Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The dreamscape seemed to scream, the surrounding area distorting. The noise was enough to make Firefly’s head hurt. In the shadows, dozens of eyes opened, all of them glaring at the two intruders who dared disturb this chaotic space. Besides her, Stelle stepped in front and summoned her bat, ready to protect her. She was such a sweet girl. 

The scream ended, and the thing formed fully. It was a bizarre creature, almost draconic in appearance but disfigured and lacking any sort of cohesion to its structure. By all rights, it was something that shouldn’t exist. And outside of the Dream, that might’ve been true. Here though, anything could take shape, even nightmares. The sight of it sent a shiver down Firefly’s spine. In spite of the Family’s promise that Death didn’t exist in the dreamscape, the aura this being exuded promised a very different story. 

“Stand back Firefly, I’ll handle this,” Stelle said bravely. 

Firefly did as she was asked. She was supposed to be an innocent, “normal” girl after all. 

The creature lunged through the air, its body contorting unnaturally. It thrust its large wing-blade forward like a lance. Stelle parried the attack with her bat. With a push, she shoved the wing-blade away and swung at the creature’s main body. The destructive force of the self-proclaimed Galactic Baseballer’s swing sent the creature flailing back through the air several meters. It let out a cry of pain, though it was difficult to tell how much damage had actually been done. 

Stelle rushed forward to continue the assault, but the creature vanished into shadow right before her next swing could connect. She warily scanned her surroundings for the monster’s whereabouts. 

“Above you!” Firefly shouted. 

Stelle’s head snapped up to find the beast floating high in the center of the room. With a swing of its entire body, it sent a barrage of its eye-scale-feather thingies raining directly down on Stelle. The baseball bat vanished from her hands, replaced with a glowing lance head. She held it aloft, conjuring an amber barrier to block the raining blade-like objects. When the attack subsided, she swung the lance like a sword, sending a volley of fireballs at the floating creature. 

It slithered through the air, dodging most of the fireballs. It flew around the room, launching more of its eye-blades at Stelle. She jumped out of the way, allowing the blades to embed themselves into the floor. She broke into a run, chucking more fireballs at the creature as she did. The ranged battle continued with both Stelle and the beast circling the outer perimeter of the circular room, launching their respective attacks at one another. Firefly just barely managed to stay out of the crossfire by hiding behind one of the large TVs scattered around the room. 

One of Stelle’s fireballs landed a direct hit on what passed for the creature’s face. It let out a pained cry, faltering in its flight. Before Stelle could press her attack though, the creature once more vanished into the darkness. This time, Stelle took up a stance with her back to the wall so that the entire room was in her line of sight. 

Against a normal foe, that might’ve been a good plan. This was no normal foe though. This was a being born from the chaotic memoria of the dreamscape. It was not bound by typical logic. What might’ve been solid terrain to Stelle or Firefly was more akin to water for this creature. Firefly only realized this fact when she noticed a slight ripple in the wall Stelle had her back to. 

“Behind you! Get away from the wall!” 

Stelle’s eyes widened. She dove away from the wall just as the razor end of the creature’s wing-blade ripped through the space she had just vacated. The blade didn’t stop though, it lunged further out, intent on skewering the off-balance Stelle. She brought her lance up to block the strike. The creature pushed onward, forcing Stelle back across the room until she crashed into a table on the opposite side with more TVs piled atop it. The table broke in two under the force, causing the pile of TVs to collapse. 

Stelle still held strong, holding her lance up to block the wing-blade even while pinned to the wreckage beneath her. It was clear she was struggling though. Her arms shook under the strain and beads of sweat rolled down her face from the exertion. While the creature kept her pinned with its wing-blade, half a dozen more of its floating scale blades  readied themselves to impale the defenseless Stelle. 

Firefly acted without thinking. She summoned one of her swords to her hand and rushed forward, sinking her blade into the monster’s flesh before it could land its finishing blow on Stelle. It flailed violently as the superheated blade burned it from the inside out. The thrashing caused it to relieve the pressure it was putting on Stelle, which gave her the  opportunity she needed to recover. Swapping out the Architect’s Lance for her bat so as to not accidentally hurt Firefly with her flames, she swung at the beast with destructive force. Firefly un-summoned her sword so she wouldn’t get dragged along as the monster went hurtling into another stack of TVs. 

“Are you alright?” Firefly asked Stelle worriedly. “That looked painful.” 

“Oh, it’s no big deal,” the taller girl replied with a dopey grin on her face. “I’ve been hit with worse.”

“That doesn’t really reassure me…” 

Before she could fret over Stelle further, a horrific screech shook the whole room to its foundation. The monster appeared out of thin air right above them, its many eyes erratic and its wing-blade poised to strike. 

Firefly froze. She had let her guard down for but a moment, but that moment was all it took. Death now loomed over them, ready to cut her already too-short life even shorter, and Stelle’s along with her. She wouldn’t be able to counter this with just her sword. There was nothing she could do but accept her fate. 

But that wasn’t really true, was it? There was something she could do. But that something would mean revealing who she truly was, and possibly losing the trust of her precious new friend. Surely keeping her secrets wasn’t worth losing both their lives though, right?

This all flashed through her mind in an instant. In that crippling moment of hesitation, she felt the force of a body forcing her out of the way. Stelle tackled her out of the way, putting her own body between Firefly and the monster’s wing-blade. 

“Gahhh!” Stelle cried as the great blade ripped into her back. There was no blood in the dreamscape. Instead, a slosh of bubbles and blue liquid splattered from the taller girl’s back. They both hit the ground with a thud, Stelle collapsed on top of Firefly. 

“Stelle!” Firefly cried. She cradled the other girl in her arms. The memoria that composed her dream body shuddered, but thankfully wasn’t unstable enough to burst. If that slice had been just a little deeper though…

The monster screeched again, readying for another strike. To Firefly’s dismay, Stelle shakily pushed herself to her feet and faced the beast again. From her spot behind her, Firefly could clearly see the giant gash in her back and the memoria that continued to leak out of it. 

“No Stelle, you can’t!” Firefly pleaded. 

“Don’t worry Firefly… The Galactic Baseballer never lets down a pretty girl in need,” Stelle vowed determinedly. 

Firefly stared in awe at the strange girl who was willing to risk so much for a girl she had only met that very day. It tore Firefly up, seeing how much trust she placed in her when she had told Stelle so many lies in their short time together. If she ended up dying to protect Firefly…

No, she wouldn’t allow it. 

Stelle summoned her bat to meet the monster’s wing-blade again, but a sudden intense heat from behind her caused her to falter. She still managed to bring her bat up to guard, but she wasn’t sure it would be enough…

There was a sudden flash of movement in front of her. A tall armored figure now stood before her, catching the monster’s wing-blade with just their hands. Stelle knew this figure, though only from news articles and wanted posters. 

Stellaron Hunter Sam held the monster’s wing-blade in an iron grip. It struggled desperately, but it could neither push the Molten Knight back, nor escape her grasp. It readied its scale-blades, preparing to bombard its new foe from all angles. 

“You’ve chosen the wrong opponent,” Sam said in a deep voice. Activating her jet boosters, Sam spun around in a circle at rapid speeds, dragging the beast with her and interrupting its attack. She spun at speeds that would usually cause a person to be ripped apart by the centrifugal force. Once she decided she was at a satisfactory speed, she let go of the monster, letting it crash into the wall with force devastating enough to crack it. She then activated her jet boosters in the opposite direction to bring her rotation to an abrupt halt. 

She wasn’t done yet though. She fired her jet boosters again, this time to charge straight ahead at blazing speeds. Her metal fist impacted the monster’s face, triggering a fiery explosion on impact. She then grabbed it by the neck and dragged its body along the wall. Powered by her jets, they made several loops around the circumference of the room, rising higher and higher into the air with each pass. Once high enough, she kicked off the wall to rise further up the center of the room, approaching the glass dome ceiling. With another jet,powered spin, she chuckled the monster to the ground hard enough to crack the floor. In one final move, she fired at full power, launching herself to the ground with her foot outstretched. 

She landed with the force of a meteor. The dreamscape itself seemed to shake with the force. Sam stepped back, leaving the creature in the smoldering crater formed from her last attack. 

She watched impassively as the monster twitched. It let out what might’ve been a whimper before vanishing into the shadows one final time. She was somewhat worried about it coming back for another sneak attack, but the oppressive feeling that had been hanging over the room vanished as well, so she decided it was probably alright to relax. 

She dispelled her armor, becoming Firefly once more. “I think we’re safe now,” she said absentmindedly. “Now that we have the time, we should probably tend… to your…”

She trailed off when she saw the wide-eyed, slack-jawed look on Stelle’s face. She had been so focused on the fight that she hadn’t thought about the consequences of what she’d just done. Now Stelle knew her true identity. Knew she was part of the group that had left her with no memories and continued to manipulate each step she took on her journey. 

What should she do now? Elio’s script hadn’t said anything about this! It said she was going to fight Stelle and die three times! Wait, is that what was going to happen now? Was Stelle going to be so hurt and betrayed that she’d fight Firefly right here and now? Was one of her three “deaths” the death of their friendship? 

“U-um…” Firefly stuttered, scrambling to think of something to say that would salvage the situation. “S-so I know what this looks like, but I, um, that is to say…” 

Stelle started walking towards Firefly. Firefly hung her head in shame, ready to receive whatever retribution the Trailblazer thought she deserved. 

She was not expecting Stelle to suddenly grasp her hands in her own. “That was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen. Can we please date?” 

Firefly’s head snapped up to find Stelle’s face barely a few inches away from her own. Her big earnest eyes were practically sparkling. 

Firefly’s face heated up like an oven as her brain finally processed what Stelle said. “…E-ehhh?!” 

“Oh good, I finally found you,” a mysterious and sultry woman’s voice suddenly spoke up. “Your companions asked me to find you, so if you’d just come with me…” 

“Do you mind lady? We’re having a moment here.” 

Far away yet closer than one might think from where the two girls were sorting out their feelings, Misha the bellboy petted Dormancy the Memory Zone Meme comfortingly. The eldritch creature let out what could only be described as pitiable whimpering. 

“There, there Sleepy,” Misha said soothingly. “You’re safe now. Nobody will hurt you here in Dreamflux Reef.” 

From his position leaning against a fence railing overlooking the dreamscape, Gallagher took a swig of definitely-not-alcohol. “Man, you really need to work on your people skills. Now how am I supposed to subtly get the Express crew over here without the Family catching wind? Hoo boy, today just ain’t my day.” 

“Tell me about it,” the random little girl with the fox mask said. “Hey, do you think I’d still get paid if Firefly leaves without experiencing any death at all?” 

Somewhere, somehow, a future-seeing cat made a disgruntled noise at finding out his vision was overturned by gay panic. 

Chapter Text

Firefly clutched her school bag tightly as she walked to school. The past week had been well and truly bizarre for her. She had only recently gotten well enough to attend school in person, but she hadn’t even attended class for a day before things started getting weird. First that magic talking puppy, then finding out she had superpowers, and then doing combat with some corporate scumbag from space who tried encroaching on Earth with a squad of robots. It was totally and utterly surreal. 

“Would you loosen up? Being so tense all the time is gonna give you wrinkles or something,” said the previously mentioned magic talking puppy with the black ribbon and the swirly tail. 

“How can I not be tense with everything that’s been going on?” Firefly muttered. She had already been worried about fitting in even before awakening magical powers. Now everywhere she went she got a nagging paranoia in the back of her mind that someone on the street was going to point at her and shout, “hey! That’s the sickly girl with the superpowers! What a weirdo!” 

She sighed. Maybe none of what was happening was even real. Maybe her condition actually worsened and this was all just some coma-induced dream. At this point, she wasn’t sure if that would be better or worse. 

Well the force of someone running into her as she rounded a corner was certainly real enough. Firefly yelped and shut her eyes, preparing herself for a nasty fall…

A hand grabbed her own and another one slipped around her waist, preventing her from falling. Slowly, she opened her eyes to see her savior. 

The face of a golden-eyed girl with messy gray hair met her. She was quite a bit taller than Firefly, and noticeably wore her school’s uniform. She gazed down at Firefly with a worried look in her eyes…

“Hmf, mre ymm mlrmhm?” The girl asked around a piece of toast in her mouth. 

“…Huh?” Firefly replied unintelligently. With the shock of the impact and the fear of falling gone, she was suddenly keenly aware of her current position in this other girl’s arms. Given her life of relative isolation and sick beds, she was dreadfully unused to physical contact from others. Especially contact so… intimate. And the girl holding her was so tall and pretty, even with the piece of toast in her mouth. Firefly’s face turned beet red, her heart rate skyrocketing. 

“Mh, smrrm.” The taller girl let go of Firefly’s hand to remove the toast from her mouth. “I said, are you alright?” 

“Y-yeah. I’m alright…” Firefly stuttered. 

“Thank goodness.” The girl pulled Firefly to a proper standing position before removing the arm around her waist. Firefly could still feel the lingering warmth left behind. “Sorry for bumping into you. I was in a hurry and wasn’t watching where I was going.” The taller girl rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. 

“Were you seriously running to school with toast in your mouth?” The magic talking puppy Silver Wolf asked blandly. “Class doesn’t even start for another hour.” 

