Welcome to Gaia! ::

*Ding.*

Sonia turned at the sound of a notification ping coming from her phone that was currently on the charger across the room.

*Ding.*

The first one she thought to ignore, but a second usually meant something important was up and couldn’t fit on one text. It was more than likely her mother messaging to confirm plans for this coming weekend or something. “Ok ok…” she got up from her desk and walked over just in time to see it was from none other than Reed, the pop-up message itself had already scrolled up so that the only part of it she caught before the screen turned black were the words Be There.

“What the ********…” Her eyes narrowed in annoyance as she then proceeded to unlock the phone to read the full message.



She paused before hitting send and thought for a moment before deleting the response and typing a new one.

Or should I say, Daddy? because ******** him for presuming to tell her what to do. Just because she no longer lived under his roof, her choosing to move out did not dissolve his responsibility of still being her General; which was probably the tone he was trying to take. Still… why couldn’t he have asked nicely.

But he did she had to remind herself. The day she left he’d invited her to the lantern festival and had even gone as far as inviting Antoine as well. True to form she neglected to decline the invitation assuming that Reed would be too busy with other obligations and forget.

No such luck.

“Damn it.” It was five o’clock now and it’d take maybe fifteen maybe twenty minutes to get there from where Phedre lived. “He can wait.” She decided and went back to reading a few chapters until it was five minutes till 6:00 PM before leaving the house. Fashionably late but he brought this upon himself for being irritatingly demanding.

*Ding*

Right on time and as expected. Sonia smirked knowing exactly who that last message was from without looking at her phone.

She glanced over at it momentarily, “Masters waiting…” Sonia let out an undignified snort and rolled her eyes. A small lapse in judgment on her part as she slammed on the breaks before rear-ending the car in front of her. “s**t,” she hissed.

“Ahhh, you are going to be the death of me. I swear it!” The statement was announced loud enough that a pedestrian on the sidewalk looked at her through the half-opened passenger side window with an incredulous look that seemed to ask if she was alright.

No, no I’m not alright, she was fuming inside but still she managed a smile in their direction ”Everything’s fine. Sorry just-” you know what, I don’t owe them an explanation. I’m going to shut up now. “Sorry,” she repeated then rolled the window back up.

The vehicle ahead turned its blinker on as they waited for another car to pull out of one of the parking spots and Sonia took the opportunity to respond to Reed.



A deliciously wicked smile spread across her face before Sonia hit send. For anyone that knew her then they’d read that last message as if she spoke it with the most unamused deadpanned expression because she was clearly irritated from the earlier reply. But if he wanted to go along with it and refer to himself as her Master too, then she’d make him uncomfortable for it.

She needed a good laugh before things between them got serious again. So she sent one more message before pulling forward and resume searching for an available spot to park.

“Eggplants?!?!” Sonia balked at his response. He did teach high school students after all so surely he knew what kind of innuendo that could be taken especially in a text- right?

Wrong.

This, after all, was Reed she was texting with. A man she had never once heard make a joke about anything. Only made literal statements and pointed comments because, except when flustered, he had a direct kind of personality and was not one to beat around the bush. That is unless she was around or somehow involved in the conversation.

Her one true talent wasn’t magic, it seemed, but rather the ability to push all buttons at once and watch as he stumbled over words and emotions while trying to not look like a fool.

But eggplants… really? Who the hell wore vegetable-printed underwear? Reed apparently and yet a part of her was not at all surprised by this.

After a moment she finally pulled into an available parking spot just as his second text came through. “Do I need help parking? Pfft…” I could always give him the runaround and have him search for my car while I wait for -him- at the stall. might be a bit amusing for a while but definitely mean.

Instead, she left both texts well alone and sought him out among the crowd. Sonia spotted him a few stalls away, tall form with a slender frame and back towards her as she’d hoped. It allowed her to stealthy maneuver her way between the groups of people so that she stood only a couple of feet away.

It was there that she leaned against the post that held the tend above them upright and waited. A minute passed… then three. At five she smirked and pulled her phone out of her back pocket and texted.



Things could change and it’d be by her hand but that was up to him to decide.

