Cold, Heartless Love (Book 1, Vespu Cronicles [Lesbian Story])

Chapter 5- Going in For the Kill...

Johanna awoke twenty minutes before her alarm went off. She felt warm, and quickly realized that she was blushing. That was quite the dream, she thought to herself, recalling last night's steamy vision. She glanced down, and noticed that she had slept in the same clothes she had visited Embra in. She quickly ran to the dresser and chose a new outfit.

Johanna grabbed her Holo-Pod, and buzzed Embra. "Wanna meet in the park today sometime?" Getting no reply as she changed into her new outfit, she pocketed her Holo-Pad and went to the library.

Johanna was startled out from deep inside an in-depth study on the lethality of the shuko by an alert from her Holo-Pad. Embra had messaged her back; "Sure! Is around 2:00 good"? Johanna texted back her affirmation, and went back to her reading.

Around twenty minutes later, a young boy no more than 11, nervously approached Johanna. The boy asked in a fashion of faux boldness, "Um, Ma'am? I was wondering if maybe you could help me with combat?"

Johanna nodded, and put her book away. "Sure, what do you need help with?"

"Well, um... I'm trying to learn this new counter-grab, but I can't seem to get the hang of it."

"Okay, show me. By the way, what's your name?"

"I'm Johnny," he told her shakily. "So anyway..." He dropped into a fighting stance. "It's the thing where when someone punches at you, you sidestep away, grab their wrist, and pull them down. But I can't seem to get the pulling down part correct."

"Okay, show me," said Johanna. "I'll punch at you slowly, and then you do the thing." Johanna lightly moved her fist towards the boy. He did the maneuver, but twisted her wrist incorrectly, which gave him no leverage on her.

She explained what he was doing wrong, and demonstrated on him, taking care to cause no pain. He tried it again, and if Johanna were smaller or he were larger, it would have worked exactly how it should've. "Well, there you have it. Have fun with the move!"

The kid ran off, grinning. Johanna caught herself smiling at his young innocence. She immediately wiped it off of her visage. lavvit, she thought. Embra's starting to soften me up! She slapped herself on the cheek as chastisement, and stood. She put the report she was reading back on the shelf, and strolled to the gym.

Upon reaching it, she kicked the double doors open. She strode into the center of the room, next to the sparring mats. Feeling that she needed to fight someone to regain her composure and re-eliminate her emotions, she yelled to the others in the room: "Who wants to fight me?"

A murmur ran through the room. After a few moments of waiting, a teen girl stepped up towards Johanna. "I will."

Johanna nodded once. "Weapons or no weapons?"
"Hand to hand."
Johanna nodded once more, and climbed onto the sparring field.

"Tell me, girl, how old are you?"
"17."
"Name?"
"Ellana."
"Ah, one year below me. Let's see how well you hold up against me."
"Yes, let's, Johanna. But first, tell me, why are you in plainclothes?"
"I'm taking a few vacation days."
"Ah. Now, I trust you won't kill me?"
"Nah. You might have to go to medbay for a while, though," Johanna said, half-jokingly.

They both dropped into fighting stances. Johanna battered the girl with a flurry of relentless strikes, but her opponent blocked every single one. Ellana threw a feint at Johanna, then swept at her legs. Johanna jumped nimbly, and kicked her partner square in the face while in the air.

Upon landing, Ellana was reeling. Johanna sent a swift punch into her gut, grabbed her head, yanked it back, and kneed her in the face. The girl fell over, face bloodied. Johanna placed her foot on the defeated girl's chest in a display of victory.

However, the girl was not out for the count yet. She surprised Johanna by grabbing her foot. A collective gasp went through the audience. Before Johanna could react, Ellana sent her off balance, and to the ground in a hard fall. Ellana put one foot on each of Johanna's wrists. She crouched down, and brought her fist down onto Johanna's face three times.

The third contact came with a resounding crack, as Johanna's nose slightly broke. Johanna was quite impressed with this girl's skill, but she knew the fight was still her own. She tore her left arm out from under Ellana's foot, rolled over, and got back on her feet, just in time to catch Ellana's fist. She grabbed the hand, and squeezed. With forceful determination, she increased her grip strength, until her opponent's hand cracked, fractured, and finally shattered beneath her hold.

Johanna then grabbed the girl's shoulders, sent a knee between her legs, and choked her to unconsciousness. Johanna used her remaining adrenaline to force her nose back into place with relatively no pain, and exited the ring.

Johanna anxiously did nothing until it was time for her to meet Embra at the park. She ran to to her hover-bike, and straddled it. She flew haphazardly to the park, barely obeying traffic laws.

Once she got there, she dismounted her bike, locked it, and searched from Embra. After around five anxious minutes, Johanna spotted her. She was wearing ratty navy blue hoodie, hood up, dark legging, and multi-strapped boots. Johanna called out to her, and she turned around. They walked towards each other, and sat on a bench.

Johanna looked at Embra. "You look morose. What's wrong?"
"What do you think? It takes more than four days for someone to completely recover from losing their parent. I'm starting to cope, but I'm still pretty somber." Explained Embra.

Johanna's world slowed down as a million thoughts flew through her mind. She had quite a few ideas on what she could do here. She had a bold idea that was stuck firmly in the front of her mind, but the drawbacks if it failed were many.

She could easily go for a simpler, meeker path, but it would take longer. She debated with herself. While the entire debate took less than a second, it was filled with more points, counter-points, arguments, and parries than your average court session.

Cark it, thought Johanna. I'm gonna go for it. If it fails, well, it wasn't gonna work in the first place, and I can just go back to my work. If it succeeds, that cuts out around a week or two of the whole process.

Johanna placed two fingers under Embra's chin. She lifted the girl's head up, and stared sympathetically into her sad, beautiful eyes. Without speaking a word, Johanna tilted her head the slightest amount, leaned forward, and kissed Embra.

***

Embra's eyes widened as large as platters, but she didn't protest. The kiss lasted for about three seconds. When they both broke away, Embra was blushing sheepishly, but Johanna's face was a facade of calmness. Embra stood up quickly, shoved her hands into the front pocket of her hoodie, turned away, and hastily said "I have to go," before running away.

Johanna turned to face the park. She rested her head against the bench, shut her eyes, and thought about what just happened.