Raven Blade: Haven within your Arms

By: Ryu Niiyama

"I'm so sorry. I should have been there."

She smiles at the quiet, pained rage that lights her lover's eyes to a burning inferno, grateful that she's still around to see it. Her heart buoyed by the concern and adoration that tempers it and she finds herself lost in dark eyes, deep and knowing. She places no blame, save on Alice's last-ditch effort to end her; the dirty bomb she placed in one of her old safe houses tied to a facial recognition scan. Sometimes she wishes the Kane family wasn't so deeply intertwined with her life. She'd mention that Batwoman saved her, but there is an odd friction between her current lover and her – however brief- old one, and she doesn't want to agitate her already worried beloved further.

The feel of hands, given life by Passion and War, hands that she's seen rip cars apart yet were utterly reverent and gentle when they touched her, bring her back from her musings and she sighs as powerful arms wrap around her back and waist, pulling her close. She'd been used to being the taller one in her relationships with women- or rather woman, Kate Kane- but she'd come to adore the way she could tuck herself beneath her lover's chin, cushioned by the swell of her breasts and hear her strong heartbeat. She frowned a little as she realized that the heartbeat she cherished so much was trip-hammering; a tale-tale sign of the fear that still gripped her beloved. Humbled that she could make a goddess weak, she pulled back slightly from arms that didn't want to let her go, but still did anyway, reminding her of the trust between them.

Even now it was strange, seeing a goddess draped in modern, human clothing, even though when they first met she had no idea she was speaking with divinity. She smoothed her hands over the slightly rumpled suit jacket, wind blown from the flight over, delighting at the feel of hard muscle that could lift cars and punch down mountains but could hug her with such warm tenderness. She cups the cheek of a cherished face, flawless mahogany skin beckoning her like a siren and she offers an honest smile, hoping the goddess before her will find it suitable tribute.

"I'm fine. Really."

She speaks the truth because she is fine, content even. She faces down the worst of Gotham's corruption and villainy every day, but finally, finally she has a place, a heart that she can call home. For that reason alone, she'd face down a thousand members of the wonderland gang, if only to return to the warmth of the love that she cherishes so much. Years of running from her heart and the collateral damage that still lingers to this day in the form of a psychopath that thinks that she is avenging her sister's broken heart, fade to a scar beneath the balm of the love, she is still in awe of now. She drops her hand to intertwine their fingers, charmed by delicate hands that are soft, save where sword callouses chafe her palms slightly and she leans down and kisses the slightly larger hands in reverence. A soft gasp answers her actions but she knows that she has not waylaid her lover's concern.

She pulls her lover's hands to the hem of her shirt, her tac vest the only thing she'd been able to remove before her beloved had swept her into her frantic embrace and she releases her grip. Warm, umber eyes snap back to hers in askance and she nods in consent as her lover's hands lift her shirt and help her remove it. Her sports bra follows and fingers ghost reverently over her skin, feathering over the new bruises and old scars. She'd managed to keep her body mostly unblemished despite her tour of duty and her current job, but that didn't diminish the respect and knowing camaraderie that she could see burning in eyes of her lover. She sighed blissfully at the acceptance and understanding, even as her heart warmed at the lover's outrage and concern that struggled to overcome the goddess before her. Dexterous hands undid the tac belt with ease, loosening her pants and palming her ass briefly as her pants and underwear were pulled down her legs.

She placed a hand on a powerful shoulder to steady herself, barely resisting the urge to bury her fingers in windblown coils that somehow always managed to look flawless. The laces of her boots were quickly undone and she stepped out of them, pausing to poke at her lover's shoulder with her toes to bring forth some brevity. The goddess answered in kind, smoothly snagging her foot and dropping a soft kiss upon her instep before letting her go. Rising smoothly, this wonder of a woman scoops her into her arms, and she laughs at the action even as she rewards her goddess with a kiss upon full lips. Umber eyes flutter closed briefly in response and she is humbled that she can overwhelm a goddess even as she herself is overcome by the passion that answers her kiss.