The tall girl put her hands on her hips indignantly. “I’ll have you know I shoved it in my mouth just now to catch the pretty girl. And I’m in a rush cause I’m gonna hang out with my friends before class!” She then blinked several times. “Wait, who even said that?” 

“Uh, bark, bark. Woof.” Silver Wolf said, putting in the minimal amount of effort possible to conceal her true nature. 

“Uhh, h-hey! You said you were off to meet friends?” Firefly scrambled, hoping to distract the other girl. 

“Oh right! I should get going. March will give me an earful if I’m late again.” The girl waved as she ran off in the direction of Firefly’s school. “Later, Pretty Lady! I like your dog!” 

Firefly blushed, twirling a lock of her white hair around a finger bashfully. “She called me pretty…” 

Silver Wolf rolled her eyes. “Oh brother…” 

The rest of the school day went largely without incident. Until the last class of the day. Phys Ed, Firefly’s most dreaded class of the day. 

She technically had permission from her doctor to sit out on the physical activities, but then Firefly started feeling like she was being left out or getting special treatment. Maybe it was all in her head, but at the very least she did want to try doing the same activities as everyone else. Even if it left her feeling horrendously exhausted. 

Such was what she was feeling barely five minutes into their daily exercises. She was just barely done with the warm-up, but her chest was already feeling tight and her breathing was ragged. She barely even noticed she was collapsing until she felt an arm wrap around her waist to support her. 

“Hey Coach?” Firefly heard a familiar voice say. “She doesn’t look so good. Is it alright if I took her to the nurse’s office?” 

“Go ahead,” she heard Miss Feixiao reply. 

Firefly let out a squeak as she felt another arm scoop under her legs to pick her up in a bridal carry. Her blurry vision cleared up to find the same girl from earlier that morning was now carrying her. Firefly had actually seen her throughout the day, as it turned out they shared the same homeroom class, among a few other classes. Her face flushed at being held in this girl’s arms for the second time that day. 

Firefly caught her breath while the surprisingly strong girl carried her. They were about halfway to the nurse’s office when Firefly couldn’t take the embarrassment any more. 

“C-could you put me down please? I can walk on my own…” 

“Oh, are you sure?” The girl asked. At Firefly’s silent nod, she gently set her down. “Sorry if I made you uncomfortable.” 

“On no, it’s fine! Really!” Firefly stammered. “It’s just a little embarrassing is all. I’m actually really grateful. Thanks for helping me out. And for earlier this morning too.” 

“Well, this morning was kinda my fault,” the girl said with a sheepish grin. “So I felt like I had to make it up to you.”

“Well, thank you anyway.” 

The girl nodded. “Oh, I don’t think I ever said, but my name’s Stelle. And you are…?” 

“Firefly.” 

Stelle smiled brightly. “It’s nice to meet you, Firefly. You have a really pretty name. ”

Firefly blushed. “Oh, I don’t know about that. Yours means ‘star’, right? That’s way cooler than a silly little firefly.” 

“No way,” Stelle protested. “Any name that has ‘fire’ in it is just the coolest name ever by default. I mean, less cool, more hot. Hot-cool. It’s cool. In a hot way. Or hot in a cool way?” 

Firefly felt a giggle escape her lips watching Stelle stumble over her own words with a straight face. “You’re funny.” 

“Finally, someone who appreciates my comedic genius. This is a momentous day indeed.” 

Firefly had always felt a little awkward about her name. She liked fireflies, she didn’t mind being named after them. It was just that she always felt like the name said something about her. That she was delicate, that she could barely shine on her own, that she wouldn’t last. In those days when she was stuck in bed, it was hard not to feel bitter about the name she was given. It was… nice having someone talk about her name like it was something strong. 

“Well, well. What do we have here? A couple of students ditching class to goof off? Now that won’t do at all.” 

Firefly tried to turn to see who was talking, but found an arm slung over her shoulder before she could move. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see a blonde man wearing glasses looming over her shoulder. She was pretty sure he was a teacher. She’d seen him before, talking with her homeroom teacher. If she remembered right, his name was…

“Mr. Kakavasha,” Firefly said uneasily. “We weren’t skipping, we were just…”

She felt a tug on her arm as Stelle pulled her out of the teacher’s grasp. “We’re heading to the nurse’s office.” 

“Were you now? That wasn’t what it looked like from my perspective,” the strange teacher said with a knowing smile. “It’s easy to say something is the truth, but that doesn’t make it the reality, how does it?” 

This teacher unnerved Firefly, ever since she first laid eyes on him. Something about the way he talked and looked at her made her feel like he knew something she didn’t. Like that casual smile of his concealed intentions beyond what he let on. 

“Look, you can ask Coach Feixiao if you don’t believe us,” Stelle told him. “She gave us permission to leave class.” 

“Oh, I’m sure,” Mr. Kakavasha said, that ever-present smile never faltering. “And the moment I leave to verify it, you two will have slipped right away to who knows where. Maybe I should take care of things myself…” 

The teacher reached a hand out towards them. Stelle put herself in front of Firefly protectively. 

A hand snapped out and grabbed Mr. Kakavasha’s wrist. “Just what do you think you’re doing, Gambler?” 

Dr. Ratio, their homeroom teacher, loomed above the shorter Mr. Kakavasha, fixing him with an unimpressed look of disapproval. Firefly had only passively taken note of it before, but the man was surprisingly well-built for a school teacher. He held Kakavasha in place effortlessly. 

“Oh, hey Doctor,” Mr. Kakavasha greeted casually, though it was clear he was straining a bit to maintain his jovial facade with the uncomfortable angle the doctor was holding his wrist in. “I was just out for a walk when I noticed a few delinquents cutting class. I was just about to hand out an appropriate punishment in alignment with school regulations.” 

“We already told him we were going to the nurse’s office,” Stelle chimed in. 

“Regardless of the circumstances,” Dr. Ratio said in a stern tone. “The duty of punishing my students hardly falls under the jurisdiction of an Economics teacher whom neither of these two attend the classes of. Beyond which, surely you aren’t daft enough to be oblivious of the abysmal image you evoke here. A male school teacher, harassing a pair of female students in an empty hall? Acquire some common sense, Gambler. And some class while you’re at it.” 

“I like to think I have more ‘class’ than everybody in this school combined. But fine, I’ll leave you to it, Doctor.” Dr. Ratio finally let go of his wrist. Mr. Kakavasha rubbed it tenderly as he walked away. “Oh, but before I leave…” he said, turning to face the two girls. “I just want to let you know that it wasn’t that I didn't trust your story. It’s just that one can never be totally sure. We all wear layers upon layers of masks to hide our true selves after all. In any case, you all have a good day now. ”

Firefly shifted uncomfortably. She somehow felt like that was directed squarely at her. 

“What a weirdo,” Stelle commented. “Firefly, if that guy ever gives you trouble, I’ll beat him up for you.” 

Dr. Ratio turned his disapproving gaze on them. “Quit your dawdling, students. You said you were heading to the nurse’s office, yes? Well then get going, lest you truly do wish to be reprimanded for skipping class.”

“Y-yes sir!”

“You got it, Doc.”

They continued on their way to the nurse’s office. All the while, Firefly kept playing the encounter on loop in her mind, trying to figure out just what about it was bothering her so much. At some point during her contemplation, she noticed something in her pocket that hadn’t been there before. She reached in and pulled out a folded slip of paper. When had that gotten there? Checking to make sure Stelle wasn’t looking, she cautiously unfolded the paper and read the message written within. 

“Come to the gymnasium this evening after the school closes. I’ll be waiting, Magic Knight Samuel <3”

“You know this is one billion percent a trap, right?” Silver Wolf asked as they returned to the school grounds that evening. 

“Well I can’t just ignore it, can I?” 

“Mm, I guess. So, are you ready?” 

Firefly nodded. The talking puppy produced a holographic visor over her eyes that frankly just looked adorable on her and pawed at some images only she could see. Firefly held her hand out to grasp onto an object that spawned in front of her. The little oval-shaped device was her transformation catalyst. It was what allowed her to draw upon the magic slumbering within her. She held it out and it started glowing in a soft green light. A pair of translucent insect wings spread from it as she recited the activation chant. 

“I am the Magical Knight Samuel. I will… set the seas ablaze!” 

Her whole body glowed as her outfit transformed. Her school uniform disappeared, replaced with a far more colorful and ornate attire. A dark brown blazer formed over a white and green dress with detached sleeves. A yellow-orange ribbon formed on her chest, completing the look. It didn’t seem to Firefly like a very practical outfit for combat, but it was very cute in her humble opinion. 

“Alrighty. Ready to get going, Samuel?” Silver Wolf asked in a teasing tone. Samuel was the name of her past incarnation, the warrior princess from the planet Glamoth. By invoking her name, Firefly obtained the powers and skills she once had. 

With a single bound she leapt over the school walls, something that would’ve been utterly impossible for her normally. As anxious as Firefly could get about her new double life, she did truly love this part about it. Being able to run, to jump, to exert herself without feeling like she’d keel over, it was truly exhilarating. 

She let out a wistful sigh. “I wish I could keep up this form all the time.” 

“No can do,” Silver Wolf said as she hopped over the wall herself. “Don’t ya know? When a character in a fighting game has an install in their kit, they can only use it for a limited time. Otherwise they’d be broken.” 

“I don’t understand what any of that means.” 

The puppy sighed. “You’re no fun. Anyway let’s get going. The gymnasium, right? Nice of this guy to choose such an isolated time and place for this meet up. Means I don’t have to go out of my way to erase all traces of our extracurricular activities.” 

The two of them made their way through the empty campus until they arrived at the gymnasium as instructed. Bracing herself for anything, Samuel pushed open the doors and entered. 

The lights were off, shrouding the whole building in darkness. With a thought, Samuel summoned one of her swords to her hand. She held the other hand out, conjuring a ball of flame to light the way. 

“I came as requested. Show yourself.” She received no response. The only sounds were the echo of her footsteps as she delved further in. She was just starting to wonder if the author of the letter had skipped on her when she caught sight of something faint in the darkness. It looked like some sort of red light…

That was her only warning before something leapt at her from the shadows. Illuminated by her flame, she saw a humanoid robot with bladed arms lunge at her. Almost instinctively, she brought her sword up to block the attack. Red lines glowed angrily across the robot’s body. 

A second one appeared from the darkness to flank her. She dispelled the ball of fire in her off hand, summoning another sword to block the second assailant. Both robots pushed against her, attempting to overwhelm her. 

Gathering her power, she pushed back, knocking both robots off-balance. In that brief opening, she struck, swinging both swords with the grace of an expert. Superheated by magic, they sliced through both robots like butter in one slice each. 

“Welp, that figures,” Silver Wolf commented dryly as the two robots fell lifelessly to the ground. 

The sound of slow clapping echoed through the dark gymnasium. Some of the lights came on, shining a spotlight down on Samuel. Then some more lights came on, illuminating the stage on the far side of the room. Up on the stage, clapping in an almost mocking manner was the exact person she expected to find behind all this. 

“Bravo. You’re every bit as strong as the reports claimed,” Mr. Kakavasha praised. He had abandoned his plain teaching clothes for a far more extravagant outfit featuring a spade-shaped chest cutout and a fur-lined coat. “Magical Knight Samuel. Or should I call you Firefly?” 

“Mr. Kakavasha,” Samuel said, pointing a sword at him. “You’re a member of the Corporation aren’t you? These robots are just like the ones I fought before.” 

“That’s right,” he admitted casually. “I’m a part of the big bad organization that has most of the galaxy in the palms of its hands. I believe you’ve met my subordinate, Scott?” 

“I defeated him, and I’ll defeat you too!” Samuel declared. “I won’t let you turn this planet into another Glamoth!” 

“Spare me the heroics. Do you wanna know why I decided to come here myself instead of sending another crony to take a swing at you?” When Samuel didn’t answer, he continued. “It’s a gamble.” 

“What?” Samuel asked.” 

Mr. Kakavasha waved his hand vaguely upwards. “I’ll be frank kid, the higher-ups don’t consider you a threat in the slightest. Scott was a nobody, easily replaceable. They could’ve easily sent another dozen or even a hundred of him here to kickstart their takeover, but instead I came here personally. On a gamble. My bet is that you’re going to be a bigger thorn in the Corporation’s side than anybody predicts. As for my wager… I think I’ll stake my life on it.” 

Samuel regarded the man warily. “Just what are you planning, Mr. Kakavasha?” 

“Nothing so complicated as a plan. I just intend to crush you right here and now,” he said coolly. Even now, that plastered-on smile never left his face.” 

“You’re not going to like how this’ll end,” she warned. 

He just laughed. “Oh, we’ll see.” He held out his hand, and a shining gemstone materialized in it.” 

“Oh crap,” Silver Wolf cursed. “This is bad. He’s–“

A wave of unbridled power suddenly washed over the gymnasium. Mr. Kavasha began rising into the air, his body glowing. “You only think you can take me because you’re still comparing me to Scott. But you’re about to find out that I’m on a whole other level from the likes of him. Oh, and you can forget about the name Kakavasha. My true name is…” 

The glow dissipated, revealing his new appearance. The overall look was similar to his previous attire, but his coattails had lengthened, and the cutout on his chest was larger and glowing with an ominous blue light. Most noticeably, his face was now completely covered by a mask, and he now donned a hat with a long pointed brim. 

“…Aventurine of Stratagems. One of the Ten Stonehearts.” 

