A Phoenix Reborn (part 4 of 9)

Note: Bold are thoughts Italics are enfaces and flashbacks.

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Macquarie waited hours for her mistress to return. It was growing late and she was afraid something happened to her on the way to the airport. Normally Macquarie wouldn’t bother Layla but she decided to call her to make sure she was all right. Macquarie dialed up Layla’s cell and waited patiently, after a second she heard a ring somewhere in the bedroom. The maid followed the source of the sound and there sitting on the bed was Layla cell phone. Macquarie figured that her mistress left it there by accident.

“She must have been in a hurry.”

The girl was growing frustrated, she walked back to the living room where the meal she prepared was getting cold. It was Layla’s favorite and she took extra care in preparing it for the blonde mistress. Realizing there was nothing more she could do right now, Macquarie walked towards the door to leave the apartment, but when she heard the sound of muffled voices she stopped in her tracks. The muffled voices were too quiet to hear so she couldn’t understand what was being said, but one of the voices she knew by heart to be none other than her mistress, which meant the other had to be Sora’s.

“Oh how I despise her.” thought the maid, glad that Layla was ok but frustrated that Sora spent this whole time with the blonde.

Curiosity overwhelmed any reservations Macquarie might have had about spying, so she stared into the peephole and was greeted by the sight of Layla and Sora standing very close to each other in what can only be described as an intimate conversation. The way that Layla looked at Sora and the fire that burned in her eyes as she poured her heart out about something made Macquarie mad with jealousy. The lavender haired brunette was only here for a few short hours and she already had Layla showing more emotion than her mistress displayed in the last month.

“Why couldn’t Layla just see how much I cared for her.”

Macquarie stewed in silence watching the whole heart breaking display. She was about to turn away when she saw Sora take a step closer to Layla. She knew Sora had feelings for Layla, it was quite blatant how the brunette felt a month ago in New York but she didn’t think Sora would impose her feelings on Layla so soon. Macquarie was tempted to interrupt on behalf of her mistress, but was stopped cold when Layla took a step closer to Sora. “What are you doing Layla?” Macquarie’s question was answered when Layla cupped Sora face and tilted it upwards to look into her eyes.

“This can’t be happening, no, I wont let this happen.” thought Macquarie when it became quite clear what would happen if she didn’t interfere.

Macquarie reached for the door and turned the knob so fast she could have broke it, when the door was open she wasted no time in jumping out.

“Mistress?” called out Macquarie, but her words fell on deaf ears, she wasn’t standing inside the hallway anymore, she wasn’t even standing in the hotel. The passing cars and street signs greeted a very confused maid.

“How……how did I end up here?” said Macquarie as she looked back at the hotel she was just in a second ago…..on the eighteenth floor.

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Eighteenth Floor.

With mingled breaths the two woman closed their eyes and leaned in for the inevitable.

They were a hairs length away from meeting each others lips, when the enormity of what was about to happen dawned on Layla. Opening her eyes Layla peered down at the angelic features of Sora who was waiting for a kiss that never came. “Sora” said the blonde softly.

Sora’s eyes opened to mere slits. “Layla?” asked a confused Sora.

“Did you know what this would mean Sora? If we do this we can never go back.” said Layla wanting Sora to understand as well.

Sora understood what it would mean, of the two woman she had the most to lose. It may just be a kiss to Layla but to her it was her first kiss, something she waited for her entire life, and if it didn’t work out she would be hurt the hardest. Even if that weighed heavily, Sora wasn’t afraid. She had been longing for Layla for so long and now everything became clear why. Here before her was a woman that captivated her heart. Sora could see more to Layla than anyone else could, and she knew behind Layla’s often cold exterior beat a lonely heart thriving for acceptance and love. That’s why Sora wasn’t afraid to take the next step, because more than anything she wanted to be the person to give Layla that love.

