I
Everything Haruna wanted was to enjoy her last days of vacation, which meant eating good food while watching old movies without being inevitably interrupted. Christmas activities like decorating the tree, giving and receiving gifts and eating with her family didn't grab her attention, while the fireworks gave her headaches. Staying at home was the best, so she always saved a few days of her break for that week. She'd watch her movies until she had enough and that was it. She could decide what else to do later, she wouldn't bother too much with planning -- her whole life was predefined already, what she needed was to let herself be free sometimes.
Haruna stopped in the middle of choosing her movie not because she was unsure of which one she wanted, but because she realised she was free to do anything (well, mostly anything) she wanted until the end of the winter season. She could enjoy her freedom, but the same couldn't be said about her lover, the one who helped her so much in her last mission, the hardest she ever had in all her time as a spy and hacker. The Invisible Eagle, one of the best spies in the whole world, had made a big mistake in not spilling the localization of their enemies' headquarters as soon as she discovered it, right after being recruited by them. The good thing was that Haruna had strategic advantage since she was so close to their enemies, even in some of their inner circles, so she knew where to attack if her reinforcements didn't get in on time or she couldn't get away discreetly. The bad thing was that as much of a decent relationship she had with them, she wasn't attached at all, which was bad for her tactical mobility, but her mission partner -- a beautiful woman covered in blue tattoos called Alba Ariana -- should have done the same, but she didn't and befriended all the hodgepodge of criminals that comprised their enemies' organization.
Before that mission, Haruna and Ariana had not exchanged more than a couple of words, never having felt the need to as there was no reason for them to talk to each other. But they were still chosen for the same mission, one they had to finish fastly and furtively. So that is how two spies left their agency together on a Saturday morning. In the beginning, they still didn't talk. Ariana -- also known as agent Laguna or Death Flame due to her penchant to resolve any conflict with fire. They found out they had a lot in common, from personal tastes to personal secrets.
They both loved chicken nuggets and buttered popcorn. They both practiced an aiming sport -- Haruna was an archer and Ariana played bowling. Both lost their older brothers to their jobs -- Haruna's was a cop, died in a car chase, Ariana's was also a secret agent and died in a trap set for him. They both started their spying work early and on their own, their talent for camouflage, languages and adaptation grabbing the attention of Sakura Rain Secret Intelligence, getting recruited soon after. Quickly, though, their friendship evolved to a romance that burned like a house on fire, hotter than a volcano eruption.
The mission didn't last more than three weeks, but it was long enough for Haruna to get heartbroken when her lover walked away.
Ariana's friendliness wasn't a mere artifice to get info on their enemies, she actually built friendships with the criminals -- she even stated that she liked their lifestyle and worldview, that she would be happier living outside of the agency rather than in it --, soon turning into one of them. Haruna assumed Ariana would get rid of her, but she actually helped her escape once their play was exposed, showing Haruna that Ariana still loved her, but wasn't fit to live their agency's lifestyle anymore.
When Haruna returned to Sakura Rain, she didn't tell the truth to their bosses, merely saying they got separated and that she couldn't contact Ariana -- which wasn't really a lie, since Death Flame destroyed her phone and everything they could use to contact her or track her. Ariana went MIA for twice as long as their relationship lasted, but they ended up catching her and locking her up in the Needle Peak, one of their highest security prisons, located in the Arctic. Even though she was tortured, Ariana didn't say a word that could compromise Haruna. Invisible Eagle visited her several times, but not once they let her see her lover. She's too dangerous, they said, every precaution is necessary, and that got Haruna very annoyed.
Ever since Ariana was thrown into the slammer, Haruna got her spirit broken -- never before she felt as lonely. Sadness and missing tormented her every day, leaving a sensation of emptiness, but she kept a smile on her face and pretended to be unbothered (she was always good with pretending). Now, though, she wondered if it was a good idea to carry out that mission that cost so much, even her feelings. Her promotion was good, but the price she paid was far too high and enough for Haruna to be unable to trust anyone else. Now, to make matters worse, it was holiday time and the plans she had made with the single person that would accept to be with her were put on hold because her partner was in jail. Even though she said to herself that her passion for Ariana would one day fizzle out and she would soon feel free again, Haruna doubted she could fly freely again. "Maybe if I stopped seeing her I would be able to forget her," she thought, silencing a call from one of her ex-boyfriends she ditched to focus all her attention on Ariana.
After pondering a bit, Haruna picked out Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, a movie chosen specifically to take her out of reality. She threw some bacon on her buttered popcorn and focused on her here and now.
