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Something came in the form of a dark clad senshi in inks and oranges with raven wings framing curved hips. It came in the form of large, hazel eyes, and buttermilk skin with a smattering of soft freckles. In ginger curls, pale lips, and a soft voice. Eternal Dark Mirror Navi was moving through the early autumn night in silence, from shadow to shadow until she had made it to the familiar bit of broken down and battered town that she had adopted as her territory.

Well, perhaps not hers.

After weeks of separation she could feel him at last. The shock of it took her breath away and widened her eyes, and what had started as a leisurely jog increased in speed until she was all out sprinting through the streets and up onto the roof tops. Fiyero!

Waiting had been awful. She'd had to grin and laugh and pretend everything was fine around the people that shared her days, and they had been blind to the fact that her heart was slowly freezing with every slow passing day.

Now it felt as if her heart would burst with how frantic it pounded in her chest. Her pulse filled her ears, tightened her throat.

She saw him, and she slid to a stop on the street below. Slim fingers pressed against her chest, as if her heart threatened burst through her ribs and only that one small hand kept it in place. Out of breath, hazel eyes glittering in the light of a nearby streetlight, she walked slowly closer as she watched him on the low rooftop above her. Come down. Please.

Just a look, a glimpse, a smile. Something to ease the nerves. To chase away the worry and fear. He loved her. He'd said as much, but it had been weeks, and he'd needed time. Time she'd given him.

Now it was time to see if that love remained.

Her senshi slid from roof he'd been perching on and dropped to land on the road before her, and she couldn't help but notice the odd way he had landed, the hissed breath that fallowed as he lowered his other leg for balance. He was hurt.

But he smiled, and for just a moment all other worries left her as she gave an answering curl of lips and hurried forward to wrap eager arms around him, squeezing. "I missed you so much."

It hadn't been the first time such a long space of time had separated them, but this had been different. They were different. There had been no fear before, no dread that the other would melt away and be gone. It had been easier before, less painful, but more casual.

It was complicated now. They loved each other. Love changed things.

"You're hurt." That so soft voice was fragile with emotion, and when she tipped her head back to look up at him there were tears glittering in hazel eyes. "What happened?" Or who. She lifted a hand cup his cheek, to trace her thumb over soft skin and trimmed stubble. Dark eyes and soft lips. She drank in his features as if she'd die of thirst. A soft tug coaxed him downward, and she rose on tiptoes.

If she couldn't taste his kiss she'd wither.

Everything froze when their lips met. It always had, maybe it always would. The world stopped, problems melted away. There was nothing else, nothing but the two people that stood in the center of the street and embraced.

And then the kiss ended, and the world moved again, turning beneath them. The city ruched back in around them, loud and intrusive, but no matter how distracting, it could not take away from that deep voice as he laid out what had happened. Blood froze, hazel eyes widening as delicate fingers squeezed around his arms. "Killed?" She barely managed to croak that single word, and there was a fine trembling spreading out from her core.

She'd never met a general-king in person, but she had heard, and she had certainly been the company of royalty. If they were on par, if they were similar in any way, the idea of Chaonis facing one was a terrifying one.

There was a moment of stunned, horrified silence, and then the girl was pulling the young man down to her. Wrapping arms around his neck and clinging to him. Everything short of simply climbing into his arms and wrapping herself around him, and all that kept her feet on the ground was the knowledge that he was hurt.

He wouldn't be the only one to shudder. Navi grimaced, fingertips pressing into his hair. "Who did this? Their names?" She wasn't sure what she would do with them. It wouldn't have been the first time she had actively sought revenge for someone she cared about.

And the alliance was over. There would be no repercussions.

His assurances did nothing to cool to anger that had seeped in around the jagged edges of panic. His voice washed over her, and she heard his words, but she did not meet his eyes, not until he'd touched her face, turned her back to meet those dark eyes. He was fine. He was okay. That's what mattered.. "Right." It wasn't exactly heartfelt, but it was better then insisting he give her the names.

It was the look on his face, the absence of his usual grin, that would keep her from doing anything stupid. If her Fiyero didn't want her chancing after vengeance, then she would resist.

For now.

