A/N: Wow, there are a lot of people after Sheena, huh? I don't know how that happened, honestly... although A Shadow was always in the original outline. Yeah, he's not gonna show up again for a long time after this... there are still so many other things that haven't been fully explained. Like the note Ken shoved into Raine's hand before she was sent out of Shadow Triet...
And in case you are wondering, in the game when Raine agrees to heal Sheena (in Luin) she says, "I'll heal you... if you give us information". And in response, Sheena says, "Heh... you're just as devious as you look." I always like how in the beginning they were all catty with each other and in the end all seven of them are like, best friends... Why is this important, you ask? Well.. you'll see.
Sheena stood in the snow, her breath coming out in a thick fog as she looked down at the sleeping city of Flanoir. She stamped her feet, crossing her arms over her ample (practically bare) chest, her teeth chattering slightly from the cold. Somone stood next to her. She knew it must be Colette, even if her hair seemed different in the flickering starlight, dark and not a healthy shining gold. Colette was there, talking to her, but she couldn't really hear anything.
Plip, plip, plip. What was that noise? And why did she notice it? Her unconcious mind told her it must be water dripping from icicles. She sneezed.
"Is it ok if I... come closer?"
"Uh, sure."
Briefly, Sheena's mind told her that Colette has matured. Strangely enough, they're the same height now- Colette was always shorter than her. This must be the future, a dream future when everything was fine and there was no Lloyd, and no Zelos, and no Kloitz with his fevered lilac eyes and scorching lips. Her voice had changed, too. No longer sweet and high-pitched, she sounded like... like... . Slower, deeper, cultured. She rested her head against Sheena's shoulder, shifting closer. Colette sighed, almost inaudibly, slowly relaxing against Sheena's body. Not thinking, Sheena put an arm around her waist, drawing her closer.
"You're in danger."
It was so soft, Sheena shouldn't have heard it. But somehow she did. Now, even the side of her not pressed against the blond was warm, almost uncomfortably warm. A small bead of sweat dripped from her nose and she quickly wiped her face with her free hand. "What?"
"We're not real, neither of us," Colette said. "He's a mirror, I'm a shadow." She turned her head slightly, pale blond hair falling into Sheena's vision like a fresh new snow, smelling like a field of soft flowers. "Can you love a shadow, Sheena?"
"I love you," Sheena insisted, half-heartedly. She knew she didn't mean it. Colette knew she didn't mean it. The way she said it- slowing down as she reached the end of her sentance as if trying to reel the words back into her mouth. She'd never loved Colette that way. It had always been a crush, something hopeless that would never work.
"Read the notes," Colette told her, and Sheena shifted away from her, looking at her full in the face for the first time. This person wasn't Colette, she realized with a sick feeling sliding down her belly. She'd just cuddled with some stranger with dark, dark hair, not yellow like sunflowers. click. What was that noise? And why did she notice it? Her unconcious mind told her it was the sound of her nails tapping against the railing covered in dry, powder-like snow. Was there snow in her eyes? She blinked and wiped it away, the heat on her shoulder growing more painful. Burning. She was burning!
She stirred for a few moments, her eyelids fluttering open and shut as she tried to stagger into a fighting position when aching from every possible muscle on her body. She tangled her feet up in the blankets, leaning against the cave wall as her eyes tried to make sense of the snapping, crackling firepit and the cot she had been sleeping on. Some sort of bird was cooking over the flames, the juices dripping down, hissing and popping. She had been lying much to close to the flames. The wood wasn't ash just yet... the fire must have just been kindled.
Plip... plip...plip.. Droplets fell from the stalactites above.
Sheena looked around, noticing first of all that she was naked (except for the necklace she wore wrapped around her wrist) and secondly that there was someone standing in the shadows in the corner of her eyes. Outside, the blizzard still raged. Inside, things were lurking in the dark. Taking the blanket and holding it to her chest with one hand, her hand brushed against her naked thigh, where her pockets should be. Crap. No clothes. No cards. Just her martial arts skills. She swallowed.
"Where am I?" she asked the figure.