Sonia waited until he turned and she could see his face before finally speaking. “Was I hoping for panties? Ha!” Sonia scoffed. “So long as you took care of whatever crawled up your a**, I really don’t care what you’re wearing.” Ok, so maybe a little bit because she did want to know if they were just eggplant colored or if they truly did have eggplants on them, because… again… WHY?

Sonia had come prepared for a fight, had even worked herself up in the car as she played through every scenario she could think of on what he might say and how she’d reply. But as she watched him from behind, Sonia felt that anger ebb into a mild amusement and although she defiantly refused to admit it out loud, a part of her did miss seeing him even if prior to her tactful departure they were little more than ships passing in the night despite living under the same roof.

But rather than meeting her fire with a flame of his own, Reed surprised her with some dramatic bull s**t that had her narrowing her eyes in his direction.

It hurt. The sheer effort it took not to smile, IT HURT.

No amount of pursing her lips into a thin line could stop the corners from rising into a grin and once that first giggle-like sound escaped her… Sonia was ruined “Damn you, Reed.” Her posture relaxed to match his own as she shook her head in a wordless defeat.

“His flight went well,” she commented. “Apparently someone had a cat carrier with them in the cabin and it was meowing for almost three hours straight. Poor thing.” Poor Antoine too. “He did not rest well on the way home.” Again this was now more than a week ago but the fact still remained. “Have you helped Amora get settled in my old room?”

With the house-key mention, Sonia broke eye contact. Her gaze slid to the side where her head soon followed as if something beside him had suddenly distracted her when in fact it was a shame that kept her from looking up at him.

“You’ll have to tell me what they grow into.” Since there were no instructions to go with them she wasn’t sure if it was something beautiful like flowers, edible to eat such as fruits or vegetables, or a weed that he’d probably hate her for giving them to him. Either way, with Reed’s knowledge of plants, she had faith he’d future out how to make them grow.

It was a pity she didn't give them to him for Christmas as she'd planned on, but, be it as it may, things around the holidays had been jostled around in light of the new living arrangements and so presents had been forgotten. Hopefully, there was still enough time in the season to see them planted before fall rolled in and most plants began to die.

“As for a woman’s touch- you still have three of them in the house. Any one of them can help.” If he wanted her help specifically she’d have him ask for it before offering. Ask being the keyword since demanding as he had been earlier would just spiral them into a fight she had come here expecting. “But you can start by bringing more of your non-poisonous flowers inside. Or grow something specifically indoors, maybe. It would at least give your home some more color.”

The suggestion was followed by a soft smile as she then looked up at him, albeit briefly. Although she did miss seeing him, Sonia didn’t feel properly prepared to face him just yet. This impromptu meeting felt awkward and she couldn’t keep her mind from continuing to play through all the different scenarios on how sideways this evening could go.

“So why here? Why now?” Sonia suspected what his answer would be but figured it’d be best to stop beating around the bush and address the elephant in the lantern stall. “You’d mentioned wanting to see the lanterns but I thought you’d have come already with someone else.” She'd expected him to be furiously livid with the way she'd left and come here alone out of spite or ambush her with the other members of his team. Instead, Reed was here by himself and in the end, he got what he'd originally asked for.

Sunset-colored eyes narrowed at him dangerously at the mention of gifting her plants by bringing them to her place of stay with a bow on it to boot. Lord knew, and so should he, that unless it was for eating purposes, Sonia would inevitably kill it. She simply did not have the know-how on how to keep a house plant alive.

Granted she could try to learn but that was a can of worms she wasn’t ready to open quite yet. Then again- Sonia had to wonder if this was a ploy.

If Reed knew she wouldn’t be able to take care of the plants, did that mean he’d then take it upon himself to come over and make sure they weren’t suddenly unalived and put in the yard waste bin? Would he then randomly show up with a watering can and a stupid grin to - No… he wouldn’t.

Sonia eyed him skeptically. He would… Yeah - no, that felt like an oddly him thing to do.

Honestly, she really wasn’t sure how to process that and just let it go for now. Bank of the chance of him forgetting. Yeah, that was probably the best way to go about it. He seemed animated enough to have already moved past it, so for now, so would she.



That felt like an ice lance to the heart. Anger she could deal with, hate she’d accept, even a conscious effort to forget about her now that she was no longer living in his house would be fine.