“The Ten Stonehearts are ten of the strongest agents in all of the Corporation,” Silver Wolf explained. “To put it simply, we just went from the tutorial boss straight to a late-game boss.”

“It doesn’t matter to me who he is,” Samuel declared resolutely. “If it means protecting this planet, then I will take you down!” 

“Good,” Aventurine said. “Then without further adieu, let the game start!” 

He snapped his fingers and the rest of the gymnasium’s lights turned on. Samuel wasted no time. With a swing of her swords, she launched a volley of fireballs at him. They all exploded on impact, obscuring him in a cloud of smoke.

“Too weak!” A burst of power dispelled the smoke, revealing a spherical barrier had shielded him from harm. “My turn.”

Several dice appeared in his hand. With a casual flick, he scattered them into the air. In midair, the dice suddenly accelerated straight at her position with bullet-like speed. Her eyes widened and she dove out of the way. The dice exploded on impact with the floor, sending her tumbling away. 

“What’s wrong? Is that all Glamoth’s warrior princess can muster?” Aventurine mocked. “It’s no wonder your old planet was bled dry of all its resources if this was all the resistance the Corporation faced. At this rate, doing the same to Earth will be easier than knocking down a house of cards.” 

Samuel grit her teeth and glared at the man. 

“He’s baiting you! Don’t fall for it!” Silver Wolf warned. 

Samuel barely heard her. She sprang to her feet and charged at him. Aventurine threw several more of his dice bullets at her, but she dodged out of the way of each one. She leapt high into the air, even higher than Aventurine was floating. With both swords in hand, she swung down with all her might. The flaming swords collided with his barrier, fighting for dominance. 

But it refused to break. 

With a burst of power, Samuel’s attack was repelled. Left wide open, Aventurine lunged forward and grabbed her by the throat. She dropped her swords, grabbing at his arm desperately. 

“It’s like I told you earlier today,” he said. “Say something all you want, but that doesn’t make it the truth. You can declare you’ll defeat me until your voice gets hoarse, but that won’t change the reality.” He brought his other hand back, ready to strike. “Now, time to take care of a misbehaving student.”

“Not so fast, villain!” 

Out of nowhere, what looked like a hat with blue feathers on the brim flew in like a boomerang, hitting Aventurine in the back of his head hard enough to stagger him. His grip loosened, dropping Samuel to the ground. She inhaled deeply, thankful to be able to breathe again. 

“Who’s there?” Aventurine demanded. 

Up above, standing in the open sill of one of the gymnasium’s high windows, a caped figure stood dramatically. They caught the hat as it returned to them and returned it to their head. “I’ve gone by many titles. The Savior of Worlds, the Shooting Star, the Galactic Baseballer… But you may call me…” 

The figure jumped from their perch, landing in the gymnasium near Samuel. Now illuminated by the lights, she could see the figure wore an elegant tuxedo under their cape, and a domino mask over their face. A mess of gray hair fell down to their shoulders. They posed dramatically. 

“…Trailblazer the Nameless!” 

Silence hung in the air for several moments. 

“Oh hey, it’s that girl you were crushing on,” Silver Wolf remarked. 

“I-I-I wasn’t..! I-I mean…! T-that’s…!” Samuel stammered. 

“Those are some impressive titles,” Aventurine noted. “Did you come up with all of them yourself?” 

“Why yes I did,” Trailblazer said. “I spent a long time coming up with them!”

“Cute. But I’m afraid all you’ve accomplished by coming here is adding another name I’ll have to put in the paperwork when I write my report about my success here.” With that, Aventurine tossed another die into the air, this one poised to go straight for the new arrival. 

Trailblazer stood her ground unflinchingly. She held out her hand and summoned a… baseball bat?

The die accelerated. Trailblazer took up a batting stance and swung at it like it was a baseball. Incredibly, it worked. The die flew back at its owner almost as quickly as it left. 

“What?!” Aventurine exclaimed right before the die exploded on contact with him. The point-blank explosion launched him into the gymnasium wall. 

Samuel watched this display with shock and awe. Trailblazer approached her and offered her a hand to pull her to her feet. “You’re called the Magical Knight Samuel, yes? Allow me to join you in your fight against this evildoer. With the power of our love, not even a foe like him can match us!”

Samuel’s face turned red. “L-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-love?!” 

Trailblazer nodded earnestly. “Of course! Your love for this world which you would risk life and limb to protect, even if it meant fighting alone…”

“O-oh! That’s the kind of love you meant,” Samuel said, scratching her cheek in embarrassment. 

Trailblazer then dropped to one knee and gingerly took Samuel’s other hand in her own. “…and my heartfelt love for you, my beautiful maiden.” 

A wordless, high-pitched noise escaped Samuel’s throat as her brain shut down entirely. 

“Enough of this farce!” Aventurine shouted as he extracted himself from the wall. “Adding another player to the game won’t change the outcome now! The Corporation is unstoppable!” 

Trailblazer stood and gave Samuel a reassuring smile. “So then, my beloved Samuel, shall we show this ne’er-do-well what happens when they mess with our planet?”

Samuel’s mind kicked back into gear at the reminder of the conflict at hand. “Y-yes! We shall!” 

The two magical warriors stood side-by-side, ready to face their foe. Aventurine tossed another handful of dice into the air. The two split off in opposite directions, evading the rain of exploding dice. Once more, Samuel launched a volley of fireballs at Aventurine. 

“This again?” He taunted, letting the fireballs explode harmlessly against his barrier. “Haven’t you learned by now that you can’t break my shield?”

“We’ll see about that!” Using the explosion as cover, Trailblazer threw her hat again. It impacted the barrier and began circling it, trying to chip away at it from all around like some kind of magic buzzsaw. 

“I told you, it’s pointless!” With a burst of power, the hat was repelled, sent flying back to its owner. 

Said owner grinned triumphantly. “Gotcha.” 

“Magical Knight Special Move: Complete Combustion Kick!” 

Aventurine looked up in shock just in time to receive Samuel’s special move, a powerful kick empowered by fiery magic. Having just dispelled his barrier, he didn’t have enough time to stop the attack. The flaming kick hit him full-force, sending him hurtling into the ground. 

Right into Trailblazer's strike range. “Special Nameless Art: Stardust Ace!”

She swung her baseball bat with all her might. The impact alone sent shockwaves outward, threatening to blow over the spectating Silver Wolf.

“Im… Impossibleeeee!” Aventurine screamed as he was sent flying straight through the gymnasium roof and off into the distance. 

The dust settled as the feeling of victory set in. Samuel breathed heavily. She was so exhausted, she wondered if she had accidentally changed back to her normal form without realizing it. “Phew… We… we won!” 

“Damn, nice work,” Silver Wolf congratulated. “I’ll be real, when he revealed he was one of the Ten Stonehearts, I thought we were facing one of those scripted fights you’re forced to lose. But we actually pulled through. Maybe there’s hope yet.” 

With the tension leaving her body, Samuel felt her transformation leave with it. In a flash, she was once more in her school uniform. Once more Firefly.  She felt dizziness set in immediately. 

For the third time that day, she felt an arm loop around her waist to catch her as she fell. 

She looked up at Trailblazer gratefully. “Thank you. I’m sorry you have to keep seeing me like this…” 

“It’s no trouble whatsoever, my dearest maiden,” Trailblazer assured her. “But now that my work here is done, there is something I must reveal to you. This may shock you, but I do hope this unparalleled revelation does not change how you feel about me…”

With a flash of light, Trailblazer’s battle attire was also replaced with that of a school uniform. 

“…It was me, Stelle, the whole time.” 

“…Yeah, I know.” 

The two girls and the talking dog exited the wrecked gymnasium sometime later. 

“So to be clear, you aren’t the reincarnation of like, the lover of Glamoth’s princess or something?” Firefly asked. 

“Nah, you were just so insanely gorgeous out there that I couldn’t help but get into character.” 

Firefly let out a disgruntled whine, covering her blushing face. “That was so embarrassing…” 

The talking dog laughed at her expense. “Yeah, you’d better believe I’m never letting you live that down.” 

Up above, unnoticed by the three, a figure watched them leave, a satisfied smile on his face. 

“That was quite the performance you put on, Gambler.” 

Aventurine turned to face Dr. Ratio. 

“What can I say? I’m a born actor.” 

“A born schemer, more like.” The taller man crossed his arms. “So, your assessment? Did they live up to your lofty expectations?” 

Aventurine chuckled. “Oh, I’d say my bet was right on the money. They’re green, but give them some time and they might just be the ones who’ll succeed in bringing down the Corporation.” 

“I see. So, what will you do now?” 

“Me? I’m going to go home and work on my lesson plan. I am a teacher now, after all. I suggest you do the same, Corporation Intelligence Officer Veritas.” 

The Doctor scoffed. “I already have.” 

As Dr. Ratio left, Aventurine looked up at the stars above. “I’ve got a lot riding on this wager. Don’t let me down.” 

To Be Continued…? 

Chapter Text

It was a quiet, somber morning in this corner of the Xianzhou Loufu. The artificial sunrise had yet to take effect, and a cool fog enveloped the roads. 

Stelle walked the streets alone, basking in the nostalgia of visiting someplace she hadn’t been to in forever. Not that she had many memories of the Loufu proper. Most of her earliest memories were of the Shackling Prison. Still though, somewhere in her heart there lied a fondness for this place. Perhaps that was a remnant of her previous life. 

She had gone through many changes since she left, though physically she was still much the same. That wasn’t an issue though. With just a few minor alterations to her appearance, a new name, and a set of non-Xianzhou-style clothing, nobody would suspect she was originally from here. Not unless they’d known her personally. That was how she was able to walk around in a country she was technically exiled from. 

Wistfully, she leaned against the railing overlooking the edge of the delve. Down below was a shallow lake. Beyond that, past the veil of mist, the sea. And even further past that was the ever-present remains of the Ambrosial Arbor, and more significantly, Scalegorge Waterscape. At the entrance to that sacred land of the vidyadhara, there stood a great statue. One that she had only seen once in passing after her hatching, but was for some reason engraved into her memory. 

She let out a sigh. There wasn’t much point in thinking about all that. If the Express’s business went smoothly, they’d be long-gone before she ever had the chance to visit that place. She turned to leave, ready to return to her companions…

“Of five people, three must pay a price.” 

Stelle froze, eyes wide. She slowly turned her head to look over her shoulder. A white haired girl who hadn’t been there before now stood nearly back-to-back with her. In her hand she held an ornate broadsword made of cyan-colored metal. Cracks snaked up and down the length of its blade. 

“Who…?” Stelle questioned. 

“Do you remember… your sin…?” The girl asked. She held the sword up to her own face. Though she was facing away from Stelle, in that moment she could see her fractured image in the reflection of the blade. “…Imbibitor Lunae?” 

In the blink of an eye the girl spun around to strike. Stelle reacted just as quickly, summoning her own weapon, a chipped lance missing over half the shaft, to her hand to black. The impact was fierce, sending her skidding backwards along the wooden planks making up the walkway. She remained standing though. She took a stance with her broken lance like it was a sword. 

With some distance between them, Stelle could better take in her assailant. She looked like a beautiful young woman with long wavy white locks. She wore a dark long coat and had an excess of bandages wrapped around various parts of her body. Her eyes, shadowed by her unkempt hair, had a dangerous glint in them. 

Stelle recognized her immediately, though she had never met her in her life. But that face, that voice, they were as etched into her memory as the statue in front of Scalegorge Waterscape, perhaps even more-so. She had seen them frequently in her dreams. Though she couldn’t explain it, the sight of her stirred all manner of emotions in Stelle’s heart. Far too many for her to properly make sense of. 

“Your lance is in terrible condition,” the woman noted coldly. “You always were terrible about maintaining it.” 

“Yours isn’t exactly looking much better,” Stelle countered. 

“Mm.” Without another word, the girl rushed forward. She struck swiftly and relentlessly, sending tremors up Stelle’s arms each time she successfully blocked or parried. The one thrust she failed to stop nearly took her eye out. She just barely tilted her head far enough to the side to get off with just a cut on the cheek and a few missing strands of hair. 

Stelle jumped back and used her longer reach to swipe low at her attacker as she did. The girl leapt over the swipe, flipping over Stelle’s head before landing on the railing. Crouching low, she continued her assault on Stelle from her precarious perch. 

Stelle backed away. Channeling the power of wind, she sliced the air twice, sending two slashes of pressurized air at the railing, cutting it in a V shape around the attacking woman. She jumped right before the railing fell, coming at Stelle with a powerful downward strike. Stelle met the strike head-on, locking blades with her attacker. The girl’s feet touched down and she pushed back, keeping their blades deadlocked. 

“Who are you? Why are you attacking me?” Stelle demanded. 

“You’ll remember soon enough,” the girl said darkly. “I’ll make sure of it.” 

Gritting her teeth, Stelle twisted her grip, forcing both their weapons to the ground. She then shoulder-bashed the girl, sending her crashing into the railing. 

The edge of Stelle’s lance head was at her chest before she could recover. “Alright, start talking. And no riddles okay? I’m not very smart.” 

“And what will you do to me if I refuse?” The girl grabbed the blade of Stelle’s lance with her bare hand. “This?” 

She pulled on Stelle’s lance, forcing it deep into her own chest. Stelle’s eyes widened. She tried yanking her lance back, but the girl held on with an iron grip. Blood splurted from her chest, dying the bandages around her body red. 

