Chapter 9
As night fell that day, everyone retired to their own rooms, everyone except Akali that is. Akali decided to have a wander outside. It was a still night, with only the gentlest of breezes, peaceful and tranquil. The dark nights sky lit up by the silvery full moon alongside the millions of tiny stars speckling the sky like thousands on fireflies. Akali had wandered to the edge of Syndra's island, and sat cross legged facing the expansive world below. To either side of her were two cherry blossom trees in full pink bloom, and with every gentle whisper of the breeze petals twirled to the ground around her. She sat here, a whirlwind of thoughts going through her head. Although it was a calm, peaceful night, it most certainly wasn't that way in Akali's mind. She was anxious to whether Syndra would manage to persuade Karma to help, nervous about spying on her master, the man who had helped her through thick and thin until now, and most of all, worried. Her worry was, of course, for Shen. Katarina was not an easy target; she had slipped through the triumvirate many times, and murdered countless people. Plus, both Zed and Shen had been injured by her recently, could Soraka's healing really got them back to fighting fit already? Then there's Zed. A man shrouded in darkness and mystery. Akali wasn't sure she could completely trust a man so deeply enthralled by the shadows, even if he was a childhood friend and adopted brother of Shen's. If that wasn't bad enough, Akali was worried that if Zed could take down Katarina with only Shen's help, does that mean he's better than her? She felt threatened that her title of the fist of shadow would be taken away from her. "But that probably doesn't matter now anyway, seeing as we've gone rogue from the order anyway," Akali thought out loud.
"What doesn't matter?" Said a familiar velvety voice from behind her. Akali bolted upright and spun quickly. Seeing it was Shen, she ran towards him and threw her arms around his neck.
"You startled me," Akali whispered in to Shen's ear, who had now wrapped his arms round her waist and pulled her close.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," Shen said calmly, "I could see you from my window as I couldn't sleep either, so I thought I'd come and keep you company."
"Thank you, what is it you used to say to me? Something to do with presence?" Pulling back from the hug and sticking her tongue out cheekily at Shen.
"Your presence is soothing." Shen replied with embarrassment. Akali came towards him and buried her head in to his chest.
"Yeh, that's it." She said softly, blushing slightly too. Shen put his right arm across her back, and his left on her head, holding her tight to his chest. He kissed the top of her head before resting it on top of hers. The pair stayed in this tight embrace below the cherry blossom trees, under the starry sky miles above Ionia for a long time, so very comfortable in each other's arms.
"Listen, I know you're worried about tomorrow, I can see it in your eyes, you don't need to be Kennen to see that." Shen pulled back from Akali slightly, and reached above his head and grabbed one of the cherry blossom flowers. "Here, take this," he threaded the flower into Akali's hair, "As long as you have this flower, you know I'll always be with you, watching over you." Akali's eyes began to tear up at how sweet Shen was being, through the choking on her tears she muttered a thank you, grabbed Shen's head and kissed him more passionately than ever before. Not knowing when they'll see each other again, Shen returned this kiss with even more passion. After a while of this, Shen beckoned for Akali to come with him, took her hand and led her back inside to his room. Once inside, Shen picked up Akali and threw her down on to the bed like a doll. He locked the door and pulled off his top revealing his extremely well defined chest, Akali couldn't help but blush, with slight hesitation, she did the same. Shen jumped on top of her, kissing her passionately once again. He began to kiss down her soft neck, and Akali began letting out little whimpers, not expecting a simple kiss to feel this nice. "Wait, stop! What if Kennen hears us?!" Akali whispered with alarm in her voice.
"Don't worry, that yordle can sleep through anything. Just enjoy yourself." Shen whispered calmly, before moving his kissing further down her.
