A/N: Hello again everyone! I have revised this chapter to better suit the characters, I hope that it does Natsuki justice this time. This chapter is virtually the same with the exception of the bottom paragraphs. The schedule for postings has changed to Sundays 8pm PST. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving or the equivalent!

Of Impulse and Fey: Spin Off Ed.

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Ch.3

Desire

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Natsuki sat on the couch with the baby walkie on her right and the remote to the television on the left. Baby Kiyo was taking her afternoon nap while her emerald-eyed mother slowly became a champion channel surfer. Zoning out another "Judge Judy" re-run, Natsuki let her head fall back to rest on the bit of couch that would support her head and sighed. She was bored. Natsuki was bred a warrior, a woman of action and movement. After all that had happened, she began to wonder if this was it for her. Kiyo's grumbling voice sounded over the radio catching the blunette's attention. Her heart sped up at the anticipation of running upstairs to welcome her daughter back into the conscious world before she used her healthy lungs, but felt disappointed when no other sound came through the walkie after another minute.

Her head fell back again without her really meaning to and her bored eyes flitted to the ceiling for a moment, hoping for a sign of something exciting before closing them only to be disappointed again. Natsuki was grateful for her life, don't be mistaken. She remembered the days back on her planet when she craved for a life like this. "Be careful what you wish for," she remembered Shizuru say to one of her subordinates, "because it may come true." Natsuki dozed off for a few minutes, the sun filtering through the windows warming the room nicely, before a particularly loud woman shouted something vulgar to a teenage girl on a show called "Jerry Springer." Disgusted at the uncouth choice of entertainment some humans resorted to on television, Natsuki pressed a button on the remote. She meant to hit the power button, but instead flipped to the next channel.

A woman with dark hair and blue eyes that seemed to hardly ever blink swung on a rope screaming a sort of rhythmic shriek to instantly crash into a pool of soldiers. The clanging of metal and dynamic kicks and punches brought Natsuki back to a world of familiar chaos which she gladly welcomed. "Gabrielle!" A smaller blonde woman joined in the fight with a long bō staff, holding off her offenders nicely but nowhere near as well as the dark haired woman. The television flipped off suddenly and Natsuki made a sound of alarm and desperation about the room, trying to find the reason why her moment was cut off so quickly. She found that she ended up sitting on the remote while watching the television, mesmerized at the action. Clamorous clangs of metal, the crunch of bones, and the breathlessness of the characters burned in her ears and rekindled the fire in her wild, savage heart.

I need to get out of here.

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When I came home that evening, I knew something was up. Reito noticed it too. "She's been restless ever since I came back from the grocery store," whispered Reito at a reasonable distance away. Natsuki sort of paced about the room. She picked up something before putting it back down with a sigh or shake of the head. When asked a question, she barked out a vague answer before leaving the room altogether, stomping viciously around the house. Later after dinner, Reito took the opportunity to clear the dishes and whisk away with the baby, hastily mouthing, "Talk to her." I waited until after Reito closed Kiyo's door behind him upstairs, and let a brief silence settle between us. Methodically, I placed my elbows on the table, leant forward, and set my chin on the interlacing of my fingers, a posture I normally settle into when I have no idea where the emotional setting is in an important meeting. Natsuki leveled her eyes with mine, copying my exact posture and the staring contest ensued. I wasn't in a mood per say, but I began to feed on her emotional turmoil both physically and telepathically, that I needed to breathe evenly to keep my temper from rising. Now wasn't the time to be pissy, something was wrong and my wife needed me. I didn't trust my voice to come out evenly so as to not spark an all-out brawl by my tone alone, so I reached out mentally. "What is it my darling?"

Natsuki visibly shuddered and held my gaze with a renewed disdain that I almost thought icicles would shoot from them. I expected a fight, and fleetingly thought of ways I could maneuver myself downstairs for my naginata if need be, but then she took me by surprise again.

"I need to get out of here."

We let the sentence hang between us and I fought the urge to recoil even though I know that my eyes gave away the initial shock and hurt at her words. Still not trusting my voice, not even mentally at this point, I waited for context. I was unsure if she would give me the luxury, however, because she wasn't much of a talker by nature. Natsuki gazed at me uncertainly before speaking up once more, "I would like to work." I expelled the breath I had been unknowingly holding and smiled with dizzy relief. "So, you're okay staying here with us as long as your get to work?" I asked to make sure that was where this conversation was headed. The alien nodded in affirmation and I pushed back my chair to walk over to her side of the table. I held her close to my chest and she allowed herself to relax in my arms. I planted a kiss on her head while unwrapping my limbs and gestured toward the living room. "Let's sit over there and we can talk about it, okay?"

Gratitude and relief floated through our systems as we walked over to the couch.