The girl had a manic look in her eyes as she growled out. “Remember, Imbibitor Lunae…! Remember… what you did to me?!” 

In a panic, Stelle let go of her lance to back away. The girl’s blood-soaked hand snapped forward, grabbing Stelle by the front of her shirt. She threw herself back, taking both Stelle and herself over the edge of the delve. She held onto Stelle as they both fell and brought her sword up to strike. Stelle grabbed the wrist of her sword arm to hold her at bay. 

“Can we please… just talk about this?” She grunted out. 

The girl just screamed and continued trying to maul her mid-fall. Stelle brought her foot up between them and pushed, kicking the girl away. 

Even that did not deter her. Even as she sailed away, she ripped Stelle’s lance out of her chest and threw it at her defenseless quarry. 

White-hot pain blossomed in Stelle’s chest as her own lance pierced her. 

They both landed in the ankle-deep waters below, the girl in a crouch and Stelle flat on her back with her lance sticking out of her chest. Her blood pooled into the surrounding water, painting it red. 

“Why do you hide from me?” The girl asked. “Show me your true form. The form that I once knew.” 

A geyser of water erupted around Stelle’s body as the power she usually kept hidden was released. She had sworn she would never reveal this form again. But then she had also sworn she would never return to the Loufu. Something about this girl made it hard to resist the urge to let loose her true form. 

She pulled the lance out of her own chest and all the blood she had spilled returned to her body, as if drawn back into the wound by an invisible force. Her visage shifted. The clothes she had been wearing previously were replaced with elegant white and black robes. Atop her head, a pair of translucent amber-gold antlers grew. A long serpentine tail of the same color and translucence formed behind her. For the first time since she was exiled, she returned to the form of her birth, that of the High Elder of the vidyadhara. 

Now back on her feet, she took a stance fit for a lancer. Like with her antlers and tail, a shaft formed from the broken end of her weapon, finally letting her use it as intended. The shallow waters swirled around her feet, disturbing the previously serene waters. 

“So, you finally reveal it,” the girl said. “The power that can split the very seas. Then allow me to show you… the power that can set them ablaze!” 

Blazing green insectoid wings burst forth from her back as she summoned a second fractured sword in her other hand. The water around her feet bubbled, quickly reaching a boiling point. 

As one they rushed forth. The collision of their blades sent shockwaves surging outward, blowing away the water to create a temporary circle of dry land around them. Not for long though, as a torrent of water came sweeping in from the side with a mental command from Stelle. The girl was swept along until flames burst forth from her form, evaporating the torrent. By her will, Stelle condensed more water into pressurized lances, then fired them at her foe in a barrage of projectiles. The girl swung her blades in a flurry of motion and fire, evaporating each lance she struck into a cloud of steam. Some of the lances pierced her defenses and impaled her flesh, but she barely seemed to notice. Eventually, her form was completely obscured by a veil of steam. 

The girl burst from the top of the veil of steam, her ethereal wings carrying her above the battlefield. Flames enveloped her as she soared towards Stelle like a blazing phoenix. Stelle met her in kind, gathering water into the form of a ferocious dragon. Once more did their clash send shockwaves all around. So fierce was their clash that even the supports that held up the delve shuddered. 

As their intense battle raged on, Stelle was struck by the feeling of familiarity that she felt fighting with this girl. As if they had done this many times before. It felt wrong though. Like it wasn’t supposed to be this way. They weren’t supposed to be fighting with intent to kill. The girl’s eyes weren’t supposed to be filled with such pain and suffering. They were supposed to be happy and full of a love for life. 

‘This is all wrong…’

They clashed again, and Stelle noticed something. The bandages covering the girl’s hands had burned away, and the skin underrated was scotched red with severe burns. It wasn’t just her hands either. Much of the girl’s body was burning up under the heat of her own flames. She was literally burning herself alive to fight Stelle. Stelle’s heart cried out in agony at the sight. 

She dropped her lance. When the girl came swinging at her again, she grabbed her by both wrists, ignoring how her own hands burned at the contact. She held her at bay but did not let her escape either. Unconsciously, a name spilled from her lips…

“Firefly!” Stelle cried. “Please, stop!” 

The girl froze. The flames engulfing her went out. Her swords fell from her fingers. 

“T-that name…” the girl said shakily, her eyes still filled with barely restrained pain and rage. “So… you finally remember.” 

Stelle shook her head. “I don’t. Not really. But you are Firefly, right? Please, let’s stop fighting. I don’t wanna hurt you anymore.” 

“Don’t want to hurt me?” Firefly snarled. “It’s too late for that! Firefly died long ago! Because of you! Only Stellaron Hunter Sam is left now!” 

She struggled in Stelle’s grip, but she held firm. “Please Firefly, let’s just talk it out. I may not remember what happened, but I can feel your pain. Seeing you suffering hurts more than that stab wound you gave me. So please, let me help you.” 

“Stop it!” Firefly screeched. “You can’t help me! Nobody can! Once the Mara takes hold, there’s no going back! The only relief is death, but even that salvation is denied to me! All because of you!” 

She broke out of Stelle’s grip and brought back a burnt fist to punch her. 

Stelle dodged past the punch and enveloped Firefly in a tight embrace. The shorter girl shook in her arms. Gently, she lowered them both to the ground to rest in the shallow waters. She wrapped her long tail around the girl in her arms and rubbed her back comfortingly. “It’s okay. You don’t have to keep hurting yourself.” 

Tears rolled down the other girl’s face. “Why…?” She asked. “Why did you have to do it? Why did… why… why did you make me live?” She slammed her fist into Stelle’s shoulder, but there was hardly any force behind it. “I know I said I didn’t want to die! I know I said I was scared! But this? I didn’t want this!”

Stelle sat quietly, letting the girl cry her heart out. 

“They… they took you away… named us criminals… ex… executed you… I was all alone…  Why…? Why did you force me to outlive you?” 

“I’m sorry Firefly, for whatever I did to you back then,” Stelle told her. “I don’t know exactly what the past me was thinking, but she probably didn’t want to see you suffer. I guess she didn’t do a very good job, huh? If it’s alright, can I try again?” 

“You… you can’t! It’s too late!” She cried. “I’m… I’m falling apart… I can never go back… never go back to how things were… I’m too broken… too hideous… an abomination of Abundance…”

Stelle pulled Firefly back a bit to look her in the face. It was still covered in burns, but they were regenerating even now. Her eyes were shimmering with tears. 

Stelle caressed her cheek with the palm of her hand, careful not to agitate the burns too much. With her other hand, she reached for Firefly’s hand and intertwined their fingers. “You don’t look like an abomination to me. You look more like a beautiful angel. If you can’t go back, then we can just move forward. Even if it’s painful, I can be there to help you through it.” 

Firefly leaned into the hand caressing her cheek. “…You haven’t changed… one bit… I’ve waited so long… to feel your touch again…” 

They sat there together for some time. Eventually, Firefly dozed off in Stelle’s arms. For the first time in centuries, the Mara seemed to fade away, at least a little bit. 

Chapter Text

Caelus Aron, actual name Stelle, codename Trailblazer, yawned as she walked into the living room first thing in the morning. Clara was already awake, sitting what was probably way too close to the television watching her favorite show. The one with the giant robots fighting each other. 

“Good morning Stelle!” Firefly greeted as she walked out of the kitchen. Without missing a beat, she handed Stelle her morning coffee, grabbed a hair brush she had already prepared ahead of time, and got to work on her legal husband’s messy gray locks. 

“Mmmm, yer the best...” Stelle mumbled sleepily. 

As a spy, Stelle had gone undercover many times and taken on many roles. A museum curator, a bartender, a movie director,  you name it, she’s done it. She had completed so many missions so successfully that she had gained a reputation as the ace up the sleeve of her organization. It was only natural then, that they would entrust her with their most daring operation yet. Get close to the reclusive government official Diamond and find out what he’s plotting. 

To that end, she had to take up a role she had never done before, that of a parent. The only time Diamond ever made public appearances was at a special event held at the school his young son Opal attended. For the operation to succeed, she needed to enroll a child at said school and ensure they excelled so she could attend the special event. 

And so, she had fabricated the identity of Caelus, a father who recently remarried to give his sole child the mother figure she deserved. Stelle could’ve played the role of the mother herself, but the pompous folks of high society were horribly traditional and wouldn’t take her as seriously if she appeared to them as a woman. It was just more convenient this way. 

“Breakfast will be ready soon,” Firefly said with a cheerful smile. 

“Can’t wait!” Stelle replied, slightly more awake now. She tied her shoulder-length hair back into a ponytail. Between that and the men’s clothing she wore, she looked every bit the dashingly pretty man she set out to appear as. 

Firefly was her legal wife, a necessary part of her cover. They had met by chance, but had quickly hit it off and decided to start this pretend family together. Apparently she had been badgered by her coworkers about her lack of a love life so much that she had lied and told them she’d started dating someone. Of course, then they started demanding to meet this person. Rather than admit she lied and face their judgment, Firefly agreed to act as Stelle’s wife in exchange for being her husband. It was a little odd, but Stelle wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Especially when that gift horse was so pretty. 

She was one of the few people who knew Stelle’s true gender. It was rather hard to hide such things when living with someone. The story Stelle sold her was that her husband had left before Clara was born, and so Stelle took to presenting herself as a man to avoid the stigma of being a single mother. It wasn’t too far from the truth, so it worked out, and Firefly had made it clear she didn’t mind her fake husband secretly being a woman. 

“The table is set. Clara, turn off the TV and come eat,” Firefly called. 

“In a minute! The episode is almost done!” Clara insisted, totally absorbed in her show. 

“Don’t take too long. Remember, you still have to get ready for school.” 

“I won’t!” 

Clara wasn’t biologically Stelle’s daughter of course. She was an orphan Stelle acquired from a run-down orphanage. The other kids avoided her for some reason, and she had trouble expressing herself. But also she was the most precious thing ever and Stelle would hear no arguments to the contrary. Stelle had zero regrets about adopting her. 

By all rights, the three of them looked like a totally normal family. None would suspect they were all secretly a cover for Stelle’s top-secret mission to infiltrate the upper echelon of this country. 

The phone started ringing partway through breakfast. Firefly stood up from her seat. “I’ll go get it.” She went to the other room and picked up the phone. “Hello, Aron Residence, this is Firefly speaking.” 

“Hey there, Firefly,” came the familiar voice of Kafka, immediately clueing her in to what kind of call this was. “Been awhile. How goes it?” 

“Oh, Manager. Things are going fine. I was just having breakfast with my family. Is there something I can help you with?” 

“Well, let’s just say that there are some customers who require Sam’s services…” 

“…I see. Understood.” 

Firefly Aron. Secret identity: assassin. Codename: Sam. A member of a secret organization of assassins. Having taken notice of her talent at a young age, they took her in and taught her the art of killing. Over the years, she had become an elite member of their organization. 

It wasn’t a lie that she agreed to become Stelle’s fake wife to avoid the judgment of her peers, but there was a little more to it than that. In this post-war era, the secret police were constantly on the look-out for spies and traitors. They were known to look into reports of anybody deemed suspicious. She was neither a spy nor a traitor of course, but she still needed to avoid them finding out about her secret job. Under no circumstances could she come under their scrutiny. So when her coworkers at city hall started getting on her case about how weird she was for not seeking a romantic partner, she might’ve panicked and taken the first solution she could find…

Not that she regretted it. Stelle was a wonderful and kind person, and Clara was adorable beyond reckoning. Her heart went out to their plight. A single mother, casting aside her womanhood all to give her precious daughter a better life? It was so noble, far nobler than anything Firefly had ever fought for. That was why she decided to do everything in her power to help them. 

Of course, she had to make sure that under absolutely no circumstances did her new family find out she secretly killed people for a living. 

Otherwise she’d have to kill them. 

And she really, really didn’t want to do that. 

After receiving the details of her next job from Kafka, she hung up and returned to the breakfast table. 

“Who was it?” Stelle asked. 

“Oh, just my manager,” Firefly answered. “It seems I’ll have to head out early to take care of some things.” 

“Man, they sure have you running ragged don’t they,” Stelle mused. “Don’t work too hard now. I can’t bask in your radiance when you go to bed early.” 

“Oh you,” Firefly blushed. “Save the flattery for when we’re in public.” 

“I have too much praise for you to bottle it all up.” 

After breakfast, they went their separate ways for the day. Clara got on the bus to school, Firefly made her way to the city hall for her work, and Stelle went to the train station to get to her own work. Her real work that is. 

Once the train started moving, she made her way to the restroom. Once inside, she knocked on the wall in a particular rhythm. With the passcode received, a secret door opened, leading to the train’s hidden meeting room. This soundproofed room was where she gave her reports and received new missions from the Handler, Himeko. She entered to find Himeko sitting at the desk as expected. Mr. Yang and fellow agents March 7th and Dan Heng were also present. That was good. Everyone needed to hear what she was about to share. 

Stelle took a seat at the desk, awaiting Himeko to start the meeting. 

“Good morning, Trailblazer,” the Handler said, hands clasped in front of her face. “How goes your primary mission?” 

With a serious expression, Stelle reached into her jacket and retrieved several photographs. She laid them on the table without a word. 

Mr. Yang gasped. “Is that…?” 

“No way!” March exclaimed. 

“…What exactly am I looking at?” Dan Heng asked. 