II
About an hour later, Haruna already felt lighter. She couldn't even remember her real life problems after some few good laughs, but her good mood was not allowed to last for much longer. Funny how a single call could screw over her peace of mind. It was Dr. Ericsson, Ariana's former attorney, who bothered her. Only two months have passed since Ariana was locked in, but Haruna felt like it was two years. She wasn't really wanting to answer it, as she wasn't that much of a fan of Ericsson and she was on break, but since that guy was directly tied to her former lover, she forced herself to. At least the man was direct about it.
"Hello, agent Hajime. The police want a statement from Alba Ariana Laguna. They called me because she said she wanted to see her lawyer, but in the end she actually wanted you and she knew I could contact you in case the police refused to call you. She's refusing to tell them anything without you there, she wants to talk to you and see how you're doing with her very own eyes. I think that's a scheme on her end and honestly I support it whatever that is as long as I don't end up dead," Ericsson's voice went from normal to barely a whisper by the end, Haruna knew very well how scared the lawyer was of being caught doing anything that could get him in trouble with his superiors. He cleaned his throat and proceeded on an even tone: "Ms. Laguna might even get a shorter serving time for that."
In the same second, Haruna threw her break away, getting up and saying with conviction: "I'm coming, Ericsson."
"We're looking forward to your arrival." Haruna turned off before Ericsson could, grabbing her backpack in a hurry. Lasagna, the adorable kitten she adopted, was the only one that kept watching the movie.
Haruna wasn't bothered by prisons, unlike some of her Sakura Rain colleagues. She liked that her enemies knew who they were up against. It was funny every time some guy or girl bully looked at her as if she was an easy prey because she was small and had a delicate face, but preferably once they were locked and couldn't leak her identity to the world. But between all their inmates, the only one agent Hajime wanted to see was Ariana.
Coming up from a corridor to the left, Dr. Ericsson quickly joined her walk as the officers guided her through the labyrinth-esque corridors from the prison. She was in a top security prison, so she should have her entourage to feel even safer, right? He had many questions to which Haruna only listened to, but couldn't answer because they soon arrived when the most dangerous inmates were kept. Ariana, naturally, was there.
Haruna breathed slowly and tried to keep her cool with her hands in her jacket pockets, walking faster until she was in front of the round door that separated her from her lover. She closed her eyes for a bit, remembering the times she knocked at her door back when they were still in their mission, and wanted their meeting to be different.
It surely would be.
III
A few minutes later, the cell's door was opened and Haruna quickly sat on the chair before the phone booth. Ariana's particular prison had a lower ceiling like the other cells and a mezzanine that served as a recreation space, with books, tabletop games and other activities disconnected from the internet. There were no windows in her cell. The space might look good, but it was still a prison. At least she could choose to do stuff, that was better than some sterile gray cube.
Two officers, on the other side of the bars, set her free of the chains in her hands and readjusted the ones in her feet, while Ariana smiled happily. Haruna waited patiently, curious to hear what Ariana had to say -- there was a lot her lover hadn't revealed to her.
Unlike Haruna, Alba Ariana came slowly to the phone booth, as if to pretend she didn't care about the spy (it did not matter, considering she knew it was just acting). Finally settled, Death Flame grabbed the red stringed phone -- Haruna felt thrown back to the past, where smartphones were nothing but a distant dream -- and saluted:
"Hi, dear. Did you come here just for me?"
"Who knows, girl." Haruna feigned disinterest, it wouldn't be good to any of them if they found out about their old flame. Because of it, Haruna controlled herself to not admire Ariana's curly black hair, thin lips or the charming beauty mark near it for too long. Even less the countless tattoos over her pale skin. Haruna curled a strand of her bleached blonde hair on her fingers to distract herself and asked with an unbothered tone: -- Anyway, tell me, what do you have to say that's so important?
"Oh, my darling, it's a long list, but I'll start with the most pressing part. It seems like the Christmas gift I mentioned to you before being kindly brought to this lovely cage is not a cheap one and that it had its sending delayed to the New Year. It will arrive in about eight days, you better hurry."
"You never told me what was the content of this gift, Ariana. If you say it now, it will help the investigation a lot," Ariana said to buy time, managing her tone to not come across as too impassioned. She actually knew what was the gift and, unless Ariana lied to her, it involved them both. Haruna was the one with the choice to take part in that or not. She sighed, knowing very well that Ariana would not say anything more. She just wanted to buy some time to figure out what she actually wanted.
"I'll give you a date and a place, but everything I know about the gift I have told you already. On the 31st, between 11PM and midnight, you should be on the south part of that volcanic beach of Java, Indonesia. That's where the transfer will happen." In a ciphered fashion, Ariana said that Haruna should be in the right place and time, where the gift Death Flame left for Invisible Eagle. (Time and place were true, but the same couldn't be said to Java.) Haruna didn't really know what it was (maybe some underworld secret documents, maybe a hefty sum of money), and even though she didn't believe in Ariana the same way she did before she betrayed her trust, she'd still give her life for that woman, so she'd take a leap of faith and would take a look at what that mysterious gift might be.