Her lover moves knowingly though her condo towards the master bathroom, setting her to her feet upon the rug as she moves away to turn on the water in shower. She busies herself with locating her shower cap, nearly dropping it as her lover turns and quickly unbuttons her shirt, divesting herself of it and the suit jacket in one fluid motion. She arches an eyebrow as her goddess preens at her regard, amused that she can still invoke such a response; reminded that for all of her familiarity with "Man's World" there was still a charm about her, so alien and refreshing to the 2IC of the Crows. Her lover disrobes with an economy that as a soldier she can appreciate, but as a lover she laments slightly, but such thoughts dissipate as her lover gently takes the shower cap from her and assists her in tucking her hair inside.

She leans up and kisses her lover just because, placing her hand on the muscular flare of her hip and feeling a quick kick of giddy incredulousness that this woman, had chosen to love her. She turns and she reaches for the oversized shower cap she purchased to contain her beloved's glorious mane of coils only to moan softly as her lover wrapped powerful arms around her dovetailing her body with the sweet press of breasts at her shoulder-blades and a mossy mons at her buttocks. Soft suckling kisses at her throat almost made her forget everything save the press of warm, eager divinity at her back.

With obvious reluctance, her lover pulls away and she bites back the snicker that wants to bubble forth as she watches Amazonian coils try to resist being restrained by a paltry shower cap. Smiling fully when her lover is done, she takes her hand and leads her into the walk-in shower. She lathers up her soap, hand made Themysciraian bliss that made her abandon modern soaps and shampoos completely, working the lather meticulously over both their bodies. She and her lover trade kisses under the spray, their touches soft and unhurried, a counterpoint to the danger that nearly parted them forever. She moans at the feel of hands kneading away at her battered muscles, soft whispers in Greek coiling about her and even though she can't understand the words, she feels the weight of their love nonetheless.

She almost misses the tears under the warm spray of water, but she has always been hyperaware of the woman with her. Immortality brought a sense of gratitude that she still didn't quite understand, an ageless warrior able to cherish her with the sort of reverence that poets and romantics dreamed of. She turns at that and pulls her beloved into her embrace, holding her tightly, acknowledging just how close she came to death again and what would have been denied her if she'd succumbed. The rest of the shower is a somber cleansing, although beneath the press of fear, there is the burn of relief and desire and she can feel it like a living thing, vibrating from her lover's bones.

They exit the shower and towel each other off, and although a part of her wants to shatter in sated bliss beneath Amazonian stamina and devotion, a quiet, exhausted part of her wants to just lie down and hold her heart close. When she tells her so, a smile as blinding as the sun and as charming as the stars greets her and her lover easily shifts from smoldering desire to warm affection. She is guided to her bedroom and they slip into the soft, cotton haven, her lover's higher body temperature a balm that she burrows into. As she drifts off in arms that would fight all of her demons if she let her, she thinks that this is something that she would not see taken away from her, something that as long as she draws breath, she would do anything to protect.

She holds this love as a gift, knowing that she had once turned love away and vowing to never do so again.

Here is the opening salvo for the Nubia/Sophie Moore AU fic that apparently I didn't know I needed. I don't write established relationship often but I think there are enough bits that I'll have fun as I try to knit Nubia and Diana into the Batwoman landscape.

For those that are not aware, while Nubia has been retconned a lot, her original billing was that she was Diana of Themyscira's (wonder woman) twin sister. Since Diana's original origins were that she was born of clay and brought to life by the gods (Aphrodite in particular) she has a sister of African Heritage because Diana was formed from "white clay" while Nubia was formed from "black clay". Nubia was kidnapped by Ares and raised away from her fellow Amazons and family and while she is considered to be Diana's equal she has beaten her in battle and technically was named Wonder Woman before Diana was. So excited that she is coming back for Immortal Wonder Woman (and looking amazing with that natural crown).

The title for this series is on the nose, Raven for Sophie being a Crow and a Black woman along with Nubia as well as the bird motif that is both on Nubia's silver armor and sometimes stylized on WW's armor. Blade for Nubia's weapon of choice, as well as Sophie as she is seen knife fighting as well as both of their roles as warriors.

R. Niiyama

12/2020