The pair of Ninjas didn't get much sleep that night, completely enthralled by their feelings for one another, made even more exciting by the fact they might not see each other again if things went badly this next day. As the Sun peaked through the curtains, a knock came at the door, followed by a whisper, "Shen, Shen, wake up!" Shen didn't wake at the first time, nor the second, but by the third time, when the knock and whisper got a little louder he woke. He looked down and peaked under the covers, just to confirm what he thought had happened the night before, to make sure it wasn't just a dream. Sure enough he was happy to see a completely naked Akali lay on his chest, much like the day before, just with fewer clothes. The knock came again. Fortunately, Shen had now woken up enough to know that it was Syndra at the door. With that knowledge, he slid out from under Akali, resting her head on the pillow and covering her enough so that she was decent. He grabbed his dressing gown and slipped it on, opening the door quickly so Syndra didn't wake either Akali or Kennen up with another knock. Before Shen could say anything, Syndra barged in, completely ignoring Shen and rushing over to the bed. Shen shut the door behind her and turned to face Syndra who was over by the bed, he didn't expect Syndra to have done what Shen just witnessed. She had pulled back the covers on the sleeping Akali to reveal her bare top half. Leaving the covers off, she turned and squealed running over and hugging Shen.
"I knew it! I knew it! I thought I heard some amorous activities going on last night!" Syndra squealed with excitement but in a hushed tone as to not wake anyone else up. Shen stood there, not really knowing what to say or do. By this point, the mixture of Syndra's squealing and knocking, being moved by Shen, and the fresh morning breeze now circulating over her bare chest, Akali had began to wake up. She firstly sat up and looked around the room to see an excited Syndra hugging a very confused looking Shen on one side, and the morning Sun poking through the blinds on the other. "What's going on?" She asked in a sort of daze. She shivered and noticed feeling cold and looked down to see why she was feeling cold. To her dismay, her breasts were completely exposed. "Ah!" She screamed whilst grabbing up some duvet to cover herself. "SYNDRAAAA!" Akali scowled at the white haired mage who was trying to look innocent, and struggling to do so.
"Me?" She inquired in a high pitched tone whilst pointing at her own face. She giggled, "Kennen will be up soon, and I'm sure you won't want him to see this!" Infuriated, Akali stood up, with the duvet completely wrapped around her, ran out the room with her head down with embarrassment and down the corridor to her own room. "Get yourself ready big boy, it's a big day!" She said cheekily, looking down at Shen's waist line and leaving the room. Shen hadn't noticed, but seeing Akali naked like that had gotten him a little excited once again. Shen blushed and shut the door behind Syndra.
After everyone had eaten and prepared for the day, there was a little bit of time to relax and make some final preparations before setting off. Syndra had already left to speak with Karma, Akali and Kennen were the next to leave. From his room, Shen could see Akali sat below the cherry blossom trees once again, just like the night before. In her haste earlier that morning, Akali had left the flower Shen had given her on his bedside table, with that in hand, Shen headed down to see her.
Shen walked quietly behind her, and threaded the flower in to her hair once again. "You almost forgot this," He said softly as he turned to leave.
"Please stay, sit with me." Akali asked with a quiver in her voice.
"Of course," Shen took his place to Akali's right, sat with legs straight out in front of him, and hands propping him up on either side. Akali reached out with her right hand, and rested it on top of Shen's left.
"Promise me; promise me you'll come back safely. Promise me we'll see each other again on the other side of this." Akali's eyes filled with tears again.
"Of course Akali, I will never leave you alone in this world. I will always be with you, in here." He gestured to her chest, roughly where her heart lies. With the tears rolling down her cheeks, Akali reached over and hugged Shen, and pecked him on the cheek. "Thank you," She whispered in to his ear. She pulled back and returned to the cross legged position she was in before Shen arrived, slightly conscious to who could be around watching. Once her tears had stopped, and she had regained some composure, she said "Oh, and thank you for last night. I've never had that much fun or ever felt that nice and excited before." She turned and winked at Shen before standing up and walking over towards the house to find Kennen.
"Me too! Thanks!" Shen called after her after regaining some composure. He looked back forwards over the edge of the island over Ionia, happier than he had been in a long time, all thanks to Akali.
That's when he knew, he loved Akali.
