Kailor: Okay, I don't mean to "toot my own horn" or anything, but I fangirl squealed as I was writing those last few lines, lmao! Oh, and just so everyone knows: there was a certain fanfic I read a little while back that had five chapters but only 10 reviews. I just realized this IS my fifth chapter and I've already got 30 reviews! So, dear person who has no idea I was competing with them, I WIN! MWAHAHAHAHA!

Nuriko: Wait a second, Naruto. Who were you on the phone with, really?

Kailor: Miaka.

Naruto: KAI!

Kailor: Oops. 0.0 Was I not supposed to say that?

Nuriko: ...why were you talking to my woman?

Rikku: Yeah, why were you talking to another woman?

Naruto: Uh...

Kailor: ANYWAYS! If you got two notifications that I put up chapter 5, it's because I put it up but then took it down to fix something right quick. Now its back up lol!

And just when she thought she wouldn't be flying tonight...

A million butterflies soared through her gut and her heart stopped beating. The splashing of the rain on the concrete turned into a symphony that filled her ears, broken only by the soft sigh that slipped out of Konoka's mouth before Setsuna's captured it. Her lungs were suddenly so full she thought they would burst. A tantilizing whiff of lavender soap joined the thick scent of the storm. The healer's hair, heavy with water, slicked between her fingers, a few strands clinging to her palms. Konoka's hands fisted into Setsuna's t-shirt, dragging it up enough that the cold, driving waterdrops lashed against her stomach and lower back. Rivulets streamed down her shoulders and into her eyes, but she didn't feel the chill. Like wildfire through a dry forest, goosebumps ran across her entire body, carrying with them a tingling so fierce it made her shake. And god, those lips...as soft as she'd always imagined, as sweet as she'd hoped, and pressing back against her own with just as much hunger.

And all of that...in the span of a few seconds...

Their lips broke apart and the world came back with shattering force. Every raindrop, every misty puff of breath, every rumble of thunder became real again. Konoka's face was tilted up to hers, eyes still closed. For another moment the healer stood that way, her breath fogging between them. Setsuna realized she was barely letting herself breathe at all. Then Konoka's hands loosened on her shirt and she opened her eyes.

Though she had to squint against the rain, Konoka looked up into Setsuna's face. The swordsman's heart raced as she waited for the chocolate-haired girl to speak. Say anything.

Please, say something. Tell me I came back for something more than a wish.

And she smiled.

Konoka smiled.

It was slow in coming and spread across her face bit by bit until it was a full blown grin. But there it was. She smiled.

Tears jumped to Setsuna's eyes.

"You have no idea how long I've been wanting you to do that," Konoka whispered.

"Not nearly as long as I've been wanting to do it," Setsuna assured her, choking on the words as a sob fought to claw its way out of her.

"Let's not make it as long until next time." Konoka pushed up on her toes and kissed her again.

When Setsuna rushed through the door of Eva's cottage the vampire was sitting on the couch, surrounded by her dolls and looking every bit the evil wizard. "You're late," she snapped.

"I got held up," Setsuna offered lamely.

"Well, I have a life you know. I don't exist for the sole purpose of training little brats like you and the other two-what the hell are you laughing about?"

Setsuna couldn't help herself. She laughed so hard her cheeks and ribs were aching and Eva eventually stomped out of the room, ranting about being surrounded by idiots. This only made Setsuna's hysteria worse.

"WOULD YOU GET IN HERE AND GET TO WORK, DAMNIT!" Eva screamed.

Once she got herself under control, she followed the blonde into the back room. The glass sphere that held Eva's mini "resort" gleamed dully as they approached it together. Remembering a day inside this thing was only an hour in the real world, Setsuna really wished it hadn't been smashed just before Asuna's twenty-second birthday. It would have been incredibly useful later in life. Maybe she could save it this time around.

"Negi and Asuna are already inside. Hurry up," Eva growled.

The daylight attacked her eyes the moment she arrived at Eva's "resort". Shading her eyes, she gazed around at the amazingly detailed mini-world Eva had created. The mansion, with its many towers and turrets, rose above them, casting its shadow across the surrounding beach. Around it stretched ocean as far as she could see, which-to her delight-was pretty far. Trying to ignore the inviting waves along the shoreline, she trailed after the tiny vampire. She was definitely going swimming later. It had been far too many years.

"There you guys are," Asuna called from the mansion doorway. Negi stood beside her, a sandwich hanging from his mouth. "What took you so long?"

"Our lovely little half-breed got 'held up'," Eva mocked, striding past the two redheads. "Probably her air-headed 'Ojou-sama''s fault."

Though she quickly turned to try and hide it, Asuna caught the flare of red in Setsuna's face. "Oh my god, it was Konoka! What happened? Spit it out, Setsuna!"

"No!"

"Tell me!"

After many fervent denials that anything had happened Asuna finally let the subject drop and the foursome made their way to the beach. While Negi and Eva kept going to put some distance between everyone, Setsuna drew her sword and faced off with Asuna.

Excited to be back in battle, Setsuna quickly dropped into a Kashima Shinto-ryu stance. Asuna attacked first and she parried, stepping easily into the next stance.

