A/N: First off, sorry for the slow update. I had written out almost the whole chapter and the power went out, and of course I didn't save anything beforehand, so it took me a bit longer than expected to rewrite it and post it. Damn weather.

Ulcaasi- Maybe a lot of things are going to bite her in the ass. Ey? Eyy?

Redgrave- I read all reviews ~several times because I love that you guys take the time to review, so anytime! Hopefully I'll have more time to upload double chapters again.

Mikuzu- Thank you for all the reviews! Hopefully I can keep the space between uploads short for you and everyone else :]

Like always, thank you for the reviews and enjoy!

"Captain Lito, it's been too long."

Irelia's face puckered, but she tried to ignore Syndra as she took her seat. She didn't speak for several minutes after, and Syndra propped her chin in her hands, attempting to focus on the captain's soured face and not the knots her stomach was tying itself into and the increasing slickness of her palms. She wasn't doing a very good job.

Finally, Irelia spoke through her pinched lips, the blades behind her quivering.

"Karma wanted me to warn you to be careful. "

Syndra waited for her to say more, to say that she needed to be careful because the elders were coming after her and she was a traitor and they wanted her dead, but Irelia kept her mouth screwed shut and said no more. The relief washed through her tensed muscles, and she couldn't keep herself from grinning. Her improved mood seemed to ruin Irelia's even more, whose downturned mouth turned into a look of pure disgust.

"That's all Karma wanted me to pass on."

Her voice heavily hinted at her to leave, but Syndra couldn't help but taunt her a little bit more.

"Don't you like spending time with me?"

Syndra pouted at the captain who was trying very hard to restrain herself and the squirming blades behind her, her voice a sultry simper. She thought she saw Irelia's eye twitch, and decided that then was a good time to go. She grinned widely once more before bouncing out of her chair, pausing to blow Irelia a kiss goodbye at the door and to savor her expression.

Syndra waited until she was under the cover of the forest's canopy to let her spheres loose, spinning in a circle and laughing at the orbs that spiraled past her fingers. They flew far and fast and Syndra tried her best to keep up with them, her good mood fueling her energy. She didn't often receive such good news, and she wanted to indulge in the feeling.

At home, she couldn't sit in the gardens like she usually did. She bustled around, clipping immaculate flowers from delicate stems and gathering a bouquet of her favorite blossoms. She brought the flowers to her room, where she set the bunches anywhere there was space. She admired the silky petals in the dimming light, then sat in the middle of her bed, pulling the pillows she favored close around her. She nestled deeper into the comfort, pulling the one remaining sphere into her lap, and leaned her forehead against the wavering surface. She sighed, eyes closing and lips relaxing into a smile.

"We're safe." She whispered to the sphere.

"Who's we?"

Syndra gasped and jerked from her curled up position, eyes flicking to the darkest corner in her room while the sphere in her lap scattered apart, thin miasmas of purple dissipating into the air. Syndra frowned at the shadow that detached itself from the rest.

"You really have to stop doing that."

Zed tilted her chin back, leaning his face against hers. He smiled against her frown.

"You make it easy."

Syndra tried to resist the kiss, but she was still elated from before, and it was hard to resist Zed even on bad days. He laughed quietly after they separated.

"Are you sure you want me to stop?"

Syndra groaned at the joke, pushing his face away from hers. As much as she definitely did not want to stop, she also didn't want to give Zed what he wanted.

Not yet, anyway.

She collapsed against the pillows, patting the open space beside her and waiting for Zed to do the same. He followed her example, and she leaned her cheek against his shoulder.

"I met with Irelia."

Zed didn't bother to ask who Irelia was, moving to twirl a strand of Syndra's hair between his fingers instead.

"And?"

"And everything is… okay."

Zed glanced down at her face, noticing the absent smile.

"You don't sound very sure."

Her mouth pulled to the side unhappily.

"She let me off so easy… And she was so upset the last time I saw her. It doesn't feel right."

Zed agreed, to an extent. But from what he knew, this Karma or Irelia or whoever didn't know enough of what Syndra was doing to really mount a case against her.

"She doesn't know anything."

Syndra wanted very badly to believe him, but worry still nagged at her.

"But she suspects."

Zed shrugged. He really wasn't concerned about what the elders of Ionia thought, and their suspicion didn't worry him. Syndra decided to focus on something else, curling closer to Zed's side and closing her eyes.

"Tired?" he murmured.

She mumbled the beginning of a response, but when Zed tilted his head to ask her to repeat herself, she was already asleep.

The morning was cold when Syndra woke up, and the first thing she noticed was a distinct lack of very large ninjas. She waited for him to spring from some dark corner of the room, but after a couple minutes came to the conclusion that she was alone. She pouted unhappily. She'd fallen asleep the night before a lot earlier than she'd intended to, and was rather put out that Zed picked this particular morning to disappear. It was a minor inconvenience, but she did know where to find him.

The shadow order was quiet, like always, and that made it slightly more difficult to track Zed down. She wandered aimlessly before directing herself towards his apartment. She found him just as he was leaving the door, dressed in clothes she knew were for travelling.

But travelling where?

She smiled at him, faltering only slightly when she realized he was wearing the mask again. He held a hand out to her, and she took it suspiciously, deciding she was a little less suspicious when he pressed her against his chest, keeping a hand against the small of her back.

"You're up early."

She slid a hand under his shirt, fingers ghosting across muscles she had yet to explore. She grinned when he shivered.

"I had a lot on my mind."

He chuckled quietly, chest rumbling against her cheek. "Like what?"

She kept her hand in place but leaned upwards on her toes, so she could tilt the mask back and press her lips against his, placing her free hand on his cheek. She deepened the kiss after a moment and then broke off, panting slightly. His breath mixed with hers as they both took a second to recover.

"I'm starting to think I should've stayed."

Syndra grinned and tried to repeat the action, but a quiet throat clearing from behind her made her lean away, retracting her hands and falling back on her heels. She gave the ninja that interrupted them a withering glare as Zed maneuvered his mask back into place. The ninja went back the way he came which prompted Zed to follow, and Syndra watched unhappily as he started to walk away. He tried to smile back at her, but her expression didn't mitigate.

"I'll be back soon."

And he was gone.

His words gave her little hope, and in the following weeks of his absence, she would learn that soon to Zed would never be soon enough to her.