A/N: I want to thank my friends from my lovely EWC group. They are the reason this chapter even exists and why the next one is already partially completed. Thank y'all for our wonderful sessions.
Shattered Ones – Tomōri and Hino Part I
-Sky King Haruka Tenoh
Rei looked at her cousin assessing the woman before her. Shion had grown into her title as the Ice Empress. It was only natural, Shion was heiress to the Tomōri dynasty after all and that title came with a power befitting of her name and her lineage. Rei still remembered the night when her father returned from a public event raging because Shion's father announced he would be stepping down as the head of the Tomōri family. Rei's father knew Shion would not be easily manipulated, and therefore lost whatever advantage he believed to have on her mother's family. That night she went to sleep with a bit of relief. The announcement gave her a bit of hope that maybe Shion would be different when it came to handling her father and maybe her situation would change. As the days led to weeks, and weeks led to months since the announcement, Rei's hope in the only family she believed in began to fade and it was eventually snuffed out like the ice and winter winds Shion could conjure so easily.
Rei on the other hand was nothing more than a trophy daughter of Senator Hino who was taken out whenever he saw fit to boost his popularity in the polls. In her youth, Rei had received the best private education money could buy. She took up recreational activities that would benefit his precious image and legacy. It was fortunate for her that archery worked to fill his requirements and it was the only thing they had in common; practice also gave her the perfect excuse to be unavailable. Rei's birthdays were at the best restaurants in Japan and she was always forced to dress the part of the Senator's daughter. Her birthdays were never about celebrating her, they were about showing his constituents how great of a father he was. From an outsider's point of view some would say he gave her everything but the reality was completely different. Rei was a caged bird. Although this was not something she was completely unfamiliar with, it absolutely felt suffocatingly different this time.
Rei's life was broken.
Rei had a life before she was forced to leave it behind to either be selfish and risk losing the woman she loved, or leave and ruin the only happiness she's ever known.
Resentment between both sides of her family has festered for so long like a never-ending war. This house was the only place she could even be allowed to be in. A neutral place between both families but only due to her parents' marriage. It was owned by her mother's family, but it wasn't even a home anymore. It wasn't her home. This place had been changed and now void of warm memories and love. The house was as cursed and empty as she felt inside.
The place was cold like the Tomōri blood coursing through her veins. Their power wasn't the only one she carried inside her and that made her an abomination. Her primary element had been fire. Rei had been born different in so many ways. No Tomōri had ever been born with such a dastardly destructive power. As a child she never understood why she had not been taken in and instead released into her father's custody, but as time went by her father's explanation made sense.
"What makes you think that family would want you? You only remind them of the impurity you represent to their precious bloodline because I wasn't born a noble."
Rei knew not everything he said was true, but in recent years she quickly learned that there were things that were best not to question. Even if she was rejected by both sides of her family, she would find the means of putting an end to his perfect image. Those crimson flames she conjured gave life to her pain, ire, and now resentment-fueled revenge towards her father.
Rei looked at Shion and saw a sad glint of realization in Shion's eyes and wished that everything that made them the women they were now didn't make them so strikingly different.
"Rei."
The sparring matches from their youth came to mind when her fire and Shion's ice would collide and laughter would ensue, but one particular memory rushed to the front of her mind.
Smoke cleared and a light drizzle covered the garden where ice and fire once fought to determine which was the dominant element.
"Girls, are you okay?" Risa called out as she appeared through the smoke.
"We're sorry, Mama." Rei said, rushing to hug her mother.
Shion looked down, "I'm sorry, Auntie Risa."
Risa knelt down and beckoned Shion over, "Don't apologize. I am just glad you are both alright." Risa hugged her daughter and niece. "These are gifts you need to grow into," Risa turned to look at the scorched and frozen flowers in her garden, "but you need to be careful to not hurt one another. Promise me that."
"We promise!"
The memory struck Rei with profound intensity as she looked into the lilac eyes that were the staple of the Tomōri bloodline and reminded Rei of her deceased mother. Shion was her family but that could mean very little if Minako paid the price for this unexpected visit. Rei couldn't afford to let her guard down.
