Hi everyone, its been a while. Sorry for the long break between updates. I feel like this is a drive by posting, because as soon as I'm back I'm going to be gone again (or at least as infrequent as I have been). I've been really grateful to those of you who have dropped me a line or a review over the last couple of weeks. It makes me happy to hear your thoughts and comments on the events that go on. I especially like the questions. Y'all are a very clever bunch of peeps and force me to keep on my toes as a writer. That being said, I hope you enjoy this chapter and I really look forward to hearing your thoughts! XO-Ponchoninjax3

Yuki was at the shrine again. It was late; all the lanterns were out and a deathly stillness lingered in the air. The wind howled outside, rattling the doors against their frames. Reika breathed deeply beside her, mumbling something in her sleep. Yuki crawled off the futon that they shared and crept out into the hallway. A nagging sensation was tugging at her senses, luring her out of the safety and security of her bed. The feeling was vaguely familiar but Yuki couldn't put a name to it.

The floor creaked under the old, dried out tatami mats. Yuki paused from time to time to listen for any stirring priestesses. She moved surely in the darkness although she was unsure of her destination. Her feet carried her toward the back exit of the shrine, towards the deck on the lake. Yuki slid open the door and was faced with a nightmarish sight. It was bright as day outside, the lake reflecting the world engulfed in flames. There was a figure hovering in the air a great distance away. Yuki couldn't make out the features but it was possibly a woman. The howling she had taken as the wind turned out to be the strange figure's cries. Yuki calmly surveyed the shrine and found that it was untouched by the tongues of fire. There was a soft sound ahead that drew Yuki's attention. A cat was poised at the edge of the deck, its yowling keeping the blaze at bay. Yuki could sense the woman(?) was powerful beyond anything she had ever faced before, but this simple cat was an older thing and unwove the jutsu the way she had unraveled old sweaters.

Yuki stepped forward on the deck and stood beside the handsome cat to watch the world burn. It was peaceful in its way. Death was a part of life, so the end of all things meant everything could begin anew. Yuki smiled at the thought of the ashes as the rains soaked them, how they would be warmed and cooled by the changing of the seasons until at last in the spring flower buds would peek their way out of the snow. Saplings would claw their way to the surface, knocking over their scorched predecessors. She bored of the smoke-filled sky and turned her attention to the water. Yuki surveyed her own reflection only to see it degrade into a horrible, corpselike copy. She leaned in closer to get a better look when a rope looped itself around her neck. Yuki was dragged forcefully away from the water and she stumbled. She slid along the deck, flailing helplessly against the noose around her neck. Just as she began to settle down to begin considering her plan of action, something set the rope on fire.

When she opened her eyes, Yuki was greeted with the uncaring blinking of the stars. For a moment she stiffened, feeling lost and wondering where she was. Yuki glanced over at her daughter's sleeping form. Beki slept sitting up in her armor, something she learned from her father. The sight was familiar and comforting after such an unsettling dream.

Yuki settled herself into a meditation position. A normal person would just dismiss a dream like that as a nightmare but Yuki knew better. Whenever she had a dream like that, it was prophetic in some way. Right before Orochimaru came for Beki, Yuki had dreamed about a snake coming in through the window and swallowing the babe whole. It hadn't been hard to put two and two together on what that dream had been telling her. This time, though, Yuki was at a loss. The pair had no intention of returning to the shrine and she had no idea who that floating woman had been. Then there had been the Maidens; Yuki was sure it had been them. Were they trying to warn her about something?

"What's up?" Beki said, the sleep still heavy in her voice.

"Nothing, pumpkin." Yuki shrugged. "Just a bad dream."

Beki stood and stretched. "You ready to get moving?"

Yuki stood up and gestured towards the path. "Lead the way."

…

The pair were only a few hours out from Suna. As the climate had shifted from mild to severe, Yuki and Beki had switched to traveling early in the morning and at sunset to avoid the worst heat of the day. They had set out in the early morning but by the time they arrived in Suna, the heat would be oppressive. Already sweat trickled from Beki's hairline down into her eyes. It burned but she was helpless against it. Decked out in full armor, there was no available sleeve for her to wipe her forehead. Yuki spotted her daughter's futile blinking and pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket.

"That's old fashioned," Beki laughed as her mother handed it over to her.

"You laugh but you seem pretty glad to have it," Yuki scoffed. Beki wiped her forehead and her eyes, then offered the handkerchief back. "Ew, I don't want your sweaty rag." Yuki stuck out her tongue. "Hang on to it."

