Yours Soulfully...

11.

Warning: Mild swear words appear in the chapter.

Note: Please wait for the next note to switch on the YouTube music video in the media box :)

It was raining like fury that night. The sky was a hazy mix of indigo and dark grey, making all water droplets seem like drops of ink flowing from the pen of the heavy clouds. The colorless ink - like raindrops pelted hard against the window sill of Rae's hotel room, as she sat by the closed window, her head perched on the edge of the tapered glass. The sound that the droplets made against the glass vibrated through her skull melodiously as she slowly sipped her cinnamon hot chocolate. Snowy white breath released from her nostrils due to the sizzling combination of cold atmosphere and hot drink. Her teeth involuntarily sunk down on one of the marshmallows swimming around, as a moan escaped from the back of her throat.

The chilly temperature, the sound of rain, the warmth of hot chocolate, the burst of flavors from the cinnamon - soaked marshmallow... It felt like a perfect night to Rae. Well, except for the blatant inexplicable absence that kept nagging her.

A sudden rapid knock on the door jerked the brunette's attention. Setting her half - filled cup on the table near the window, Rae walked towards the door and casually opened it. On the other side of the door stood Amana. She didn't give Rae a chance to react to her sudden presence as she pounced on her. Quite literally.

Amana flung herself on Rae, throwing her body on her lover's, pushing them both inside in the momentum. Rae's arms quickly closed down on Amana's back, softly holding her there as Amana started quivering. Tears flowed from Amana's baggy eyes as she buried her face in the crevice of Rae's collar bone. Her whole body shivered and clamped down onto Rae's, trying to be as close to her as possible. Perhaps, she was also trying to feel as safe as possible in her arms.

Rae's hands went to Amana's hair as she slowly caressed it, golden root to pink tip. "Shh... Baby, it's alright. Everything's fine. Don't worry, Boo Berry. I won't let anything happen to you," whispered Rae, and placed a feather light kiss on top of Amana's hair. She moved the two of them slowly to the bed and sat on the bed in the way that Amana sat on top of her.

After a few minutes, Amana's sobs decreased to shallow breaths. Rae whispered against her hair, "Amana? You alright, Boo?"

Amana lifted her head off Rae's neck and slowly parted her body off her. "Yeah, I'm fine. I must look like a mess, though." She laughed coarsely.

"Hey," Rae cupped Amana's cheeks and peered into her sea blue with her chocolate brown. "You look absolutely beautiful, Boo Berry. You may be a mess, but you are such a pretty mess right now."

Amana's cheeks flushed as she muttered, "Cheesy liar." The girls touched their foreheads against each other and cackled softly.

"What happened, Amana? Why were you so shook when you came here?" Rae enquired softly.

Amana took a deep breath, and then she told Rae everything that Aaron told her. And how much fear it instilled in her. Amana hadn't known the Judge personally at all, but anybody's end that was so brutal would be looked upon with fear and shock. If this was just the image Aaron paraphrased from what he saw, Amana couldn't imagine how Aaron felt literally seeing all of that. She doubted if she could even stay sane if she had really seen everything.

"Shh... It's okay, Amana. You're safe here," Rae reassured when Amana finished, and only then Amana released the breath she didn't know she was holding in. The brunette softly connected her lips with the blonde to calm her down. It was a quick, reassuring and soothing peck. It sent a jolt of romantic excitement in Amana.

"We must do something," Amana said, coming back to the issue as she got up from Rae's lap and started walking back and forth, thinking furiously.

"Do what, Boo Berry? What can we possibly do?" Rae asked, getting off the bed and standing in Amana's way.