[D8ME] Reflections

[Usagi Rei]

Rei listened silently as Reki spoke. His hands, tented together in front of his mouth, hid his expression. But his pale eyes were wide, flickering occasionally at an exceptionally notable detail. There were many.

The tale was done. Rei sat back, taking a deep breath, looking stunned.

Shaking his head, Rei took a stiff drink, setting down an empty glass. "I don't know what to say." He finally said after a while. "I think you're right. Fate was cruel, to place the two of you in a position where that was the only outcome." He was silent for another moment, then- "It sounds as though the two of you loved each other perfectly, for exactly who you were."

[Akodo Reki]

Reki leaned back, her eyes red. Despite it she smiled.

"An arranged marriage. Part of an attempt to improve relations with the Unicorn. Marry two young and promising warriors."

She turned her empty glass. "Naomi-chan was earnest, curious, open, compassionate...the epitome of the Shinjo. I was stoic, reserved, and analytical. She shook my hand when we first met. I about fell over from the confusion. Just took my hand and shook it, that wasn't how you did things."

"Benten so fit to bless our union. I often wandered of our souls had been reunited...I pray it so and hope it will be again."

[Usagi Rei]

The server arrived with the glass of sake for Reki, setting it on the table. Darn it, Rei'd finished his glass in the meantime. "Get me one, too." He murmured, the server bowing in response and departing.

He smiled at her description of the meeting. "Sounds like she made quite the first impression. And later impressions." Indeed, impressions that would never fade.

"I believe they will..." Rei spread his hands. "I've heard the saying, 'may her memory be a blessing'. I think in time, maybe thinking of her will make you smile more than it makes you sad. I suppose getting there is the problem."

[Akodo Reki]

Reki smiled again, "I... know I will, but it's...well the rational mind says one thing and my emotions say another. And the latter seems to win more often than the former."

She took a sip. "My apologies for laying such burdens upon you... even if you had asked."

[Usagi Rei]

Rei smiled. "Believe me, I understand that."

The server returned with Rei's sake. He picked it up, but didn't take a sip yet. He shook his head. "No, it's fine. I just wish there was more I could do to help. A burden shared is lightened twice." He spread his hands, still holding his sake. "So I hope the sharing helped. And for the rest, well..." He smiled, "-perhaps a trip to the beach will be a good start, anyway."

[Akodo Reki]

Reki took a drink, "...I..well it did help." She leans forward, "Saying it all out loud again. I relived it a hundred times in the nights after. It was one reason I was sent back from the front."

"A time on the beach. It won't be the same but...she would prefer I move on, find happiness."

[Usagi Rei]

Rei smiled. "Than I'm glad. For what it's worth... I don't think I'm as strong as you, Akodo-sama." He smiled gently at her.

Then the smile grew more playful. "Find happiness. Hmm." He lifted the glass, bringing it near his lips. "That puts a lot of pressure on me to select the right swimsuit." He covered his teasing smile with a long sip of his sake.

[Akodo Reki]

"I am just pleased you plan on actually wearing one," The sadness was still there, but a behind it a genuine attempt, "Should I expect a giant rabbit printed on the front? Or the back?"

She wiped away another few tears, "...thank you, I don't feel strong but...I'm working on it."

[Usagi Rei]

That surprised a laugh out of Rei. He'd been expecting a glare, or a chuckle, or if he was fortunate a blush. He wasn't expecting her to give him that. "Front, of course." He murmured, smiling. "But if you prefer the back, I can make that happen."

His smile turned gentle, and he pulled a cloth from his jacket, offering it to her. "Sometimes you need a mirror to see yourself. Looking at you, I can see the damage. The cracks." He closed his eyes a moment, meeting her gaze when he opened them again. "But I can also see where you could have broken, but didn't. The whole, still fully-formed and beautiful, if perhaps a touch more fragile than before. At least for now."

[Akodo Reki]

Reki took the cloth and used it to wipe her eyes, "...part of me wants to ask if you say that to every pretty face you met." Her voice was gentle, "But I think you mean what you are saying. Thank you Usagi-san. You are a surprising find on this world...a friend. I just wished I could help you in your on search."

She laughed herself, it cracked a little, "...and why not both? Front and back."

[Usagi Rei]

Rei grinned. "Both it is. Because you asked, Akodo-sama, and I would hate to disappoint a lady."