Rei took one step closer to Shion feeling her own aura ignited by her inner turmoil from seeing Shion with Chikaru. Rei's self-control was starting to slip from her own inner conflict. She felt more trapped and more suffocated than she had ever been in her life. Rei could see Shion suppressing her own aura in a show of good faith, but there was still an unknown that filled the room with unease.
"Shion."
There was a cautious look in Shion's eyes and something else that she couldn't pinpoint. The intense heat and icy chill of their opposing auras caused the air to ripple between them, tension emanated through the room so present, Chikaru swore it was a physical thing.
"We need to talk." Shion's voice held a gentle firmness despite how surprising this was to her.
Chikaru watched as Shion's words caused Rei to tense up more and flaming sparks began to manifest and crackle from her hand. Rei felt threatened by Shion of all people. This wasn't at all how she wanted things to go. She glanced down and saw her wife's hand swirled with her own ice element in response to the fiery threat in front of her.
Rei hid behind her stoic patience, "Do we now?"
Shion maintained her calm, "Yes, Rei." The blonde took a step forward to assert her point, "I'm not leaving until we do."
Chikaru saw a scowl of displeasure form on Rei's face, "I don't have to talk if I don't want to, Cousin. We're not the same as we were all those years ago." Rei leaned in to where their noses almost touched. "You are welcome to stay as long as you see fit. This is Tomōri property after all, and I respect that, but do not pretend to know me. Afterall, being blood doesn't make your family. Just like it doesn't make Him my family."
Shion looked at Rei, "You are my family!"
"Am I?"
Rei's question was like a knife to Shion's heart. They were family and always would be. Rei's father would dearly pay for everything he had done. Shion had all this power to do so many things and here was Rei.
"Yes! I wouldn't be here if you weren't." Shion said calmly, hoping her words would reach the once warmhearted cousin she knew. "I know I do not deserve your forgiveness, but please just listen to what I have to say."
"I'm not the same Rei that you remember, Shion." Rei walked around the couple taking two steps towards the front of the house before stopping without looking back, "That Rei died long ago. She's a distant memory and you need to move on."
Chikaru stepped up next to her wife feeling the ice chill protectively wrapping itself around her, "Is that what you really believe?"
Rei turned to face the couple and glared at Chikaru, "Yes."
Amber eyes challenged hard amethysts, "I highly doubt that."
Rei looked at Shion briefly then redirected her attention to the unusually quiet Chikaru. "Why?"
Chikaru stepped away from Shion and moved closer to Rei feeling her fiery aura clash and sizzle against Shion's protective shield that currently enveloped her. "That Rei you speak of isn't dead. She's just afraid."
Sharp amber eyes caught the fraction of a second in which Rei flinched.
Shion risked a glance at her wife and immediately recognized the glint in her wife's eyes. The Shadow Empress had found her opponent's weakness but held back from diving deeper. Something in Rei had changed and Shion couldn't quite figure out what drove her to such an aggressive approach towards her and Chikaru.
Shion watched as her wife stood face to face with the only fire user in Tomōri history. Her pride and confidence in her wife's ability to take charge of any situation was immediately dampened with the worry of what Rei could do to her. Her icy lilac eyes remained on her cousin who continued staring at her wife intently waiting for the next words to fall from her lips.
Chikaru weighed her next words delicately. "You are afraid and that is okay because it means you are alive, Rei. That fact alone changes so many things and it brings so much hope."
Rei's silence made Shion uneasy and Chikaru could sense it.
A sad smile graced Chikaru's face as she saw something only her eyes could see. Rei was a part of Shion's family and long ago she was also Chikaru's friend. Rei couldn't destroy herself like this, not when Minako was also suffering without her.
Chikaru had seen Minako hide behind fake smiles and heard Yaya's plea to help Minako in secret. Now, here was Rei—alive and broken. Both of them were broken without each other. The possible reason for it all was what angered the typically calm woman, it awoke that darker part of her that normally remained gentle and for the most part quiescent.
Chikaru's eyes met those flaming amethyst eyes, "You're not dead Rei. You're not the distant memory you claim to be."
A red flash of flame breached the stoic glare. There it was—the first crack in the mask. Rei's throat only tightened slightly but Chikaru noticed due to their proximity. Rei's restraint was wavering.
"What makes you so sure?" Rei's words graveled out of her.
"One word." Chikaru said softly as she cupped the other woman's cheek before she stepped back closer to her wife. "A name actually."
