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Old Sharlayan.
The seaside city of the academics had become a refreshing sight for Angelina, despite her initial, less-than-welcoming reception there. Since the triumphant return of the Scions from Ultima Thule, her visits to the bustling city had always been enjoyable. There were always jobs that needed doing, rumours to be investigated, gil to be made. Perhaps most importantly, there was the prospect of running into a certain member of the Scions who she hadn't seen in a while.
Her trip today was routine - a delivery of some goods that the twins' mother had requested. Little else was on her schedule, aside from restocking on combat supplies for a potentially dangerous job next week. These errands did not take her long, and she soon found herself walking down to the bay, considering what to do next. She sat down on a bench at the edge of the water and closed her eyes, thinking of nothing but the sparkling water in front of her, the murmur of commerce behind her, the scent of the sea on the breeze. Casually exploring and enjoying the world she had saved currently occupied much of her time, and moments of truly having nothing to do, so rare for the last year or so, were ones she now cherished.
But after only a minute or so of rest, her ears perked up to the sound of footsteps behind her. She recognized the gait immediately, just as she would recognize the gait of any of the allies she had spent the last few years fighting alongside. These particular footsteps drew a smile to her lips.
"So this is how the famous Warrior of Light has been spending her time? Loitering aimlessly by the harbour, watching the waves?" drawled a familiar female voice. "Your aether is so lazy I barely recognized you."
"'Shtola." She had not seen her friend since the Scions had disbanded, though she would admit to herself that she had perhaps come to Sharlayan more often than was strictly required, in the hopes of perhaps bumping into the very woman now approaching her from behind.
Y'shtola walked to Angelina's side, but did not sit, instead standing facing the same direction, out towards the sea.
"I must admit I have had some difficulty imagining your daily life, suddenly devoid of daily mortal combat, no thousands of lives depending on each stroke of your sword. How on earth are you keeping yourself busy?"
The Warrior of Light shrugged. "There's still enough epic mortal combat to keep me awake. Just lower stakes." She looked up at the woman next to her, narrowing her eyes. "And I'm not the adrenaline junkie you make me out to be. I could live a totally normal life if I wanted to."
Y'shtola smirked but said nothing in reply. The two women stayed silent for a moment, both staring out at the ocean, feeling no need for small talk.
"What exactly are you looking at? You can't see the view like I can," Angelina inquired after a minute of comfortable silence. "Ah, sorry, I don't mean to—"
"Hmmmm," interrupted the woman beside her, bringing her hand to her chin and tilting her head as she considered how to explain, "there is a certain level of background aether I can feel from the ocean, and from the sunlight. It's not what you see, but it's something. And I can feel the sun on my face, and I can smell the sea."
Y'shtola frowned down at the woman sitting next to her, "and please, you know there's no need to be sensitive about this."
Angelina smiled wryly. "No, I suppose you're not someone I need to choose my words carefully around."
"Gods, when Alphinaud first realized I'd lost my vision, he was absolutely insufferable. Every time he'd say, 'I see' or 'look at that,' he'd be wincing and apologizing. I had to threaten to turn him into a porxie to get him to treat me normally again."
"Now if I was Thancred, I might make a comment about the increasing similarities between your personality and a certain old..."
"Thankfully," Y'shtola interjected, now scowling down at her companion, "you are not Thancred and are not going to suggest any such similarity."
The scowl was countered with a grin. "Thankfully."
Y'shtola sniffed and began to walk away, "Come. I have been in the library and have not eaten all day. I'm sure you have tales of adventures to regale me with."
Angelina jumped to her feet and jogged a few steps to catch up. "Well, if you insist..."
–--
One year earlier...
"Y'shtola."
The woman turned at hearing her name, to see Angelina sit down next to her at her table, carrying a fresh bottle of wine and a glass.
"It's getting a bit too loud over there. I thought your company might be a nice change from the drunken antics." Zenos had been slain two days earlier, and now the Scions, their injuries mostly healed, where joining the Ala Mhigans in celebrating the liberation of their country.
