The Lotus Peak

"Yes." To an outsider, the reply would have seemed simple to the point of brusqueness, but Eka had a feeling that these two women had become quite close in their time on the mountain. Feruza would be able to tell that the long sideways look and the gentle smile that Eka meant nothing but good.

And with that, Eka took off down the mountain once more. It was far warmer here than it was up and the top, meaning that Eka did not need her hat anymore. She plucked it off and let her long dark hair unfurled and rested on her shoulders.

The rest of the way down was a breeze, and from that point it was only a scant mile to the train station that would take them home. But Eka was in no great rush to leave the mountain. She looked up the Lotus Peak one last time, to get a good mental picture of it.

"You may never climb this mountain again, yes?"

Now that was a question that was rather hard-hitting. Would Feruza ever come here again? Well... if she could, absolutely. Assuming her career at AFW lasted long enough for her to settle down in Japan, she would definitely climb this mountain again. It wasn't like it would ever get old. But that all relied on an assumption. It was a hard question, one that Feruza spent some time contemplating before she gave her answer.

"Maybe. Maybe... but I hope very badly that I can come back." she said with a hopeful smile on her face. "I hope to come back with you, too. Climbing with you was one of my favorite things that I have done since I joined AFW— maybe one of my favorite things ever." Feruza said frankly. "So I may never... but I very much hope to."

"You are right. I hope to climb this mountain again too. But there is so much to do. To be perfectly honest, I climbed the mountain to lift my spirits. Next time I go up to the top, I want to be more worthy of such a mountain. And I want to do it with you, from the bottom to the top, yes? But there is so much to do in the meantime." As Eka spoke, her voice went from nervous, to proud, and then to faltering, all the while bouncing along with her accent. "And I am really happy that you liked it so much." Eka reached over and grabbed Feruza's hand with two hands, and squeezed a bit. There was power in her hand, sure, but more importantly there was warmth and friendship that permeated even the glove.

"It would be very nice to stay on the mountain, yes? But trains have times here, specific ones, not like back in Georgia." She smiled. "And they stick to it. So we should get moving, yes? We would not want to miss the train."

And with that, Eka turned, her long black hair whipping around, and began descending the mountain even further. They had places to be, after all.

"Thank you, Eka. I am the same way, you know? And maybe next time, I will not have to carry you, eh?" she joked, before Eka grabbed her hand. Feruza did a 180 to take both of the Georgian's hands into hers, and then make prolonged eye contact with the beautiful girl. There was no point denying it anymore. Feruza was in love— but that didn't mean Eka was going to get to know about it. Not yet, anyways.


After a couple of seconds of standing like that, Eka made the very good point that they would miss their train if they kept dawdling. Yes, yes, of course. They couldn't spend forever on the mountain, no matter how much Feruza wanted them to. Once more, her companion set off, with Feruza in stride. "Here is hoping we are on the same train~!" she sang.

Eka was getting a little bit worried now. Not about Feruza of course, but about what was ahead of them. Behind her was a girl that she could not deny that she had a connection with. When she squinted, she could see Feruza in the future. The Georgian girl was not sure what they would be doing with each other, but she was sure that Feruza would be their. Besides, the tag division seemed to be terribly fun. Maybe they could be a team.

No, what she was worried about was before them, and Eka marched quickly towards the train station. When she arrived, she was out of breath, but she still comported herself enough to bang out the Japanese necessary to get pointed in the right direction. Upon receiving her boarding pass, she looked over at her friend. "The Tokyo Express, platform 3, yes?"

Feruza, coincidentally, was thinking the same way. They were both wrestlers, this was known. So what if they became a tag team? That would be something... it was silly, but the main thing plaguing about becoming a tag team with Eka was the name. What would they call it? Some kind of pun, maybe? Ah, that was a topic for later. Now it was time for the train ride, and, hopefully, more time with Eka. She wanted to bond even more.

