Another update in the same week? I know weird right.

I only got 4 reviewson that last chapter and it's really disheartening. Still, I wrote another chapter.

Please Review.

Four days. Four days, 8 hours and 32 minutes to be exact. Till the moment when Rachel finally received what she had been waiting for.

However, those previous anxiety filled four days worried all parties involved. Rachel feared for Quinn, but everyone else feared for Rachel.

Night and day, Rachel would work tirelessly at keeping watch over Quinn. Whatever Quinn needed, she'd do. If the warrior needed food, the tiny brunette would feed her light broths with the patience of a Saint. Cleaning any spills with ease. It got to a point where no one else could touch Quinn without Rachel's permission or guidance. After a few disastrous events, the others quit trying. Only when the time came that Quinn needed to be bathed did Rachel reluctantly allow Santana to help carry the unconscious woman to the stream in the back of the cavern. Santana held her friends body up while Rachel meticulously scrubbed and cleaned the healing woman.

Quinn's body appeared to be perfectly healthy. Rachel, with the aid of Santana, worked Quinn's muscles through some light exercises and everything seemed to be in working order. Santana further confirmed that Quinn's spinal cord was completely healed and intact. Every sign pointed to Quinn being awake, but she wouldn't open her eyes.

Still, Rachel Berry was nothing but determined. Again, day and night she kept vigil.

Things were bound to reach a boiling point sooner or later.

XXXXXXX

Santana was stuck between a rock and a hard place. She just knew that Rachel was Sonya's reincarnated soul, which meant that Rachel was Quinn's one and only soulmate. It only took just over half a millennium for Quinn to get a second chance. However, she can't tell Rachel about it because it wouldn't be her place to say such things. Another issue is that, when Quinn wakes up…how will she react? What if she already knows? What if she doesn't want to know? After all, she was there that horrible day and it still haunts her memories.

None of this takes into account the fact that Rachel is special. She's constantly in danger and Santana doesn't know if Quinn could take losing her again. Sometimes Fate just isn't fair.

All of these troubling thoughts and feelings keep swirling around inside the tan skinned woman's mind. Needless to say, she suffered from numerous headaches. Even worse, she can't talk to Brittany about the whole mess.

Brittany.

That's an entirely different matter. Now that she thinks about it…her friend, she doesn't even know what to exactly call their relationship at the moment, has been acting very strangely. The blonde would zone out and stare into space; sometimes at very inopportune times. At first, the fiery woman dismissed it as the blonde coping with stress, but the occasions kept happening more frequently and at this point Santana is just plain worried.

Days like these, the warrior wished she was still in the training pits fighting her way one opponent at a time into mindless oblivion. Those were fun times.

Speaking of the certain gorgeous woman, Brittany was currently walking straight towards her with purpose. Black wings fluttered nervously.

Santana tilted her head in question when Brittany stood silently in front of her.

Brittany shuffled her weight from one leg to the other, "I…I wanted to ask you a favor. You can refuse, but you said you'd help me…"

The woman had a point and Santana just nodded affirmatively so Brittany would continue.

"I want you to teach me how to use a sword," Brittany said softly while chewing on her fingernail nervously.

Thin black eyebrows rose in surprise, "What?"

"I've been thinking about this. A lot actually. And…I really want to be able to do something to help. I can't do much of anything but if I can fight…I can help protect…the things that I love," she ended in a whisper giving the warrior a pointed look.

Santana sighed and stood up from the stool she had been sitting on. She stretched out her spine and ruffled out her wings. "I can't argue with your logic, but if you choose to do this…everything changes…do you understand? I mean…do you really understand?" she scrutinized the tall blonde.

"I do. It wasn't easy for me to decide this, but I want to learn."

"You've always wanted to save lives…ever since you were a small child right?" Santana asked lightly.

Brittany nodded.

"If you pick up a sword, you will automatically become a threat in the eyes of the enemy. They see you pick up that weapon and they'll do everything in their power to stop you; to kill you. You'll be going from saving lives, to taking them away," she paused to let that sink in, "…these aren't human lives so it may be easier, but it's still brutal and nasty. Can you do that?"

Brittany looked down in thought. Could she do as Santana asked? She'll be in more danger, but at least now she'd have a fighting chance instead of being a sheep ready to be slaughtered. Brittany winced; okay that wasn't the best analogy.

"I think that no matter what happens from now on I'll be in danger. If you help me, I'll have a small chance at defending myself. When it comes down to it, I will protect my family…no matter what I have to do. That I can promise, and I can't stress to you enough how much I need to be able to help…please….Santana…" blue eyes pleaded.

