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Sara never expected that she’d be on the receiving end of this kind of lecture.
Back when she was still the instructor for Class VII, she had rather an unfortunate tendency to catch her students in…compromising positions. Not that she would get mad at them about it. These kids were young and hormonal, and oftentimes under plenty of stress. They deserved some nice times with some nice people! So she was never too hard while lecturing them.
Stumbling upon Laura picking up Rean and holding him against the wall to make out behind the dorm? Tell them to take it inside one of their rooms but compliment Laura on her lift strength.
Looking for some field equipment and walking in on Alisa and Ferris exchanging tender touches? Remind them to lock the equipment shed next time but reassure them that she caught Theresia and Emily in the exact same position last year.
Find Linde doing an...unorthodox physical exam on Gaius? Get them out of the infirmary but hi-five both on the way out.
Heck, she wasn’t even Kurt and Juna’s instructor and she found them sharing kisses on board the Courageous II! In their case, she gave them some more scenic locations to duel tongues than the break room of an airship.
She thought she was fairly reasonable in dealing with all of them. So why did karma deem it necessary for her to get caught like this with the Icy Maiden.
Their little rendezvous at the royal wedding wasn’t planned. Sara heard that Claire was working security and stopped by to say hello. It wasn't her fault that Claire found Sara extremely attractive in her dress and seemed flustered at seeing her throughout the day. And it wasn’t Sara’s fault that she felt the need to egg Claire on and leave some lingering touches here and there when they passed by each other.
…Okay maybe it was Sara’s fault a little.
Around halfway through the reception, Sara felt the mood to slip away from the festivities and persuaded Claire to do the same. After a long bout of convincing, Claire relented, and the duo ended up behind one of the buildings, Claire gently pushing Sara against the wall and kissing her senseless.
It certainly wasn’t the first time they’ve done this. There was the school festival right before the civil war started, Sara dragging Claire away once both were on break. Then there was that time on the Courageous during said civil war, just to comfort each other on a stressful few days. Once more during the festival in Heimdallr, a private “dance” with each other before the ball. And finally, one, quieter, moment in the Wetlands near Mishelam, before the Great War.
Maybe it was because it was the first time the two had properly spent time together since the Empyreal Fortress. Maybe it was because during their last time at Mishelam, they finally realized their feelings ran deeper than they initially thought. Maybe it was even just that the royal wedding put them in a certain mood. Either way, both melted so easily in each other's arms, and as Sara ran her fingers through Claire’s hair, and felt the RMP officer gingerly holding her as to not ruin her dress, she felt like she was in heaven.
And it was a good thing that she was already there, because she just about died from embarrassment when Rean stumbled across the two of them. He was just looking for them to take a group picture of Thors alumni with Prince Olivert, and soon enough every other member of Class VII, along with Lechter, showed up to see what the commotion was about.
And perhaps eager to pay Sara back for all the times she’s interrupted them, Class VII was ruthless in their lecturing.
“Major Claire, aren’t you supposed to be heading security?” Juna asked, unable to hold back the teasing tone in her voice. “I didn’t take you to be the kind of person who'd drop everything to have hook-ups behind a shed.”
“Indeed. Don’t forget that we’re still not that far removed from the end of the war. There might be some extreme Osborne-loyalists still aiming for Prince Olivert.” Kurt added. “You can’t be sloppy in your work.”
“You really picked a place where anyone could walk in on you two, huh?” Alisa said, stifling a laugh.
“Don’t think you’re innocent in this either, Instructor.” Gaius looked over to Sara. "Especially after lecturing us about the same thing."
Laura nodded. “I’m sure you persuaded the Major into sneaking off with you. Just like all those other times like at the Festival and on the Couragous.”
The Purple Lightning's eyes widened. “Wait, you all knew about that?”
“Obviously.” Rean said so matter-of-factly. “Did you think we wouldn’t notice both you and the major disappearing at the same time? You’re much less covert than you think. Heck, when we were all at Mishelam the night before the war, you barely waited until I was done talking to Major Claire before you swooped in.”
“Oh this is mortifying…” Claire bemoaned, one hand to her face, the other still clutching Sara’s.
“I think it’s great!” Lechter joked. “I think all of us were getting pretty tired pretending not to know about you two.”
“Are we done here?” Sara asked, annoyed. “Yeah I deserve the lecture after doing the same to you kids, but we shouldn’t keep the prince waiting.”
Class VII looked around to each other, and nodded. The judgmental, teasing looks on their faces shifted into smiles. “We’re really happy for you, Instructor. Major.” Rean said.
“We’ve always been rooting for you two, so it’s nice to see it finally official.” Alisa added.
“Plus you two are really hot together.” Musse gave a thumbs up to the two of them, much to the annoyance of some of the other members of Class VII.
Sara and Claire were a bit surprised at the well wishes. Claire had to take a moment to process it. “Oh…uhh…thank you all.”
“Gonna be honest though, this might be more embarrassing than getting walked in on.” Sara muttered.
Afterwards, Rean started leading the others away. “Come on everyone. We still need to take that picture.”
As Class VII walked off, Sara sighed. Then she gave a light peck to Claire’s cheek, and led her by the hand, following behind her old students. “Damn kids.” she said with an embarrassed smile towards her girlfriend.