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The roar of applause and the spark of the fireworks fill Miorine’s senses as she tries to find her breath beneath all her disbelief. The gigantic screen shows her the truth: GUND-ARM, BUSINESS SUCCESSFULLY FORMED.
She remembers saying thank you over and over, her reassurances coming in a blur over the speakers to the audience, and she grasps onto reality. Her desperate shot in the dark hit its fateful mark - saving Aerial, saving Suletta, once again. She doesn’t come back to herself until there’s a familiar call of her name that’s filled to the brim with joy and she finds eyes that swim with the galaxies encaptured.
Suletta.
“Miorine-san!”
Miorine feels warmth around her shoulders and without her heels, she can barely peer over the top of Suletta’s shoulder as the pilot embraces her. There’s a jolt in her nerves to reflexively push Suletta away, to put distance between them because she can’t afford to be seen like this in public around conspirators and enemies alike.
The sound of laughter in her ears stops her dead in her tracks and the cheerful words uplift her heart to where she can feel it in her throat. “I was so scared but you saved Aerial!”
The universe disappears, the applauding fades, and the fireworks from the stage dim beneath the first embrace Suletta has ever given her.
The first one Miorine ever accepts as she wraps her arms gently around Suletta, clammy palms pressing into the small of her back. Unknowingly, her shoulders stop shaking and she breathes the serene air that Suletta brings, and she affords a moment where her forehead presses to the heat of the pilot’s bare collarbone. A tender reminder that Suletta was okay and by her side again. That she wasn’t out of her reach, burning beneath red lights with the eyes of an executioner at her back.
“I told you I’ll protect you,” Miorine murmurs, her whisper skimming across Suletta’s skin.
Miorine feels the hug tighten around her small frame and suddenly eight letters are on her tongue as if they were always there. She swallows them down, buries them at the bottom of her heart, but presses Suletta closer with the pads of her fingertips creating divots in the red fabric.
Suletta is safe and that’s all that matters now.
When they pull away, Suletta wears a shy smile with Miorine mirroring her expression. The pilot gently holds out the items in her hands - discarded heels and the sash to Miorine’s dress.
“Here, I’ll help,” Suletta offers and Miorine can’t refuse.
The sash wraps around her and Miorine fastens it in place. Suletta then kneels down and places the heels upright, offering her hand up and Miorine takes it softly to help balance. She slips her heels on while Suletta holds her steady the whole way through.
Their hands don’t pull away from one another when Suletta stands again and instead, the pilot squeezes. Miorine knows the familiar sensation, of eyes on her back and of gossip whispered behind fingers. It only makes Miorine squeeze back tighter and tug Suletta along away from the crowd and back to an area where they can both breathe again.
She leers at anyone who sends a scornful or suspicious gaze towards Suletta, promptly causing them to turn their heads away.
She huffs with satisfaction to herself.
It’s her duty as a bride, after all.
Miorine wakes up to her dull ceiling but her thoughts are racing the moment she opens her eyes. The events from the night before are fresh in her mind, steeping overnight, but now impossible to ignore.
She started a company and she doesn’t have a plan for what comes after.
There’s movement in the blankets and Miorine peers to her side, fiery red hair splayed over the pillows and the sounds of a gentle snore filling the air with peaceful dreams. The smallest of smiles curves on Miorine’s lips, fondly looking upon Suletta who fell asleep the moment they returned from the party, too exhausted to trek back all the way to Earth House.
A tinge of guilt blooms in her chest for what she has to do next but she quickly snaps her mind out of it for being so soft this early in the morning.
She nudges Suletta’s shoulder, drawing a mumble from the girl.
“Suletta, get up.”
There’s a groan of complaint before baby blue eyes open, blinking rapidly to adjust to the soft light of the morning. “Hmmm?” she says sleepily, stifling a yawn into the feather soft pillow before looking back up at Miorine with a delicate affection that makes Miorine’s heart skip like stars across the constellations.
She takes a breath, steeling herself because they can’t afford to sit around in the little bit of peace they’ve made in the last few weeks. “Get ready. We have work to do.”
“W-Work?” Suletta parrots, a little more awake as she rubs the sleep from her eyes.
Miorine tugs Suletta’s hand, suddenly more awake and a bit more demanding, hopping off the bed as Suletta slowly moves through the sheets. “We have a company to run, remember?”