"I had been enjoying a relatively calm, scholarly conversation with Urianger over this very bottle of wine, but I have once again been reminded of how shockingly easily that man can get drunk." Y'shtola gestured with her half-full glass over to where Urianger was reciting what was either poetry or a magical incantation to a group of rather confused Resistance soldiers.
Angelina smiled and started counting out on her fingers, having finished pouring herself a glass as well, "Lyse has reached the fistfight level of drunk, Thancred is hitting on waitresses unsuccessfully, Alphinaud is asleep at his table, Tataru is at the poker table—doing quite well I might add, Alisaie is being hit on by waitresses..."
"And you have decided to grace me with your presence. The Saviour of Ala Mhigo herself, stooping to talk to little old me."
"Y'shtolaaa." Angelina rolled her eyes at her companion, who merely scoffed in response.
The pair were distracted momentarily by the other side of the room, where Alphinaud, having just reawakened, proceeded to trip into a waiter, resulting in a plate of food being spilled onto his twin sister.
After a moment of enjoying the spectacle of Alisaie pouring verbal abuse on her sibling, Y'shtola turned back to her companion, her sightless white eyes still able to convey something like eye contact, and hesitated a second, taking another sip of her wine.
"You know, you may call me Shtola if you wish."
Angelina froze. Had she heard that right? The dropping of the initial letter in Seeker culture was reserved for family and for very close friends. She considered Y'shtola a trusted friend for sure, and Angelina had assumed that was reciprocated. They had been through a great deal together. But such an invitation still came as something of a surprise from someone as, well, haughty as Y'shtola.
For the first time, she found herself grateful that the woman across from her could not see, as her cheeks reddened.
"Ah, well... if you're sure, I mean–"
"Please, we've saved each other's lives how many times? If anything, I should have said it months ago."
Angelina, blushing even more heavily, opened her mouth only to close it again a second later, unsure what to say. She took a quick sip of her wine, before replying.
"Thank you. I, uh, I'm glad to know you think of me like that. I mean not like that, but..." Thal's balls, what was she, a schoolgirl? She killed gods without breaking a sweat. Receiving a perfectly natural, friendly gesture from a close friend should not have her stumbling over her words like this. Even from it was from a very attractive close friend. A friend she maayyybe had a little bit of a crush on.
Y'shtola frowned, "I hope I have not overstepped. I had thought that we were close enough for that, but if that would make you at all uncomfortable–"
"No, no, that's totally fine," Angelina cut in, "I’d be more than happy to drop the Y, and really, I would like to offer the same, but, well, I don't really have a Keeper name. If I did, I would."
"I'm glad to hear it," Y'shtola said with a smile. She paused, then asked with an unusual tone of caution in her voice, "If it is not too personal, I have wondered for some time as to why your name does match the usual Keeper formula..."
Angelina grimaced lightly. "I…well, I don't generally like to talk about it." She paused, seemingly mulling over her next words.
Y'shtola leaned back in her chair and sipped her wine slowly, staring at her companion with her unseeing eyes. Angelina had always brushed off questions about her background, at most admitting that she grew up "somewhere south of the Sagoli," and that she left home to become an adventurer a few years before meeting the Scions.
Angelina gave a slight sigh, then straightened up and met her friend's gaze. "I did have a Keeper name when I was a child. I grew up in a Seeker clan in Thanalan. I left my name behind when I left my tribe, and I've been Angelina ever since. Angelina is my name. That's who I am, and the name I was called as a child is no longer me. I never tell anyone what I was called back then, because to me it doesn't matter."
With that, she stopped, unsure of whether to go on.
Y'shtola was a good friend. She could be sensitive and caring when necessary. She knew that not everyone had the same insatiable drive for knowledge that she did. But even if curiosity did sometimes kill the cat, she was a curious person by nature, and when she got a glimpse of some hidden secret it was very hard for her to let it lie.
"It is hard to imagine you as a member of a harem."
