… nice. And the fact that Raine had taken to talking to her, her attitude amicable rather than matronly, about nothing and everything was nice as well.

It was amazing how time flew when you were spending it with someone whose company you enjoyed so much. The elder Sage was both brilliant and witty and it just felt natural to pick a fight with the woman in order to see her eyes light up, her bottom lip protruding adorably as her mind raced to formulate a response. It felt natural to laugh and smile at Raine because Raine laughed and smiled right back, her demeanor so much more relaxed now that she trusted the other woman a bit more.

Genis noted the change in his sister's demeanor as well because, suddenly, the white-haired scholar was too busy (good-naturedly) butting heads with Sheena to assign him more homework and for that he was glad.

Of course, the situation wasn't perfect. The moment the kunoichi asked any sort of personal question, the half-elf locked down completely, becoming as silent and unapproachable as a sheet of ice. That reticent state lasted for hours and sometimes the entire day, leaving the younger woman fidgety and anxious.

If the hesitant, distracted way her mind and body functioned whenever the scholar retreated into her own thoughts, effectively locking everyone else out, was anything to go by she apparently hated upsetting Raine.

She wasn't sure when she had started caring so much about what the healer—or anyone, really—though about her, but it was a deeply disturbing new development. As an assassin, she had to stay sharp and all of this empathy and the agonizing inner reflectiveness it caused weren't exactly helping her cause.

Sheena sighed despondently, resting her chin in her palm and turning her head to watch as the aforementioned half-elf chastised her younger brother. Their little group had stopped a spell for lunch, but she found that her anxiously churning stomach wouldn't allow her to eat anything. She hadn't thought a question as simple as "So what's it like back home?" would set the spell-caster off, but she had been wrong and Raine had become very, very quiet and for some reason that was very, very bad.

With another sigh, the brunette shifted her balance, falling from her perch high in the treetops and landing in the spot Genis had been standing but a moment before. It took a surprising amount of courage for her to face her lovely companion and steady the uneasy thudding of her heart. "Raine—"

"You missed lunch." She thrust a sandwich into the kunoichi's hands without looking at the other woman, a slight smile softening the dismissiveness of the gesture as she added, "And don't worry, I'm not the one who made it."

Forgiven.

The summoner swallowed the lump that had formed at the sight of that playful expression and nodded, giving the white-haired genius a smirk of her own. "Good. I'm not ready to die just yet."

As she avoided a fist that came her way with a neat backwards flip, laughing tauntingly, the ninja realized that she was really and truly happy. Sure, they were on a super serious quest to save the world, a pilgrimage that would ultimately lead to the demise of the gentle blonde Chosen, but somehow the presence of the older Sage made the journey and the difficulties they would face that much more bearable.

A single white boot flew over her head as she ducked, taking a bite out of her sandwich and making a show of chewing the mouthful. "Wanna try that again? You've got one more."

"Come a little closer—I dare you."

Sheena returned to the relative safety of the treetops with a smile on her face, her heart free of the worry that had weighed so heavily on the muscle. She could see Raine shaking her head disapprovingly, laughing despite herself, as she continued to pack her things so that they could resume their journey.

No, the situation was far from perfect… but it was definitely a start—of what, Sheena still wasn't sure.

Still later…

They were pretty far east, which meant they would be hitting the ocean soon and, sure enough, the faint tang of salt hit the brunette's nose as she inhaled. A little jolt of excitement zipped along her spine and she quickened her pace because, having been raised in a mountainous region, the vast body of water wasn't something she often saw. In the distance, dark clouds crawled slowly over the horizon, glittering ominously with lightning that sparked within their gloomy surfaces, but Kratos dismissed them, insisting that the storm would pass through without hitting them.

Of course, the group trusted his wisdom without question, though Raine frowned thoughtfully and Sheena rubbed the back of her neck as the fine hairs there stood on end.

They should have sought shelter, but instead they pressed on.

Exactly fifteen minutes later, the clouds that had previously been so distant were suddenly on top of the travelers, opening up to unleash a torrent of icy cold water, and the Chosen and her guardians made a dash for the immense cedars. They were blinded by the downpour, feeling along blindly for shelter—everyone except Sheena, who had been prepared for such an event. Her hair was only slightly damp but the time she made it to the shelter that she had scouted out earlier and she tucked a strand of inky black behind her ear as she pressed closer to the wall of earth that her chosen tree had only partially submerged its roots in.

Soon, the rhythmic pattering lulled her into an almost catatonic state and she relaxed, allowing her mind to wander.

…

Have you ever gotten a song stuck in your head—one that you hadn't heard in a long while and therefore had no business getting trapped there?

Sheena was having the same problem, only it was with an image: a pretty face, all pouting lips and huffed disdain, a slender throat leading down to collarbones that just begged to be nipped and marked, full, supple breasts with pretty pink nipples to cap them, a flat, toned expanse of abdomen, thick, sexy thighs, and the treasure that lie between, glistening with the steam rising out of the bath for just that split second before it was lowered below warm waters and out of sight…

Gods above, Raine's bare body had been flawlessly etched into her mind that night and her brain kept replaying the moment and adding even more detail as time passed.

It was now that the kunoichi had to face facts: she was in lust with the no-nonsense scholar.

… Okay, maybe not pure lust. There was something more there, but she didn't like thinking about that. Desire was nice and clean, lacking those messy strings that bound one to another that feelings created.

Lust was something she could readily accept, because that meant that she could still rely on no one but herself and that was the way she preferred things. People were just so unpredictable; unreliable.

This was day number… whatever of no sleep. She had lost track.

And her exhaustion was such bittersweet agony because the reason behind her insomnia was—

Raine crammed into her hiding spot just then, further filling the already cramped space as she uttered her disdain of the monsoon and got the kunoichi all wet and cold. Not that Sheena minded, considering how close the scholar was and how that made her body heat in response, erasing the chill almost as soon as it had come.

"You're not sick, are you?"

Blink. "Huh…?"

"Your face is red."

There she was, getting way too close again. The brunette knew that this was the half-elf being overbearing and motherly, but that didn't stop her mind from giving it a perverse little twist that her already too warm body took as a sign to become warmer still.

"Sheena, you're burning up!"

"You should stay away so you don't catch whatever I've got," she said quickly. Distance was good. Distance meant that she would want Raine less… ish.

But the matronly woman wouldn't back down. In fact, she came closer still. "Are you sure you're okay?"

More to distract herself from the fact that their breaths was mingling, they were just that close, the kunoichi mumbled, "I haven't, ah, been sleeping so well."

"Has something been bothering you?"

It wasn't as though she was unaccustomed to people showing concern for her, it was just that concern from Raine was somehow very important and her heart skipped a giddy beat. She would have grinned a goofy grin had she not been desperately trying to focus on—

Raine's hip pressed into her pelvis.

Raine's lips mere inches from hers.

Raine's hand against her forehead, presumably feeling for fever.

Raine.

—anything else. When that didn't work, she seriously began to consider knocking the healer out and making a mad dash for it.

"I wouldn't… say… 'bothering.'"

The rain had stopped, yet here they were—too close.

And yet, not close enough.

Her lips were moving, but the young woman didn't hear a word over the dull roar of her blood rushing provide her muscles with precious adrenaline.