“They’re pictures of Clara’s arts and crafts project!” Stelle said proudly. “She designed her own robot character based on that show she likes and made a model of it! She calls him Mr. Svarog. Isn’t she just the smartest, most precious girl in the world? Way smarter than her papa!” 

“…That last part is somewhat worrying, given your occupation,” Dan Heng muttered. 

“The design is both incredibly detailed and aesthetically pleasing,” Mr. Yang marveled. “It conveys a sense of power with its proportions, yet the humanoid shape of it also conveys a certain protective aura. Almost paternal even. Your daughter has excellent taste.” 

“Doesn’t she though?” Stelle beamed. “Mr. Argenti burst into tears when he saw it! He said her creation truly captured the essence of pure beauty!” 

“Wow, she’s so talented for someone so young,” March commented. “At this rate, she’ll become one of the school’s Imperial Scholars for sure!” 

“I know right? She makes her papa so proud…” 

“…She’s only been your daughter for a month,” Dan Heng pointed out. 

“Yes. And in that month I’ve decided that if anything were to harm a hair on her precious head, I will raise hell.” 

Later that evening, Clara once more sat in front of the TV watching a rerun of her favorite show. Her papa sat next to her, watching it alongside her. Clara was technically supposed to be doing homework at that time, but Papa got so enthralled in the show herself that she forgot to tell Clara to do it. Clara felt a little bad about not bringing it up herself when she remembered, but she guiltily kept quiet so she could watch her show. She always liked watching it with Papa. 

“So cool,” Clara said after the episode ended, practically buzzing with contained energy. “Robots are so cool.” 

“I think so too,” her papa agreed. “So sweetie, which one is your favorite?” 

“Hmmmm…” Clara thought. “The really big one! With the shields!” 

“Oh yeah? Mine too,” Papa said. ‘Actually, my favorite is the one with the wrist-mounted dual-blades.’

Clara frowned. “I like the big one because it’s really strong, but also it’s really nice and protects everyone.” 

“Yeah? I like it because of that too,” Papa said. ‘But dual-blades are just so cool!’

Clara sighed. Her papa just didn’t get it at all. 

Clara Aron. Secret identity: a telepath. Codename: …Well she hadn’t come up with one yet, but it had to be something cool when she did. 

For as long as she could remember, as far back as the days when the scary men would make her do tests, she’d had the ability to read minds. She could always hear what people were feeling, even the things they didn’t want others knowing about. It made it hard to make friends at the orphanage. Especially since she had trouble getting her own thoughts out in the open, even the ones she wanted people to hear. 

But Papa didn’t mind that. She took Clara in and gave her lots of love and praise. So Clara decided that she had to work really hard to help Papa out with her mission. Not just her mission to spy on the really bad man, but her most secret mission too. The one even Papa herself wasn’t quite aware of. 

‘Man, I wonder how Firefly is doing…’ Papa thought, completely unprompted. ‘She said her coworkers invited her out for some girl time at the bar. I wish I could’ve come with. Though I guess it wouldn’t be girl time if her husband was there. Maybe I could go in more feminine clothes and pretend I’m someone else?’

Papa was super in love with Mama. Clara heard her thinking about it constantly. Papa never told Mama outright though. She would always tell herself it was just a temporary arrangement for her mission and that it wouldn’t work out. 

Clara loved both her Mama and Papa a lot. Her greatest wish was for them to stay a family even after the mission was done. And for that to happen, she decided she had to make sure Mama and Papa fell in love and stayed together. She already knew Papa loved Mama. It was a little harder to tell if Mama loved Papa back. Somehow, she had to make Mama fall in love with Papa. If only she knew how to make that happen. She didn’t really understand that kind of love at all. 

Her thoughts were interrupted by the front door opening. Clara and Papa both got up to greet her. 

“Welcome back, Mama!” 

“Hey Firefly, welcome… back…” 

Mama staggered through the door in a very wobbly way. Her face was red and her eyes looked hazy. 

“…How much did you have to drink?” Papa asked worriedly. 

“Enough ta, hic, get thru da night…” Mama slurred. “Lishin, Shtaellus, that, hic, harpy Tingyun shaid… she shaid it wuz shuper weird dat we’re married but we haben’t gone un any dates! Sho we, hic, w-we gotta go on a date right now!” 

‘As much as I would love that, I really think you should sober up first,’ Papa thought. Out loud she said, “It sounds like you’ve had a rough day. How about I get you some water and tuck you into bed?” 

She went to put a comforting hand on Mama’s shoulder, but Mama’s hand moved lightning-fast first. She grabbed Papa by the front of her shirt and slammed her back into the wall, with her knees bent so she had to look up at Mama. 

She slammed a hand into the wall next to Papa’s head hard enough to crack it. “We’re going on a date! Right now!” 

“Yes Ma’am!” Papa blurted. Mama then dragged her back out the front door. “Um, can I at least put my shoes on first?” 

“No time! Date now!” 

“A-alright! Ah, Clara! Don’t forget to do your homework! We’ll be back soon! I think!” 

Clara waved as the door shut behind them. When they left, she pumped her fists triumphantly. ‘You’ve got this, Papa!’

Chapter Text

The High Noon space port wasn’t what someone would call luxurious or high-class. No, “shabby”, “rustic” , and “rowdy” were words more often used to describe it. 

It sat in orbit of a desert-covered planet of little cosmic significance. Few people had any reason to visit the planet itself, but the space port was a common pit stop for those cruising along through space. Here, one could stock up on supplies, get some grub, and catch up on the universe’s latest gossip. It was also a fine place to gather intel. 

It was for that last reason that bounty hunter Stelle walked into High Noon’s resident tavern. It was an old-fashioned kind of place, but that was just the way she liked it. The interior and furniture were all made of real wood, and a jukebox of ancient design was playing some jaunty tunes in the background. They even had a board with bounty posters hung up on the wall for folks in the business like Stelle was. The only bit of modern tech present to contrast the old time-y atmosphere were a few screens hanging up on the walls, playing footage from some sport program or other. 

Stelle made her way straight to the bar and took a seat next to a young lady with long white hair. All she had in front of her was a glass of water. She seemed absorbed in her phone, not paying any mind to her semi-lively surroundings. She was also quite the looker, in Stelle’s humble opinion. 

“Welcome. How may I serve you today?” Asked the well-dressed intellitron working the bar. 

Stelle tipped her hat in greeting before ordering. “Gimme something sweet and mild. Can’t go gettin’ too tipsy today. Oh, and get one for the pretty lass here too would ya? My treat.” 

That got the young lady’s attention. She glanced away from her phone to regard Stelle curiously. “Oh? I don’t recall asking for a treat. Am I to assume you want something from me in return?” 

Stelle removed her hat and held it to her chest in a show of sincerity. “Perish the thought, ma’am. I just wanted to repay you is all.” 

The young lady tilted her head. “Repay me?” 

“For letting me gaze upon an angel on this lonely night.” 

The young lady brought a hand up to stifle the sudden fit of giggles that overcame her. “Sorry, sorry, that’s very sweet. But has that pick-up line ever actually worked for you before?” 

“Nope. There’s a first time for everything though,” Stelle chirped, unbothered by the young lady’s reaction. “Besides, I got to hear you laugh, that’s good enough for me. Might even be worth an extra drink.” 

“One is enough, thank you.” The young lady pocketed her phone to give Stelle her full attention. “So, smooth-talker, what might I call you?” 

“I’m Stelle. Just a wandering cowboy passing by.”

“I’m Firefly. I work for a traveling theatre troupe.” 

“Oh, a theatre troupe huh? No wonder, you’re pretty enough to be the lead actress in any play.” 

“Oh no, I’m not a cast member,” Firefly waved off with a smile. “I just take care of things backstage. And what about you? What brings you to these parts?” 

A shame. Stelle would’ve loved to see a show with this girl as the star. “Me, I’m lookin’ for a mark.” She reached into her vest and pulled out a wanted poster. She laid it on the counter, showing off the face of the man with the shifty eyes and the smarmy smile. “Sampo Koski. A notorious conman. He ripped off my crew awhile back. Now here I am on the hunt, lookin’ to track him down and haul him in.” 

“So you’re out to avenge your companions? How noble.” 

Stelle rubbed the back of her head bashfully. Okay, truthfully speaking it was exclusively her who got scammed by him, after her companions expressly warned her against dealing with him. Admitting as much didn’t make her sound as cool though. 

Something caught Firefly’s attention off to the side. “Say, this Sampo fellow, he wouldn’t happen to be the man trying to sneak out the front door, would he?” 

Stelle turned around to find that yes, Sampo was indeed there at the tavern and trying to subtly make a break for it. She jumped out of her seat to pursue him. “Hey!” 

Seeing that he’d been caught, Sampo abandoned all subtlety and started booking it for the exit. “Sorry friend, but Sampo Koski ain’t about to be caught by no cowboy today!” 

The moment he reached the exit, the doors were suddenly kicked in with great force. Sampo was sent tumbling across the tavern until his back impacted the bar counter. 

“Funny that you used a double negative there, cause it looks like a cowboy’s catchin’ ya today after all, fudgehead.”

Through the tavern doors walked a man whose face Stelle had only ever seen on wanted posters. Galaxy Ranger Boothill. Outlaw. Cyborg. Cowboy. Crook to some, hero to others. Stelle had heard a great many things about this man in her travels, so much that it was hard to tell the fact from the fiction. One thing was for certain though. From the clothes he wore to the swagger in his gait, he was a true bonafide cowboy. 

She threw a glance back at where Sampo laid to make sure he was still seeing stars before turning to face the new arrival. “Thanks for the assist, partner. Hope you weren’t planning on taking his bounty for yourself though. I’ve had my sights on him for a while now.”

The tavern went quiet, save for the sound of the jukebox playing. Everyone watched with bated breath as the two cowboys stared each other down. 

Boothill regarded her with a lazy smirk, showing off his sharp teeth. “Do ya think you could keep me from him if I was?” He let the implied threat linger in the air for a few moments before letting out a laugh. “Ah don’t look so tense, sister. I wouldn’t pick a fight over the likes of this shirtbag. Nah, you can have him.” He held up a finger. “On one condition. You stay outta my way while I catch my own mark.” 

Stelle raised an eyebrow. “And who might that be?” 

Boothill grinned. Without warning, he pulled his gun from its holster and fired a shot off to the side. The gunshot rang loud in the tavern. Stelle followed the trail of the shot to the hole it left in the bounty board. Right next to Firefly, who had inconspicuously left Stelle’s side when she wasn’t looking. A smoking bullet hole now adorned  the bounty board, pierced straight through one of the wanted posters. Right in the forehead of the wanted criminal’s picture. The picture of…

“Stellaron Hunter Sam,” Boothill said. “Leavin’ so soon? The party’s just gettin’ started.” 

The tavern erupted into whispers and murmurs. Firefly met his gaze calmly, but said nothing. 

Everybody who follows current cosmic gossip knew the name of Molten Knight Sam. Of the Stellaron Hunters, he was known as the most dangerous and destructive. Which was saying something when they also had an immortal master swordsman known for outbursts of madness among their ranks. That said, nobody knew his face or true identity beyond likely being a remnant of Glamoth’s Iron Cavalry. Even his gender was largely just an assumption based on the structure of his armored suit and the voice it produced. Stelle supposed it wasn’t impossible that the dainty lady she’d just met was secretly him. Still…

“Hold a moment there, partner,” Stelle said, stepping between Boothill and Firefly. “You’re telling me this lovely lass is a wanted terrorist that nobody’s supposed to know the identity of? That’s a mighty bold claim. You got a source to back it up?” 

“My source is confidential. I’m sure you know how it is. But you can be darned sure they’re reliable. So step aside, cause the next shot I fire won’t be no warning shot.” 

Stelle silently considered his words. From what she’d heard about Boothill, he was a brash man but not a careless one. If he was that confident in his claim, there was little reason to doubt him. Besides, she had technically just completed her goal of nabbing Sampo, so there was little reason for her to stick around, much less stick her neck out for a stranger she’d just met. 

She felt a pair of hands grab her arm. She looked over to find Firefly looking up at her pleadingly. “Please, don’t let him catch me. I know you don’t have any reason to believe my word over his, but… I really need your help right now. You’re the only one I can turn to…” 

She wrapped her arms around Stelle’s arm, pressing herself close. She then leaned up on the tips of her toes and pressed her lips against Stelle’s cheek. Any further thoughts she might’ve had ground to a halt. 

She drew her own gun and pointed it resolutely at Boothill. “Sorry pal, but yer not laying one finger on the girl!” 

The Galaxy Ranger looked incredulous. “What in the forkin’… Are you some kinda dingus? Are you really just gonna do whatever this nice lady says just cause she fluttered her forkin’ eyelashes at you a little?” 

“Yer darn tootin’.” 

“…You are the universe’s biggest sucker, ya know that?” 

“Yeah? Well I just got a kiss on the cheek from a beautiful lady, so I think I’m winning right now.” 

“Tch, fine. Just don’t blame me for what happens next.” 

With that, he pulled the trigger. Stelle quickly pushed Firefly out of the way and dove in the opposite direction. Panicked shouts erupted throughout the tavern as people started making a mad dash for the exit, while others took cover and continued to watch. Some of them even took out their phones and started recording. 