Angelina winced. She knew Y'shtola well and was aware that she was being gently prodded into sharing more. And, she realized, she was not unwilling to do so. There were not many people she trusted as much as she trusted the woman across from her, and as she began to talk about her past in the first time in a while, she found that it became easier as she went along.
"Well, yeah. I never really fit in with the Seeker tribe culture. I know your upbringing was a bit unusual as far as Seekers go, but I'm sure you're aware of what it's like. It wasn't awful at first, when my dad was the Nunh. I played with my sisters, I had lots of aunts, it really wasn't so bad. I was a bit of a weird one because I also wanted to go and hunt with the men, and I liked sparring and learning to fight. But for as long as was my dad in charge, I was pretty happy."
She frowned and took another sip of wine before resuming, "But of course, eventually my dad was challenged by one of our Tias. And he lost. The one who killed him was my friend. I had trained with him, he had taught me a lot about fighting, about hunting. He wasn't my brother by blood, but I thought of him as a brother. And then he killed my dad.
"That was bad, but we all knew it would happen eventually. I'd never been super close to my father, I'd never felt like more than just another one of his many daughters, so I grieved a bit but not that much. But after that was worse."
Angelina looked down and took a deep breath. "The Nunh has the right to have sex with any of the women he wants. And right away he would start requesting my sisters to come to his tent at night. And they would just go along with it. They'd all talk about how strong he was, how incredible his fight with 'the old Nunh' was. My father's body was barely cold, and they’d started gossiping about how they hoped they'd get pregnant. Even the ones I'd been close with, that I'd admired. I couldn't understand it at all. I'd never understood the older women talking about how handsome my father was, but that was normal, he was my dad. But now I suddenly felt completely out of touch. The thought of letting the Nunh sleep with me was horrible.
"So, I started spending more time outside of the camp, hunting by myself. I trained with my bow and sparred with the other Tias even more than I had before, because I couldn't bear to sit in the women's tents and hear them talk about how dreamy he was. And because I was scared he would ask for me. And then, of course," she chuckled mirthlessly, "One day he did."
Y'shtola had been watching her friend with concern as she talked. She reached out hand and placed it atop Angelina's arm. "You don't have to continue if–"
"No, I'm fine," Angelina shook her head and didn't meet her companion's gaze, "I refused, of course. But he insisted. He had been my friend, I had sparred with him for years. And I had to fight him off. But he just wouldn't stop. It makes sense of course, what kind of Nunh couldn't even make one of his women submit, I was an insult to his pride, a threat to his status. He was stronger than me, but I was faster and I was desperate.
"I grabbed a knife, and so did he." Her arm was still on the table, with Y'shtolas hand resting on it, but she stared straight across the room and spoke in a monotone, "He gave me the scar on my nose, and I gave him a worse one on his chest. It ended with my knife held to his throat. We'd tumbled out of his tent by then, everyone had gathered and was watching. But no one had moved to stop us. When I stood up, they wouldn't meet my eyes. No one spoke to me, even my own mother. They helped him back to his tent and tended to his wounds, and I packed my bags and left, and I never came back."
She turned to look Y'shtola in the eyes, and shifted her expression to a wry smile, "And that's how I lost my Seeker name."
Y'shtola frowned. "Oh gods, Angelina. I'm sorry if I made you share more than you wished..."
But all she received from Angelina was a smile. "No, I don't mind. It’s good to talk about it. And you, of everyone, I thought might understand."
"Yes, I think I do." Y'shtola paused on the implications of that, before allowing herself a slight smile in return, "thank you for telling me."
Angeline leaned back in her chair and sipped her wine, "In any event, this is supposed to be a celebration, and you've got me talking about my most depressing memories. Wouldn't you rather have me regaling you with the details of my epic fight with Zenos?"
"Shockingly enough, I have in fact heard the tale a few times, though not directly from you, I'll admit. If you must, I'll allow you to describe your valiant swinging of your sword."
Feigning offense, Angelina attempted to persuade her friend, whose smiling eyes belied her exasperated expression, that her most recent conquest was the most epic yet, "He turned into a fucking dragon, Shtola, it was insane..."