"Raine! Sheena! Where'd you two go?"

Sweet relief flooded the brunette and, in that brief moment when pale blue orbs weren't focused so intently on her, the summoner slipped away, the haze that had settled over her feverish mind clearing with each step she placed between them.

---

Sheena whirled, her glowing cards orbiting around her, caught in the gravity of the magic that bubbled in her veins. She inhaled slowly and exhaled sharply, tossing a pair of brightly gleaming projectiles and striking what appeared to be a miniature tree with vine-like tentacles protruding from its leafy head. As the Tentacle Plant shuddered in the throes of death, she licked her thumb and procured another set of cards.

"I can do this all day," she crowed, flipping over a wave of white energy as it rippled across the earth: Lloyd's Demon Fang striking a flaming plant beast dead.

A little ways away, Genis was launching Fireball after Fireball, the massive fire spell reducing the waves of Tentacle Plants to ash.

Kratos and Colette were inside the temple, presumably praying for Salvation (well the latter was, anyway), which left their other four travel companions to the writhing mass that the brown-haired swordsman has attempted to relieve himself on whilst under the impression that it was a harmless bush.

The summoner smirked as Corrine dove through the beastly foliage, his tails ablaze, and her cards sparked as well, searing a path through the enemy. They had the elemental advantage, certainly, but the Tentacle Plants had sheer numbers and, combined with a few sleepless nights due to her brain's inability to dedicate its processing powers to less titillating subjects than Raine's nude form as she slipped into the bath, the ninja girl was beginning to tire.

Why had she been considering that, anyway? Sure Raine was gorgeous, but—

"Pay attention!" The butt of the woman's staff jabbed her side, causing her to recoil and narrowly avoid being latched onto by the questing feelers. "First Aid!"

Right. Raine was here too, but whatever she was doing in battle was eclipsed by the fact that she had been tethered down by vines not even a minute before and her scholar's jacket had been angrily cast aside, which meant that glorious pale peaks were revealed to dark eyes by the thin white tank top she wore beneath—

Battle. Focus on the battle.

Something slender and roughly textured curled around her ankle, the tightening of its grasp the only warning before the brunette found her perspective flipped upside down as she was lifted into the air and left to dangle above... Actually, she wasn't sure what the smooth purple dome she now stared at was. Then, it lifted to reveal rows upon rows of teeth that moved like a circular saw and the acid that bubbled poisonously within the behemoth's gut, releasing the smell of dead and decaying organic matter.

As she gagged, the young woman could only focus on one thought: this thing was way bigger than your average Carnivorous Plant!

Once again, her perspective was changed drastically as she was jerked around by questing feelers—were the plants... fighting over which would devour her?!—twisting this way and that until she felt as though she might swiftly rid herself of the contents of her stomach.

When the jostling stopped, she was once again hanging over the gaping maw of what appeared to be the leader of this hungry mass of vegetation. Though staring certain death in the face was the perfect moment to panic, the assassin felt an almost hysterical sense of amusement. She, the assassin hailing from Tethe'alla, Sheena Fujibayashi, was going to die at the hands of one of the most common monsters in Sylvarant. Not only that, she was going to die because of some silly, stupid crush she had developed while performing her services for free.

And, as irony bubbled up and manifested itself in a high-pitched giggle, she heard a sharp voice say, "Barrier" just before a torrent of white-hot flames reduced the enemy to cinders. She fell to the ground in a heap, the vine-like tentacle still knotted around her ankle, but the impact was lessened due to the forethought of the white-haired healer.

"What's wrong with her?" she heard Genis ask from somewhere far away.

"She's just tired." Suddenly, her view was filled with pale blue eyes and a severe expression. "Are you going to get up or do I have to hit you again?"

She had been struck? The stinging in her cheek now that the protective spell was fading confirmed that this was so and Sheena lifted a hand to soothe the slight pain. "No… I'm getting up."

"Good."

Raine helped her to her feet and she teetered, stumbling into the shorter woman and wincing embarrassedly. "Sorry."

The scholar shook her head. "Get ahold of yourself," she said brusquely. "I can't have you dying on me."

Despite the gruff, almost dismissive tone, her concern was evident in the widening of pale blue orbs and the slight tremor in the hands that helped Sheena straighten up, and the brunette remained slumped for just a moment more, enjoying their closeness.

If she was being honest—really and truly honest—with herself, she would have admitted that this teeny, tiny crush was becoming a big problem.

Until, finally, a week and a half has passed…

"A long way to the next town"? Try "a vast, never ending distance."

Sheena was squatting on a branch high in the treetops when she saw them: the glimmering lights of a near-ish town. She nearly released a joyful whoop before falling backwards from her perch, flipping in mid-air in order to land on her feet on the leaf-covered ground below. "I can see the next town! It's about a day's walk from here."

Her travel companions cheered—even the hardened warrior, Kratos—and she felt a little surge of pride at having caused the half-elf's smile even though it was the news that caused the reaction and not the ninja herself.

They set up camp that night with newfound energy, excited with the prospect of warm beds, food that was cooked and not dried or picked from local flora, and a chance to interact with other people—because, let's be honest: if you're travelling with someone you're bound to grow weary of them at some point.

Speaking of which, she was going to kick Genis across the clearing if he asked her one more time about the status of her mission.

Currently, he and Lloyd were squabbling over some game they used to play back in Iselia and she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as she resisted the urge to swat them both over the head.

'Boys...'

Corrine made a soft sound, tilting his head questioningly, and she smiled reassuringly.

Okay, not all boys.

The ninja excused herself from the ring they had created around the fire and went off into the darkness in search of peace and quiet, waving away the warnings and concern for her safety that followed her rather abrupt departure. She would return when things quieted.

…

Sheena made a silencing gesture to Corrine as the pair crept between the sleeping forms of her allies and he dimmed his tails, following close at her heel.

"You were gone awhile." The white-haired half-elf was curled on her side, pale blue eyes half open as she regarded her companion. "Welcome back."

She froze, not having expected anyone to be awake at this hour. "Uh…"

"Goodnight," Raine said quietly, rolling over so that her back was to the other woman.

Had she really waited up just to say that? With a shrug, Sheena crawled into her bed roll and her Summon Spirit laid down across her legs, his tails curled over his nose—the last thing she saw before dozing off.

/ Pale, pink-capped peaks just begged for her attention and she heeded their call, kneading soft, malleable flesh until pert nipples begged to be sucked. She took one into her mouth, rolling its twins between her fingers, and a thrill of pleasure travelled down her spine at the taste of pale flesh.

The woman moaned, her back arching, and the vocalization was rewarded with a thigh pressing up against the sensitive flesh between her legs. She was so wet that Sheena could feel slickness spread across her skin as she bucked.

"So good…!"

That voice, though husky with arousal, was oddly familiar.

She raked her nails down along the lines of a toned abdomen and stroked the strip of damp white curls that covered the lips of the woman's sex, biting her lips when her partner released a hiss of pleasure, spreading her legs in silent encouragement.

How could she deny such a sensual request?

