Sorry about how long it took to update. Losing my word processer made typing up this chapter more difficult than it should have been. Thanks to those who are still willing to read this story. I will try to get chapters posted more quickly but no promises. As always I don't own any of the characters in this chapter.
The x-rays didn't take very long which Layla was happy about. She had some worries about Sora. She hoped everything was ok but knew that the lavender hared girl wouldn't let anything stop her.
When they made it back to the apartment Layla knew that it was the best time to talk. They needed to get all of their feelings out in the open and clear up any misunderstandings.
"Sora, sit down please," Layla motioned to the couch as she took the chair across from it. "We need to talk."
That is never good, Sora thought. Still she took the seat that Layla had pointed to. "What did you want to talk about Layla-san?" Sora added the san back onto Layla's name without realizing it.
"What did I tell you about the san, Sora?" Layla sighed she didn't want to go into that again.
"I am sorry," Sora whispered.
"Just try harder. Anyway, are you feeling ok? You seemed a little moody today."
"Yea, I am fine. I just feel kind of off."
"You don't have to do the demonstration if you don't want to or don't feel up to it." Layla told her worriedly.
"No I want to do it. I would do anything to help you get better." Sora said adamantly.
"Having you here with me is everything I could have wanted. I just worry about you over doing it. You forget I know you. I know how hard you work." Layla watched as the emotions crossed Sora's face. They ranged from happiness to embarrassment, to being contrite. "Sora this is embarrassing but has anything ever happened between you and Leon or you and Ken? I want to know now before you do this."
"What do you mean?" Sora asked getting confused.
"Did anything happen?" Layla started to blush, "Did you "do it" with either of them?" Sora looked at her still confused. "Did….Did you have sex with either of them?"
"NO!" Sora screamed. "I would never do anything like that with them. I can't think of any of the guys that way." As she was talking she got up and started pacing.
"Good then you can't be pregnant," Layla whispered happy but also for some reason sad.
"WHAT? You thought I might be pregnant?" Sora asked getting angrier but not able to really stop it.
"Well it was either that or PMS." Layla told the girl hoping to calm her down a little.
"Why were you thinking that? Isn't it a little personal to be thinking about that?" Sora asked still feeling upset but not as much.
"You seemed a little on edge. Don't get mad again, please. I was worried. I love you and never want to lose you."
"I am sorry. I guess I did overdo it a little, and I guess I have been a bit moody lately." Sora said with her head bowed.
"Look how about we order something in and just relax tonight? Ok?"
"That would be fine." Sora replied feeling a little depressed that she had worried Layla.
"Great I will order the food and be right back." Layla ordered the food and made sure she had everything just in case. "Hey Sora, do you have training clothes with you?" She asked knowing that she hadn't asked her to bring any.
"Of course, I knew that I would be helping you with rehab so I brought it with." Sora giggled surprised that Layla would forget about the reason she was there in the first place.
"Oh yeah, duh. I knew that," Layla tried to cover up her blunder which just made Sora laugh even more. "Hey don't laugh at me. Fine, no more kisses."
"No more kisses?" That made Sora stop laughing very quickly unfortunately with her hormones out of whack she started crying.
"Geez. I was only teasing." Layla told her. To prove it she walked up to her and gave the girl a soft kiss. "See?" she whispered before kissing her again.
"I….I love you Layla," Sora stuttered out with a soft breath.
"And I love you, Sora," came the equally soft reply.
A few minutes later the doorbell rang announcing that dinner had arrived. After setting the table and starting to eat Layla broke the silence, "I have been wondering about something you said last night."
"Oh? What?" Sora asked trying to remember what all was said the night before.
"Are Mai and Anna really dating?" Layla asked causing Sora to choke on the food she was in the process of swallowing.
"I told you that?" She asked after taking a drink to clear her throat.
"Yeah when I asked what you called everyone. When I asked about Mai and Anna, you said,' Girlfriends.' I was a little curious about how that came about."
"I don't know when they started dating." Sora told her, "I was told not too long after you watched my practice."
"You didn't ask how or when it happened?" Layla was surprised into asking.
"No," Sora blushed. She didn't want to tell Layla what they talked about that night.
"And why didn't you ask?" Layla was wondering seeing as Sora was blushing so brightly.