---
Lunch at the Last Stand had been accompanied by a recap of Angelina's adventures since coming back from Ultima Thule, of which Y'shtola had heard only the general outline of from the other Scions and the occasional linkshell contact. A few hours had gone by, and a few plates of Sharlayan sweets, when Angelina had finished explaining all the skills she had picked up, all the combat styles she had experimented with, all the random people she had helped.
They were now walking down the passage to Labyrinthos. Upon admitting that they could not eat any more, Y'shtola had invited her friend to her workplace, to show her friend how she had been spending her time since the Final Days had concluded.
"As you know, I have set myself the task of finding a means to travel to the Shards," stated Y'shtola as they emerged into the artificial light of the underground facility, "I have made some progress, but there are a great deal of problems still confounding me. The Forum was kind enough to grant me access to the Aitiascope and provided me with quarters in Aporia. Being close to Noumenon, the Aitiascope, and being surrounded by some of the brightest minds in aetherial research has been a wonderful experience. Once I realized that the central difficulty in maintaining aetheric stability throughout the densification process, it was a short leap to the conclusion that re-condensed auracite..."
As Y'shtola embarked on a highly technical description of her work, Angelina, familiar with some of the basics but for the most part clueless about the more complex aspects of aetheric research, nodded along and merely listened, enjoying the simple pleasure of hearing her friend discuss something she was passionate about. Labyrinthos was a beautiful place to walk through. Along the way to Aporia there were a few familiar faces among the gleaners that smiled and waved at her, and the sorceress at her side interrupted her rant occasionally to point out interesting flora and fauna along the way. They both understood that a quick aetheryte trip sometimes just isn't as nice as a short walk.
"Ah, do you see that red flower? Those are from Thavnair, Krile told me about how some researcher thinks they can be used to make a potion that makes the un-tempering process easier."
"I'm sure Alisaie would love to hear that if it's true. But really, it’s quite beautiful, don't you think?" Angelina plucked a single flower from the ground, then, smiling, bowed forward dramatically towards Y'shtola, proffering the flower towards her, "For you, my lady."
"Ridiculous," Y'shtola scoffed, and rolled her eyes at the Angelina's display. But she took the offered flower nonetheless, and kept it in her hand as she quickly turned away and continued walking, leaving Angelina to follow her a few steps behind, chuckling to herself. She definitely wasn't keeping her face pointing away to hide the red that had encroached on her cheeks. Definitely not.
---
Later, the pair were seated in Y'shtola's study/living room/workshop/bedroom, Y'shtola in her armchair and Angelina seated on her bed, the only other place to sit. The room was quite spacious, but it was brimming with bookcases, stacks of books, and a pair of desks covered in books, paper, and assortments of aetherological instruments. Having been treated to a tour of Aporia and introduced to some of the scholars Y'shtola worked with, as well as to some of the physical components of her studies into inter-shard travel, they had turned to discussing their friends and allies.
"Yes, I had lunch with her last time I was on the First. They've finally moved in together, they've got a cute little apartment in The Pendants."
Y’shtola smiled. Like all the Scions, she missed Ryne and the others from the First, and was grateful whenever Angelina came back with updates. "With that Ascian girl, what was her name, Gaia?"
"Yes, her. It'd been pretty obvious for a while that they were together, and Ryne's crush had been hard to miss from the beginning. But they were finally open about it with me, which was nice,” Angelina smiled fondly, "They're adorable together. I'm glad Ryne was able to find some family there to replace Thancred."
"Mmhhmm, yes, she's a good girl. Based off Thancred's stories, though, I can't say I'm entirely convinced that Gaia is a good match for her. She sounded a little…prickly."
"Gaia warmed up a lot as we got to know her. To Ryne in particular. Obviously. I think they've been a good influence on each other, they've both matured a lot since you left the First. Gaia is more friendly, and Ryne is more down-to-earth."
"And her paternal figure is okay with this development?"
Angelina winced. "Well, he wasn't happy at first. It made me glad for once that he couldn't jump over to the First, it probably wouldn't have ended well between him and Gaia. But I bring him letters from Ryne from time to time, and I think her stories have made him realize how much Gaia has changed, and how much Ryne loves her."