Before she could slip into velvety heat, hands tugged at dark tresses and she looked up, gasping as she recognized the woman she was so eagerly making love to—

Raine. /

Sheena bolted upright, panting, her heart racing one hundred beats per minute as her conscious mind processed what her unconscious mind had cooked up. Her hand was still in her tights and her sex throbbed eagerly, aching for attention.

She had just had a wet—her fingers twitched and, scratch that, really wet—dream… About the matronly, bossy, scholarly, beautif—Raine.

Gods above, what the hell was wrong with her?

"Sheena?" That was Colette.

The ninja went stock-still, her heart hammering even more urgently against the inside of her ribcage as she very carefully extricated her hand from her underwear. "Y-yeah?"

Curse that tremor in her voice!

"Is everything okay?" She sounded close to sleep, fortunately, so she had likely missed the motion. Or so the brunette hoped. As panicked as she was, the utterly insane idea of murdering Colette in order to remove any evidence of what had transpired here flashed through her mind and her muscles actually tensed.

"Fine. I just had a bad dream."

"'kay…"

Sheena waited until she heard the gentle girl's breathing slow and even out before she dared to leap to her feet and slip away into the darkness, her destination the stream that gurgled peacefully a few yards from their camp.

This was getting out of hand. Maybe a cold rinse would cleanse her mind of its impurities.

---

Raine was actually disappointed when Sheena didn't join her—so much so that she hesitated in her iron-clad routine, fidgeting uncertainly as she waffled between seeking the woman out and continuing on her own.

"Aww… Were you waiting for me?"

Pale blue eyes went skyward: the ninja girl was sitting at the apex of a tree branch and its trunk, her feet dangling. There were dark circles under her eyes and she seemed a little distracted as she kicked her feet.

"Don't be silly." Sheena chuckled, indicating how much she believed that sentiment, and the half-elf felt her cheeks heat. "You're late."

"Yeah, sorry. I didn't sleep very well last night."

"You still aren't getting any rest? Colette told me you had a bad dream."

The dark-haired woman shook her head exasperatedly, but didn't comment, jumping down for her perch and landing in a crouch on the leaf carpet below. Her obi trailed behind her elegantly—a swirl of pink for dramatic effect—and the healer was struck by how pretty the Mizuho assassin was. As she straightened, ruffling her already messy hair, the scholar found herself looking the younger woman over almost… appreciatively.

Had Sheena always been this lovely? … And why was she noticing it just now?

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"There's nothing to talk about."

She had come to terms with her brain's slip into the gutters. "Heroine" wasn't exactly the best profession when one wanted to be satisfied physically, especially if said heroine spent most of her time travelling, and those unfulfilled needs coupled with her recent little peek-a-boo at Raine in the bath plus her wild imagination had resulted in… All of that.

It wouldn't happen again.

Smiling cheerfully now that she had worked it all out, the assassin took her place beside the scholar and bent at the waist, touching her toes.

…

They had been travelling at a steady clip for the past few hours.

Just over this rise was a hot bath and yummy food cooked on a stove, not over an open flame. Sheena picked her way down the uneven rock surface, keeping a careful eye on the clumsy Chosen to make sure she didn't injure herself. Just over this rise, she would be free to shop until she dropped and interact with other people outside of their exclusive little group. Just over this rise—

"Hey, has anyone seen Raine?"

One look around confirmed that the white-haired scholar wasn't with them and several calls of her name confirmed that she wasn't even anywhere near them. Despite all of her earlier excitement, Sheena turned her back on civilization and headed back into the mountains, barking orders to her companions to split up and search. There was no way she was going over this rise until she found the woman she had become so close to over the past few days.

It was silly, but the more time she spent with the bossy, uptight scholar the more she wanted to examine the brilliant mind that hid behind narrowed eyes and pouty lips.

"Raine?"

"Raine!"

"RAINE!"

Their calls echoed across the mountaintops, none of them managing to reach the ears of their intended recipient, and the kunoichi leaped from one stone outcropping to another, working her way steadily upwards.

As she landed next to the brown-haired boy, he jumped. "Whoa, you've got to stop that ninja hocus-pocus, Sheena. You scared the—"

"Shhhh!" she hissed, sharp ears catching the faint sound of a cry in the distance. She would recognize that voice anywhere—had been listening to it for the past few months and had even grown to, dare she admit, like it. 'Raine!'

Lloyd blinked, canting his head to the left as he listened hard. "Did you hear—?"

Before he could even finish the sentence, his companion was gone.

---

Raine swore vehemently under her breath, now completely and utterly convinced that there was someone on high who had it out for her as she ran for her life, away from the baying pack of Hell Hounds at her heel. She skidded to a halt at the edge of a rock basin into which a waterfall roared and a feeling of dread made her entire body go cold and stiff.

A dead end.

Pale blue orbs searched frantically as the sounds of the beasts close behind her grew louder, lighting upon her only options for escape: the foaming waters below or the thin rock ledge that ran around the lip of the basin, against the wall of stone that ran around it in a semi-circle. Time was of the essence; there was no time to stop and think. She flattened herself against the sheer surface and began to inch her way towards the curtain of water, holding her breath as she kept her eyes forward, her ears ringing with the thwarted cries of the Hell Hounds.

She could do this! She just had to make it to the other side—

Raine cried out as the granite beneath her crumbled and she teetered precariously, hands scrabbling for any way to stop herself from falling. She was unable to regain her balance, unfortunately, and the heart-stopping sensation of falling made her scream, her eyes tightly clenched and her limbs locked by pure, unadulterated terror.

The impact with the liquid below drove the air from her lungs and it wrapped her in its icy embrace as it closed over her head. Her head spun, her sense of direction utterly destroyed as the raging waters battered her from all sides. In that moment, the white-haired woman knew she was going to die and a chilling calm came over her.

Part of her wished that she had had a chance to tell her brother goodbye. The other part wished she had had a chance to talk to Sheena about these weird, unfamiliar thoughts and feelings she experienced whenever the raven-haired summoner was around or even just the subject at hand. Some other part of her insisted that the interest in such a conversation was rooted purely in accruing information, but her heart knew better.

Even now, the foolish muscle raced, desperately working with adrenaline to give her another shot at saving her own skin; at getting another chance to speak with the lovely assassin-turned-friend; at getting to the bottom of these strange new emotions. To gather data and nothing more because there was no way these feelings were, well, feelings—the contractions of a heart that indicated deeply rooted affections.

She didn't trust humans (with the exception of her long-time allies, Lloyd and Colette), much less like them like… that.

Gods above, this maelstrom of thoughts was even more distressing than the situation she was currently in. Pale blue orbs snapped open and Raine surfaced, gasping, as she tried desperately to keep her head above the water. One cruel twist in the river bend slammed her against a rock jutting from the depths and she wrapped her arms around it before she could slip past it, trembling as white hot pain shot along her spine. Her grip wouldn't last long, but at least she could draw precious, precious oxygen in her lungs for the moment.

A dark shape blurred out of the trees, stopping at the water's edge.

She had to be imagining things, her brain desperately projecting her innermost thoughts during her final moments, because there was no way the young woman had found her and was—

There was a 'splash!'

—diving into the water without any regard for her state of dress or her own well-being. Figment of her imagination or not, the assassin kicked out with a grim look of determination, fighting against the current as she made her way towards the tiring half-elf.