"Read the notes," it said. It didn't move, didn't shift. Sheena couldn't hear any breaths, no inhales or exhales. Click.
"I'm not gonna play your games," she warned him, shifting into a fighting position. Her muscles screamed at her in protest and she fell to one knee, gasping. The blanket fell a little and she could see the bruises and scratches, ugly welts against her porcelain skin. "D-damn..." Well, it was all over now. She was locked up, naked, with a weirdo pervert who was probably never going to let her leave here alive.
"Read the notes," it said again. Click.
"Wait a second," Sheena muttered, hobbling over to the figure and then punching it in frustration. The scarecrow tumbled to the floor, the recorded voice speaking again. "Read the notes." Click. A small, mechanical whir that her ears had failed to notice sounded. "Read the notes." Click.
I can't believe I was frightened by a scarecrow, she thought, beginning to shake with nervous giggles. She flicked the small recording device off. But why am I naked? Where am I? Sheena walked to a small table, feeling the seat. Warm. Someone had sat there recently. The fire was fresh and new, and that meat hadn't been sitting there for very long. Well, whoever this mysterious note-maker was, he enjoyed his anonymity. And why am I naked? There was a note on the table; hoping there would be answers there, she picked it up.
Fujibayashi-sama, the note said. I'm sure you're confused. Your Rheiard crashed, and you were near death when I found you, but you probably don't remember any of that. Truthfully, the only reason you're alive is because I've been following your activities ever since you first encountered Kloitz, and tracked you down when I saw you lose control on your Rheiard. It was my intention never to have any sort of contact with you, but as you can see, this turned out not to be the case. My healing skills aren't up to par with what you're used to, forgive me. There are apple gels in the desk, food in the cabinet, and a chicken roasting before you. (That's right, it's not a penguinist. It's a chicken. Slaughtered fresh in Flanoir, so don't worry about food poisoning. Just wait until it's cooked properly.)
I'll try and stop now, since I love to hear myself talk. Write. Well, you understand my meaning. My Rheiard is outside. You may use it as you please, since yours was hopelessly ruined. Your friends are all safe and sound in Flanoir, you can travel there when the snow lets up. Try to hurry, though, since they'll probably start looking for you and just get lost in another blizzard. When you wake up I will be gone, and hopefully we will never meet face to face.
And a word of advice- don't look for Kloitz. He'll always be a step ahead of you. Turn back now and forget all of this. This is only said out of concern for your safety, since I have to admit I've become slightly attached to you and your quirks. This is not a threat, I'd just hate to see you dying in the snow again. Farewell.
- A Shadow
"Great, I have a stalker," she said, chills running up her spine despite the warmth of the cave. Gooseflesh popped up along her arms as she held the blanket tighter around herself, glancing at the empty cave for sign of a drooling man oogling her naked body. Sliding the desk drawer open, she found a few gels, and another note. Please don't use all of them, and try to replace the ones you do use if you ever get the chance. This is a place I go to hide when things are getting rough in Meltokio.
"But why am I naked!" Sheena said out loud, tossing the paper down onto the floor and flushing furiously. Spotting a dresser, she walked over to it and opened it up to find... clothes! Yes! Her own, familiar, comfortable purple semi-kimono. Pinned to the inside was yet another note. By the way, I took the liberty of mending your clothes and giving you a bath. You've been through a lot this past week, and it was starting to show by the holes in your clothing. Feel free to take any other clothing in here as well. Most of it belonged to my father, but I'm sure you'll look nicer in them. Well, that would explain why her hair was down and smelled like... some sort of flower. She wasn't sure what, exactly, but it was familiar. She felt her skin crawl again at the thought of some strange man undoing her ribbons and.. Arghh! No! No! No! Don't think about it! Don't think about it!
After a few fruitless minutes of searching for her hair pin, she gave up and put her clothes on and some sort of weird poncho she found. It was warm in here, but she was sure she'd need it once she got outside. Cocking her head to the side, she listened carefully. Yes, the storm had died down, but for how long? And how far away was Flanoir?
Screw it, Sheena thought. Since when have I been cautious about Rheiards?