"To think that the playboy I knew so many years ago would become so domestic," Y'shtola sighed, "If the old Thancred could've seen his future self I can't imagine how horrified he would be."
"I'm sure he would. Though you know, I'm sure even his present self is a bit annoyed that his daughter has better luck getting girls than he does," Angelina commented with a smirk.
"His bite has never lived up to his bark in that respect," Y'shtola replied, also grinning. She then hesitated for a moment before continuing, posing her next question with a somewhat more uncertain tone. "And what of you? We have very rarely heard any tales of romance from our Warrior of Light, though I'm sure you do not lack for suitors."
Angelina winced. "Well, suitors who want to say they bedded the Warrior of Light, there is no shortage of those, for sure. Suitors who actually have an interest in me beyond my title, not so much. And of those, there are very few who I feel any interest in in return..."
Y'shtola tilted her head, giving her friend her full attention, but also examining what was unsaid in her words. Angelina had always kept a wall up around her personal life, even around the Scions, who were the closest thing she had to family. Y'shtola was, for a while, the only one who had heard the story of her childhood tribe, though she had since shared the general outline of the tale to the other Scions. Any questions about romance, however, had been even more firmly brushed away than those about her backstory. Angelina had not once, in Y'shtola's memory, admitted to any form of crush, fling, or serious relationship.
The more perceptive members of the Scions had realized, after not too long, that she preferred women. If her complete obliviousness to the affections of Aymeric and G'raha raised the question, then the persistent differences between her interactions with barmaids and female vendors (broad smiles, and a blush in proportion to the amount of visible cleavage) and with even the most handsome of staff belonging to the opposite sex (pure business) answered it. And her face when Y'shtola suggested "taking you across my knee" put it beyond any doubt. None of the Scions, of course, would judge their friend for this. Eorzea was a fairly open place regarding sexual differences–spend any time in a Limsa bar and it would become clear that a mere preference for the same sex was rather vanilla. But there were also places where attitudes were not so open, the stuffy mansions of Ishgard being one, and the more isolated Seeker tribes, where Angelina had grown up, being others.
"Besides, I've never had much interest in one-night stands. Don't really see the appeal."
"But, and please tell me if you do not wish to talk about this, you might see the appeal in something more long-term?"
Angelina blushed and looked down. "I…I suppose. With the right person. It's just...well, I'm the Warrior of Light. I spend every day travelling around the world, throwing myself into danger. Not super conducive to a regular romance."
"Were you not just bragging about being overwhelmed by suitors, mere minutes ago?" replied Y'shtola with a smirk.
"Hey, if you want to have horny adventurers trying to sit at your table every night, let me know, I'll send them your way."
Y'shtola merely rolled her eyes. "Judging by several, repeated gibes from our beloved Thancred, my, to use his words, 'resting bitch face,' should be ample means to keep them away."
"Well, that actually sounds rather useful," Angelina said, laughing, "Perhaps I'll have to take you along with me for dinner more often."
"I would be happy to offer my services and accompany you." Y'shtola smiled, gazing with her pale, empty eyes directly at Angelina, who froze for a moment, looking away and turning red, but also smiling.
A comfortable silence reigned for a few moments, before Angelina turned the conversation back on her companion, "And what of you? Surely Sharlayan's greatest scholar, back fresh from travelling—and saving—the world must have her fair share of admirers."
Y'shtola frowned slightly before replying. "Thankfully for my peace of mind, they seem to be mostly scared off by my aforementioned habit of scowling."
"That's really not true, you know. You only glare at people who deserve it, and Thancred is disproportionately deserving of it. And in any event, I'm sure there are plenty of people who have spent enough time with you to know you're a big softie on the inside."
