Momo seemed lost in her train of thought, so Ryu looked down at Honey to see if the little machine could give him any answers. Honey blinked a light twice then turned and tugged on Momo's robe. Almost reflexively, the scientist turned, picked up Honey, then put her up on a shelf, safely stored. All the while Momo still seemed to ignore Ryu, content with her mumbling.
Ryu looked up at a rapidly blinking Honey, then back to Momo. "Momo, I-"
Momo whirled on him and grabbed the front of his jacket. "Ryu I'm sorry but I can't figure out what's going on I mean what's wrong with me See I've been having weird dreams with you in them where you're kissing me or touching me in other ways that a man touches a woman." Breath. "And then I had this really really weird one where you were touching me in a way that you shouldn't and then you became my father and that really scared me and I'm just so confused so I was hoping that you would help me with something."
Ryu's nose traced circles in the air as he tried to process everything that Momo said. He finally gave up. "Momo, I only caught about half of what you just said, but…what do you want me to help you with?"
The engineer breathed a sigh of relief, then smiled shyly.
Ryu looked around the library in disbelief. "All of them?"
"All of them," Momo replied, nodding.
Ryu walked over to a shelf and withdrew a random magazine. Looking at the cover, he saw a woman dressed in what appeared to be only her underwear. The expression on her face looked to be somewhere between pain and pleasure. He quickly re-shelved the magazine, then turned back to Momo with pinked ears. "Can we start now? These books are making me sick."
Momo nodded again. "Good. I was hoping you'd want to start." She stepped over next to Ryu and removed an entire row of magazines.
Ryu stared wide-eyed and open-mouthed. "How…I…You're really strong, Momo!"
Momo blushed furiously and nearly lost her grip on her stack. "Thank you, Ryu. I guess carrying the cannon around paid off in more ways than one."
"I guess," Ryu mused as he hesitantly reached for a row of books. "I almost feel dirty just touching these things."
Momo, already on her way out, called, "Well, the faster we get these outside, the less time we'll have to touch them, right?"
Ryu grinned at the doorway through which she had departed. "Right."
"Is that the last of them?" Momo asked as Ryu grunted his armload onto the book-and-magazine pile. "Here, let me help. You shouldn't have tried to carry so many like this."
"I wanted…to get it done…like you said."
Momo sighed in mild exasperation. "Well you didn't need to overdo it to do it," she retorted as she took half the books and threw them on the pile.
Ryu took a moment to catch his breath, studying the pile as he did so. In any of his serpentine forms, carrying the books outside would not have posed a problem. The laws of mass, however, dictated that his human form would be nowhere near as strong.
He nodded toward the pile of books and chuckled softly. "Looks like a burn pile, in a way."
"It is."
Ryu looked over to his friend, who stared at the pile with what appeared to be disgust. "Momo?"
She looked at Ryu, and her expression changed to one of sadness. She pointed at the pile of books and magazines, not taking her eyes off of his. "Ryu…would you burn these for me?"
Ryu looked from Momo's eyes to the newly-christened burn pile, then back. "Are you sure?"
She hesitated for but a moment, then lowered her arm. "No, but I think it needs to be done anyway."
Ryu looked into her eyes as though to search for answers to his many questions. All he found was a maelstrom of unrecognizable emotions. "All right," he said, nodding.
He walked over to the pile and studied it for a moment. He wondered what memories he was about to destroy. He looked over his shoulder at Momo, who simply nodded again. "You'll want to stand back farther," he told her. After she obliged, he returned his attention to the pile again.
Momo watched as her friend began to glow with an intense light, such that she had to hold an arm over her eyes. She had been witness to his transformations before, but the brightness was something she would never adjust to.
When the glow faded, she lowered her arm to see a large scarlet-hued dragon standing where the young man had just seconds before. Momo found herself unconsciously taking another step back before she remembered that this was Ryu. She stepped forward again.
Ryu appeared to be testing his 'new' form, twisting his neck this way and that and stomping a couple of times.
Momo decided to take a chance. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"
The triangular head at the end of a sleek neck swiveled to face her, unnerving her slightly. The head bobbed up and down in an attempt at a nod, eliciting a giggle from the engineer. Then it swiveled back to the book pile.
Ryu measured two more steps away, reared his head back then forward. A jet of flame billowed from his open jaws, incinerating many of the books instantly, and setting the remaining books aflame. Apparently satisfied, Ryu 'humphed' then pulled his head back. Another glow signified another transformation. Within moments, Ryu returned to his human form.
He made his way over to Momo and studied her face as she watched the books burn. "Is that what you wanted, Momo?"
She said nothing, but nodded as tears began to stream down her face. Ryu stepped closer to her to see if he could do anything, when she suddenly turned toward him, pressing herself against him. But never taking her eyes off of the fire.
Though surprised, Ryu still had enough presence of mind to carefully wrap his arms around his friend, holding her.
"Glad I could help…" he whispered.