Beki shrugged and tucked it between her shirt and her bra. Normally she wouldn't be wearing this many layers. Knowing that she was technically visiting Suna as a diplomat, however, forced her to reconsider her comfort and opt for propriety. She cast a glance at her mother, who was fishing a lighter and a pack of cigarettes out of the same pouch she kept the hankie in. Beki shook her head. At times, her mother seemed prudishly old fashioned, with her hankies and her snooty antiquated coffee brewing. A minute later, Yuki would turn around and be smoking a cigarette, swearing profusely. Compared to her father, the woman was a complete enigma. Beki wasn't sure how much of Yuki's behavior had always been there versus how much of it was the woman's desperate race to adjust and conform to a decade in the future.

Yuki caught Beki staring at her and narrowed her eyes. "What's up?"

"Isn't smoking bad for you?" Beki cocked her head. "I don't remember you smoking when I was a kid."

"I picked the habit up from your father," Yuki exhaled the smoke in a steady stream. Beki hated to admit how badass it made Yuki look, even if it was going to give her cancer.

"Dad didn't smoke," Beki furrowed her brows. "I think he had like, one cigar a year on his birthday."

"That you knew of," Yuki's lips stretched in a vulpine grin. She tipped her chin up as she considered her daughter, a habit that made it seem like Yuki was always looking down on people. "Do you think your father told you everything? Sounds to me like he only ever let you see the best version of himself, hoping that you would only emulate his good. That way his bad would never get a chance to stick." Yuki laughed and shook her head. "That would have been fine if you didn't have to inherit his job. Seems to me you're a tad naïve of how people truly are, pumpkin."

"I think you make a lot of assumptions for someone who was trapped in their own ninjutsu for twelve years." Beki could feel the anger rising violently inside her. It surprised and startled her how little it took. Her whole life she had been slow to anger yet these days it felt like the smallest comment could set her off. That, and there were no stages to her anger anymore. Beki recalled being frustrated and hurt, then she got angry, then she became furious to the point of losing control. Now, she lost it immediately. The experience was terrifying to Beki It felt like she was losing herself, becoming a different person so subtly it had escaped her notice so far.

It hadn't escaped Yuki's notice. She felt the surge of chakra as it welled up inside Beki and nearly exploded right beside her. Yuki knew she tended to prod at people's weak spots. It was a subconscious habit that kept her on the advantage by making her the calmest person in the room. Yuki did nothing to respond to her daughter's dilemma. She was no physical threat; despite the raw damage potential of the Burned Maiden, Beki hardly posed a threat. The girl's lack of training meant that she had no ability to sustain the form for a long period of time or the mental capacity to make use of that window. Instead, Yuki watched Beki's face as she worked through the reaction. Her skin began to glow when the Maiden nearly triggered but then Beki's expression changed to a mixture of fear and surprise. She looked away from her mother and bit her lip. Yuki watched Beki's mouth as she quietly counted to ten while breathing deeply. Beki kept her face averted long after her skin had stopped glowing, too ashamed to look at her mother.

"That's going to become a problem," Yuki tapped the end of her cigarette to banish the spent ash. "If you can't get a handle on it."

Beki swallowed hard. "I'm sorry."

"I don't give a shit if you get angry at me," Yuki explained. "Losing control like that is going to get you killed. You're going to end up starting fights you aren't ready for, or you'll kill somebody you don't mean to."

"Ever since the Burned Maiden awakened inside me," Beki spoke slowly so her voice wouldn't crack. "I've noticed I get angry more often. I also tend to get angrier about things than I should."

"Like how you apparently can't accept constructive criticism?" Yuki watched her passively. "I've noticed that."

"I've never been an angry person, Yuki." Beki shook her head, missing her mother wince at the use of her first name. "It frightens me. It feels like I'm not in control."

"Someone else takes ahold of the wheel." Yuki looked off in the distance for a moment. Beki followed her gaze to the far-off entrance of the Sand. She wondered if her mother had ever been this far west before. She opened her mouth to ask when Yuki finally spoke. "In answer to your earlier question, yes. This is going to kill me. The cigarettes make me smell."

Beki blinked. "I meant cancer."

