#tomorro a ship leaves | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

holykillercake · 4 years ago

Text

A Day In The Sun

pairing: MARCO x fem!Reader

word count: 3.3k

summary: You left the Moby Dick to go on a solo mission, from which you would never return. Two years later, when hope seemed to have drained out, a loud rubber boy appears, leading the way back to your family.

highlight: ¨I guess he´s not coming, so... tell Marco I will always love him.¨

warnings: angst, MARINEFORD spoilers

notes: This was an anon request for a ¨ [as angsty as possible] Marco with a fem!S/O who left the Moby Dick a year or two before and then they ran into each other by accident somewhere¨. I really hope you like it!♡ I feel like I chose an easy path with Marineford, so maybe I´ll try this one more time with a non-canon plot. The angst, tho, the angst!

𝕷𝖊𝖆𝖛𝖊 𝖈𝖔𝖒𝖒𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖘, 𝖗𝖊𝖖𝖚𝖊𝖘𝖙𝖘, 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖑𝖔𝖛𝖊!

☩

You watched the guard check the chains for the fourth time with an amused grin on your face. He pulled it, hit it, and almost wet his pants with the effort.

The funnier part was that he did all of that while trying to stay as far from you as possible.

¨So, am I getting company?¨ no answer, just a glance and a drop of sweat falling down his temple ¨Will you tell me who´s my guy?¨ he ignored you again and left.

A few minutes later, you heard the lame sound of chains echoing throughout the cold walls. You had a minute to process the silent and compliant steps before the rest of the prisoners started to yell wildly.

You observed the shadow of your new cellmate projected onto the filthy floor. Then his dirty feet when he walked by you, giving yourself the trouble to look up only when he took a seat while the guards locked him.

You let out a disdained scoff and waited for ¨privacy¨ to talk to him. He, on the other hand, never bothered to look up.

¨I would offer you something to eat, but as you can see, my hands are tied.¨ you shook the chains, hoping that the distasteful joke would make the man lift his head.

But he showed no reaction to your words. Instead, he remained leaned forward with his head down.

You snorted heavily.

¨You know, I was kind of hoping to be the only Whitebeard pirate around here.¨

That was more than enough to make him face you. His narrowed eyes watched you for a moment, trying to recollect your features in his memory.

¨Oh, come on. Did I really change that much?¨

¨Y/N!¨ he shouted and tried to fight the strains.

¨How are you doing, Flame boy?¨

☩

The heart beating inside of your chest felt like it was going to jump out of your mouth at any moment. Although you were sweating, all of the ice around you made you wish you had more clothes.

How could you be cold and sweating at the same time?

Everyone had their eyes on you. Well, not only you. But the entire troupe that fell from the sky altogether with a marine warship, the weirdest circus freaks brought directly from Impel Down. Your home for the last two years.

As soon as Luffy stepped on the ice field and started to attack marines in order to reach Ace, the real beginning of the battle began to seethe in Marineford.

You joined your fugitives comrades and jumped out the ship, but differently than the straw hat boy, you ran to the opposite side. Dodging every marine in your way to get to the Moby Dick.

Whitebeard looked at you like a proud father and let out his legendary ´Gurarara´ laugh while the Commanders stared at you as if you were a ghost.

Not that you didn´t actually look like one. Even for them, who always considered you to be one of the prettiest women they have ever seen, you looked a little bit mistreated.

Your hair was dirty and messy, your always radiant skin was dry, and the bags under your eyes were deeper and darker.

If it wasn´t for the look in your eyes, they wouldn´t have recognized you.

The spark and shine remained stoic. The will to live and to fight remained standing strong, even though the rest of you seemed to be brumbling apart.

Marco stood on Pops' right side, still showing the same anger in his eyes as when you said that you were leaving the Whitebeard Pirates. But you couldn´t focus on that. You were too busy trying not to get killed to care about his attitude.

And more importantly, you were so happy.

Every night for two years, you prayed for the chance to see them again, to brew saké among your family, and laugh in their companies. It was so close you could feel it in your fingertips.

¨Daughter, you don´t look healthy.¨ Whitebeard said when you reached the ship.

¨I guess feeding me wasn´t on the top of their list of priorities, Pops.¨ you laughed.

¨And I suppose you met the troublemaker over there.¨

¨We were cellmates, can you believe it?¨ Marco peeped into your conversation, trying to look like he didn´t care ¨He was updating me on the current Whitebeard Pirate´s activities. Said you got yourself some pretty cute nurses.¨

You elbowed him slightly in the leg, and the Emperor gave his staccato laugh you missed so much.