"Hold on!"

As she obediently pushed her muscles to maintain their failing grip, the spell-caster could only stare, her heart racing for reasons that had nothing to do with her recent swim. At the mere sight of Sheena she felt… Well, it was like seeing the monstrous remains of ancient ruins jutting up from the horizon: she was beside herself with joy and excitement, her mind a whirlwind of considerations and her hands aching to reach out and—

"Take my hand." The appendage was oddly warm considering the frigidity of the water, but Raine didn't dwell on it (for very long, anyway) as she was pulled closer and her arm was looped around Sheena's neck, her front now flush against the younger woman's back. "Don't let go of me, okay?"

"O-okay…"

She rested her forehead against the other woman's shoulder, her eyelids fluttering shut as she caught the clean, sweet smell of the Mizuho assassin's skin. It was calming and its familiarity caught the scholar off guard. Had she really shared such proximity with the girl—and so frequently?

"Don't worry, I've got you," the kunoichi grunted.

Oddly enough, she wasn't worried. Even surrounded by her least favorite element, her limbs aching from her earlier tumble downstream, she wasn't at all concerned. In fact, she felt almost happy, her body responding eagerly to the closeness of another. It seemed Sheena had been right: she craved companionship.

And even more than that, she craved this—this intimate contact.

Their struggle to shore was a blur because, for all her massive intellect, the only thing the white-haired genius could focus on was the warm feel of the brunette's body against hers.

The duo flopped gracelessly into a heap on dry land, side by side, their limbs tangled, and for a moment they just panted.

When she had finally regained her bearings, the scholar said quietly, "Thank you. I owe you my life."

Sheena sat up with a snort, presumably to dismiss the statement, but then dark eyes widened and the half-elf realized just how close they were when she could see the jagged ring of amber within dark brown irises around dilated pupils. Propped up on her arms as she was, her face just above her companion's, the summoner was in the perfect position to be kissed…

Pale blue orbs flicked unconsciously to full lips and, suddenly, she wanted very much to know how soft plump pink flesh was. Pale blue darkened to the same blue of the sky and she shifted slightly, her body reacting to her thoughts without any actual input from her mind and dark orbs widened as the brunette caught a glimpse of something heated within them.

Before she could even begin an attempt to decipher the thoughts behind that coy expression, their travel companions came racing out of the woods, the rustle of undergrowth pulling the women out of whatever this—this heavy, inexplicably tension-charged—moment was. The assassin's expression became almost guilty and she rolled clear of the spell-caster just as the woman's brother came into view.

"Raine? Raine, are you okay!?"

"I'm fine, Gen—Oof!" It had been quite a while since she had been on the receiving end of a hug from her younger brother—a fact that bothered her immensely. They had been so close… So what had happened? She tangled her fingers in his hair, soothing the worried tremors that ran the length of his lanky frame. He had gotten a little taller. "Sheena saved me."

The brunette shrugged, though a pale pink hue touched her cheeks. "It was nothing."

And yet, if the stirring beneath Raine's breast was anything to go by, it had started something.

"We should rest here for the night," Sheena was saying. "Raine's in no condition to travel."

The others voiced their agreement and the half-elf flinched as a hand was offered to help her up. She accepted the proffered appendage, a jolt travelling up her arm at the touch of soft, warm flesh and grit her teeth as pain washed over her battered body. Still, she didn't break the contact, stepping into Sheena's curvaceous frame and leaning on the younger woman for support.

As the ninja girl sputtered something, her dark eyes wide, the spell-caster went limp, her head cradled against in the junction of a slender neck and strong shoulders. She breathed in that vanilla-jasmine scent again, a blissful smile curving her lips.

The last thing she remembered before everything went black was the worried tone of Genis's voice and the feel of arms going around her to stop her from falling.

Step two:get the information you need.

At long last, they had made it.

Sheena shifted her grip around Raine's waist, assuring the white-haired woman once again that it was no trouble and, no, she didn't need help from one of the boys. Dark brown orbs went to the inn, where they would be able to rest and recuperate, and she made her way over, carefully so as to avoid agitating the cuts and bruises the half-elf had earned from her impromptu swim earlier that morning.

The inn-keeper gasped upon seeing the still-damp pair of travelers, handing the kunoichi a key with a number attached to it and pointing them towards a room on the first floor before turning to talk to Kratos and the others about their own lodgings.

"Looks like you're stuck with me," Sheena commented, as they headed down the narrow corridor. She knew their healer preferred the privacy of her own room and had on many occasions started up a heated debate with the red-haired swordsman regarding the added expense of securing another room. Somehow she always managed to win said arguments, but it seemed she wouldn't have much of a choice, if what the inn-keeper was telling the others was anything to go by.

"I don't mind," the reclusive half-elf said quietly, blinking a few times as though the statement startled her as much as it did her companion.

Well, that was new.

Neither said a word as the raven-haired assassin opened the door to their temporary accommodations. Inside, there were two narrow beds, a tiny half bathroom, and a writing desk above which there was a window that had been opened to allow a little air in.

All in all, it wasn't the most luxurious of inns they had encountered, but it was surely better than sleeping on the hard ground.

She helped the scholar over to the bed nearest the window, gently lying the woman down and moving to remove white boots—

"You don't have to—" Raine began.

"I want to."

Some part of her dearly wanted—no, needed—to take care of the older woman. She didn't know where the protective urge had emerged from and she greatly disapproved of it given that, as an assassin her mission came first, but she knew that she wasn't going to let the stubborn half-elf shut her out just because she wanted to maintain her fierce sense of independence.

For a moment, pale blue eyes met brown ones in a silent battle of wills. Finally, the spell-caster sighed and averted her gaze, wordlessly giving her companion permission to assist her. Sheena wasn't sure why, but the admittedly cute display of reluctance made happiness sweep through her in a warm wave and she grinned as she undid white laces and finally removed the footwear, placing them at the foot of the bed.

"Are you hungry?" After some hesitation, the woman nodded. "Get some rest. I'll go get us something to eat."

Without waiting for a response, the summoner rose and crossed the room to the door. She was pulling it open when a soft sound made her pause and she half-turned to face her companion: blue eyes were half shut, her body completely relaxed against the bed's soft surface, and she was smiling faintly.

'Gods, she's lovely'—the thought came unbidden and Sheena scowled. It was one thing to admit that she wanted the half-elf—hell, she was easy on the eyes and likely a tomcat in the sack—but it was another thing entirely to admit that she cared about Raine Sage. Because these thoughts and actions were way too reverential for her liking.

"Thank you, Sheena."

Ba-dump. A lump in her throat, the brunette nodded and quickly made her exit.

---

After watching Sheena hurry from the room as though someone had set a fire under her, Raine allowed her fatigue to soak into her aching bones and her eyelids fluttered shut. Despite her restful state, her mind continued, as it always did, to process the world around her—namely the strange behavior of the beautiful Mizuho assassin.

Why was she being so… nice? It wasn't as though the younger girl was usually unkind, but she did normally keep to herself so going out of her way like this was a little unexpected. Appreciated, but unexpected.