Shion pulled her wife closer as the air around them grew warmer. Rei was on the verge of unleashing her anger. Shion's protective instincts took over, reluctantly awakening the Ice Empress that lay dormant within her.
"What name?" The mask was crumbling and Rei was struggling to rapidly put the pieces back together.
Chikaru stared into Rei's eyes, "Minako."
To say Rei was upset was an understatement—she was enraged. Her amethyst eyes changed into blood red ruby, "If your presence here brings her any harm," a flaming katana formed in Rei's hand as she said the next words, "I will kill you!"
Shion pushed Chikaru behind her and formed an ice katana of her own as challenging words became a physical threat.
"Rei, we're not here to hurt you or Minako! We just want to help you both!"
"Help us?" Rei looked at her cousin then pointed the tip of her weapon at her cousin causing Shion to take several steps back, "How are you going to help us, Tomōri-sama?" Rei pulled the weapon back an inch but kept it raised and pointed, "What good is your help now when our lives have gone to hell?" Rei snapped.
Tomōri Shion had had enough. Rei was not thinking clearly and she couldn't risk Rei hurting Chikaru. Shion swung her katana at Rei unleashing a powerful gust of icy winds that pushed the fire user a few feet back and completely iced over the entire room. Shion's move was meant to serve as a warning as her own patience had worn thin, but she realized too late that it was a grave mistake and was not prepared for what she saw next.
Rei stood up and her aura glowed a vibrant red and it extended beyond herself forming a figure of something quite terrifying behind her, a fire bird fusing into Rei's aura. Shion felt a pain in her chest as the heat coming from Rei began melting the ice on the walls. Shion had fought several fire users before, but Rei was on a different level. The air was completely stifling.
Shion clutched her chest and gasped for air trying her best to still her mind. Rei displayed the ferocity of her powers that she developed during their years apart, but Shion couldn't afford to unleash the deadliness of her own powers so carelessly. Not in a Tomōri residence that augmented them, much less when her wife and her cousin were present. The possible results of that would be something she couldn't live with. Chikaru was worried that was something Shion could feel through their connection.
Ice and fire clashed violently as Rei and Shion's auras pulsed around them and through their weapons in deadly blows that whipped fire and ice blasts destroying the surrounding room around them. Shion knew she may not have the edge necessary to beat Rei at the moment but she had the will to last as long as necessary.
A loud crash and gasp caught Shion's attention and she quickly glanced over to where Chikaru was leaning against a column and coughing from the fight happening around her. Shion looked at Rei and then back at Chikaru. Shion knew what fate awaited her, but she would not allow Chikaru to get hurt any more than she already had been. Shion channeled power into both of their wedding rings. Chikaru's ring began to glow a strong icy blue while the glow on hers began to fade slightly.
"Rei, listen to me damn it!" Shion growled as she pushed her katana against Rei's slashing at her to give her some space. Shion felt the disadvantage she placed herself in, but it didn't matter to her she just needed seconds. Shion looked at Chikaru, the woman she'd been in love with for so many years and managed to whisper, "Chione's Divine Protection." The glow in her own ring vanished leaving her band lifeless and her body was left with the remaining strength she carried on her own.
"Listen to what? The noble heiress of the Tomōri Dynasty!" Rei seethed viciously. "Hino!" she spat, pushing Shion off balance, "Tomōri!" She made an unforgiving swing at Shion. "They are names that hold hollow power and mean nothing to me! Names that hold empty promises!"
"Shion!" Chikaru screamed. She looked at her ring in horror as the light blue energy engulfed the space around her whole body. "No…" Try as she might, the band wouldn't come off and Chikaru didn't know how to reverse what Shion had done. "Shion!"
Shion barely managed to block but her katana was destroyed in the process. Rei melted what was left of it and sent Shion flying to the opposite wall knocking down the painting of Senator Hino, a man both of them loathed.
"Rei! Please, don't hurt her! She's your family!" Chikaru supplicated as she watched in tears, horrified.
"Shut up!" Rei looked at her. "You wanted the truth, didn't you?" Rei sent Shion crashing into the china cabinet in the dining room destroying all its delicate contents. Rei calmly walked towards Shion as Chikaru tried running to her but not before a fire wall separated her from her wife.