Yuki shook her head, laughing darkly. "I'm not going to live long enough to die of cancer, Beki. I'm going to die in battle, hopefully taking the bastard with me. This-" She pointed at the cigarette. "Is probably going to contribute to my downfall. It's not just the smoke, or the light at the end that will get me spotted. This shit gets in my pores, soaks into my clothes. I can contain it with the ice coat I put around myself but then I'm using chakra, which will also get me detected."

"Then why don't you quit?" Beki asked, her confusion plain on her face.

Yuki shrugged. "It reminds me of your father. That man picked me up and took me in when the whole world had rejected me. He gave me a place to live, a job, a future. He admitted to me later he did it because I was betrothed to his older brother and he hated him. That still meant he had no ulterior motives for me. We were riding into town on the back of a cart and the wheel came off. He handed his cigarette to me as he helped the driver fix it."

"So, you…?" Beki was having trouble following the narrative.

"I shrugged and took a puff. It burned the shit out of my lungs and I started hacking. Seiichiro didn't even see but he burst out laughing under that cart. My eyes were burning but I stuck the damn thing back in my mouth and kept puffing." Yuki's smile softened at the memory.

"Sorry, I just don't get it." Beki shook her head.

"The taste reminds me of him. At the time, I didn't understand it but…" She looked at her daughter and shook her head.

"What?" Beki cast her a frustrated look. "You can't just stop there!"

"I guess you'd get it. You've got a serious boyfriend," Yuki sighed. "That first cigarette tasted like him. When he gave me my next one it was different. I was having trouble lighting it so he started it for me. That's when it clicked. Until your dad and I started seriously dating and I could kiss him whenever I wanted, I feigned inability to use a lighter so he would start them for me."

Beki shook her head. "That's pathetic."

"Oh, like you've never played the damsel." Yuki rolled her eyes. "It's all part of the game leading up to courtship."

Beki thought about it. "There was that time Gaara carried the groceries home for me. I didn't ask him to, but…"

Yuki shook her head. "You're really your father's daughter. The two of you are so damned oblivious of how people feel about you, aren't you?"

Beki narrowed her eyes. "Those cigarettes are going to stain your teeth."

Yuki cast her daughter a dirty look. "Appealing to my vanity, are you?"

Beki watched as her mother chucked the butt and put it out with her heel. "It's working, isn't it?"

…

The guardsman stiffened at their approach. Beki assumed it was the armor; she had always seen it have a similar effect when her father wore it. As they drew closer, Beki pulled down the oni mask and smiled. It took a moment for their guard to lower.

"Lady Tsukimori," The taller one spoke. "We weren't expecting you."

"Sorry about that," Beki gave an apologetic sigh. "I was recently appointed ambassador. I wanted to formally greet the Kazekage."

"We can send word ahead that you're here," The other guard said.

"If you wouldn't mind," Beki bowed appreciatively.

"Who is this?" The guards gestured at Yuki, who smiled coyly in reply.

"This is my personal bodyguard," Beki didn't skip a beat. "Her papers are all in order. Since the assassination attempt, it was decided I should no longer travel alone."

They reviewed the papers Ishida had doctored. They were official; however, the information was all for an invented person. Ishida and Beki alone knew of these papers, so if an inquiry were ever struck up there would be a prison cell for them both. The guards reviewed the papers and waved them in.

Yuki chuckled but said nothing. Beki observed the casual way her mother entered a strange village, catching more attention than she gave. She was a head turner, glowing radiantly in all white in the bright Suna sun. Then there was Beki. She noticed she caught less attention in the armor, eyes downcast or averted to the side as they passed her. A small smile pulled at the corner of Beki's mouth. Her father would be proud that she wore the family armor with pride.

Beki checked them in that the inn before they went to the Kazekage's mansion. It was an adobe building with low ceilings and narrow halls. The midday heat was dangerous but it beat whacking their heads on doorframes and Beki scraping against the walls.

"So, we're going to go see Red?" Yuki elbowed Beki. "You excited?"

"Of course I am." Beki shrugged her off. "I hardly ever get to see him."

"Even if that means you have to introduce him to your mother?" Yuki cocked her head.

Beki stared her down. "You behave yourself. Not only is he my boyfriend but he's the Kazekage. You act up and I could lose this job. Which I desperately need."

Yuki gave her a raspberry. "You're no fun." Her eyes lit up and she smiled evilly.

"He isn't a hugger, so if you're thinking about smashing him in your boobs to embarrass him, forget it." Beki spat.

Yuki's smile faded and she mumbled something venomous.