Angelina chuckled, but immediately found herself on the receiving end of the famous scowl. "I am most certainly not a 'big softie' and I'll ask you to please never say that phrase again. The reality is that I like to spend large parts of my time locked up in a room with my books, and when I'm not there I'm being dragged around to the far ends of Hydaelyn with the Scions, waging war against gods and tyrants. What little romantic experience I've had in the past has suffered as a result. I have been called 'haughty' and 'cold' more than once, and I'll admit," she chuckled wryly, looking away, "it’s not entirely groundless.
“I believe the general consensus amongst the other students when I attended the Studium was that I thought I was better than everyone else, and returning to Sharlayan in the wake of literally saving the world, as the close friend of the Champion of Eorzea herself, did not do much to change that." Y'shtola was going to continue, but she was interrupted by the woman across from her.
"That's ridiculous," said Angelina, with audible anger in her voice, and a look of outrage on her face, "I absolutely hate that. Just because you have things you're passionate about and you know your own fucking worth, gods, I would honestly punch anyone who said something like that about you in front of me. You are better than all of them. And you're not cold, you've never been anything like that to me. If people can't see how much you respect you deserve, then fuck them, I mean, gods, those are some of the things that I like so most about you."
Her outburst concluded, Angelina froze for a second, realizing that she had reacted a bit too strongly and said too much, then stared down at her feet, her hands gripping her legs.
Y'shtola had listened to the brief tirade with wide eyes, and lips slightly agape. But seeing her friend's embarrassment, she smiled, stood, and moved over to sit next to her on the bed. "You know that I generally put little weight on the opinions of others. I merely meant to answer your question, it is not something painful."
She leaned forward and towards Angelina from her new position next to her, trying to tempt her into eye contact. When that failed, she cautiously reached out her hand and placed it atop Angelina's. "It would not be inaccurate to say that hearing such passion from you in my defense means far more to me than a thousand insults from anyone else."
If Angelina had been blushing lightly before, she turned truly red now.
"I...uhhhh. Ummm. Thank you. That uhhhh. That means a lot."
Y'shtola let her hand rest where it was and paused to consider her strategy. What lay between them, not yet put into words, had been something she had been putting off dealing with for some time. But now, it appeared that she had probably gone too far to chicken out—not that an as illustrious warrior and scholar as herself would consider chickening out. No, if only for her friend's sake, she had to proceed.
"You are aware that my vision shows me the state of the aether of the person I am looking at, right?"
Angelina frowned, confused at the sudden change in topic but still refusing to meet Y'shtola's gaze. "Yes?"
"And are you aware that one's emotional state has an effect, visible to me, on one's aether?"
Now, Angelina did look up, clearly alarmed, towards her. "That means you can...see emotions?"
"Well, not exactly. It's not as if," she replied, amusedly, "your aether turns red when you are angry and blue when you're sad. It's a matter of observing patterns, concentrations, the mixing of the many flavours of aether that a human soul exudes. I cannot walk up to someone I have just met and tell what they are feeling. And it took me months after I lost my sight before I realized there was a reliable correlation between patterns of aether and emotion at all.
"But with respect to those whose aether I know very well, that I have observed in varied situations over long periods of time, yes. Though it is far from an exact science, no more precise than one particularly adept at interpreting facial expressions, I have a pretty good idea what they are feeling when I look at them." She looked away from Angelina, unable to continue looking straight into her friend's face without beginning to blush herself, and finally retracted her hand, bringing into her own lap to grip her own other hand, "and of course, there are few whose aether I have spent as much time closely observing as yours."
Angelina appeared mostly frozen at this point, struggling to process the various implications of what she had just heard, mouth hanging open slightly until she summoned enough sense to ask, "That, uhhh, so what you're saying is...you can see that I, well..."
"The overall point of telling you this, is, well, to say that I, hmmm." Y'shtola's voice, typically so brimming with confidence, had trailed off in volume and increased in hesitance. "I am aware of how you feel. About me."
Silence reigned in the small room. Neither woman looked at each other.
After a few moments of awkward quiet, Y'shtola unsure of how to continue, and Angelina frozen next to her in a state of extreme embarrassment, she finally continued. "Your aether is unusually active when you are speaking to me, very much different from anyone else. In similar ways to the aether of lovers I have observed with each other. This, coupled with more mundane observations about how you interact with me and confide in me before the others, and about how you seem to prefer women in general, and Miqo’te women in particular..."