And then there was the happiness that had curved full lips into a smile as she performed the task of removing the wounded spell-caster's shoes. She highly doubted that it was the action itself that had evoked such a reaction and that made her wonder exactly what had been on the kunoichi's mind at the time. She had seemed particularly cheery ever since rescuing the healer, despite the fact that the weight of the other woman's form slowed her own pace and forced her to move carefully so as not to aggravate any unhealed wounds.

Gels didn't work on internal injuries, apparently.

In any case, Sheena's high spirits were making her feel happier as well. Something about seeing a smile on that lovely face made her heart swell and her lips curve in response and she wanted nothing more than to ensure that the expression lasted.

No, that wasn't true. There was one thing that she wanted…

The scholar's brilliant mind wandered back to that morning and her face heated.

/ Their faces were so close it would only take a slight movement for their lips to meet and Raine's breath caught in her throat, though she had only just managed to make her first full inhale since her impromptu swim.

Pale blue orbs flicked unconsciously to full lips which parted soundlessly then, closed as the younger woman bit her bottom lip.

Something flickered in dark eyes, something heated, and she felt her body flush with warmth in response, her heart hammering against the inside of her chest. The loud rustle of foliage from their right made her flinch, but she didn't rip her gaze away—couldn't.

It was only when Sheena rolled clear of her body that she was able to supply her lungs with precious oxygen. /

She could deal with wanting another girl. Believe it or not, the scholar was no stranger to desire. And it wasn't as though female-female pairings were unheard of among her race, though they weren't encouraged due to the persecution they already faced. No, wanting the beautiful brunette human wasn't the problem she had with this situation, it was the fact that she liked Sheena.

She cared about what how Sheena felt, what she liked, and what she thought—especially if those thought revolved around a certain white-haired scholar. Just the thought of Sheena thinking thoughts about her made her fidget anxiously and she turned onto her side, propping her head up on her arm.

No sense in pursuing that particular train of thoughts. There was no way Sheena considered her like that. The naïve blonde Chosen would make a better partner, pretty as she was, and there were likely scores of men that would give an arm or leg to bed the assassin.

Raine was just… mouthy.

Brainy.

Naggy.

Violent.

Whatever it took to drive people away so she could remain in the safe, secluded haven of her brilliant mind. Safe from hurt.

She was an incredibly quick learner and it had taken just one mistake—one slip up in which she had let another person in—before she had learned her lesson and placed her heart under lock and key. His name had been Reynold, a half-elf back home, and he had claimed he loved her. He had claimed she was his one and only. He had claimed… her heart. Unfortunately, his claims were far from the truth and he had made those very same empty promises to several other half-elves, all of which he had later told her were so much prettier and more interesting than her.

The rest was, as they say, history. Her confidence shattered and her heart in a broken mass of painfully throbbing fragments, the scholar had thrown herself into her research and, even now, several decades later, old habits proved difficult to break.

With a sigh, the half-elf forced her mind clear and waited for blissful oblivion to wash over her in a wave of slumber.

-s-

"What kind of food does your sister like?"

Sheena sniffed the air, trying to locate a familiar one in the bouquet of tasty scents. She wanted to surprise the slumbering half-elf with something yummy—wanted to see the grateful smile the white-haired woman gave whenever the assassin went out of her way to please her.

The trouble was well worth that smile.

Genis, who had been silently observing her, gaped. "You…"

"I…?" she questioned, a chilling feeling of dread settling around her shoulders and shooting along her spine. She could tell from wide blue eyes that she wouldn't like whatever it was the sharp young man had picked up on.

"YOU LIKE MY SI—Mmph!"

"Keep your voice down!" She glared daggers at the younger Sage, the hand she had clamped over his mouth trembling as she considered killing him right then and there. "What the hell are you talking about?"

His response was a string of incoherent sounds and the brunette sighed and removed her hand, allowing him to hiss, "What the heck, Sheena?"

The few people roaming about the shopping plaza glanced over at the pair curiously and the assassin's face got hot as she pointedly avoided their stares.

"I don't know what your problem is."

"Sheena."

"What?"

"She's my sister."

"And?"

"She's my sister," he repeated, aghast.

It was interesting that he was disturbed by that and not the fact that they were both girls. She supposed half-elves were more accepting than humans, anyway.

"I didn't do it on purpose."

"So you do like her."

Crap… She hadn't meant to reveal that. "I…" It was too late now. "Yes. A little."

"What the heck, Sheena!?" It seemed he became stupid and repetitive in his disbelief. Not to mention loud.

"Look, kid, you gave me an assignment and I'm getting it done. I'm not going to mess up by fraternizing with the target."

It occurred to her that those were the famous last words of many a sword for hire, but she shrugged off the thought.

Genis grumbled something under his breath, shaking his head in disdain.

"Got something to say?"

Louder, he said, "Look, my sister seems to like you… so I think you should totally go with this. Maybe it'll take out two Cockatrices with one boulder."

"Does she? I can't tell." Despite her flippant tone, the brunette's heartbeat quickened and she couldn't help the anxious, eager little smile that spread across her face.

"Ohmygosh, gross!" he groaned. "You're so obvious—how has she not noticed yet?" More muttering, more head shaking. Finally, he continued, "You wouldn't notice unless you knew her really well. She's got a hard time letting people in because of this huge jerk back home. It's a long story."

A little spike of protective rage flared up in the pit of her stomach and she curled her fingers into fists, her fingernails forming little stinging crescents in her palms.

"I'm listening."

---

Raine stirred, a quiet sound rousing her from a deep sleep. She didn't move, barely daring to breathe as she sensed the presence of another in the room.

"Oh… I didn't mean to wake you." Pale blue orbs blinked open to see the pretty black-haired assassin standing across from her bed, paper bags full of recently purchased objects in her arms. The quiet sound had apparently been that of the door closing and the lock clicking shut. Sheena set her parcels down on the desk and went to sit at the foot of the half-elf's bed, her expression concerned. "How are you feeling?"

"Better." She sat up, moaning quietly as her muscles stretched, and the assassin suddenly found the ceiling incredibly interesting. "How long was I out?"

"A few hours." Dark brown eyes remained glued to the wooden beams above. "I came in earlier, but you looked so peaceful that I just couldn't bring myself to wake you."

Actually, she had stood by the older woman's bedside, her fingers twitching with the repressed urge to reach out and touch as she drank in the sight of the peaceful expression on that lovely face, but Raine didn't need to know that.

Her stomach growled and Sheena chuckled at the spell-caster's mortified expression. "I brought you something to eat. A little bird told me you love vegetable stew and fresh bread."

Elves tended towards vegetarianism, so her avian friend was indeed a good source of information. The sight and smell of the vessel full of soup and the paper bag containing a small loaf of bread made her mouth water and she lifted her arm, wincing as her side throbbed and earning another concerned look when she grimaced.

"Are you okay?"

"I think I sprained a rib." The pain wasn't unbearable, but… It wasn't selfish to want to be cared for, right? Having Sheena express concern for her gave her a warm feeling beneath her breast that she hadn't felt in decades. "Would you mind, um…?"

The intuitive ninja nodded and returned to her post at the foot of the bed, opening the package and tearing soft, freshly baked bread into bite-sized pieces. She held out a chunk, its soft innards still steaming slightly, and Raine swallowed hard before leaning forward and taking it between her teeth.

