Work Text:
“I’m that girl’s bride.” Miorine had told Peil’s board, had told everyone. “I’ll protect you. Leave it to me.” She had told her that in a quieter voice, meant for her alone. A promise. Suletta Mercury sat alone with her thoughts on the trip back to Asticassia, slowly rotating in the main cabin of the ship shuttling the students back. She didn’t need to be alone, Miorine was inside their small cabin close by. Nika and Martin were across the hall, and she thought she saw Guel’s brother earlier, entering another cabin in the row. Elan was…
Elan had tricked her. She flinches at the thought. He had told her to come up on stage with him, he had positioned her right on that small hidden platform that rose up. He had tricked her again, and she was so stupid to have fallen for it again. To think that he had changed, even though he smiled more and she had believed his excuse of being caught in a magnetic storm. She was so stupid, naive, gullable. She should have listened to Miorine. She should have never have come here. That way, she still could trust her mom, her mom who had so casually revealed that Aerial was a Gundam. Who had assured her just a few weeks ago that she was no such thing. Aerial being a Gundam meant that she was a witch as well, another lie.
“Hello Mercurian Miss, what’s with the moping face. I would have thought that you and Miorine would be celebrating.” Shaddiq asks, watching her slowly rotate anxiously.
“I’m… I just have a lot on my mind.” Suletta sighs, staring out the window as she spins. “What about you?”
“To be honest, I was going to check in on you and Miorine and congratulate you two. GUND-ARM Inc. is quite ingenious. Did you see Miorine during that?”
“O-of course. I-I-I was there. She was so… she was so confident throughout her whole plan, and smart, she came up with all that so quickly, and when she stepped up at first and said that she was my bride… I… I know it isn’t…” Right, it wasn’t real, they had made a promise. It was their secret. Just pretend to play the groom until Miorine could get to Earth. So, she had avoided getting too close to her.
“Isn’t what, Mercurian Miss? Real? Is that why you’ve been ignoring the signs?” Shaddiq asks with a smile.
Yes, the signs. The way that her heart fluttered in front of Miorine. The way that she had felt guilty when Miorine had walked out after she had accepted the duel with Elan, and then she had been so happy to hear her voice during the test flight of the Mirasol. Tonight, she had thought of Miorine when she needed confidence. Her tumultuous thoughts when she thought of Miorine leaving, how she had to ignore the selfish part of her that wanted her to stay.
“It… she wants to get to Earth.” She mumbles to herself, forgetting that Shaddiq was there for a moment. It had to be fake because Miorine wanted to get to Earth, and how could she compare to Earth?
“And how can she do that if she’s the CEO of GUND-ARM Inc?” Shaddiq asks with a shrug. “She holds two things very close to her. Her desire to get to Earth, and her pride. She threw both of those things away for you.”
“I know.” She looks away. She doesn’t want to be reminded of what she's taken away from Miorine. What Miorine had to give up for her. “I know, and I wonder if she hates me for it?”
“Oh. Is that what you believe?” Shaddiq laughs.
“Is it… not?” Getting to Earth had been Miorine’s priority, even this morning she had told her that.
“Ah, that is for you to ask her, Mercurian Miss.” Shaddiq winks, then starts to float away.
“H-hey… one more thing. Mister Shaddiq. Why are you… telling me this?” Suletta asks quietly. Shaddiq hums, biting his lip.
“Perhaps it is for my own benefit, or perhaps I simply wish to see what happens.” He tells her as he grabs a handlebar on the wall and uses it to accelerate away from her, “Good night, and good luck, Mercurian Miss.” he waves before dipping back into a room.
***
Suletta enters her and Miorine’s cabin, to see that Miorine is awake and scribbling away at something on her notebook, likely related to the company. She looks up though when the door opens, and her frown turns into a small smile.
“Welcome back Suletta, how are you feeling?” She asks.
“I…” Suletta bites her lip. “I still have a lot on my mind, more… more even.”
“Your mother, or Elan, or…” Miorine asks, concern on her voice.
Y-you.” Suletta stammers, then takes a breath. Miorine frowns, tilting her head to the side and kicking off the wall gently to move towards Suletta. “I have to ask you something.” She starts. If you go forward, you gain two, she can’t run now that she’s brought it up. She slumps her shoulders. Stand up straight, Miorine had advised. She does so now. “Do you… hate me for making you sacrifice so much? Earth, your pride…” she looks away.
“Needing to… sacrifice?” Miorine repeats, then clicks her tongue. “Suletta Mercury, look me in the eyes.” She demands. Suletta turns back slowly, initially dropping her gaze but forcing herself to look into Miorine’s silver eyes, dancing with starlight. Miorine takes a deep breath of her own.
“I didn’t need to sacrifice anything. I chose to give those things up. For you. I chose you.” She emphasizes the ‘you’, looking at Suletta. Hoping that she understands.
