It didn't take long for Ana to grow into her new position as squad leader, and Kamilah took only a little longer adjusting to hers as a captain. Things were quite stable after that – their duty hours were regular, tasks manageable, time abundant. They could arrive home with enough energy for nighttime jogs, cruises around the city on two wheels, making trouble with the squads, or just laze about the house in peace and quiet. Looking back on it now, Ana supposed that a part of her always knew it would only last for so long. There must be balance in all things; and for one energetic person prancing about the house, there had to be one lifeless counterpart lying limp on any horizontal surface – be it comfortable or not.

Until now, Ana was still torn between laughing and sighing about the time she had found Kamilah lying on the floor beside the bed. The floor was much cooler, her wife said, and the air-con remote was just too far away. But that, at least, was just the gentle beginning. Extra duties were piled onto her plate, and they kept Kamilah out of the house for prolonged hours. She was kept awake too deep into the early mornings as well – not just due to tension, but also the unholy quantities of coffee that she confessed to drinking throughout the day. And the last straw was when Ana had to snatch a mug of coffee – black as night – from Kamilah's hands…at 1am.

That's why Ana stood firm under Kamilah's near-venomous gaze as she set the mug of tea on the table, and pushed it closer to her partner.

"Ana."

"No. Now, don't give me that look," she said when Kamilah blinked slowly – the first sign to either back off or risk losing a limb. "This is better."

"Ana…" Kamilah growled.

"Milah, you're getting addicted to coffee, okay?"

"I'm not."

"Oh yeah? Who's the one getting headaches when she doesn't get a cup?" Ana raised her brows, waiting for an answer that didn't come because there was no need for one. "I thought so."

Kamilah clenched her jaw, reaching for the mug with a deep frown. She sniffed at the tea gingerly, then looked up at Ana once more in a silent plea.

She sighed. "Just for today, okay? No coffee, just tea. We'll see how bad it is, then work from there."

"It's not that bad," Kamilah muttered, her face scrunching up when she took a sip.

"You almost killed me the other day when we ran out of coffee," Ana reminded her. "You almost killed your wife over coffee. Just a reminder: coffee is more replaceable than a wife."

"Still replaceable."

Ana kicked her feet under the table, but otherwise dug into her breakfast as Kamilah hid a smirk behind her mug. She kept her gaze on the TV, though she was keenly aware of Kamilah spooning way too much sugar into her tea.

"–listened to your concerns, and have tightened security around the Temple of Anubis for the safety of our employees and the public. There are countermeasures in place for the unlikely event of a malfunction, but rest assured that the AI is stable and under the care of our top scientists–"

"You're planning that omnic exercise, aren't you?" Ana asked, biting off a mouthful of pita.

"Mm. We might be pulling in more of those who went for the joint exercise."

"Is it going to be full-scale?"

"I don't know." Kamilah took another gulp of tea. "Still no word from brass. We're just trying to coordinate between the battalions right now."

Word was – and Ana trusted the one from Kamilah's mouth – that the army would soon step up its anti-omnic preparations in response to growing fears among the people. It was still all hush-hush, and Ana doubted the army's exercises would be publicised any time soon. Of course, this was just precaution – understandable, given their circumstances. But Ana sincerely hoped it would remain just that.

"The weapons training might start soon though," Kamilah continued, giving her a small smile. "You still miss that rifle don't you?"

"Oh yeah. Yeah, I do." Ana thought fondly of the rifle she had used in Russia. "Any chance you could put me in charge of weapons training?"

Kamilah stared flatly back at her wry grin. "We are not training all our soldiers to be snipers."

"Snipers are all an army needs," she declared, then hastened to add, "And medics, of course. Grumpy medics. Terrifying medics. Like you."

"I'll show you terrifying," Kamilah muttered into her mug of tea.

And so she did. Ana spent a terrifying month keeping a tight watch over her wife's caffeine consumption – slapping her hand whenever it strayed towards the coffeemaker, making tea with their breakfast every morning, and hugging Kamilah to her side whenever they walked past a café, the aroma freshly-brewed coffee wafting tantalisingly under their noses. Kamilah's death stares and pursed lips lost their effect on her rather quickly, but Ana was still relieved when Kamilah's workload lightened after another month of slogging. It helped ease her reliance on the caffeine, and Ana felt a little bit of pride when Kamilah started reaching for their tea bags in her bleary morning haze.