“I understand more than you know Layla. I know what this means and I’d gladly walk this road if you would walk it beside me.” said Sora with a smile that spoke volumes.

Those words erased all doubts and insecurities from Layla’s mind. “I’ll always walk beside you if you’ll have me Sora?” in answer to the blondes question, Sora reached up and covered the hand on her cheek with her own and gave it a small squeeze.

This time there were no more lingering doubts. Sora and Layla closed their eyes and moved together as one. The distance closed between them and their lips met each other for the first time. It was timid at first, both woman were getting used to the feeling of the other’s lips.

Sora drink in the sensations headily, never had she dreamed it would be this intense. Layla’s soft lips glided over hers, it was very light, almost as if the blonde was afraid to be more bold. Sora wouldn’t have any that, she pressed harder and took Layla’s bottom lip between hers and sucked on it gently.

The move nearly drove Layla crazy, she never dreamed of kissing another woman let alone Sora, but the experience was more erotic than anything she ever felt. It didn’t take her long to return Sora’s favor as Layla took in the brunette’s top lip between her own.

Taking a breath the two women pulled back slightly and opened their eyes. The sight each others lust laden gazes triggered an explosion of fire that erupted inside them. Every little moment of tension that existed since the moment they met at tryouts to the dinner they shared at the pizza parlor surged through them causing all their pent up frustrations to be released in that one moment of bliss. The two immediately moved in with a more fierce kiss. Gone was the soft brushing of lips, now both woman pressed their mouths hard against one another in an attempt to devour the other. Layla moved her hand off of Sora cheek and put it on the back of the brunettes head guiding the other woman against her mouth. Sora didn’t remain idle, she reached behind Layla and wrapped her arms around the blonde and pressed their bodies together.

Layla wanted to deepen the kiss to the next level but she was growing dizzy from a combination of having Sora’s body pressed against her own and a lack of oxygen. Both woman broke apart gasping for breath. The rising and falling of their chests could be felt by each other.

Still holding one another, Layla broke the salience. “Wow.” she said simply.

“I second that with a oh my god.” joked Sora than she noticed their breathing were in sync. “We finally synchronized our breathing Layla.”

It took a second for Layla to respond, her head was still full of fog. “hmm…your right, we should have just done this to begin with.”

They both enjoyed a soft laugh between them. The whole world was gone and it was just the two of them, and for both ladies it just felt so right. When the laugher died down, both woman moved in again to take up where they left off, but the sound of the elevator opening stopped that plan.

Layla was the first to hear the sound and she pulled away from Sora so fast it nearly made the other woman loose her balance.

Sora was somewhat hurt over Layla’s adamant withdraw, but she tried to understand that Layla came from a family that frowned on her recent actions. She knew Layla was no where near being ready to show her affection publicly but it still hurt none the less. She saw Layla adopt her stoic pose which could only mean she was nervous.

When Sora turned around to see who interrupted their intimate moment, she came face to face with a very upset looking Macquarie. The maid was panting and trying to catch her breath as if she just came in from running somewhere.

“Mistress?” was all the other woman said.

Sora knew if she stayed she could cause trouble for a Layla who was still trying to get her bearings, so decided to leave.

“I think I’ll be going to bed, jetlag and all you know.” she turned to the blonde. “Thank you for everything tonight Layla.” said Sora as she made a hasty retreat to her room, but just as she swiped the key card in the magnetic lock, Layla’s voice called out to her.

“Sora?”

Sora turned slightly to see a very neutral looking Layla, her stance and manner might have appeared neutral but her eyes spoke volumes. “Yes Layla?” Sora answered softly.

Layla wanted to say so much but she couldn’t bring herself to open her mouth so she settled for a simple reply. “Good night.”

Sora nodded in understanding and entered her room. When the door closed she leaned against it and tried to control her heart beat. Every thing had gone so fast and it was just now catching up to her. Lost in thought, she slid down to the floor and sat there staring at the dark hotel room.

