Will checked her clock for the sixth time, and it still wasn't past midnight. Not that it mattered given it was Friday night, but her mind was still trying to figure out the whole situation that had just unfolded and it didn't seem to want to let her rest. It wasn't as if the whole thing had been uncomfortable - far from it. Not only was it all perfectly voluntary, it was nice, and she smiled as the words 'and I'd do it again too' passed through her mind. It wasn't like there was a whole new dimension to her life now; it was just something new that she was adjusting to. In the middle of the night when she'd rather have been sleeping.

'...with her', something in her mind added. She closed her eyes and smiled - that was another new thing. That subtle feeling from before. It was right there as their lips met, as they touched, in that moment when they connected in a way she knew they had never connected to anyone before. It was completely new. And she liked it. There was something about it that reminded her of the first time she ever transformed into a Guardian - a good feeling that, until she felt it, she never would have guessed existed. And like anything good, she reflected, she wanted more.

Now if only it would let her sleep...

Then an idea struck her. She tossed off the bedcovers, got out of bed, and sat cross-legged on the floor. She reached into the collar of her shirt and withdrew the Heart of Candrakar, then held it out in front of her and focused.

"Pord lastra."

There was a momentary glow of pink-purple light, and when she looked up she saw another Will - a perfect duplicate - seated in the same position just a few feet away.

There was a second of silence as Will briefly wondered if there was any point in greeting an astral copy of herself, when undoubtedly they had all the same thoughts. Instead of that, though, she simply cut to the chase. "Do you care if I just call you Drop?" It wouldn't make a huge difference, but it would help keep her from getting tangled with referents.

"Nope." Drop shrugged. "Feel free."

"So..." Will thought about where to start.

"What does it mean?" Drop asked simply.

"I don't know. I guess it technically means a lot of things, doesn't it? Like, it means I obviously like girls... that way."

"I'm not so sure." Drop held up a hand and extended her fingers one by one. "I mean, one, like Irma said, we have a lot more concern and trust for the other Guardians than for just about anyone else, right? And two, she was right about us having a lot more understanding for each other than anybody else likely could. Three, well, she is pretty."

"Yeah, but it's not the same."

"Nope."

"But maybe", Will thought out loud, "it doesn't need to be the same. Maybe there's more to it."

"Like, there's something that comes out of trust, concern, and prettiness, that sort of combines them with some other stuff and creates something new?"

"Yeah. Like looking through a kaleidoscope. You're looking at the same thing, but somehow you're seeing it in new ways and it looks like something new."

Drop nodded. "Like turning mix, eggs, water and oil into a cake."

"Exactly. So it's like, I've... we've... whatever. There's been this bond as friends and the Guardian thing made it deeper. So now this comes along, and now she and I have a little more depth to it again. Just a different kind of depth." The explanation seemed to fit pretty well. "Now I just have to figure out what to call it."

"Love", Drop said simply.

Will frowned for a second, as if the word didn't taste quite right. "I don't know about love."

"Sure you do. You love your mom, right?"

"Of course."

"...and your friends too, in a way, right?"

The point sank in. "Yeah... so it is love. Just a new kind."

"Bingo." Drop smiled. "That didn't take long, did it?"

"Nope. I guess that's the wonderful thing about talking to yourself. No need for a lot of explaining. Thanks." She held the Heart up again. "Astral drop."

After another pink-purple glow, Will was alone in the room again. She climbed back into bed, and spent the remaining few moments before sleep wondering idly where this new development would lead in the future.

Some distance away, by contrast, Irma had been dreaming rather contentedly since hitting the metaphorical sack a few hours before. She would no doubt be surprised in the morning, however, when she awoke to discover that her pillow was beside her wrapped in her arms instead of under her head as it had originally been.

---