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Susie noticed a purple door out of nowhere on the rooftop of Queen's Mansion.
She stopped in her tracks.
"H...huh?" Why was there a room up here? She sprinted up to the door without hesitation and her teammates stood back, watching her.
There was a sign on the door.
"Hey, it says this is Noelle's room!" Susie sounded and looked pleasantly surprised by this discovery.
"Kris, let's go in and save her!" she said with excitement.
"And uh, y'know, teach her not to get in our way."
Susie caught herself sounding too excited and soft, so she put on an impromptu tough girl act.
...
Kris didn't respond.
Nobody responded.
There was a chilly silence.
"...Kris?"
Susie had waited too long for Kris to respond.
There was something up with them, she felt it ever since they met up with both her and Ralsei again.
Susie was impatient.
"Fine, I'll do it myself!" Susie said, audibly annoyed.
She walked in and slammed the door.
Susie looked around the room. It was way bigger than hers, chillier too.
Her eyes went from Noelle's wardrobe to her bookshelf, then finally to her bed. That's where she saw Noelle.
She was sitting upright and looking out of the window. She was shaking tremendously and hiding under the blanket. There were a lot of sniffles coming from her.
"Noelle?"
Noelle looked at the doorway where Susie was standing and met her gaze. Her expression was bleak.
Her face was stained with tears. Her eyes were wide open and so watery that her vision must have been blurry. She was clearly distraught.
"S-Susie?" Noelle had a hard time catching her breath in between sobs to say anything.
Susie threw down her axe and quickly paced up to Noelle's bed, getting as close to her as she could.
Noelle looked down at her hands holding the blanket's corners together, her tears staining the sheets momentarily.
"What are you doing here?" Noelle muttered hoarsely.
Susie looked into Noelle's eyes, concerned for her.
"I'm here because... I'm here to save you, Noelle."
Noelle turned her head back to the window and sniffled a bit more, her finger catching her tears before they fell down her face.
She then buried her face in her hands, shaking her head left to right. She couldn't stop or control the snot and tears coming out of her.
Susie sat down on the spot next to Noelle. She looked at Noelle huddled in her covers, tempted to place a warm hand on her shoulder.
Noelle moved her head towards Susie trying to break the string of sniffles, but couldn't bare to look at her with her eyes in case she showed her wet face.
"I... I've done something terrible." Susie shuffled up a little bit closer to Noelle. Her voice was so faint.
"Susie, I... I've killed so many monsters. I thought it'd make me stronger. I thought I needed to be stronger. It made me feel that way."
Noelle could barely catch her breath, sobbing in between words. As soon as she said that, she started wailing, remembering what she did and the faces they made before their demise.
Susie looked down to the floor lost in thought. What did Noelle do?
Susie sighed to herself. It's not like Noelle was in any state to tell her all the details. It was gut-wrenching for Susie to see Noelle this way, so her priority was to make her feel a bit safer, happier.
Surely there must be some way to make her feel better.
"Um... It's ok, Noelle. This is all just... this is all just a dream."
Noelle slowly looked over at Susie. "Huh? It is?"
Susie nodded. Noelle looked a bit more relaxed and the sniffling died down a bit.
Noelle smiled a tiny bit, although still concerned.
"Y- yeah, you're right. It must be a dream since you're here, Susie." She said, reassuring herself. Her tears started to dry up.
Susie looked at Noelle back with a slightly nervous smile.
"Uh, do you dream about me a lot?"
She tried to change the topic to something light to distract Noelle.
Noelle fidgeted with the blankets around her, tightening them. She was nervous even in what she thought was a dream.
"Um... yeah! I dream about you a lot."
Susie coughed.
"And, uh... and why do you dream about me so much, huh?" Susie's pitch had raised, genuinely curious.
Noelle blushed and she delayed answering the question for a few seconds.
(Oh, come on, Noelle! This is just a dream! You can say anything you want. This isn't the real Susie. Why not just be honest with yourself?) She thought.
"Uh, well... that's because I like you a lot, Susie! Um, I may have… a slight crush on you."
Susie was wide eyed and almost jerked up. Her face was tomato red.
What Noelle just said came out of nowhere.