The idea of Brittany fighting bothered the dark woman. Not because she doesn't want her to learn, but because it will make her a target and she can't lose Britt. However, she has to respect the blonde's decision and prepare her the best she could. She wasn't the best weapons master for no good reason.

"I do believe that you are in some serious luck. The best weapons master our world has to offer…at your service," Santana grinned mischievously, and mock bowed at the waist; flaring out her massive ebony wings.

Brittany laughed and rolled her eyes, happy to have the heavy mood broken by the other woman's antics. "A little cocky don't you think?"

The Latina gasped, "Me? Cocky? Never," she winked.

Brittany snorted and gave the dark woman warm embrace, "Thank you, it means a lot."

"I promise I will teach you to the best of my ability. You will be able to defend yourself by the end," Santana swore.

XXXXXXX

Rachel was only mildly surprised to see Brittany and Santana fighting with wooden swords. She assumed the Seer provided those handy practice sticks. Who knows what else the old woman has stashed around in these caves? A part of her was actually jealous at what her best friend was doing, shouldn't she have the opportunity to learn? Be the sane part of her mind reminded her that she was preoccupied with a certain unconscious individual.

Worried eyes looked over her charge. Rachel wasn't stupid, she knew the others were worried about her behavior but why couldn't they understand what she was trying to do? Quinn had to get better; for all their sakes.

Loud clunks of wood-on-wood drew her attention back to the sparring duo.

"You're picking up the footwork fairly easily," Santana said as she blocked one of the other woman's thrusts, "…do you dance?"

Brittany grunted out a response, "Ballet for several years. Then I stopped and focused on med school, but I freestyle when the mood hits," she brought her arm down trying to slice down on Santana's left shoulder.

The warrior side stepped and blocked easily.

"It's similar to dancing. The balance must be there. Keep your center of gravity low to the ground, it will help you to perfect your movements," she pressed forward sending the blonde into a defensive stance, "…still…you're holding your sword too hard. All it takes is a twist of the wrist," she demonstrated, "…and you'll be disarmed," Brittany's wooden sword was sent flying out of her grasp.

The blonde gasped trying to catch her breath, "How…are you not sweating at all?" she wheezed out. Here she thought she was actually in good shape, oh how this was proving her wrong.

"Years of practice," she gave the woman a break and walked over to pick up the dropped weapon. She handed the sword to Brittany hilt first, "Now this time I want you to grasp the hilt lightly. Only use your thumb and your first two fingers to add pressure. The harder you grasp it, the less your mobility becomes which allows you to become vulnerable to attacks."

Brittany wiped the sheen of sweat off her forehead with her forearm and grabbed the sword like Santana instructed.

"Make the sword a part of your arm. By doing so, you'll use the large muscles in your shoulder and your arm won't get so tired so quickly," Santana took her stance and waiting for her opponent to do the same.

Several strikes and parries later, the blonde's sword was sent flying once again.

Santana grinned, "That wasn't so bad. It took me longer to do it that time."

Brittany grumbled incoherently under her breath and went to retrieve the fallen weapon. Santana just smiled and waited patiently.

Again they swapped blows but this time Santana took every opening she was given, to hit the woman lightly on body parts unprotected. Now that Brittany was able to hold her sword more securely, she needed to be aware of the gaping holes she had created in her defenses.

"Once you learn to hold the sword correctly," she tapped the blonde's unprotected right shoulder, "…you'll be able to block. Block a head attack by moving your sword into a horizontal position," she demonstrated and allowed the blonde to block it, "…protect your shoulders with the sword tip up and protect your midsection with the tip down," she once again demonstrated the attacks but this time in succession. Brittany barely had time to block the strike to her gut.

"Always remember to keep your eyes on your opponent. Most opponents will give away their intended strike with their eyes. It may be a twitch or a slight glance, but never take your eyes off them," she side swiped towards the woman's left thigh but Brittany was ready for that attack. Mid-swing she redirected the attack to slice down on the blonde's head only to be met by the blonde's sword hilt that locked onto hers and allowed her sword to be swung around and away from the blonde's body. Quickly, Santana flicked her wrist and brought the wood back and lightly tapped the blonde's right leg.

Brittany sighed disgusted with herself and stepped back, "Fuck! How am I supposed to learn these moves when I keep making myself open to different attacks?"

"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself…" Santana rested her weight on her hip and held the practice piece by the hilt, resting the dull point on the ground. "…you're doing just fine. You actually blocked two of my hits, but you let your growing confidence at succeeding get in the way and you left yourself open. You can't let any type of emotion get in your way while fighting. It makes you sloppy, but that's something that takes years to learn. I still make those mistakes."