Suletta’s feet touch the cold floor and she stretches her arms high above her head with a yawn that flutters to the ceiling. Suletta isn’t still fully aware of the situation, her eyes not fully brightened with consciousness, but follows Miorine’s words without question. She shuffles her feet but instead of the direction of the bathroom, she stops to loop a languid arm around Miorine’s shoulders and pulls her in close for a moment. Her chin rests on the crown of platinum hair and she closes her eyes, an expression on her face as though she could fall right back asleep.
Miorine freezes and then struggles weakly, unfamiliar with this feeling of security when Suletta engulfs her in their now, second embrace that Miorine can’t find it in her to deny.
There’s no one around, no excuse for her to keep Suletta at a distance. The icy facade melts bit by bit and Miorine wants to stay in this moment where it feels like the world won’t come crashing down if her heart becomes clear behind frosted glass.
“Suletta…” she whispers for no other reason to feel her name on her lips, a sense of safety and even a future.
It breaks Suletta out of her stupor and she slowly pulls away, nodding, and then drags her feet to the bathroom to freshen up. Miorine watches her as she goes, as she yawns again and ruffles her own messy hair before she’s gone from sight.
The water comes on and Miorine knows Suletta keeps a toothbrush here. She glances at the closet, a spare Holder uniform kept safe on a hanger drifting next to hers.
Miorine combs her own hair back to get a grip on her thoughts and drag them far away from how much colder it feels without Suletta near.
“Uh, Miorine-san?”
Miorine doesn’t look back from her task, propping up the blank canvas against the wall in the hangar. “What is it?”
“How… does this thing work?” Suletta says slowly, uncertain, eyeing the metal compartment in her hands.
Miorine turns around and points to the bowl shaped well at the top of the spray gun. “You load paint into here, then squeeze this to use it.”
Suletta follows her directions, albeit shakily as she loads the blue paint into the well first. Miorine stifles her own laughter watching Suletta focus on a task so intensely. Her repressed laughter quickly turns into a surprised gasp as she hears the spray of the paint but not at all landing on its intended destination.
Instead, blue decorates the abdomen of her t-shirt.
“A-Ah! Miorine-san, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean-!”
Miorine in the midst of all of Suletta’s rapid fire apologies, she huffs through her nose and picks up her own spray paint gun, squeezing, and a spray of red mist splatters onto Suletta’s t-shirt as the pilot yelps in shock. Miorine’s once irritated expression turns mischievous, a smirk of victory on her face as Suletta pulls at her shirt to examine the damage.
“Got you,” Miorine quips, and turns around to their shared task.
Painting a sign is a messy job with inexperienced hands and it turns into a game. It’s a mix of primary colors smattering and smearing onto their clothes when Suletta accidentally squeezes the tool too hard and Miorine becomes a casualty for sunflower yellow and in retaliation, Miorine uses Suletta’s shirt as a tester for the opacity of the paint.
In between, the paint will splatter backwards and Suletta sees the droplets of red paint on porcelain skin.
She reaches out and Miorine flinches a little, just bare centimeters away from Suletta’s touch. Silver eyes narrow with suspicion. “What are you doing?”
Suletta points to a spot Miorine can’t see. “There’s red paint on your face. Here, let me get it.”
Miorine’s lips pursed together but she doesn’t move away any further, instead stiffening beneath Suletta’s touch as she tries to rub away the paint with her thumb. Miorine finds what she deems an interesting spot on the wall covered in dust and oil as the pilot continues to caress her cheek, hoping the paint would hide her imminent blush.
Suletta has high hopes that quickly plummet and fall once the red paint doesn’t disappear, but instead smears all over Miorine’s cheekbone and jaw.
She utters a panicked sound. “Uh…”
Miorine’s brow arches, now looking back at the timid Mercurian. “What?”
Suletta slowly pulls away and presses her palms together, asking for forgiveness before she even utters the words which adds more to Miorine’s confused expression. “I think…” She says slowly and the hard stare from the bride makes her rush out the rest of the sentence, “I made it worse.”
Miorine blinks a few times before catching her reflection on her phone set aside and she frowns at the red splotch. She looks back at Suletta who looks ready to apologize profusely. Instead, the princess touches the wet paint on the end of the word “Inc.” and turns to Suletta whose arms cross into what Miorine has learned to be “Aerial Attack Mode” - but before she can defend, Miorine reaches into her guard and swipes the curve of Suletta’s cheek, decorating tan skin in the colors of her planet.
