Until The End Of Time

Disclaimer: I own nothing. These characters belong to the creator of Glee and Star Ocean Til The End Of Time.

Pairing: Rachel/Quinn

Rating: M

Chapter Nine

I Am Fine

Rachel, Quinn, and Finn found themselves hiding behind a large boulder, watching as the wagon continued down the path, being followed by a group of men riding on the backs of dragons. Rachel, for one, was astonished to see the creatures that on her planet were only a myth. She had heard that they existed on other planets, but had yet to ever see one, until now.

A blush formed on her cheeks as she felt breathing against her neck and ear, Quinn was crouched down beside her, watching the men on the dragons over her shoulder. The close contact was causing her body to react and she was finding it difficult to breathe. This was all so confusing for the small diva.

Once they were out of sight, Quinn moved away from Rachel, once again missing the warmth and contact with the other woman. "The Dragon Brigade…" She muttered to herself as she ran a hand through her blonde hair biting down on her bottom lip. "I feared they would show up sooner or later, I guess this proves how important you are to them. You must not be spies."

"That's the Dragon Brigade? Why are they called that?" Finn asked and Rachel gave him a look of complete confusion. It seemed fairly obvious.

Quinn ignored his remark about their name and answered his first question. Finding the look of annoyance and utter bafflement on Rachel's face to be oddly adorable, she looked prepared to throttle the young man with her bare hands at any second. "Yes, they are one of Airyglyph's three military branches—Knights riding powerful dragons. Not to be trifled with."

The blonde lifted a hand and signaled them to follow her. "Come on, while they distract them, we can go through Kirlsa and enter Aquaria territory."

Rachel reached out a hand and held onto Quinn's arm, putting a stop to her movements. "Wait a second. I have yet to agree to cooperate with you on this mission, and we cannot leave them here to fend for themselves. There is no way that they will be capable of escaping those dragon knights…"

Whipping her head around, Quinn moved closer to Rachel, staring her directly in the eyes. Her chest was heaving and she had a scowl on her lips. She looked extremely angry with the small brunette who just would not cooperate with her. "Yes, there is an extremely good chance that they will be caught. But there is nothing we can do about that, Rachel." She said spitefully, her breath rushing against Rachel's face causing her to visibly shiver.

Still, she would not allow these strange feelings to deviate her from the conversation at hand, no matter how badly she wanted to push Quinn up against the boulder and kiss her silly. She blushed at the thought. "What do you mean by that?" She asked.

"They knew the dangers of their mission when they accepted it."

Rachel did not know what to say to that, her full lips parting and then closing.

"If I became a burden to the mission, they would leave me behind in the same way." Quinn said, turning and starting to walk in the other direction once more.

The shorter woman was not about to accept that though, and she chased after the blonde. "Your mission? Is that all that this is to you; you do not have friends or feelings? What is the matter with you!" She exclaimed

"Hey Rach, just shut up, okay?" Finn asked, following the two of them.

"But…"

"Just save the debate for later, we gotta get somewhere safe first."

Rachel started to pout as she followed them, clenching her fists at her sides. She hated being told what to do almost as much as she hated not getting what she wanted, right now both were happening and she was not happy in the slightest.

Finn caught up with Quinn and looked down at her. "We'll be safer once we get to Aquaria, right?"

"Yes." Quinn nodded. "I can guarantee that."

"There ya are. So let's go there, then we can decide what's goin' on. Make sense to you?" He asked the diva who was still following far away from the two of them with a pout on her full lips.

"Yes, but still it is deplorable…" She muttered out under her breathe.

"You want those chick's sacrifice to go to waste then, Rach? No matter why they did it, they risked their lives to save us so how about you respect that and stop being so stubborn."

Rachel chewed on her bottom lip as she thought it over before nodding. "You are correct…"

"Alright, let's go." Quinn said.

O

"Ahh…" Rachel moaned out in pain as she lifted her hands to her head and she grew faint, no longer capable of vision. She blinked her eyes but all that she saw behind them was a bright whiteness. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest, thudding in her ears and sending waves of pain throughout her body as she fell to her knees.