…

"You know, if you keep at it like this you'll be blind by thirty," Kankuro folded his arms and kicked his brother's chair.

Gaara ignored him. The document he was reviewing had been put together by someone incredibly clever and equally as devious. If he wasn't careful, they might sneak something by him he would never want to agree to.

"Then, you know, in addition to having no eyebrows and being a ginger, you'll be blind." Kankuro prodded.

"That would be a blessing," Gaara sighed. "It would probably improve our work relationship if I wasn't constantly distracted by all the makeup you use to camouflage that you were born unbearably ugly."

Kankuro bristled. "It's getting a little too easy for you to shoot back. I remember, it used to take you a minute to come up with something. You don't even sound offended anymore."

"Are you bothering me because you're lonely or because you need to go out?" Gaara looked up at him.

"Are you implying I'm like a dog?" Kankuro narrowed his eyes.

"One of those little yippy ones women like to carry in their purses that pee on everything," Gaara repressed a smile as Kankuro's faded. "Kankuro is too tough a name for you; we'll call you Squeakers from now on."

There was a soft knock at the door and Kankuro walked over. The guardsman outside whispered a few words to him and departed. Kankuro turned with a sigh, knowing already what was in store.

"Gaara?"

"Yes, Squeakers?" Gaara said without looking up.

"Ambassador Tsukimori is here." Kankuro folded his arms and watched as Gaara jumped out of his seat so fast he took the chair with him, knocking it over and almost losing his balance in the process.

"Here, here? Like outside the door, or in town?!" Gaara looked around his office. He'd had at least seven meetings already today and the place looked more than lived in. There wouldn't be a free space to set a tea tray on even the arm of the sofa.

"Yes, Gaara. She's right behind me." Kankuro kept his best poker face.

Gaara had already scooped up a few large stacks of papers off the couch and was trying to sort them into a filing cabinet. "Can you hold her off for a few minutes?"

"Oh, yeah, I'll nip at her ankles and run off with her left shoe." Kankuro rolled his eyes as he stepped outside. Before he closed the door, he paused. "You do remember your one o'clock appointment is nearly here, right?"

He heard Gaara let out a string of what would have once been spine tingling curses as the door closed. Kankuro chuckled to himself. Beki was still ten minutes away. That meant he could sit there and enjoy the sound of Gaara tripping over coffee tables and slamming drawers like a crooked accountant facing an audit.

When at last Tsukimori arrived, Kankuro was impressed at the sight of her armor. Subconsciously he narrowed his eyes. The pattern and shape looked strangely familiar but he couldn't quite place it. Beki caught the look on his face and tapped the mask.

"It was dad's set." She explained.

Kankuro blinked and shook his head. After a moment, he chuckled. "Oh, you had a set made to look like his."

"No, it shrank to my size." Beki sighed. "I know it's hard to believe. I can…I can catch fire now? I put on the armor while I was burning and it shrank to my size."

"Okay Tsukimori," Kankuro put his fingers to his temples. "I have heard a lot of crazy shit in my time. It's not that I don't believe you but you need to do a better job of explaining."

Beki shrugged. "It's exactly what it sounds like. When they killed my dad, I lost it and burst into flames. When I get really pissed off I just spontaneously combust."

"You can understand how that would make you an obvious threat to my brother, right?" Kankuro put his hands on his hips.

Yuki raised her hand. "I'll put her out."

Kankuro's attention shifted to the woman beside her. He instantly hated himself for not noticing this woman earlier. She was quite possibly the hottest woman he had ever seen. The sight of her nearly derailed his line of questioning. "Wh-who are you?"

Yuki held out her hand and jerked her head towards Beki. "The ambassador's protective detail. You can call me Yuki."

Kankuro took her hand and kissed it. Beki snorted and looked away. The poor guy was clearly smitten. Maybe if her mother had another plaything she would leave Gaara be. Normally Beki would try to warn her mother's potential victim but Kankuro was a big boy. That and it might not hurt him to be the butt of a joke occasionally. "So, can I go in?"

"Yeah," Kankuro shook his head and blinked. "I mean, don't burn his office down."

"Got it," Beki socked his shoulder as she walked by. "Good luck, ace."

Kankuro didn't bother replying. Beki knocked on the door.

"Shit, Kankuro, can you do any better than that? I need at least five more minutes!"

Beki chuckled and let herself in.