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Layla was very quiet, Macquarie saw that her eyes were glazed over.

“Was I too late, did something happened?”

“Mistress is everything all right?” asked Macquarie but she didn’t receive an answer from the blonde. The maid tried a different approach. “You don’t looked pleased mistress, I thought you would be happy to see Sora again?”

The mention of Sora name got Layla attention. “What? I am, I’ve just had a long night Macquarie I’m going to bed.” said Layla as she headed for her door.

“Mistress, I’ll reheat your dinner if you want something to eat?”

“I already ate.” replied Layla in a detached voice.

“Good night Layla.” said Macquarie but the former Kaleido star didn’t respond, she went into her room and shut the door leaving the maid in a turmoil of thoughts.

“What‘s going on, how did I end up outside, and did I make it back before something happened.”

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“That was too close.” said Passion who was floating next to Fool by a peephole across from where the drama took place. When she didn’t get a response from Fool she tried again. “Are you paying attention?….. Fool!”

Fool slowly turned to the shouting woman. “Did you say something?’ said Fool lazily. He was grinning like the Cheshire cat and he didn’t have his mask on.

It was clear to Passion that Fool enjoyed the show. “Put your mask back on your making a fool of spirits everywhere.”

Fool complied. “So this is what being a spirit of romance is like, man did I get into the wrong field.” said a very happy spirit of the stage.

“Roll up your tongue, you should be ashamed of yourself at voyeuring a private moment between two woman trying to express themselves.” said Passion with her arms folded over her chest.

“Ha, your just mad I hogged the peephole.”

“Sharing wouldn’t have killed you.” puffed the silver haired woman as she turned from Fool and floated down to the floor, where she was soon accompanied by her partner.

“I have to give you credit Passion, your job is much more hands on than mine, they way you handled the maid was brilliant.” noted Fool as he gave a gentlemanly bow to Passion.

“Flattery will get you everywhere, but you are right, that was pure genius wasn’t it.” said Passion, obviously quite pleased with her quick thinking.

The spirits originally arrived at Layla’s hotel room to wait for their charges but the maid was there already. Passion had sensed a pivotal moment unfolding between the two woman outside the door. Her feeling was confirmed when the maid gasped out in shock while looking through the peephole. Fool was already sharing Macquarie’s view and said “Where is a camera when you need one.” That made it easy to tell what was going to happen. The maid had other plans as she grasped the door handle with a clear intention to break up the two women. Acting on instinct, Passion unleashed one of her more powerful spells on the door creating a portal outside the hotel.

Fool and Passion then headed to the room across the hallway in order to remain unseen. Passion’s efforts were rewarded when Sora an Layla shared their first kiss, a passionate one at that. Her observation of the important moment was cut short when Fool elbowed his way into the peepholes view where he stayed there for the remainder of the, what he called “show.”

Now that everything had died down, Passion was feeling spent. “This is where we go our separate ways for the time being monsieur, remember your duties as a temporary spirit of romance.” joked Passion.

“I don’t think I’ll be forgetting that anytime soon.” It was clear Fool was still reminiscing over the nights events.

It was a long day even for spirits and Passion promptly yawned, something she hadn’t done in 600 years. “Wow that spell took a lot out of me, I need to rest.”

“You know there is nothing like a warm relaxing shower before you go to bed.”

The silver haired woman turned to Fool and gave him the bug eye. “Excuse me?”

Fool realized what he just said. “hehe… whoops, force of habit.”

“Good night.” said Passion as she faded out.

“Yes it was.” returned Fool as he faded out as well.

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Sora’s room.

Sora looked around her room and couldn’t believe the size of the place. It must have been a presidential suite.

“I guess having a father that owns the hotel has its benefits.” said Layla to herself.

“It most certainly does.” Fool whistled as he scanned the room. “Much more fitting for a woman of your stardom than the apartment back at Cape Mary.”