Since she said "transfer" and that's "not a cheap gift", Haruna thought it could be some kind of heirloom or even the wealth she amounted as a spy. She arched her eyebrows, slightly interested, not in receiving her beloved's goods in such informal fashion, but to see if Ariana would manage to surprise her like she often did. Ariana smiled back. "Now get a pen and paper, I have a bunch of bad names to give to you."
In the end, every name Ariana had to give Haruna were from mafia bosses, yakuza leaders, other betraying spies and some other criminals. A good part of them were being hunted already, so her hottest news was the new tech being developed by the anonymous anti-government organization Haruna and Ariana infiltrated in -- an information agent Laguna kept to herself until she found the right moment to talk about it.
Haruna gave the information back to her colleagues and assigned the mission of localizing it to one of them, as she kept the "gift" mission for herself. Haruna thought her girlfriend's statement was nothing too big, but the police found a lot of the Death Flame's words useful, so she was asked to leave right after. Haruna did her way back alongside Ericsson, who was pretty optimistic with the news that Ms. Ariana's sentence would be shortened. Haruna was anxious, wanting to go back to her home's silence, in her core hoping that Dr. Ericsson was right and Ariana did actually have a plan.
Change of plans for this Christmas, Haruna thought, anxious to learn what her lover had in store for her. Her coded gift, actually, should be already at their meeting spot. It might be a Christmas gift as well as a New Year gift. Invisible Eagle couldn't wait, never before being so excited to work in the middle of her break.
IV
Haruna managed to get in less than 24h in their meeting spot, but not how she planned. Instead of flying executive or on a private plane, she was compelled to take economy class. She had a surprise once she arrived at Hong Kong International Airport when her taxi driver left the car and a tall, slender woman in black clothes took his place. From the fashionable rips in her jeans jacket sleeves, she could see thin white scars. Haruna soon noticed they had patterns and they looked a lot like tattoos covered in makeup. That had her really scared. She could never have hoped to find her there, prancing around in a city that big like there was nothing wrong.
"What are you doing here? How are you here?" Haruna was careful enough to not say anything that could give away her lover's identity.
"I could have stayed more twenty or so years in that hellhole, but I preferred to come and see you already." She turned to Haruna, her curls only able to be hidden in her jacket's hood because she tied them in boxer braids. Haruna wondered if she had her hair done before or after escaping. She had no idea Ariana was that vain, but her lover kept going with a smile: "Merry Christmas, my beautiful girl. You don't need to go after that gift anymore. I'm the gift I left for you, but I couldn't wait until you got there to see you again."
Haruna's eyes widened, as that idea didn't even cross her head (because if Ariana was supposed to be her gift, she had to be free before). And now she is, even if illegally! What would happen now? Would they have to hide? Yeah, that had to be it, Haruna wouldn't have the guts to abandon her.
"How did you escape? And how did you catch me so fast?"
"I have my tricks, sweetie. I'll tell them to you later, somewhere emptier. A big city like Hong Kong doesn't seem like the best place to share secrets, right?"
After saying those mysterious words so cheekily, Death Flame turned the car on and drove fast until the nearest port. Haruna crossed her arms, thinking how annoying and seductive her lover could be.
V
Ariana's escape was soon noticed, so a good lie had soon to be crafted to justify Haruna's absence, since they all thought she would want to take part in Death Flame's recapture. Ariana took the freedom to use Haruna's phone to send a message to everyone from the agency in her contact list, before breaking the chip and turning it off. It said:
"Notice to all my former bosses and former coworkers. Me, Alba Ariana, aka Death Flame, kidnapped your precious Invisible Eagle. Catch us if you can. I hid her better than a grain of sand in the middle of the desert. I'll give her back in a fortnight. I'd swear on my pinkie, if it had a name."
She was a bit childish in her threats (it was her charm and made Haruna laugh easily), but she was relieved with her fake kidnapping notice. While everyone was thinking she was held captive somewhere gruesome, she would actually be somewhere beautiful beside her "captor" When Ariana said they had they'd have all that time, Haruna accepted her plan immediately.
With some help from Ishaan, a good, rich friend of Ariana that happened to be good with tracking and communication devices, the lovers disappeared from their agency sight. They travelled by submarine from China to Fakarava in French Polynesia, far from everywhere and everyone. It was a long voyage, but they weren't lacking in food or fun during it. Ariana ended up never telling about how she escaped prison and got into Hong Kong so discreetly, but Haruna did not press her about it.
Haruna lent her lover one of her disposable phones for her to use if everything else failed and Ishaan got them the rest, from first aid kits, fake passports and everything they need to disguise themselves. This time, they were two college friends there researching the place's geography.
