Reyes house, Late Night, Christmas Eve, El Paso Texas

[heromaniac]

The nightmare started out as the usual kind: Momoko walking down the streets of the city, any city, every city... except everyone is gone and all over the city streets are scrawls in paint, blood, or ash, "Where are you Blossom?" "Why did you leave?" "Save us" "We are dying" and more. She sees tattered clothes on lines, drapes fluttering through

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[weldedtomyspine]

"It's not," a soft voice said from the doorway. Jaime was leaning against the doorjamb. Who knew how long he'd been standing there?

[heromaniac]

"She'd better not ring your bell." Momoko snuggled closer. "I'm teasing you know. I do get jealous, but I know you're mine."

She frowned slightly. "Would you mind if I couldn't be a hero anymore?"

[weldedtomyspine]

"Definitely yours," Jaime agreed with a soft kiss on top of her head.

Then he frowned at her question. "What do you mean? You do know that you're a hero even if you're not Blossom. And I don't just mean 'to me'."

[heromaniac]

"I meant Blossom, silly. If my costume doesn't settle down, I can't count on it."

[weldedtomyspine]

"Yeah," Jaime said softly. "I know."

He hugged her close, taking a moment to enjoy the feeling of Momoko half perched in his lap. "I wasn't kidding when I said you'd be a hero anyway," he said. "As long as you're happy, then I don't mind."

After a moment he spoke again. "Would you be? Happy, I mean?"

[heromaniac]

Jaime didn't mind. Whew. Well that was a relief.

Momoko thought about it a moment. "I think... it's more like I would be unhappy about that. I can still be happy, I am now, but that part of me is missing. I feel a little lost."

[weldedtomyspine]

"You'll find yourself." Jaime smiled, sounding sure of himself. "Whether that means we figure out your costume, or you find something else..." He kissed the top of her head again. "We'll figure it out together."

[heromaniac]

That was reassuring, but... "I don't want to feel like I did when I lived in Tokyo City."

[weldedtomyspine]

"You mean before you moved here? When you felt trapped after the academy?"

[heromaniac]

She nodded. "I know that was because I had to be a police officer instead, but..." She didn't ever want to feel like that again.

[weldedtomyspine]

Jaime nodded, taking a moment to just sit silently and hug her. "We'll make sure you don't," he promised softly.

[heromaniac]

Momoko giggled softly... though it sounded sadder than her giggles usually did. "And how can we do that? We don't even know how my costume works. What if it never settles down?"

[weldedtomyspine]

"Then we'll figure out something else for you to do," Jaime answered. "I'm not saying that'll be easy, but that doesn't make it impossible." He kissed her softly on the cheek. "You don't have to be Blossom to be a hero. I was serious when I said that."

[heromaniac]

"That's not it," she shook her head. "It's that I need to be Blossom. She's not a mask and costume, she's me."

Momoko curled into him more. "But since I can't trust the costume, it's not safe to be that me. It's like when I'm injured... except I don't know if this will ever heal."

[weldedtomyspine]

"Hey, heroes sometimes change roles, you know. I mean, Dinah's talked about her Barbara, right?"

[heromaniac]

"Some," Momoko thought a moment. "She used to be a hero and got injured, right? I think I've seen her old costume; totally not cute."