GREEN Eyes

Terra awoke the next morning to the smell of breakfast. The sun had barely risen over the hills, and the sky was still pink and yellow. There were only a few clouds left from the storm the night before, and the earth smelled like it was brand new. Despite how long it took her to fall asleep after her argument with Shadow, Terra felt rested. She climbed out of her sleeping bag and began to roll it up. As she was doing so, she noticed Shadow feeding the chocobos.

"Good morning!" Terra said cheerily. "How did you sleep?"

"I didn't." Shadow responded without turning around to look at her. "How about you?"

"Why didn't you sleep?" Terra was worried. They were going to need all their strength for this journey, and Shadow needed the rest more than Terra did, considering how bad his wounds had been and how many he'd had. "Shadow..." She prompted.

"I kept watch, and I didn't want to wake you since you didn't fall asleep until late," he told her. "Could you make sure our breakfast isn't burning? I had to take care of the chocobos; they were getting hungry when they smelled food." He tossed a half-grin in her direction as she tied her sleeping bag together and brought it over to the chocobos to be attached to the saddle. Shadow took it from her and Terra went to oversee the cooking process.

"So you never answered my question." Shadow said as he sat down next to the fire.

"I slept like a rock once I finally fell asleep," she answered. "Food's ready." She held up a bowl and slopped some oatmeal into it. "Here you go." Terra handed it Shadow, and he grabbed a spoon from the food satchel lying by the campfire. She dished some out for herself, and they ate together in a comfortable silence.

The chocobos made very little sound as they half-galloped through Naga Forest. Shadow lead the way since he knew a faster route through the forest, and plus he wanted to avoid the site of where Terra had found him just a few weeks ago. They made very little conversation, partly for the sake of going hopefully unnoticed, and also because both of them were still deep in thought about the previous night's events.

They approached a clearing, and then Shadow explained that beyond the clearing they had to go through a small cave that led to the other side of the forest. They would have to walk their chocobos through it since chocobos hate caves they become jumpy and unpredictable. They dismounted and made their way across the clearing cautiously, keeping an eye out for any who might ambush them from hiding spots in trees or bushes around the edge of the wide open space. They were a third of the way across when Shadow stopped suddenly and Terra ran into him from behind.

"What is it?" Terra glanced around her in all directions, her senses on full alert searching for any sign of danger.

"Do you feel that?" Shadow whispered. "Rumbling under our feet..." The last Terra had to strain to hear, but she focused her attention to the earth beneath her feet.

"Yeah, there's something wrong..." Terra was cut off by a loud thunderous roar that emanated from all around them. "What the...?!"

"Let go of the birds!" Shadow exclaimed, and Terra realized she hadn't noticed Ed pulling and yanking on his reins. She tried to release the great yellow bird, but with all of its struggle, the chocobo had entangled Terra's hand in the reins and she couldn't free herself. Terra tried to calm the bird, but the rumbling only seemed to be increasing, and Ed was starting to really panic. Terra could see that her fingers were turning blue. The chocobo was about to drag her away with it, but in a swift motion, Shadow cut the leather with his Striker, freeing Terra's hand. Just as the bird ran off, they heard a scream, a scream like that of a banshee.

"Oh, no..." Terra breathed as she turned to look up at the monstrosity that was making itself known. It screamed again, and it brought the pair to their knees. It had the upper body of a beautiful woman and the lower half of a snake. In the place of hair, little vipers sprouted in all directions, all their little eyes focused on the two heroes, and in unison with the screams they hissed. "Well, at least now I know why they call it Naga Forest." Terra said cynically.

"Shall we?" Shadow brandished the Striker and it flashed in the sunlight, matching the glint in Shadow's eye and the wicked smile on his face. Terra couldn't help but smile back. She pulled the Atma Weapon from its sheath, and nodded. They leapt into battle simultaneously, and the Naga screamed a battle cry.

From his hidden position, the man camouflaged in tree leaves and various other vegetation watched the woman with green hair and the man in black attack the huge snake woman. They charged the monster, and she screamed, knocking them back.