Sora screamed. “Aaaaaaaaaah…. What the hell are you doing here?”

The shock of Sora scream startled Fool as well. “Aaaaaah!” the spirit put his hand to his chest. “Don’t do that, it’s not flattering.”

Getting under control, Sora glared at Fool. “Don’t sneak up on people Fool, and how did you get here?” the Japanese girl was curious as to why the spirit was present.

“I stowed away. If I could make a suggestion, buy some more silk panties, they make traveling all the more pleasant.” said Fool as he walked over to the gift basket and took a bite out of an apple that was half the size as he was.

“Why you….!” The Kaleido star walked over to the table, grabbed the room service menu, rolled it up, and then glomped Fool on the head.

“Is that anyway to treat a spirit?” questioned Fool as he rubbed his sore cranium. Fool expected more but he saw Sora sit on the couch and stare off into space.

When a thought struck her she turned to Fool. “How come you’re here, and shouldn’t you be with Rosetta? I bet she is wondering where your at.”

Fool sat on the table and continued to enjoy his apple. “Don’t worry about it, I took care of everything.”

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Cape Mary, Rosetta’s apartment.

Rosetta returned to her apartment after another grueling night of trapeze practice. May and Her walked through the door still in their sweats.

“Now if you can only catch the bar after the sixth spin it would really be something.” suggested May as put down Rosetta’s bag, Carrying it back was the least she could do after Rosetta completed another one of her grueling work outs, the girl was so physically small it was a wonder she could do what she did.

“Thank you for the bag, do you want a soda before you go?” said Rosetta looking around the apartment for Fool.

“Sure, I’m in no rush.” replied May, she was wondering why Rosetta was looking all over the small room. May noticed a very tiny looking note on the counter. “Is this what your looking for?”

Rosetta walked over to pick it up.

“I wonder where Fool is?”

The diablo star picked up the note, it was blank on one side and when she turned it over all it had was two words.

GONE FISHING

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Back to Sora’s apartment.

“I wrote a detailed note explaining my absence.” said the spirit of the stage with a mouth full of apple.

Sora was getting irritated at playing the run around game. “AND WHY ARE YOU HERE?”

“I’m on vacation.”

“Spirits go on vacations?” asked a skeptical Sora.

“Of course, we are not machines.”

“Why are you taking a vacation with me?”

“Don’t flatter yourself Sora, I was already going to Boston, so I decided to tag along.” joked Fool.

“To do what?”

“See the sights, find out where all the beans are, maybe even throw some tea off some ships.”

“Funny.” Sora sighed. “Fine if your staying just behave yourself and don’t do anything naughty.”

“I could say the same for you.” mused Fool as he remember the steamy make out session he witnessed earlier.

Sora blushed and tried to play it off. “I don’t know what your talking about.”

Fool floated to the counter and grabbed a hand mirror, then he floated to Sora and held it up for her to see.

Sora looked at face in the mirror, besides the blush Fool’s comment triggered, there was a fair amount of lipstick that didn’t belong to her smeared all over her mouth.

Sora turned ten shades redder and whipped her lips with her sleeve.

“So dear Sora, who’s the lucky woman, I say woman unless you have really strange taste in men.”

Sora figured there was no use playing dumb, She was fairly certain Fool knew who it was anyway. “It was Layla’s lipstick.”

Fool acted disappointed. “Oh I see, she was probably trying to put it on you and you squirmed and got it smeared everywhere.”

“That’s not how I got it on me and you know it.”

“Ohhhhh……how did it get on you then?” questioned a smirking Fool.

Sora was fidgeting now. “Probably happened when we kissed.”

The spirit acted shocked. “Kiss?…did you say kiss?….Sora how very scandalous of you.”

“Shut up Fool.” Sora didn’t like Fool poking fun of her love life.

“Wait, I have a love life?….So does that make me in lo..?”

