The Night Before
Love Hard
written by Gabriella Creighton (Seraphna)
The Night Before
Love Hard
written by Gabriella Creighton (Seraphna)
5:01 AM
"I never loved you."
There was a ringing in Leyaeh's ears since she heard those words. She felt like a broken jar, it was hard to articulate the feeling. She loved Ao Zhenmei with all her heart. Yet she didn't know where the line was until she had crossed it. Leaning against the bar, she held the mug of beer in her hand stubbornly, despite the repeated attempts by Sammael to get her to stop.
The world is a... whatsisname... puppy... female dog... bitch. That's it. The world issa... whatsis... a bitch.
She stumbled up straightened dizzily, eyeing the chronometer on the wall she realized it was getting into the early AMs, she had spent too long in the bar again. She hated when there was more then one 5 o'clock in the day. She sighed and wiped her blue hair out of her eyes, she'd been crying again. It was a horrible type of pain.
When Corvin had betrayed her, she had done nothing wrong, there was nothing for her to feel bad about. Corvin never said he didn't love her, he simply betrayed her. It had hurt like hell, it had stung deep in her heart, but she couldn't blame herself for being used. This time however, she had made a mistake, it had cost her something precious beyond words. She had to try tangoing with Mem, she had to be the submissive thing at heart and not fight it when Mem had pounced, she was so used to accepting agressive love that she hadn't really thought twice that it would be the wrong thing until she'd seen the look in Ao's eyes.
She stumbled out of the bar and headed for the teleporter, planning to sleep a few hours off before work. Hole in her heart or not, Leyaeh still had a ship to protect.
As she left, Ulieah peered out from the kitchen, preparing the morning baking, she frowned a little, then tapped on her datapad to let her agents know that Operation Blueberry Love was set to go.
9:27 AM
She let out a gasp as two small forms bounced on her tummy and chest. She opened her eyes to find Pome and Berry bouncing on her to wake her up. "One day till Kittymas!" Berry exclaimed. Pome, the older of her two adopted daughters pointed to a plate of burnt eggs, undercooked fish and what may have been coffee, though it bubbled oddly.
Pome smiled some more and motioned again. "We made breakfast for Momma."
Leyaeh smiled softly, despite her feelings, it warmed her heart when her daughters went out of their way to try and make her happy. Kissing each on the forehead, she softly whispered affection for each in Famfrit, before picking them up to reposition herself, she ate every bite and sipped every sip, hardly able to deny her little girls. As she finished she was distracted by the pink card on her table, she picked it up and raised a brow, reading what it said.
"Need Kitty Love? Come to Uli's House of Love, find the gift to win the heart of a Goddess."
She paused, she knew something was up, but whether it was a depressed lack of energy or her horrible streak of curiosity, she decided to go with the flow. "Dears, I need to get dressed. I have some last minute Christmas shopping to do."
10:30 AM
Leyaeh stepped into the shop and peered about, staring in a mixture of fear and horror. As a tomboy, Leyaeh generally avoided anything remotely feminine. She hadn't worn a dress in nearly 30 years and she wasn't about to start now. Ulieah's Shop of Love was a mixture of cosmetics, clothing, jewelry, perfumes and music, products to make a girly girl go gah gah. Leyaeh had never done well in the being female department, preferring to punch boys who looked at her funny rather then trying to get them to notice her.
Ulieah, her niece, however, was as feminine as they came, she revelled in the attention that she could get from those around her, she was happiest it seemed when she was prettied up on stage. She admired Ulieah for it, but at the same time could never bring herself to act in such a way. Now the little waif of a girl pranced over to her aunt wearing what would cause even the most jaded of prudes to turn red. It appeared to be somewhere between the categories of bikini and Santa Uniform all in one go.
The young idol wiggled a little in her showy outfit before looking up with the most innocent of looks and saying sweetly, "Welcome to my store Auntie, is Auntie looking for Kitty Love power to make holidays seem great?"
The blue haired woman peered down at her second oldest niece and took in a breath before nodding. Ulieah squealed with delight and pranced behind a counter. "Auntie Ao is goddess, goddess needs big proper tribute to be appeased!"
