Chapter Two

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They got back to the sanctuary and Adam informed them that Brennan, Jesse and himself would be spending the night at one of the safe houses to sort out some problems.

Emma went to her room to have a shower, Shalimar did the same. Later on Emma went to the kitchen and started to prepare some dinner for Shalimar and herself. Ten minutes later Shalimar came into the kitchen. Emma jumped up and down shouting, "You're just in time for dinner, come on, take a seat." Emma waved her arm to the empty chair.

Shalimar laughed as she sat down. Emma placed the plates of food down and prepared a couple of glasses of wine. She handed one to Shalimar and sat down herself.

"Well someone certainly went to a lot of trouble didn't they?" Shalimar chirped.

Emma smirked and picked up her glass. "A toast, to the woman who saved my life; my best friend and one and only hero."

Shalimar blushed at the 'toast' and they clinked glasses, they enjoyed their meal and didn't stop talking. They they had some chocolate cake that Emma had made earlier that day. After the dessert Shalimar started to speak, "Wow Emma that has got to be the best meal I've ever had. You didn't need to spend time cooking it for me though."

"Hey! I owe you one and anyway it's no hardship I enjoyed making it and I'm glad you approve as well."

"Let me help you clean up."

"Don't worry I did manage to make the meal by myself."

"Honestly, I don't mind, I want to help you."

They spent some time cleaning and washing up and then they went to the living room and sat on the sofas there. It had been such a long day and both of them were still really tired so they just rested there for a while in silence.

It was in this instance that Emma really thought to herself what a great person Shalimar was. She started to reminisce about all of the fun they had together. Out of everyone in Mutant X they were the closest pair. They shared everything ranging from clothes to makeup. Then all of a sudden, the Inferno event washed over her mind again, it was times like these when she hated her Psionic ability

She could feel the heat against her skin, her palms sweaty and vision blurred. The fumes of smoke were literally choking her, and then a flash of gold appeared. She knew straight away it was Shalimar…"Shalimar help me, help me please." She cried out. Then she was outside with Shalimar next to her holding her arm. "How did you…" Emma was cut off by Shalimar. "I guess my fear of losing you, was stronger than my fear of the fire." Shalimar then wrapped her arms around Emma and for the first time in a long while Emma felt safe and protected. She felt like no one or anything could ever hurt her as long as she was with Shalimar.

Emma felt her heart pounding and it wasn't because she was scared, she felt love. Of course, she knew she loved Shalimar, they were best friends, and it's a perfectly normal feeling. Only this time it was something much more than that. She never really thought she had these types of feelings before but it felt so right. They both understood each other and she had never met anyone like Shalimar before. What was she thinking? Shalimar was just her friend, she had never been with a woman before and she had certainly not felt like this about another woman. What was happening to her? She couldn't understand why she was feeling like this. It must be a mix up of emotions, surely she couldn't love…she mustn't love Shalimar. It would ruin everything. She bolted upright and jumped to her feet as quickly as she could.

Shalimar; startled, said "What's wrong Emma? What's happened?" She looked with a growing concern on her face.

"Huh, what, oh erm…it's nothing I just…er…I just need some sleep. You know, what with nearly dying and everything." Emma replied quickly.

Shalimar stood up and moved to where Emma had moved. "Are you sure honey? You seem pale and different, talk to me Emma and let me help."

"Maybe later, but really I'm just tired, honestly, I need to rest, sorry."

"Okay then, well thanks again for the meal Emma and have a nice sleep." She reached over and hugged her.

"You too Shalimar and don't worry about me." She felt it again, safe in Shalimar's arms. She backed off and left the room, leaving poor Shalimar as confused as ever. She knew there was something more than Emma was letting on.

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Chapter 3 coming soon.

A/N: Please continue to review as it makes me more determined to do another chapter and get it to a higher quality, thankyou.