Chapter Text
~~~
The war was over.
That fact was slowly, and finally, starting to truly sink in. The past few months, in every way one could slice it, were “odd”. It was… quiet. Too quiet. But unlike their shared experiences? Said quiet didn’t erupt into sudden life or death combat against the hordes of Legion. It wasn’t like a thriller movie where a killer was JUST AROUND THE CORNER. Nope. The quiet kept rolling on.
But so did business. The war was over, countries had to swiftly shift over to peace. Wartime factories were converted for civilian use. The military bases were scaled back or disbanded. People got medals, pay and leave. The party? Lasted about a full month.
And some people kept partying on. Mostly the brave soldiers of the Eighty Six Strike package. After all? They fought the hardest, longest, and most dangerous battles of the war. They could finally be free. And freedom felt good. They outlasted the Republic that branded them as naught but livestock, and now got to be free men and women.
Of course, that caused more than a few headaches for the brass. But said headaches were taken with smiles.
Or restraint.
Two of those headache havers?
Vladilena Milizé and Shinei Nouzen. Tactical and combat commanders of the Strike Package.
Though, the two did celebrate in their own ways as well. Their relationship now allowed to bud and bloom to the fullest now that the chaos had died down. Causing eye rolls and headaches to those under them.
But in the end?
It was all in good fun.
Because now they could have said fun in peace. Living it up to the fullest.
Yet the wheels of politics cut their time short, if only briefly, after the second month of peace came. Work was to be done. The world had to heal. The hero’s and hardworkers of the war had some jobs to do.
Shin, being the famed Reaper, had to do some PR work. The Giad Republic was still a new nation, and the war was their only source of PR. Shin groaned on about how he wasn’t the right man for the job, but his reputation did the work.
Lena, for her part, was on the back burner. Helping restore the Republic she called home for most of her life. San Magnolia. It had to be rebuilt and remade, so the sins of its actions during the Legion war could and would never be repeated.
So…
After two blissful months together? No war to interfere with their lives any longer? It was politics that made them part once more.
But this time?
They knew it would only be temporary. No risk of death to worry themselves sick over any longer. No Legion plot against their lives. Just the brutal, boring realm of politics. Politics that they desperately wished they had the power to ignore, and just go live their lives together… But? This would be the last time they’d have to part from now on…
Still…
It didn’t make them miss each other any less.
If anything?
It made them miss each other all the more.
~~~
Morning came once more.
The sun shined, the birds chirped.
And Vladilena Milizé was stuck in bed.
It’s been two weeks since Shin was sent off to the Alliance Of Wald for political purposes. Right about now she figured that he was preparing for some kind of speech…
Or something like that.
She hoped it was a speech. That way she could get a recording of his voice and actually HEAR her boyfriend again. She missed his voice… Badly. She wanted to hear it again, to hear it more. Even if it was some boring, half hearted speech
A groan followed as she checked the clock, she was up much later than she usually was. She felt like crap. She didn’t even drink last night! For all she remember, she had to fight off a drunk duo of Shiden and Raiden just to stay sober…
Her stomach was trying to escape her tummy, that much she knew for certain. Where was Shin when she needed him the most? Last time she got sick like this he nearly shot Shiden for being gross around her… then cuddled her… then got sick because of her… but it was FINE.
This.
Was not fine.
Her boyfriend wasn’t here.
And she was suffering in silence.
Her stomach lurched.
And she made a break for the bathroom.
It wasn’t a pretty sight, nor a pretty sound. Part of her was glad that Shin wasn’t watching this, and part of her wished he was holding her hair and patting her head.
Shin would do that…
Because Shin was perfect…
Sweet San Magnolia…
When did she get so needy? The mere thoughts she just had, even after puking her guts out, made her feel strange. Sure she missed him, but that was going into the realm of being needy…
Then again…
Shin wouldn’t mind…
Before she could get too disgusted at herself again, she had to reintroduce her face to the toilet bowl. She was sick, no two ways about it. It was confirmed.
After flushing the toilet, and dragging a trash can to her bedside, she made two calls. One calling Grethe to let her know that she wouldn’t be able to come into work today, not because she was hungover but because she was sick, and one to Annette. Girl knew how to make a girl feel better… be it with sweets or actual medicine.
Then again…
Lena didn’t even crave sweets at the moment… honestly she felt like she was more in the mood of absolutely devouring a tin of pickles. Heck she could probably just slam back the brine as well… she wanted something that tasted weird…
What the heck was going on with her today? To be fair she was sick, but she doubted the sickness made its way into her damn BRAIN. Her best guess was that she caught a very bad flu or something.
Would be strange…
Last time she really joined in on the parties was during the first month after the war. She had a few ladies nights, a few nights with the whole strike package, and a couple nights with Shin. In that order. If she would’ve caught something, it would’ve been during those earlier days…
In the last month?
She had a lot of personal time with Shin. Hiking, fishing, long drives, more than a few dinners, a beach trip or two. Sure she could have caught something, but she wasn’t as nearly as close to people, aside from Shin (and his immune system was close to undefeated) as she was compared to the month before that.
Ugh…
Well the facts remain the same.
Shes sick, and she’s calling her best friend for help. What a lovely turn of events. At the very least she won’t be dealing with any more of the former Bleachers today.