“B-b-but… I’m just-“
“An idiot who trusts too quickly and gets herself into trouble as soon as I take my eyes off of her it seems, yes.” Miorine declares, then shakes her head. “You are also someone who is kind to me, and helpful without asking for anything in return, and even with your blunders… you treat me better than anyone ever has. I don’t know when it started-” she did. It was when she chose Suletta over Earth the first time, those seven seconds in a bathroom stall with a smuggler standing outside. She would also rather die than admit to the fact that she had latched onto the first person who showed her genuine kindness in years that quickly. “-but I do care about you, Suletta.”
“I-I didn’t know you thought of me like that, and… and the promise,” she raises her pinky, “y-you wanted… wanted to get to Earth.”
“I did, I still do. But… as I said I made my choice. It is to be with you. So, that promise is now null and void. You have taken responsibility as much as you could, and you do not anymore.” Miorine states firmly.
“It… it is?” Suletta asks.
“Yes, but I want you to make a new promise.” Miorine is the one to break eye contact now, her shoulders slumping. “Suletta, promise me that I’ve made the right choice.” She asks in a quiet, almost desperate voice. She dares not think about what would happen if she made the wrong one.
“I-I-I’ve been… a neglectful groom.” Suletta doesn’t look away though, despite the embarrassment she feels at calling herself that. Miorine had called her her bride, so she should call herself the groom. It is a relief on her heart however, knowing Miorine chose her. Chose to stay with her. Knowing that someone chose her and wants what’s best for her, after she herself tried to give everyone what they wanted for so long. “Even though you’ve… you’ve always been there for me. You always seem to… to know how to… encourage me. Tonight… I was scared of… I was scared just before Peil tricked me, but, I thought of you, telling me to stand up straight. A-and I did. Or during the… guidance exam, you reminded me of my dream. Before the duel… with Elan too. You’re smart and-and pretty and… I didn’t want to think about it… because you were going to Earth.” Suletta trails off as a blush creeps up on her face, then takes a deep breath. “So… tell me what you need… from me.”
“You have been neglectful, but I also did not tell you of my own feelings.” Miorine admits, and then she bites her lip. “So, do you promise?” It had still been a hard choice for her, and if… if Suletta left her after she made that choice, it would hurt her. She didn’t believe that Suletta would, but… she needed to know. She needed Suletta, or it would have all been for nothing.
“I…” Suletta takes another deep breath. Then, she floats over to Miorine, putting her arms around her and pulling her closer. Still they keep eye contact. She wants to be Miorine’s groom, to be in her life. To show her feelings that become clearer now that she doesn’t deny them. “Thank you, I won’t… make you regret it. I’ll prove that you… you made the right choice. I promise” How to prove it to her, Suletta thinks. What would a groom do? The idea comes to her, and she blushes. She had thought about… when Miorine left for Earth she imagined doing it, just so that she could have expressed her feelings before Miorine left forever. But Miorine wasn’t leaving to Earth, she’s staying. She’s staying with her, Suletta Mercury. So, she leans in, kissing Miorine softly on the lips. She feels Miorine gasp in surprise, and pulls back, embarrassed, worried that she has somehow messed up, gone too fast.
“Good.” Miorine reaches out, pulling them against the zero-g bed, Suletta smiles and wraps her legs so they’re tangled together. Miorine is the one who leans in this time to catch Suletta’s lips. It’s still chaste, and it escalates no further than that for now, but Suletta’s heart pounds on her chest.
“Then… if… if we’re going to be married… can… can we also…” Suletta lets herself look away now, nervous.
“Go on dates? I will find the time, between school and running our company, yes.” Miorine agrees. “I think I could fall in love with you easily, now that I know it won’t be temporary.” She sighs happily and buries her face against Suletta’s shoulder.
“Yes, I could as well.” Suletta agrees, her face feeling as hot as the sun. Then, it’s extinguished as another thought enters her mind. Another small feeling of dread that eats away at her happiness. “Miorine, I… can you… promise me something as well?”
“Of course.” Miorine whispers.
“Mom lied to me… lied about Aerial and me, and when… when I needed her, she wasn’t there.” Suletta slumps her head so that her cheek rests on the side of Miorine’s own head. “She broke our trust, and I… it hurt me. I’m scared that…” She trails off, not wanting to say it. Not wanting to say out loud that Miorine would do something like that to her. “Please promise me you’ll tell me the truth, no matter what?” Suletta’s hands tremble slightly as they hold Miorine, and she tries to hold back tears.
“Of course, I won’t hurt you like that.” She feels Miorine’s hand reach up through her hair, taking out the pins holding it up and combing through it with her hand before letting it fall naturally. Suletta doesn’t protest when Miorine takes off her mother’s headband, tossing it aside casually. It spins away, bouncing against the far wall. “I promise, Suletta.” They seal it with another kiss, soft and gentle. Still uncertain, but knowing a way forward.