A.N.: Last chapter up, and shortest one ever, I'm sorry. I was going to post it yesterday, but I suddenly faced the dreaded writer's block. Since half of it was done, I thought I should just try to finish it and post it already. Thank you, all the readers, and specially, reviewers; your support was indispensable! I'll be back soon with a new multi-chaptered fic, I hope you enjoy that one as well.

Chapter 8 - Thinking about it

It must feel incredibly ironic to think you are executing a well thought out plan, that you are slowly progressing towards your objective, only to discover you've been caught in the middle of someone else's plans - and much more braver and efficient plans at that. It would feel specially ironic if you were used to regard yourself as the top cat, so to speak. There were two main reasons why those ironies escaped Yoruichi in that moment, though. The first one was that, despite the fact that she had indeed gone to the second division that day with the intention of asking Soifon out to a training session, it hadn't occurred to her at first to invite her for dinner. The thought only crossed her mind when she noticed the captain's strange behaviour and suspicious attempts to change the subject when asked about it. It didn't sit well with her that Soifon might be keeping secrets from her, and even worse, of the personal kind, as it seemed. And that was how the invitation was out of her mouth before she had exactly thought it over. She supposed it didn't matter if she had done that on impulse, for even if it wasn't planned, it was still the perfect oportunity to get to know Soifon better, and to uncover her secrets, if there were any.

The second reason why Yoruichi didn't realise just then how her plans at the same time worked and backfired in the best possible way was because she had been so worried about concealing her own feelings, that she would never have expected her quiet and reserved companion to suddenly decide to open up so completely to her. As unlikely as it would seem to any person close enough to the young captain, Yoruichi had never seen it coming. No, the irony of it all was completely lost to her; if anything, she was feeling like someone who wasn't sure how exactly fate had brought her to her current situation. But that didn't matter; in reality, she was experiencing a feeling she wasn't sure she had ever had before: she felt like she had just won the lottery on her birthday, which also happened to be christmas as well. And she was so ecstatic that she could only smile widely and say whatever went through her head first.

"You realise there are probably half a dozen servants hearing us behind the door, don't you?"

"Eehh?!" - the girl jumped back and stood up so fast, Yoruichi barely had time to flash step and hold her in a strong embrace, guiding her head to the crook of her own neck.

"Shh...", Yoruichi kept whispering in her ear, trying to calm down the struggling girl and to make her stop her string of apologies. "You know, the only thing that means is that we will have to be a little more discreet from now on. I suppose that's not a problem for you."

That, combined to the hand gently caressing her hair, managed to quiet the young woman down, while the princess still tried to wrap her mind around the fact that the captain had just suggested officially courting her. On her bended knee.

"Always so proper, my serious, adorable little bee. I think I have a more fitting title for you now... what do you think of it, my prince?"

"What?" asked the captain softly, as her flushed face turned up to look at the mischievous golden eyes staring down at her.

"Since I'm a princess, you can't be anything else but my prince", she said, watching with amusement as Soifon's face got an even deeper shade of red. She knew it; the girl actually had a thing for formal titles. Not two seconds later, her expression turned completely serious. "I love you, Soifon."

And before Soifon could overthink the situation as she had always been prone to do, Yoruichi gently kissed her on the lips. The surge of feelings she experienced in that moment proved beyond any doubt that indeed, she loved her prince.

"Hm... Yoruichi?" Soifon asked quietly when they finally managed to break down that kiss.

"Yes?"

"Do you think we really should...", she trailed off, apparently embarrassed.

"What, be doing this?", Yoruichi asked, kissing her again for a long time. "It certainly feels like we should" - she completed, afraid Soifon was going to try to leave her not even five minutes after getting her.

"That I can agree with", Soifon replied, to her surprise, kissing her even more deeply after her words. One more thing to add to that night's list of Soifon's secrets: either she was a natural at kissing, or she had been having some serious training. But she didn't particularly care about it in that moment, she could enjoy it now and worry about it later, she decided.

"What were you saying, again?"

"Oh. Just that I don't know... what we are supposed to do now. We can't just tell people about this, can we? Not that it's any of their problem, but still, it seems a little... to keep it a secret, I mean..."

"You really can't stop thinking for one second. But maybe I should just try harder."

"I'm just worried about the gossip this will generate."

"Did you think I was joking when I said we were being spyied on? If I said we don't have a choice on that matter would you stop worrying and kiss me some more?"

After those words, it seemed Soifon finally resolved to worry about those things some other time. Yoruichi knew were she was coming from, but she knew she had to enjoy that moment before the world intruded on them. She was confident that together they could overcome any difficulty thrown at them. After all, to her prince, to kill was a matter of only two steps. To love couldn't be that much harder.