"The boss' Naga Witch was a good idea..." The man chuckled a little to himself. "She'll make quick work of 'em." He held in his hands a video recording device, small enough to carry around, and used only when the boss needed proof of someone's death. The man watched the events through this camera, and smiled evilly when he saw the green-haired woman get thrown away from the battle, badly wounded. But, much to the surprise of the spy, she stood up and chanted a Magic spell. "Holy..." He gasped. "Hmm..." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "This just keeps getting better and better!"

As Terra chanted her Cure3 Magic, Shadow kept the snake-woman busy with some Shurikens. She finished and felt her wounds closing up and healing very quickly, and the blood that had been running down her side ceased its flow. She turned her attention back to the battle at hand, and watched in horror as the Naga screamed just as Shadow jumped onto her head. His body slumped forward, unconscious from the force of her banshee-like voice.

"Shadow!" Terra yelled out hoarsely. "Shadow wake up!" He didn't move, at least not voluntarily. The snake picked him off of her head with her scaly hand and clawed fingers, and smelled him like one smells food before they take a bite. "NO!" Terra screamed.

The wind picked up around her, whipping her hair around her face and causing sticks and leaves to fly in all directions. A purplish light engulfed her, and the sky darkened while her body became pink and magenta, and her clothes disappeared. Her sea-green eyes had become stormy with rage, and her hair also turned into magenta, spiking out in all ways possible. She smiled at the monster with deadly fangs. The transformation complete, the wind died down, and the sky brightened once again. There was an explosion of energy that swept out from Terra's body towards the Naga, knocking Shadow out of its grasp and into the grass nearby. When Terra saw Shadow out of harm's way, she launched a full-scale barrage of Fire3 explosions right into the snake's face.

"I'm afraid the only thing you will be eating today is smoke," Terra told the beast as it cowered in fear of the pink creature. The bombs had stopped falling from the sky, and Terra now floated in front of the Naga, Atma Weapon in hand and ready to strike. She stared down at the hideous half-woman, half-viper until it returned her gaze. It growled fiercely, and that was the last sound it made as the Atma Weapon cut through the air to strike down the creature.

Once the head of the Naga lie beside its limp body, Terra flew over to Shadow's unmoving form.

"Shadow! Are you all right?" She began shaking him, which elicited a low groan that barely passed through his lips. "Shadow..." He looked up at her as she supported his head, and the look of surprise on his face only lasted a moment.

"You scared the hell outta me, being all Morphed like that." Shadow said with a half-smile. "I thought for a second you were the Naga with those teeth you have there." The look of hurt in her eyes made him instantly regret his words. "Terra, I didn't mean..." In an instant, she Morphed back into her human form, and the only part of her that looked the same was her eyes. They're beautiful eyes, not monster's eyes... Shadow thought. She doesn't understand how beautiful she is...

"It's okay, I didn't mean to scare you...I know that my Esper form is a little frightening..." Terra helped him sit up a little, and with her free hand, she whistled for the chocobos, hoping that they hadn't run all the way back to Mobliz in terror. Not to mention they carried all their supplies that they would need for the rest of the journey.

"Nah, it's not frightening, just surprising 'cause I've only seen you that way a few times. I heard your voice and was expecting green hair, not pink." He grinned roguishly at her, trying to lighten the mood, but to no avail, she just avoided making eye contact with him. He pushed himself into a kneeling position, and stood up slowly, still feeling a little woozy. He swayed a bit, but when Terra tried to help, he waved her off. "I'm fine, don't worry, just had my eardrums almost blown off by that snake." He dusted himself off, and looked over at Terra who was mimicking his actions. He then glanced over to the edge of the clearing when he heard the "Kweh" noises getting closer. "Sounds like the chocobos are back finally." Terra turned and a look of relief washed over her face. "That's a good chocobo Edgar gave you." Terra nodded, and went to meet them. Shadow followed. And I thought I was the only one who gave silent treatments.