"Oh gods, I'm so embarrassed." Angelina covered her face with her hands, and leaned forward with her elbows on her knees.
Y'shtola smiled awkwardly. "Please correct me if I'm wrong."
She kept her face hidden, and spoke in a muffled voice, "Uhhh, well, no. That's ummm, right. But gods, how long have you known? This is so embarrassing. You've known all along, and I've just been completely oblivious."
"Well, I have known for some time. But there is no need to be quite so embarrassed. I never felt uncomfortable about it, not for a second. Nor did I ever laugh at you."
Angelina replied merely with an agonized groan.
Y'shtola sat watching the woman beside her, amused, but at the same time slightly concerned about the depth of embarrassment shewas displaying.
"Do the others know?"
"I don't know. That you like women, most likely. You're not exactly subtle about it, you know. That you like me in particular? Krile probably has figured it out, she's quite observant. I couldn't say about the others, they can be rather dense when it comes to things like this. And really," she said in a suddenly flirtatious voice, leaning in a bit closer to Angelina's ear, "you have me all to yourself, is asking about other people really the best use of your time?"
Angelina drew back with wide eyes, shocked. "I, errr," She looked down, hesitant to overstep any boundary, "does it really not bother you?"
"Why on earth would it? Were you not bragging just minutes ago about how many suitors you turn down on a daily basis? If anything, I should say that it is quite an honour to have caught the eye of Eorzea's most eligible bachelorette."
Angelina did not laugh. Rather her expression grew even more pained. "Shtola, please. I—I hoped that you would never find out. You're my closest friend, it’s terrifying to think that I might lose you if you felt uncomfortable that..."
"Angelina. I did say it jokingly, but I absolutely did mean it. You are one of the kindest, bravest people that I have ever met. I am honoured to call you a friend and to be the object of your affections is quite possibly the highest compliment I could ever hope to receive. And I hope you are not daring to suggest I am so small-minded as to think less of you because you like women."
"Thank you," she replied softly, "I, that makes me feel better about it. It’s just, I was very scared of it maybe pushing you away. I did really hope you'd never find out."
"Really? That's what you were hoping for? I would have thought that you were hoping for the exact opposite," Y'shtola remarked, with a teasing note in her voice, still leaning forward towards Angelina. "Surely your fantasies were not about watching from a distance forever."
"I, errr—" Angelina somehow turned an even brighter shade of red, "I just figured that once you found out I'd have to move on. And I wasn't ready to move on, I wanted to continue, well, you know. I didn't want to give up. I suppose that's childish, and it will be good for me now, but, I mean, it hurts. To have to give up. I'm brave when I have a sword in my hand, but this..."
Y'shtola, still leaning towards her friend, smiling fondly, reached out her hand and gently placed it on top of Angelina's head. She stroked downwards, fingers threading through the soft hair, her thumb tracing around the base of her ear, and she felt Angelina stiffen and freeze under her touch.
"Does this really seem like a prelude to a rejection?" she asked quietly, leaning even closer to whisper directly into Angelina's ear.
Angelina looked up into her friend's pale eyes, uncertainly but with a glint of hope. The two women sat in silence next to each other for a few moments, eyes locked together until Angelina swallowed, and spoke.
"I would not want you to feel any pressure to reply, or an obligation to..."
"Ange, stop," Y'shtola interrupted firmly, "I have known you had feelings for me for months. I have had all the time I need to decide on my response. It is only my own cowardice, as well as exigencies of the Scions' work that have made me wait until now to bring it up. You are a good friend, a very admirable ally, you are always kind and thoughtful to me, and you are beautiful. I am perhaps not the most experienced with romance, but I have had relationships before. Including with women. I know what I want, and I want you."
This time, Angelina did not look away. She met Y'shtola's gaze with a wondering expression, her eyes slightly narrowing in a manner that suggested imminent tears, and she spoke in a soft voice, "Shtola, I…really?"