"You, uh... you what?" she asked a dumbfounded grin on her face.
"I have a crush on you!" Noelle repeated louder than needed, a red hot blush creeping up her face.
It took Susie a while to process everything.
"I, uhh... I like you in that way too, Noelle." Susie's eyes were gleaming and she had a wide and sincere smile on her face.
"Of course you would say that! This is my dream after all." Noelle chuckled a bit. She was still gleeful even if she thought it was a dream.
Susie regretted telling Noelle it was a dream just a teensy bit. But on the other hand, it made her stop crying her eyes out. That's all that mattered in this moment.
Susie covered her smile with her hand and glanced to her side. Even if these weren't the best circumstances to confess, she was still happy to hear this from Noelle.
To her, she knew that this was all too real.
"Hm? Aw, your tail's wagging!" Noelle had looked over to Susie's side of the bed. There were small, light thumps coming from Susie's 'tail'.
"Huh!? Don't look at that!" Noelle bounced up a little at Susie’s demand.
"Oh, sorry."
Susie gave a small pout then exhaled.
"Uh... I'm just a bit embarrassed about it... In real life, I don't have one and I've been self concious about it ever since I was a little kid. So don't go looking for it in real life, ok!"
Noelle giggled. "I can't promise anything!"
Susie's cheeks reddened again and her teeth were showing.
"Don't!" Susie demanded loudly but with a playful tone to her voice. Noelle tried to choke a chuckle but failed miserably.
"I'd like you tail or no tail anyway, Susie." She mumbled, getting a bit sleepy.
Noelle was smiling brightly, and so was Susie.
Susie gazed at her, noting the change in her expression.
"... You stopped shaking." Susie huddled up to Noelle, just to check.
Noelle shuffled her legs up next to Susie to feel her warmth. "Guess I got comfortable."
Susie had a slight smile on her face.
"... Me too."
Susie lifted her arm hesitantly, then placed it around Noelle's waist, bringing her closer into her than she already was. Noelle snuggled into the curve of Susie's neck.
They stared at the baseball in the sky for a short while in peaceful silence.
Noelle gave a content little yawn.
"Oh, are you getting tired?" Susie said, as she looked down at Noelle.
Noelle nodded her head and rubbed her eyes.
"Yeah, I think I am. But whenever I go to sleep in a dream, I always wake up."
Susie smiled a bit.
"Maybe you should have a nap."
Noelle mumbled.
"But... I don't want this dream to end." She said as she clung to Susie's arm and nuzzled into her.
Susie didn't want this to end either. But she had hoped that Noelle would remember what had happened between them and figure out that this was all real.
Besides, Noelle must have been tired from all the crying she did. It would be best for her to get a rest.
"Um... Noelle, you know... you can always say this to Susie in real life too, right?" She said with heated cheeks.
Noelle sleepily looked up at her.
"Can I?" Susie nodded in response.
"Yeah. Maybe... Susie isn't as scary as you think she is." She hushed.
Noelle loosened her grip on Susie's arm and was softly falling asleep.
"Maybe one day." Noelle murmured.
Susie slowly got up, letting Noelle gently fall to her bed.
"I need to meet up with Kris and Ralsei now, Noelle." Noelle smiled kindly at her and lightly nodded her head.
Before Susie could leave, Noelle grasped her hand gently.
Susie looked down at Noelle's hand, then gave it a soft soothe.
"Susie, this was a nice dream. I hope I have another one like this."
Susie smiled tenderly at Noelle, looking into her eyes.
"I hope so too. Maybe next time, it will become a reality." Noelle let go of her hand and her arm fell to the side of her bed.
Susie tried to walk as gently as she could, almost leaving the room.
She stopped before she could open the door and looked over at Noelle.
Her eyes were still a tad open. Susie glided up to her before she could totally fall asleep.
She leaned down before Noelle could fully close her eyes and gave her a gentle kiss on her forehead.
"Goodnight, Noelle." She whispered into her ear.
Noelle smiled and looked into Susie's eyes before she closed them completely.
Susie walked to the door and looked back on Noelle's sleeping figure for a minute, smiling to herself.
She never thought she would admit it.
She loved Noelle too.