Feeling less sore now that she had some gels, she stretched, making a small sound of happiness in the back of her throat when she felt her back pop a few times. Aah. Going to the cave entrance where she found a ramshackle wooden door, she pushed it open and blinked several times to get her eyes used to the blinding light of the sun hitting the snowbanks. She was in the middle of nowhere. As promised, a dark purple Rheiard was waiting outside. Sheena's eyes swept over the area, noticing deep boot prints in the snow. Mr. Shadow had left just before she woke up, then. The footsteps were so recent the snow had only just begun to cover them up. Thinking on a whim, she broke out into a trot after the footprints, mentally mapping out the area based on various landmarks. In the distance she could barely see a black smudge that must be Flanoir, behind her the hidden cave and the Rheiard. All right. Time to see who Mr. Shadow-Stalker was. Following the footprints and other signs her acute Mizuho senses picked up, she patted her pocket to make sure her enchanted cards were all in place.
But there was something odd about the footsteps now. They were getting farther and farther apart, as if The Shadow was running at full speed, taking huge, leaping steps. Quicking her pace, Sheena continued along the trail doggedly, watching in dismay as the prints now had more and more space between steps, longer than any human could ever jump.
Then they stopped. He'd vanished like a shadow before the light of dawn.
"Sh..." Sheena started, then clamped down on her tounge. She had been cursing way too much lately, but then again things had been going way too badly lately. She was turning into Zelos... "Sh...SHOOT! Shoot, shoot, shoot, SHOOT!" Now she had just wasted her time chasing after shadows! Literally! Making a 360 degree turn, she sped off in the direction of the Rheird, fury fueling her speed. Lunging when she was a few feet away from the flying machine, she landed neatly on the seat and turned the Rheiard on, smiling grimly as she heard the engine roar to life. This was it, this was what she was best at- better than fighting or disguises or espionage. Mr. Shadow wanted to hide, well fine, but she was sure he was never going to see his Rheiard again. It was hers now. Lifting off into the air with such explosive force it created a small crater in the snow, the purple Rheiard flew toward the dark smudge that was Triet.
She arrived in ten minutes, almost crashing her Rheiard into the town gate. Almost, but then again we are talking about Sheena the Master of All Things Rheiard and Summon Spiritual. Landing before a young boy who looked at her with huge, unbelieving eyes, (You'd think he'd never seen a woman drop out of the sky on a strange flying machine before) she shrunk the Rheiard with her Wing Pack and put it in her pocket next to her cards and.. hmm? She reached deeper into her pocket, pulling out a hair pin. It wasn't her old one, but a gorgeous, elaborately crafted jade hair pin shaped to look like the wings of a dragonfly. One final gift from her stalker-guy. As if she needed to be reminded of him any further. Scowling, she ran to the accessory shop and sold it for a whopping total of 25,000 Gald. She would rather have her hair loose and get in the way than wear that crummy thing, she thought, but her thoughts were soon interupted as she was tackled from behind.
Switching into panic mode, it took all of her willpower to hold back a Pyre Seal and try to make sense of the situation. She only calmed down when she realized who it was by the wisps of blond hair spilling over her shoulder, into her face.
Sh-Sheena!" Colette practically sobbed into the back of her neck, making Sheena feel an unhappy mix of pleasure and dread. "You're o-o-o-OK! I wuh-wuh-was s-so worried. You fell, and... and.. and I thought you.." she sniffled a few times, trying to calm down. "And the Puh-Puh-Professor said-"
"Colette! I'm fine. Really, I'm fine." Sheena gritted her teeth, trying her hardest not to erupt into flames over a simple hug. Well, a tackle, but Colette wasn't known for being the most graceful creature in Sylvarant. Prying her fingers from the purple fabric, Sheena scooted around so that they were sitting up, face to face. She suddenly remembered her words in Zelos's mansion. I'm cool with Lloyd and Colette now. Sh'yeah right.. and why then had she been avoiding them for the past year? And had a weird, vaguely sexy dream about the Chosen? Ex-Chosen...
