Momo placed another engineer outfit in her bag. "I'm sorry, Ryu. I thought that your presence here would alleviate my distress, which it has to a degree, but I need to talk to someone who can help me understand what my problem is."
Ryu sighed and uncrossed his arms. "Yeah, I know, I can't help you with that stuff. Feelings. Not the same as burning a pile of books." He made his way over to where she packed. "I don't understand why I can't stay there with you, though. I mean, I heard you say something about me being a distraction, but I don't understand."
Momo placed a blouse in the bag, then paused. She straightened to face her concerned friend. "I don't understand, either. That's part of the problem, and I'm hoping that talking to her will help."
Ryu scratched the back of his neck. "Okay… I still don't get it, but… I guess I'll visit Rei while you're…talking." Ryu fumbled for diplomacy before shrugging with a sheepish grin. "At least I'll be able to walk you there, make sure you're safe."
Momo smiled at him with a slight flush to her cheeks. "Actually…could we try something…?"
Ryu cocked his head with a puzzled expression. "Try what?"
"This is amazing!" Momo exclaimed as she peered over the side of Ryu's neck. "Everything looks so small!"
Ryu had to settle for smiling inwardly since his current form didn't allow for much in the way of mouth movement. He couldn't help but notice that Momo's typical scientific mind had been replaced by a child's wonder.
"Hey, there's the Arena!" Momo pointed off to their left.
She almost lost her grip when a voice sounded in her head. Remember Balio and Sunder?
"Ryu? Is that you?"
Yeah.
Momo blinked several times. "Wow. You're amazing. Now I really want to study you-" Momo cut herself off as she realized how she sounded. "I'm sorry Ryu, I didn't mean to treat you like a-"
It's okay, Momo. The engineer found it strange to hear Ryu's voice without seeing a mouth move. I'm not hurt.
"Good," Momo said with relief. "Oh! Balio and Sunder, I almost forgot!" She wrinkled her nose. "Yeah, I remember them. Jerks, no- bullies, that's what they were, picking on you and Nina like that."
They picked on you, too.
"Only after Palet set me up," she countered.
Oh yeah. Ryu banked slightly to the left. Hang on, we're coming up on McNeil.
"Gotcha," Momo replied, and, matching action to words, held onto his neck more tightly.
"Dragon!" Hartz yelled. "Anti-air units to position!"
McNeil's newly-formed and yet-to-be-named defense force jumped into action, forming a battle line around the section of town nearest to the approaching dragon.
"Raise!"
The archers knelt and raised their bows, arrows pointing just ahead of the flyer.
"What's going on!" Shamus demanded breathlessly, having just run from the mansion with Nina.
Hartz pointed to the light-blue figure in the sky. "Unknown flyer, sir. Please stay back."
Shamus looked to his wife. "Nina?"
Having superior vision due to her heritage, Nina was able to study the dragon in more detail. "That's Ryu!" she exclaimed. "And Momo's on his back!"
Shamus quickly addressed his general. "Stand down."
"Stand down!" Hartz barked at his men. "All units, stand down!"
Ryu landed just as the last of the archers left to return home. Momo slid off of his back.
"Momo!" Nina ran to embrace her friend, then held her at arm's length. "It's wonderful to see you both again, but…back so soon?"
"Yeah." Momo adjusted her spectacles. "I apologize for visiting unannounced, but…"
"But what? Momo, what's wrong?" Nina looked to a now-human Ryu. "Ryu?"
Ryu spread his hands. "She said she wanted to talk to you, and-urk!" he squawked as Shamus took him by the back of the collar and started walking away.
"Come on, Ryu. We haven't spoken in a while." Shamus turned to send a wink to Nina as he departed with Ryu.
Nina smiled softly before returning her attention to the woman in front of her. "Goodness, Momo! That's quite a blush!"
"I'm not blushing," Momo insisted, face nearly the color of her hair.
Nina gently took her friend by the arm. "Yes you are, but that's okay." She gestured toward the mansion. "Tea?"
Momo nodded curtly. "Yes, thank you."
"OW!" Ryu rubbed at his throat and glared at Shamus. "What was that for?"
Shamus simply shook his head. "I had to get you out of there before you made things worse."
Ryu added confusion to his glare. "Worse? What do you mean?"
Shamus pointed at the women as they entered McNeil mansion. "Momo."
"What about her?"
Shamus sighed and crossed his arms. "You embarrassed her." Ryu's expression didn't change. "You said too much."
Ryu stopped rubbing his throat. "Too much? I don't understand."
Shamus studied Ryu for a moment. "Your innocence is…a mixed blessing, isn't it?"