“So what now?” said Fool interrupting Sora thoughts.

Sora was surprised at how serious Fool’s tone sounded, but she decided to be open. “I don’t really know, this is all new to me and its really scary.”

The spirit chose his words carefully, he didn’t want to scare Sora off. “It’s a big decision if you decide to pursue this. You have to consider your career as well as Layla’s.”

Sora smiled sadly, she wasn’t naïve about what it would mean. There were a lot of problems in her line of work for people who pursued her and Layla’s kind of relationship. “I don’t want to lose my job over it but I wouldn’t want to lose Layla either.”

“Knowing the risks would you still do it?”

Sora took a second to think it over. The brunette pressed her fingers to her lips, even now they were still swollen over the kiss that rocked her world. Nothing rivaled the sensation of having Layla in her arms and the feeling of the other woman’s lips pressed against hers. Knowing what that felt like made going back to the way things were, impossible. Sora had her answer.

“Yes.” Sora said firmly.

Satisfied to see Sora strengthen her resolve, Fool decided to call it a night. “Well then I look forward to her sleepovers.”

“Fool!” yelled Sora but as infuriating as the spirit could be, this talked helped her sort out some of her feelings.

“What?” said Fool turning towards the woman.

Sora smiled. “thank you.”

That actually shocked him. “I uh…I uh… your welcome.” being a spirit of romance definitely had it’s perks if it got Sora to thank him.

Sora left to prepare for bed. She didn’t even bother tying up Fool, after all the bathroom was built like Fort Knox. When she returned she crawled into bed and turned off the lights. Fool found a nice spot on the vanity desk and they both settled down for the night.

“Fool?”

“Yes?” replied Fool expecting another thank you.

“If you ever stow away in my underwear again, I’m feeding you to Jonathan.”

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Layla’s room.

On the king sized bed Layla was laying on her back and staring at the ceiling, it was a position she had since she walked into her hotel room.

“What am I doing? Did that really happen? Was I dreaming?”

When Sora wasn’t around, her self doubts had free reign over her mind. She was just as inexperienced as Sora was when it came to relationships and she didn’t know how to act. Layla would never admit to anyone that she was deeply lonely. The blonde spent the better part of her life keeping people at arms length because there was always a subconscious fear of being hurt if she ever got really close to someone. As a result she spent her nights training to the point of exhaustion with the hopes that it would kill the emptiness long enough for sleep to overtake her. The only feeling that would ever wash away the emptiness was when she performed and she resigned herself to living for those few moments. She never thought those things would change but one day she met Sora and nothing was the same again. For the first time in her life she didn’t feel alone, because for reasons she couldn’t explain Layla knew deep down in her heart that whatever happened to her the lavender haired woman would be there for her. It was a blessing and a curse. When Sora was around she felt complete, like everything was good in the world and she was free to be whoever she chose to be, but when Sora was gone she felt even more empty knowing what it felt like to be whole.

Tonight’s loneliness was unbearable. If Sora’s mere presence could make Layla feel whole then having the brunette in her arms made her fell alive. Now that there was plaster and concrete between them, she was left aching over Sora’s absence. Many of the new sensations she experienced haunted her. The blonde could still smell Sora’s perfume. Curiously she reached up and touched her mouth and could have sworn she could still taste Sora‘s lips. She looked at her hand and thought she could still feel the brunette’s silky skin. If the blonde had tried to convince herself before that her feeling for Sora had nothing to do with attraction, they were certainly gone now.

“Was I always attracted to her or was that something more recent?” Layla’s voice cut through the oppressive silence that filled the room.

“If I had to make a guess madam, I would say always, but that’s just because I think that woman is adorable.” came a French accented voice in the darkest.

Layla quickly sat up and looked around the darkened room. She then reached over and turned on the lights and there, on the vanity where they met, was Passion the spirit of romance filing her nails. “Where did you come from?”