"It's not that simple Ulieah, I can't just..." Leyaeh began, breath caught somewhere in her throat.
"Is that simple. Auntie loved Ao, need to show Ao what love is and teach that love is forgiving as well as devotion, show not want anyone but her and Ao will turn around for. But need to show how much loves! Need give her... your heart!" Ulieah exclaimed in her little girl voice, motioning to the large red stone in the center of the display. Leyaeh stared at it, wondering where Ulieah even acquired such things.
A massive ruby red stone was cut into a perfect heart shape, set in an ornate necklace designed by some pagan priest thousands of years old to nestle perfectly in the busom of a woman. Leyaeh stared at the exhoribinate price tag. "I-I might be the Commander of the Military but even I can't..."
Ulieah giggled and smiled. "Read second price!"
"Second..." She stared down at the tag and noticed, under the unreasonable number of zeroes on the tag a single sentance, which read, 'Free to Anyone with a Broken Heart, see owner!'
Leyaeh's eyes fixated on the stone and shook her head. "You can't just---"
"Merry Christmas Auntie. Will owe Uli lots later."
12:21 PM
"What do you mean, you lost them? I told you to keep extra eyes on them." Leyaeh stared at the two officers standing before her. The office of the Chief of Security had transformed into the office of the Commander of the Suisen Military. She still ran it like a copper station however, the work they had been trained to do hadn't really changed. Even in a controlled society, crime still existed. People were just easier to track with nanites.
The new challenge wasn't in tracking who, but finding who to track. Crime had changed into a game of figuring out who was committing the crimes rather then having to catch them in the act. She'd been tracking the missing trade goods that had been mysteriously walking out of the hangar areas for three months now. The thieves were using the cover of crowds and regular traffic patterns to mask their crimes. Against all logic, things were vanishing even with the constant camera survaillance and CHIP's monitoring systems.
"It's not my fault, Isis and Miyuki were having this---" CHIP's voice sounded from the office's interface speakers.
"YOU... you don't speak till I get to you." Leyaeh snapped, she was noticably more ferocious since Ao had dumped her. She reached into her pocket, feeling the gift for Ao there, before rounding back on her officers.
The Atlean looked embarrassed, Ryse had been working for Leyaeh since months before the Empire was formed, he was normally quite capable, and Leyaeh was normally lenient with his mistakes, but not this time. The Vapaad looked... well, stoic, one can only express so many emotions with looks in a massive mechanical encounter suit. Leyaeh eyed them slowly. "Physical monitoring, I want officers on every check stand."
"Ma'am it's..."
"...After Kittymas. Normal monitoring until then." She sighed, even this pissed, she couldn't be too much of a hard ass. Double staffing would mean less time with her daughters.
3:30 PM
The Hangar Bays were sectional bays on the outermost section of the giant nation sized ship known as the PAX. Leyaeh peered over the traffic in the hangar carefully. The PAX made regular Trispace trips through the galaxy, stopping at the planets of the Empire's citizens to export and import trade goods, and now with everyone working under one banner, deliveries were a team effort. However, there was no 'I' in team and someone had decided that 'I' was more important then any other letter.
She peered over the boxes, 16 fish stolen from a transport box, broken open by some tool, but done so fast that the crowd changeover covered it up. And not a single person in the crowd seemed to have seen it. Leyaeh half suspected someone was bribing CHIP with the only currency he seemed to care about, naked women.
It was then that she noticed what was under the crate...
4:50 PM
Leyaeh ran through the back corridors, gun in hand, two security officers trailing after her trying to keep up. When Leyaeh was on someone, she never gave up. The showdy figure grabbed a storage crate as it passed by a side nook, tearing it down, Leyaeh leapt over, aiming and firing a stun blast, it missed and hit a wall.
"OW! STOP THAT!" CHIP yelled as she moved by. Leyaeh groaned.
"Why aren't you helping me!!!" She called out at him.
"I like watching you run. Is that a crime!?" CHIP responded. Sometimes AI personalities could work against you.