They look utterly ridiculous, painted in colors of the earth, the ocean, and the sun. They look at one another for a moment before laughter echoes and reverberates on the walls of the empty hangar, on youthful joy and something that feels more like what their lives should have been.
They sit and lean back on their hands, looking at their handiwork - The Gund-Arm Inc. sign is rather crude and in the likeness of a child’s project. It is without a doubt, completely incapable of inspiring investors.
“This is pretty bad, isn’t it?” Miorine murmurs.
Suletta shakes her head and there’s a lopsided grin on her face that sweeps away Miorine’s disappointment in the light of Mercury’s joy. “Mm-mm. It’s your company, Miorine-san, and I know you’ll do great things with it!”
Miorine tilts her head back and looks up at the open expanse of the ceiling, watching the clouds drift over the windows, floating dreams overhead that she doesn’t know how to reach.
“I don’t even know where to start, Suletta,” she says openly, keeping her head turned upright so that her groom may not see her silvery eyes seeped with worry and aimlessness. “I only did it so they wouldn’t scrap Aerial.” It’s a blatant lie, one that sits heavy and one she isn’t proud of.
Strong arms slide over her shoulders and Miorine finds herself leaning back into the heat of Suletta’s familiar embrace, sighing to herself as her head finds a place on the crook of Suletta’s neck and shoulder. She doesn’t say a word, not about how her worries ease with the clouds that pass and not about how it feels like this has always been her rightful place. The pilot holds her from behind in silence and Miorine falls into the spaces between.
“Thank you,” is all Suletta says, not pushing, not prying, not calling Miorine on her lie. She just says the truest thing she feels and Miorine’s heart melts all the same.
She clings to safety, to defenses that have run dry. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she denies with no rise to her voice.
Suletta responds by tightening her hold and Miorine closes her eyes, savoring, wishing.
The spray paint gun is back in her hands and she squeezes, a blue hue now splattered onto Suletta’s wrist and the pilot sputters in shock once more.
“Get off,” Miorine says, but the threat isn’t there as she pulls away and Suletta lets her go.
When Miorine turns around, their shirts are in a worse state than before - the colors mixing from their shared embrace. Suletta peels the shirt off her stomach, examining the hem of her shirt that’s saturated in paint with curiosity and amusement.
Miorine doesn’t remember when it all changed - when this annoying girl born from a crimson star made her love Mercury more than Earth’s luscious green and deep blue.
“Miorine-san, I don’t think this will wash out!” Suletta whines, a subtle pout on her lips as she looks at Miorine again. There’s new colors from the messy mix and Suletta accidentally spreads them further when she goes to wipe her own cheek, making a surprised noise when her hand comes away yellow and loose strands of flame get stuck to her jaw.
A girl born of the stars, indeed, but Miorine would believe it if she was born from the changing seasons, smiling like summer and eyes like the first snow.
She hides her laughter and smile by turning around, looking down at their painted sign once more, and decides that red is her favorite color after all.
Red is also a troublesome color. One that rushes toward her like she’s dancing on sunlight when Miorine blooms into her vision.
It’s irritating the way Miorine feels her arms reflexively move to return the embrace.
It’s completely unacceptable the way her heart melts, and she catches Suletta’s soft cheeks between her fingertips.
It’s annoying that she wants to lean in and kiss those puckered lips that are mumbling her name with stuttered confusion.
She tells her, “You’re annoying.”
Suletta smiles with her round cheeks squished and Miorine’s thumb caresses her jaw, and Suletta knows what she really means by it all.
The skies above Asticassia are nothing more than a facade, a pale shadow to the ethereal night and day that Miorine has always dreamed about on Earth. This night feels different. The air is quiet and the heavens are decorated with dangling stars from its doors on high. Twinkling lights swim across an abyssal night, illuminating the way for hearts to meet on the clouds.
Miorine has drifted through the stars before, being born in the spaces of the universe, and the celestial lights became dull as the years went by. Touching the stars is a dream buried beneath a child’s heart, and she longs to be on the ground.
She didn’t think that dream would be unearthed from her own heart by a star itself, settling right beside her and leading the way back home.
Suletta pulls up the scooter, loading the last of the food compartments for their launch party, looking proud as she beckons to Miorine.