Colette took one look at her face, still battered and bruised from the fall, and her spit lip, and dissolved into tears again, throwing her arms around Sheena's neck. Sheena rolled her eyes upwards towards the heavens, trying to supress the small, gleeful dance her Inner Sheena was doing. This was ridiculous. She was over Colette. Ever since the night in Flanoir, two years ago. It had been Lloyd there with Colette in the snow, it had been Lloyd she wanted to be closer to.
"Is it OK if I... come closer?"
It probably never even crossed Colette's mind that it was possible for two girls to be... close the way a boy and a girl could. "You really can stop now," Sheena said, her arms hanging limp by her sides as she sighed. "I'm perfectly fine, just a little shook up."
Colette sat back, looking childish as she rubbed at her eyes with both fists. Sheena grinned at that, and when Colette could see again she weakly smiled back. "I'm sorry," she said, wiping a wet hand on her white cloak. "I'm being silly."
"It's fine. You thought I was dead, right?" Colette nodded, miserable again. "Well, I'm not. I'm the best Rheiard driver, remember? When I die it's sure not gonna be 'cause of a Rheiard, so let's go get some hot chocolate and find the others, okay?"
Colette managed to smile again, though she was still quivering from the outburst of emotion. Oh yes, she definately needed some sugar in her system. "O...OK!" Sheena helped her up and they made their way to the inn, where hopefully they sold more things than just Flanoir Potion. She was pretty sure they did, though, and her suspicions were only confirmed when she found Lloyd, Genis, and Zelos greedily slurping from huge cups of the steaming sweet liquid.
"Oh, oh, oh, I buhned mah tung," Lloyd yelped, doing an odd sort of jig, hopping from one foot to the other while fanning his mouth.
"That's what you get for guzzling down hot chocolate without even blowing on it, Lloyd," Genis said. "It's called "hot chocolate" for a reason. It's hot."
"Shut it!"
"Eeeheehee, that's why I dumped some snow in mine," Zelos said, grinning at Lloyd's dance. "Now it's lukewarm chocolate. Mm."
"Lloyd!" Colette said, running from Sheena to Lloyd and embracing him tightly. Sheena looked away, embarresed, when they shared a brief kiss before the three men noticed her.
"Oh my GODDESS IT'S SHEENA!" Zelos said, unnecessarily. He tossed his empty cup aside and made a beeline for the ninja. "I thought you were dead!" He squealed, wrapping her up in a huge bear hug and peppering her face with light butterfly kisses until she began to yank on his hair as hard as she could. He reluctantly let her go, trying his best to imitate a dejected puppy.
"Yeah, I can see how you were just tearing at your chest in grief over there," Sheena said drily.
"Don't be that way, hunny!"
"I'm not your hunny. Remember Pandora? She's going to be your life-loonng hunny." Sheena resisted the urge to leer at the expression on his face as he was reminded of his commitment. Stretching out the word 'long' was a good effect, if she could say so herself. "Though I don't know why she wants to marry you."
"Ouch," he said, in his loudest, obnoxious voice. "You wound me! Here was I, grieving, thinking I'd never get to oogle your voluptuous figure again! And you have to go and remind me of that witch." Then he lowered his voice, leaning in so that only she could hear. "And speaking of grief, You-Know-Who was taking your dissapearance particularly hard."
"Uh, who's You-Know-Who?"
"You know who," Zelos insisted. "Who else is infatuated with you? I mean, besides me, but I think we're clear I only love you for your body."
Sheena resisted the urge to slap him. "Remind me why we're friends?"
"Cause I'm the only one who can truly understand your tortured, turbulent soul?"
Genis sighed, loudly. "Things never change between you two, do they?" he asked, leaning back in his chair and balancing his weight on the back legs as he propped his long legs on the table.
"...Where's the Professor, and Kratos and them?" Sheena said, deciding to ignore any further hints of some sort of Sheena conspiracy from Zelos. She'd had enough of that for one day, thanks. Zelos pouted, taking the hint, and plunked down on a nearby table.