"I could make it one!" She called out.
"Hmph. I'll remember this blueberry." He said, actually sounding miffed, before activating the figure's nanites and shocking it. There was a visible spark from the energy and the thing went down. Leyaeh came to a stop turning it over, she frowned at the Atlean, a young male with blonde hair and stripes over his left cheek.
"As I thought, Noble Clan, can't you idiots stop making problems?" She eyed the dazed man, the two officers, Atleans from the Warrior clan, walked over and lifted up the suspect. Leyaeh searched his body and found a datapad. "What exactly is it you people are trying to pull, sneaking in Bruudpod Kaada onto my ship?"
Bruudpod Kaada was an especially poisonous form of eel, poisonous to any species but the Atleans, who's reptilian nature found it not only delicious, but a potent aphrodesiac. She sighed. At least they weren't terrorists, just sex addicts. 1B had enough of those.
5:55 PM
Leyaeh felt in her pocket and began to panic, it was gone, the heart she was going to give to Ao was gone. Icy cold fear gripped her. She needed that charm to give to her lover, to get her back. She ran back into the corridors, leaving the Atleans she was walking with to find it. She retraced her steps carefully, moving down to where they had started chasing the Noble Clan down. It took almost an hour before she found the heart gem, in the hands of a child.
The young Famfrit girl looked up at Leyaeh with large, pleading eyes. Her soft purple hair was unique, and belonging to Pome.
"Sweetie... what are you doing here? You know it's dangerous." Leyaeh said, picking her up, momentarily forgetting the heart shaped gem in her daughter's hands.
"Wanted to help Momma. Want Momma to get Ao back so she's not sad anymore." Pome said, hugging onto her. "Not want Momma to be hurt and broken and leave Pome and Berry."
Leyaeh stared at her sweet little daughter, carrying her along the passage. "Leave you? I'd never..." She looked into the girl's eyes, and stopped in a quiet area, sitting against the wall with her. "Why would you think that?"
"Momma sad, Momma started drinking. Daddy drank before he said he didn't want us anymore." Pome said softly, looking up at Leyaeh.
The blue haired Famfrit smiled softly as she rubbed Pome's sensitive ear. "Cridhes never abandon." She said, hiding her hesitation, after all, her eldest niece Naone had not only abandoned the family, but run off to join the Order and now held a high rank in their military, it had devestated poor Ulieah, and Sonye wasn't coping well either. But... better to not let the kids know that. "I will love you forever, Pome, you and Berry are my daughters, and I'm never going to let you go."
She sat there and hugged the girl reassuringly, then gently took the gem. "I thought I needed this to win her back, but it's only a representation of what she has already, what you and Berry have. My heart. You will always have my heart."
8:00 PM
Leyaeh stood at the teleporter leading to Ao's house, licking her lips, she was about to step through and try her best. She'd put on nice clothes, a dress, something she never wore willingly. Ulieah had tackled her after the concert and forced it on her, kissed her, and run off before retaliation could occur. She looked down at the gem as she held it tight in her hand, covered in a nice blue box. She stared as a drop of moisture glistened on the box.
She wiped her eyes. She'd faced Angels, Legacy, Cultists and unruly Tsivrixsh, but this was the biggest challenge she would ever face, the one she loved more then life itself.
8:05 PM
She appeared on the teleporter, heart in her throat. She clutched the package and stepped off, moving towards Ao's house. She thought a moment about knocking, but that would only create a game in which she did not want to particpate, she needed to talk. Slipping inside, she blinked a bit to find Ao waiting for her. Damn moles in her ranks.
"You wished to speak with me, cat?" Ao said serenely. Leyaeh wanted to hide it, but she was quite turned on whenever Ao was in goddess mode. Still, she needed to do this. She knew how wounds could only fester if left alone.
"I love you, Ao." She said, finding the strength to renew the words she had spoken only a short while ago.
"Do you? Not enough to be loyal to me." Ao said dismissively, sitting back in her chair. Leyaeh had to note to herself it seemed to be the only article of furniture in the room. So like Ao.