In moments she'd disarmed her friend and had her on the ground.

"Whoa! Setsuna, where'd you learn that style? I was just getting to know your Shinmei-ryu style!"

Crap! She hadn't attended the Kashima Shinto-ryu until she'd been 34! She shouldn't know these techniques!

"Uh, that was Shinmei-ryu. I just switched up the stances a bit. Sorry about that." She pulled Asuna up from the sand.

"Don't be sorry," Asuna laughed, rubbing her posterior. "Just make sure you teach it to me sometime."

Setsuna laughed, until she caught Evangeline staring across the beach at her. The way the vampire's eyes were narrowed made Setsuna's throat run dry. She pretended not to notice the look and positioned herself facing Asuna and not Eva. "Let's try again."

Hours later Negi and Asuna departed, having used up their hour of real time. Eva and Setsuna took a break in one of the cabanas that branched off from the main resort. Chachamaru showed up with food for them and Setsuna found herself unable to maintain eye contact with her robotic classmate. The last time they'd been face to face, a 72 year old Hakase had been removing Chachamaru's power core, effectively killing her. Even though Chachamaru had asked for it to be done, she still felt guilty for not trying harder to stop it.

When Chachamaru disappeared back into the resort Evangeline spoke.

"So, Kashima Shinto-ryu, huh?"

Setsuna gagged on the bit of bisquit she'd just swallowed. It took a few minutes to completely clear her throat and ease the ragged feeling. Finally she managed, "The what?"

"Oh, come on. I've been around longer than Konoka's grandpa, which is really saying something. I lived in a time where swords were still regularly used. You think I don't do my homework before I train you idiots?" Eva took a long sip from her tea, looking calm as ever. "I know a few Kashima Shinto-ryu graduates and I've fought a couple. I had to think about it for a while, but I finally recognized it."

"I dont-"

"You do know what I'm talking about." Eva cut her off. "That was the first stance taught at the Kashima Shinto-ryu. Keeping in mind that sword schools all hate each other and usually refuse to share secrets, why would you-a Shinmei-ryu student-know the techniques of the Kashima Shinto-ryu?"

Crap. Setsuna dug for some kind of explanation, any lie that could be passed off. Nothing.

"Besides, where would you have found time to learn said techniques? It takes many years of practice to get those things down, as you know. Unless you've spent your life skipping from one school to the other without getting caught, you WOULDN'T know both styles, and no offense, but I doubt you're sneaky enough to pull that off." Eva's eyes narrowed again, matching the look she'd given Setsuna on the beach. "So, time for the truth, Setsuna. You know you want to tell someone anyways. Might as well be me."

She had no idea how right she was.

Setsuna was actually over a century old. So was Evangeline. They had both lived an entire lifetime already, whereas their other classmates were barely through their teens. Who else would understand the tiring drag of age? Who else could know how exhausting it was to outlive everyone they loved?

It wasn't exactly the same, since the lifetime Setsuna had already lived didn't even count anymore, but it was enough. She told Evangeline everything.

When she fell silent, Evangeline had a look on her face that Setsuna would associate with being clubbed over the head. "Eva?"

The vampire blinked, seeming to come out of a trance. "Okay, so you're actually 107 years old and Chao gave you a chance to relive your life in return for a few pictures?"

"That's the gyst of it, I guess."

"And when you lived this life before WE lived together for a while?"

"You took care of me, yes."

"Well, there you go." Eva smacked the table. "Now I know you're lying."

"You had your first kiss at age eight, with a boy named William Gr-"

"Okay, okay, I believe you!"

"Thank you."

"So what have you come back to change?"

Fire skittered through her cheeks as she thought of Konoka's kiss earlier. "Uh, Asuna and Negi. They have some kind of falling out within this year or the next and it pretty much screws up everybody's life."

"Over what?"

"I don't know. They never told anyone." Setsuna said.

Eva swirled her empty tea cup, obviously not realizing its contents were gone. "So we need to keep an eye on those two, eh?"

"Yeah-wait, we?"

"Yes, we." The vampire gave her a don't-be-stupid look. "Now that I know everything's gone to shit once already, I have a responsibility to help stop it from happening twice."

Once again, Setsuna had to fight the urge to glomp the little blonde. "Alright, so what do we do?"

"I say we watch closely until something happens that looks like it could be the cause of the break up, then we beat them both senseless and lock them in here until they fix things."

"I don't think that will work..."

"Fine, we'll lock them in here, tie them up, and tickle them into submission."

"Tickle? Really?"

"Would you rather me beat them?"

"No."

"Well then, nyah." Evangeline stuck her tongue out at the swordsman. The gesture was one Setsuna had seen many times over their years living together. For a second it felt like they were there again, sitting around the kitchen table talking about random nonsense to pass the time. Only this time, Eva didn't have to yell so the swordsman could hear.

No matter what happened this time around, she hoped they would have that time again.

Setsuna laughed. "You know, as old as you are, you'd think you'd be more mature."

Evangeline threw a bisquit at her and Setsuna fired one back without hesitation.

"I could say the same to you," Eva chuckled.