I can't believe I never noticed my heart before.

Though at all other times there was no doubt one would find her blissfully asleep, in the event of an intrusion from someone or something that was not Kirisame Marisa looking to steal a book, Hong Meiling would quite conveniently awake and ready herself for battle. That, Sakuya supposed, was why she had been hired; nothing that really posed a threat ever made it past the gates of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, and it almost made the maid feel guilty that the graceful Chinese warrior only ever received scoldings as a reward for keeping them all safe and at ease.

Almost; but not quite.

Sakuya had her pride, which even over her love she valued above anything else. She ruled over the workers of the mansion with the unwavering law that slackers were not to be excused, and unfortunately (though the rest she so often took at her own liberty was actually very well deserved) Meiling acted like she was a slacker, and could not be excused. There were simply no exceptions to her rules; if there were exceptions, there would be chaos, and chaos could not be had.

But even despite her greatest efforts to be stoic, chaos did come, and it started with what (though the simplest and most petty of things) it always does.

Gossip.

"I don't suppose you've seen Meiling recently, have you?"

The tremor that shook her hand, and consequently the teacup she was lowering to the tabletop, did not go unnoticed by the librarian clad in purple. Thankfully, though, it did go unspoken of, as said librarian had never been the nosy or the playful sort.

"No, Patchouli-sama," rang Sakuya's collected answer, "I have not."

The other girl nodded both in thanks for the tea and understanding of her answer. She raised the cup to her lips as she spoke, turning away from Sakuya and back to the object of her most recent study; a long, long book on metaphysics in magic.

"There's been talk, amongst the maids. Silly girlish nonsense, of course," she sighed, "all of them swooning at Meiling's bravery. But I'll admit, it vexes me."

Sakuya stood patiently in wait of Patchouli's continuation, but upon receiving none, inquired politely after more understanding of the subject.

"What do they speak of that vexes you, Patchouli-sama?"

"There was a raid, in the middle of the night, they said," the magician explained in so monotonous a manner her maid almost wondered whether or not she really was vexed, "and though Meiling fended the trespassers off without waking the other guards, one is never quite prepared for such an attack, half-asleep and in the dark. As to whether she broke a bone or lost an internal organ I'm afraid I can't say, but in short, she was injured very badly."

Neither the hoarseness of Sakuya's voice nor the paleness of her skin at these words shook Patchouli.

"Has Yagokoro-san been sent for?" The maid sounded almost desperate, despite herself.

"No," was Patchouli's automated response. She turned the page, scribbling here and there, sipping her tea every so often, and continued, "You know how Meiling is. Likes to put on a smile, say she's fine, show no one anything. It's almost as unhealthy as your attitude, actually."

And before she could take offence, Patchouli waved her away.

She hadn't bought any of it. Sakuya hadn't expected her to at all, frankly, but she had hoped; it would have been so much easier. Unfortunately, Meiling's idea of "easy" involved what, to the elegant maid, was in fact quite the opposite – being straightforward – and now there they were, sitting across one another, still and silent like pieces on a chess board waiting to be moved. And indeed, Meiling was giving Sakuya that horrible, knowing, stubborn glance to accompany the feeling, the one that reminded the latter all too much of the other woman's actual age, actual experience, and wisdom; checkmate.

But Sakuya refused to admit defeat. She got to her feet, looking equally stern, and strode over to make the only move she had left to make.

"Take off the shirt."

Meiling's expression changed so frequently within the next few seconds alone Sakuya had to fight against herself quite valiantly to keep from laughing. First, the red-haired youkai smirked – pervert – then, her mouth drooped open in shell-shock, and then she was so flustered she almost fell off her chair, looking the other girl in the eye the whole while. Still, even with the unwavering seriousness in Sakuya's brow, she felt the need to double check what had just occurred had actually occurred at all.

"Pardon me, Sakuya-san. What?"

"Meiling," the younger girl began suddenly, as though the older one had never spoken, "why do you address me so formally?"

She was feeling bold. Sakuya decided to act upon this strange sensation, this unfamiliar feeling, and leaned towards her stunned victim, snaking her arms over to trap her in her own seat and bringing their noses mere inches apart. Her own, accelerated, and Meiling's tremulous breaths melted into one another, tangled, became one; and the warmth created was incredible.

"I remember," she whispered, "when I was a little girl, you would just call me Sakuya."

Poor Meiling could not reply, nor tear her eyes away from Sakuya's own, icy blue. Thankfully, however, the latter came to her rescue, and pulled away

"Now take off your shirt."

only to send her heart running so fast it might have popped out of her chest and scurried away across the floor that very second.

"That isn't fair, Sakuya-san," she tried to reason, "at least tell me why, first!"

Sakuya only sighed, her hands falling from their previous position against her hips as she knelt beside Meiling in response. Blindly, she began jabbing around the other woman's left thigh, ignoring her cries of protest, and stopping only when they turned into cries of agony. Brisk in all of her movements, she pulled Meiling's leg over, brushed the skirt aside, and rushed over to fetch a bowl of water, a clean rag, and a roll of bandages.

Meiling was stunned. "How did you know?"

The elegant maid sighed again, bringing the cloth to the very beginning of the wound. Very slowly, and ever so delicately, as though (and it was so, really) she were frightened of causing the slightest amount of pain, she began to clean; and though she felt the guard tense considerably, Meiling didn't make a sound.

"You may have done very well in hiding everything else, but the limp was quite noticeable," she explained, allowing her tone to take on a very uncharacteristic soft, "and your leg is practically red."

And indeed, as Meiling shifted her gaze downwards to see why her wound was no longer stinging she saw profuse amounts of dried blood being scrubbed away.

"Now," Sakuya barked, after having thickly wrapped the thing in bandages, "I know that's not all, so hurry up and let me see your other injuries."

Meiling didn't really see that she had a choice, so she complied. There was silence as she stood, Sakuya looking respectfully away as she stripped down to her underwear, and seated herself again. First, the white-haired girl tended to the other's feet, then her hands; then she paused, unsure where to move from her kneeling position to reach Meiling's shoulder. The latter, unfortunately (or was it really fortunate?) read her predicament quickly, and took the liberty of turning the tables on Sakuya's earlier move by pulling her up and onto her lap, almost as though she were a child again.

"I wonder why you still do your hair the way I used to do it for you," Meiling mused aloud, twirling one of Sakuya's braids thoughtfully between her red-white fingers.

"I'm just used to it is all," Sakuya huffed. The other girl grinned stupidly and cleverly as she always did, and left the thought hanging. Yeah, just used to it is all.

When her work was done, the maid sighed, and was still. She vaguely felt the soft, warm glow of the setting sun and Meiling's arms hanging about her waist, and she didn't really know when it happened, but suddenly there were cheekbones under her thumbs and lips under hers. Someone tall and slight but strong mumbled something underneath her, and then she was parting someone's lips with her tongue, and then she blushed and pulled away.

As soon as they stopped kissing, Meiling pulled Sakuya into a hug, and as soon as they stopped hugging… well.

It turned out that love wasn't so bad for her pride, after all.

A/N: SO MUCH LOVE FOR THIS SHIPPING AUEGLAUALJALHDJH. That is all.