A/N: For the initial notes, see Part I. The next (and last) set of 10 is posted on my 'emsscraps' in first draft form. These changed a little from when I posted them on my 'emsscraps' on March 17th of this year.

Thanks: To everyone who reviewed, saying you wanted to see more. To Absentia and Guyute and Kysra for listening / reading my attempts at these, and for serving as sounding board and plot goddesses. Especially to those of you who reviewed with which of the ones in the last set were your favorites. I'm happy to see that one of my own personal favorites of the last set seemed to be a favorite among you, too. "Picture" was one of my favorites, too. I'll reply individually to y'all through ff.n's review response feature.

Between the Shadow and The Soul
Two
by Em

"...thanks to your love, darkly in my body / lives the dense fragrance that rises from the earth..."
-- Pablo Neruda, Sonnet XVII

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11: Luck (95)

X, it might surprise some, believed in chance. With a career like his, he almost had to believe in luck. Afterall, when a guard decided that he preferred to pee during his break rather than go outside for his usual cigarette, despite all his preparation, the only thing that saved him from being caught was luck.

And although he didn't often think about it in those terms, as he watched Raven step out of the club by herself in that pre-dawn cold, he had to admit that yes, he was one very lucky bastard.

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12: Movie (99)

There was something about seeing the fight with the detachment afforded by the plasma screen.

He watched the videos of his heists and fights to better himself. So, it was not surprising that he noticed it while watching the footage of his latest fight with the Titans.

He couldn't remember making a conscious choice to goad her--to seek her out above any of the others.

And yet, there it was, captured plainly in digital film.

Exactly how far back, he wondered, would he have to search to find the exact moment he became obsessed by the Dark Witch?

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13: Animal (99)

Robin tried, but only ever made her feel guilty. Phrases like, "You're better than this," meant to show encouragement and support served only to remind her how he couldn't really understand.

She wasn't better than it.

She was it.

This animal, this beast she called Rage was a part of her.

She could pretend it wasn't there, but she could feel it, prowling just inside her skin...waiting.

They might forgive her, but they would never understand her. They would make excuses, say she was 'only human'.

X never made excuses. Not for himself, and certainly not for her.

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14: Sky (84)

X could be accused of many things in his life, sure, but being a romantic was certainly not one of them. Neither was being poetic or idealistic.

To him, a flower was always just a flower, a sunset just the prep time before work and the sky was always just a big expanse of nothing stretching out into nowhere and everywhere.

Then he saw her hovering in the air full of righteous indignation with the sky a backdrop of color highlighting her untouchable beauty.

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15: Beach (100)

Raven hated how the sand granules got everywhere. She hated that she could feel the salt from the very air sticking to her skin and hair, even though she wasn't anywhere near the water.

Yes, she liked the sounds of the ocean but still wouldn't go--if it were up to her.

It wasn't.

"What took you?"

She didn't want to sit on the sand, either, but X didn't particularly care. He pulled her down to sit in front of him, and wrapped his legs tight against hers, holding her in place.

She might've escaped, but then he kissed her.

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16: Stars (99)

He could name the constellations, each and every one.

It wasn't the strangest of his quirks, by far, but it was the first one she thought of when she looked up at the stars, striving to remember the name of the grouping almost directly above her.

Orion? Cancer?

She'd never asked how he learned their names, never asked him how he spoke three languages or why he was so good at math.

The details didn't matter. Except when they did.

"Hermes."

Turning, she stared at the red and black of his mask, and thought, 'Hermes: The thief.'(1)

"Of course."

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17: Dead (98)

He hated watching her sleep.

She looked dead asleep, and it was too easy to imagine what her responsibilities might lead her to one day. Sure, he flirted with danger, but he wasn't stupidly heroic like she was: he was a thief. Nothing was worth more than his life.

Except hers.

Ironic really, since her life was the living thing she thought had the least value of all.

He confessed to hating it, once.

"It won't look like sleep," she had assured him then. "When my kind die, we're just gone."

This did not comfort him at all.

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18: Alive (97)

After the fight, after his unexpected heroics, after the fall, he came to her first.

He was bruised, bleeding, slightly limping. His left sleeve was torn in five places, there was a slash across his chest that might have been fatal if not for the armor-like qualities of the uniform's material and he'd lost the skull mask somewhere along the way. Whether he'd taken it off or it had been so badly broken it hadn't been worth salvaging, she didn't know.

All she did know was that he was alive.

And that was more than enough.

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19: Time (98)

Time was an enemy and X approached it in much the same way he approached any enemy. If it wasn't a threat, he ignored it (after all, why borrow trouble?) but if it was, he fought it.

He fought to win.

Sure, he knew win or lose, he'd have to do it all again the next time (there would always be a next time – X knew that, too), he just never thought about it.

One day at a time was his motto.

It wasn't like he'd ever stop fighting for every second he got to spend with her.

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20: Forever (89)

"Hey, nobody said it'd last forever."

His words had been flippant, but he didn't face her until he had the mask back on. It was supposed to be enough to hide from her.

She wasn't supposed to live beyond her 16th year. They weren't supposed to to be together at all. He was a thief, she was a hero.

Forever wasn't supposed to loom like a curse before her.

Goodbye wasn't supposed to hurt.

'He wasn't supposed to fall in love with me.'

She wasn't supposed to want forever.

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A/N: I found myself being inspired for how to approach these (including the first set and the last set which is already done and posted on my 'emsscraps' and which you can expect here next week) by music, lines from poems, random things. I'll be posting what inspired each drabble on 'emsscraps' so if you're into that sort of thing, go look for it there.

Special Note: I said these wouldn't relate to each other, and they don't. Except for number 11: "Luck" and number 07: "Cold". I couldn't resist.