He took a sip of his sake, then shrugged. "Well, it's possible that I flirt a bit. But I do mean it. Really, I do." He smiled at her, an honest one, not playful.

Closing his eyes, he shook his head. "I'm... not searching. Well, not usually. What would I do if I found her? What would I say? I've thought about it a thousand times, and I don't have an answer. Maybe I just shouldn't look."

[Akodo Reki]

"For all the sorrow I feel over Naomi's death." Reki hesitating then reached out to grip his arm reassuringly, "I know it was her death. There is certainty. No worry that I had left her to the mercies of the Mantis or the animals of the planet. I saw her body, there is closure in that...closure you do not have."

She let go and turned her drink, "I think with something like that you don't really know what to say until it happens...no matter how much you may have rehearsed in your mind. But whatever you may say, at least you would know."

[Usagi Rei]

Despite his casual air, Reki would feel the tension in Rei's arm as she touched it, a sign that he was perhaps less at ease with his wife's disappearance than he pretended. After a few moment, she would feel the tension fade, and Rei gave her a faint smile. "Thank you." He murmured.

With a sigh, he tossed back the rest of his sake. "I think that my closure may just have to be acceptance of my situation. It seems unlikely that I'll ever run into her again..." he glanced quickly away, then back. "If I do, well, I suppose I'll see what happens then. If I don't, I'm beginning to think I should just live my life."

[Akodo Reki]

Reki smiled in understanding, "...in that our experience is the same. Just left trying to figure out how to live our lives again."

She throws back her own drink. "Do you hope to find love again?"

[Usagi Rei]

Rei smiled at her. "Yeah." For a few moments, his gaze lingered. They'd both experienced their separate tragedies, and while it would be far better if they hadn't, there was some comfort in a shared pain.

Slowly, Rei nodded. "I do. I'd thought for a while I was too wounded to ever love again. But I've been feeling lately..." he frowned thoughtfully, choosing his words, "-well, I seem to still have the capacity to open myself up, at least." A wry smile.

He tilted his head, regarding her. "I would ask you the same question, but I'm pretty sure I know your answer. Give it time." Rei urged gently.

[Akodo Reki]

"...I think I will, Naomi-chan would want me to find love again...just as I would want her to if I had been the one who died," Reki answered regardless, "But none will ever be able to replace her. There will always be some part of me missing."

She smiles at him, even tainted with melancholy there was a brightness to it, "I appreciate that openness. Just like appreciate your attentiveness. Maybe I was just to closed following her death...but this is...well the first time I have spoken so clearly on it."

"Add disarmingly charming to your list of attributes I suppose." A small chuckle escaped her lips.

[Usagi Rei]

Once more Rei nodded slowly in understanding. And agreement. Was part of him missing, with Yuria? It was harder to say.

He smiled back. "I'm glad that you felt comfortable enough to be able to tell me. And... truthfully, I've appreciated you being an ear to my woes as well.

"Hmmm..." Rei leaned forward a bit, resting his elbows on his knees, his smile turning playful. "Attentive and disarmingly charming. I'll have to remember you think so. Any other adjectives I should consider, Akodo-sama?"

[Akodo Reki]

"Unfortunately nicknamed." Reki answered with a twitch of her lip, "Rei-rei-daddy."

She tried to hold back a chuckle but it came out anyway.

"I suppose..." The Lioness pondered for a moment, "Reliable, despite perhaps being incautious. And yes...attractive, but that is probably told to you by a lot of different people."

[Usagi Rei]

"Curse those Akodo senses." Rei said, flashing her a quick grin. "And that Akodo confidence; I've heard that nickname more from your lips than anyone else's." He grinned again at her chuckle.

He tilted his head, watching as she considered. "Reliable, thank you. And attractive..." Well, Rei knew he had that effect on people. "I do hear that a lot. Although I appreciate it from some more than others." The corners of his lips curled up, just a little.

"I'm curious though..." Rei's eyebrows went up. "Do a lot of people tell you that you're attractive?"

[Akodo Reki]

"Press the advantage," Reki managed a smirk at his comment on the nickname.

She took a sip of her drink and then began to turn the glass when she set it back down, "I imagine considerably less then you do...but yes I have been called such. I generally never thought much about it, at least outside of the occasional use it would have in court."

Her lips quirked up again, "...courtiers can be surprisingly shallow and easily distracted by just a pretty face."