Title: Night Blooming Jasmine 2: Afterglow
Genre: het, drabble
Series: Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger
Pairing: Marika "Jasmine" Reimon (DekaYellow), Tekkan "Tetsu" Aira (DekaBreak)
Rating: Not sure, they're in bed together throughout this one, but there is no sex.
Disclaimer: Toei owns all rights to all characters (Although I wish Tetsu was mine, but that's purely for selfish reasons)
Notes: This takes place about a year after the first "Night Blooming Jasmine". In this piece, Jasmine and Tetsu have moved out of the base and into a nearby apartment together. It's a bit longer than the rest of the drabbles in this series, but I think you all might like it.
The dawn was breaking and Jasmine and Tetsu's bedroom was bathed in a warm golden glow. The covers rustled somewhat as Jasmine stirred and wrapped her arm around Tetsu's waist.
"Tetsu?" she murmured sleepily, nuzzling him gently. "It's morning."
"So, I noticed." Tetsu murmured, kissing Jasmine's forehead. "Good morning...Marika-san."
Tetsu was the only one allowed to call her by her real name and she gave him a soft smile before nuzzling and murmuring "Good morning to you, too."
He smiled, brushing a lock of hair away from her face, causing Jasmine to smile a bit at the warmth of his skin on hers. It was nice to feel his hand on her and part of her wished that she could do the same to him. But, they both knew that she couldn't. If there was just one thing she hated about her powers, the inability to truly be intimate with Tetsu was it.
A year had passed since their first kiss, since the blossoming of their relationship and it had been the best year of their lives. So much had happened, both good and bad. For starters, they'd fallen in love with one another, something that had proved rather difficult in the earlier stages of the relationship, when it had become clear to Tetsu that Jasmine was afraid to touch him.
But Tetsu had reminded her that her power worked primarily through her hands and that he was confident that he wouldn't unintentionally hurt her or something. So, as long as Jasmine wore her gloves when they touched, they would be all right. Even though he knew that her gloves were important to her maintaining her sanity, he occasionally selfishly wished that her power didn't work that way so they could truly be naked in bed together, because even when they made love, she wore those gloves.
But then he would remind himself that if Jasmine didn't have her ESP, she wouldn't be Jasmine and he wondered if he would still feel the same way about her if she didn't have her ESP. He'd come to the conclusion that he probably would still care for her, just not in the same way.
Sometimes, in the quiet of the morning, Jasmine would take off the glove on her right hand and press her hand against Tetsu's cheek and close her eyes, allowing the memories of their relationship to wash over her gently and she would drift away in a sea of memories and thoughts. Today was one such morning and she only needed to rest a finger against his cheek before she felt herself drift away.
"What do you mean you're leaving?" Jasmine asked, somehow knowing that Tetsu was serious.
"After this case is over, Chief is taking me back to Space HQ. She says that I'm letting my emotions cloud my judgment and that I'll need to be trained all over again."
Jasmine looked as though she was about to break down and cry. "So does that mean that we'll have to break up, Tetsu?" She asked, trying not to let her tears show.
Tetsu nodded, feeling as though his own heart was breaking. One didn't need ESP to know what Jasmine was feeling. "I'm sorry, Marika-san." He murmured, moving closer to her. "I don't want to leave, but I have no choice."
Jasmine nodded and wiped her eyes, moving into Tetsu's embrace and sobbing quietly. "I hate your chief." She murmured softly. "Doesn't she care that this is hurting you?"
"I don't know, Jasmine." He murmured. "I don't know."
Now if Jasmine had bothered to look over Tetsu's shoulder, she would have noticed the form of Tetsu's chief, Lisa Teagle, watching them from the doorway, staring at them with a sort of cold fury in her eyes.
A few moments later, Tetsu broke the embrace and kissed Jasmine softly, murmuring "I'll talk to you later, I promise." Against her lip and left the room.
Almost immediately, he ran into Lisa, who almost immediately decked him. Again.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Lisa snarled, absolutely livid. "Falling in love with a coworker? Did all of your training fly out the window, Tekkan?"
