A private moment for the girls
Chapter 5
Hawke washed her face at the sink and traced a finger over the cuts on either side of her cheeks, going over her appearance in the mirror.
"Those'll be gone soon," she muttered, "And this one isn't as deep as I thought either."
She massaged the area around the bandage on her forehead and smiled at Robin.
"I'll be good as new in no time," she said as she shuffled out of the way so the archeologist could get to the mirror without hitting Hawke's wings, "Ugh, this is annoying. I'm not used to having these out all the time."
The archeologist smiled and nodded.
"I'm sure you will, you seem to heal quite quickly," she said, "You had us worried though."
Hawke lowered her face.
"I'm sorry," she mumbled, "I was no match for Shiki…"
She felt anger and humiliation burst to life in her chest once again and reached a hand inside her jacket, running her fingers over the hilts of her knives.
"He is quite ruthless," Robin's expression became solemn, "But our captain will put him in his place."
Hawke smiled and nodded.
"You bet he will," she laughed, but her face fell as she saw Robin with a slight frown, "Is something wrong?"
The archeologist blinked and smiled, erasing the look of concern that had been there moments before.
"No," she said calmly, "Come here, I'll help you wash your hair."
Hawke lifted her hand and felt the brittle dried blood that still smeared her brown locks.
"Oh, right," she grimaced, "I must still look like a mess."
The archeologist turned on the tap and Hawke bent over, putting her head under the flow of warm water.
"Mmmm," she let out a sigh as Robin's fingers began working through her hair, "This feels nice."
She relaxed as the archeologist undid her braid and began lathering up some suds.
"May I ask you a question?" Robin's calm voice meshed wonderfully with the sound of running water.
Hawke smiled.
"Yeah," she mumbled.
There was a pause as the water draining down in front of Hawkes face turned red and the blood washed away.
"Why did Shiki target you?" Robin asked, "The others are all relatively fine compared to you."
Hawke blinked at the drain.
"Uh, I escaped being caught in that tower thing he made," she recalled the events of the fight, "That's the only reason, I think. But he did say he knew who I was…"
There was another silence as Robin turned off the tap and draped a towel over Hawke's head. The scout straightened and began drying off.
"He knows you're the Dark Angel?" Robin asked, "He drew that conclusion simply by seeing your wings?"
Hawke shrugged her shoulders and rubbed the towel vigorously over her head. When she removed it, her hair fell down over her face in a tangled wave.
"I don't know," she huffed and some strands fluttered out from her breath.
Robin let out a soft chuckle.
"Here," the woman reached out and turned the scout around.
Hawke soon felt a brush being pulled through her hair and she smiled.
"Thanks, Robin," she said, watching their reflections in the mirror.
The archeologist was standing between Hawke's wings, which were half spread out, and had a half smile on her face as she brushed the scout's hair.
They sat in silence as Robin finished, enjoying the moment of calm before the storm, and Hawke tied her braid back in.
"Shall we get our fighting clothes on?" the scout gave a wink and the two moved into the women's room.
Hawke dug through the extensive closet all three women had been collecting and pulled out a black turtle necked crop top and a black miniskirt.
"I'm glad Nami told me to get these," she muttered as she pulled on the clothes, "They're not what I usually wear, but they're perfect for this."
Robin let out a soft laugh as she picked out a long, feathered, black coat.
Hawke smiled and buckled up some black, knee high boots that had a white stripe around the top.
"Hey, Robin," she paused, "Shiki wants to destroy the East Blue like those islands from the paper the other day…"
The archeologist came to her side and nodded.
"Well," Hawke stammered, "He said he didn't want me to steal his thunder… d-does he think I would do that?"
Robin's expression remained relaxed.
"The legends say either peace or chaos will be brought by the Dark Angel," she said in her calm tone.
Hawke frowned and clenched her fists.
"But I could never do anything like that…" she mumbled, "I don't like it…"
Robin rested her hand on the scout's arm and gave a reassuring, motherly, smile. Hawke couldn't help but feel calmed and let out her breath.
"Well," she said, straightening and threw her leather jacket back around her shoulders, "Let's go get our navigator back!"