Afrika and the Pro Heroes

She was a tall, willowy woman. Her body was graceful and elegant as she ran through the jungle, her head down, her face smeared with dirt. She looked like an animal herself, weaving between the trees and vines that clung to the great pink-orange trunks. The faded yellow robe she wore seemed to blend into the background of the thicket around her, but for her eyes. They shone in her face, wide and bright even from a distance.

The man pursuing her didn't seem so much to run through the jungle as he seemed to flit between the trees and boulders that littered his path. He was thin and dark, with a cascade of curly black hair that reached down his back and a thin beard across his chin. His blue eyes were sharp; they darted back and forth as he attempted to keep sight of the woman. When he turned around a tree or boulder to look at her again, she was gone once more.

He was frustrated with how difficult it had proven to be to find her, let alone catch up with her. But he wouldn't give up. "Iida," he thought to himself as he ran after her, "Where are you?"

She heard him call out behind her, but kept going anyway. She didn't want to stop, but she knew this wasn't going to last much longer. Her legs were getting weaker every time she took another step forward. Her lungs burned like fire as she gasped for oxygen in this humid air of the rainforest, too thick with moisture to allow much of it through. Iida couldn't remember how long she'd been running or where she had started from - only that she had needed to get away from there as quickly as possible. The man chasing her didn't matter - he could be anyone - but somehow Iida knew that if she stopped running, something terrible would happen. And maybe it already had...

Suddenly Iida felt arms wrap around her waist from behind and pull her back against a broad chest. She struggled against them for a moment before losing energy again and collapsing in the man's arms, sobbing into his chest and leaning on him for support now instead of running away from him. "It's okay," Giovanni said soothingly into her ear in his thick Italian accent as he stroked her hair gently, trying not to hurt her scalp too much as it was covered in mud and leaves, "You're safe now."

"I can't believe we found each other again," Iida whispered weakly into his chest while tears continued spilling down her cheeks onto his shirt front even though they were both covered in mud and muck from their long journey through this forest together "After all these years..." She sniffled loudly before continuing: "We must be meant for each other."

Giovanni smiled softly down at the woman clinging desperately onto him while they stood there next to a large fallen tree in the middle of this dense jungle; dirt streaked faces pressed together amidst tangled hair that would likely never look neat again after being dragged through mud by two people who spent most of their time indoors causing havoc for people who deserved it instead of enjoying nature like this. He wouldn't have expected it any other way than that: Even though both of them had devoted their lives to fighting villains who caused trouble all over Europe (and sometimes beyond), this couple still loved each other dearly despite their quirks which often made them difficult people who weren't exactly nice to be around... It didn't matter whether you liked one or both of them - what mattered was that they loved each other so much that no one else really mattered...

"Can we go home now?" Iida asked quietly when they finally released each other so they could stand up straight again; Giovanni's arms stayed around Iida's shoulders while hers folded across his chest until they were at eye level with each other again: "I don't think either of us has ever been THIS muddy before."