As she chewed, her stomach giving a low rumble of approval, it occurred to the white-haired woman that she was trembling. Something about the intimacy of the situation—an intimacy that had no business being there, damn her overactive imagination—made her heart stutter as her mind work in double time.

Why Sheena of all people? The exquisite young woman was so far out of her league it was appalling.

"Hey, you in there?"

She had been so lost in thought that she had missed whatever the brunette had just said. "Sorry, what?"

"I said, "Have some soup."" She pursed full lips, blowing to cool the liquid, and offered the spoon to the spell-caster, who licked her lips before parting them to accept a spoonful of delicious soup. She licked them again when the utensil was withdrawn and blue eyes met brown.

Dark orbs gleamed with an almost indecent light. "Raine…"

Her breath caught in her throat. "Y-yes?"

If it was possible, the air between them became tenser still.

Sheena cleared her throat. "We're, ah, even now, you know."

"What…?"

"You saved my hide before, and now I saved yours. We're even."

Was that the reason the kunoichi was being so kind? Before she could help herself, the half-elf scowled and, if the lovely assassin's expression was anything to go by, the look was intimidating.

"Whoa, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." She wasn't hungry anymore. The scholar lay back down, rolling over so that she was facing the wall next to her bed, her back to Sheena.

She ignored the confused questioning of the other woman in favor of falling into a stony silence. Memories… Memories of him and how he had abandoned her surfaced, swirling about angrily, and she sighed, closing her eyes and counting backwards from one hundred.

When she opened her eyes, Sheena had finally given up and left the room through the window over the desk, if the warm breeze that wafted in was anything to go by.

Her heart hurt.

That night…

The bathhouse was located in a building across from the inn and it featured separate baths for the sexes, a spigot with cool water to rinse yourself off, and a changing room type setup with separate little cubbies for personal belongings.

After she had slipped out of her usual purple outfit, the kunoichi pushed open the door leading into the steam-soaked room. She was both surprised and unsurprised when she caught sight of Raine sitting in the waist-deep water, her head tilted back, her eyes closed.

"Are you willing to talk to me now?"

One eye opened to consider her. "Mm…"

Sheena sighed, dropping her towel unabashedly—she was just too tired to dedicate her brain power to feeling self-conscious—and striding over to the water's edge. She caught the way baby blue orbs wandered almost appraisingly, lingering for a heartbeat too long on particularly provocative bits. The half-elf had already been flushed with heat, but that pink hue definitely darkened as she stared.

Interesting.

Maybe…

…

No…

There was no way.

Casting off that niggling hope, the summoner sank into the bath, ducking under and getting her hair wet before resurfacing… A little too close to Raine.

She floated backwards, trying not to let the action seem like a hasty retreat, and said, "I wish you'd talk to me."

"Mm…"

It seemed she had failed her mission. Raine would go on giving her the cold shoulder and the information would be lost. Oh well.

"You can't ignore me forever, beautiful." The scholar quirked an eyebrow at that and even Sheena wasn't sure where the affectionate, teasing pet name had come from. Well, it was too late to take it back now, so she smirked with confidence that she didn't feel and asked, "What's the look for?"

"Beautiful?" she repeated, tone incredulous.

"Yup."

"Hah."

The derisiveness was unexpected. So much so that Sheena mirrored her companion's expression. "Why is that so funny?"

"Because it's hardly accurate."

She nearly went under. 'What!?'

Before the kunoichi could express further disbelief, the door to the other side of the bath slid open with an audible clamor and there were several sets of footsteps followed by a 'splash!'

The duo relaxed—though, perhaps that was impossible at this point—in the steaming waters and retreated into their thoughts. Whatever conversation they were to share once the bath had been vacated, it was going to be a game-changer—Sheena could feel it. The thought made her anxious and excited all at once because something had to give or she'd go mad.

It was do or die.

Raine flicked droplets of water at her companion, chuckling quietly when she received an unimpressed look. The action was meant to distract herself from whatever it was that charged the air between them—the very same thing that always seemed to be around whenever Sheena was.

If she was being completely honest with herself… Well, if she had been, this conversation would have happened some time ago and the events leading up to its culmination likely would have never happened.

After some time had passed, the sounds from the other side of the privacy screen faded, the laughter of the boys who had created them becoming further and further away before, finally, disappearing.

They were alone again—a frightening, exhilarating fact.

"Don't be stupid," Sheena said, picking up where they had left off. "You're gorgeous, you know. And some people are into brainy girls… Even silly, unconfident ones."

Raine scoffed and rolled her eyes. "I appreciate you trying to spare my feelings, Sheena, but there's really no need. I'm an adult, not some fragile teenager."

Seriously? Because she was acting like a self-conscious girl at her first dance.

How in all seven levels of hell could the spell-caster possibly have missed the effect she had on her black-haired companion? Honestly, Sheena had been going stark raving mad these last few days—to the point that some of the men that had stared at her upon their coming into town had gotten a wink and a smile. Men, woman… a good-sized cucumber—anything to lessen the longing throb between her legs.

But some part of her knew that it wouldn't be so easy to rid herself of the sudden spike in her sex drive. Raine was the one she really wanted at this moment and, if the scholar had anything to say about it, she would likely remain horny and unsatisfied until she rid herself of this thrice damned crush.

The brunette also knew it was pointless to argue once the white-haired woman had her mind made up, but that didn't stop her from saying, "What's it going to take to make you believe me?"

Another scoff. "How about you find someone attractive who's willing to sleep with me? I'll scare them off the minute I start talking about my research or, better yet, the fact that I'm a half-elf. That would go down wonderfully." The woman laughed, the sound devoid of any sort of amusement. "I don't know how it happened, but I think our little group consists of the only people who are willing to put up with me—and some of you don't have much of a choice."

She opened her mouth only to snap it shut, trapping the words that had slipped past her filter before they could do any real damage.

The fact that Raine was a half-elf didn't bother her in the least. Why their race had been persecuted, she still didn't fully understand, because who cared about ranks and titles? In the end, actions spoke louder than words and the half-elf had proven to be a capable, wonderful ally and, dare she say, friend. She didn't mind how chatty the scholar got when it came to her research… In fact, she found it kind of cute. It was nice to see such enthusiasm, especially considering the grim nature of their journey. They were both girls, but so what? The body had needs and it scarcely cared how those needs were fulfilled much less by whom. And it wasn't as though this would be the first time Sheena had been with a woman, either.

In Mizuho, the raven-haired beauty had run into the temptations of the female flesh during her summoner's training in the temple and she had found women to be even better partners than men. After all, a woman knew what a woman liked.

It was with that reasoning playing through her mind that Sheena allowed, "What about me?" past her lips in a murmur that was just a tad bit inviting.

There was a six second period of silence that felt like an eternity to the brunette under that pale blue stare. Six whole nerve-wracking seconds, during which she desperately wished she could reclaim the words that hung between them, almost tangible in the tension with which they charged the air. Six thousand milliseconds during which she prayed that Raine was feeling kind enough to give her a swift and painless death.

