Chapter Text
Yosira, Pharaoh of the Nile Galaxy, knew from her painstaking academic research on warfare and tactics, that being distracted in the midst of battle was, at the very least, not optimal.
And at the most, it was deadly.
Even more so when one was facing down one's direct arch-enemy.
Which made it quite unfortunate that while Yosira was, at this very moment, locked in desperate combat against her direct arch-enemy…
…she was also the most distracted she'd ever been in her life.
"Look. You may be Pharaoh, but I'm the one with experience. Which means I'm the idea-haver around here, not you!"
The words gnawed at Yosira, gnawed everywhere they could: her mind, her heart. She could feel them in her limbs, her joints.
They controlled her.
It didn't take much to allow them to do so, either, because every time those words forced their way back in their mind after Yosira managed to forget them, they brought back with them an emotion Yosira was all familiar with, but which usually took witnessing destruction on a massive scale to experience:
Heartbreak.
Cleopatra, savior of the galaxy—Yosira's galaxy!—absolutely knew how to hurt with her words, by accident or otherwise.
When Yosira had first gotten word of the prophesied arrival of the Galactic Savior, she'd hoped with all of her heart that it would be an amicable relationship—it certainly wouldn't do to make another enemy as powerful as Octavian, who Yosira was barely managing to hold off as it was.
However, once she'd actually met Cleo, it looked for all the universe that they'd be the best of friends—and every subsequent meeting bore that out.
To say that Yosira had approved of this development was a lot like saying that oxygen was 'important' to human survival, or that space was 'like, really, really big', or that chundridge was 'overrated'. Yosira had never had a best friend before. The only reason she could say she'd ever had a friend at all, was because Khensu, bless his wonderful feline heart, had always been a willing confidante from the day they'd met.
But even then, it was in far more of a mentor capacity than… well, another girl. Another girl close to her age, even. Handmaidens and attendants were nice to her, but contractually obligated; dignitaries were professional relationships. The thought of Cleo as a bestie was something she'd fantasized about in her room, late in the quiet of night.
But now, Yosira was sure she'd pushed things too far. She'd made the Savior mad. She'd made Cleo mad. She'd made her combat teacher and almost-best-friend mad, and as she dodged and used those same battle techniques that Cleo had taught her to fend off Xerx robots, she wanted to cry, but she couldn't, she had to save her tears long enough to use them while kowtowing in front of Cleo in apology if they ever managed to survive this.
And then, in the midst of battle, one of the Xerxes fighting Cleo had managed to get the better of her, holding her fast in a sacrifice play. Even after Cleo defeated it, she was still pinned to the ground, helpless and directly in the line of Octavian's fire!
Cleo was about to not survive this.
What to do? What ever to do? Cleo had made it clear that Yosira had already botched the mission enough, the mission she'd abused her Pharaoh power to force herself onto in the first place, even. She was already persona non grata, wasn't she?
But Cleo was still in danger.
Her friend, her best friend—even if Cleo didn't agree that to be the case anymore—was in danger, and Yosira was not about to call a team meeting in order to get permission to act.
Not this time.
Stay out of harm's way. Check surroundings. See Octavian getting ready to capitalize on Cleo's helplessness. See also, a loose beam above everyone, which, if it fell, would provide a handy barrier between Octavian and Cleo—
There's an idea.
Throw plasma staff at the beam, sending it crashing down between Cleo and Octavian, providing ample cover. Warn others, cover ears upon impact, get Cleo out of robotic husk…
…and finally with Cleo now safe, promptly apologize like you've never apologized before.
"Whuhhhh…" Cleo groaned as she came to her senses. "…whoa, I'm free!" She looked around, saying the name of the person who was by far the closest. "Yosira?"
"Thank heavens," Yosira breathed. "Cleo, I'm so, so sorry for overstepping the boundaries you set earlier, but you were about to be killed and I had another idea so I hoped—"
"Are you kidding me?" Cleo interrupted, hand to her heart. "Hope, nothing, you just saved my butt out there!"
…it was true, Yosira had, but she'd done so before, and only raised Cleo's ire in those same moments. To say Yosira was now very confused was another understatement, on the scale of the ones mentioned previously.
"I'm…" With a sigh, Cleo continued in light of Yosira's confused silence. "I'm sorry for getting all mad and territorial before. I… I was jealous. You're just so good at everything, I…" Cleo shook her head. "No excuses. I was wrong to bite your head off earlier. Super wrong. My bad."
Oh.
Oh.
Wait, Cleo was saying she was at fault instead of Yosira? The latter resisted her head spinning with a gargantuan mental effort.
Though, even though she was apologizing, and Yosira was grateful for the apology, she was able to cleanly read the expression on Cleo's face, and the emotions behind them.
This would not do. She needed to re-establish order, and re-establish themselves on equal terms as people, both in Cleo's mind—to say nothing of both their hearts.
"Cleo," Yosira said, putting her hand on the other girl's shoulder, "you are fantastic the way you are. You're sharp, and quick-witted, and you're the reason I can embrace battle in the first place. I'm sorry for not recognizing that myself. Even if I do have good ideas, I should always do my best to make sure they work for the entire team—including the experienced leader who organizes that team."
Cleo's forlorn look morphed into something slightly happier, and she nodded. Thank goodness.
"I guess I should learn to accept when my teammates have good ideas on the fly, instead of being mad that I wasn't the one who came up with them," Cleo said with a wink. "Especially if they're better than what I would have come up with."
Yosira let out a relieved exhale. "Looks like we both have things to work on," she said, taking Cleo's hands. "I'd be glad to do so together."
Cleo's smile was wide now. "Yeah. Me too—"
Akila skidded over to the two of them. "Hi, yeah. So, not that Brian and I don't absolutely love holding off the big bad of this series at half team strength," she said, "but we could really use your help out here!"
Cleo and Yosira giggled, then jumped back to their feet. "Yeah, to be continued," Cleo said. "We've got a factory to burn."
Yosira nodded.
Perhaps there was still hope for their relationship yet.