Stelle brought her revolver up and fired a few shots of her own. With surprising grace, Boothill leaned out of the line of fire, letting the bullets soar past him. One of her bullets incidentally hit the jukebox behind him. The peppy tavern music cut out. The music box made some garbled sounds before switching songs entirely to something much more high-energy. With a grin, Boothill returned fire. 

Stelle ran across the tavern, narrowly avoiding red-hot death. At least his attention was on her and not Firefly. She went low, sliding under a table. She flipped the table over and pressed her back against it, using it as cover. Several shots punched straight through the table around her, proving just how terrible that idea had been. Okay, maybe using a wooden table to block bullets strong enough to down IPC mechs wasn’t her best plan. 

She stood up and grabbed hold of the table. With impressive strength she swung the whole thing around and chucked it at Boothill. Boothill shattered the table with a single kick, sending splinters everywhere. That gave her the cover she needed to rush in close. With a kick of her own, she sent Boothill’s gun flying out of his hand. 

She pointed her gun at him, ready to fire at point-blank range. His metal hand snapped up quicker than she could pull the trigger. He grabbed her gun and forced it up, making the shot go wide. His grip tightened, warping the metal of her gun, rendering it useless. She let go of it and went for a punch to the outlaw’s exposed stomach.

His exposed metal stomach.  

…

“Owwwww…” She moaned as she rubbed her aching knuckles tenderly. 

Boothill laughed. “Wanna settle this with our fists do ya? I’m game. But as I’m sure you’ve noticed by now, the metal ain’t just for show.” 

He wound up for a punch. Stelle hurriedly backed up to avoid it. The cyborg stalked forward at a leisurely pace, taking swings at Stelle anytime he got in range. Stelle edged back cautiously, trying to find any vulnerability she could. 

Nothing for it then. She grabbed an abandoned plate of food from a nearby table and threw it in Boothill’s face. While he was busy wiping it away, she wound her leg back. She swung it forward, kicking with all the strength she could muster right into Boothill’s groin. 

There was a brief moment of still silence. 

“…Really, partner?” 

Stelle hopped up and down on one foot as she gingerly nursed her hurting leg. “Ow-ow-ow-owww! Whyyy?” 

“Just face it, partner,” Boothill brought his fist down. Stelle hopped out of the way, but the table wasn’t so lucky. An unfinished meal was sent flying as the table shattered. “You’re outta your league and outta luck.” 

“It may look that way to you,” Stelle said, dropping to one knee. Not breaking eye contact with Boothill, she searched the floor around her with her hand, hoping to find anything useful she could use to turn the tide of battle in her favor. “But little do you realize, I have…” Her hand grabbed onto something metal and she brought it to bear triumphantly. “…a spoon!” 

“…You are some kinda stupid, sister. I almost feel bad for what I’m gonna have to do.” 

He threw another punch. Instead of backing away though, Stelle narrowly sidestepped it. She grabbed his outstretched arm. Holding on tightly, she swung her legs up and used them to latch on to Boothill’s head. She pulled the rest of her up and, with all the fury of something that crawled out of the dumpster, started aggressively jabbing the spoon into Boothill’s face. 

“Take that! And that! And some of this!” 

“Ack! Hey! Quit that! Ow! Get off of me, ya crazed fudgin’ lunatic!” 

He bit down on the offending tableware. He then grabbed her by the arm and forcibly hauled her off his shoulders. With great strength, he chucked her across the tavern. She hit the bar counter with a painful thud. Boothill spat out the spoon and charged at her, fist raised. 

She rolled out of the way. The counter caved in behind her. Thinking quickly, she grabbed Sampo, who had woken up and was attempting to sneakily make his getaway, and held him up as a human shield. He waved his hands in surrender. “Not the face! Not the face!” 

Boothill punched him in the face. Then he did it again. Stelle kept moving him in the path of the cyborg’s powerful punches, feeling only a little bad about it. 

“Would you quit that?” Boothill reached forward and grabbed the now thoroughly unconscious Sampo by the collar. He yanked, but Stelle grabbed Sampo by the shoulders and yanked back. They continued this game of tug-of-war for several seconds. “Quit bein’ difficult, ya fudgin’ little…” 

“Never!” She grabbed Sampo’s daggers off his person and kicked him forward into Boothill. He threw the unconscious man aside and brought his metal arms up to block the long knives Stelle now struck at him with. 

“You just don’t know when to quit!” He grabbed both daggers with his bare hands. He brought a foot up and kicked Stelle in the chest, sending her tumbling into another table. 

She rolled to a sitting position to look up at Boothill. “Yeah, I know. Wouldn’t be a very good cowboy if I did.” 

“Fair enough,” Boothill conceded. “Either way, it’s lights out for ya now, sister.” He brought one foot high into the air, ready to bring it down on Stelle. 

The sound of shattering glass filled the tavern as a beer bottle was smashed on the back of Boothill’s head. He staggered forward, catching himself with his raised foot. 

Firefly stood behind him with the remains of a broken glass bottle in hand. Boothill turned to face her with a toothy smile. “Well, well. So the little temptress here decides to join in. I’m surprised you bothered. I’d have thought you’d be long-gone by now.” 

“…I don’t have any quarrel with you,” Firefly said evenly. “So just leave and nobody else needs to get hurt.” 

Boothill laughed. “Nobody has to get hurt? Well fudge, too bad hurtin’ crooks is what I came here to do!” 

He lunged at her, but Firefly dodged and swung the broken beer bottle. The sharp broken edge left a thin cut on his cheek. She then went to stab him with it, but Boothill swatted it out of her hand. He grabbed her by the front of her blouse and lifted her up to eye-level.

“What’s wrong, ‘Sam’? Don’t feel like whippin’ out that nifty armor suit of yours? Ah well, makes it easier for me.” He brought his other hand back, preparing to knock her out. “Just for the record, I ain’t got anything against ya personally. If anything, I mighty appreciate all the heck you Stelleraon Hunters put those corporate shirtbags at the IPC through. But business is business. Ya know how it is.” 

Stelle looked around for anything she could possibly use to help Firefly. Then she spotted it. Amidst the wreckage nearby was the gun she had kicked out of Boothill’s hand earlier. She lunged for it. Just as Boothill threw his punch she grabbed it and pulled the trigger. The recoil felt like it would take her arm off, but the bullet pierced his metal shoulder with ease. 

“Agh!” Boothill shouted. He dropped Firefly and doubled over in pain. “Fork! Fudge! Shirtballs! Son of a nice lady!” The string of “profanity” continued as Firefly made her way over to Stelle. 

She offered Stelle a hand. “Come on, let’s get out of here.” 

“Oh no you don’t!” Boothill growled. Fighting the pain, he came running at them. 

From behind her back, Firefly produced what looked like one of Sampo Koski’s prized smoke bombs. She must’ve snagged it off him at some point while Stelle and Boothill were fighting, though at what point specifically she couldn’t say. She pressed a button on it and threw it on the floor. In less than a second, the entire tavern was filled with smoke. 

“Ya think some smoke’s gonna stop me? You muddle fudgers have got another thing comin’!” 

From within the smoke, Stelle saw what looked like a flash of fire. That flash was soon followed by the harsh sound of metal impacting metal with great force, immediately followed by what might’ve been a metal body crashing into the alcohol shelf behind the bar. There was another brief flash of fire, and then a soft feminine hand grasped hers and pulled her along. 

Stelle, pulled along by Firefly, emerged from the smoke-filled tavern. Stelle took the lead then, leading Firefly over to her personal one-person spacecraft. It’d be a bit of a tight fit, but they could make it work. 

Firefly stopped before Stelle could pull her into the craft. Stelle looked back at her, confused. 

Firefly avoided looking her in the eye. “I’m sorry. I really shouldn’t have gotten you involved in my problems.” 

“It’s really no trouble at all,” Stelle assured her. “Helping out pretty ladies in need is the pride and honor of a valiant space cowboy like me.” 

A small smile graced Firefly’s face. “Is that right?” 

“Darn tootin’,” Stelle said proudly. “So c’mon, let’s hightail it outta here before that Galaxy Ranger comes after us again. Or whoever else wants to take a crack at us for all the damage we just caused for that matter.” 

Firefly shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I can’t go with you. I still have my own things I have to do.” 

“Oh…” Stelle said forlornly. 

“But don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll meet again, somewhere out there in space.” The dazzling girl gave her a bright smile. “Buy me another drink next time we meet?” 

Stelle tipped her hat. “Count on it.” 

With that, Stelle got into her craft. It rose up into the air, preparing to move on to her next interstellar adventure. From down below, Firefly waved at her. 

“So long, space cowboy.” 

Chapter Text

“Hey, Lieutenant Yanqing, are you sure this is where we’re supposed to meet them?” Qingque asked. 

“Of course I am! They should be around here somewhere…” Yanqing replied. 

“Oh! I think I see Stelle over there!” Huohuo said helpfully. 

The foxian led her two companions through the crowd until they reached the person in question. A familiar figure stood alone off to the side of the path. A familiar figure with familiar gray hair framing a familiar face, though said locks were tied back into a short ponytail. This was one of the Nameless heroes of the Xianzhou Alliance, and a friend to each of the three gathered here. When word came that she was returning for a visit, they obviously had to put together a welcome wagon for her. 

The Trailblazer was wearing clothes that differed quite heavily from the clothing Huohuo often remembered her wearing. She wasn’t overly familiar with non-Xianzhou fashion, but the black suit and jacket combined with the cravat seemed much more formal than her usual style of dress. Well, she supposed it had been nearly twenty years since she’d last seen her. Plenty of time for tastes to change and for new things to be tried. Aside from that though, the Galactic Baseballer looked exactly how Huohuo remembered her. 

Which… was actually really weird now that she thought about it. As far as Huohuo knew, Stelle wasn’t a long-life species, so shouldn’t she look noticeably older after all this time? Even Huohuo herself had grown quite a bit since their last encounter. 

“Yo, Stelle!” Qingque waved, heedless of Huohuo’s inner thoughts. “It’s been a while! How’ve you been? Play any cool games since we last met?” 

Stelle blinked owlishly and slowly turned to face them. She tilted her head, but said nothing. There was no hint of recognition on her face. 

“Uh, Stelle? You in there?” Qingque asked, faltering. “I know non-Xianzhou folks experience time differently, but surely you haven’t forgotten your good buddy Qingque, right?” 

Stelle said nothing. The three Xianzhou natives glanced at one another in uncertainty. 

“…Maybe she got possessed by a heliobus?” Yanqing suggested with concern. “Or had an encounter with a memosnatcher?”

She still said nothing. Huohuo was starting to worry something really was wrong when their attention was drawn by the sound of a mechanical voice clearing its throat. From behind Stelle’s back, some sort of mechanical bug appeared. It vaguely resembled a firefly with exaggerated proportions, and was perhaps a little smaller than Mr. Tail in his base form. Its translucent green wings carried it onto Stelle’s shoulder, where it perched itself. 

“Pardon me you three,” the robotic insect said in a posh, high-pitched feminine voice. “This is not Stelle. The one you are speaking to is–“

“Sam, we’re back!” 

They all followed the source of the voice to find a familiar figure. Again. Stelle was waving in their direction, a berrypheasant skewer in hand. Except this Stelle looked noticeably older than the Stelle in front of them. Her other hand rested on the handle of a rather high-end looking wheelchair. Sitting in the wheelchair contentedly with what looked to be several boxes of snacks in her lap was a woman with long, stark white hair. 

There was another girl with them. She had hair as white as that of the woman in the wheelchair. She looked to be around Huohuo’s age, though she was probably either younger or older depending on how mortal she was. She wore a short white skirt over dark leggings, and an oversized white jacket over a similarly white tank top. Her feathery white locks were much shorter than the other woman’s, only about chin-length, and they were swept behind her ear on one side. A light green hair clip designed like an insect wing held them in place. She was carrying several bags, and her expression told Huohuo she was not particularly happy to be there. 

The “Stelle” in front of them—or “Sam” as the older Stelle called them—waved back silently. The trio of Xianzhou natives looked back and forth between the two of them in confusion. 

It was then that the older Stelle took notice of them. “Oh hey! Yanqing, Qungque, and… Huohuo is that you?” She let go of the wheelchair to get a closer look at all of them. “Huohuo, you got so much taller since I last saw you! I think you got a little taller too, Yanqing. And Qungque, you… haven’t grown an inch since I last saw you!”

“Wrong. I’ve grown half a centimeter,” Qungque huffed, crossing her arms indignantly. “My growth spurt is coming, you’ll see. It’ll happen any decade now.” 

“W-wait, hold on a second,” Yanqing stammered. “If you’re Stelle, then who is this?” He pointed at the person they had mistaken for Stelle. 

Stelle blinked. “Oh, that’s my son, Sam.” 

There was a long moment of silence before that casual comment sunk in for the gathered three. 

“S-son?” Yanqing paled. He gave a deep bow to Sam. “My apologies! I made a grave error!”

Huohuo joined him in bowing. “I-I’m terribly sorry! I’m the one who mistook your identity first! You can blame me!”

Sam rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. Rather than him, it was the robotic firefly that responded. “The young Master Samuel forgives you, as he goes through this quite often and has become used to it.”

“No kidding. You gotta admit he does look a lot like Stelle,” Qingque said . 

“Doesn’t he though?” Stelle said chipperly, throwing an arm over her son’s shoulders so they were side-by-side. “He got his mom’s good looks!” 