"Kratos and Ken are out looking for you," he said. "Yuan, last I heard, jumped into the nearest bathtub he found and has been marinating in there for about an hour now. Pandora is out shopping, of course."
"And Raine?"
"In her room. Let's go visit her!" Zelos linked his arm with hers, dragging her past Colette, Lloyd, and Genis before any of them could get a word in edgewise. Cheerily taking the steps two at a time, despite Sheena's protests that she was going to die if he kept manhandling her the way he was doing, they arrived before the wooden door. Sheena's body was aching again, from the stinging cut on her lip to the groaning muscles on her legs. In a way, it was probably a good thing they were going to see the Professor again. But why would it be a bad thing? Sheena shook her head, reaching for the door handle when Zelos stopped her.
"You should probably go in alone," he said, nodding energetically, trying to emphasize the word 'alone'.
"Why?"
"Duh," was all Zelos said before slipping off somewhere to leave them alone. He was truly a prime example of an annoying male. Sheena shook her head, reaching for the door handle when suddenly it all became clear, as if Zelos had run back and slapped it in her face, shrieking with hysteric giggles. This whole time, Sheena realized, Zelos had been hinting that the Professor was looking at her in a new light. Of course, there was always the first option that he was trying to mess with her head. That's what she'd always figured, but then again Zelos did have a knack for spotting attraction. Because no matter what she'd said or done or denied, Zelos had always been the only man she'd ever been physically attracted to.
But I still like Colette, the Inner Sheena whispered in her ear.
This was stupid. Real ninjas couldn't truly love anyone in the first place, she reminded herself. So she tried to shrug the tangled feelings off of her and walked in the room, knocking softly on the door as she opened it. "Professor?" She stepped further in, closing the door behind her. Raine was curled up on top of the sheets, still wearing her travelling clothes. Knowing she should probably wait until Raine had woken up but still morbidly curious to see if Zelos was being stupid or not, she sat down on the edge of the bed, leaning down. "Hey. Wake up."
Raine dragged a hand across her sleep-murked eyelids, shifting in her sleep. Then she shot up, her eyes wide with surprise as she saw Sheena sitting there on her bed, looking as though someone had tossed her through a meat grinder, true, but she was alive. She clutched at the bedsheets, looking at the floor as she tried to control herself from doing what she most wanted to do. Losing her inner battle, Raine lifted up one hand... balled it into a fist and brought it down on top of Sheena's head, not hard enough to hurt her, but hard enough to make a tunk sound.
"Professor!" Sheena said indignantly, crouching with her arms held protectively over her head. She knew Zelos had always been messing with her... "I almost die and the first thing you do is hit me! What if that was the straw that broke the camel's back and you knocked me out?"
"Don't you ever make me worry like that again!" Raine raised her hand to strike, in the most menacing manner she could muster without bursting into tears again. That had been happening much too often lately. "I couldn't sleep at all last night!" Still quivering with rage and relief, she sat back against the head board and took a few deep, calming breaths until her face was its regular stony mask. She was much better at hiding her emotions than most ninjas Sheena knew.
"You are so twisted," Sheena said, sitting indian-style on the bed.
"Having chronic bouts of insomnia really doesn't help."
Sheena sighed, scratching at the back of her head. "I'm sorry for be being a hassle, OK?" Raine made a small noise like 'hmph!'. Sheena took that as the closest she was going to get to an answer when Raine was pissed off like this. "Can you please heal me now? I feel like crap."
Raine blew a stray silver hair out of her face. "You know you don't need to ask," she said, some of the sharpness going out of her voice already. Resting her hands on either side of Sheena's face, she closed her eyes and began to mumble the magic words under her breath. "Heal," she said, and a warm tingling sensation spread all through Sheena's body, washing away the blood left from cuts that had reopened and going deep into her skin to fix the tiny blood vessals that had burst and formed bruises.
Feeling as though fifty-ton weights had been brushed off of her shoulders, Sheena gave a huge sigh of relief, licking her lower lip to be sure the cut was gone. Turning her head to look at herself in a nearby mirror, she saw her normal, healthy face looking back at her and Raine still with her hands on Sheena's face, eyes closed. "Thanks a bunch, Raine," she started to say, but she cut off mid-sentance when she noticed Raine had opened her eyes, but hadn't let her go.