“That should be everything, Miorine-san!” Suletta chirps, and the moon is in her smile. Miorine doesn’t bother looking at the sky.
The breeze flutters through rivers of snow-like tresses and Miorine breathes Mercury's atmosphere right into her lungs, and holds her warmth beneath her palm. Suletta’s hand comes to caress the back of Miorine’s, brushing across her knuckles for no apparent reason other than to greet her presence. They pull away onto the path and Miorine can see the way Suletta’s head tilts toward the stars, and she wonders what sorts of wishes she’s adding to her list.
“Thank you, Miorine-san.”
Her past self would have quipped back at her - told her that she’s said that far too many times. Instead, Miorine looks at her own feet drifting above the pavement with nothing but a calm in her heart.
She breathes lightly, “For what?”
“You worked out a plan for everyone, didn’t you?”
Miorine wants to laugh because Suletta has far too much faith in her. She’s a selfish girl, and a prideful one at that, one who would never admit that she dreads to be alone now that she knows what it’s like to be held.
She gives Suletta the answer the pilot expects, but lying to her is more difficult these days, so she closes her eyes and turns her head away. “I just couldn’t afford to lose them.”
Then, Suletta replies with what Miorine doesn’t expect. “To tell you the truth, this is really fun.”
Suletta is breathless as if she’s discovered an unknown wonder firsthand, and Miorine is confused.
Miorine blinks at Suletta’s broad back, eloquent in her response. “Eh?”
“It’s just like my wish list,” Suletta answers brightly and Miorine wishes she could see her delicate expression, hopeful and happy, and filled with the peace she so rightfully deserved.
A wish that she made come true, and Miorine is falling into what happiness really feels like. She rests her head between Suletta’s shoulders and searches for the right words, and realizes in the same moment that she’s never needed them. Suletta is the closest to her heart, and this time, she pulls her even closer.
She nuzzles further and shuts her eyes, a slow smile curving onto her lips. She feels like she’s flying across the real night sky and the constellations are crimson red, decorating her fading loneliness with promises and all the right words, stumbling, stammering, and true.
Her hand tightens on Suletta’s waist and she hears the laughter as her prize, and for the first time, Miorine embraces her with all the love in her heart.
“Idiot. This is no time for amusement,” Miorine remarks teasingly.
There’s a beat, then they’re both laughing, and the color of joy is red and blue.
They remain that way for the rest of the ride, Miorine’s face buried into the fabric of Suletta’s uniform and Suletta’s smile now permanent on her lips. They slow to a gentle stop and Miorine slowly sits back up, eyes languid and lazy, utterly content. Suletta hops the small distance onto the pavement and turns to Miorine, offering her hand to her bride.
Miorine takes it gently but doesn’t move from her seat, instead pulling Suletta in by her hand.
“M-Miorine-san?”
It’s no longer her duty as a bride, instead, it’s what she wants, and has wanted for so long that she barely remembers the days before Suletta.
Another day, she will be better at saying how she really feels.
“You really are annoying,” she whispers, and then shows her instead - that black and white, red or blue, Miorine doesn’t care what colors Suletta wears.
Miorine pulls at Suletta’s collar, and their lips meet. Suletta is clumsy and eager as she presses back into Miorine’s warmth, hands finding the curves of her waist and kisses her though she doesn’t know how. Miorine pulls away a little, and laughs against her mouth in amusement when the pilot chases after her. She smooths a palm over her cheek, guiding her, loving her, and then sighs when it pieces together perfectly.
They stay close even as they separate, and Miorine’s thumb skims over the curve of Suletta’s cheekbone and doesn’t push the pilot away when she is pulled into another embrace. Suletta engulfs her in her arms, tucking Miorine safely beneath her chin before pressing a kiss to her hairline as though she is the most precious thing among the cosmos, timeless in their nature but Suletta dares to challenge their worth.
“I’ll protect you, always,” Suletta whispers, echoing Miorine’s promise, the only one she’s ever made to anyone.
Maybe she has changed.
This time, Miorine stays. This time, she reaches up to pull Suletta in and the pilot falls willingly into her lips once more.
Suletta’s kisses are tender and a lilac sky bursts in Miorine’s chest, painting her love on her lips and blanketing their dreams across the expanse of the universe.
Miorine knows Suletta hears every word beneath the ice.
Suletta kisses her over and over, like she has always loved the color blue.