He really did look nearly identical to his mother, albeit noticeably younger. Though now that Huohuo saw the two right next to each other, she noticed that his eyes weren’t the same golden color as Stelle’s. His were a blend of ocean blue and sunset pink, the same as the woman in the wheelchair. 

The woman in the wheelchair approached them, her seat moving along all on its own. Huohuo idly wondered why Stelle was even pushing it to begin with. The woman cleared her throat. “Dear, why don’t we find someplace out of the way before we get too off-track? We can catch up over snacks and you can introduce everyone.” 

“Oh right,” Stelle said, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly in that familiar manner of hers. She may have aged substantially from the perspective of one born in the Alliance, but Huohuo was glad to see she was still very much the same at heart. 

Their group found a round table to sit at outside a nearby restaurant. Huohuo, Yanqing and Qingque all took seats next to each other, while Stelle, Sam, and what Huohuo could only assume was the rest of their family sat opposite them. 

“Okay,” Stelle began, gesturing to the Xianzhou trio. “So these are some of my old buddies from the Loufu that I got up to all sorts of stuff with back in the day. That’s Huohuo, that’s Yanqing, and the tiny one is Qingque.”

“Such cruelty. Back in the day, I would’ve been the medium-sized one among us,” Qingque lamented lightly-heartedly. 

Stelle then gestured to the woman in the wheelchair. “This is my beautiful and wonderful wife, Firefly.” She gestured to the young man they had previously mistaken for her. “This is my handsome and talented son, Sam.” She pointed to the last member of their group, the girl with the short white hair. “And the pouty one rolling her eyes over there is my most precious daughter Aaron.” 

“I’m not pouting.” Aaron grumbled. 

“Really couldn’t resist the word play with that name, huh?” Qingque asked. 

“No. No I could not,” Stelle said plainly. 

“She really couldn’t,” Firefly confirmed. “She begged me to let her name her that.” 

“The young Master Samuel is pleased to make your acquaintance,” the firefly robot said, getting the introduction back on track. 

“It’s good to meet you all,” Yanqing greeted. “But uh, what’s with the talking bug? Is his synesthesia beacon broken or something?”

“And why does it talk like a housemaid?” Qingque added. 

Huohuo had also been wondering about that. It was rare, but there were cases of Xianzhou natives being born with disabilities such as muteness. Thanks to their immortal bodies, such cases were extremely difficult to treat. As a short-life species though, surely that shouldn’t have been an issue, especially with Stelle’s many connections? 

Stelle and her wife shared a look before she started explaining. “Sam was born mute. We’re not totally sure what causes it, but the doctors say it probably isn’t physical. So we had this little mechanical assistant made for him. She’s linked up directly to his mind, so she can convey what he wants to say.” 

“Greetings. I am a cutting-edge vocal assistant, designed to aid the young master in any manner he requires. You may call me Sparks.”

“And she sounds like that because Stelle thought it would be funny,” Firefly explained. 

“I still do.” 

“I know you do.” 

Sam himself let this all play out with a serene expression on his face. It was a little hard to read him, just as it had been hard for Huohuo to read Stelle in the early days of their friendship. At the very least, she was glad he seemed to have taken his condition in stride. His circumstances vaguely reminded Huohuo of her own relationship with Mr. Tail back in the day. He hadn’t been terribly friendly at the beginning, but he had eventually helped her break out of her meak shell and start expressing herself, at least a little bit. 

Qingque let out a wistful sigh. “It still hasn’t sunk in yet that the funny little trash goblin I once knew is all grown up now with a wife and children. It’s enough to make a girl feel old. So, how’s parenthood been treating you? I bet you’re the obnoxiously over-supportive kind of parent. The kind who goes to every one of their kids’ school events to cheer for them so fervently that it embarrasses them in front of all their friends, and never misses a chance to show off their baby pictures.” 

“You have no idea…” Aaron groused. 

Stelle brightened. “Oh! That reminds me! I have whole albums worth of baby pictures to show off! Wanna see?” 

“Sweet mother of Akivili, Mom. Please stop…” 

“Maybe another time,” Yanqing said diplomatically, taking mercy on Aaron. 

“Bummer.” Stelle reluctantly returned her phone to her pocket. “So how’ve you guys been? Any big changes on your end?” 

Yanqing shrugged. “Everything’s been pretty standard on my end, though the General seems to finally be trusting me with more responsibilities within the Cloud Knights. And of course I’ve been keeping up my training” 

“That right?” Stelle asked with a twinkle in her eye. “As it happens, Sam here has gotten really good with a sword too. I bet he could give you a run for your money. Maybe even join the Beaten Yanqing Club.” 

“You’re really never going to let me live down those couple of losses I took when you first arrived, are you?” 

“Nope. Never.” 

“The young master would be quite interested in seeing your technique in action, Master Yanqing. He is looking forward to it,” Sparks said. 

Yanqing gave Sam a smile. “In that case, let’s get together sometime when I’m not too busy with my duties. I’d like to see what you can do too.” 

“Regrettably, my own career has not been nearly as stagnant as the lieutenant’s,” Qingque lamented. “Thanks to my minimal contribution to your efforts during your first arrival, Fu not only became properly cognizant of my existence, but somehow got it in her head that I was both competent and reliable. Since then, she started saddling me with more and more responsibilities in the Divination Commission. No longer am I Qingque, lowest-level Diviner of the Divination Commission twenty years running. You now stand before Qingque, personal aid to the Master Diviner. I have you to blame for the upward trajectory of my career.” 

“My bad,” Stelle apologized half-heartedly. “So, you call her Fu now? That’s pretty informal.” 

“Being openly familiar with her is one of the few meaningful perks of my newfound position. But a minor pleasure to keep me from going insane from the workload.” 

“Are you like… okay?” Aaron asked with some concern. 

“I will persist. Though for how long, none can say.” 

“Best of luck to you, Qingque,” Stelle offered. “So Huohuo, how’ve you been? I noticed Mr. Tail isn’t with you. Is he alright? Something didn’t happen to him, did it?” 

Huohuo waved her hands. “Oh no, nothing like that! Actually, Mr. Tail was given special permission by the Ten-Lords Commission to work as an official agent for them. We still work together, but now they let him work on assignments on his own.” 

“Wow, good for him.” 

They all spent some more time chatting, snacking, and catching up. Stelle regaled them with the many adventures she’d been on since their last meeting, with Firefly and their kids chipping in every now and then to ensure her retelling weren’t embellished. 

“So, how did you and Firefly meet?” 

“Well, first I watched her die, then she tried to kill me, then we went on a game show together to save the world, then I watched her explode, and then we started dating.” 

“…Really? Not going to add any context to that?” 

“Nope.” 

“Kids, I am so sorry you have to put up with her.”

It was good to see her again. 

Several days later, Yanqing found himself heading to the garden he and Yunli had once used as a training ground to teach March 7th swordplay. He had continued to return to this place every now and then, even years later. It was a nice, tranquil place to unwind and practice. Not just his swordplay, but his other hobbies as well. 

The sound of an instrument playing caused him to pause. It would seem somebody else had taken this space for themselves today. Well that was fine. It wasn’t like Yanqing owned the place or anything. He considered leaving to find someplace else to practice, but he found himself drawn to the melody. It was a soothing sound, yet full of emotion. Whoever was playing it was quite good. He entered the garden to investigate. 

He was surprised to find Stelle’s son Sam standing in the garden, alone save for his robot assistant watching silently from a nearby bench. He held a violin in hand, which was the clear source of the music that drew Yanqing there. A serene expression graced his face as he strummed away at the strings with the violin’s bow. 

The melody was so pleasant that Yanqing found himself lost in it for a moment. It was only when Sparks spoke up that he was brought back to reality. 

“Master Samuel, it would seem we have company.”

The music stopped. Sam turned to face him, though of course he said nothing. 

Yanqing rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. “Ah. Hey there. Didn’t mean to interrupt you. I just wasn’t expecting anybody else to be here, so I got a bit curious.” 

Sparks spoke up. “The young master does not mind, and he apologizes if using this space without permission has inconvenienced you.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it,” he waved off. 

“The other day, you expressed an interest in gauging the young master’s skills with a sword. He would like to know if you’re still interested?” 

Yanqing shook his head. “Ah, not right now. I do really want to see your skills for myself, but that isn’t what I came here for today. Right now, I’m more interested in that music you were playing.”

Sam tilted his head. Sparks responded. “As you can imagine, Master Samuel has always had trouble expressing himself to others. To help him with this, his grandmother taught him how to play the violin. It allows him a means of expressing himself through music. Master Samuel very much enjoys playing.” 

“Yeah? Believe it or not, so do I.” Yanqing walked over to the bench and set down the slim box he had been carrying. He opened it up to reveal a flute. “The general once suggested I pick up instrument-playing. He said understanding music would help me understand swordplay. I hadn’t totally understood what he meant by that at the time, but I think I’ve started to. Before we clash swords, would you mind if I joined you in playing?” 

A small smile graced Sam’s face. He nodded. 

“Ah, if it isn’t our old enemy...” 

Qingque watched in mild amusement as Stelle glared dramatically at a set of stairs. She and Huohuo had managed to get some more time off to hang out with the Loufu’s hero and her family, so that’s what they were doing. At the moment they were just walking around visiting some old landmarks Stelle recalled from their first visit. She was eager to show her wife and daughter all those spots and recount the memories she had there. 

Her wife looked to be having a good time. Her daughter? Less so. 

“Alright Aaron, you know the procedure,” Stelle said seriously. “You carry the wheelchair. I’ll take your mother.” 

“Up the stairs, right?” Qingque asked, willfully playing along. Stelle grinned and said nothing. 

Aaron groaned. “This thing is kitted the hell out for all terrain movement. We don’t need to do this every single time.” 

“You are entirely correct Aaron. “Stelle nodded sagely. “But tragically, it can’t cross any terrain if your mother isn’t in it.” 

With that, she looped her arms under her wife and picked her up out of the wheelchair. She started carrying her up the stairs bridal-style, leaving her daughter alone with the wheelchair. 

Firefly smiled apologetically. “Sorry Aaron, it’s out of my hands now.” 

“Real cool, Mom! Real cool!” Aaron shouted angrily at their retreating figures.  

“Um, I can help carry it if you want…?” Huohuo offered  nervously. 

Aaron sighed, her expression softening slightly. “Forget it. It’s not that big a deal.” 

Her body started emanating a soft glow, and suddenly a set of sleek mechanical armor manifested on her arms and legs. The set on her arms disappeared under the sleeves of her jacket, but the leg set went over her leggings up to her knees. With casual ease that was quite impressive given how much tech was surely stuffed into it, she picked up the wheelchair and lifted it over her head. She started trotting up the stairs after her parents, hardly looking the slightest bit inconvenienced. 

“Huh. Neat.” Qingque said, impressed.

She and Huohuo followed along with Huohuo sticking close to Aaron, as if worried she’d need to help catch the wheelchair at any moment. For her part, Qingque wasn’t gonna worry about it. Even if she dropped and broke her mom’s fancy chair, Stelle seemed perfectly ready to carry her across the entirety of the Loufu if she needed to. Man, that Firefly lady sure was living the life. 

Huh. Never in her life had she ever thought she’d envy somebody for having Stelle as a spouse. Scary thought. 

“So I’ve been wondering,” Qingque said. “What’s up with the snazzy armchair anyhow? Yer mom’s legs don’t look broken or anything.” 

Aaron looked pensive for a moment before answering. “I don’t really know all the details, since it happened before me or Sam were born, but apparently Mom was sick back then. Like, really sick. Her and Mom eventually found a way to treat it, but the toll it took on her body made her paralyzed from the waist down.” 

“I’m so sorry,” Huohuo said sympathetically. “That must’ve been really hard on her.” 

Aaron scoffed. “Here and now it’s harder on me than it is on her. I’m the one who has to carry this thing everywhere!” 

“My sympathies,” Qingque offered. She idly wondered if they had ever considered simply replacing Firefly’s paralyzed body parts with prosthetics. It’s not like they’d have to worry about her old legs growing back after all. Then again, if Qingque were given the choice, she would absolutely take the wheelchair. It seemed so much easier than using up precious energy walking everywhere. In fact… “Say, is there any way to inflict whatever your mom was hit with onto someone at will?” 

“Qingque!?” Huohuo sputtered, aghast. 

“What? Going about my life without having to get up sounds like an ideal life to a slacker such as I.” 

Aaron let out a sigh. “Why are all my moms’ friends so weird?” 

Chapter Text

“Just to be sure, it’s really not a problem if I stay here?” Firefly asked worriedly. “I am still a wanted criminal after all.” 

Stelle gave her girlfriend a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry about it, Fi. We’ve had Boothill and Sunday on the express before, and they’re almost as wanted as you are.” 

“Idon’t know if that makes me more or less reassured...” 

“Relax! I want you here, and the others gave their okay too. If any IPC folks come knocking, we’ll just hide you in a box and say you’re not here!” 

Firefly shook her head ruefully. “Alright, if you say so.” She looked at her surroundings appreciatively. “But wow, so this is what the Express looks like on the inside, huh? It’s so luxurious!” 

“I know right? We cruise the stellar seas in style!” 