"What do ya mean, the Naga Witch was killed?" The loud booming voice could be heard through the thick door, where snickering henchmen were gathered to eavesdrop on the most recent report. Inside the room, there was a large desk made of gold and silver, and the man that had once been sitting in his huge leather chair was now standing over the cowering man who was seated in a smaller red chair. "Show me what happened..." His voice held a threatening tone.

"Y-y-yes sir!" The man's brow beaded with sweat as he pulled out the recording device, and his hands shook violently as he tried to connect it with a larger screen upon which to project the images. Why is he so angry? It's not my fault that the stupid beast died... He thought to himself angrily, but he knew better than to say that to the Boss. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally finished plugging in the last connector. He sat there for a minute, wondering why there was no video, a blank look on his face that turned to utter horror when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"MOVE!!" The Boss shoved him out of the way and took the recorder from him. "All you had to do was press play you numbskull." He dramatically pointed his finger out and delicately pushed the button, as if to carefully demonstrate what the man should have done. "See?" He smiled evilly, and then pointed towards the door. "Get out!" Without a single sound, the man hurried out of the room, desperate to get away from the Boss and to the sanctuary of his bunk bed. "Finally, we can have some alone time." The video played back images of a man in black and a woman with green hair fighting his pet Naga, Janai. She appeared to have been winning up until the moment the screen started to become fuzzy. "What the..." The Boss hit the recorder in the hopes of making the visual clear again, but to no avail, it just became static. He became frustrated, and infuriated, and was about to call the man back into the room but right at that moment, it became clear again, and he could see a pink being hovering over the body of Janai. Then the creature flew over to the body of the man in black and transformed. "Whoa!" He rubbed his eyes to make sure what he was seeing was real. The pink being had changed back into the woman with green hair. "Whoa!!" He was sad that Janai was dead, but now he knew something the enemy wouldn't expect him to have knowledge of at all. He paused the image of the two people standing next to each other.

"I know your secret..." He chanted under his breath.

It was slow going in the caves, and Terra was becoming exhausted, especially after Morphing. She always felt so drained after transforming, so it took a while to finally build up the energy to Morph again. It would be some time before she could do it again, and she hoped that she wouldn't need it anytime soon. Terra had said little to Shadow after the battle, and she truly wasn't mad at him, she was just frustrated with herself. True, his words had hurt her, but he was just being honest, and part of her knew that he hadn't meant it. But it still hurt.

"Terra?" Shadow had stopped a little ways behind her. "Did you hear me?" Terra looked back and shook her head. "We need to rest here, this is the last safe place and you look worn-out from earlier." He started tying up his chocobo and pulled out some wood they'd gathered earlier in case they'd have to camp in the caves. Terra also tied Ed up, and filled his and Hal's bowls up with feed and water. She set up her sleeping area relatively close to the fire so she could stay warm, and she began to undo her hair from its ponytail since it hadn't been properly taken care of since she set out with Shadow a few days ago. Shadow began cooking dinner as soon as the fire was going, and Terra brushed out her hair while sitting on her sleeping bag.

Shadow glanced over at Terra, who had decided to make herself at home right next to where he was working, and almost burnt himself by continuously glancing over at her. Dammit, why did she have to start brushing her hair right there? She looked over at him and smiled a bit, though it was a sad smile. His face felt hot, but he figured he could use the fire as his excuse for being red. He couldn't stop looking at her lithe form, her lean muscular arms gently stroking her hair with hand and brush. Her beautiful green hair, that smelled so wonderful, like a field of flowers...

"OW!!" Shadow yelped as he yanked his hand away from the leaping flames that threatened to engulf his whole hand. Terra was at his side immediately, her eyes filled with worry.

"What is it?" She asked. "A wound from earlier?" She referred to the battle or maybe farther back still. Shadow blushed furiously.