It didn't matter what Santana said, Brittany was still disappointed in herself. She took a deep breath and swept the loose strands of hair off her sticky face, "It's still frustrating! I go to the gym four days of the week and I do heavy cardio and weights. But this? This is killing my body and I thought I was in such a good shape. And then I see you, and you're just standing there barely breaking a sweat. And I keep making stupid mistakes!"

The Latina frowned and stepped forward, "Really, don't be so hard on yourself. You can't learn this overnight. It takes daily practice. I can even show you some techniques to strengthen your upper body. Listen…" she paused and held out her hand palm up, "…why don't we just wrap this up for today and start again tomorrow. Take a shower and relax, it will do us no good to continue in this mood." Brittany reluctantly handed over her sword.

The blonde still had an irritated look on her face as she turned away and walked toward Rachel and Quinn. With a loud huff she dropped down into one of the wooden chairs nearby.

Santana squinted her eyes trying to decide if maybe she should go over there and try and make things better. In the end, she decided to let the blonde calm down on her own. She grabbed the two practice swords and left the cavern to give the girl some privacy.

Rachel heard the entire exchange but was trying her hardest to stay out of it and not comment. Personally, she thought the blonde was being way too hard on herself but she knew her sentiments would not be taken well at the moment.

An awkward silence descended upon the two. The only sound was Brittany's heavy breathing from the demanding exertion.

Rachel fumbled for something to do. She fell back on one of the actions that she had repeatedly done over and over again during the past four days; wiping Quinn down with a cool cloth. She reached down for the ever present cloth and bowl of cold water.

Brittany narrowed her eyes at the action. She doesn't know if it was the frustrating lesson she just had with Santana, or the fact that for the past few days she's been so desperate to help Rachel…only to have her best friend refuse her, but she feels like she's about to snap. For days everyone has been tip toeing around the little brunette, worried they might set her off or disturb her in any way. Meanwhile, she's had to stand around and watch dark shadows creep up under once lively brown eyes and see the tiny woman drop several pounds from not eating correctly. Her cheek bones are much more prominent now than they were two weeks ago. She's finally had enough of just standing idly by.

"Stop it Rachel," Brittany lashed out.

Rachel visibly flinched and whipped her head around to face her best friend. Confusion colored her features, "What?"

"Stop what you're doing…"

"—I'm not doing any—

"—yes you are! You think wiping her down is doing any good? Well, let me tell you something…it's not!" Brittany jumped up from the stool, her normally pale skin starting to become flushed.

"Now wait a second. Don't you dare tell me what will and won't help! I'm the one that went into her mind and tried to help her!" dark eyes blazed dangerously.

"Oh please…you can't even remember what happened!" Brittany started pacing while pointing her finger accusingly at Rachel, "You think I don't see what's happening to you? How you don't eat, you hardly sleep! You haven't seen yourself, but I see it every single day and it pains me because I have no idea how to help you!" Brittany groaned loudly in frustration.

Rachel's defenses quickly shot up, "I haven't remembered all if it yet! I get bits and pieces here and there. I don't care how I look, I eat fine enough and I get sleep when I need it. I don't understand why you can't see that I'm trying to help Quinn!"

By now it was a full blown shouting match; both girls had somehow gotten within a few feet of each other.

"Help Quinn? You're killing yourself by doing what you're doing and the worst part is you can't even see it. You know just as well as I do that the chances of Quinn waking up now is so fucking small. It's been almost five days Rachel. Five!" the taller blonde lifted her hand and wiggled her fingers for extra emphasis.

"—Don't you start with that! I'm fucking sorry if I'm the only one left that has any kind of hope that she'll wake up. All of you act as if she's dead! She's not, she's still breathing right there…" Rachel pointed to the cot behind her.

"Of course we haven't given up on her. We're scared for you!" Brittany stepped forward pleadingly, "You're destroying yourself by taking care of her like this. It's not helping. If she even wakes…"

Rachel's eyes narrowed murderously.

"—When Quinn wakes up what do you think she'll say when she takes one good look at you? Huh?" Brittany yelled desperately.

Rachel was rendered silent.

"It doesn't matter…" Rachel whispered.

"Yes you do! You matter! To me, to Santana, even to the fucking cat. And I can guarantee you that to Quinn, you matter the most!" Brittany took a deep breath to calm down. The smaller woman in front of her dropped her shoulders in defeat. She felt bad for her outburst, but not enough to apologize. It needed to be said and it was finally time for someone to step up.

Brittany clenched her jaw and stepped forward. She placed her hand lightly on her friend's shoulder, "Look, I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings but it needed to be said. Honestly, that woman cares for you a whole lot and I know it's going to bother her when she finds out what you've done to yourself."

