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Mumei loves human holidays.
Every single year, without fail, even during bouts of memory loss, she would beg the Council to celebrate them- something they'd grown used to, over time. They used to celebrate all of them (which, frankly, was a mistake). Now, however, they mostly celebrate the few more popular ones. Christmas. Halloween. Easter.
And of course…
Valentine's Day.
For once, for this day in particular, Mumei had an idea- an idea that she was determined to bring to fruition. An idea that included flesh, oil, and fire.
Cooking!!
Now, let's be honest here- Mumei wasn't the best at hiding things. She normally either forgot she was keeping a secret, or forgot the secret altogether. Yet, she wanted this to be a surprise. A surprise for the someone who worked herself to the bone so that everyone could live safely and happily.
…Thinking of Kronii only made her ever so determined to pull this off.
Normally, for something important, she'd place sticky notes around the house; the more important, the more sticky notes. But she couldn't just rely on her regular method, especially not when she lived with the person she was trying to hide this from. Not to mention, with how much this means to her, she could cover the world in sticky notes and it still wouldn't be enough. Because of this, the day before Valentine's, she sought out advice from someone; someone that always guided her when she was lost.
“Fauna!” Mumei happily called her friend's name into the phone. It was a few minutes before midnight, and Kronii hadn't come back yet. Normally, the owl would complain about that, and she definitely still would when the other came back, but now, it worked in her favor. “How do I make sure I won't accidentally slip to Kronii what I'm doing tomorrow?”
The response she got was a giggle- a sound so pleasant that just hearing it already got rid of some of her worries. When Fauna spoke, she sounded amused.
“Oh, don't worry about that, Mumei. I have a feeling that Kronii will have quite a busy day tomorrow.”
Mumei frowned. That was a vague, vague answer. Besides, Fauna couldn't see the future, only Kronii could!! How would she know what would happen tomorrow? She flicked those vile thoughts out of her own head, though- Fauna was her friend!! Vague or not, Mumei would trust in her words. And so, with a happy, somewhat confused goodbye, Mumei flopped onto her bed- their bed, both hers and Kronii's, she thought with a smile, and stared at the ceiling. Thinking over her plan, thinking of what to do tomorrow as her eyes slowly dropped.
Everything would go, as Kronii liked it, perfectly.
Mumei would make sure of it.
_____
Kronii hates human holidays.
‘They're a waste of time’, she thinks. ‘Why would humans spend a whole day on a bunch of things that barely matter?’
But Mumei likes them. And when Mumei was happy, she was happy, so she supposed they weren't too bad.
Valentine's, however…
She's always had mixed feelings about.
She'd tolerated it before. It was a day for humans to express love for each other, and it barely affected her. But over time, as the Council became more and more like the humans Mumei liked so much, they'd begun including it in the list of holidays they ‘celebrated’.
…She remembered the first time they did, when Bae and IRyS-
…nevermind.
This year however, it mattered. It mattered alot. Because this year, she had Mumei. This year, she had someone to care about- not that she never cared about her before!
It'd been- what, six, maybe seven months since they actually established their relationship? And for those half a dozen months, Kronii had been doing anything she could to learn about what humans do when they love each other- not that she'd ever admit that. Still, even before she began her 'research', she knew how important Valentine's Day was to couples. She knew how special it was to those who love each other.
…But, she couldn't think of a single thing to do for Mumei.
Kronii was a calculating sort of person. She'd make perfect plans and carry them out to the letter. There were few times where she felt lost. Yet, with Mumei now in the equation called her life, those times were increasing in number exponentially; and this was one of those times.
A week before Valentine's, she had told herself she'd be able to come up with something by the time the day arrived. Yet now, on the day itself, lying on her bed brainstorming, she was still coming up short. She had considered asking Mumei herself for help but…
…Yeah, no way. She had left early in the morning, anyways; something that happened quite often.
C'mon Kronii. You can't just do nothing. With a sigh, Kronii got out of bed- before tidying it, then getting ready to leave the house. This would be so much faster if she could just stop time- but Mumei insisted they live like humans, and who was she to disobey her love?