True to Kamilah's word, the weapons training soon started. Some of the squads involved in Russian joint exercise were assigned to different platoons to expedite said training. Ana's squad found themselves being put at the forefront during their live fire exercises, giving demonstrations before the rest followed. Training sessions were first held in firing ranges to get the soldiers comfortable with the new weapons, then they were put in simulated exercises with holo-targets, bringing troop movements into play. It took a while to adjust to having omnic targets that barely wavered under a steady hail of bullets, but targets were targets. They adapted, improvised, and won simulation after simulation.

There was an undercurrent of concern though; Ana overheard a few soldiers talking to their omnic colleagues. She had spoken to Adofo herself, but he assured her the omnics were still calm. Killing things was part of the job description after all, he said, and they were getting bored with frail human targets anyway. He got a slap on his back for the jibe, but the issue was otherwise set aside. All they had to do for now, was wait for a larger field exercise.

One thing about owning a house, Ana found, was that the stream of visitors was endless. The main visitors were from their squads, of course – Ana's idiots crashing at the house because it was more comfortable than their shoeboxes in the barracks, and Kamilah's ex-squad dropping by to check in with their former squad leader. They had visits from the neighbours as well, mostly to keep them abreast of the community's goings-on, and to extend invitations for whoever's gathering for the coming weeks.

A proper Amari reunion couldn't happen that year due to clashing schedules, so Zaid had returned to Cairo first, staying over in their home instead of being alone in the family house. His visit was quiet and relaxed, and mostly filled with stories of when he got his first home with Ana's mother in base, how they got by in those days, how much more drab the houses were back then, and even more grandfather's tales of the good old days when his hair was still black. Still, his two daughters loved having him over – Zaid had taken to the kitchen the very day he arrived, and having a hot home-cooked meal in the evenings was immeasurably satisfying. Zaid's neverending stories just seemed to complete the atmosphere, the man often looking them over with a wistful smile on his face.

And where Zaid's visit was a picture of homely serenity – Safiya's would be quite the opposite, if her exclamation at the front door was any indication.

"Kamilah–!" Safiya half-sang and half-shouted, and Ana could hear Kamilah's laugh cut short when she was no doubt yanked in for a back-breaking hug.

Hopping off the stairs and making for the door, Ana was unsurprised to find Kamilah with her feet off the ground, trapped in said hug. What did surprise her though, was when the woman holding her wife turned to grin at her.

"Wait–, who the fuck are you?" Ana asked, her lips curved in a near-disbelieving smile.

Safiya chuckled and let Kamilah down as Ana moved closer, eyes still fixed on her sister's head. From the last time they had seen Safiya at the wedding and all the photos that followed, they were well aware that she was letting her hair grow out. Ana had expected her to chop it off again, not…

"Your hair looks too normal, holy crap." Ana ran both hands through Safiya's long, evenly-cut hair as thick as hers. "Did you get exorcised or something?"

"You wish." Safiya laughed and pulled her in, kissing Ana's cheeks soundly before holding her out for a good look. "Damn, have you put on weight?"

"Muscle weight, yes."

"I'm talking about this." Safiya smacked her fingers under Ana's chin, and was swatted away. Then she stretched out an arm to hug Kamilah close again. "You've been feeding her too much, Kami."

"Don't blame me for food she puts in her own mouth."

"I can always count on you to take my side, darling," Ana said sweetly.

"Anything for you, dear," Kamilah replied, face perfectly straight. "And where's Zahra? I thought she flew over with you."

"Oh, she's visiting her own family. But she's coming to stay later on, don't worry."

"That's good."

"So for now, you have me all to yourselves!" Safiya clamped Ana to her side as well. "Aren't you two lucky?"

"So lucky I wanna throw up," Ana said.

"That's the spirit!" Safiya squeezed them one more time, before releasing them in a heartbeat upon spotting their wall shelf. Her face lit up as she reached for the purple dragon plush, looking it over. "Did you just wash it?"

"Yeah. It was all dusty and stuff."

"Huh, maybe I should get Horny and wash her too."

"What?" Kamilah asked. "Get–, wash who–, what?"

"Horny," Ana explained. "Her unicorn."

"Your…toy unicorn," Kamilah said slowly, and Safiya nodded. "You named your toy Horny."

"Yep." Safiya snickered. "Parents tried to change the name, but it stuck."

Kamilah followed them farther into the house, wearing an utterly incredulous look. "You two are unbelievable. It's almost as if you're sisters."

"Hey!" Ana wheeled around as Safiya took a scandalised gasp. "Don't accuse us of such a thing."

Ana didn't throw up like she claimed, thankfully. Not even after the meal Safiya made for them after hearing about Zaid's stay. Ana had sent a photo of the thoroughly charred piece of chicken to their father, who promptly made a call just to laugh in Safiya's ear. They took pity on her though, and managed to finish that meat-turned-charcoal alongside the pizza they ordered. They ate out for the rest of their meals after that, which was just as well; it gave Safiya a good chance to look around her hometown and see what's changed.