Before it had been so easy for her to walk away, to leave the mantle that was Hatsya behind and exist as only Sonia in a place of her own choosing. But no - she should have known better from the last time she’d run away that Reed wouldn’t give up so easily. He was tenacious and stubborn, insufferable and irritating, demanding at times and yet -





Reed’s kindness confused her beyond rational reason.

Her expression softened, gaze lowering to the table behind him where there was an array of paper lanterns. Many were decorated quite beautifully; a myriad of kaleidoscopic colors that would glow brilliantly with a lantern light behind them. But then there were standard ordinary ones that were more or less blank; unassuming but with the purpose of making one yourself, to write on as one wished.

Sonia brushed past him, her face pinched in a troubled expression as she tried to sort through her thoughts - her feelings. It’d be easy to snap out a quip comment about how he had an odd way of asking for a date, but this was anything but that. A reconciliation, perhaps, but ultimately purely platonic. But that readiness to bite back with a sassy remark was only temporarily tempered by his olive branch of friendship.

“I hate you…” The lie was whispered but still loud enough that she was sure he’d heard her, she’d regret saying them later but there was no taking them back.

Sonia reached out, traced a finger along the edge of a lantern longingly. The stall owner shifted in his seat as if he were about to go into seller mode but she cut him off with a rueful smile and shook her head; a polite decline of his beautiful wares.

She turned then toward Reed, and try as she might to look him in the eyes, she lacked the courage to look up past his wrist. “I hate that you know how to push my buttons and that you do so frequently.” There were lulls between their bouts of butting heads, more so since there were new faces around his home and appearances needed to be kept. Sonia couldn’t outright disrespect him if only to prevent them from following suit.

“I hate that you have your hooks in me and every time I try to leave you reel me back in. It’s like - I can’t say no to you, and I -” Sonia stopped abruptly, chewed on her lower lip hard enough to almost make it bleed. Why did opening up have to hurt so much? “More than that I hate that you make me actually want to be here.” More so in the quite nights when she was alone in her apartment after all the neighbors had gone to bed and the sound of heavy footfalls and children stomping had turned to quiet snores.

“You are the reluctant Hades to my Persephone and I hate you for it.” That was the perfect metaphor for them; not fiery flowers that would bring his garden to ash and ruin. Hell would have her before all that he had built became nothing before him.

Eyes were on her, on them, she could feel them like bugs crawling on her skin; the stall owner, the patrons, the small dog that had suddenly gone silent. She didn’t need to see them to know they were listing.

Sonia was familiar with the anger that pushed one towards violence, she’d pointed a sword at him once, if not twice, already. But this frustration she felt, the anger that had her covering her face with both hands while she tried to take a calming breath. These emotions were not familiar and she hated herself for feeling them.

"This is why I couldn't tell you I was leaving. I knew if you asked me to stay, I would have." and she'd hate herself for her weakness, because that is what he was, a weakness.

When she opened her eyes again, Sonia stepped toward Reed, grabbed hold of his wrist and pulled him away from the stalls, from the people, from the eyes and sounds and lights, and all the distractions. She wordlessly pulled him down the street, through a parking lot until dark concrete turned to dried brown grass and dirt. Still, she kept walking all the while feeling as if every molecule in her body were about to burst forth; but for some damn reason, her skin was the only thing keeping herself together.

Eventually, she let go of his arm. However, she did not stop moving. Pacing around him, grinding gravel beneath her heel as she turned around abruptly. Hands at her sides flexing as if she were debating smacking him, punching him or pulling at her own hair. Her wild fiery sunset-colored eyes would have set the area ablaze but her magic did not function in such a way and, fortunate for everyone, especially Reed, she was not powered. Yet…

That could definitely change.

“I read the report, Reed. The one you gave to Laurelite. Axenite showed it to me.” She stopped, pointed an accusing finger at him then snapped her attention to the side and kept walking because it was the only thing Sonia could focus on that would help her think. “You lied.” This time her hands balled into fists so tight that they left marks on both palms.

Heh A humorless laugh escaped her.