A seventh second ticked by, but Sheena figured that time itself had ended along with the rest of the universe because the half-elf was smiling at her so that meant she must have had a heart attack and this was the afterlife. Nothing else could possibly explain why the blue-eyed healer wet full lips with an almost teasing swipe of her tongue and responded just as quietly; just as invitingly, "Okay…"

---

The door to the heroines' shared room slammed inward as its occupants stumbled inside, still-damp skin pressing together as they cast off what little clothes they had managed to put on during their hasty retreat to the privacy of their lodgings.

This heated exchange had started off as teasing kisses peppered over Sheena's shoulders—a continued effort to short-circuit the brunette's mind from the bath; Raine was a tease—who would have thought?—as she struggled to get the key into the keyhole, and her libido had revved into high gear as, eureka!, she turned, grabbed the older woman, and smashed their lips together, fumbling behind her for the knob as tongues danced and teeth clicked, and allowing them entry.

Which brings us to the present moment: quiet sounds of pleasure emerged from the darkness, two figures silhouetted by the moonlight outside as Sheena lifted Raine onto the writing desk, moving between the half-elf's eagerly spread thighs. She didn't waste any time nudging aside drenched cotton underwear—from both the water and the excitement that sent shudders along that curvaceous form—and stroking downwards along a strip of white curls.

She want—needed this. They both did.

Slender fingers pressed into hot wetness and Raine's head fell back as she moaned, presenting her partner with a canvas of pale skin to nip and lick. She curled them, thrusting up and in, and the moan faded out into a whimper as the scholar bucked her hips, her legs locking behind Sheena and drawing her closer still.

Holy Summon Spirits, was it really possible to be this wet? The kunoichi clenched her thighs together as a rush of damp heat pooled between them, her inner muscles clenching eagerly at the sight of the eldest Sage bucking and moaning like a two-gald whore. She gave an especially hard nip to the junction of neck and shoulder, soothing the sting with a swirl of her tongue, and the half-elf moaned again, the breathy sound making Sheena's core burn hotter still.

She was going to burst and Raine hadn't even touched her yet—

"Ah…!"

The scholar's hands kneaded her breasts roughly, tweaking pale pink nipples until they stood erect and overly-sensitive, and the white-haired woman leaned forward, taking one into her mouth. The moans that thrusting fingers tore from her created a vibration that made the ninja girl bite her lip to stop herself from yelping.

Teeth dragged gently against the sensitive bud locked in wet heat, the little spike of pain-pleasure sending a jolt of electric excitement along her spine, and she mewled her approval, quickening her pace. The summoner added a fourth finger, stretching Raine to the limit, and the older woman threw her head back and released a strangled scream, her eyes rolling back into her head as her inner muscles convulsed, latching onto the intruder and milking all the pleasure they could from talented digits.

Sheena smirked, slowing her thrusts as her partner came down from her the edge of oblivion. She had done pretty well, if she said so herself. Unsheathing her fingers, she lifted the soaked extremities to the moonlight, observing the way they glistened for a moment before popping one into her mouth and sucking it clean.

After some consideration, she decided that she liked the taste and began licking her fingers in earnest, the inadvertently sensual display reviving the slumped half-elf. Without warning, the brunette found herself lying across one of their beds—Raine's—and there was a very satisfied, very pleased woman lording over her, exploring her body with gentle hands that trembled with barely contained arousal.

Sheena arched as her sensitive breasts once again became the target of the scholar's attentions, hissing quietly as Raine brushed fingertips along their pale undersides and down, along her ribs, to her navel for a ticklish moment, and further still…

Pale blue orbs went wide as she registered just how wet her lover was, darkening as she cleared her throat in order to be able to say huskily, "May I?"

There was that silly, lingering sense of insecurity again. In way of response, the summoner parted her legs, arching her back in order to present her willing body on a figurative silver platter. She wasn't above a little begging to get what she wanted, but it seemed the wordless invitation was enough for Raine to completely forget her trepidation because the older woman shifted and—

Oh, dear heavens, the exquisite sensation of being penetrated and filled until her walls stretched made her cry out. Pleasure whirled within her core like a hurricane, battering her with lightning bolts of pleasure that crackled from synapse to synapse and a veritable flood of liquid heat that made a debauched, wet sound with every thrust of Raine's fingers.

Raine's free hand returned to kneading pert breasts and she sealed their lips together, partially to silence the lewd symphony of sounds that left the apparently very vocal young woman and partially to release some of the arousal that pulsed feverishly within her core. Their tongues wrestled fiercely, each trying to gain dominance in the messy, uncoordinated dance. In the end, the winner didn't matter because the ecstasy that was exchanged with each dip and swirl, each click of teeth and thin string of saliva connecting them when they pulled apart to answer their lungs' need for oxygen, only served to fan the flames of desire that much hotter.

Her world was flying apart and she held onto her lover for dear life, riding the older woman's fingers and bringing herself closer to the abyss until she was teetering at its edge.

One particularly deep thrust—hers and Raine's matching up in perfect harmony—was all it took for the kunoichi to climax with a guttural moan, her vision dimming at the edges as she collapsed bonelessly onto the bed's plush surface, her heart threatening to beat its way out of her chest.

They lay there for a moment, tangled in each other, breathing hard. In the lull that followed an incredibly satisfying release, both women relaxed completely, their guard's uncharacteristically dropped, just enjoying the presence of another in such an intimate fashion. Neither said a word—there would be plenty of time for that later.

Then, Raine snuggled into Sheena's slender frame, nuzzling the younger woman's throat and pressing a kiss over the pulse that raced in the underside of her jaw. The sweet, affectionate action made the kunoichi grin with renewed energy and she pulled her partner to her, claiming full lips and sliding a thigh up between the scholar's, chuckling softly when the woman bucked instinctively, spreading wetness over her upper thigh. Raine's body still begged for attention and the brunette wasn't about to ignore that call to action.

Besides, she needed more of the sweet nectar she had sampled.

Sheena sat up and began kissing her way down the panting half-elf's body, leaving pinpricks of heat in her wake. Her hunger partially satisfied, though her thirst was even greater than before, the kunoichi took her time, finding little nooks and crannies that made the nubile body below her buck and shudder ecstatically. She lost herself in the throaty sounds her partner made, content to explore that pale, flawless form until the woman reminded her with a faint whimper of her primary objective.

As she slid the rest of the way down Raine's body, cozying up between splayed thighs and pressing a kiss to each one as she hooked her arms around their undersides and pushed them into a raised position.

With her sex so completely exposed like this, her cheeks aflame, and her muscles straining, seeking the torturous relief that only the summoner could bring, the healer felt deliciously debauched, her austere countenance having been shattered entirely to be replaced by a wanton creature of desire. For once, her brilliant mind wasn't attempting to solve some great mystery or propose theories as to why things were how they were. Instead, it had been stripped to the basest of animal instincts and she acted on those impulses in order to satisfy the cravings that had so handily erased all rationality and self-consciousness from her mind.

For once, she wasn't worried about the future or doubtful of the present or regretful of the past. She was here in this moment—all of her—and she loved it.

The first touch of warm, wet muscle to her excitement-slick clit made the scholar bite her lip. She whimpered as slender fingers parted her lower lips, baring her further to that dark gaze, and a small sigh gusted air—cool in comparison to the inferno that raged within her core—over sensitive flesh.