For the most part, Safiya wasn't as boisterous as Ana expected her to be – she spent quite a bit of time outside, being with Zahra and visiting her family. And that meant most of the partying was kept between her partner and herself. Midway through her stay though, Safiya did bring some measure of excitement to them on one lazy night.

"I told you she's gonna die," Ana drawled, as said movie character got caught in an explosion.

Kamilah, who had a hand raised in indignation, continued watching quietly. But no one crawled out of the flames for a dramatic reappearance on screen, and she lowered her hand in defeat. "Stop cursing my favourites," she grumbled.

"Hey, not my fault you keep liking the dead ones."

"Ugh." Kamilah dug a hand into the packet of chips Ana held, and chewed on one with a sullen frown. "They need to stop dying."

"One day, albi. Maybe one day."

"Hey, girls."

"Yeah?" Ana turned her head to watch Safiya fly down the stairs, and jump into the armchair next to them. "Oi! Gently."

"Whatever, mom." Safiya straightened herself and took a deep breath to speak, only to let it out in a sigh. She took another breath, but seemed to lose steam again, and started clapping her hands slowly together to fill the gap. She looked nervous but eager as well, staring at Ana with wide eyes as if expecting her sister to read her mind.

"What?" Ana asked.

Safiya inhaled yet again, but this time, she threw her hands up exasperatedly and reached into her pocket. Ana's brows rose when she fished out a small box and held it out to Ana, opening its lid to reveal a ring. All three women stilled; two of them staring at the ring while the third stared back at them.

"So?" Safiya asked.

Ana sat up slowly, mimicking one of Safiya's deep breaths and holding up her fingers. "Two problems. One, I'm your sister. Two, I'm already married–" She burst out in cackles when she received a smack on her head, and was pushed back into the couch so Kamilah could lean forward.

"Are you going to ask her–?"

"I think so…?"

"You think so?" Ana repeated as she caught her breath. "Sis, you already bought the damn ring. Of course you're going to ask."

"Well, yeah. I mean–, yeah." She handed the box over to Kamilah. "But you know. I just don't know when."

"Have you planned anything yet?"

"Not a bloody yacht, that's for sure. But…I don't know. I've had it for a while, actually. And I've been thinking, and…"

"How long is 'a while'?"

Safiya grimaced. "Like…'I've had it since your wedding' a while. Yeah," she added upon receiving two surprised looks. "When you told us you got engaged? I was looking for it. Way to steal my thunder, bitch."

"Seriously? Then why haven't you asked yet?"

"I don't know," Safiya sighed, slumping in her chair. "I've been thinking and well, it does seem a little fast…and you know how Zahra keeps saying I'm too impulsive and everything."

"That's because you are."

"See?"

"Yeah," Kamilah joined in. "But if you feel it's time, then it's time. You can't measure it with days or years."

"I guess you would know."

"Now, see," Ana said, sitting up again. "I know how you feel. I spent months agonising over how 'fast' it is, how impulsive it feels, how maybe Milah would say no because of it. But you know what?" She took the box from Kamilah, shut the lid and threw it at Safiya. "Fuck all of that. You want to marry her because you love her. So stop torturing yourself with all the unnecessary questions, and ask her the only important one. Then you'll see how things go from there."

Safiya wore a small pout as she fidgeted with the box. "What if she says no?"

"Even if she says no, it doesn't necessarily mean she doesn't love you," Kamilah said. "She might just need some more time."

"Yes, but you shouldn't worry over that right now," Ana added, shooting her wife a 'what the hell' look. "You know what you want to do, so do it."

"If you want, I can sound Zahra out for you," Kamilah offered.

"No! I'll handle it," she sighed again, flicking the box open and shut. Then she looked them over. "Does it really change things? Being married, I mean."

"I'd say not much, but maybe it's too early to tell." Ana glanced back at Kamilah. "Do you still love me?"

"Hard to say."

"See? Not much. You live together, you live with each other. You learn to let go of little things, like whenever she hangs her wet towel over the chair instead of the damned hangers."

"And you learn not to see all the dirty clothes she leaves forgotten everywhere," Kamilah shot back.

"And you live with her squeezing the toothpaste from the top–"

"And you have to wipe the wet dishes she leaves dripping on the rack–"

"Have I mentioned you start getting ordered around at home as well?" Ana grinned when Kamilah clamped both arms around her middle and squeezed. Hard.

