1:43 AM found Chaeyoung and Mina lying in bed together, having put the seal on their new relationship. Chaeyoung’s head was nestled on Mina’s chest, tracing all of the scars she could reach and studying each one. She wanted to know them all; they were a part of Mina and she wanted to know all of her. Mina was staring into space, hand on her hip as she did her best to process this new development in her life. She could feel Chaeyoung’s warm hand outlining her healed-over wounds and it relaxed her in a way she never thought possible.

"You have quite a number of scars, eh?" Chaeyoung whispered, almost absentmindedly.

"More than I care to count," Mina replied, just as lost in her own mind.

"Any of them more painful than the others?"

That was a question she never considered before. "Hmm…only the older ones." She paused. "But the ones no one can see hurt the most."

Chaeyoung traced the one Mina received the night she faced Sana and the Myohizaki when they stormed the compound together with Nayeon under the order of her superiors.

"How does someone live through this… and stay sane?"

Mina was quiet for a long time as Chaeyoung’s question was another she hadn't considered.

"Staying sane was harder to manage."

"What kept you going through all of that?"

She had to take time to think again; her lover was asking amazingly hard questions.

"Before… I thought it was just the revenge that I wanted against Sana. To end her and the Clan. But… as time goes by I realized… it was that I wanted to find a life, a life worth living… I had to escape the horrors of what I was before. I had to be free of that."

"Is that why everything Momo said bothered you?"

Mina didn't want to admit to that vulnerability. But, for Chaeyoung, she could.

"Yes."

Chaeyoung was silent for a while. Mina was worried that she finally said that one thing that would make the other girl see her as weak.

"I understand that," Chaeyoung declared.

Mina looked at her, curiously.

Chaeyoung traced her finger along Mina’s abs. "Your whole life… it was all about death, pain, suffering. That was the life you were raised in. To end lives. To kill. The Clan tried to take your humanity away. Turn you into a weapon to kill when ordered to and have no soul, no heart of your own." She traced her hand up to Mina’s heart. "But you… you didn't stay that way. You didn't become what the Clan wanted. And even after what Sana did… you didn't stay a weapon, a hunter. A killing machine." She looked her in the eyes. "Just us… here… proves that. You are so much more than what they tried to turn you into." She traced the scar that Momo had given her hours ago. "It's why anything Momo said affected you. Because you're not a weapon. You're a human. Every human has his vulnerable areas. The strong ones, the wise ones just know how to overcome them and work around them." She got lost in the ninja’s eyes for a moment. "You know where those areas are now. And you're stronger than any person I've met. You will overcome them, and I’m here to help you."

Mina exhaled the breath she didn't realize she was holding. Chaeyoung understood her. She saw through her exterior, down to the roots of the weakness that even escaped her at times. And she loved her and believed in her all the same. Mina couldn't fathom her in the least.

"Thank you," was all she could think of saying.

"For what?"

"For you."

Chaeyoung felt her heart fluttered as a smile crept over her face. She nestled back against Mina’s chest and the latter put her arm around Chaeyoung’s shoulders, her shoulder with her thumb.

"Can I ask the obvious question?" Chaeyoung whispered.

Mina looked down at her.

"Uh… Where do we go from here? After we catch Momo?"

"I don't know. This is all… so new to me."

"I understand."

"That being said…"

Chaeyoung looked at Mina.

"I want to try…" Mina was surprised herself when she realized it. "Chaeyoung, I want to try. I don't know how I'll react in your life… but I want to try. I want to try for you."

"Do you really mean that?"

"I do. I won't make any promises… except to love you the best I can."

Chaeyoung smiled widely.

"I'll take it."

She carefully rolled on top of Mina and they kissed again, ignoring the matter with Momo a little while longer.

--------------------

Nayeon was going over some files when Mina, Chaeyoung, and Jihyo walked into her office. She looked up at them and started putting folders on the table, "So, you have to hear this. I think I know what this is about."

They