Before she could ask about the significance of the exhale, the touch returned, making tight little circuits around the almost painfully sensitive little nub, and Raine actually screamed, clamping her thighs down on either side of the assassin's head as her hands reached out to simultaneously push the young woman away and bring her closer still.

She almost panicked at the powerfulness of the ecstasy that built up, winding impossibly tight until it threatened to shatter and rock her world. She almost begged Sheena to stop, fear of the unknown that awaited her at the end of the tightening spiral proving to be a bit too much for her overactive mind. In the end, however, she trusted her partner completely, allowing the brunette to continue her tireless licking and slurping, her eyelids fluttering as she resisted the onslaught for as long as she could.

In the end, she found she couldn't hold back; orgasm crashed into her, sweeping her away with a wordless howl as multi-coloured lights danced behind her eyelids, her muscles tensing and relaxing spasmodically as though her body was uncertain of how to handle the intensity of the pleasure that gripped it.

When the storm had settled, the scholar returned to the here and now with a blink. From the expression on the assassin's face—jaw slack, eyes burning with hunger wide—her climax had been a sight to behold.

But there was no time to think about that—not with the way her sex ached, throbbing to the same tempo of her beating heart.

"More…" Raine purred, her fingers tangling in dark locks and shoving Sheena's face back into musky warmth.

The ninja girl supposed she had room for seconds…

And thirds and fourths.

Step three: make your getaway without being discovered or leaving proof of your activities.

Dark brown eyes opened slowly and the night before came rushing back. But rather than berate herself for forgetting her mission and losing herself in the pleasures of the flesh, the young woman smiled.

… As much as she would have liked to continue snuggling into the curvaceous form wrapped around her, Sheena found that the call of nature was far too loud. She wriggled carefully out of the warm embrace—or, rather, she tried to.

Pale blue eyes snapped open, an almost crazed light burning within them as her grip tightened. "What…" Realization dawned on lovely features and she relaxed slightly, her arms no longer crushing the air from Sheena's lungs. "Oh…"

"Good morning," she chirped, a little startled by the reaction, though she understood where it was coming from. She supposed the half-elf had woken to an empty bed more than once before. "I was just on my way to the restroom."

"Oh…" Raine repeated.

Her grip slackened further and the ninja rose, but not before pressing a quick kiss to the healer's cheek. "I'll be right back."

…

As she was returning to her room, a familiar voice called her name—

"Sheena!"

—and the exhausted ninja turned to see Genus running towards her, bubbling with excitement. "Raine just passed by here... humming. What did you do?"

A better question was what hadn't they done last night?

"You don't want to know, kid." She smirked at his traumatized expression and walked carefully towards her room, intent on finally getting some rest. "Now, if you'll excuse me…"

Raine's bed was still empty when she reentered the room, so the assassin plunked down on her own bunk, her eyelids fluttering as the energy she had expended the night before caught up to her. She must have dozed off because the next thing she knew, the other bed was occupied by a mostly naked half-elf. Upon registering the apprehensive expression on the other woman's face (but only after drinking in the sight of that wonderful body), she struggled into a seated position.

"Hey…"

"Hey." She bit her lip, pale eyes roaming, focusing on anything but the woman she was speaking to. "I, um… Last night was wonderful."

Indeed it had been. So why was Raine acting so fidgety and anxious?

"Is something wrong?"

"No-no. I just…" The scholar inhaled slowly before saying in a rush, "Sorry, I'm not sure what last night meant. I don't want to assume that it meant to you what in meant to me because that would be silly. I-I mean, there's no reason for you to want to continue—" She gestured hurriedly between them. "—whatever this is. And don't worry, I won't say anything to anyone. I'm just glad you actually tried to make me feel better about how I am because, honestly, I don't think anyone else could have managed without making me feel pitied—" Raine flinched at the flat look she was suddenly on the receiving end of. "I'm… going to stop talking now.

"And what did it mean to you?" Sheena asked, after taking a moment to process the hasty stream of words that had just left the white-haired woman. "Last night, I mean."

Pale cheeks went crimson and the ninja watched, fascinated, as the hue spread along the woman's shoulders.

Gods above, she blushed all over.

Biting back the grin that threatened to spread across her face at that adorable reaction, the brunette switched gears, asking, "Mind if I join you?"

"You… want to?"

"Well, yeah." She rose and crossed the room, resting her hands on the bed on either side the half-elf's body, trapping the woman between her body and the wall. "There are lots of things I'd like to do with you," she drawled playfully, watching carefully as the scholar's expression went through a curious gauntlet of emotions.

The first was excitement, naturally, but it was followed closely by doubt and hurt—likely because Raine assumed that sex was all her partner had in mind. Then came apprehension, as though she was suddenly considering the consequences of their actions the previous night and earlier that morning would bring, and full lips parted to voice what was likely another panicked rush of nonsensical words.

Sheena halted the flood with a gentle kiss before resting her forehead against the spell-caster's, her eyes fluttering shut as she took in the earthy smell of the half-elf's skin. "First and foremost… I'd like to get to know you." She heard a quiet little gasp and smiled, adding quietly, "I mean, there has to be a reason why I like you so much."

Raine bit her lip, the blush spreading further. "The feeling is m-mutual. Trust me."

"Now move over." The half-elf shifted over to allow the kunoichi to join her, but the moment Sheena was settled, the older woman was in her lap, covering her face with affectionate kisses.

"N-not that I'm complaining, but what was that for?" the brunette breathed, looping her arms around Raine's neck to prevent her from straying too far.

"I don't know," was the honest reply.

Chuckling, the summoner leaned against the headboard and pulled her bedmate into her lap, nuzzling into silky white locks and touching every uncovered inch of soft, warm flesh with her fingertips, her aim to commit porcelain perfection to memory rather than to arouse. Her partner made a pleased sound low in her throat, cuddling closer, and the brunette husked, "Share something with me."

There was a long silence and, for a moment she was afraid that she had pushed too hard and Raine had retreated into her mind. Then, the woman began to speak softly:

"My name is Raine Sage, a half-elf born in Heimdall. My parents abandoned Genis and I at the Otherworldly Gate at very young age and I've been caring for him ever since. I've almost drowned twice now, which has only served to feed my fear of large bodies of water. I-I'm also afraid of the feelings I get when I look at you. I've never really cared so much about anyone before, not even Genis. Gosh, I'm a horrible sister. With you, it's… It's breathtaking." Her cheeks darkened further, but she soldiered on. "You make me feel as though I matter. Me. As though I'm special and worthwhile and no one's ever done that before. Ah… My favourite colour is blue… And if you don't say something, I'm just going to keep on rambling."

'So cute.'

There were a million follow-up questions on her mind, but the kunoichi didn't ask any of them. Instead, she gave her lover her biggest, brightest smile and said, "Hello, Raine. I think I may be falling for you even harder."

Baby blue orbs were unusually shiny as the half-elf hugged Sheena to her, burying her face in the other woman's collar and whispering what may or may have not been a declaration of her affections.

"I'm not going anywhere," the brunette promised, reaching up to stroke pale locks. For an assassin to be tied down… Her ancestors must have been turning over in their graves.

Still, the disapproval was well worth that shy, grateful smile.

-Fin-