"I hate you so much."

"I hate you double."

"Alright, knock it off." Safiya threw a cushion squarely at Ana's head. "You've made your point."

"Yeah. So just pop the question and tell us when the wedding's–, is that your phone?" Ana asked, noticing the faint sound from upstairs.

Safiya groaned, then rolled out of the armchair. "Zah's calling."

They watched her race back up the stairs, then Kamilah asked, "Did you really think I'd say no?"

"Hm?"

"When you proposed?"

"Mm, kind of. I mean, your face says 'no' all the time anyway." She bit down on her lip as Kamilah smacked at her thigh. "I guess miracles do happen."

"Really? Hasn't happened to me yet."

"That's because you're the miracle, albi."

Kamilah hummed thoughtfully, and relented with a kiss on her cheek. "You're off the hook. For now."

Zahra arrived at their doorstep the day after, in time to spend the weekend with them. To Safiya's chagrin, the two threw out one 'ring' joke after another, and she was reduced to pantomiming her burning desire to strangle them both from behind her partner's back. Zahra remained blissfully unaware, merely wearing a bemused look whenever their inside joke came up again. She even made a 'ring' pun herself, forcing Ana to press her face flat against the back of Kamilah's head, to stop from laughing maniacally in the middle of a crowded street. To say that Safiya looked relieved when they finally caught a flight back to Asyut, was a gross understatement indeed.

She did keep in contact with them though, mostly to pour her anxiety in short rambles that stopped as abruptly as they started. Then the planning began, and she started sharing little bits and pieces with them. It was only a matter of time now, so all they had to do was wait for some good news.

In the meantime, Ana took care of a little business of her own – coming through on a promise that she and Khalid had made during the insurgency. They would get their first tattoos together, should they both survive the conflict intact. It was a long time coming; partly because it kept slipping their minds, and they took much too long to decide on a design for themselves. But they finally set a date to do it, while their squad was assigned to lighter duties in the armory. It was only logical – neither could bear the thought of crawling and sprinting through the training range while their skin still stung.

Because hell, did it sting.

Kamilah's hand held firmly onto her shoulder, and Ana froze mid-fidget at the silent command. A gentle fingertip spread the lotion over the sore spot between her shoulder blades. Again, she felt that fleeting sense of relief. Ana had opted for a simple tattoo of a stylised arrow along her spine, its arrowhead pointed up towards her neck. She hadn't fully decided on the bigger picture yet, but the arrow would serve as a base for any future extensions. The single arrow occupied a lot less skin than Khalid's – a lioness on his upper back. When he met Ana by the parlour's entrance after it was done, he didn't look ready for even a simple high-five. Instead, they trudged back to Ana's home and crashed in the living room, conveniently giving Kamilah two pain-addled children to deal with.

It had been a week since then, and much of the soreness had faded away. Aside from the initial sting, it really was nothing much – to Ana, anyway. Khalid still sent the occasional 'end me pls' texts. But for her, it was mostly the itchiness that threatened to drive her crazy, not to mention the rude stings in the mornings. Having been through that, it made her question all the more tentative.

"Milah."

"Hm." Kamilah's finger had stopped, and she gave Ana a pat on her lower back.

Ana put her top back on, then turned around to see Kamilah wiping her finger off with a tissue. "I was thinking."

"Really? Have the planets aligned?"

She rolled her eyes and continued, "Wanna get a tatt together?"

Kamilah raised a brow, leaning over to place the lotion bottle on the nightstand. "Just because we're married doesn't mean everything has to come in a couple, you know."

"Well, shit. I didn't know. I guess I should throw our matching undies away."

"We don't have matching undies."

"Point made. Now my original point is, it'd be nice get matching tatts."

"Mm." Kamilah laid down on the bed with both hands behind her head. "You know I don't really like the idea of inking my skin."

"Yeah," Ana sighed, lying on top of her partner. "It's just that I saw these designs back at the parlour…"

"Please don't tell me they're big ones of naked women."

"Nah. Just birds and arrows and hearts. Small ones like that."

"Hearts?" Kamilah chuckled. "How tacky."

"No hearts then."

"Mm."

"How about I get the designs for you to see?" Ana smiled gently when Kamilah shrugged. "I'll let you decide if you want them. Just thought it'd be sweet, you know? It's like carrying you around with me wherever I go."

Kamilah hummed, fingers reaching up to play with the ends of Ana's hair. "I'll think about it."

"Yay." She rolled off her partner, only to hiss when she landed flat on her back, and promptly rolled on top of Kamilah again.

Her skin really couldn't heal fast enough.