"More then enough, Ao Zhenmei. I'm sorry." Leyaeh said a little shakily, standing her ground.
"I don't believe I heard you properly." Ao said, slowly looking up at her, as though acknowledging the woman's existance for the first time in days. Their eyes met, Leyaeh's were wavering with forming tears.
"I said I'm sorry. I wronged you. I promise you, never again, I'll only be your kitten." She said, her voice pained. However she felt about what happened with Mem, ultimately it was her own fault. She could have done more, she could have fought harder, she hadn't, and perhaps, just maybe, it was that denial that Ao was most hurt with then anything.
"My kitten? What makes you worthy of being my kitten?" She said simply. "Why should I want someone like you?"
"Because... because I love you. I love you more then any other, I won't leave you, I won't be with anyone but you again. Ao... you're my heart, my love. I care about you, I care about what you do, what you feel, and what you think. Maybe in the past I was never... I never tried hard enough to know what you wanted, or how you felt, but I want us to start fresh, to be together as a couple."
"I don't love you, Leyaeh Cridhe." Ao said simply, peering at her.
"How do you know?" She said in return, she was getting that feeling, she always got as the pieces came together.
"You are not like Megumi Zhenmei. You did not defeat me to win me, you do not want only me, you do not covet me as she does Erevis." Ao intoned, this was her way, what she said was fact.
And it was fact, but it was also skewed, was Ao really holding all love to the same standard of the relationship that Erevis and Megumi held? Ao loved her family, she worshipped Erevis as much as she claimed simply to be loyal to her. Of course she held this standard, this reasoning as to what love is. Ao had felt no other form of love before, no other way of things being done.
Leyaeh looked into her eyes. "I'm not Megumi, I'm a whole different kitten, but I love you. My love is different, but just as strong. I'm from a different world then Megumi, lead a different life, but I... I want to commit myself to you." She pulled out the gemstone, the large red heart, it could be considered gaudy, but it symbolized her devotion.
Leyaeh peered at her and held the gem forward. "This is... a symbol of my heart, I want you to take it, possess it. It belongs to you. With this, you'll know my heart will never stray, I'm not here to claim you as a lover, I'm here to... submit myself to you, you hold my heart in your hands."
Ao peered down at this gem, she clutched it in her hand and stared at it, Leyaeh watched with baited breath. Ao then peered up at her. "You are telling me that I have tamed you. You are submitting to your goddess?"
Leyaeh internally had to sigh, this was the woman she loved, she had a certain level of ego, but it was no bigger then her own, and she was perfectly happy to let her own go for this woman. "Yes, I'm giving myself to you." She met her eyes. "Will you please forgive me for straying from you?"
Ao seemed to muse, but deep down, Leyaeh felt a shift in her. Perhaps she had known herself her own heart, this entire fight, this was over something Ao had not known herself capable of. Leyaeh being intimate with another hard hurt her, this was the side of love she had feared, feeling that, she had not wanted it, but now, something different was going on. She felt warmed, she was shocked at how Leyaeh's eyes could hold so much fear, devotion, care, and worry all at the same time. Understanding emotions had been hard for Ao, but now, she was curious, so she eyed the woman opening so much of her soul to her and found something new in her heart. She cared for her family, she cared for Erevis and Meguni, but not once had she felt quite like this towards another person.
Was it rage or something new? This wasn't anger, she had no desire to hurt Leyeah. However... she felt something intense towards this blue haired cat. She realized she never wanted her hurt, not at all. She wasn't sure what this was, but the gem in her hands felt strangely warm, maybe it really was this kitten's heart.
"Very well, just this once, I forgive you, Leyaeh Cridhe."
Leyaeh then did something that very much reminded Ao of Erevis' cat. The blue haired kitten leapt, tackled her down, and kissed her with more passion then Ao had ever felt before. Ao pushed her back a little after the kiss. "But know this, I will tell you when I feel you are worthy of sex with me. I am taking you back, not the other way around. Remember it."
And so passion entered both their lives. And that was just the beginning.