Balance (65 page)

“She was my sister … my sister.  G
OD DAMMIT …
you made sure of that.” Rena screams at Takada, tears pouring down her face in rage
.

Michael turns to Rena, not
at all
expecting this direction in the exchange.

“
My sister, the one you gave
me
.  She
stuck a fucking knife in my back and then ran away
.  Then I come back to you
,
blood
ied
and broken
…
and you have the audacity to beat
the
shit out the only man
…
I
…
WILL
…
EVER
…
LOVE …
a love
you yourself initiated and fost
ered.  For what
fucking
reason …
person
al
gratification?
  Next
time
you want to be pissed off at
me, you get in the fucking
cage
and take
your
turn with me, you son-of
–a-bitch.” 
Cheeks flushed
,
her face wet from tears, Rena’s
body
trembles
with
emotion
.

Takada regards her for a moment, “
Ms. Smith
was afraid
the incident with Meg may
have damaged you
permanently
.
I
t
’s good to see you back to
form.”

Rena
glares
like a panther ready to pounce, “FUCK YOU
…
G
et the hell out!”

Takada turns and leaves,
s
hutting the door
quietly
behind him.

Michael stands there in the middle of the room, speechless
,
knowing he
has
just
experienced
the greatest game of chess ever witnessed by human eyes
.

Rena
collapses
onto the
couch
,
face in her ha
nds
,
crying uncontrollably
.

He
kneels
down
in
front
of
her, and c
arefully pulls her hands away
so he can see her face
, so she can see his.  She
falls forward into him.

For an
hour,
he holds her
without
saying
a word. 
Michael
recognizes
she’s playing a dangerous game with Takada, but it
’
s the only thing they can do. 
She’s
the only person
who
could have done
what she did.  He
r
motivations might have been
different
;
Meg escaping with Rena’s help,
forced
to
stab
her sister
to
sell
the escape.  The psychological damage a decision like that would have on both young women is hard to understand.  Rena ta
p
ping into those emotions to confront Takada was un
believably brave and masterful. 
He cannot begin to comprehend the depth of the wom
a
n in his arms,
knowing only that
she is
truly
inspiring.

E
xhausted from the emotion
ally
charged exchange
,
she
falls asleep
in
the
protection of his formidable arms
. 
Carefully, Michael
picks up
this woman he loves more than life itself,
and
places
her in bed
.

That evening
, sensing
Rena needed a little time to
herself,
Michael
decides to go to the dojo for some practice. 
She
spends the evening in their
Ready Room
researching Leonidas Drakos
, reflecting on her past
,
and their future
.

W
orking through the last couple
of
months,
Michael spends an hour and a half in the dojo,
as Re
na calls it ‘compartmentalizing’
, his mind heavily focused on her mental health.
  There are times, when she comments about his ability to turn o
f
f certain em
otional e
vents in his life, h
e
swears,
she becomes
jealous
.  Days like today, he understands how
this ability
would be desirable
, considering the
overwhelming mass of
emoti
ons
Rena
deals with
.

Michael is just cleaning up when Waters arrives
. 
“Hey, what’s up?  You weren’t coming for some
sparring
were you?  I’m just finishing up.
”

“
No
,
I
just
wanted to talk and I have something for you and
Rena
,
compliments of
Ms. Smith
,
al
though
I suspect it may be from Takada.
A
peace offering
.
”
  Waters hands
Michael a wooden box, he
guesses
holds an expensive bottle of wine.

“That’s interesting, considering the exchange in our quarters earlier.”

“I
imagine
it’s because of the exchange.  You
need to
realize
, with Meg gone
,
Rena has to go back into immersions. 
Alt
hough, I’ll bet the structure chan
ges some, since
she’s
so good at
bei
ng in control
.”
Waters smiling
at
the last
part
of his comment.

Michael laughs,
al
though he’s more concerned about t
he comment about Meg.  They had
not really talk
ed
about what
happened.
 
“Are you okay
,
y
ou know with Meg
?
  You two were getting close.”

“I am …
actually
better than okay.  I knew, as well as Rena
,
Meg was in an awful situation.  If she
’s
alive, that’s all I can hope for.  I think losing her this way is better than the alternative.  Has Rena said anything more about what happened?”

“Not really, except for the emotionally cha
rged outburst with Takada, which I really don’t want to revisit.  I can tell you
,
Rena is really cut up over it.  Meg meant
the world
to her.  She meant a l
ot to all of us.  Maybe someday
Rena will want to talk about it, but probably not anytime soon. 
I’m s
orry.”

“I
understand.  Hey, enjoy.
I’ll s
ee you
tomorrow.” Waters departs, leaving the small wooden box.

Returning
to their q
uarters with the bottle of wine, Michael finds t
he
space
dark
,
only
a
single
dim light
radiates
from somewhere further inside
.  S
oft
music plays
on the wall computer
. 
In the
common
room,
a single
lit
candle
sits
on the coffee table. 
Next to the candle, a
small piece of paper, fol
ded in half.  He picks
it up
.

Take a shower

Come back here

He laughs
, think
ing
back to the conversation in the dojo, ‘being in control’.  Not one to quest
ion what looks to be a positive
development
, he concedes to the directions.

After showering,
Michael
find
s
a pair of silk
lounge pants on his bed. 
Feeling
the evening
progressing in a
n
encouraging
direction
, he doesn
’
t question
the
comfortable
wear
.

He steps out in
to
the
common
room to find two glasses of red wine, the open bottle and another note on the coffee table.  The simple direction to ‘Sit’ scrawled on it.  Obey
ing
the
directive
, he
relaxes on the couch
.  Trying to look a little less eager,
he picks up the bottle of wine, pretending to read the label.
 
The soft music and the
candlelight
lull
Michael, to the point
he doesn’t notice Rena until
she’s
almost in front of him
.

W
earing a very short light turquois-blue satin slip, her long dark red hair pulled over the left side
of her face
, partially obscuring her
eye and draping her shoulder. 
Rena
extends her hands to him.  P
ulling
Michael
to her, she h
old
s
tightly as
they
dance slowly to the soft music
by candle light.  For many
minutes,
they move
in rhythm with each other
, reflecting,
before finally sitting on the couch.

Running his finger along the side of her body
, she writhes
, “A gift from
Ms. Smith
?
” He
asks
.

“Yes”
, she
points to the bottle, “
Ms. Smith
?”

“Yes, but Waters though
t
it
ultimately from Takada.  My guess
,
it’s
a piece
offering
.
I don’t think
he realize
d
how much Meg meant to you
.”
Michael
suggests
.

“Peace offering … not likely,
t
hat’s not his nature.  He needs us for the Drakos operation.”

Michael smiles, r
ecalling Waters earlier comments
regarding the same implication, further reinforcing Rena’s
impeccable insight.
 
“Speaking of
Drakos …
Y
ou were in the
Ready Room
when I left.  D
id you find
anything?
”
Rena turns around sharply.  He immediately realizes
he’d done something wrong.

She
stands up abruptly,
facing
him, “I’m standing here in
this,
and you want to talk shop
?
”

“Well
,
you brought up Drakos
.”
Michael trying his best to
backpedal
.