A Moment of Bliss

  The sun had just set when Rei awoke for her third nap. She’d spent the day lazing around the cottage, trying to entertain herself.

  She’d tried offering to help Elizabeth with her chores but was told that she was a guest and guests weren’t to do chores.

  And so, with nothing for her to do, she slept. When she was younger her parents had said she slept more than she lived.

  She’d often found herself thinking of her parents while she slept. She’d never dared dream of them for she feared even in her dreams, they would abandon her.

  It was nearly nightfall now and with Maxwell still gone, she’d need to go out to search for him.

  Elizabeth was still sitting at the kitchen table, she’d made them lunch earlier and had sat down to continue carving the piece of wood she’d started the other night.

  “What are you carving?”

  Elizabeth was so focused she hadn’t looked up until Rei had placed a hand on her shoulder.

  “Oh Rei, you’re awake. Did you need something?”

  “I was just asking, what you were carving out of that wood?”

  Elizabeth blushed. “Oh this? It’s nothing, just a little hobby of mine.”

  Rei looked at the piece of wood. If she looked at it close enough, its shape seemed familiar.

  “Is that supposed to be me? In my true form?”

  Elizabeth nearly dropped the piece of wood. Her face had turned red.

  “Y-yes, but it wasn’t for anything creepy or anything. I just think you look so cute in that form, not that I don’t think you look cute in this form. It’s just a different kind of cute.”

  Rei’s heart was beating so fast she thought that Elizabeth might hear it. She’d always been fond of girls since she was a child but never had she felt this way about anyone.

  “Do you mind, if it’s not too much to ask that is, would you mind modeling for me. I just can’t seem to get the body right.”

  Rei change into her yokai form and leapt onto the kitchen table. “This good?”

  “Oh yes, thank you.”

  She’d never felt so embarrassed. Her heart was still beating just as fast, maybe even faster now that Elizabeth’s full attention was on her.

  Sever times, she’d felt the urge to run and hide under the bed. Fear wasn’t a foreign feeling, and yet this felt somehow different.

  She didn’t have time to be doing this, Maxwell had told her to search for him if he didn’t return by nightfall. And yet, the thought of leaving was the furthest thing from her mind.

  Elizabeth continued carving the piece of wood, her brilliant emerald eyes focused only on Rei.

  Time felt as though it was passing slower, though Rei was savoring every second of it. She’d hope this moment would never end and dreaded when it would.

  “Rei, would you mind changing back for me, please?”

  And there it was, the end of her precious moment.

  Rei changed back into her human form while still sitting on the table.

  “My bad, I should have gotten down before I…”

  Before she could finish, Elizabeth leaned in and kissed her.

  It hadn’t been her first kiss, it hadn’t even been her second. But it was her best kiss.

  “I’m so sorry Rei, I don’t know what came over me. I shouldn’t have…”

  “Did you like it?”

  Elizabeth’s face turned bright red. She was rendered speechless, all she could manage was a nod.

  That nod was all Rei needed.

  She leaned in and kissed Elizabeth. The two embraced one another on top of the kitchen table.

  Elizabeth led them to her bed where Rei undressed Elizabeth who was too shy to undress herself.

  Rei, who had always been comfortable being in the nude, had found herself feeing embarrassed.

  Compared to Elizabeth, she felt like she was lacking in some areas. Elizabeth must have noticed, because she carefully began undressing her.

  When both women’s skin was bare, they continued their embrace.

  They both had become speechless, letting their bodies speak in ways that words could not.

  They’d lost all concept of time, all that was or what ever would be was irrelevant to what was happening now.

  After the two were finished, the sun had already risen. Rei, forever the late sleeper, was still lying in Elizabeth’s bed fast asleep.

  Elizabeth on the other hand, had woken up early and was shocked to find that last nights evens had not happened in a dream but in reality.

  She had never felt lust like she had that night. It was an amazing yet equally terrifying feeling, one she’d hope would never leave her.

  Rei awoke to find herself alone in Elizabeth’s bed. The previous night was replaying in her mind.

  Her face turned red just thinking about it, but then another thought crept its way into her thoughts.

  Had she been too bold? Had Elizabeth felt the same or was this just a one time thing for her?

  She quickly hopped out of bed and ran to the kitchen, forgetting the fact that she was still in the nude.

  Elizabeth was no where to be seen. Rei search the cottage but there was no sign of her. 

  She noticed that the back door had been opened. Still naked, she ran out the back door calling Elizabeth’s name.

  Elizabeth was sitting a few feet away on a wooden bench with a cup of tea. She was startled to see Rei bursting out of the cottage wearing nothing but her birthday suit.

  “Good morning, Rei. Do you mind putting some clothes on? You’d scare the neighbors if I had any.”

  No longer embarrassed like the previous night, Rei casually waved before going back inside to get dressed.

  When she returned, Elizabeth was still sitting on the wooden bench.

  “Good morning, Elizabeth. I’m sorry about that, I tend to sleep in the nude.”

  “Oh, I’m aware.”

  Rei blushed. “Of course you are.”

  “No need to feel embarrassed, it’s nothing I haven’t already seen.”

  Her reassurance only made Rei blush even harder. “About that…”

  “Yes?”

  “I was just wondering if you…I mean…was that?”

  “Relax Rei, what is it about last night that you wanted to know about?”

  “Everything for starters, but I’ll settle for what it meant to you?”

  “What it meant to me?”

  “I mean, was it just a spur of the moment or do you actually feel something towards me?”

  Elizabeth was silent for a moment. For a brief moment the world stood still as if waiting for her reply.

  “I don’t know if I even have the words to describe it, I’ve never felt this way about anyone before.”

  Rei felt like her chest was going to explode. She’d been holding her breath, hoping to hear those exact words.

  “I feel the same way, Elizabeth.”

  They both looked into each other’s eyes, for if tomorrow would never arrive and if the sun would never again set, they could die happily knowing they’d found each other.

  It was a knock on the front door that pulled them from their thoughts. It was a knock, that would soon remind them of the evil this world was capable of.