Zelos was right but hey that's the way Kloitz looked at me just before he kis-
Raine leaned forward, planting a gentle kiss on the side of Sheena's mouth. Sheena jerked back, falling off the bed, her heart doing an excited, frightened dance inside her chest as she lay there sprawled on the floor with her legs still on the matress. Raine peered over the side of the bed at her, looking amused. "What was that?"
"Wha- You- I could ask you the same thing!" Sheena blinked at the upside-down Raine, her face burning up from blushing. "What was that?" Sheena shot right back, pointing an accusing finger at Raine. "Was that on purpose?"
"Oh, forget it," Raine said, scooting off of the other side of the bed. Sheena froze for a moment before scrambling to her feet and rushing after Raine, grabbing her tightly before she could leave. Raine stood, her arms limp by her sides and her head tilted slightly, as if to say, "Yes?"
"Uhm," Sheena said, not quite sure what to do next.
"If you have something to say," Raine said in her most patient tone, "You might want to get on with it."
"I've had a pretty crazy week and one of my best friends just kissed me, I'm kinda freaking out here!" Raine tried to get loose but Sheena just wrapped her arms tighter around her waist, clutching onto her own sleeves to form a sort of Sheena-chain. "You're not leaving."
Raine's mask cracked for a moment and a guilty look flashed over her face, not that Sheena was able to see it. "I just wanna know why you did that," Sheena said against Raine's ear. "I thought I was friends with the Professor and then suddenly she turns into someone else. And I don't know if this is some kind of weird test. And I don't know what I want, or what I'm supposed to think."
"Why do most people kiss each other? It's a sign of friendship or love or physical attraction." Raine managed to turn around in Sheena's tight embrace, facing her with a fresh, emotionless mask plastered on. "What do you think?"
"Don't go all 'Professor' on me," Sheena warned her. "I don't like to play games. Can't you give me a straight ansmm-mm...!" Sheena flushed crazily as Raine leaned forward again, stopping her with another kiss and holding her tightly so she couldn't get away. Sheena stumbled back a few steps, her brain swimming and spinning as the back of her legs hit the edge of the matress. If possible, she was even more frightened and excited and confused now as Raine slowly pushed her down onto her back, hands on her shoulders.
You're just as devious as you look.
Her heart started beating out against her chest, violent and scared, a caged animal. She couldn't breathe, and only realized her eyes were wide open when she saw Raine open hers. "What do you think?" Raine asked again, in between deep breaths. "Is this what you want?"
"I don't think I can think," Sheena half-mumbled against Raine's neck, sending delighted shivers along the half-elf's body. Her heart was still moving way too fast, her face way too hot. This was something she hadn't felt in a long, long time... Raine's hand moved to cup the back of her neck, even though she probably didn't know that Mizuho considered that to be the weakest point in the body. But of course she'd already done that before, Sheena realized, thinking of when she had woken up in Zelos's mansion. Her own hands were clutching the back of Raine's travelling coat, the wool rough against the soft silks and skin underneath. "Uh, Raine?" Sheena said, unable to move or even turn her head away from the prying lilac eyes, glowing with that odd light that seemed to run in her family. "We really should lock the-"
Family. Crap. Sheena stiffened and she turned her head aside from Raine's questing mouth, remembering a bit too late the promise to Orochi that they were going to start their own family. Raine sensed her sudden mood swing, stopped her fingers from running through Sheena's hair and sat up. Sheena did the same, her knee still against Raine's and her hand in her lap. "I've been waiting a while to do that," Raine said, almost apologetic. "After I thought you had died I suppose I must have... lost myself." She made a small frustrated noise, banging her hand against the matress. "Call me weak if you will but I- I don't want to think anymore. I just saw my two brothers try to murder each other.. after I could finally remember that I even had another brother and that I... I left him to die."
A sudden unpleasent though struck Sheena as she looked up at Raine again, saw her tuck a strand of familiar silver hair behind her ear. When you see Raine in Hell, give her this. "Is Kloitz really your brother?" she blurted out.