As she left the house, covered in a scarf Mumei had knitted for her and a winter jacket they'd bought to match, she pondered what to do.
Ame? She could contact her, ask the little blonde that she'd taken under her wing for advice. No. Amelia was probably spending time with her girlfriend. Girlfriends, she corrected herself. Besides, she'd never let Kronii live it down. That crossed out the rest of the group they called Myth, too, and the rest of the Council were probably enjoying their own Valentine's Day.
Advent or Justice, then? No, again. They'd grown closer over the years- Kronii particularly so with Gigi and Raora, but…
…they were a whole different kind of mess themselves, so taking advice from them would probably be a bad idea.
Kronii took a deep breath, the cold, winter air filling her lungs. What was the point of asking another anyways? This was her gift to Mumei. She should think about it herself.
So, still distracted by her thoughts, she walked towards a few nearby shops. Maybe they'd have something Mumei would like. No, they'd have to.
She didn't want to disappoint her dearest, after all.
_____
Everything was going perfect.
The ingredients have been supplied, courtesy of a certain astrogirl. Innumerable cookbooks were set on the table, delicacies that civilization had never seen before.
…Okay, that was a lie. They were normal cookbooks. Yes, Shiori lent them to her, but not all her books were forbidden knowledge; just some!!
Now, however, came the hard part. The cooking itself.
Mumei had cooked before. Sometimes it turned out great, and sometimes…
…not so much.
(She can still remember the screams. No more.)
She really hoped today would be the former, but hope itself wouldn't do anything! IRyS was kind of unreliable like that. In a cute way! Regardless, in order to make sure nothing went wrong, Mumei would have to make sure to focus on the cooking.
Mumei had many things, including a lovely partner, great friends, and a cute Animal, but focus wasn't one of them.
Today, however, was a special, special day for her and Kronii, and nothing would ruin it. With a deep breath, she took a look at the recipes, washed her hands, dried her hands, looked at her hands, admired her hands, stopped admiring her hands, and started.
She wanted this to be ready by the time Kronii was back, after all!
_____
Everything was going downhill.
Four stores. Four whole stores, and Kronii couldn't find anything that felt good enough to give to Mumei. Not a single piece of clothing, nor box of candy, nor stupid looking thing to put on a table that fit her.
She knew she was overthinking it. She knew Mumei would be happy with whatever she got her. But just happy wasn't enough. Kronii loved Mumei more than she could ever express- but she wanted to at least try. Kronii wanted to try giving Mumei the happiness she felt when she was with her.
She wanted this gift to be absolutely perfect. Like her. Like Mumei. Like what they had between them.
The Sun was close to setting, and it was getting colder. Her body, the body Mumei gave her, the weird, fragile, fleshbag, was slowly breaking down- a feeling Kronii could never get used to, even after so many months. Kronii saw smoke whenever she exhaled, shivered whenever the wind blew. Hardship was rarely ever a problem for her- she could control time, after all. But Mumei would know, and she'd get mad. And when Mumei was mad, she was absolutely terrifying.
…She realised she felt like a human. A part of her told her to stop being dramatic- she was Time itself. She wasn't someone so lowly. But some romantic part of her she'd kept locked up a long time ago thought differently.
She was feeling closer to humanity. She was feeling closer to Mumei, one way or another.
The thought of Mumei snapped her out of her existential not-really-crisis. Focus on the task at hand, Kronii. A gift.
It was that exact moment when something caught her eye. In the corner of her vision, she saw something. Something small, something not very Mumei-like, but for some reason, Kronii felt like it was perfect.
For the first time today, she smiled. Finally, she thought.
I'll be back in a bit, Mumei.
_____
Kronii wasn't picking up her calls.
Mumei wasn't worried. She knew Kronii could take care of herself. Mumei didn't particularly like when her partner used her powers, but Kronii was smart enough to know to use them if she were in danger- and none of the Council had sensed a disturbance in time today.
She didn't want to be impatient, either. Kronii was so very patient with her, all the time. If she were angry just because Kronii was late once, she'd seem like a disrespectful piece of-
…she'd seem like a hypocrite.