That question Ryu understood. "Yeah, sometimes. Why?"
Shamus gestured to a nearby set of table and chairs. "Have a seat, buddy."
Ryu sat, still confused.
Shamus leaned back in his chair. "Ryu…Momo should have…no, that's not right…" He rubbed the back of his neck, then leaned forward. "Ryu, Momo needed to be the one to tell Nina that she needed to talk."
"I don't get it."
The mayor of McNeil sighed heavily. "If I'm right, Momo has something weighing…heavily on her mind."
"That's how it looks to me," Ryu agreed.
Shamus nodded confidently. "Sometimes part of the… healing process is telling someone else that you need help."
Ryu nodded thoughtfully. "And she may have needed that, huh?" He switched from nodding to shaking. "Man, I can be a jerk."
Shamus chuckled. "As long as she knows that it's not intentional, she shouldn't have a problem forgiving you." He gestured toward the house. "Tea? Nina and I are somewhat addicted. All her fault, of course."
It was Ryu's turn to chuckle. "No, thank you. Momo doesn't want me around while she talks to Nina, so I'm going to go visit Rei for a while."
"Indeed?"
"Yeah, something about me being a 'distraction' or something. I didn't quite understand what she meant." Ryu rose to his feet. "Anyway, I gotta go."
Shamus accompanied Ryu to the edge of town nearest the forest, stopping him by the entrance arch. "Ryu?"
Ryu turned toward the mayor. "Yeah?"
Shamus placed a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder. "If it's any consolation, I doubt Momo understands what she meant."
Ryu thought hard about that all the way to the tree fort.
Nina watched from her cushion as Momo stood next to a window and stared out. "Momo?"
No answer.
"Momo?"
Still no answer.
Nina wrinkled her nose as she stood. "What has you so captivated?" She walked over to stand next to the scientist and tried to see where she was looking. "The edge of town?"
Momo nodded gently, once.
"What's over there…? Oh, there's Shamus and, Ryu…" she trailed off as she noticed a change in Momo's expression. "Did Ryu hurt you?"
Momo shook her head as she watched Ryu leave McNeil. "No."
Nina reached out and carefully held her friend's hand. "Then what is it?"
Momo finally looked over at Nina, who was surprised by the…lost expression on the engineer's face.
"I don't know, Nina." Momo released the princess' hand so she could cover her face. "I don't know."
Nina took Momo by the arm and led her over to the cushions, settling Momo into one before taking her own again. She drew her knees up to wrap her arms around them and look sideways at her distressed friend. Momo would talk when she was ready, Nina knew that. However… "Forgive me if this sounds like a selfish question, but… Are you still angry with me for asking him to help you?"
Momo lowered her hands and fell back onto her cushion, already nearly drained. "No, but I'm not real happy with you for not asking me, but we've already settled that." She took a deep breath. "I've been having dreams, Nina."
Nina blinked. "What kind of dreams?" She found it interesting that Momo's cheeks reddened at the question. "If you don't mind my asking…"
Momo waved a hand. "No, it's okay. This is what I needed to talk to you about."
Nina reached out and patted her friend's knee. "Whenever you're ready, Momo."
Momo took a deep breath and released it. "Here goes. After our fist 'date'…"
Nina sat wide-eyed as Momo told her about their first fictitious arrival at Momo's tower, the incident on the dance floor and…
"…your father?" Nina let her arms drop, and her legs settled into the cushion.
Momo, still unable to look Nina in the eye, nodded toward the ceiling. She suddenly covered her face again, her chest heaving. "That's…why…books…"
Nina patiently waited until Momo calmed down enough. "What about the books?"
A voice finally emerged from the hands. "My father… My mother…"
Nina managed to keep up with the change in topic. "What about your parents?" she asked softly.
Momo removed her hands from her face to stare at the ceiling again. "You know my mother died when I was really young, right?"
Nina nodded thoughtfully. "Yes. Yes, I remember you told us about that."
"Did I ever tell you that I look a lot like my mother?"
Nina's expression brightened. "Really? Wow, that's great! Your mother must have been a very beautiful wom-" Nina stopped herself, her face falling as the implications sank in. "Oh, no…he didn't…"
Momo shook her head vigorously, angrily. "No! My father was a great man! A great man!" She took several deep breaths before continuing. "I think the reason he bought all of the dirty books…was so…was so…so he…wouldn't give in…" Momo could no longer hold back the tears, and they streamed down her face to fall to the cushion. She looked over at Nina, who sat in a sort of numbed shock. "He was a great man, Nina."
