The Past is the Past (Part 2) - Shana (Paused)

Wordlessly, Shana paced relentlessly back and forth in a never ending path that patrolled the exit to the bathroom. The door was shut tight; Blackfire had been in there for about half an hour. With each second that trickled by, Shana grew increasingly worried. Once more, she glared at the door as if her stare would cause it to creak open. Luckily, her parents weren't home. Though Shana wasn't sure where they were, she did know one fact: Her mother would freak out if she saw the state that Blackfire was in. As soon as the others had parted ways, the Saiyan was all too happy to lean most of her weight on Shana. The human had practically carried her home. Afterwards, the Saiyan went into the bathroom and stayed in there.

"Are you okay in there?" Shana asked once more.

"I already told you! I'm fine, give me some time; I'm just bandaging up!" The Saiyan sounded harassed. Yet Shana couldn't help but worry. She had seen first hand how damaged the woman was after her battle with Omega. Even though the fight seemed to have lasted a mere three minutes, the two Super Saiyans had beaten each other to a bloody pulp. Just as Shana was drawing another breath to speak out once more though, the door slid open.

Blackfire stood before her in a new pair of jeans, but no shirt. Instead, the Saiyan had bandaged her chest area heavily. Even through the swaths of gauze, Shana could see crimson splotches where raw flesh still oozed blood.

"Really," Blackfire admonished, "Anyone would think I was dying with the commotion you were making!" Her voice masked a small glimmer of amusement. It shone in her eyes, even though the dull exhaustion that could be seen in the same dull amethyst pools. Shana could hardly share the amusement; Blackfire was much more damaged than she was letting on and Omega had destroyed her ship. With the ship, her rejuvenation tanks were also shot to hell. Shana supposed that Blackfire had some sensu beans but... If the Saiyan did have them, why wasn't she using them? Blackfire frowned as Shana's face darkened.

"I'm fine," the Saiyan spoke, ruffling Shana's hair with her hand. "Don't look so down! I've been brought much closer to death than this before!"

Word of Shana: 387/387

"You look a lot more injured than you are letting on," Shana growled, narrowing her brown eyes. The Saiyan looked surprised, pausing in her exit to gaze at the human with wide amethyst eyes. Shana held her gaze evenly, not even flinching away though the Host of Lightning was much more powerful than her. Finally, a chuckle escaped from the Siayan's lips.

"How long have I trained you, Shana?" she asked. The question caught the human off guard. She wasn't sure how to respond at first, but then frowned, thinking back.

"About two months," she answered, furrowing her brow in confusion. "But what does that have to do-"

"You've seen me fight before, right?"

"Well, yeah.. but..."

"I've come back alive after each one, right?"

"I suppose..."

"Then what's so different about this one?"

"You were fighting a Super Saiyan!" Shana blurted out. It caused Blackfire to pause once more. To Shana's surprise, Blackfire didn't seem offended about her outburst, or angry for that matter. The Saiyan sighed softly, bending knee until she could gaze at the human face to face.

"Look at me," she stated softly, placing both hands on the girl's shoulders. Shana found herself unable to meet the Saiyan's gaze. A bandage had been placed on her cheek, and the human could still make out the faint outline of blood that crusted the corner of her lip. "Look at me, Shana," Blackfire repeated, accenting the command with a small shake to draw the girl's attention. Almost reluctantly, Shana looked back into her amethyst eyes.

"I'm a Saiyan." The statement was simple, but heald meaning on its own. Blackfire didn't need to spell it out, but she did anyway. "We're built for battling. I'm hardly frail."

"I know," Shana sighed. "Sorry."

"There's no need to apologize," Blackfire said, standing up once more and dusting herself off. "I need to go talk to Omega."

Shana flinched at the name. "O-omega? I thought he left!"

Blackfire shook her head. "Not yet, he hasn't. He's still in orbit."

Word of Shana: 337/724