But the food she'd cooked, the grand feast she'd dreamed of making that came to reality, was getting colder by the second. The sun had gone down, and she didn't know if Kronii was aware of the human body's limitations with temperature. Today was a really cold day, after all, even for winter.
But despite that, she patiently waited. Kronii would come back. Mumei trusted her.
Mumei always trusted her, and she always would.
_____
Kronii's damn phone was dead.
She'd forgotten to charge it the night before, and she didn't think she'd be out for long, so she didn't bring a power bank.
Boy, was she wrong.
Now, the Sun had already set. It took way too long of a time for her to buy that stupid little thing without her phone- she'd been far too tempted to just reveal her true identity and take it as an offering or something, but chances were she'd be taken to a mental asylum instead. Such a shame. It would've worked wonders a few centuries ago.
Mumei was probably home by now- waiting for her to return. They normally spent the weekends together- and especially today, on Valentine's day, her owlette probably wanted to spend time with her more than ever. The thought made her tired legs move faster. She'd deal with the painful weak human consequences later. At the moment, getting home was far more important.
So she ran, as fast as she could, towards her home.
Towards Mumei.
And finally, after what felt like an eternity, she'd arrived.
_____
The sound of keys jingling was loud enough to be heard by a particular brunette as a blue haired woman made her way back into her own, cozy home. Kronii paused, sniffing the air- smelling something that was different from the normal smell of age-old books. The aroma of food. Food that would definitely taste incredibly good right now. On cue, Mumei peeked out from the edge of a wall, before hurriedly running over to her lover.
“Kronii-!”
Before Kronii could say anything, a greeting, maybe an apology, Mumei had already grabbed onto her shoulders, pulled her downwards, and practically slammed their mouths together.
For a moment or two, they stayed like that- connected, together, before Mumei finally pulled back, gasping for air. She looked up at Kronii's blushing face- a sight that made her want to kiss her all over again.
But that would have to wait.
She took a deep breath, then held onto the taller woman's arm- dragging her into the dining room, where she'd set the dishes.
The dishes that were, admittedly, kept hot by Bae's abilities, but this wasn't the time to go into that.
She could feel Kronii's surprise before she saw it. She felt her heart skip beats, speed up, felt the way her breath stopped for a long while.
“Oh, Mumei…” She whispered. Kronii looked over every single dish- all of them something Kronii had expressed a like for at some point in her long life. She couldn't believe Mumei had remembered them all, recreated them all- just for her. It made her gift feel so small in comparison.
But that was the thought that reminded her. The gift.
She reached into her pocket- before pulling out a small, ornate box. The box itself, however, wasn't the present. That would just be stupid.
No, the presents were the two rings inside of it.
Mumei let out a gasp when she saw it. She opened her mouth, but no words came out. Kronii took this opportunity to speak; to open her heart to the girl she loved, standing in front of her.
“I still don't know much about human customs,” she admitted. “I've been studying them, but some of them still feel odd, or a waste of time.” She paused. “I don't really get how humans establish their relationship statuses either.”
Mumei nodded, listening, watching, as Kronii slowly took one of the rings out of the box. She gently held onto one of Mumei's shaking hands, keeping it still, before putting the ring on her ring finger.
“...But I know that promises are made to be kept. And these rings are a sign of that.” Kronii put the other ring on her own finger- her hand grasping onto Mumei's the moment she was done doing so. “I promise to never leave you, Mumei. Even if the universe itself wants to separate us.”
At first, Mumei stared. Maybe in disbelief, or in shock, or both. Then, the tears came, and Kronii started panicking. “I-it's okay if you don't like it! I-I-”
But she was immediately shushed with Mumei's lips on hers, before they pulled back, spreading apart to tell her something.
“I love it, Kronii. I love them so much, and I love you for even thinking of getting them.”
She kissed her kissed again. And again, and again, until they were on the floor and they were laughing, arms wrapped around each other like they were the only thing that mattered.
Because that day, their first Valentine's day as each other's, they really were.
And nothing would change that.
_____
Mumei loves celebrations. Kronii does not.
But seeing her owl so happy…
Kronii can't help but be happy too.