Like a gift from the heavens, it was easy to tell
It was love from above that could save me from hell
She had fire in her soul; it was easy to see
How the devil himself could be pulled outta me
Like a piece to the puzzle that falls into place.
You could tell how we felt from the look on our faces.
We were spinning in circles with the moon in our eyes
No room left to move in between you and I.
We forgot where we were, and we lost track of time.
And we sang to the wind as we danced through the night!
-Into the Night, Santana
So just what were you expecting out of that, Nene? a certain redhead wondered
as she headed away from the docks. She'd seen the muscular ninja she'd had an entertaining dinner with off for the night, but as enjoyable as the night
had been, and as accurate to her predictions as it had been, something'd still just seemed....off.
Not that she'd complained, of course. This time, it'd been her recent dining partner's turn to foot the bill, not that either of them really was
hard up for money, her tall platinum blonde companion probably moreso than Nene herself. Oh, she knew why she was doing it. Sylia'd made her think over it
several times in depth to make sure of what she was doing it for when she'd found out. The odd connection between
herself and the stoic Sachie had been as spontaneous as it'd apparently been unexpected by everyone involved. And Sylia, who pried into Nene's affairs
probably more than she'd be comfortable with from anyone else, however clandestinely, had made sure that Nene knew what kind of shark she was dealing
with...and the fact that she came from an entire breeding pen of them.
Nonetheless, Nene'd gone along with it, scheduling a few dinners and various other things with her, and as she'd expected, once the other woman decided
to let herself relax, she was genuinely charming, if still stoic and rather quiet. Given Nene's own tendency to talk enough for two people, it'd
balanced out well enough, and Nene suspected that her companion'd enjoyed the initial few visits more than she'd expected to. But still...as much as
playing on the odd sort of chemistry they'd demonstrated to get her to open up had been seemingly effective and hardly a chore....this latest time had left Nene with a strange sense of....flatness to it. She could tell that Sachie had noticed it, as
she'd deftly excused herself, whether from not wanting to deal with Nene's odd mood or out of respect for letting her sort herself out in privacy, Nene
didn't know. Given Sylia's warnings, it could possibly be something else as well, but Nene didn't really spend too many cerebral processing cycles
thinking that over.
Nene sat down in a bus stop and leaned back, her head resting on the back of the bench as she let herself slowly process and categorize the mood she was in.
She acknowledged she was ditzy at times, often a little childish for her age, and in no way had she ever been one to think she'd had to grow up as she got
older. While she didn't exactly wear her heart on her sleeve, she liked to think she didn't bother much with self-denial. She felt what she felt, and
consequences be damned. It'd gained her friends...sisters...in the Knight Sabers, now the Knight Sabres. It'd gained her a lover that'd made her
happier than she'd been in years. It'd gained her a daughter and another freeloader that might as well be hers as well. She'd survived the
transition between one life she thought she'd had and the one she had now by virtue of being open about her feelings with herself....and with Ifrit,
who'd pulled her back from the brink of dwelling on the past and the family that wasn't really hers(no matter how she missed Mama and Papa and her
siblings at the time) and the rest. She'd ridden out that storm and found herself in a position to help her friends with it...and help others besides them,
like Swift and(though she didn't exactly know it) Sylvie.
And now, despite having an entertaining night with interesting company, she felt....flat. It wasn't the entertainment of the night or the food. The company
was out. Work wasn't to blame. No familial emergencies to speak of....so why did she feel like she wished she'd stayed home?
The answer that came to her as she picked at the problem caused a rueful chuckle that got a curious glance from a passing pedestrian as she sat back up. It
really was entirely too obvious. Naturally, she hadn't seen it for what it was.
"I'm all grown up now," she noted to herself quietly. "Which means it's time to stop flirting like some hormonal teenager. And skirting
about the issue with something I decided for myself a long time ago, for that matter."
Feeling somewhat more upbeat, she stood up, making her way to the Green Line.
***
"These are the discs?" she asked Mackie, who nodded. "Copies of the scans of...home...that Crey found. Sylia had me make three copies for each
of you to decide what to do with...."
"And there's three here?" Nene said.
