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“Ow! Paula!” Mia whines, drawing a miniscule healing spell to ease the burning on her ear.
Paula looks sheepish, holding the curling iron away from her face. “Sorry, forgot about the pointy part.”
“She's dealt with worse than a small burn.” Violetta declares, the makeup brush hovering over Mia's face. “Beauty is pain, and you want to look pretty when Yuko and Mo see you, right?”
“I'm pretty without burning.” Mia tries to argue, pulling a face when some powder falls on her mouth.
“It’s one of the few times they're going to see you not look like you've fought for your life in the last 24 hours.” Paula translates the logic for Mia, letting the last curl fall and stepping away.
Mia huffs, what is her life? Violetta soon finishes the makeup, and Mia grabs the hair straightener, starting to help with her hair instead.
“Are you sure you don't want to change it up for tonight?” Paula asks.
“I don't like how I look with the curling iron. Fancy curls don't suit me.” Violetta shudders, remembering the fashion mishap the day they tried. Ringlets are not for everyone.
“Hm.” Mia muses, twisting the hair into a slight wave with the straightener. “How about waves?”
Violetta leans closer to the mirror, seeing the added volume. “I like that, actually.”
“Congratulations, they got rid of the last straight thing about you.” Vincent appears by the open doorway. Violetta rolls her eyes, and Paula quickly pulls him in, closing the door.
“Relax. They haven't caught me in years; they're not going to catch me now.” He sits on the desk.
Mia hides a smirk, knowing if Yuko were getting ready with them, she'd tell him not to jinx it. Alas, after having learned how to do her makeup the human style from Violetta, she and Mo decided to get ready separately. Definitely not like a wedding, Mia has to remind herself. That custom probably doesn't even exist for elves. Thank goodness the heavy makeup disguises her blush, even if her face must look silly. She finishes Violetta's hair against the backdrop of the team's chatter and grabs her dress from where it's hung, going behind the screen to change. Mia steps into the dress, pulling it up and buttoning it halfway, Paula helping with the last few.
“You look beautiful.” She reassures, Mia, the nerves radiating off her.
“Of course you'd say that, you made half of the dress.” With her grandma's sewing supplies, she never met her, but it's a nice thing to know. Its predictably pink, but by far the fanciest Paula has made.
“Well, yeah, but the mannequin sure helps.” Vincent pinches her. Violetta sees her reflection as she puts on her makeup, giving her a thumbs up.
When they're finally done, they step out into a quieter area of the parking lot. It's then she looks up, her heart hammering in her chest twice as hard as it does when she is fighting for her life. Yuko's and Mo are dressed in yellow and red for old times’ sake. Yuko's dress is more understated, as a guest, but Mia can only think she'd blow any of her classmates out of the water.
Mo smirks with that boyish charm that would make more than a few elves swoon when they were growing up. He adjusts his suit, unused to the material, but more than willing to put up with it considering the look she's giving him. Yuko elbows him, just as Vittorio rolls around to take them to the venue himself.
He comes out of the limo with a camera. “Come on, let me get a picture first!”
The group huddles together. Violetta chastises Vincent as the blue glitter from his suit gets on her purple pantsuit, making the group burst out in genuine laughter for the photo.
The technicolor lights make the night seem a little surreal, along with the crowded dance floor and the kids, who totally didn’t sneak a few bottles of any alcoholic beverage in, stumbling around. Vincent dances with Alessandro, Paula’s out of sight and Violetta is probably talking to some pretty girl or another.
None of that particularly matters to her, happily spinning around. She insisted yet again that despite her best efforts, she'll never be a formidable dancer, Yuko only joked she'd draw shields around their feet. She’s so close to them she can see the sparkly eyeshadow on her eyes, and the eyeliner she no doubt drew on Mo.
They did manage to scream along to a surprising number of songs throughout the night, having heard the radio in the greenhouse play a lot. Then the song changes, and Mia holds back her confusion as the familiar beat of “Can't help falling in love” starts to play. Why would they play that at a dance? It seems to be for some of the parents attending, but she can barely hold back her internal panic when Mo pulls her into a waltz, laughing.
“You won't step on us, remember?” Mo says. Mia has to remember how to function. Yes. That's why she's nervous.
“Shall I stay? Would it be a sin, if I can't help falling in love with you?” The speakers blare. Her father used to sing to her mother as they waltzed around the living room. She rolled her eyes at the time, but now she understands the sentiment so much she clenches her fists to stop her hands from trembling.
“I've heard this one.” Yuko says, pulling her away into a half hug, happily singing the lyrics as Mia grins at her theatrics. “Take my hand, take my whole life too.”
Mia's beet red now, the makeup not hiding the obvious butterflies she feels as they sing along with the rest of the room. “For I can't help falling in love with you.”
“It's a wedding song.” She blurts out, not being able to hold it in any longer, swaying to the music.
“I can see why.” Mo says, not quite familiar with human weddings but understanding the appeal.
“We'll have nice music at ours, don't you worry.” Yuko says, lifting her up. Mia wishes she could freeze time right then and there.
Mia steps up onto the platform. Her former classmates look out into the crowd, and she forces herself to be discreet. She waves at Renzo and Annie, the latter cheering loud enough for an uptight-looking grandmother to side eye her. She only smiles, quickly glancing at the seemingly empty area in the corner. The graduation only allowed a couple family members for each student, which means Yuko and Mo had to sneak in under an invisibility spell, and struggle to hold it without her for so long.
“Mia Marconi!” Her name is read out loud, and she struts to get her diploma. She shakes hands with her teachers, smiling more when she gets to Mr. Jiang. For all his insistence she should pursue journalism, she still isn’t quite sure she’ll have the time to right wrongs in the human world as well, even through reporting on them.
Vincent, Paula and Violetta wait for her on the other end, and she quickly goes down the steps for a Team Terrific group hug, suddenly joined by a couple invisible sets of arms. Graduating has probably been the easiest thing she's done, considering their life, but the shared euphoria of having made it through school is enough to get her to scream and celebrate with the rest.
As soon as the crowd of students becomes messy, Yuko and Mo finally let go of the spell, being able to mingle with her. The school lights fireworks that last night of class, the way they always do for the graduates, but this time she cuddles Yuko and Mo, watching the show. Team terrific turns to her from their own spots in the grass.
“One last time?” Mia asks at their expectant looks, magic already lighting her hand pink.
Everyone cheers, and she chuckles, drawing an illusion spell and making the display grander than ever before. She even sneaks in a unicorn shaped firework. While everyone is distracted by the show, she finally kisses Yuko, and then Mo, watching them turn into nervous wrecks just like she’s been the entire day.
They curl up wordlessly, settling into watching what’s practically Mia’s fireworks again, and she finally understands the excitement of the graduation, and the elven newcomers’ days, no longer seeing an ending but a new beginning. She’s filled with a sense of cautious hope, they have their whole lives ahead of them still, and she can hardly wait to live hers with them.