Chikaru tried to find a way around the infernal wall as Shion's shield clashed harshly with the fiery element and wrapped around her protectively. When she stopped trying to find a way around, both Shion's shield and Rei's firewall stopped opposing each other. Chikaru carefully reached the flames with her thoughts as her hand moved to touch them past the protective barrier. It didn't matter that the wall's flames were warm and didn't burn her, she just wanted to help Shion. This hadn't been overconfidence; she had felt a small flicker of something from Rei. Now she felt absolutely nothing. The door had been slammed in her face and Shion was paying the price for her mistake, and she was being forced to watch.
"How can you be so heartless?!" Chikaru shouted angrily.
"Heartless?" Rei pondered with a broken smile. "There was a time I wasn't." the whispered words reached Chikaru's ears.
Rei watched as her mother formed ice statues for her to train with. A giggle escaped her when her mom took the liberty to shape one into the villain from her latest book. Risa walked over to her and stood next to her.
"Mama, show me how to shoot an arrow?"
Risa smiled as she formed her bow and arrows out of ice, "Yes, but mine will be different."
Rei's eyes glinted with wonder, "It looks so pretty." her small hand instinctively reached out and touched the cold ice. Rei's young mind couldn't understand how something so beautiful could destroy things. She was sure her mother had answers for that, but for now she had another question. "Can I try?"
Risa laughed and hugged her child, "Yes, my little one. You can try."
Rei looked down, making a slight pout and mumbled, "...with ice?"
Risa gently lifted Rei's chin so she could look at her daughter's face, "Could you repeat that again, please?
"When will you teach me to work with ice?"
"Very soon, Rei. You are a Tomōri after all. I am teaching you everything I would teach you with ice, but with fire since that comes easiest to you. After a few more lessons we will move on to ice, but just remember everything you learned."
Rei's eyes turned into giant saucers at realizing how much progress she had made. She quickly recovered from her gleeful moment when her mother turned to face the targets she had created.
"Alright Rei, bow and arrow." Risa pointed at each, "Never shoot unless you are sure of your intended target. When you're sure of it, that's when you take your shot." Risa shot her arrow at her ice dummy that shattered to nothing.
Rei took her own turns creating her fire bow and arrows, but with her mother's love and patient guidance she was successful. After several tries, she was finally able to eliminate several dummies of her own. The love and pride in her mother's eyes filled her with an unbelievable happiness to make her proud.
Chikaru looked at Rei and considered if there was still hope for Rei and Shion to reconcile. Chikaru saw Shion stand up slowly and stumble after Rei's onslaught. The cream-colored suit she wore was torn and disheveled having lost it's the powerful crisp appearance it was known for. Chikaru cried as she saw Shion bleeding from multiple cuts and injuries.
The flaming katana vanished from Rei's hand as she reached Shion. Chikaru watched as her wife got herself up but struggled to maintain a defence against the fury of Rei's fiery punches. Shion saw an opening, but didn't have enough strength behind her kick and Rei sent her crashing into the adjacent room's wall. Her cream-colored suit jacket was torn, but no sign of burns, just dust and blood.
Rei picked up Shion once again by the collar and raised her high, but something made her pause. A memory from long ago stilled the chaotic fire within her and she realized she was punishing the wrong person for the sins committed against her and Minako.
"Look at me, Cousin." Shion looked down into those searing eyes, "To the world you are the almighty Tomōri Shion, but I don't know who or what you are to me. You should have forgotten about me like your family did after my mother died."
"No Rei…because..." Shion coughed, "...you are also my family…"
"Remember girls, you are family first." Risa said with a smile as her brother walked closer. "Isn't that right, Yoshirō?"
Shion looked up to her father. "We're Tomōris, right Papa?"
"Always." His gentle warm smile mirrored the smile Risa gave Rei.
"No, I'm a Hino. Papa says so." Rei scrunched her face into a pout, "Tomōri sounds nicer…"
Risa held her daughter and looked into her eyes, "You and I are still Tomōris. It's in our blood. No one can change that."
A gentle pat on her head made her look up at her uncle, "That's right. We are family no matter what your father says."
Rei's eyes returned to their cold amethyst color but not before slamming Shion to the ground, knocking her out.
