CHAPTER TEN:

The next day there was a funeral for all who fell in the battle the day before. Among the deceased were both of Aiko's parents.

And Iggaguri Fujibayashi, the blind Chief. Sheena was the new Chief of Mizuho. Two days after the funeral, she moved all of her belongings out of her house and into her Grandfather's old one, her eyes were red but dry when Raine and the others came to visit her after the funeral. She managed to give them all a cheeky grin, and said, "Do I look more important now that I'm a big-shot Chief?"

"You look like Sheena," Presea said with her usual respect for sarcasm or figures of speech. Or perhaps not.

"Do you need any help unpacking?" Regal offered, holding out his hands, which he could now use to assist Sheena. "Some of those boxes look heavy."

"..Yeah, sure," Sheena said, dumping a box full of her junk into Regal's arms. "You guys can make yourself comfortable- oh," Sheena stopped as she saw Raine and Presea had already began to unpack boxes and put things away. Sheena blinked and began to make herself busy, loading boxed into the corner while Raine and Presea opened them up. With the four of them, the move was complete in a couple of hours and Sheena made green tea with shaking hands. Raine gently took the pot away from the ninja and did it herself, since even the Professor could boil water.

"Thanks..." Sheena muttered, sitting before the knee-high table with her forehead resting against the surface.

"Not a problem," Raine said. When the tea was ready, Raine tried to pour a cup for each of them, but of course anything related to cooking had to go wrong. She spilled a bit of the hot tea and scalded her finger.

"Ooh, hot hot hot hot!" She hissed, her teeth clenched together. She bowed her head, defeated. "I'm hopeless," she moaned.

Startling them all, Sheena burst out into laughter. The tension in the room lessened up considerably after that and they were soon all chuckling, and even Presea was grinning. The Professor, though still peeved at her inability to do anything domestic, was smiling at the fact that Sheena was going to be all right.

"But I still don't know what to do about Aiko," Sheena said when they were done laughing. Her face was solemn again. "I don't think she has any relations other than her parents."

"Surely one of the villagers can adopt her?" Raine asked, sipping her tea. "This village doesn't seem the type to simply abandon her."

Sheena put a hand to her chin. "Maybe I can adopt her," she mused. Raine choked a bit on her tea.

"You? Sheena, taking on a child is a full-time job," Raine said. "Not to be harsh, but I don't think you're ready for it. I had trouble enough with Genis, and he was my brother." she paused. "Or maybe that's exactly why I had trouble with him."

"Well, I was just saying..." Sheena pouted. Then her face lit up. "OH! I know! Tiga's always here, so maybe I can let her stay in this place since her house was burned down. And Tiga can look after her. He may not look it, but he loves children to death. He'd be thrilled."

"Speaking of children," Regal broke in. "Where is Genis?"

Sheena and Raine looked at each other. Finally, Raine found something about the floor terribly interesting, because she stared at it as she said: "Genis ran away."

"Didn't that Kloitz dude say something about- Raine!" Sheena jumped up and mopped the spillage with a nearby rag, since Raine had accidentally knocked over her cup when she had started at the name "Kloitz".

"S-sorry..."

"It's OK...anyway, that guy mentioned Genis, didn't he?"

"He said Genis was trying to steal from him," Presea chimed in, slurping her tea. Loudly. Regal sweat dropped at her lack of table manners.

"In any case," Sheena said, "By tomorrow we should be getting reports from our Shinobi abroad." She turned to Regal and Presea. "If it's OK with you two, can we borrow one of the Rheiards you came on? I only have mine, and if me and Raine are going to travel..."

Regal coughed, politely. "I'm sorry, but Presea and I came on the same Rheiard."

"Due to my short physical stature," Presea said, "I am unable to see above the control panel and thus cannot effectively steer the Rheiard."

"Oh," Sheena said, taking a moment to decipher Presea-talk. When she felt she understood, she nodded. "That's OK. I guess we could always ride the same one until Genis is found..." she scratched her head. "Or we could go to Zelos's new mansion. He's the one who has Genis's and Raine's Rheiards."

"I think it would be best if I had my own Rheiard, so if the need to split up arose we would be ready," Raine said, pouring herself a new cup of tea and sipping from it, trying to get the hot liquid to relax her. The thought of sharing a Rheiard with Sheena, after Sheena's odd drunken confession two nights previous, made her uneasy.

"Okay then," Sheena put her cup down decisively. "This is really what I need right now. A good journey to clear my mind. I'm leaving everything under Tiga's supervision, including the girl, Aiko." Looking to Regal and Presea (who had the cup of tea in the air, with her head back, so she could catch the few remaining dregs of tea on her outstretched tongue), she said, "You guys can spend the night in my old place, since it's even more cramped in here than it was over there. There's not much left because almost everything is... is here now...but there should still be futons. And Raine, you can go too if you want."