"I guess-" Nina tried to push through a constricted throat. "I guess in that situation, he did the best he could…"
Momo returned her eyes to the ceiling. "I'm proud of him…but I'm ashamed of him."
Nina slid over to hold her friend. "It must have been tough for you."
"He taught me about machines, and numbers, and stuff. But when I started to… you know, 'grow up'…"
"He looked at you in the way that he looked at your mother?" Nina received her answer in the form of a nod. "Do the books have something to do with this?"
Momo pulled away from Nina and looked at her with reddened eyes. "I had Ryu burn my father's dirty books."
Nina wasn't sure what to feel at the moment: Happy for Momo, or equally sad? So she asked Momo what she felt.
"I don't know. A little of both, I suppose. Those books were all I had to remember him by." Momo gently pinched the bridge of her nose. "At least of the tangible things."
"I see." Nina carefully considered her next question. "What does Ryu have to do with this?"
Momo began to squirm. "Sometimes he looks at me kinda the way the father did when he…when I…" she looked meaningfully at Nina.
"Are you talking about the way a man looks at a woman?"
Momo squirmed in confirmation.
Nina managed to suppress a smile. "Does that bother you?"
Momo suddenly sat upright, her ears straight back. "Yes!" She blinked "I mean, no!" She slumped. "I don't know…"
After a while, she lifted her head again. "I like it, but at the same time, I feel like I shouldn't…"
"Does he know that he's making you uncomfortable?"
Momo shook her head. "I doubt it. He's made me uncomfortable before, and it seemed like he'd run himself through with his sword if given the chance."
"That's our Ryu." Nina giggled.
Momo chuckled as her eyes focused on a memory. "At one of the dinners…"
Nina's eyebrows raised. "One of? As in, there was more than one?"
"…he took my hand. To comfort me, I think. When he found out that it made me uncomfortable, he couldn't look me in the eye for ten minutes."
Nina giggled again, then took a chance. "You said that you fell asleep while dancing. What kind of dance?"
Momo squirmed again. "A slow…romantic piece, I think."
Nina bit back laughter of the joyous variety. "Did…did you enjoy it?"
"I…think so." Momo studied her hands in her lap. "I was already pretty tired from ballroom dancing…"
"Ballroom?"
"…and some kind of folk, I don't know."
"Did Ryu enjoy it?"
Momo shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure. He seemed to. He seemed really uncomfortable during the…slower piece." Another squirm worked its way in. "We…looked each other…in the…eye…andwebothseemedtogettheheebiejeebies."
Nina giggled in empathy. "I can imagine." She adjusted her position on the cushion as she chose her next words. "Momo, I have a theory…"
The scientist sat up straight as her ears perked up at the terminology. "Indeed?"
Nina sat up as proper as she could on the plush cushion. "I would suggest that Ryu is attracted to you, but he himself is not aware of it, as he lacks the proper frame of reference for his feelings."
Momo adjusted her spectacles though her eyes were lost in the analytical process. "Attracted? Fascinating."
Nina secretly loved seeing Momo in her present state. And a little envious. "Further, I would suggest that even if he were to realize his feelings toward you, he would be too gentlemanly to indicate as much due to his knowledge of your discomfort."
Momo nodded. "That is logical."
Nina fell back into her cushion, her head slightly throbbing. "So, it's up to you, Momo."
Momo blinked out of her apparent trance. "Huh?"
"I said 'It's up to you'. How do you feel about him, Momo?" Nina spread her hands. "You have some thinking to do. You know your past. You have an idea of how he is and how he may feel. It's up to you, now."
Both women jumped when the door clicked open. Shamus stuck his head around the end. "Sorry to interrupt, Princess. I have a meeting early in the morning, so I need to turn in."
Nina waved at her husband. "I'll see you in a few minutes." As the door closed, she turned back to Momo. "As always, you're welcome to stay as long as you wish." She rose to her feet and began to collect the tea set. "Forgive me, but I must sleep now myself." She angled her head. "Will you be okay?"
"Would it be alright for me to sleep here?" Momo asked, indicating the floor cushions.
Nina blinked twice. "I…suppose so."
Momo looked down at the floor again. "I'm just not used to fancy beds and houses…" She traced a circle on the floor with a finger.
Nina smiled softly. "Good night, Momo."
Momo looked up and returned the smile. "Good night, Nina. Thank you."
After Nina dimmed the lights and left the room, Momo lay back across the cushions.
Attracted? She had never known anyone to be attracted to her.
Soon sleep overcame her, a peaceful sleep.
She did dream, however. Of machines and goddesses and dragons.
But mostly dragons.
Work in progress, please stand by…