Gaara was over by his desk, his jacket caught on one of his larger cactuses. He had one arm full of smaller potted cacti and was using the sand and his free hand to try to pry his jacket free. He glanced up at Beki and his face fell.

…

Was it Seiichiro? Gaara blinked at the armored figure silhouetted against the midday sun. They closed the door. As his eyes adjusted, the figure shrank until it was obviously Beki. She smiled up at him warmly. "Need a hand?"

Gaara remembered his predicament and set the smaller cacti on the desk. After a few seconds of tugging his coat was free.

"Aw, don't be embarrassed. You're nearly as red as your hair." Beki crossed the room to him. Gaara attempted to scoop her up in his arms but the armor made it awkward.

"Sorry," She looked down self-consciously. "I know this is different from how you're used to seeing me."

Gaara shook his head. "No, I'm glad you're being safe." He ran his hand over the chest piece, then knocked on it. "You could stop a spear with this."

"Hopefully no one tries to spear me," Beki laughed nervously. "I haven't field tested it for high speed projectiles."

It was so nice to see her smiling. The separation made it easy to forget what a powerful effect being near Beki had on him. Gaara could feel his heart pounding with excitement and his anxieties melting away. Beki was here and nothing else seemed important. He was overwhelmed with emotion to the point that a lump was forming in his throat. Beki looked up at him with concern so he pulled her into a tight embrace to hide his emotional state. She settled into his arms with her face in his neck. Gaara breathed in the scent of Beki's hair and kissed the crown of her head. As he looked up, he caught a glance of the clock. It was five to one. Gaara squeezed her one last time and released Beki, sliding his hands along her arms until their fingers intertwined.

"I'm sorry to kick you out," Gaara pressed his forehead against hers. "I have to finish my workday."

Beki gave him an eskimo kiss. "Its fine. When are you off?"

Gaara glanced back at his desk calendar. "It might be incredibly rude of me but if I keep my meetings brief, I could be off by six."

"I'll head back to the inn and get cleaned up in the meantime." Beki smiled. "I've got sand in places."

"I know," Gaara said a little too casually.

Beki burst out laughing as she walked to the door. "Hold it together a little longer."

She took ahold of the doorknob and was embraced from behind. Gaara gave her one last tight hug. "Sorry. I just needed one more."

Beki tipped back her head so he could kiss her. Gaara gave her a soft kiss on the lips, not daring to let it last longer than a few seconds. Kissing between them had a tendency of eating through insane amounts of time. He opened the door for her. Beki walked out and he was tempted to grab ahold of her wrist and pull her back in his office. As she made her way across the bridge he saw his one o'clock incoming. Gaara gave a soft sigh and steeled himself. He would need to be a little less accommodating today. The Kazekage had a date tonight.

…

Beki looked around for Yuki. Her mother was nowhere to be seen which would have normally frightened her. Yuki was different than any companion Beki had ever had, however. She shrugged and continued making her way towards the inn. The heat was still intense but Beki hardly felt it. Seeing Gaara had made her feel at peace with things.

After a few minutes Yuki popped up beside her. "Sup?"

"Sup? Where were you?" Beki looked around.

Yuki shrugged. "The Kazekage's brother was showing me around."

"He bailed on his post?" Beki blinked. "That doesn't sound like Kankuro."

"Kankuro…" Yuki shook her head. "That was it."

"Poor kid," Beki scoffed. "You didn't even bother to learn his name."

Yuki shrugged. "I usually don't bother with names. The only time I do is when its someone worth knowing. Or killing."

"He's like, nineteen Yuki." Beki elbowed her. "I know you've got this whole cougar thing going, but come on."

Yuki threw up her hands. "There's only six years between us, Beki. Hate to tell you."

"There's only three years between me and Konohamaru. You don't see me robbing the cradle," Beki spat.

"That's because he's still not consenting age," Yuki poked her nose. "That would make you a criminal."

Beki rolled her eyes. "You're a creep."

"So, how'd it go with Red?" Yuki asked.

Beki smiled. "It went well."

Yuki surveyed their surroundings. "This place really is a dump, huh?"

Beki shrugged. "It's not my thing."

"That sucks since you're dating their leader." Yuki laughed. "Doesn't that mean you'll have to live here."

Beki shrank away. "Well, I mean, technically yes. I'm putting it off as long as I can."

"This is absolutely godawful." Yuki fanned herself. "This place is so arid I can't stand it."

"It could have a cataclysmic geological phenomenon that would make the weather more pleasant," Beki offered.

