Aya ignored the waves of pain that assailed him at that very sight as did the slight blond goddess standing next to him. He heard the sharp intake of breath, sending the two embracing figures jumping away from each other. It didn't matter, or so he tried repeating to himself. ~ Sure, who the hell are you kidding, Aed? You're dying to rip that little punk's head off. ~

"Usagi..." Heero began uneasily. "What are you doing here? Isn't he supposed to be training you now?"

Faint traces of jealousy could be heard, and Oneesan barely contained the smirk that curled her lip. Although truth be told, she was fairly seething on the inside at the sight of the way Aed seemed to stand protectively next to Usagi. Her Aed. How dare she. Her eyes widened at the thoughts that had sprung unbidden into her mind. When had she started thinking of Aya as hers? Mortification threatened to stain her cheeks as a voice sounding remarkably like Donguri's echoed through her head. ~Aha! So you finally admit it huh? ~ She obstinately ignored it and continued staring at the scene in front of her.

"Oneesan, if you wouldn't mind..." Usagi said, flustered beneath the strength of the Elder goddess' stare. What had Heero meant by asking her what she was doing here? Was he jealous or had he seen it as an opportunity to make the moves on Oneesan? Iie, she told herself firmly. You have to believe in the one you love.

Oneesan quirked a brow at the younger goddess. "If you have something to say, say it. Don't waste my time." Her tone had come out a lot colder than she would've liked, and she winced inwardly. ~ Gee, you didn't sound jealous there at all, Morrigan. ~

~ Shut up, shut up, Donguri or I'm feeding you nothing but dandelions for the next month. ~She almost laughed as she heard something sounding like the ruffle of extremely offended feathers.

"I'd just like a moment with Heero before we begin our training."

"Aww, are you going to miss your darling?" Oneesan couldn't help but taunt, drawing one irritated Prussian blue gaze, along with deep amethyst ones.

At the nod of her head, Heero made his way to Usagi's side. Their low chattering greeted both Elder Gods' ears before they finally left the room. The door slammed shut with an eerie finality, sounding too much like his own life.

Aya fought to control the tidal wave of emotions that washed through him. Somehow it was becoming increasingly difficult, but whatever this awkwardness was that existed between them, he had to fix it. He didn't know what he had done, but it had to be resolved. With that in mind, he moved towards her...

Aya awoke with a start. It had been so long since he'd dreamed (the last ones he really vividly and clearly remembered were from immediately before he became a god), and dreams could never be a good sign. As far as he could remember, he'd never had a pleasant dream, but this had to mark the first time Morrigan had appeared in his dreams. He wearily brushed crimson hair out of his face and then rested the back of his hand against his forehead.

~ Why couldn't it be a good dream? Or... why I couldn't have actually behaved then like I did in the dream, instead of losing my temper like I did? How are these people doing this to me? ~

~ * ~ * ~

Duo stretched pleasantly, basking in the sun, all but purring as the faint heat of it offset the coldness of the snow he sat on. "Sensei's in a bad mood," he idly commented to the young woman sitting beside him.

Usagi glanced down at him, a frown of worry on her beautiful face. "I don't think he slept very well last night, Duo-kun, and something's bothering him."

A dark shape blurred behind Usagi, and Heero dropped down in the snow on the other side of her; Duo bit down a surge of jealousy at the warm smile she sent him. Oneesan's words the other day had apparently had the desired effect on them, he mused bitterly, sitting up slowly.

Now if I can just heed the words of wisdom she gave me to. Now, how to get Heero to share? And even better, how do I get Heero to be willing to share Usagi?

He caught another faint glimpse of black cloth out of the corner of his eyes and turned to look in time to see Oneesan leaning down to drop a familiar cloak around him; he'd given it to her a week ago in a Tokyo train station. "How you doing, Duo?" she asked in English. She'd been trying at being cheerful the last few days; it seemed like she'd come to some private decision that she wasn't sharing.

"Pretty good. You?"

"Fine fine," she answered, waving a negligent hand, tucking her trench coat under and sitting. "You haven't been having any trouble with Shinigami, have you?"

"Haven't seen him once since..."

"Since you tried training that way, yeah, I know." She sighed, glancing out on the field to stare at Wufei and Aya practicing with their swords.

"Oi! Oneesan!" Wufei yelled, as if on cue, stepping away from Aya. "Why don't you step in for me for awhile?"

The smile dropped just a bit, but she stood slowly, grabbing and unsheathing the Masamune and stepping out into the courtyard.

Now if we can just get those two to notice each other... He sighed purely to himself. One would think ten gods working together - me, Usagi, and Heero more than anyone else, though -would be able to persuade two people to get together... The two swords clashed together, a dull clanging sound that echoed through the empty area, and they circled away from each other before coming in for another strike, each perfectly reading and anticipating and countering the other's moves...

And then both the Elder Gods froze in place, standing stock-still for a long moment then turning toward the west. "What is it?" he was mildly surprised hear come from his own mouth.

"It can't be..." Oneesan whispered, never even glancing at her partner even as she spoke to him. "Didn't we kill her?"

"I know she had to have died. No one could have survived that."

"Who?" Heero prompted.

"A demon," Oneesan barely got out before a sudden, overwhelming darkness stole over them all, thick with hate and negativity and the occasional burst of electricity, as they all found out the hard way.

In that darkness, they faintly heard a sword swing and then a scream, which inexplicably doubled then cut off with even less warning that it began. Once silence reigned again, the heavy hatred the cloud possessed passed away. Moments after that, the darkness itself began to dissipate in a rather cloud-like manner.

And when it was gone and they looked around, they were two people short.

Usagi and Oneesan were gone.

12 August 2001

Closing note from Eternal: Hey! Long time, no chat! Sorry I missed getting a chapter out for Lughnassadh, and I can tell you now I will miss the Autumn Equinox because I'll be in Atlanta that weekend. ^___^ No worries though! It'll be for Anime Weekend Atlanta! If there's anyone else out there going, please contact me. I'd love to get in touch with some others who are. And Jade-chan, if you read this, please IM me or e-mail me or something; there's something important I need to talk to you about.

Coming soon, in Gods and Other Creatures:
Who took Usagi and Oneesan? The girl in the school uniform, Tomoe? What's the history here, and why does she hate Oneesan so much? There are more questions than answers, but maybe they'll all be answered.