Honestly she probably would’ve punched one of them by this point… and given them a follow up punch if she had to work in this condition… three if they said something about Shin again—
“Hey! Your angel of healing has arrived Lena! Tell Auntie Annette what’s wrong THIS time…”
Oh.
She was saved!
“Try to walk into the bathroom without gagging and then tell me… feel like crap… didn’t even drink last night…”
“Girl… you sure? This is like that time you thought that it was a good idea to drink that whisky that was made for Onyx’s… You know, the stuff that actually made your boyfriend tipsy?” By the flag Annette was never gonna let her live that down…
“I didn’t drink! I sweat! I was just—“ Lena was suddenly cut off by the sudden urge to remove last nights dinner from her stomach.
Or…
No she already puked that out.
Maybe that was lunch?
“Uggggggh… Annette? I think I’m dying… peacetime… that’s what’s gonna do me in… I’m gonna make poor Shinei a widower…”
Lena didn’t know why… but now she had the sudden urge to weep! It made absolutely zero sense at ALL. But the mere idea of Shin? Having to go on without her? It broke her! She had to cry! She needed to cry!
“Whoa…” Annette started, a little stunned at the sheer magnitude of the mood swing she had just witnessed. Her friend, for lack of a better term, was busted. Something snapped inside her, and there was no fixing it. “Hey… Lena? This is gonna sound really personal but… Did you and Shin… you know… get it on…?”
Lena’s tears suddenly stopped.
She removed her head from the trash can she recently barfed in, and was currently crying in, and snapped her gaze at Annette.
“I mean… duh? We had… we had to celebrate you know!” This was NOT the conversation she wanted to have, but Annette asked, and it seemed important enough.
“And… when was the last time you had your period?” Annette quickly shot back, her hand falling to her hip, her face was… teetering on the edge of emotion. As if Lena’s answer would be something that would make or break whatever came next.
“About… a month and… a half or so…” Lena spoke slowly, the implication crashing whatever emotion, sickness, or mind fog she had left. She missed her period. She MISSED it. Nothing was solid, maybe there was another reason but…
The implication was clear…
Shin left two weeks or so ago.
Lena, now doing the math in her brain, should’ve had her period two weeks ago.
She wouldn’t admit this to Annette but…
She and Shin did unwind a lot together. It was only natural! They were a couple! But… she didn’t think something like this would happen… not like this, not right now…
Sure, they PLANNED on having a family together in the future but… the future seemed to be approaching fast.
“Finish puking your guts out, take a shower, get dressed, and then me and you are going to the hospital. Or family doctor. Or SOMETHING” Annette huffed, her face now firmly buried in her hands as she tried to piece everything together in her mind.
Well…
She didn’t need to do much piecing.
She just needed to process this.
“R-Right…”
Lena didn’t offer much in the way of resistance. Simply stumbling back into the bathroom, and turning the shower on…
Thankfully?
It seems this sickness had passed…
Which?
Wasn’t exactly doing much in the way of calming her nerves about the sheer implication of what was happening.
~~~
It was confirmed.
It was simple.
It was in black and white.
Pregnant.
Vladilena Milizé was pregnant. Pregnant with the child of Shinei Nouzen. The latter was a hell of a lot more obvious than the former.
Lena felt dizzy.
If she wasn’t already sat down, she would’ve needed to take that seat right away. She was in the early stages of pregnancy. She had dreamed of this moment for so long, once peace finally came, and now she had it.
Tears slipped from her eyes.
Annette placed a hand on her lap.
For the first time in a long time?
Lena smiled so wide it almost hurt.
“How much you wanna bet Shin is gonna faint when he gets back?” Lena joked through her tears of sheer joy, breaking into a fit a giggles.
Even the doctor cracked a small smirk, poor guy seemed a bit worried once Lena started to cry, maybe assuming her partner had perished or left. His worries seemingly disappeared. Now allowing himself to step out of the room, informing the two that the Federacy would pick up the tab for the test and early maternity check-up.
“Heh… if I know him? He’s probably gonna just freeze up. Ask you to repeat yourself over and over again until you have to beat it into him” Annette dryly responded, leaning back into her chair.
“Hah… I never thought about things like this… or… this moment… I always imagined kids but… this moment? This feeling? I guess I didn’t imagine it would’ve started with me puking up half a lung to figure it all out” Lena giggled back, her morning sickness fully passed by this point.
But boy was she glowing.
Pride, joy, happiness and pregnancy.
All mixing together to cause… this.
“Well… I’ll tell you one thing for free… you best try to keep it from the others unless you want Shin to find out through a low quality call. My bet is that he’d stab someone to get on the first flight back here”
With that?
The two friends stood and exited the doctors office, the weight of knowledge and the future weighing heavy, in a good way, on their shoulders.
“Be sure to tell Theo that I plan on getting a portrait done once I finish giving Shin a heart attack after telling him I’m pregnant… Theo is the only one I trust with something this important!”
Lena said before the two friends walked down the street, heading back to Rüstkammer. The two sharing a smile…
Then they turned their heads.
Noticing that a very shocked individual was staring back at them.
A very shocked Eighty Six.
An Eighty Six that they knew very well.
One they worked with, one that was a part of the Eighty Six Strike Package.
Shiden.
Fucking Shiden.
Lena felt her heart drop.
“Her Majesty… Yer fucking WHAT???”
~~~