“Your imagination, I’m not really here, because you’re asleep somewhere in an insane asylum dreaming about this.” joked Passion.

“Funny but I was hoping you were a figment of my imagination.” said a peevish looking Layla.

The spirit only smiled. “Oh, so imagining a lot of beautiful woman lately are you?”

Layla didn’t dignify that with a response. “Shouldn’t you have gone away by now?” asked the blonde instead.

“Have you found your happily ever after?” retorted the spirit. “No I didn’t think so.”

“If you go away it will be a happy ending.”

Passion was astonished at how lippy her current charge could be. “Look do you have to be so bitchy, I’m here to help.”

Layla sighed and leaned back in the bed and resumed her ceiling staring contest. “What could you do to help me?”

“For one thing I can listen, nothing helps more than a sympathetic ear.”

Layla didn’t say anything.

“How about advice on how to woo lavender haired Kaleido stars?”

Still Layla said nothing.

“I could show you how to make another woman orgasm in twenty seconds.”

The only response from Layla was well aimed pillow that knocked Passion from off her perch. When the spirit recovered she gave Layla a death glare. “Fine, no to number three but mark my words, someday you’ll beg me for that little secret.”

“I’ll take number one.” said Layla finally.

Passion couldn’t believe Layla caved in. “Really?”

“If your going to stay you might as well make your self useful.”

“Ok I’m all ears, I have centuries of advice.”

“Your really that old?” asked the blonde as her eyes looked over at the spirit.

Passion was indignant. “Watch it, I may be old by I’m still a woman.”

“How old are you?” asked a curious Layla.

The spirit of romance sighed, it was a miracle that Layla was participating so she decided to go along. “Let just say I’m old enough to have seen the first Hamilton drag his wife off to the cave they would call home.”

Layla was impressed.

“So what is it you would like to talk about?” continued Passion.

Layla thought the question over and over in her mind but she finally decided to ask. “Do you think Sora and I could end up living happily ever after?”

Layla was never one to believe in storybook romances but she wanted someone to tell her such a thing existed in life.

“Are you asking me as the spirit of romance or someone who had been around for centuries?”

“Both.”

“Then no.”

Layla turned and looked fully at the spirit, she expected Passion to humor her.

Passion merely smiled. “There are no happily ever afters. There will good times and bad times, and you’ll need to experience the bad times to truly appreciate the good ones. C’est la vie. But I will say this, you and Sora have something special that will make your good times put the most far fetched fairytales to shame.”

Layla sat up and stared hard at Passion. “Which is?”

Passion laughed. “That’s something you two will discover on you own time.”

“Arggggg” thought Layla. “Stupid spirits and their vague answers.”

Layla got up and headed for the bathroom and when she returned to the bedroom she was wearing the pair of red pajamas Sora gave her. After she moved out of Sora’s apartment she tried to return them but the brunette told her to keep it, when Layla asked why Sora simply said. “To ward off perverted spirits.” At the time Layla thought it was the craziest thing, but now she wore them with appreciation.

“Better safe than sorry.”

Layla crawled into her bed and switched off the lights. Before she went to sleep she looked to the vanity where Passion made herself comfortable.

“I have my own spirit of romance and she doesn’t seem so bad, maybe it’s a sign that I shouldn’t be alone anymore.”

Layla began to drift off when Passion’s voice carried to her. “Would you like to know how to make Sora yours forever.”

Layla opened her eyes and looked towards Passion once again. “How?”

Passion got an mischievous glint in her eye. “It only takes 20 seconds.”

“Arrrrrrggggg” growled Layla as she turned over and tried to fall asleep. It was kind of hard with the spirit of romance laughing as loudly as she could, that was up until a pillow knocked her off her seat.

To be continued Important note, I’m Asian so I love long, very long drawn out stories, so if you more of a short fic or ONESHOT fan, end it here and look off into the sunset with happy memories. If your still on board then enjoy many updates for the future.