Raine's head shot up, a pained expression on her face. Sheena instantly felt guilty. "Now?" Raine asked, putting a hand to her face. "You have to ask now, after I just... after we just..." She stopped as Sheena moved closer and held her again, a softer embrace.
"I'm sorry, but I really need to know," Sheena said. Unused to comforting people, she gently rubbed Raine's back, trying to make the angry, quivering tension go away. This was a completely different Raine than the one she normally knew... vulernable and confused. "We all know Genis and Kloitz are brothers," Sheena said, trying to soften the blow of what she was about to say. "But are you their sister?"
There was a pause.
"I..."
A long pause.
"I think so," Raine whispered, her brow furrowed in confusion. She shook her head, angrily. "I mean, yes. Of course he's my brother. I remember the day they were born, it was raining and we were running from... from someone. And we were shipped off on a boat.. it's all so.. distorted. And there was a crash an we all almost drowned." Raine began to shake again, her eyes closed. "And I remember that's what makes me so terrified of water, and the other time when I saw him drown. The Papal Knights were after me," Raine explained to Sheena, giving into temptation and playing with her silky black hair. "My father killed two of them and he sort of... tripped the other one so that he fell into the lake. And it couldn't have been deeper than three feet but his armor was so heavy he couldn't get back up. And I watched it. And Goddess forgive me, I wanted him to die because I knew that he wanted me to die. I knew then that everyone hated me just because I was alive."
"Raine, I..." Sheena couldn't comprehend why Raine was just spouting off like this, or the strange glow in her eyes. "I'm sorry," she finished, lamely.
Raine stopped. Then she wiped something from her eye, giving her a small, embarresed laugh. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to overwhelm you."
"Heh, it's OK, I guess." Sheena let Raine rest her head in the hollow of her neck, deciding all the Professor needed to be back to her normal self was a good long nap. She didn't want to overwhelm me? Then she shouldn't have kissed me. "I mean, there isn't anybody in the group who doesn't come with a little, uh, 'baggage'."
"I suppose you're right," Raine murmured sleepily, her eyelids closing. "We really should lock the door, you know."
You should go, since there's obviously something wrong with her, her concious told her. You should wait until she falls asleep and then leave her until tomorrow, when she'll be normal again.
No way, the Inner Sheena said. And normally, the Inner Sheena was ignored in favor of her common sense. She'd always prided herself on not doing things on a whim like a certain Chosen she could mention, but this time she gave in. Lying down and making herself comfortable next to Raine, something she never thought she would ever do in a million years, she shoved her black hair out of her face. She really needed to find a new hairpin, she thought as Raine, her eyes still half-closed, tilted her head up and kissed Sheena again. Maybe later.
"What the Hell are you doing to my sister?"
Family. Crap.
A/N: This chapter... was really hard to write. It went against my natural heterosexual tendancies.. I was literally frozen to my seat, staring at the keyboard for about an hour. Or it felt like an hour. So yes. Lots of lesbians for you readers who've been dissapointed thus far. But I whipped it out pretty fast, dontcha think? And whoa! The Professor sure is OOC, dontcha think? And whoa! Where's Yuan? Whoa! I want some hot chocolate now. Feeling kinda hyper. Maybe that's why I got this chapter done so quickly. Just like the beginning of the story, how I was crankin' them out every day, sometimes two in one day? That was great..yes yes yes. This story has become really Sheena-centric, even though it's supposed to be Raine-centric. And after twenty-five chapters they finally make out on a bed. Oy, that scene was so hard to write. I hope you guys read it and go, "Whoa, that's a sexy kiss" and not "Whoa, she's really not good at Shoujo-ai." LATER. REVIEW, OR THE OWL WILL EAT YOU. Forgive me for acting like a teenager, but after this scary chapter I think I DESERVE to go nuts. Oy! Colloyd is starting to sound veerryy attractive right about now. Holy flying FREAK I wrote this chapter in one day and its 5,800 words long. Wow. That's gotta be a record or something. Have fun!