Mackie nodded. "Priss didn't even bother picking hers up, and Linna returned hers about a day after she took it with her....and you never picked yours
up," she said, her tone obviously indicating curiousity as to why she was interested in them now.
Nene nodded, picking up all three discs. "Thanks, Mackie," she said, heading for the door as Mackie blinked, looking after her.
"So what're you going to do with those, Nene?"
"I'm going to put them to some practical use."
***
Ifrit looked up as the door closed behind Nene, who stepped into the living room, bending down to kiss her. "You had a good night?"
"Actually, it flopped a little, so I went shopping to cheer myself up afterwards," she said, sitting down beside her on the couch and putting her arm
around Ifrit. "And I got you something too."
"Oh? What is it? And can I open it here where Sammy might wander through?" she asked mischievously, drawing a laugh from Nene, who shook her head.
"No, it's okay to open here," she said, handing Ifrit the small box.
Ifrit looked at it curiously, unwrapping it before blinking at the black velvet box, opening the small hinge. For a brief moment, her brain stopped working,
before she glanced over at Nene who looked simply curious as to what she thought and far, far too calm for it to be what Ifrit thought it was.
She opened the small box, blinking at the ring inside...particularly the odd mottle colored stone in the center, two small diamonds set to either side of it.
"It's beautiful, love, but...I'm curious. What's the middle stone?"
"Industrial diamond. Raw carbon compressed into a stone. Because it's not the purest materials, it's not as shiny...but I thought the symbolism
fit," she said.
"Oh? What was it?"
Nene smiled softly. "It's made out of the computer discs that contained the last bits of data on how to get back to our old home dimension," she
said softly. "The others all decided they didn't want them, so I decided I'd make some use out of them..." she said, smiling at Ifrit's
wide-eyed expression. "Of course, that's not all it's meant to symbolize...." she said, and for all that Ifrit was a magical construct that
simply imitated a human being, she felt her heart stop for a moment as Nene slipped off the couch and onto one knee in front of her.
"You might find this funny, but I have no witty comment to make about this, so I guess I'll just ask the question..." Nene said. "Would you
make me even more the luckiest woman in the world by agreeing to marry me?"
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."
It was love from above that could save me from hell
She had fire in her soul; it was easy to see
How the devil himself could be pulled outta me
Like a piece to the puzzle that falls into place.
You could tell how we felt from the look on our faces.
We were spinning in circles with the moon in our eyes
No room left to move in between you and I.
We forgot where we were, and we lost track of time.
And we sang to the wind as we danced through the night!
-Into the Night, Santana
So just what were you expecting out of that, Nene? a certain redhead wondered
as she headed away from the docks. She'd seen the muscular ninja she'd had an entertaining dinner with off for the night, but as enjoyable as the night
had been, and as accurate to her predictions as it had been, something'd still just seemed....off.
Not that she'd complained, of course. This time, it'd been her recent dining partner's turn to foot the bill, not that either of them really was
hard up for money, her tall platinum blonde companion probably moreso than Nene herself. Oh, she knew why she was doing it. Sylia'd made her think over it
several times in depth to make sure of what she was doing it for when she'd found out. The odd connection between
herself and the stoic Sachie had been as spontaneous as it'd apparently been unexpected by everyone involved. And Sylia, who pried into Nene's affairs
probably more than she'd be comfortable with from anyone else, however clandestinely, had made sure that Nene knew what kind of shark she was dealing
with...and the fact that she came from an entire breeding pen of them.
Nonetheless, Nene'd gone along with it, scheduling a few dinners and various other things with her, and as she'd expected, once the other woman decided
to let herself relax, she was genuinely charming, if still stoic and rather quiet. Given Nene's own tendency to talk enough for two people, it'd
balanced out well enough, and Nene suspected that her companion'd enjoyed the initial few visits more than she'd expected to. But still...as much as
playing on the odd sort of chemistry they'd demonstrated to get her to open up had been seemingly effective and hardly a chore....this latest time had left Nene with a strange sense of....flatness to it. She could tell that Sachie had noticed it, as
she'd deftly excused herself, whether from not wanting to deal with Nene's odd mood or out of respect for letting her sort herself out in privacy, Nene
didn't know. Given Sylia's warnings, it could possibly be something else as well, but Nene didn't really spend too many cerebral processing cycles
thinking that over.
