Welcome to Gaia! ::

While she'd experienced memories before, few came with the heavy does of emotion as this flickering one had and perhaps that what why she'd been so off-guard, why it had effected her so deeply. Her mind was a whirl and her heart ached.

But she let him scoop her up in a hug, returning it with what strength she could muster, pressing her face against his collarbone. It was a little strange, that the seasoned senshi was so willing to let him touch her freely, affectionately but Altais's positive demeanor was reassuring and the way he openly seemed to care about her, well it wasn't something she'd experienced in a while. So, she let him wrap his arms around her and she grasped at his back, willing her body to stop trembling.

"Not sad, just strong," Denebola responded, sucking in a shaky breath. "I'll be okay, just give me a minute." She focused on the tiled floor beneath them. "Her emotions were just...really strong. Overwhelming. I'm okay." She breathed in and out until the hysteria had faded. She pulled back, grips slack and she offered him a slight smile. "Thank you. I suppose happier memories would be nice, but..."

"Or something," she mumbled, thoughts elsewhere.

"You sound like the Doctor," she joked, uncertain if he'd get her reference. "Life is a pile of good and bad things," she quoted at him. "The good things don't always soften the bad things and vice versa." Though, if the dragonfly senshi was honest, she'd say she'd seen more bad that good things lately.

It was hard to hold on to the hope that better days were to come some times.

War did that to you, she mused.

"I haven't," she admitted with a sheepish smile. "I don't really watch many movies." Not since her friend circle had dwindled into virtually nothing. Not since her brother, Peter, had moved to Paris for work.

"Yeah, he's really popular. All twelve incarnations of him." Her personal favorite would always be Eleven, but she was probably ginger-biased because Amy was her favorite character. "You should watch it, it's long but definitely worth it. It makes you wonder what all they got right, and wrong, about space and other planets."

Sometimes, when she watched, she wondered if there were planets with creatures like the ones on the show.

"The bad makes the really good things, great sometimes." She assented. "Life is an experience, it'd be a shame to not experience just because you don't want to experience the bad." A flush of shame washed through her, because that's exactly what she'd been doing for most of the year.

Avoiding her senshi life, because it meant perpetually putting herself in danger's way.

She swallowed, jerking from her thoughts when he offered a movie night. "You don't have to--" she stopped, furrowed her brow and bit her lip. "We can watch a movie, anything you have is fine. You don't need to find a specific one for me." She smiled gently at him. "You can give it to me when we go back," she reached for his hand, tugged him along with her. "Let's go look at the rest of the temple. I'll reign in my memories. The architecture is beautiful."

"Regeneration," she replied absentmindedly as she walked across the marbled floor, "it's like reincarnation, but different." Maybe they needed to have a Who marathon, when all this space business was over.

She moved through the temple, muscle-memory leading her across the floor and towards an extension that revealed a conference room. In the center of it was an ornate wooden table with legs carved in the shapes of the that fauna that used to roam the star. Impressively carved chairs littered the floor surrounding the table, some in their proper place while others were knocked over, broken and splintered.

A fine layer of dust had settled upon the once polished wood and when Denebola reached out to touch it, a film covered the tips of her fingers.

"My sphere is Dragonflies," she answered, just as she reached for the dragonfly carving in the center of the table. "When we leave the temple, you'll probably see their carcasses." The dead dragonfly mounts littered the forest of her homeworld. "You know how people rode dragons in fairytales?" She asked, looking back at him with a faint smile. "We rode dragonflies, much more efficient and quicker too."

"We could watch it sometime, if you'd like," she offered, soft and distracted. There was a tugging of longing, a memory of some sort, that pulled at her chest when her fingers traced the dragonfly. Her other hand touched her sternum, ran along a mark that didn't exist. Being one her homeworld was odd, difficult to adjust to the flashes of feelings that weren't her own or the memories that flickered in and out like a ruined VHS.

She seemed to notice the way he kept his hands close to himself, how he chose not to touch because he didn't know if he should. "You can touch, if you want. I don't mind," she assured him. Everything was already in ruins anyway, what would one more hand touching things do?

"Dragonflies are splendid," she agreed, smiling bright and warm at him. "They were my favorite thing to study, back when I was taking courses at the university." Her smile slipped and she dropped her gaze back to the table. She missed school some days, but it wasn't practical for her anymore.

"I'm sure your world is full of wonders and magic, besides Altais," she paused, choosing to look at him. "Maybe you were a part of it and I just haven't relived it yet." She stepped toward him, reached a hand out to his shoulder and tilted her head. "Or maybe I was part of your world."

"We'll pick a day and time, when we get back to Earth," she promised. The ginger figured it couldn't hurt, letting someone else into her inner circle, he'd already given her his civilian identity and had shown that he was eager to be a part of her world. Denebola didn't think it'd hurt her to let him.

She hoped.

She laughed, a happy chime, at his enthusiasm-- it reminded her of happier times, when she was new and everything was a wonderful mystery. She felt so old now, worn and weary from what seemed to be an endless war, but with people like Altais, she thought that maybe, she could see the world a little brighter again.

"I might, when things settle a little more," she responded, gaze focusing on his hand over hers. The warmth of it was nice, reassuring, and the woman wondered what they might've been like in their other lives. There was a flicker of dusty blond in the corner of her vision, the chime of a too familiar laugh and she brushed the lingering memory away.

There would be other times where she could explore those things. "You'll have to tell me what you see, when we visit your homeworld," she said slowly, turning her hand until their palms were pressed together. "We should probably head back, I have a hard time telling how time flows up here. Someone might be missing you."

She laughed, warm and bright. "Or we can watch at my flat, no permissions to ask," she offered holding out her had for him to take. "But I'll give you my number when we're back on earth, so there's no risk to losing it," she promised, lacing her fingers in his.

"Oh, I should probably tell you. My name is Fiona," she added as an after thought, whe she fished out her senshi phone. "Fiona Watson." She opened the screen, poised and ready to take them back when she looked at him, red lips curled into a happy smile.

"Now let's go home," she told him once she was certain that her grip was firm and there would be no risk of leaving him behind. Then, she pressed send and they left Denebola.