"Because we were talking about other things,"
"What other things?" Sora didn't want to answer because the fact that she had to think about who she liked still embarrassed her.
"We just talked about the other people around." She fibbed hoping that it would appease Layla.
"Really?" Layla had to ask. Sora wouldn't meet her gaze so she knew the girl was lying.
Sora just nodded yes. She was trying to finish eating she could retreat to her room.
"Don't eat so fast Sora." Layla admonished, "Why are you so embarrassed about how you found out?"
"Because I feel stupid," Sora mumbled.
"Huh? Why would you feel stupid?" Layla had heard the "feel stupid" part of her comment.
"Because they asked me a question I didn't really know the answer to." Sora said resigned to telling the older woman the truth. "They asked who I liked."
"And?" Layla asked her brow raised.
"I told them that 'I loved everyone the same.' Unfortunately or maybe fortunately they didn't listen." Sora replied her face resembling a tomato she was blushing so hard.
"I see. Sora, do you even realize that Ken likes you?" Layla asked hoping that it wouldn't matter to the girl.
"He does? I didn't know. I guess I have only ever seen him as a good friend."
Layla sweat dropped at the girls reply. "God she is clueless. No wonder she never noticed my feelings for her." Layla thought.
"You know, you are looking at me the same way Mai and Anna did. Why?" Sora asked getting a little upset. She didn't like the way they kept looking at her. It wasn't nice and it bothered her that she couldn't figure it out.
"It's because it is so hard to believe that you didn't know. It was obvious to the rest of us that he liked you and that you just thought of him as a friend." Layla told the younger woman. "Would you have tried to like him if you had known?" Layla had to know the answer even if it hurt.
"I don't think so. I don't feel the same way about him as I do about you Layla." Sora told her.
"I am glad." Layla told her as she walked around to wrap her arms around the girl.
"I am glad as well," Sora leaned into the embrace.
"We had better get this cleaned up and put away don't you think?" Layla said as she reluctantly pulled away.
"Are you upset that I said that I would do it?" Sora asked worriedly.
"No, I understand the need to analyze the way you move. Maybe it will also help to better our partnership and keep you from getting hurt yourself." Was the reply she received.
"Why didn't you tell me that you shattered your shoulder? I was really worried about you. I knew you had hurt it when you hit the side of the canyon but not that much."
"Actually to tell you the truth the shattering may have happened because of the training I did after the injury. It is my fault not yours. I didn't want Yuri to win. I needed to prove to him, my father and even to myself that I could do it. You really are the only person I would ever have wanted to perform the "Mystical Act" with. You may have started the training differently than me but with your hard work you caught up with me in no time. I never really told you but I was proud of how hard you worked and a bit jealous as well. You are going to hurt yourself like I did if you are not careful. I want to be able to be there to make sure you are taking good care of yourself and not hurting yourself. I know you have hurt yourself training before and I want to be able to be there to stop you. I know your limits and I have seen you surpass them many times, but I know if someone doesn't stop you at some point you will do more damage to yourself then can be repaired. I know you don' believe you will or think that your friends will stop you but you know they won' tor maybe they can't, but I will. If I have to I will figure out a way to make you stop I never want to see you hurt again." Layla finished her passionate speech on a sob. She had seen pictures that had been taken of Sora's feet during the earlier training for the "Angel's Act" and it hurt her to see how damaged they had gotten.
"I am so sorry Layla. I never knew that you had such strong feelings about it. I don't know why I feel like I need to train so hard. I always felt like I had to catch up with you. I didn't realize that you were trying so hard as well." Sora had also started to cry her hands fidgeting in her lap.
"We were both clueless weren't we love?" Layla said walking back to the girl. The nervous energy she had while making her speech spurred her to clear the table.
She pulled Sora from the table and back into her arms once she had reached the younger woman. It felt so good and so right to have her in her arms. Sora snuggled into the strong arms that held her never wanting to leave them. They stayed that way for a few more minutes before releasing each other to go to bed.
"I will see you in the morning Sora-love," Layla whispered to the violet haired girl.
"I will see you too Layla," Sora replied blushing at being called "love" twice.
That night they dreamed of each other. They were dreams that they hoped would come true.