"Chief…you don't understand…." Tetsu stammered, trying to regain his composure. "Jasmine-san…she's different from any SPD officer I've ever met. She's got powers…"
"I don't care what kind
of powers she has!" Lisa yelled.
"She's got powers you can't build into any suit!" Tetsu had finished; unaware that Jasmine was listening to every single word. "Jasmine is quite possibly the most unique officer in this entire force!"
Lisa slapped him and Tetsu fell to the floor.
Jasmine gasped quietly and fought the urge to run to Tetsu's side.
"Break up with her or lose your badge." Lisa said coldly and she walked away.
Jasmine could feel Tetsu's heart breaking.
After Lisa had left and allowed Tetsu to stay, Jasmine was overjoyed, to say the least. Once they were alone together, they'd embraced and twirled around the hangar where their mecha were kept, before kissing each other deeply.
Jasmine's eyes fluttered somewhat as the memory faded a bit and another one came to take its place.
"Tetsu, why are we moving so slowly?" Jasmine asked, looking over Tetsu's shoulder as he drove the Dekabike across the cosmos. "I mean, I know that Alcapo is really far away, bit that's no excuse for such slow driving."
Jasmine and Tetsu were heading for the prison planet Alcapo to talk to a prisoner named Niwande about his former partner in crime, Milibar. Jasmine knew that Alcapo was quite a ways away from Earth, but she had no idea why Tetsu was driving like a little old man.
Tetsu smiled, put the Dekabike on autopilot and got up, pulling Jasmine into his arms and kissing her deeply.
To say that she had been
surprised was an understatement. "What are you up to, Tekkan?"
she asked, coyly, her lips still kissing his.
"We're going to pass the time while on our way, Marika." Tetsu murmured as they eased their way down onto the floor of the cockpit. "Besides, it would be nice to mix a little business with pleasure."
Jasmine was giggling, and she felt sort of lightheaded. This was an incredible rush. "What if Boss calls?"
"Don't worry." Tetsu had murmured, pausing to devour her lips with his own. "We won't get caught."
Jasmine giggled then and reasoned that as long as they kept an ear out for any odd noises, they'd be okay.
Even though Jasmine never made it obvious, Tetsu knew when she was using her ESPer powers, especially when she was doing it to see something through Tetsu's eyes. Her eyes would flutter a little, like they were doing now.
Sometimes, if he was lucky enough to let his bare hand touch her bare hand, he got a peek into Jasmine's own memories.
"What were you thinking, Jasmine?" Tetsu half-yelled as Jasmine was walking down a hallway, trying to get away from him. "You and Hoji-san could have been killed!"
"I was thinking of revenge, Tetsu." Jasmine said, coldly. "You wouldn't understand!"
"Remember Jenio?" Tetsu asked, catching up to Jasmine. "I was thinking of revenge when I defeated him to save all of you and avenge my parents, but that didn't mean that I just ran in without having some kind of plan! I understand that you wanted to avenge Gyoku, but they way you did it scared the living daylights out of me!"
Jasmine stopped. "What?"
"Dammit, Jasmine! I LOVE YOU!" Tetsu yelled. "I actually thought that Terry-X had killed you and taken your energy! And when that thought entered my head, I nearly had a breakdown! I almost started to cry right then and there, but I had to pull myself together!"
Jasmine looked at him in silence for a moment and Tetsu took this as a nod to continue. "Jasmine, that was the moment I realized I loved you." Tetsu said, softly. "And part of me hoped that you were alive so I could tell you."
Jasmine's gloved hand had moved to cover her mouth as she made a soft little gasping noise.
"I love you, Marika Reimon." Tetsu said again. "Please believe me."
Jasmine took her right glove off as she walked towards him and when she reached him, she reached out and caressed the side of his face with her bare hand, allowing him to touch her hand. She closed her eyes and smiled, letting Tetsu's mind merge with her own. So many images swirled through her head. She saw his training, his arrival to earth, their first kiss and date through his eyes and she could then feel his love for her, pure and strong and she felt how worried sick over her he'd been and she knew then that every word he'd said was true.
Jasmine smiled and even though her glove was still on and she could still sense things from him, she let her hand caress his face. "Oh, Tekkan…. I love you, too."