"Really."
"Even if I have to run off around the world all the time?"
"That's who you are. I wouldn't have it any other way."
"And if the others found out, would that be–"
"I don't plan on keeping it a secret. If you're scared of Thancred and Krile's teasing, you can just admit it."
Angelina smiled. Hesitatingly, clearly still not entirely sure if she would be permitted, she reached out her own hand to cup Y'shtola's cheek, trailing her fingers gently along her upper jaw, only for her to close her eyes, smiling even more, and slightly lean her head into the contact. "I'm younger than you."
"Angelina, we are both grown women, six years is nothing. The woman you've had feelings for months? years? is holding your hand, telling you that she returns your feelings. Are you going to keep up making pointless excuses, or are you going to kiss me?"
At that, Angelina briefly chuckled, then after a brief pause moved in and did just that. Y'shtola felt her smile and push in against her lips, and she felt a hand come to rest on her thigh. She moved her hand from Angelina's cheek to her head and stroked her fingers down through her partner's hair to the base of the neck. And then she closed her eyes and let the warm, impossibly soft sensation of Y'shtola's lips take overwhelm her thoughts.
And for the next bell there was no need for talking at all.
---
The first thing Y'shtola noticed when she woke was that her movement was unusually restricted. It took her half-awake brain several seconds to recognize the unfamiliar sensations of a) a pair of muscular arms encircling her torso from behind, b) a pair of bare legs and a tail tangled amongst her own, and c) a face pressed into the back of her neck. It took her another few seconds to notice and connect her own lack of clothing to the two particular points of pressure against her back, and the first memories of the night before. Her face reddened a bit, but she felt not the slightest bit of discomfort or regret—her whole body was infused with a sense of satisfaction, and she moved her hand down to lace her fingers into those of the hand that held her from behind and twined her tail around her lover's leg as she enjoyed the soft sounds and movements from the body behind her and began to assemble her recollections of yesterday.
After the 'confession,' they had spent a few hours making out and talking in Y'shtola's bed before realizing that it was past time for dinner and that they were hungry. So it was back to The Last Stand, where they took some plates of food and a bottle of wine down to a bench at the water, for some more privacy. Only the latest in a long series of meals they had shared together, but the addition of their hands occasionally brushing together, and a new intensity to their eye contact, made it feel like the beginning that it was.
And when Angelina had attempted to say goodnight and return to her room at the Annex, Y'shtola had merely smiled and tugged her by the hand in the direction of Labyrinthos. "But the night is so young! Don't tell me the Warrior of Light is afraid of the dark?" Cheeks red but smiling, Angelina had followed her home happily.
Y'shtola's cheeks turned just as red, as she remembered how naive her expectation was that, being the older one and the one who had taken the lead in their conversation earlier, that she would do the same when they returned to her room. Instead, her partner, now free from the embarrassment of having her secret exposed and secure in the knowledge that her feelings were genuinely requited, finally returned to the Warrior of Light that she was in public: a boundless wellspring of energy and confidence. And very, Y'shtola recalled, her brow furrowing as she recalled her several failed attempts to take control, very eager to please.
She sighed and shifted her position slightly, only to be startled by the feeling of a pair of lips suddenly pressing into her nape.
"Mmmmmgood morning," mumbled a voice behind her.
Y'shtola's blush faded and her grimace of embarrassment faded into a smile as she stroked her thumb along the back of her lover's hand. "Good morning. Did you sleep well?" she asked softly.
"Mmmmyep," was all the response she received. But she felt Angelina's arms tighten, and her legs shift and rub against her own.
"The sun is up. Would you like me to get some coffee?"
She could feel Angelina's lips moving against her neck as she grumbled back, "No. Stay in bed. For a bit longer."
"Hmmm." Y'shtola extricated her legs from her lover's, and pushed her arms out just enough that she could turn over onto her other side to face her partner. She smiled and closed her eyes, lacing her own arms around Angelina's torso and burying her face in the neck of the woman she loved. "Just a few more minutes, okay?"