Bakuran Rain

Exhilarating! That's the only word I have for all-out-no-holds-barred fights. The adrenaline just goes to my head and makes me a little crazy. Crazy in an intense, focused way that lets me concentrate my entire self on my opponents. I love it!

I spun and kicked the teeth out of one of the aforementioned evil beings. Argh, I probably also just flashed the entire planet. I hate skirts.

Yeah, An - excuse me - Bakura was blushing. Considering most of our opponents used some version of the Force, I was careful to refer to my friends by their planet-names even in my thoughts. Never knew who might be listening in.

Let's see. I darted my eyes around, looking to see who was doing what. Catching Yavin's eye, I winked. "Asteroid Gravity Force!" I shouted. Perfect. The attack rooted a group of the... things in place, leaving them open to Yavin's corusca gem attack. Mmm, I love it when a plan comes together.

"I wish it would stop raining," Tatooine complained. She's not really from Tatooine... but from an Earth place called Australia.

I laughed. "I love the rain."

"Me too!" Bakura echoed, excited. She'd taken her eyes off the evil things, unfortunately. That gave them opportunity to try and kill her.

I'm really not used to working in these circumstances. Usually, I compile groups of highly-trained and talented individuals and threaten them into teams. Hey. It works. I'm not used to having a team compiled of inexperienced fighters with supernatural powers. And what do you call supernatural enemies, anyway? Demons? Evils? Bad guys? Baka? That's an Earth word, by the way. A few years ago I would have called my enemies "law enforcement".

"Bakura!" I shouted, pointing at her. Even through the mist, people were able to see the senshi was in trouble. One of the things had its hands around her neck and was draining her power in a pink cloud.

Ugh. Pink.

I shook the rain out of my bangs and stared at the pair for a long time. Three or four seconds, tops. All the different variables dashed through my mind at lightning speed... the other senshi, their personalities and powers, the rain, the evils, the fact that Bakura was blocking any big attack I could have made...

Before anyone else could do anything, I produced a blaster. I really wasn't sure where it came from. Apparently, senshi can conjure up things. I'd seen Vjun do it with the Redemption Crystal and had done it with the gem myself. Now, there was a blaster in my hands. I let instinct as I locked my sights on the demon thing. Perfect. There was very little margin for error... but I wasn't the Hawkbat for nothing.

Just before I pulled the trigger, the evil thing looked very surprised and evaporated. I looked around and realized I'd forgotten to factor in Tuxedo Jedi. Sithspit.

"You should have kissed him!" Mori gushed.

I looked at her horrified. "Kissed who?" I demanded. Unfortunately, I had a pretty good idea of who "him" was.

"Kousotsu!" Annika responded, proving my guess. Just great.

I rolled my eyes at them and sighed. "I don't see why I should have."

Mori focused her deep green eyes on me seriously. "Because," she explained, "you two are destined loves and that's romantic."

I made gagging noises. "Give me a break. I don't deal in romance or love or destiny!"

Annika didn't look like she believed me. "You two are in love. You ought to show that!" She sighed. "I want to fall in love some day!"

"How can I be in love with him?" I protested. "I don't even know him."

"Sure you do," Mori responded. "In the past you..."

I held up my hands to stop her. I felt mean at this point, but pushed on anyway. "Let me clarify something for you. 'In the past' is not now. It's the past, okay? It's not fair to say you love someone just based on the fact that there was something between your past-self and his past-self. So..."

Annika was shaking her head by this time. "Love is love. And there's love between you; I can feel it!" She looked serious. "You're crazy in love with him... but you've got to open yourself to it."

I laughed softly. "Annika... I'm not going to say I love someone just because I 'should'. And there's nothing to open myself to." I think I got snappy on the last past. I hate being open with people. It makes me vulnerable. And that's dangerous. You never know who might be an information broker.

"You're in love with him! You just think it's because of your past life," Annika informed me. "But it isn't... not all of it..." She could tell I wasn't listening to her. And I wasn't. She was wrong, all wrong.

I stood up and stretched. Just as I did, I heard a voice. "Priire... we need to talk."

It was Kousotsu and he had his hand on my shoulder... I guess I blushed, because Annika mouthed, "Told you so."

"Priire..."

I looked at him. I didn't know what to say to the question he hadn't asked, so I just looked. Like always - or almost always - on Bakura, it was raining. A little harder than yesterday's slow drizzle, but I could still see him through the watery veil. Crystalline blue eyes, black hair, handsome face... he seemed to be everything one would want in a "perfect" boyfriend. But we were so unbelievably different. I'd rather fight, but he was more of an encourager. I was a mercenary... ex-mercenary, but still a mercenary... and he was a Jedi. We even came from two different galaxies!

"I think that you need to let yourself go."

I looked a little confused. "What do you mean?" I asked him.

He looked at me with those intense blue eyes and spoke just a little louder than the rain. "I think you're holding on to the image you have of yourself as unlovable and you're not letting you accept the changes that have happened to you."

"Huh?" I refused to understand.

Kousotsu stared at me for a long time, then spoke. "You've got to open up and let yourself go. I want to love you, but you aren't letting me."

"What if I do open up to you?" I asked. I didn't know if he'd heard me, I spoke so softly. "What if there isn't anything there?"

I was fairly sure I'd only thought the last part, but he heard it anyway.

"What if there is?"

I looked down, analyzing the situation, trying to make the best decision I could... then I stopped.

He... he touched my hand and I didn't feel tense or anything... I didn't even move. "You've got to trust me," he said softly. It was almost like I felt the words rather than heard them.

I closed my eyes and opened my mouth to say "I do," but I didn't get any farther than gather my breath to speak before he understood. He leaned even closer then... our lips just barely touched before I knew everything was all right and he was someone I could trust. With that out of the way, I lost myself in his touch.

Seijoutai Priire, the Hawkbat, mercenary-for-hire was head over heels in love. Funny, huh?