This was the first time Firefly had been on the Astral Express since they had first met in Penacony, and Stelle was all too eager to show her around. They had started dating shortly before they both departed the Planet of Festivities, but their respective paths in life meant they didn’t get to hang out face-to-face terribly often. Now that the opportunity had presented itself though, Stelle was determined to make the most of it. At present, she was showing Firefly around the party car. 

From behind the bar counter, Shush the robot bartender waved at them. “Greetings, new guest! I am the Astral Express’s resident drink smith! You can call me Shush. And how might I address you?”

“Oh, hello. You can call me Firefly,” she responded cordially. 

“Excellent! It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Firefly. Feel free to come to me if you would like any drinks or snacks, or if you wish to be entertained. I can put a smile on your face with a wide variety of clever jokes. For example: what would happen if our Nameless friend here took you to see a fireworks show? Why, she would see some fire fly! Get it?” 

Several seconds passed before Firefly let out an awkward laugh. “…Ha… haha… You’re, uh… very funny…”

“Aren’t I though?” He responded proudly. “Ooh, here’s another one…”

“Shush you,” Stelle said. 

“That’s my name! Don’t wear it out!” 

“Anywho, come on Firefly, let’s head up to my room. You’re gonna love it!” Stelle grabbed her by the hand and led her towards the spiral staircase at the edge of the large car. Firefly felt her cheeks flush a little at the warm contact. With how little they got to see each other, she treasured being able to feel her girlfriend’s touch. Especially with her own body instead of Sam’s cold metal one. 

Stelle led her up the stairs, taking it slow to ensure Firefly didn’t strain herself. She appreciated the concern, but she assured her she was fine for the moment. Once they reached the top, Stelle opened the door to reveal her room. 

“Wow, it’s so big!” 

“I know right?” Stelle said proudly. “It was just an attic when I first got here. I had to work my butt off to get Pom-Pom to renovate it into what it is now.” 

Firefly could hardly imagine. The whole room was so well-furnished and lived-in that she had a hard time picturing it as just a dusty old attic. Stelle’s bedroom had to be three times the size of the bedrooms in the lodgings car, and that was only counting the large open area. The large bathroom on the right likely made it even bigger. The open space was split up into multiple areas. There was a kitchenette that looked like it could feed the whole Express crew for weeks, a display corner full of shelves featuring knickknacks and collectibles Stelle had acquired on her travels, a gaming corner with enough screens to operate as a control room for a government facility, and of course a space for her actual bed. Despite the extravagance, signs of the room’s owner had been left all over the place. From the disheveled state of the bed and many of the shelves, to the large figure of a trash can with arms and legs proudly shown in one of the display cases, to Kafka’s wanted poster hanging on the wall next to her bed. 

Firefly gave her girlfriend a side-eye, silently questioning her on that last one. Stelle squirmed a little and chuckled nervously. “Um, I’ll replace it with your poster once I find one?” 

Firefly made a neutral “hm” sound. She reached onto the couch next to the bed and picked up a familiar plush doll in the image of a certain Masked Fool. “And this?”

“Okay, that one isn’t my fault. It comes back every time I try getting rid of it. I’m still not sure how.” 

Outlandish as that was, it sounded perfectly believable given who the doll was made by. Deciding to stop giving her girlfriend a hard time, she tossed the doll aside and took a seat on the couch. “So, what now?”

“Well, first I need to introduce you to the other residents of this room.”

Firefly tilted her head. “Other residents?” Stelle hadn’t mentioned the addition of any new crew members beyond the ones Firefly already knew about. Beyond that, there was only one bed in the room. Maybe the couches unfolded into beds? She would like to think Stelle was smart enough to know how Firefly would feel if it turned out she had been sharing a bed with someone behind her back. 

Before she could ponder it further, she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye on Stelle’s bed. A lump that she had previously dismissed as a pillow began scuffling around until it was able to face her. 

“Meow?”

A creature resembling a black cat hiding inside a short cylindrical cushion greeted her. Firefly knew about this creature. Apparently they were creations of the Genius Ruan Mei, who saddled Stelle with looking after them and their production for a time. Silver Wolf had shown Firefly pictures Stelle sent her of ones she had decorated to look like Kafka and Blade. Firefly regretted not meeting Stelle earlier, if only so she could’ve had one of these creatures modeled after herself. 

The cat-like creature meowed again before hopping off the bed. It then hopped on over until it was sitting on the floor staring up at Firefly. She tentatively reached down to pet it, earning a purring sound for her efforts. 

“Cute little rascal, isn’t he?” Stelle said, smiling. “I call him Caelus. Say hi, Caelus.” 

Caelus meowed. Its whole body, cylindrical cushion and all stretched out as it did. Firefly did not remotely understand these creatures’ anatomies or how they functioned, but they somehow were still so cute regardless! 

Stelle took a seat in the swivel chair in front of her desk. “I also have a virtual warp trotter named Bubbles, but I don’t see it around right now, so it might be in March’s room. I’ll introduce you to it later. In the meantime–“ Stelle was cut off when Caelus hopped into her lap and started rubbing its face up against her. “Excuse you. Who said you could sit there?” 

Firefly stifled a laugh as Stelle started smothering her cat in attention as retribution for its attention-craving antics. 

They spent the next few hours hanging out in Stelle’s room. They had some snacks from the kitchen area while Stelle told her the story behind each of the collectibles on her shelf. Firefly could tell she was embellishing many of their tales, but she wasn’t about to stop her from having her fun. After that they played some games in the gaming area, including a few online games against Silver Wolf. None of which they won, even with the two of them working together. It didn’t help that Caelus took every opportunity he could to get up on their laps or the desk to bat at their controllers or block the screens. For a creature with no legs, he sure was good at getting where he wasn’t supposed to. What a little rascal. 

After that they just sat around and chatted for a bit, enjoying one another’s company. 

“Hey Stelle,” Firefly eventually asked. “Do you mind if I use the shower? It’s been a bit since I had a chance to properly wash up.” 

“Oh!” Stelle sat up from where she laid on her bed, knocking Caelus off her and eliciting an annoyed meow from the cat. “I can do you one better. Why don’t you take a soak in the tub? It’s super relaxing, and there’s a great view of the stars from the window.” 

That sounded nice actually. Luckily there wasn’t much harm in bathing next to a window when you were out in the middle of space. “Alright. In that case, why don’t we bathe together?”

“T-t-together?” Stelle stammered. A furious blush appeared on her face. 

“Sure. The bathtub looked plenty big enough for the both of us.” Firefly gave her a reassuring smile, with just a hint of mischief. “And I mean, we are dating, right? So it should be fine, right?” 

Stelle gulped audibly. She had absolutely zero qualms with getting in the bath with her beautiful girlfriend. She just wasn’t sure her heart would survive the experience. This would be their first time doing something like this together after all. “A-alright. I’ll get the bath and some clothes ready then.” 

“Oh, but be sure to shower and wash yourself before getting in!” Firefly ordered in a motherly tone.

“Isn’t that what the bath is for?” Stelle complained. 

“It’s more hygienic! Now go on, get to it! Shoo!” Firefly chastised playfully. 

Stelle rolled her eyes. “Yes, Mother.” 

After several minutes and a quick shower, Stelle was ready to step into the bath. She tied her hair back and wrapped her towel around herself to preserve at least a little bit of modesty. Even still, her heart was racing like crazy, and had been the entire time she’d spent showering. The anticipation of having such an intimate moment with Firefly was driving her crazy. 

Opting not to fully get in yet, she instead sat on the edge of the tub and dipped her feet in. The water was a pleasantly warm temperature. Raising her voice to ensure Firefly could hear her through the door, she said, “I’ve finished my shower! You can take yours now!” 

The door slid open a few moments later, and Firefly entered. Stelle could see a pink tinge on her cheeks when she caught sight of her girlfriend sitting on the tub’s edge. “I’ll be quick. We wouldn’t want your toes getting pruny before we even get in,” she teased. 

Stelle didn’t trust her mouth to produce intelligent words right now, so she just nodded and turned to face the window. She tried her best to focus on the majestic sight of open space and not the sounds of her girlfriend undressing and showering right behind her, but she quickly deemed that task to be impossible. ‘Forgive me Firefly, for I am a sinner most foul…’

Then again, her girlfriend had a kill count to rival March’s photo collection, so surely thinking impure thoughts about her romantic partner wasn’t all that sinful by comparison, right? Or did being horny for someone who’d killed so many actually make her more of a sinner? Tough questions…

The shower turned off. Shortly after, she heard the sound of the curtain opening. She failed to resist the urge to turn around and caught sight of her girlfriend stepping out of the shower. She had followed Stelle’s lead and wrapped a towel around herself, but that still left Stelle with a view of more of her girlfriend than she had ever seen before. She swore she could feel her brain frying from how hot her face was. 

Her figure, her wet locks framing her gorgeous face, her flawless skin, it was all perfection given form as far as Stelle was concerned. If Idrila the Beauty came back from the dead to grace them with Their presence at that moment, Stelle was sure she still wouldn’t be able to tear her eyes away from Firefly. 

Somewhere in her fried mush of a brain, she noted how mildly peculiar it was that Firefly’s skin was so unmarred by her life of combat. Stelle herself boasted a few scars from the many fights she had gotten into since joining the Express. Including but not limited to the massive one front and center on her chest and back where a certain Supreme Guardian’s lance had run her through. Then again, perhaps it wasn’t so strange that Firefly’s skin was so free of visible damage. She did do most of her fighting in her mech suit after all. 

Firefly twirled a lock of hair around her finger self-consciously. “Is something wrong? You’ve been staring at me for a while. It’s a little embarrassing…” 

Stelle blinked. “Oh, just gazing upon perfection is all," she said, suavely and valiantly hiding the complete and total gay mess she was on the inside. 

Firefly’s cheeks reddened. “Oh you. Come on, let’s get in before the water gets cold.” 

She neatly tied her long hair back just as Stelle had, then put her hands on Stelle’s back and lightly pushed her into the tub. Stelle leaned back against the edge, getting comfortable as she waited for Firefly to get in. The pool was spacious, so she was expecting the other girl to get in further down, maybe get a seat closer to the window. She was not expecting her girlfriend to get in practically right on top of her and take a seat between her legs with her back facing her. 

“Mmm, the bath really is heavenly,” Firefly said pleasantly, pressing her back up against Stelle’s front. She was so close that Stelle could smell the shampoo she had used. She smelled nice. That nice smell was about the only coherent thing her mind could process at that moment. 

Such a devious woman, to render the mighty Galactic Baseballer low with such ease! Truly, Stellaron Hunter Sam was a force to be reckoned with indeed. Kafka must’ve been proud. 

“Hm? Are you alright Stelle? You’re shaking back ther– Oh!” 

Stelle wrapped her arms around Firefly’s waist, pulling her even closer. She rested her head on her girlfriend’s shoulder. “I’m the luckiest woman in the cosmos.” 

Firefly relaxed and smiled softly. She brought a hand up to stroke Stelle’s hair. “I feel the same way.” 

They soaked in the bath for some time. Eventually, Stelle managed to calm down and simply bask in the soothing waters with her girlfriend as they gazed out the window at the stars beyond. The bathroom lights were off, leaving the soft glow of the bath and the stars themselves as the only illumination. 

“They really are beautiful,” Firefly said. 

“Yeah.” 

“I’m glad I get to share this view with you.” 

Out of the corner of her eye, Stelle could see another source of soft light appearing. Glowing cracks, or perhaps veins, ran along Firefly’s otherwise flawless skin. Stelle frowned. 

“Hey Firefly? I don’t want to bring down the mood, but… how is your condition doing?” 

Firefly stayed silent for a long time. Stelle was beginning to wonder if she had fallen asleep when she finally answered. “Steadily worsening. I don’t know how much time I have left, but… well, one more year might be a generous estimate.”

That answer wasn’t unexpected, but it still left Stelle with a cold pit in her stomach. “That’s way too short…” 

Thanks to their proximity, Stelle not only heard but felt Firefly take a deep breath. “I do have a potential lead I’m following. A treatment to reverse the effects of my Entropy Loss Syndrome. The thing is… it’s still experimental. I won’t be able to guarantee my survival. And even if it does work, my body might not come out unscathed.” 

“So it’s a gamble then,” Stelle said. It wasn’t much, but any hope was worth holding onto. “Are you planning on taking it?” 

“I might. As my time runs shorter, my options become slimmer after all.”

She tried to keep her tone light and casual, but Stelle could feel the underlying fear and anxiety hidden within. She tightened her hold around Firefly’s waist.

“Well whatever you decide, I’ll support you. I’ll love you no matter what Firefly. That said, I’d really, really like for you to live a full life. Losing you would be the most painful thing to ever happen to me. I want to live a long happy life with you by my side…”

Firefly softly rested a hand over Stelle’s own under the water. “Hearing you say that makes me happy. I’m really glad I got to come visit you here. To spend this time with you, in case the worst happens. But also, for reminding me that my life isn’t just mine anymore. I have to live on so that you can live a long and happy life with me by your side, and so I can do the same with you.” 

Firefly gently removed Stelle’s arms from around her waist so she could adjust her position to face her. In those beautiful eyes of hers, Stelle saw so many things. Bittersweet joy, loving passion, deep-seeded fear, but also a fire. A determination to live, love, and be loved in turn. It felt as if those eyes that Stelle fell in love with were making her fall all over again. She vowed that, come what may, she would protect that fire with everything she had. 

They leaned forward. With the stars as their backdrop and their lone witness, their lips met.