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"No weapons," Sapphire says. "No magic. Just us: your strength, and my speed."
Ruby shakes out her fists and grins, too joyful to be called a smirk. ”I’m ready.”
"Are you, though?” Sapphire says, and then—
behind—
Ruby twists to block the blow she knows is incoming; she barely gets her arm up in time. Sapphire’s fist thuds against Ruby’s forearm, and Sapphire’s mouth curls up, and for one shining instant they’re still.
And then they’re sparring in earnest. For each of them, it’s a test of endurance; Sapphire lands more blows than Ruby, but Ruby hits harder. Ruby is determined to hold up under Sapphire’s almost gentle punches until Sapphire tires enough to slow down.
Sapphire is just so fast. Ruby is so focused on the fight that the practice room fades out around them; nothing exists but the two of them, the rhythms and the patterns of the fight.
Ruby takes a swing—not a feint, but she knew Sapphire would dodge it and so pulls it at the last second, bringing her gem hand up to catch the fist Sapphire hasn’t thrown yet. True to form, that’s exactly what Sapphire does, and Ruby’s fingers close around her knuckles automatically.
They pause, breaths loud in the otherwise empty room. Their faces are close, turned in toward each other; Sapphire’s hand loosens inside Ruby’s, and then their fingers are intertwining, and their gems are a hair’s breadth from touching, their glow lighting up the entire room—
Ruby has a single moment of surpassing delight as she realizes what’s happening, before her mind and her form open up and mingle with Sapphire’s.
"Sapphire," the fusion says.
"Ruby," the fusion says.
She is alone in the center of a practice room. Her eyes are wide, and familiar, and deeply loved.
"Is this how you feel," she asks.
"All the time," she says, both finishing and answering the question.
"You hardly ever say," the fusion says. "I thought maybe—"
"You say it so much," she says. "I assumed it didn’t mean…"
She goes quiet, studying her form in the mirror. She blinks: the pair first, and the third eye a half-second later. She doesn’t need to say anything.
She says, “I love you.”