AN: Legit forgot I wrote this in September. Oops.
"Your sorry eyes cut through the bone
They make it hard to leave you alone
Leave you here wearing your wounds
Waving your guns at somebody new.
Baby you're a lost cause
There's too many people you used to know
They see you coming they see you go
They know your secrets and you know theirs
This town is crazy; nobody cares
I'm tired of fighting
I'm tired of fighting
Fighting for a lost cause
There's a place where you are going
You ain't never been before
No one left to watch your back now
No one standing at your door
That's what you thought love was for
Baby you're lost
Baby you're a lost cause
I'm tired of fighting
I'm tired of fighting
Fighting for a lost cause."
Lost Cause, Beck
She doesn't go searching for him, but knows he is there. Everywhere she looks, those intense jade eyes seem to follow. In a city of thousands, how can he be everywhere? From a chance encounter at a gala for her father, a moment stolen at the bar, a man she has been trying to forget for the better part of two lives, refuses to be ignored.
She is bored, beautiful and counting the minutes until she can make her escape away from yet another campaign event on behalf of her father. Suddenly, she is on edge – awareness honed from years of training and dangerous youma. She settles, but only just. Something is not right, but how, she cannot determine.
And there, just before he enters her peripheral vision, a spark of bright green, apparent to only her. And then he is next to her, ordering a whiskey, neat, with a thank you and five dollar bill for the bartender. The redhead behind the bar eyes him up and down hungrily, but he misses her intent, staring in another direction. Raye, who only makes an appearance at these events because in the long run, it is the lesser of two evils, feels a twinge from deep within.
There has been gossip at the palace, of course. Rumors that Mamoru's stones have come to life. She knows it is on the mind of her sister Senshi – feels the desperate hope in their hearts. And here he is, in the flesh, made real after all these years.
What does one say to a former lover? The one who took your life? The one who was raised from the dead and threatened your existence again? The one who you look for, despite everything that's happened between you?
Apparently, nothing.
Raye walks away, her scarlet gown floating around her.
But then he's everywhere. Is it on purpose? They've not exchanged a word, but there are traces of him throughout her life. A massive bouquet of Casablanca lilies arrives, without a card. A generous donation to the shrine. A set of gorgeous amethysts that match her eyes perfectly. She cannot bring it up to the others. Their stones have not been activated, but how much longer can she wait?
Not too long, as it turns out. The day after her latest mysterious gift arrives, when feeding the crows in the park, he approaches and sits next to her on the bench.
"I'm not ready."
"I know," he responds. "But I'll wait as long as it takes."
And so they sit together in the fog of morning, and she cannot imagine being anywhere else but here.