Ginger brows rose at the mention of 'dad', and she opened her mouth to ask him to explain, but his concern for her distracted away from him. Navi frowned, and she lifted her hand to cup the fingers that touched her face. Holding that warmth against her cheek. It had her closing her eyes, and when she opened them again she sighed. "I won't go after them." It was all the girl could promise. They were in a war, and as much as she tried to avoid the violence, it would catch up to her.

Solders did not have the luxury of absolute safety.

Turning her head let her lay a lingering kiss against his palm. Her fingers moved to encircle his wrist, pulling his hand down until it rested against her chest, over the heavy, quick beat of her pulse. "I'll be careful," she promised, looking up into dark eyes.

The Dark Mirror Senshi watched as those dark eyes closed, and her grip on his wrist tightened. Likely that was the only thing that kept her on her feet she he spoke. He loved her. She'd known that, He'd made it clear the last time they'd been together, but he hadn't articulated it, hadn't actually said the words. Now he was saying that and so much more, and maybe it wasn't poetry, but it was honest.

He loved her. He cared about her.

Her chest hurt, and she realized she'd been holding her breath, and air came back to her in a gasp. There were tears glittering at the corners of hazel eyes, and they slid down her cheeks as she looked up at him. "I love you." Her teeth were chattering, fingers trembling where they rested at his wrist and the back of his hand. "I love you, and I need you to be safe." Like he needed her. She needed him to come back to her, to always be there when she needed him.

Pale eyes dropped, trailing over his leg, and it made her grimace. It was too close. She'd come too damn close to losing hi, and she wouldn't even have known it. The news would have floated back to her through rumors. That was unacceptable. "We both need to be careful." Delicate fingers moved to his chest, smoothing over the striped length of his tie before coming to rest lightly at his hips. "If anything happened.. " She shook her head, lips pressing together in a thin line. "I wouldn't survive it."

Navi melted into the kiss as she did every time their lips met, and she stared up at him with eyes still glittering with strong emotions as he stepped back from her, limp obvious. It made her chest hurt to see him hurt, but he was trying to lighten the mood, and who was she to stand in the way of smiles and laughter? When he offered his hand she slid her grip down from his wrist to tangle her fingers with his, squeezing gently. The reminder of their last meeting still hung like a dark, heavy cloud in the DMC's memories, but she didn't comment.

Instead she smiled, leaning into his side so she could run her opposite hand up and down his arm, before wrapping it around his elbow. "A little fun would be nice." After the clash with Grus, the month of waiting, something upbeat would be wonderful.

Her head tipped, temple resting against his upper arm. "What did you have in mind?"

There were times, when the girl was away from her court, away from the responsibilities that she carried, where she wondered what it would be like to not have to hide. To not have to sneak around and keep something, someone, so important a secret from every other person that meant anything in her life. If they'd met as civilians, out of the armor and magical guise, would they have realized the importance of each other? Would their first meeting have been as heated?

How much did she love the man beside her? How much would she give up to keep him? How far was she willing to go to stay at his side?

Head against his shoulder, Navi tipped her head up so she could return that gentle smile. One that had come to him slowly, over time, and countless meetings. He hadn't come to her with that gentle look to him, it had been all bravado and heat when they'd first crossed paths, but look how far they had come. Through battles, through fights of their own when they had tried to rebel against their feelings, through everything. Again, she had to ask herself just how far she was willing to go to stay with him.

Turning her head, she lay a soft kiss against his shoulder. "Playing music sounds good, or urban exploration, or anything." It didn't matter. They could have done anything, just so long as she was with him.

Freckle kissed features turned thoughtful, and she turned her head, eyes staring down the familiar street. Wordlessly she'd move to slip beneath his arm on the side the injury was on, then she would give him a soft nudge. The community center was at the end of the street. That was their spot, their safe place. It just made sense for them to head there.

She was quiet as they walked, thoughts rolling through her mind. What if's. Might have been's. She wondered if things would be different if they weren't stuck on different sides of the war. Knowing now, that the civilians that had died in the surround all came back, how different would her life have been if Ares had baptized her into the Dark Mirror Court. She'd still have her parents.. But she wouldn't have met Quinn. Her best friend and room mate. Maybe she'd have met the others, but not her.

It was a lot to think about, though she had to wonder why it was even crossing her mind. Was she willing to even consider leaving the Dark Mirror Court behind?

She just didn't know.