When all the scabbing and peeling was finally done, Ana had two things to be happy for. She could move without a constant sore or itchy spot where she couldn't reach, and now had the freedom to drag herself all across the bed without fear of irritating her tattoo. The second – more important – thing, was that her sister's getting hitched.

'About time', Ana texted after they received a photo of Safiya slipping the engagement ring on Zahra's finger. She and Kamilah were then pelted with question after question about the wedding, before they threw their planner's number at Safiya. Because one thing was for sure – their wedding would be held in Cairo. Most of their families lived in the area, after all.

It didn't take long for them to settle their wedding plans – the planner, with Ana and Kamilah's wedding under her belt, knew exactly what to do when the engaged couple asked for something similar. It became apparent that Safiya and Zahra liked doing things nice and fast. Because in just four short months, they were all gathered in a hotel's garden for the wedding ceremony, on a breezy March evening.

"We should've done this instead, huh?" Ana said when she reached Kamilah, who was standing by the reception table and handed her a plate of little pastries. They were both in their dress uniforms, as they had been part of the sabre bearers' formation just minutes ago.

"Done what?"

"Put it all in the evening. Make it short and sweet, and not have the sun trying to kill you the whole time."

Kamilah laughed softly. "And not have to wake up that early as well."

"Damn. I don't suppose we can do it all over again," Ana said, receiving a nudge in her side. "Or we can just elope this time. Leave all these fools behind." She waved her plate at the two families standing about the garden, chatting and indulging in the light reception before dinner started.

"Shush."

"What? Not like they can hear us."

"Behave," Kamilah sighed. "Or at least, behave when we're talking to them later."

"Please make it much later," Ana pleaded. "I really don't like Zahra's sister. Can't stand that bit–" She dragged out the first syllable in a single note, letting her voice die off slowly when her eyes landed on the little figure tugging at Kamilah's pants.

Kamilah smiled down at the girl, and handed her plate to Ana. She bent down to pick the child up, carrying her with an ease that came from countless practice with their neighbours' kids during their visits. Ana smiled when her cousin's daughter greeted her with a shy 'Auntie Ana'.

"Hey, Yasmin," Ana cooed, tickling her stomach. Yasmin giggled and pressed herself closer to Kamilah, who tapped her lightly on the nose.

"Where's your mama?" Kamilah asked.

"Cake," Yasmin said, though it wasn't an explanation, judging from the finger she pointed at Ana's plate.

"You want cake?"

"Yes."

"If I didn't know better, I'd say she's using us," Ana commented as Kamilah fed her a tiny piece. The child's mother kept a strict limit on her sugar intake, but Yasmin had discovered different ways of obtaining it from other family members.

"Isn't she?" Kamilah chuckled, delivering a second piece into the kid's mouth. "Okay, no more cake. Or mama is going to look for your aunties later," she added when Yasmin gave a sad pout.

"Eh, mama's here. Act normal," Ana said, nodding in her cousin's direction. Kamilah let the kid down and, after a little prodding by her aunts, Yasmin ran back to her mother. Ana winked in reply to her cousin's knowing look, before turning her attention back to Kamilah.

Her wife had hissed and pulled down her sleeve, taking a better look at the pinkish skin on her lower wrist. Her finger hovered over the small black outline of a swallow, as if itching to press down. They had gotten the tattoos together just a week ago. After a long while of deliberation and looking over the designs, Kamilah took a liking to this particular one – matching outlines of a flying swallow, shaded at the tips of its wings. Ana wore one on her right wrist, and Kamilah on her left. When held together, it looked as if the birds were flying towards each other.

"Don't touch it, Milah."

"I know," she said through clenched teeth, covering it up again. "It just rubbed too hard against the sleeve."

"Want a bandage?" Ana asked, handing back Kamilah's food.

"No, I'm fine." She ate the little fruit cake on her plate slowly. "This is all your fault."

Ana smiled at the mock scowl she wore. "Shall I kiss it to make it up to you?"

"You'll only make it hurt more," Kamilah grumbled. She had gritted her teeth in a perfect picture of stoicism while her skin was getting inked, and she described it as 'a knife being dragged slowly across her skin'. Although her pain threshold was rather high, she still found some enjoyment in groaning about it to Ana in the following days. Ana understood it perfectly – she too, sometimes whined just to get more affection from her wife.

"Then I'll kiss somewhere else."

"Please. Not in public–" Kamilah stopped abruptly at the kiss on her cheek, lips twitching before parting in a smile.

"You were saying?" Ana sang, and had a piece of baklava shoved into her mouth to muffle the growing laughter.

"Shush, you."