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The transformation always left Nene feeling like she had stepped out of someone else’s dream.
There was something almost embarrassing about it, the way light gathered around her body in dark ribbons before settling into layers of lace and translucent fabric, the little ornaments at her wrists and ankles chiming softly whenever she moved.
Her reflection in the surface of the water below hardly looked like her anymore.
She looked almost unreal—as though the girl who usually hid away from the world had been replaced by a heroine who had no idea how frightening it was to be looked at.
Emu, of course, looked perfectly at home.
She floated a short distance away, surrounded by pastel light and drifting bubbles, her enormous bow and frills catching the glow of their magic.
Her smile was radiant enough to make the entire underwater world around them seem dim by comparison.
Nene had gotten used to seeing that smile during missions, but she still hadn't figured out how to stop her heart from doing something stupid whenever Emu looked at her like that.
Especially when Emu looked at her.
"Nene-chan!" Emu called as she spun through the water, her brighter skirt and ribbons trailing behind her like flower petals. "You look so pretty!"
Nene's hands immediately flew toward her face as warmth rushed into her cheeks, and she turned away under the flimsy excuse of checking her magical staff in her hand.
"Y-You're one to talk," she muttered while adjusting the cuff around her wrist, refusing to look directly at Emu. "You look like you belong in a fairy tale."
The words had barely left her mouth before she realized what she had said.
Emu stopped spinning.
She could feel Emu's gaze on her, warm and delighted and unbearably affectionate, and every sensible part of Nene's brain immediately began screaming at her to take it back.
She could have said she meant the outfit. She could have blamed the transformation. She could have pretended she had been talking about the whole magical-girl aesthetic.
Instead, she stood there and waited.
Emu drifted closer, her shoes barely touching the glowing surface beneath them. She reached out and gently caught Nene's hand, turning it over so their palms rested together.
"Then... we're both in a fairy tale☆!" she said with a little laugh, squeezing Nene's fingers as though that settled the matter.
Nene's heart nearly stopped.
That was the problem with Emu.
She did things like that.
She reached for Nene's hand without hesitation. She leaned against her shoulder while they waited for their enemies to appear.
She fixed Nene's weirdly flowy hair when it came loose after a battle.
She hugged her whenever she was happy, whenever she was scared, whenever Nene looked tired, and sometimes for no reason Nene could figure out at all.
Emu gave affection so freely that Nene had started collecting every little gesture without meaning to.
Nene had begun to wonder if there was some cruel rule written into the universe that said she could never have enough.
Emu tugged gently on her hand, bringing her closer.
"Come on, Nene-chan," she said brightly as she pointed toward the distant glow of their destination. "Let's go save everyone!"
Nene followed. That was another problem. She would follow Emu anywhere.
Through enchanted forests where the trees were alive. Across floating islands suspended above endless clouds. Into strange oceans filled with stars instead of fish. Through ruined castles and glowing gardens and places where the moon hung so close that Nene felt as though she could reach up and touch it.
Sure all of the aforementioned places were in witches' labyrinths and it was their duty as magical girls to defeat witches—
She would follow her anywhere.
And every time Emu looked back to make sure she was still there, Nene's chest would ache with something she couldn't quite name.
Or, more accurately, something she absolutely could name. She simply didn't want to.
The battle was almost beautiful.
Magic burst across the sky in ribbons of pink and blue, scattering sparkling fragments over the battlefield.
Nene stood with her own staff raised, her voice carrying through the open air as she summoned another spell. Emu darted around her in flashes of light, laughing as she struck down the creatures surrounding them.
At one point, Emu stumbled.
Nene's heart lurched before her body even moved.
She caught Emu around the waist, pulling her against herself before she could fall. Emu blinked up at her, their faces suddenly much closer than either of them had expected.
For one terrible, wonderful second, Nene forgot about the monsters. She forgot about the magic—about everything.
Emu's eyes were so close.
There was a tiny speck of glitter caught against her cheek.
Nene wanted to brush it away.
She wanted to touch her face.
She wanted to lean forward just a little and find out whether Emu's lips were as soft as they looked.
She wanted—
"Nene-chan?" Emu asked softly as she rested one hand against Nene's shoulder. "Are you okay?"
Nene's entire soul attempted to leave her body.
"F-Fine," she answered while hurriedly helping Emu back onto her feet. "I'm fine. Just surprised you almost fell."
Emu smiled at her.
That smile again.
"Thank you for catching me, Nene-chan!!"
Nene looked away so quickly that her hair swung over her face. "Yeah. Well... somebody has to keep you from getting yourself killed."
Emu giggled, then slipped her fingers between Nene's.
Nene stared down at their hands.
She could have pulled away. Instead, she curled her fingers around Emu's and held on.
The battle ended not long afterward, leaving the two of them standing on a quiet floating platform beneath an enormous sea of stars.
Their magic slowly faded from the air, leaving only a few glowing particles drifting around them like fireflies.
Emu sat down at the edge, kicking her feet over the side. Nene joined her, carefully arranging her skirt before sitting close enough that their shoulders touched.
Neither moved away.
For once, there was no enemy waiting for them.
No mission.
No reason to transform.
No reason for Nene to keep pretending that her heart wasn't painfully, hopelessly attached to the girl beside her.
Emu leaned against her shoulder. Nene went completely still. Then, slowly, she relaxed.
She could feel the warmth of Emu's head against her. The faint movement of her breathing. The soft rustle of her hair whenever the magical wind passed through it.
Nene looked down at her.
She loved her.
The realization was so simple that it almost hurt.
Not the dramatic kind of love that belonged in magical-girl stories, where someone sacrificed themselves beneath an apocalypse.
It was quieter than that.
It was wanting to be the person Emu looked for first.
It was wanting to be beside her when the magic disappeared and they became ordinary girls again.
It was wanting this.
Forever.
Nene swallowed, then carefully lifted her free hand and brushed a loose strand of pink hair away from Emu's face.
Her fingers barely touched her cheek before she hesitated, terrified that even such a small gesture might reveal everything.
Emu opened her eyes.
Nene froze.
"What's wrong, Nene-chan?" Emu asked as she tilted her head against Nene's shoulder, her expression soft with sleepy curiosity.
Nene stared at her for several seconds before looking toward the stars.
"Nothing," she murmured while gently tucking the strand of hair behind Emu's ear. "I just wanted to."
Emu's smile grew.
She reached up and covered Nene's hand with hers.
"Then you can do it whenever you want," she said as she gave Nene's fingers a tiny squeeze.
Nene's face burned.
She wanted to say something.
Anything.
She wanted to tell Emu that she was wonderful. That Nene had never known what to do with all the affection she felt until Emu came along and gave it somewhere to go.
She wanted to confess every embarrassing little thought she had swallowed down over the months, every time she'd wanted to reach for Emu and stopped herself because she was afraid of wanting too much.
Instead, Nene simply intertwined their fingers.
Emu rested her head against her again.
And Nene stared out at the endless stars, holding the hand of the girl she loved while desperately trying to convince herself that this was enough.
It wasn't. She knew it wasn't.
She wanted more.
She wanted to be loved by her.
Most terrifyingly of all, she wanted Emu to know.
Nene lowered her gaze to their joined hands and squeezed gently.
Maybe someday, she thought.
Maybe someday she would be brave enough to tell her.
For now, she let Emu lean against her beneath the stars, and she quietly treasured every second of it, even as her heart ached with everything she still couldn't say.