Work Text:
Honoka woke to darkness and was briefly disoriented. What was going on? Where was she? She felt as though she was being pulled out of a thick fog.
Slowly sense began to creep back to her there in the dark. She was in her bed, right. But even that was a little strange. Why would she feel disoriented just for being in her own bed? That made no sense. Something felt off, somehow. She felt like she was in a dream - or perhaps had just been pulled out of a particularly realistic one.
Memories started to come back to her now. Right... she and Nagisa had been in a battle against the Dark Zone. It had happened at night and... in a dream? Or had it actually been real? It was all so fuzzy that she couldn't even tell.
But Nagisa... she'd been with Nagisa...
...where was Nagisa? Honoka couldn't remember what had happened after the battle.
She heard someone lightly snoring next to her.
She turned. It was the middle of the night, but even still, the moon was peeking through the window just enough for her to see Nagisa's soft outline there in bed next to her. She looked fast asleep - and she was adorable. The blankets and sheets were askew and so was her ginger hair, looking wispy and tousled in the shiny moonlight. If Honoka wanted, she could just reach out and touch it...
...what was she even thinking? Honoka blushed despite herself and buried herself a little bit deeper in the blankets. She was in bed with Nagisa, her best friend in the whole world, her partner - and it all felt so wondrous in a way that she couldn't quite explain. Several memories from the daytime came back to her now. They had been having a sleepover. At first Shiho and Rina had been there as well - a little to Honoka's chagrin - but then they left and she and Nagisa were left alone in her room. In her bed.
They had talked to each other a bit before sleeping. Honoka had had a lot of thoughts on her mind then, about life and friendship and the people you meet, and Nagisa had told her that she would always be there for her. Did she truly mean it, though, Honoka wondered? Always. What did always mean? Time was a strange concept. So many things that were supposed to last forever actually didn't. The universe hadn't always existed. There was a time that it had begun, and there would probably be a time that it would end.
Entropy was eternal, she supposed wryly.
Nagisa stirred a bit. Honoka was still safely ensconced in her blankets, but she allowed herself a moment to peek out at the girl next to her.
Things may not be truly eternal, but they still lasted a long time, didn't they? All the atoms that made up the earth had been birthed in stars long ago. So had hers. So had Nagisa's. Had their respective atoms been together at some point, long ago, far, far back in the history of the universe? Had they been together in a tree, or a river, or a distant star? Honoka was sure she felt some sort of ancient connection every time they held hands and took on the vast darkness together.
Or perhaps that was just one of the many mysteries of being Pretty Cure? It was often so hard to tell where she as Honoka ended and where Cure White began. Perhaps the bond between Cure Black and Cure White went back generations. Perhaps, through this feeling she had, she was playing a role that had been laid out for her long ago.
Fate could be terribly confusing.
Especially because the idea of not being Pretty Cure - not being Nagisa's partner - was an unusual idea indeed, from a time that she couldn't remember. Such a time must have existed, but it didn't quite seem real. Much like the thought of the universe not existing, in fact.
And that made her wonder - would she ever stop being Pretty Cure? And if that happened, what would happen to her and Nagisa? Would the two of them follow the plot of so many modern stories and go their separate ways after middle school or high school? Would this strange and wonderful connection that the two of them had disappear forever, the same way even the most vivid dream could be forgotten within moments of waking up? Was that truly their fate?
This was an awful thought and it made Honoka's stomach twist and clench. She looked out at Nagisa. She was breathing rhythmically, her brown lashes and soft hair still and calm in the twilight.
Honoka wondered if she was having a good dream.
And she realized, with a start, that she wanted to be there for her through all of her dreams - the good and the bad. No matter what.
"Nagisa..." she whispered it and inched a bit closer without realizing that she was doing either. "Nagisa... will we really always be together?"
Nagisa stirred.
Honoka's eyes widened and her pulse began to thump in her chest. Was she awake? Had she heard her? What would she think? Would she scare her away?
Nagisa turned so she was facing Honoka - but her eyes were closed and she made a couple of incoherent noises as she pressed her face into the pillow.
Honoka let out a small breath of relief. She hadn't heard her.
Then she felt something brushing against her hand.
It was Nagisa's.
Had it been anyone else, Honoka would have flinched away in surprise, but of course, she would never flinch from Nagisa. Still, she was a bit perplexed. Had she heard her at all? Or had she just happened to rest her hand in such a way that it was touching her own?
Honoka didn't know. She probably never would, since if she brought it up to Nagisa the next morning, there was a good chance that Nagisa wouldn't remember.
But she decided to embrace it and moved her hand a little closer.
Nagisa's fingers closed over Honoka's.
Honoka smiled and fell asleep.