Chapter Text

GoldfishⓇ Original

INGREDIENTS

MADE WITH SMILES AND ENRICHED WHEAT FLOUR (FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), VEGETABLE OILS (CANOLA, SUNFLOWER AND/OR SOYBEAN), SALT, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: NONFAT MILK, YEAST, SUGAR, BAKING SODA, MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE, PAPRIKA, SPICES, CELERY, ONION POWDER.

CONTAINS: WHEAT, MILK.

✮⋆˙🤍⋆♡ ⛸️

When Alysa opens the door to the dryer, the scent of her favourite white jasmine detergent wafts out — a hot, fragrant familiarity. Her Bluetooth speaker is filling the living room with the sound of Laufey’s Valentine, the pantry has been freshly stocked with Lucky Charms & she’s even started to unpack her suitcase (a miracle if there ever was one, Amber jokes).

She looks down at her grey sleeping shirt & her plaid pajama pants in satisfaction. It’s all one big reminder that she’ll be back in Oakland for the week, all seven glorious days blocked out on her Google Calendar in bright red: HOME! 😍

She’s taken the time off, gotten her photoshoots & interviews postponed for now. There’s just so much she wants to do right now, while she’s safely within the four walls of her house, the world locked away until she absolutely has to return.

Call it recovery, call it making up for lost time. Alysa’s sick of sleeping alone, & now she’ll never have to again.

Amber takes out a handful of clothes & puts them into the black-&-white striped hamper by the machine. She’s wearing a big Spy x Family t-shirt over her sweatpants, her blonde hair up in its usual claw clip. For lack of a better word, she looks so… comfy, so domestic around Alysa’s house, like she’s lived there for years. “You were so right, we should’ve done this back in Colorado.”

“Yeah, nah. You might’ve lost all your panties for another six months,” Alysa quips, grinning uncontrollably. She empties the remainder of the clothes into the hamper, sticking her head inside the dryer to check for any stray items. 

“Shut up -” 

“Or, you know, I might get stuck in the machine & need your help to get out.” Alysa wiggles her hips teasingly, before finally extracting herself from the machine & standing up again. She mentally ticks off a box in her mind: doing laundry together. The rest of her years-long list can come later; she’s determined to live in this starry moment.

“That, I can get behind.” Amber reaches out to smack Alysa on the ass lightly, eliciting a giggle from the younger girl. She effortlessly picks up the laundry hamper under one arm, & Alysa can’t help but admire the way her biceps are straining the tiniest bit with the weight. 

They walk to the couch together, Alysa going a little slower so she can admire Amber’s rippling muscles from behind, too. She could get used to staying with this gorgeous blonde forever, & then some.

Amber settles into the mess of pillows & anime plushies first, pulling out the first shirt at the top of the pile to fold over the arm of the couch. Alysa instinctively settles into the older girl’s muscular lap, rolling up hoodies & jackets alike before stacking them up in front of her.

A fat black cat pads over to Amber’s leg, meowing softly. It’s quickly joined by an equally squishy tortoiseshell, both of them pawing at the leg of Amber’s sweatpants, before jumping up onto the couch & rubbing up against the girl’s side.

Amber laughs, rubbing the cats behind the ears with her index finger. “Hey, Sesame. Hey, Chia.”

Alysa can’t help but adore how Sesame & Chia immediately warmed to Amber since the first day the blonde arrived. Maybe they recognised her from the time they watched the Blade Angels in the Olympics finals on TV, but they’ve been all over Amber ever since, constantly begging for head pats & belly rubs.

There they are: a happy family, all together on the couch. It feels like a warm, fuzzy dream Alysa’s always had but never dared to admit to herself until now, for fear she’d never have it.

Alysa reaches out towards the coffee table for the bowl of goldfish crackers that’s constantly refilled in the morning & somehow always finished by the end of the day. She picks a few up, & holds them towards Amber’s lips with a teasing smile. A decade-old game, now reversed in the best way possible. “Want some?”

Amber opens her mouth eagerly, expertly balancing the crackers between her teeth before letting them drop into her mouth. She hums along to the song playing over the speaker as she crunches. As if on a whim, she pulls Alysa closer to stroke the younger girl’s brown-&-gold hair, the laundry a forgotten task they’ll no doubt worry about later. The cats pile into Amber’s lap too, all too excited to join this cuddle pile.

Smiling softly, Alysa lays her head against Amber’s chest, inhaling the lived-in scent of orange blossoms, vanilla & musk. She curls up to listen to the older girl’s steady heartbeat, the reason she’s made it through half her lifetime — & breathes, because home is where you stop running.

✮⋆˙🤍⋆♡ ⛸️

A month later, Alysa’s spinning across the ice in a new dress. It’s white & pink, with puffed sleeves & a layered, frilled skirt — the exact look that inspired her Stateside costume, & she’s now got short white gloves to match. She’s got her striped hair up in twintails, adorned with bright pink ribbons to match. A red ribbon with a pink crystal dangles around her neck.

She can’t believe she gets to cosplay Madoka Kaname on ice, at this international exhibition — & the best part is that she’s not alone.

Amber’s on the opposite end of the rink, in a long-sleeved white jacket over a black dress shirt,  a purple ribbon tied in a bow at her collar. A short grey skirt with black tights underneath completes the school uniform-like look. Her blonde hair is in a ponytail, but tied back with a black ribbon to fit the overall image of Homura Akemi.

Homura’s a time-traveller. She’s cold & merciless at first glance, but she loves her friends deeply & with abandon. She ends up braving hundreds of alternate timelines to save the excitable Madoka from certain doom. Even when Madoka ends up making her own dangerous choices to save the world as a magical girl, Homura loves her still, through every last universe.

In the same way, Alysa knows Amber would find her anywhere. Love is a journey she doesn’t have a map for, but she’ll hang all her hopes on the stars in the blonde’s eyes all the same.

Right now, they’re skating to the theme song of the Madoka Magica anime — Connect, by ClariS.

As they both approach the centre of the rink, Amber reaches out her hand with a grin, right on cue to the start of the chorus. Alysa takes it, & they glide across the ice together. 

The crowd is silent, waiting with bated breath as if they know they’re witnessing a historic moment tonight. Two Olympic gold medalists, forming a new kind of glory, one that belongs to them & them alone.

The Japanese lyrics to the song resound through the stadium & back — even if I come to a standstill on a difficult road, the sky is always waiting for me in a beautiful blue.

Amber extends her hand, & Alysa takes it — gliding into a graceful spin under the older girl’s arm. She leans back deeply, closes her eyes as she lets herself take up that space, almost laughing out loud in sheer exhilaration once she’s on the other side. 

Finally, as if they’ve been waiting for this, everyone in the stadium from the boards to the rafters erupts into cheers. The performance isn’t even halfway done yet, but this feels like something the world’s finally ready for.

Amidst the applause, Alysa’s dark eyes meet Amber’s bright blue gaze, tender & loving. Her heart warms up, as it always does: at home, in the street, in the middle of this freshly-iced rink with the eyes of the world on them as a couple.

This is a slice of heaven beyond themselves, a recreation of moments in their past, now firmly implanted in the present — & Alysa’s looking at her future with her eyes wide open.