Feruza was at the same desk, right beside her friend. She took a little longer, due to her Japanese being quite rusty, but eventually rendezvoused with Eka. Tokyo Express, platform 3... bingo! "Uhh, I am on... I am on the same! Yay!" she cheered, hugging her Georgian friend. Well, that was the perfect way to end a more or less perfect trip.

Eka smiled and said nothing. The moment they were sharing between them did not require words, she did not think. Certain bonds and certain situations existed beyond the medium of words, as woefully inept as language was sometimes. No, the Georgian girl could say more with a grin that belied her warm desires for the woman in front of her and her home, while showing how tired she was. Eka had hiked up and down the mountain, and crested the peak twice. She had a right to be weary.

"Come, let us go so we do not have to run. It would be very difficult to run now, yes?" Eka turned and stepped into the train station. It was quiet and ornate. A few pilgrims milled about, coming or going she did not know. The Georgian girl schlepped over to the proper platform. She thought this was a lot nicer than the Tokyo metro, which she had to take sometimes. That experience was reminiscent of a sardine can, whereas here she felt she had the run of the floor.

Her blue eyes found the electronic board that read out the comings and goings of the trains. Their train would arrive imminently. "Only a few minutes now. We almost missed it."

Feruza was tired, too, but when Eka gave her that weary grin, she could only imagine what she had Eka was feeling like. She had scaled a mountain twice in two days, something that few people were capable of. She released Eka from the hug, however, when she heard that they could be late. "Oh fuck— darn." she said, blushing and censoring herself. Even if it was in Russian, she still felt embarrassed to swear in public.

The pair of women walked to their platform, only to have their train arrive at about the same time that they did. "Wow, was close indeed." the Uzbek remarked, standing behind Eka in the short line that had formed to board. "Just for the record; I will not blame you for napping." Feruza said, chuckling.

In truth, Feruza would really rather hope that Eka didn't sleep. She wanted to talk with her for the whole train ride, and then some. No, not some, and then a lot. She was quite infatuated with the woman before her. Not only was she beautiful and kind, she was knowledgeable and tough, almost like her first lover since joining AFW. She still missed Femie sometimes...

But where Femie was lustrous and naughty (neither of those were bad things), Eka was an innocent virgin, which was its whole separate brand of fun. Not that she was planning on banging Eka— not yet— just fantasizing about it.

Napping. That was quite the thought. Her mind was in the stratosphere as she stood in front of Feruza, preparing to board the train. She had more than earned it, in her dual ascent of the mountain. She waved her ticket at the ticket-inspection guy, who nodded and let her on the train. The Georgian girl then checked behind her, to ensure that her new friend was coming along with her.

Feeling satisfied, she turned to find her seat. Apparently, few others in the train expected a considerable amount of strength from the girl, as they stood wide eyed after Eka carelessly threw her backpack up into the overhead compartment, and then immediately sat down in the window seat, with the spot to the right of her completely open.

"Napping," she yawned, "is such a wonderful idea, yes? I had not even thought of it." Her blue eyes fluttered for a bit. Sleep was rapidly approaching, and she could do very little about it. The raven-haired girl began dozing off, with her head slumping to the right...

Feruza gave her ticket to the ticket dude, who punched it and wished her a happy trip. She thanked him, and smiled sweetly for a brief second before quickening her pace to catch up with Eka. She smiled over at her when the Georgian checked if she was coming, telling her what she needed to know. It wasn't just Eka who was getting weird looks when they put their stuff away, either, because Feruza, the slightly shorter one of the two, tossed her bag into the overhead easily.

She looked down to find that Eka had taken the window seat. Damn. Well, she wasn't just going to ask her to move over— no, her companion deserved the superior seat. So Feruza sat down and made herself comfortable. The Uzbek sighed contentedly and let her head rest against the, uh, headrest. She was enjoying herself, her eyes closed lightly, when Eka's head found its pillow on her shoulder.

She blushed a little, but then smiled again. "Yes, napping. I like the pillow you found, Eka." she teased, looking over at her and leaning her head against Eka's. "Maybe we will share a dream if our heads touch." she suggested, closing her eyes slowly, her breathing slowing down. That would be something... something indeed...