"Shion!"
Rei released the fire wall and Chikaru ran to her wife's side. The shield protecting Chikaru had also vanished leaving Chikaru at Rei's mercy.
"How could you?"
"Because you couldn't leave the old me dead and buried." Rei said sharply. Her gaze softened looking into Chikaru's eyes. "What you feel and what you just saw is only a fraction of the truth that you're asking for." Rei stepped closer and kneeled next to Shion. "My words stand true, if your presence here brings harm to Minako, I will kill the both of you." Rei looked at Chikaru, "Is that in any way unclear?"
Chikaru gave her a silent look of reassurance and flinched as Rei drew closer to Shion who remained unconscious.
"Shion is a Tomōri. She will be fine." Rei picked up her beaten cousin and reigned in her emotions, "Once she is done healing, you will leave." Rei turned towards Chikaru while still assessing Shion's injuries, "Until that happens, I will answer whatever you ask to the best of my ability, as long as it doesn't compromise Minako's safety and what I am doing here to maintain that." Rei's amethyst eyes finally met Chikaru's amber eyes with an open window of emotions Chikaru didn't know what to do with, "I'm sorry for what you just saw. I'm aware that it changes nothing and I want you to know that I'm perfectly fine if you don't forgive me. I simply wanted to apologize because I have been in your shoes."
Fear should have stopped Chikaru from asking but the question left her lips before she could stop herself, "W-what does that mean?"
Rei no longer saw Shion but Minako's unconscious body in her arms from so long ago, "I know what it feels like to be completely helpless."
Without another word Rei carried Shion upstairs with Chikaru following close behind. Rei knew she'd need to face her family soon, but she still wasn't ready. Minako should never have been the subject of their meeting.
Chikaru held her wife's hand after the doctor left and looked to Rei who stood by the window occasionally looking at the two of them. Uneasiness emanated from her and it began to fill Chikaru with dread. Chikaru placed a soft kiss on Shion's lips and walked over to Rei.
Everything that happened earlier was so fast that she didn't get a chance to truly see her. Rei had changed from the woman she'd seen years ago. Her face still held that exotic beauty that clearly drew Minako to her, but the scar she held accentuated the pain-weathered amethyst eyes. It seemed to her as if love was a memory she held onto and locked away, and distrust-fueled anger was all she could express. If Rei were anyone else, Chikaru would be outright furious and ensure Rei didn't enjoy another day of freedom, but she wasn't the typical person. In fact, just trying to find Rei was outright difficult and the situations that played out in her mind were not pleasant, with many pointing to her being dead.
The sun started to creep from behind grey skies and through the glass windows; the grim image forever burned into Chikaru's mind. Rei was a prisoner. Alive and at the beck and call of a man hungry for power. Chikaru wasn't going to go down a rabbit hole of assumptions. She was going to get answers.
"Why didn't you believe us when we said we were here to help you?"
Rei took a deep breath and closed her eyes. The brief pause showed Chikaru that Rei's eye was spared only by a miracle.
Rei's eyes looked at her again. There was a resignation to her own fate, but a fire for something else, "The Tomōris are my family, but I'm not sure what that truly means or what they would want with me." Rei's hand gestures from the room to the gardens outside, "This entire estate is theirs. I do not need it or want it, but He does."
"Your father?"
"If you want to call him that." Rei looked outside once again, "But, yes. He has interest in my family's assets. There is no love between both sides, so I doubt there is any interest for one side to extend a helping hand."
So many days had come and gone since Rei had last felt the warmth from her mother's arms or seen her smile. She had been staying with Shion and her parents, but she knew. Rei woke up in the middle of the night crying quietly. Uncle Yoshirō and her Aunt Miyuki did their best to make their home as welcoming as possible, but they knew that they could never replace the person Rei truly needed. Her mother.
Rei mostly made sense of time when Shion insisted on dragging her out of her room to get fresh air or when her cousin would come into her room at night because she'd sense she was sad. During that time the only family she knew were the Tomōris. With the love of her mother gone, Rei slowly opened up to the idea of this being her new life, at least until her father decided it was time to finally show up and "claim" parental rights.
"Rei, wake up!" Shion whispered as she shook her awake. "Please wake up."
Rei sat up in bed trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes. Her room was still dark and Shion looked frightened.