Yuki threw her a dirty look. "What are you thinking of?"

"I don't know," Beki elbowed her. "Someone could put this whole place on an ice cap."

Yuki raised her hand and tried to form ice in her palm. It fizzled and popped. All she managed was a teaspoon of cold water in her palm. "Ick," Yuki smacked her lips. "My mouth is dry now." She wiped her hands on her pants.

"Can't you summon water from somewhere else for your ninjutsu?" Beki asked as they walked in the inn.

"I mean, I can." Yuki shrugged. "It's an incredibly inefficient use of chakra, Beks. I could only sustain that for 15-30 minutes tops."

Beki blinked. "How many engagements have you been in that take longer than that?"

Yuki laughed. "Sweetheart, I've participated in raids that take days to finish. The longer I can run around in full Yuki-onna, the harder I am to kill. I can drop the temperature around myself in a three-meter diameter so low people start to develop hypothermia. It isn't difficult but if I had to summon the water and maintain the form no one would be dead by the time I was maxed out."

Beki opened the door to the room. "Dibs on the shower."

"Are you kidding?!" Yuki cried in disbelief. "You handle the heat better than I do!"

"I have a date!" Beki grinned. "Sorry."

Yuki hovered close by as Beki undressed and climbed in the shower. "Its extra claustrophobic in here," Beki laughed nervously. "I've been in lockers that were more accommodating."

"So Beks, how many kids does this guy want to have?" Yuki scratched her chin.

Beki sighed. She was cornered in that tiny shower. Her mother was going to take the chance to grill her with no chance of interruption. "Three or four. He likes kids."

"So, you're going to have to stay at home and raise them by yourself," Yuki rapped her knuckles on the wall.

"Why do you say that?" Beki furrowed her brow.

"Well, he's a kage, sweetheart. He'll be gone early and get home late. He might not even come home some nights. That doesn't even count visits to other nations that could take weeks at a time," Yuki counted them off on her fingers.

Beki stayed quiet. Based on her mother's tone there would be nothing she could say to win this argument. Yuki took the silence as an invitation to monologue.

"Your father could have been an ambassador while we were married but decided against it. It would have put too much pressure on you and me. We would have both had to be on our best behavior, always well dressed, and constantly subjected to baseless rumors. It takes a certain kind of person to live that kind of life," Yuki folded her arms. "It's one thing when you are the ambassador or kage or whatever, and you feel validated by your work and whatnot. You get the benefits of the job and all the excitement that goes with it. When you're the stay at home wife or the kids, though, that's the worst. People will be pointing out every wrinkle on your face, every time you leave your house in sweats even if it's just to take out the trash, and will be constantly insinuating that either you or your spouse are having an affair. The kids get the worst end of it. They get to see their moms get treated like objects by the public, they feel neglected by their fathers, and they're ostracized by their peers for having it so 'easy'. Not to mention how they'll constantly be held up to their parents' as a standard. When did Gaara become a kage?"

Beki saw where this was going. "Fifteen." She said quietly.

"So, guess what people are going to say to your kids? 'Do you know what your dad was doing at fifteen?'" Yuki spat. "'He was a kage at your age!'"

"Things will have changed by then," Beki interrupted. "I'm sure my life is really different from yours, so theirs will be different from ours- "

"In a bad way." Yuki returned the favor by cutting Beki off mid-sentence. "I was a fully trained priestess by fifteen. I entered the shinobi world at sixteen and I was in the Bingo Book by seventeen for half a million ryo. How many high-ranking assassination jobs have you done, Beks? What have you earned with your own back and not by what's been handed to you?"

Beki was silent. She was starting to feel like this was a personal attack. "Now listen here-"

"That is exactly what I mean. See how you're feeling right now? That would be your kids. Every. Damn. Day." Yuki fell silent, her point made.

Beki climbed out of the shower and dried off gruffly. "Thanks for harshing my mellow, Yuki."

"Reality is a bitter pill to swallow, Beki, but it tastes a hell of a lot better than regret." Yuki caught the towel Beki threw at her and hung it up on the rack. "You can still enjoy his company but always remember your end goal."

Beki pulled on a sundress and braided her hair with precision. She threw on a little bit of makeup and grabbed her bag. "Come on, let's go find something to eat. I'm too hungry to wait until six."

"Sounds good to me," Yuki hopped along beside her, completely unfazed by their unpleasant conversation.