Raine shook her head. "I'll be here. If any reports of Genis come in the night, they'll go directly to the Chief, won't they? I want to be here if it does."

"Suit yourself," Sheena shrugged. "Tomorrow, report or not, we're getting your Rheiard back from Zelos."

The unofficial meeting closed, Regal and Presea bade the two a good night and went to Sheena's old house.

Sheena waited until they were gone before going back into the house and clearing up the table. Raine helped, and when they were done she went and opened the window, setting up her futon beneath it. Sheena watched, puzzled. "What're you doing? It's freezing outside. It's almost winter, you know."

"I don't like being shut in," Raine said, shrugging. "I did it before, remember? The night you...the night I first arrived." Raine was about to say "The night you got drunk" but re-thought it. If Sheena didn't mention that awkward night, neither would she.

"Oh," Sheena said, putting a hand to her temple as if remembering the hangover. "Right. Well if you really want to, I'll go get more blankets. I must've forgotten that last time because I was... um.." Sheena paused, fresh blankets in hand. Suddenly, she said, "By the way, I've been meaning to ask you.."

Raine looked up as calmly as she could. "Yes?"

Sheena flushed. "Did I... I didn't say anything.. um.. weird when I was drunk, did I?"

Raine put a hand to her chin, thinking of a tactful way to reply. "Define 'weird' for me," she prompted.

"Well, it's just you've been acting a little odd around me and I wondered if I had said something to make you. Um. U-uncomfortable."

Raine carefully fluffed up a pillow, lying down on the futon and making a big show of trying to find a book to read. "You did seem quite certain that I was in love with Lloyd," she said.

"Oh, sheesh. I'm sorry," Sheena sounded genuinely repentant, but when Raine caught a glimpse of her face by the lamplight she could see that the ninja was relieved.

"...You also said you weren't attracted to men," Raine said after a long, struggling moment of deliberation. There was no need to keep information from her friends, after all they had been through. Except... of course...

Sheena broke Raine's train of thought by plopping down next to her and putting her hands on her shoulders. "Raine," she said seriously, "You can't tell anyone."

Raine shook her head. "It wouldn't be healthy to keep something like that a secret, Sheena. I'm sure your village would understand."

"But Raine!" Sheena shook her. "They can't know! I already accepted Orochi's proposal! I can't just take it back now!"

Raine felt her heart drop. But only because she was terribly, terribly concerned, she told herself. Concerned.

For her friend.

"Why would you do that, Sheena?" Raine demanded. She was angry because her friend had just done something terribly rash, and without thinking she had dived headfirst into it. That's what she told herself. "Say something like that if you don't even like men? Marriage is for life. Eventually he's going to want you to have children."

"Then what do I do?" Sheena asked, removing her hands from Raine's shoulders and putting them in her own lap, reminding Raine suddenly of an eager student. "There's no way I can just walk over there and say," Sheena took on a huge, incredibly fake grin and her voice went up several pitches. "Sorry Orochi hunny! I'm not going to marry you because I happen to be a lesbian. But we can still be friends, kay?" Sheena lost her big fake smile and frowned, crossing her arms.

"I think," Raine said, "That's exactly what you should do. But not quite as exuberant. Be mindful of his feelings. He's probably going to be a bit confused."

"Raine! Grandpa himself said this was a good idea. It was what he wanted me to do."

Raine put down her book on the floor with a slam. "Then why are you complaining about it, if you're so dead-set on ignoring the advice you asked me for?" she demanded.

Sheena sat back as if the Professor had perhaps smacked her upside the head with the book. "Because-" she started, painfully. "Because- I- don't- want to. I don't want to marry him. But I keep feeling it's what everyone wants. And I'm just confused again." She shook her head. "I just don't know what to do."

"Do you really think your grandfather would want you miserable?"

"..." Sheena silently walked over to her futon and wriggled under her blankets, burying her head in the pillow. "I'm exhausted," she said, her voice muffled. "I'll know what to do in the morning."

Raine sighed audibly and blew out her candle, to agitated to read now. She stared up, out the window, trying to ignore the cold.

A/N: Sorry about the Chief going kaput. That wasn't in the original plan, but then again, neither was Kloitz. Man, he's REALLY evil. And does anyone have any theories about him yet? Put it in a review! New chapter ideas are also helpful. Next chapter... the long-anticipated... BIKINI PARTY! WHOA! Consider it my Valentine to you wonderful reviewers. And Whopper, I love you too, you jack-ass.