"What's going on?"
"Uncle…I mean your father. H-he's here." Shion's voice shook. "He's come to take you with him." Shion said as she clenched her fists.
Loud crashing noises came from the outside but the impact shattered the windows in Rei's room. Shion covered them in an ice shield to prevent harm but Rei could tell Shion had already seen the beginning of whatever conflict had happened earlier.
A painful scream came from outside and Rei rushed to her room's balcony. Her father had a beast pinning her aunt while her uncle and father still fought.
"Let her go!" Rei yelled.
A powerful adrenaline filled her as she jumped and rushed towards her aunt. A fire spear formed in her hand and she threw it at her father. "I said let her go!"
Everyone stopped.
Takahashi turned to look at his daughter. "You dare at me?"
Rei said nothing and looked at the stranger who was supposed to be her father.
"Answer me."
A flaming bow and arrow formed in her young hands aimed at her father, "I said. Let her go."
Shion came up right behind her, "Rei, don't do this."
"Listen to the Tomōri brat." Her father spat.
"I am a Tomōri." Rei shot back, "My mother was a Tomōri."
"You're a Hino!" Takashi shouted.
"Call that thing off." Her uncle said exasperatedly.
Rei looked at her uncle for answers but he didn't look at her, instead he looked at her father in surrender.
Yoshirō walked to her as she cautiously vanished her weapon. "You are a Tomōri. Just like your mother." He hugged her and whispered, "You will always be a Tomōri. Never forget that."
Her uncle pulled away from the embrace his teary lilac eyes failed to hide the painful choice he had made. Her aunt was next to stagger to her and hold her tears pouring from her eyes. Something inside Rei began to crack and tears slid from her eyes. When Shion hugged her, Rei felt the pain of losing her mother reopen and new wounds surface.
Rei had lost what family she had and a place to call home. Her father had forced that decision, as he done with so many things. Her uncle could have done something. There was pain and resentment towards both sides.
Rei was so full of distrust, but Chikaru didn't know the full extent of everything. She could only offer the words she knew to be true, "Shion is different."
"Maybe." The whispered word wasn't insulting, it simply lacked hope.
"The reason we are here is complicated, but help was requested on Minako's behalf."
Rei's eyes hardened, containing a raging tempest within in response to the potential threat. Her internal struggle was clear to the woman across from her.
Chikaru took pity on her and continued, "My friend reached out because Minako hasn't been doing well. She's been looking for you since you've gone missing."
"Minako." Rei whispered the name with such love and delicate care as she looked away; her long bangs failed to hide the unshed tears that formed in her eyes.
"Rei?"
"I am not missing. I am here to ensure that Minako is safe."
Chikaru wanted to question further, but a vibrating sound interrupted the silence that hung over them.
A scowl formed on Rei's features as she stepped away from the window and moved towards the bedroom door, "I need to take this. If you need anything, please let Stella know. I have placed her in charge of your safety."
Chikaru heard the door click closed and then returned to her wife's side. She thought about the brief exchange she'd just had with Rei and how this is what she had expected initially when she and Shion had arrived.
More questions piled up about Rei's reason for being here. Chikaru understood Rei was here to keep Minako safe, but safe from what or who? Her father? If so, why? She also didn't understand why Rei assigned someone to keep her and Shion safe. An unexpected knock interrupted Chikaru's thoughts.
"Come in."
Chikaru heard the door open and close, but heard no introduction from anyone. Feeling uneasy she stood up and turned to face the person behind her. The woman standing before her was strikingly beautiful to say the least. Her honey brown hair brought out her tempestuous blue eyes that clouded so many emotions. If it weren't for the longer bangs and hair color, she could almost be mistaken for Minako, but there was another difference that Chikaru picked up on – her aura. It was shrouded in so much mystery and it pleasantly tingled along her spine calling out to her.
"I'm sorry for interrupting, Rei sent me." The woman's voice and accent were foreign and very alluring.
Chikaru looked at her posture that held a commanding presence much like Rei but in a different manner, "What's your name?"
Unwavering blues looked at her, "Stella. Stella Revolinski."