They spent the very much awaited December 25th inside the submarine and the rest of it in a boat travelling the tropical islands -- an atypical Christmas for a Japanese woman that always lived in the city like Haruna, who was so used to seeing snow, skyscrapers and classic Christmas decorations every end of year. With the company of Death Flame, Invisible Eagle could not have asked for a better present. It would have been even better if Ishaan hadn't invited himself in, though.
VI
"I'll leave you here, girls," Ishaan said as if he was talking to a big crowd. Haruna gave the Indian man an unamused but still fond glare. "I'll just eat something and go back to Faaite, right there in the corner. I'll see you in four days. I'll send an e-mail to the one I gave you, my dear spies." Haruna wanted to laugh a little at his antics, but she pressed her lips tight.
A few minutes later, Ishaan left. Nothing brought Haruna more relief on that secret trip than being alone with her lover of fireworks and wildfires. Which reminded her of something...
"We won't be able to see the fireworks, Ari," she commented, sorry for her girlfriend.
"It's okay, Runa. I can see through YouTube or something. Someone's bound to post it." She smiled, throwing a sheet over the sand and their bags over it before lying down as well. "I'll say something really cliché." Ariana walked slowly to Haruna, like a fox hunting, and held her waist as she caressed her face. "For as much as I love fire, having you for these days is all I need."
Haruna would have said how much she missed her lover, but Ariana sealed their lips with a kiss that started soft but got more and more intense, until it was a tide of touches and heat exchanging. If Ariana herself had not ended that reencounter of skin thirsty for each other for so long, Haruna would have let her lover take her right there on that beach.
"My god!" She exclaimed suddenly, getting up fast as she thought back to her apartment. Of all the moments, why just now?
"Aren't you buddhist?" Ariana joked, a sly smile on her lips.
"That's just an interjection! But I forgot the TV on and logged onto my YouTube account. I can't turn it off now."
"Why don't you call Lasagna? She's smart enough to know what to do."
Haruna rolled her eyes at the stupid advice. Seeing she could not do anything, she decided to let it go. She wondered what her cat might do if she found the control, though. She was indeed smart, maybe she would notice and turn it off, who knows.
VIII
Haruna got really happy once she knew they'd be in a wood cabin far away from civilization -- especially from other tourists. It was very modest, but it had everything they needed. She was already planning to watch some movies with Ariana and then have a romantic night with her, but her lover had the idea to roast marshmallows and eat candy canes, so everything went off rails very quickly as soon as they started to feed the treats to each other to the sound of flames and waves.
Not even bothering to go to the room, more or less at the same time, they started to take off each other's clothes until they were only in their underwear. In the middle of their kisses and hungry caresses, Ariana opened Haruna's bra, holding her face between her small breasts. Haruna huffed and took off her girlfriend's bra without even looking. They made a mess with their feet on the sand, the tips of their hair getting dirty as they feverishly rolled over their picnic blanket, which was not big enough for them to make love. They didn't delay their desire to go to the bed, though -- it wasn't just desire that was staking their claim on their bodies, as missing and happiness also were present in their touches, bringing forth both good and bad sensations.
Free from all clothes, Ariana pulled Haruna and laid her on her back against the blanket, biting lightly from her thighs and going up her lover until she got to that place she adored, where she took longer, licking and kissing that hot part of her sweetheart. Haruna closed her lips tightly to suppress a shudder (what if someone heard them?), thinking about how that was hot but still limited her. She also wanted to kiss and hold her lover wholly. She wished to do it for such long time that she didn't find it fair to take all that pleasure lying down, no matter how much she loved to be touched so intimately by Ari's lips and tongue. In the end, to her agony and relief, Ariana left her and laid down on their blanket, letting Haruka do the same to her.
The lovers shared touches and pleasure, sometimes grabbing each other's butts, another strumming sensually each other's pussies. They made promises to each other, their voices sounding like murmurs and moans. They teased each other to the depths of their desires, which made their nest of love and fire go for a very long time, which helped Haruna's mind to wander. What if they were seen naked? They might be somewhere not with many people, but it was not impossible! With her lover's face between her legs again, Haruna said, between moans:
"What if someone sees us?"
"I wouldn't care about reputation if I were you, Runa," Ari brought her face up to see her in the eyes. "We're in a godforsaken land, there's almost nobody here, I checked it myself. But I respect your intuition, so I'll put out the fire so no predator can come here."
So, with her butt pointed at Haruna's direction, Ariana got rid of their light source.
"Now we only have the light of the stars to guide us. And the lights on our disposable phones, I guess."
Ariana came back to Haruna and didn't stop with her wave of desire until they got their peak of passion, shining like they were the embers burning in a mild fire. To Haruna, having her lover under the stars was better than any fortune.