“Passionate, wilfulness…” Words she was sure sounded familiar to him since it was he who wrote them “Ability to compromise and work within new parameters. For every flaw of mine, you spun it into lies, and for what?” To this pointed question, she stopped to stare at him, past him… To catch that shift in posture or movement of unease. At this point there was no stopping, she was a torrent of emotions and he was the damn wrecking ball that managed to break down that last carefully built wall that kept these at bay.

"You succeeded in your mission and got your promotion, Reed." For months he had the opportunity to pass her off to some other Captain, make her someone else's problem. He was under no obligation to keep her around. It confused her greatly and there had been several times she almost approached him about it, but something or someone always seemed to stop her. "I was assigned to you, whereas you chose everyone else. I hate to say it but swords have no place in this Garden of Eden you've built around yourself." Each other corrupt a perfect flower. "And I can't live up to these expectations you placed above my head."

There, she said it. This was his team not theirs. Especially since her swords could neither cut nor defend, she was a weak link among the rest.

Stunned into silence…

He reached for her and she had the mind to swat Reed’s hand away, but didn’t. Flashbacks to the first time they met came to mind and for a fraction of a moment, Sonia thought that he was about to flip her over onto her a** again. That would be an amazing feat since he wasn’t powered this time; nonetheless, her heart stilled when he grabbed hold of her arm.

Whereas she dragged him like an errant child through the Star Festival, not caring how her action might embarrass him, Reed instead pulled her towards him. Sonia stumbled from the abruptness of it and he caught her easily. His arms circled around her, holding her close.

Even if she wanted to push him away, to retreat back to where she stood, or further even, Sonia had no strength to act against him. She could have gone Miss Congeniality on his a**; knee to the groin, heel to his in-step. Hell, Sonia could have screamed or shouted to get the attention of anyone who might be near. Of all the things she could have done, she did not resist him.

Sonia did, however, flinch when he first began to speak. But then his arms around her tightened and she knew he would not let her go so easily.

Only once had she been this close to him; the night he had picked her up from the hospital after her arm had been broken by one of those Polaris Knights. Much like that moment, she had been angry at him and he took it for what it was, fussed over her afterwards, and when all was said and done, agreed to her selfish request to stay by her while she slept.

A light floral scent clinging to his shirt mixed with that of damp soil from recently watered plants. The same smell she had become accustomed to in the late summer months when her window was left open. He must have been in his garden before coming here The only place he’d be if not in his study. Or she supposed that it’d be his office space in the Dark Kingdom now since the room was recently remodeled into a suitable bedroom for one of the other girls.

For all her finger-pointing, Sonia should have known better. Between the two of them, she was the childish one. Immature and prone to outbursts without warning and for all the good he had done for her and the other girls, Reed did not deserve her ire.

Eloquent as ever, and yet his words cut deeply. None of what he said was outright cruel, but rather sharp statements spoken with truth and honesty. His reasons and intentions. The jealousy he felt with regards to her family. That one genuinely surprised her more so because she had plans to bring him over to her parent's house for Thanksgiving or Christmas, but circumstances what they were... plans changed.

That combined with the loss of a bed, and room for a while there, had left her feeling displaced.

She hadn’t been consulted in the change in household dynamics and considering how much of a recluse he was at the start, Sonia was incredibly taken aback by his willingness to bring more people in. It was abrupt and disorienting. Left her reeling especially for the first couple of weeks where she’d rolled off the couch onto the floor.

It sucked, she hated it, but still, she smiled for show.

Sonia wouldn’t fault any of the girls for they had no control over how they ended up in this situation, and Amora was more than kind. But it was Sonia’s nature to resist change, and twice within the last year, Reed had spun her world upside down and left her reeling in the aftermath.

Even so, for years she had considered herself as a tool for the Negaverse and her former General. A broken thing left to wither away and yet Reed spoke the contrary. He saw her in a light that she could not see herself standing. Hope where there otherwise was none. But this his words trailed into silence and his arms around her began to loosen.

“Ask me anyway…” Sonia replied quietly.

Both arms felt like 20-pound weights were tied to each wrist, they were heavy but with effort, she managed to raise them just enough so she could hold on to the back of his cotton shirt with a weak grip. Her head leaned forward against his shoulder to hide her red splotchy face from view. “Just ask… please.”