Quinn turned to look at the smaller woman who was now kneeling down on the ground, fingers digging into her hair as she screamed out in pain. "What's wrong?" She asked with worry in her voice, she wrote it off as worry that she would not be capable of completing her mission and not worry that Rachel was in pain.

"My head… uhh…" She groaned out before her vision returned and she stumbled back to her feet.

"Are you sure you are alright?" The blonde asked, squinting her hazel eyes at Rachel who was now forcing a smile on her face as she nodded.

"Yes, I simply felt faint for a moment, I will be perfectly fine." She reassured her. Secretly happy to see that the other woman was concerned with her well-being, it made her feel special, especially considering that Quinn was fully capable of leaving her other friends to die without a flinch.

"We will be in Kirlsa soon." Quinn informed. "Can you make it that far? Would you like me to carry you the rest of the way?" She offered.

A bright red blush made its way over Rachel's cheeks and down over her neck and shoulders as she thought about Quinn carrying her to their destination. She dismissed the idea immediately, not wanting to look as though she were a weak child. "No, I am fully capable of walking on my own, I assure you."

"Very well." Quinn stated with a nod as she once again started to lead the way. For a second, Rachel thought that she saw disappointment on the other woman's beautiful face, but it was gone so quickly that she couldn't be certain.

'But why would she be disappointed… don't be ridiculous Rachel…'

Finn looked between the two women with a dumbfounded look on his face and then he shrugged his shoulders and followed after them.

O

Kirlsa was a quaint town, the roads and buildings made of stone, shops and bars lining the streets, but it was not what Rachel was used to. On her advanced planet everything was different. You did not have to go inside of shops and buy from humanoids for starters, you could just go to a sphere and look through an inventory, and choose what you want. Then it would materialize for you.

Everything was designed to make it so that you had to do as little work as possible.

Quinn turned to look at the two of them. "This is Kirlsa. If we can get through this town, we will be in Aquaria." She then turned her attention directly to Rachel, looking her over with worried hazel eyes. She hated that she was worrying so much about the small brunette, but she could not help it. She felt a strange inclination to protect her. "Are you sure that you are alright?"

"I am perfectly fine."

"You don't gotta act all tough for her Rach, you're not as strong as we are, so if you gotta rest—"

"—I said that I am fine." She informed him, growing agitated with being treated as though she were inferior to the two of them. Rachel knew that Quinn was just worried about her, but Finn was just being mean, saying that he was stronger than she was.

"Yeah, well, I'm just sayin' you don't look fine, kay?" Finn stated.

"I would prefer to just leave this town now, but that won't be possible with Rachel in this condition. Let's stay here tonight." Quinn said, speaking to Finn and ignoring the hurt look that crossed Rachel's face.

"What about those guys chasin' us?" The tall man asked, also ignoring Rachel who now looked angry and was pouting again, her eyebrows knit together as she stared from one of them to the other, waiting for her turn to speak her mind.

"We will be alright; we have nothing to gain by forcing a sick person to march."

"That's true." Finn said with a nod.

"And we're in luck. There is an Inn right over there, let's go." Quinn stated, starting toward the Inn, followed closely by Finn. Rachel marched after them, her hands clenched into fists at her side; she could not believe that they were ignoring her.

"I am fully capable of traveling!" She shouted.

They ignored her.

After they checked into the Inn, Quinn turned to look at the others in her party. "I will see you both later tonight, I have to go and check on a few things. I will be right back."

"Alright, but are you sure you should just leave us? Aren't you worried we'll just run away?" Finn asked her.

"No. You won't run out on me." The blonde said with a smile as she looked to Rachel, staring her directly in the eyes. "I trust you, remember?" Rachel could not help but feel that she was talking to her in a completely different context. But, she was probably overanalyzing things as she always did.

"Great, now we can't just leave ya here." The young man said.

Quinn chuckled and returned her attention to him. "I don't mind you walking around, just don't leave the town, and don't do anything—" She paused and squinted her hazel eyes. "—conspicuous. We are still in Airyglyph territory. There is no telling where the enemy is hiding."

"Gotcha." Finn said.

Rachel simply nodded her head, still upset that they had not listened to her.

"Rachel, perhaps you should get some rest…" Quinn added in a softer tone before leaving the Inn. Internally berating herself for caring so much.