Rachel shuddered and leaned into her friends comforting warmth, "I'm just her job, her burden. She's just trying to keep me alive."

Brittany pulled Rachel into her side and rested her cheek on the side of the smaller woman's head, "I don't know. I think she cares a lot more than that. Still, I think it best if you tried to get healthier before she wakes up, don't you think?"

Blue eyes stared warmly down at Rachel.

Rachel nodded with a bashful smile. She sniffled and wiped a tear from the corner of her eye, "Yeah, I think so too…"

Santana watched from a far. She had almost intervened, but female human behavior confused her. First they were at each other's throats, and now they were comforting each other. Once she was content that no punches were going to be thrown she turned around to exit.

Surprisingly, the Seer was right behind her, staring at the unfolding scene as well, "Peculiar isn't it?"

Santana just sighed and nodded, "Yes, I just don't understand. It's been such a long time since I've been human."

The Seer grinned, a sparkle entering her aged eyes, "They're women. A confusing bunch we can be sometimes. Yet, at the same time...wonderful."

Santana quirked her eyebrow skeptically, "You know much about women?"

The Seer clucked, "I know many things young one. I've had my fair share of…dealings…with them." The old woman laughed at the surprised look on the tan skinned woman's face and walked away chuckling to herself. Yes, she's had plenty of experience with women. One in particular, but that's another story.

XXXXXXX

Being dead was an unusual feeling. Quinn knew how things worked for her people. Once a Guardian died their soul could never be put back in the Cycle, like humans. Once out, one cannot be put back in. So, it comes to a surprise that death would still cause her to feel things.

A long time ago the blonde took a dip into the Antarctic Ocean on Earth. Santana had dared her. There was no way she'd let her friend best her; they were such a competitive pair during their training years. The freezing temperatures bothered her little, but the pressure in her ears and the muffled silence still persisted.

If she could describe this feeling…that's what it would be: silent, dull, muffled. She used to wonder what death would be like. Since she has no hope for being reincarnated, she thought she'd cease to exist.

That it would be empty. Technically, she shouldn't even be able to think, but here she was. Thinking.

That's what bothers her.

She doesn't know how long she's been in this state. There's nothing to tell time or show any change of anything. It's all a constant dull ache. It's frustrating and the fact that she can even feel frustrated shows the warrior that she most likely wasn't dead. Or at least she hopes so.

She has things to do, even though for the life of her she can't remember what they were. She can't really remember much of anything, but that all comes second to the one thing she knows for sure: she's not dead.

So, where was she?

It could have been minutes, days or even years…Quinn doesn't know, but she started to feel strange. It wasn't the normal annoyance, or even the frustration. It was hot.

She was feeling hot. Now, how strange was that?

It wasn't a temperature change. It was an emotion that was so pure, it was blindingly hot. Quinn could feel it in her skin, in her bones, in her soul. Slowly it built up, but finally it exploded inside her and she was filled with white, hot, rage.

The explosion of anger brought Quinn to her knees. She winced and clutched her head, praying it would end.

"You think wiping her down is doing any good? Well, let me tell you something…it's not!" The words tumbled out of nowhere taking the blonde by surprise.

"You're killing yourself…. It's been almost five days Rachel. Five."

Quinn couldn't recognize the voice, but the words spurred her fury further. It burned her. An anguished cry escaped past her lips.

"All of you act as if she's dead! She's not, she's still breathing right there."

She knew that voice. Quinn threw her pain filled eyes open as those words echoed in her mind. That voice soothed the pain like a cool balm to her soul. She needed that voice, without it…it hurt too much. All she had to do was figure out a way to get it back.

Quinn needed to get out of here. To claw her way out, that voice was not where she was and it was wrong. Everything was wrong the way it was now. She had to fix it. Quinn threw her head back and screamed letting all the frustration, anger and feelings she had been drenched in for who knows how long, out into the open. It was like a pulse of electricity pounded its way into every nerve of her body. Higher and higher the intensity increased until the point where she thought she couldn't take it anymore.

Then it all stopped.

"…I think she cares a lot more than that. Still, I think it best if you tried to get healthier before she wakes up, don't you think?"

This was odd. The words echoed, but it didn't feel all muffled like before. There was no pressure; only clearness. She doesn't even know if that made any type of sense.

"Yeah, I think so too…"

It was that same voice, not as loud as before but she recognized it. She was so close to it, all she needed was a little more.

Hazel eyes, excruciatingly slowly, slid themselves open.

Thoughts? Opinions on characters? on the plot? Tell me it all. In a "review". Lovely things those are.