Nene sat down in a bus stop and leaned back, her head resting on the back of the bench as she let herself slowly process and categorize the mood she was in.
She acknowledged she was ditzy at times, often a little childish for her age, and in no way had she ever been one to think she'd had to grow up as she got
older. While she didn't exactly wear her heart on her sleeve, she liked to think she didn't bother much with self-denial. She felt what she felt, and
consequences be damned. It'd gained her friends...sisters...in the Knight Sabers, now the Knight Sabres. It'd gained her a lover that'd made her
happier than she'd been in years. It'd gained her a daughter and another freeloader that might as well be hers as well. She'd survived the
transition between one life she thought she'd had and the one she had now by virtue of being open about her feelings with herself....and with Ifrit,
who'd pulled her back from the brink of dwelling on the past and the family that wasn't really hers(no matter how she missed Mama and Papa and her
siblings at the time) and the rest. She'd ridden out that storm and found herself in a position to help her friends with it...and help others besides them,
like Swift and(though she didn't exactly know it) Sylvie.
And now, despite having an entertaining night with interesting company, she felt....flat. It wasn't the entertainment of the night or the food. The company
was out. Work wasn't to blame. No familial emergencies to speak of....so why did she feel like she wished she'd stayed home?
The answer that came to her as she picked at the problem caused a rueful chuckle that got a curious glance from a passing pedestrian as she sat back up. It
really was entirely too obvious. Naturally, she hadn't seen it for what it was.
"I'm all grown up now," she noted to herself quietly. "Which means it's time to stop flirting like some hormonal teenager. And skirting
about the issue with something I decided for myself a long time ago, for that matter."
Feeling somewhat more upbeat, she stood up, making her way to the Green Line.
***
"These are the discs?" she asked Mackie, who nodded. "Copies of the scans of...home...that Crey found. Sylia had me make three copies for each
of you to decide what to do with...."
"And there's three here?" Nene said.
Mackie nodded. "Priss didn't even bother picking hers up, and Linna returned hers about a day after she took it with her....and you never picked yours
up," she said, her tone obviously indicating curiousity as to why she was interested in them now.
Nene nodded, picking up all three discs. "Thanks, Mackie," she said, heading for the door as Mackie blinked, looking after her.
"So what're you going to do with those, Nene?"
"I'm going to put them to some practical use."
***
Ifrit looked up as the door closed behind Nene, who stepped into the living room, bending down to kiss her. "You had a good night?"
"Actually, it flopped a little, so I went shopping to cheer myself up afterwards," she said, sitting down beside her on the couch and putting her arm
around Ifrit. "And I got you something too."
"Oh? What is it? And can I open it here where Sammy might wander through?" she asked mischievously, drawing a laugh from Nene, who shook her head.
"No, it's okay to open here," she said, handing Ifrit the small box.
Ifrit looked at it curiously, unwrapping it before blinking at the black velvet box, opening the small hinge. For a brief moment, her brain stopped working,
before she glanced over at Nene who looked simply curious as to what she thought and far, far too calm for it to be what Ifrit thought it was.
She opened the small box, blinking at the ring inside...particularly the odd mottle colored stone in the center, two small diamonds set to either side of it.
"It's beautiful, love, but...I'm curious. What's the middle stone?"
"Industrial diamond. Raw carbon compressed into a stone. Because it's not the purest materials, it's not as shiny...but I thought the symbolism
fit," she said.
"Oh? What was it?"
Nene smiled softly. "It's made out of the computer discs that contained the last bits of data on how to get back to our old home dimension," she
said softly. "The others all decided they didn't want them, so I decided I'd make some use out of them..." she said, smiling at Ifrit's
wide-eyed expression. "Of course, that's not all it's meant to symbolize...." she said, and for all that Ifrit was a magical construct that
simply imitated a human being, she felt her heart stop for a moment as Nene slipped off the couch and onto one knee in front of her.
"You might find this funny, but I have no witty comment to make about this, so I guess I'll just ask the question..." Nene said. "Would you
make me even more the luckiest woman in the world by agreeing to marry me?"
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."