"You're not just saying that, right?" Tetsu asked, hopefully.
"Nonsense." She said, in a near perfect imitation of his own voice, wrapping one arm around his waist and giving him a gentle kiss. "Why would I lie?"
Tetsu smiled and kissed her back, savoring the moment.
The memory faded slowly and Tetsu removed his hand from Jasmine's own and sighed. Not long after that, the Agent Abera had infiltrated the base and they'd all been thrown back into battle against him.
And they had won.
After that, Ban left to join the Fire Squad and Tetsu had taken up his spot as team leader.
Jasmine and Tetsu both missed Ban deeply and while they'd wished he'd have stayed on the Earth, they were happy that he was happy. He even sent them letters occasionally.
Once all was said and done, Jasmine had suggested that she and Tetsu move away from the base and live in an apartment together. The only thing Boss had said to them was to make it an apartment close to the base.
Tetsu had been half expecting that Boss would be infuriated that he and Jasmine had fallen in love with one another, but was surprised when he got a rather calm reaction from him. Jasmine, on the other hand, wasn't quite as surprised. She later explained to Tetsu that she had a hunch that Boss and Swan-san already knew about the couple, but had mutually decided not to say anything out of respect.
And so began their life of living together while still being Dekas. So far, they'd been living peacefully together for 2 months. It made Tetsu happy to think about it. He enjoyed waking up to the warm feeling of Jasmine beside him. It felt like she belonged there.
"Did Boss mention what time we had to show up at the base this morning?" she asked, coming out of her reverie and resting her head on Tetsu's chest and listening to the rhythmic beating of his heart.
"No." he murmured. "We have the morning off, remember?"
"How did we manage that?" she asked.
"Umeko-san pulled a few strings for us." he said, plainly. "She said we should spend some non-work time together."
"Remind me to thank her for this. I owe her." Jasmine murmured, running her hand along the side of Tetsu's face.
Tetsu captured her gloved hand and kissed the fingertips. "Just once I wish I could feel your bare hand," he murmured. "I wonder if the skin is just as soft as it is on the rest of you."
Jasmine giggled and moved until she was lying on top of Tetsu and gave him a deep kiss. "One day, I'll tell you, I promise." she murmured against his lips, running her hands through his hair.
"You are so beautiful in this light, Jasmine-san." Tetsu murmured approvingly, his hands absent-mindedly roaming over the skin of her bare back. "Do you know how long I dreamed of seeing you this way?"
Jasmine smiled and took off her glove and pressed it against Tetsu's warm cheek. She closed her eyes and saw so many images swirling around in her mind and for a moment, their minds were one.
"Since you met me." She supplied, as Tetsu's arms surrounded her and she slipped her glove back on.
She felt him nod and she moved off him to rest on her side beside him. "I like this." she suddenly said after a few moments of silence.
"Like what?" he asked, half lost in thought.
"Waking up in the morning with you." She said. "Smelling your hair, feeling the warmth of your skin against mine, and feeling your breath tickle my ear...the little things like that."
"If we were to do this for the rest of our lives, would you mind?" Tetsu asked.
Jasmine lifted her head slowly. "What does that mean, Tetsu?" she asked, softly, her heart beating faster.
Tetsu smiled and reached over to the nightstand and picked up a small black velvet box. "Marika-sama, I have been in love with you for so long, that I can no longer imagine living life without you."
Jasmine put her hand to her mouth and began to cry softly.
"Marika, will you marry me?" Tetsu asked, opening the box to reveal a pretty diamond ring and Jasmine began to sob, throwing her arms around him and crying.
"So, is that a yes?" he asked. When he felt her nod, he smiled.
Jasmine was still crying when she pulled away, she held out her hand for him to slip the diamond ring on her finger.
The ring sparkled and shimmered in the golden glow of the sunrise.
Tetsu smiled. "The ring looks good on you." he commented. "I love you, Marika."
Jasmine smiled. "I love you, too, Tekkan." She reached up and kissed him again, wrapping her arms around him and murmuring, "Yes, yes, yes..." over and over again.