Finn turned to look down at the small diva who was obviously still mad. He flashed her a half-smile and teased her. "So what you gonna do? Get some rest?"

"Do not worry yourself with what I shall be doing." Rachel stated in a matter of fact tone before turning and walking out of the Inn. She decided that if they deemed her unworthy of walking, then she would show them that she could walk. She did not feel sick at all.

Honestly, Rachel had no idea where she was headed or what she was going to do in the city, all that she knew was that she refused to lay down and rest. As she wandered around the city she found herself walking through a cemetery. There were no longer cemeteries on the planet Earth, they had outlawed them when they ran out of earth to bury the bodies, and she grew intrigued, looking around at the different plots, respectfully of course.

Suddenly she heard a woman's voice and she turned to look who it was, surprised to see that it was Quinn speaking with another woman.

"…according to our latest information." The woman stated.

"I see, they are up to the same tricks as always. Is it the Dragon Brigade?" Quinn asked.

"No, it's the Black Brigade. Of course, the Dragon Brigade is backing them up."

"I see. Good work."

"Whatever you do, please don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong. You know they plan to—"

"—be quiet!" Quinn silenced the woman as her hazel eyes made contact with Rachel who was watching the scene unfold beside one of the tall gravestones. Her large brown eyes wide with curiosity. "Go." She told the woman who obeyed her, rushing out of the cemetery.

Rachel cautiously approached the blonde.

"What are you doing out here?" Quinn asked the short brunette, a slight edge to her voice as she wondered what all Rachel had heard.

"Nothing really, I was simply passing through the cemetery and I witnessed you speaking with that woman…" She blushed slightly at the pang of jealousy that she felt, it was completely irrational, that woman and Quinn had nothing romantic going on between the two of them. 'Even if they did, Quinn does not belong to me in any way shape or form, so I have absolutely no right to get jealous!' "So, who was that woman you were speaking with?"

She looked over the blush on naturally tan cheeks, wondering momentarily what had caused it. "She works for me, gathering intelligence here in Kirlsa. I was just checking up on her."

"Is there something the matter? You appeared fairly grim…"

"Nothing unexpected. I have found out our pursuers are getting closer to this town by the second."

"That is all?" Rachel asked, not believing the taller woman. If that was the only thing that they were talking about she would not have silenced the other woman.

"Yes…why?" Quinn asked with a raised brow and pursed lips.

"No particular reason." She lied.

"We can't afford to waste any time here."

O

Quinn and Rachel arrived back at the Inn only to run into Finn who wore a confused look as he looked the two over. "You two were together?" He asked.

Rachel turned to look at the other woman and she bit down on her bottom lip, contemplating whether to tell Finn the truth, or to keep it a secret and protect Quinn. Finally she forced a show smile onto her lips and turned to look back up at him. "Yes, we ran into each other near the entrance of the Inn actually."

"Like she says." Quinn nodded with a small appreciative smile as her eyes landed on Rachel once more. She was constantly surprising her. It was like she was from an entirely different universe. So strange.

"Ah, I see." He nodded and then wrapped his heavy arm around the diva's small shoulders. This caused a strange reaction to occur for Quinn; she felt a pang of jealousy and anger as she glared at him. 'Only I should be touching her… wait, what? Damn it what is wrong with me!' "So how ya feelin' now Rach?" Finn asked, looking down at her.

"Actually I feel quite alright, it was more than likely just the fatigue catching up with me."

He nodded. "Good, I hope that's all it was."

"I apologize for worrying you." Rachel insisted with a smile before glancing over to Quinn and catching her hazel eyes. "Both of you."

"Well, as long as you're okay, don't sweat it." Finn said.

Quinn glanced away; trying to force the blush to leave that was spreading along her pale skin. She was irritated with how her body was betraying her. "It will be night soon, so you should rest for today. Tomorrow we will pass through the Kirlsa Caverns."

"The Kirlsa Caverns?" The tall man asked, his arm still wrapped around Rachel's shoulders.

"Mineshafts to the North of town. We'll go through there to Arias. Now let's get some sleep, we leave early."

O

Authors Note

I hope that you all enjoy this chapter,

Please leave me reviews and I will get the next chapter up very soon!

Thank you all for reading. :)