"No..." He studied his hand VERY carefully. "I just burnt myself...on the pan..." Terra smiled a little bit, and then began to giggle. Her giggle transformed into a laugh that echoed through the cave, and she wiped away her tears of joy once her side stopped aching.

"I'm sorry...It's just that I was so worried..." She said apologetically. "Then it turns out I was being so worried for nothing!"

"What do you mean, nothing? My hand hurts!" His tone was serious, but the smile on his face gave him away. "Just for that, you have to make the rest of dinner!" He grabbed a water satchel and poured some cold water over the small burn, soothing it until it almost stopped throbbing.

Terra made a dinner of eggs and cornmeal, which wasn't much in the way of taste, but they gobbled it up like it was a gourmet meal. The chocobos settled down into their makeshift nest of blankets, and Terra was getting ready to climb into her sleep roll.

"I wanted to apologize..." Shadow was setting up his bed near Terra's. "For earlier I mean. That was uncalled for, and I'm sorry." Terra was shocked at the words that came out of his mouth. She was speechless. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"But...I...You..." Terra struggled to form a cohesive sentence. "Shadow, I know, and you don't need to apologize. I guess I still overreact about those things. I just have to accept the fact that I'm half monster..."

"You're not half monster." Shadow said, a little forcefully. "There isn't a bit of monster in you at all. Anyone who looks into your eyes can tell that."

"But..."

"But nothing! Trust me on this. Anyone who says otherwise...I'll...I'll kick their ass." Terra almost giggled, but she realized that he was serious. "Anyways, my point is, just because you're different doesn't mean you're a monster. Look, people are always afraid of things that are different, so there're bound to be a few that are going to be afraid of you. They may call you a monster, but that's not really why they're afraid of you. Understand?" Terra nodded tentatively. "Well," Shadow sighed. "I guess I'm just no good at explaining..." He stopped suddenly when he saw Terra's eyes welling up with tears. He stood up and walked over to where she was sitting, staring into the fire. He sat down next to her and put his arm around Terra's shoulder in an effort to comfort her. She turned to look at him, surprise written on her face.

"I'm sorry, Shadow, I just..."

"Shhh..." He put a finger over her lips. "Don't worry about it. Just remember that your friends accept you for who and what you are, so you have nothing you ever need to worry about." She threw herself into his arms, hugging him close, rubbing her cheek on his strong shoulder, seeking comfort she was afraid to ask for. He hugged her back, but then pushed her away from him a little. He stopped however, when he looked into her green eyes, her hair framing her fair face, and her lips pouty and luscious from crying. "Terra...I..."

She leaned in closer to close the gap between them, and he bent his head a little, moving tentatively, thinking somewhere in the back of his clouded mind that he shouldn't lose control, that he shouldn't... Ah, what the hell...

He sealed the space between them by lightly touching his lips to hers, feeling the softness that waited for him there. He heard her gasp slightly, almost a happy sound, and she kissed him back, leaning in closer and increasing the pressure of her lips on his.

Terra felt her heart racing, the blood pounding in her ears, her hands trembling ever so slightly when she sought out his hand and grasped onto it. Her other hand found its way to the back of his neck, lightly stroking and gently caressing. Their kiss deepened, and she felt his tongue graze her lips, and she responded with her own tongue, until they were kissing so deeply that they had to pull apart to gasp for air.

They looked into each other's eyes for a brief moment, then Terra felt Shadow's rough hand lightly push on the back of her head, bringing her mouth to his once again. He ran his hand through her long green hair, feeling its gentle softness as it flowed down her back. He roughly pulled her onto his lap, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, freely giving herself to him as she felt her heart skip several beats.

"Terra..." His voice husky with desire, Shadow broke off a kiss suddenly and looked into her eyes. "If you tell me to stop, I will."

"I know." Terra smiled and leaned in to lock lips with him yet again.

"Your...eyes..." Shadow struggled to speak in between smooches. "Your eyes are...so beautiful..." She silenced him again this time by pushing him back onto the sleeping bag.

The chocobos slept soundly, despite the rustlings of the sleeping bag.