The way she spoke her name carried a heaviness to it, and it wasn't from her accent. Chikaru took a closer look. This woman didn't fear being scrutinized as Chikaru looked further – this woman was a weapon. Her aura spoke of the horrors she had lived through, much like Rei, but there was something Chikaru wanted to see.
Chikaru stepped forward and offered her right hand, "May I?"
Stella looked confused but slipped her left hand in Chikaru's offered hand.
Stella's energy surged through her and it whispered painful truths from the woman's past. Amber eyes held onto the truth unveiling in those cloudy blues, but amidst the darkness there was a spark of hope. A spark of hope in the form of someone she knew very well. That spark held a warm feeling she was all too familiar with, but she knew that she should not make any assumptions of someone she didn't know. For now, all she could do is trust this woman had their best interest at heart.
"I am sorry for everything you've been through," Chikaru whispered, looking away from those intense blue eyes.
Stella tried withdrawing her hand, but Chikaru held it before looking back at those perfect storms, "If Rei trusts you, then I will place my trust in you as well."
Stella gave a soft nod relaxing her posture as she withdrew her hand from Chikaru's, "Is there anything I can do for you?"
"No." Chikaru ran a barely steady hand through her hair, "No, I will be fine." A small smile graced her lips, "It's been a long day, and I think I just need some rest."
Stella nodded in agreement. Her blue eyes softened when she looked at Shion, "I'm sorry about your wife."
Chikaru smiled sadly at Shion, "Shion and Rei are both very stubborn. I guess… it just runs in the family."
Chikaru caught sight of a slight smile and tender whisper, "That she is." Stella stood up straight and turned to Chikaru, "I will be close by in case you need anything. Hideki will also come by to take care of your needs."
Chikaru gave her a smile and Stella left the room as quietly as she came in. Unknowingly, Stella had shined a light on a hopeless situation and now Chikaru could think of a way to get to a resolution. Feeling the exhaustion of the whole day finally set in, Chikaru settled into bed falling asleep to her wife's gentle breathing.
Guilt consumed her on so many levels. Guilt for Minako and Shion, but most of all guilt for the secrets she's had to keep and the actions she's had to commit to. Shion and Chikaru's presence just made those feelings surface like an erupting volcano. The rage and self-loathing pulsed through her like the destructive fire she summoned from her fingertips. The fresh outdoor air felt suffocating and her chest tightened as her entire being demanded an outlet.
Rei's steps brought her to the wrecked barren field she sought out. The scorched earth and crumbled structures were all that remained of the once-standing training room. As her power rapidly grew, no room could contain it and she made the decision to train outside, but now it seemed that even the outdoors wasn't enough.
Fire consumed Rei's normally violet eyes turning them carmine as she felt someone approach, "Stella."
"Rei." Stella met her gaze.
"I told you to stay with them." Rei said sternly.
"You did," the brunette said calmly, "but your aura is still pulsating from your fight earlier and I can feel it from Shion's room."
Rei looked away from her.
"Shion was ill prepared for you," Stella said, drawing her rapier, "but I'm not."
Rei formed a blazing rapier to match Stella's chosen weapon. "Always so sure of yourself."
"Always, Reizko."
Carmine eyes glared at tempest blue as the fiery blade thrust hard and fast. Rei's weapon collided with Stella's and a puff of steam emerged between them. After pulling apart they rushed at each other, Rei determined to gain the upper hand while Stella remained calm allowing her to let out her anger away from innocent bystanders. Their blades clashed repeatedly barely missing flesh without either of them getting anywhere. With a quick flick of her wrist Stella swept her blade at Rei's legs and very narrowly missed if Rei hadn't caught on at the last second. With some distance between them they looked at each other and it was clear who was more upset out of the two.
Stella smirked, "What do you say we cut the warm up and you show me how you really feel? Eh, Reizko."
Rei scowled, feeling the strong gusts of winds swirl around her and heavy water droplets beat against her, "Is this your idea of cooling me off?"
The brunette only grinned as she leaped up into the sky as lightning ripped through the lit sky. Stella appeared to raise her hand to grab on the bolts in the sky and launch them at the dark haired woman below. Rei leapt out of the way as best as possible, but Stella was relentless.
"You need to do better, Reizko!" Stella said sternly as she raised both her hands, strengthening the storm directed at Rei. "Your flames won't always save you!"
