Under The Dreary Rain [Magnolia & Shuten | Private]

She felt the addition of Shutens light bodice as it laid against her own. Soft, warm, so full of life. Arms slid around her in a heart-felt embrace, and Shutens forehead gently pressed up against her own. Honestly, words just did not do such emotions of joy and bliss justice. Her heart felt so full, so complete here, with her, with the droning of the rain outside.

The cushions didn’t make so much as the slightest rustle as Magnolia’s body sank further into them, adjusting to the weight that pressed against her. When Shuten spoke of always being good, well, a little giggle escaped Magnolia’s lips before she could help it. The woman couldn’t help but arch a brow, that smile on her face still a mischievous little thing, albeit obscured from her position nestled against Shutens neck.

In the rain, with the distant rumble of thunder, when Shuten spoke of how she was her home, Magnolia felt herself swallow faintly. She was overwhelmed with emotion. For so long she hadn’t truly had a home to come back to, a place where she could say: “yeah, that's where I belong” . The Gotei was something she believed in, fervently even-- that wasn’t a home though.

A home, she thought back to those days when she was still weak, still powerless. She had come so far, become so strong, yet beyond her honor, beyond her duty, did she have anything that was truly hers? Today, she finally had a place she could say was her home. Finally, after all of her hardship, all her struggle. Maybe that was why the tears that had still glimmered in the corners of her eyes dripped against Shutens neck. Maybe that was why a soft whine could be heard in the back of her throat. She let out a soft little gasp, and took a little breath in.

”I am so happy. I am glad that I met you at that hotspring by chance.” Magnolia whispered against Shutens neck, kissing it once more. The soft vibrations of her words were easy to feel, as well as the warm breath that trickled against Shutens fair skin.

”I am so happy that I stayed, that I chose you.” Magnolia’s words were barely more than a whisper, but they came from the depths of her soul. She had felt adrift in this strange new world for so long, and she had been her anchor. She had been the immovable rock within her heart.

She had felt it, when the soul society she knew, and this one had begun to drift apart. She had felt it keenly due to her origins. Still, she had been in love, maybe she hadn’t known the totality of what that meant at the time, but she had been willing to take that risk. To maroon herself in a new reality, to give up the revenge she had lived hundreds of years to complete. She hadn’t regretted it a single day.

Magnolia gently trailed kisses upwards from Shutens neck to her jaw, each one tender and full of her adoration. Looking upon her face, Magnolia realized something-- that this was the person that she wished to spend the rest of her life with. Be it a year, or ten, a hundred, possibly thousands; She wanted to wake up to this beautiful sight, and she wanted to go to bed wrapped in its embrace.

Learning up once more, to press her lips against Shutens ear, she said in a breathy, husky whisper.

”Shuten Suika… I want to tell you a secret.”

Pausing, with a soft giggle escaping from her lips, she’d speak in a tone that mirrored the sense of adoration, love, and certainty that remained within her heart, within her soul. It was still soft, and still gentle, husky and breathless, but she’d say it all the same.

”I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Under the rain, with the thunder rumbling from a rare storm, Magnolia said the words that had resonated so deeply within her that it hurt in the best way possible. Pulling back, she gently gave Shuten a peck on the lips, and she waited to see what her love had to say.

A promise that would last for an eternity. With the soft curling notes of thunder above, and the rhythmic tympany of the rain, Magnolia’s thoughts for the future, and her fears of the present fled in the presence of an entirely different kind of beast-- a behemoth called love. For a few moments when Shuten had said nothing, the first curling notes of fear were palpable within her chest. What if she wasn’t ready for such a truth? Magnolia had said nothing, and instead allowed Shuten the time to answer, as she watched her moisten her lips.

She felt her world shatter in a kaleidoscope of color and budding possibility when upon Shutens lips were the very same words, the very same feelings, the very same promise. A trinity of intent that made her euphoric, and truly, for a moment she did just stop. Working through the tumultuous tide of her emotion until her lips pulled back, and a smile so sweet and sincere that it belonged just to this occasion blessed her lips. Tiny pinpricks of tears beaded at her eyes until they had poured over and cradled the curve of her cheeks.

Was this what happiness felt like? Not contentment, but pure happiness-- like a ray of sunlight, exclusively for her. Tears of joy felt hot and wet upon her face, and her breath hitched a little in such a way that the words at first couldn’t get out. She had so much she wanted to say, so much she wanted to give, and yet the first thing was not those lovely words, but rather Magnolia’s hands gently trailing up the curve of her spine. The pads of her fingers rustling the soft fabric of the kimono before they found themselves in Shutens hair.

She said what her words could not with the way her eyes searched Shutens, and the way her mouth found hers with such heat and emotion. Like the world fell away and there were only the two of them. A world just for them, a moment that she wished would last for an eternity. Her free arm only served to draw her lover in closer, and with a sigh she just sank into the bliss of her feelings. She let them soothe and coax out those words that she had wished to say but could not under the thrum of such an all consuming emotion.

A raw, passionate kiss abated, and turned playful as Magnolia captured Shutens lower lip in another shallow little nip. It turned sultry when the woman pulled back and began to trail kisses along the contour of her lovers jaw, like little bits of fire, with her hot breath cascading against her flesh. Eventually it traveled lower, down the slender curve of her neck, the hand that had been in her loves hair having drifted down to join the other at her waist. At the curve where her shoulder met her neck however, Magnolia stopped.

Looking up, she planted a kiss there. Her eyes saying so much more of what she wanted. Still, right now she wanted so much more than simply fading away into the wiles of the flesh, and so she drew up once more, a hand gently caressing the side of her loves face as she said softly.

” You know, I never thought a day like this would come. I.. was too wrapped up in my hatred and revenge.” Magnolia finally felt comfortable telling that story, and she would share it with the person in the world she would never live without.

”For hundreds of years it was my only goal, my only purpose. I think that’s why I was always afraid that if I told you how hard I had fallen for you, that it’d all vanish like smoke. “ Magnolia swallowed softly, those husky words barely louder than a murmur, so easily missed and drowned out by the storm outside.

” So to know that you share these feelings.. I can’t describe how happy I really am. I think I knew when I felt the realms were closing that if I left, I’d never live with myself. Even then, I was completely and hopelessly lost without you. “ Magnolia giggled gently as she twirled a lock of shutens hair in her pointer finger.

”I realized that at some point you had become something treasured, and irreplaceable, and i..” Magnolias words trailed off as she tried to find the words. Clumsy would be apt to describe it, how she fished for what she wanted to say.

” I don't know.. If you want it, but.. I’ve heard it’s customary to provide vows to once another.. “ Magnolia faltered as she chewed on her lower lip, the words once more slipping into the void.

” Vows.. I mean, i’d like to call you more than just a lover, would you be my wife?” The word Marriage scared the crap out of her, but, she’d finally get to the point she’d be able to let those words spill from her lips.

”Marry me, I mean” Magnolia had finally said it, and while they felt the same.. She still closed her eyes, unsure as she waited for Shutens answer.