Enraged Rei unleashed a swath of fireballs in constant succession at Stella ensuring they followed her every movement. Rei cursed when she saw that faded away the moment a waterfall appeared out of nowhere and swept them away. "Damn it!"
Stella rode the waterfall back to solid ground and looked at Rei who was catching her breath. She knew Rei would break soon from the day's emotional stress, the fight with her cousin, and this one. Stella wanted to be sure Rei wouldn't hurt Shion or Chikaru. She knew Rei was already struggling with the guilt and that's what brought on the present situation.
Stella looked at the unyielding carmine color in Rei's eyes, which meant that there was still a fire burning inside her. A crazy idea popped into her mind, one to help Rei strengthen her current weakness. "You've lost your touch." Stella caught a glimpse of a piercing prideful glare before a flaming arrow died mid-flight from the residual water, "You want to beat your father at his own game, but your fire is weak."
"You don't understand!"
Stella's gaze fell hiding behind long wet bangs, "No, Reizko. It is you who doesn't understand what you're fighting for or the lengths to which you'll have to go to in order to see it to fruition."
There was a harshness in Stella's voice that Rei had never heard before. The rage and injured pride Rei felt before wanted to be unleashed at the veiled threat to her plans and the misunderstanding. After all this time, Stella should have understood! Stella was her friend, wasn't she?
"You're out of line, Stella!" Rei growled cursing her own selfish ire and wishing to take the words back.
"Am I?"
"You don't know what I would do for her."
"I know what you will do." Stella looked up meeting Rei's gaze, her stormy blue eyes glowing a celestial blue. "You will get yourself killed."
Rei took a step back unsure of what was happening. "Stella…"
A faint smile formed Stella's lips as an elegant bow formed in her left hand and a flaming metal arrow formed in her right hand, "My arrow always hits its mark Rei."
"What are you doing?"
Stella closed her eyes and heavier rain began to pour from the sky. The wind howled violently, thunder rolled like the echoes of a shattering heaven, and lighting painted a deathly beautiful entrance to a sky paradise that was mourning.
Rei was mesmerized by what her friend was doing. The dark beauty she was seeing was only slightly taming her earlier emotions, "Stella, we can stop." She shouted so the brunette could hear her.
Rei's words fell on deaf ears. Stella fired three successive blazing arrows into the sky. Their flames visible through the torrent storm until they seemed to anchor onto something.
"What is this?" Rei asked.
"I am posing a challenge to you. Beat me, here and now. Your fire against mine, in this storm. If you win, I won't question you anymore. If you lose, you will take my suggestion and reach out for help."
"Help?"
"Fire was not your only gift, Reizko."
"It's not a fair challenge!" Rei scowled.
"Life is never fair." Stella glared at Rei. "You more than anyone should know that."
The mask Rei had been wearing since Shion and Chikaru's unexpected arrival started to show cracks.
"You are gifted like me, but you have made the choice to limit yourself. " Stella's gaze pierced through her, "Love and anger can only fuel your power for so long. You need courage to try something new."
Rei felt so lost as Stella spoke. The feelings of uneasiness and self-doubt crawled up her spine. Could she really do this?
"Will you still argue that it's unfair?" The question, although simple, still weighed heavily on her.
"No," Rei's pride wouldn't allow for surrender even if doubts clouded her mind, "let's do this."
A small smile graced Stella's lips as she did away with her bow and raised her hand towards the sky. Rei was suddenly filled with a sudden sense of dread. They were out in the open and that was dangerous because an open sky was one Stella's greatest advantage.
Stella raised her right hand and the three anchored arrows ignited, spreading across the sky, as if the water pouring from it meant nothing. The arrows had created a triangle of blue flames surrounded by torrent rain that couldn't extinguish it. As Stella brought her hand down the arrows elongated down and surrounded the both of them in a triangular flaming barricade.
Rei cursed and looked at Stella who was eerily calm.
"What's the matter, Reizko? Fire not to your liking?" Stella said as she caressed one of the flames from the walls. It licked Stella's skin without injury, but Rei felt the wall behind her and the wall felt hot which was unusual. Rei began sweating from the flames' heat combined with the confined space.
"The fire is fine." Rei brandished a flaming saber and pierced the wall willing her blade to draw the flames in for her own use. Fire was fire after all.