¨Daughter,¨ he spoke more serious ¨I know it´s a lot to ask of you right now... but we need to get that boy outta here. You´re in?¨

¨Have you forgotten who I am, Pops?¨ He smirked, already knowing your answer ¨ Of course, I´m in.¨

You looked each commander in the eyes, in a silent agreement that when this madness was over, you would answer all their questions. When they looked back at you, nothing had changed. For them, you were still the same Y/N from years ago.

☩

¨I can´t believe Pops wants to keep that brat.¨

¨We should have him thrown off of the ship.¨

¨You should cook him for dinner, Thatch!¨

You couldn´t hold the smile bending on your lips when you heard the Division Commanders talking about the rookie Pops had brought onboard.

The kid had been trying to kill him for a while now. Even Jinbe had to step in and engaged in a 5-day battle with the young pirate. That, for some reason, got Whitebeard´s interest.

You felt a warm hand embrace yours and turned to see the First Division Commander take his seat on your side. You smiled when he leaned over and gave you a habitual kiss, the kind you share when you wake up in the morning or when you meet up in the halls.

But your heart ached behind your smile. Because, although it was something usual for him, something that he would do thousands of times for the rest of his life, for you, it could be the last.

You were about the destroy everything you two had and break his heart.

But you were out of options. You knew that, and so did Whitebeard.

When the first part of the meeting ended, and Pops had explained his motives to want to keep the hot-headed boy, someone questioned him about the second topic they needed to discuss. The one he kept as a secret even from Marco.

Your heart pounded faster, and your face heated. Whitebeard frowned and gestured something, giving you the word. The weight of the sixteen commanders staring at you made you shrug and hold Marco´s hand tighter.

¨Y/N?¨ he called you with a tone of concern in his voice.

You just avoided making eye contact with him. You couldn´t face him.

¨I, uh...¨ you raised your head and stuffed your chest. You had to be cold. ¨I-I am going on a solo mission... and I am not coming back.¨

The room went totally silent for a few seconds before they began to bombard you with questions and inquires, to which you could not respond. Marco, on the other hand, remained speechless, waiting for you to tell him that it was a joke.

¨I, uh...¨ someone interrupted you ¨I am leaving tomorro-¨ another Commander cut you ¨... tomorrow morni-¨

The blast of Whitebeard´s cleaving blade hitting the floor made all of you shut.

¨The decision was made!¨ his thunderous voice cracked the wooden walls ¨And blessed.¨

Marco shot up, his chair met the floor in a loud thud. ¨Pops, you approved this?!¨

¨Son...¨ the First Division Commander scowled and started to walk out of the room.

You reached him and held his hand to stop him. He turned, staring at you furiously.

¨Marco...¨

¨Why, yoi?!¨

You shook your head, not being able to tell him what he wanted to know. Tears began to fill your eyes when he pulled his hand from your grip and left the room.

A single tear made its way down your cheek and you quickly wiped it. You couldn't turn back on your decision. Even if that made the love of your life hate you.

¨Y/N...¨ Thatch touched your arm softly ¨Are you in trouble?¨

You attempted to give him your best warm smile.

¨When am I not in trouble, Thatchy?¨

The next day when you were saying goodbye to your family, everyone was there, even the Fire-Fist boy.

Everyone but the person you needed the most to be there.

Every Commander hugged you tight, saying that if you ever decided to come back, your chair among them would be waiting.

You tried to hold your tears in the beginning, but that became an impossible task.

Pops held you close to his chest and suffered with you, for he knew the sacrifice you were about to make. And even a man like him couldn´t avoid it.

His voice roared through the four Blues when he declared, loud and clear, that you were his daughter and would be forever a Whitebeard pirate.

¨I love you guys. I love you, Pops.¨ you looked around, searching for your boyfriend ¨I guess he´s not coming, so... tell Marco I will always love him.¨

When you stood alone on the seashore, you waited. You waited until the Moby Dick disappeared on the horizon. You waited for Marco to have a change of heart and fly over to you, saying that he loved you and he would miss you.

But he never did.

☩

What happened was that you were a little rusted.

You got tired faster and weren´t as agile as before. So you preferred to keep yourself out of the line of fire, where you would disturb more than help. Your job was to back up the Division Commanders and make sure they would keep a clean path for Ace´s brother.

You wanted to be thrilled with the adrenaline of a battlefield, but you were scared. Every time Whitebeard stopped and put his hand on his chest, you feared.

That was the reason why you turned yourself in in the past, the reason why you didn´t ask him to fight for you.

He saved as much energy as possible for this war, but you knew he had started to die the minute he disconnected himself from the life support.

¨What are you up to, old man?¨ you mumbled to yourself.

Before you could do or think anything else, a sharp scream took your attention. Kizaru hit Marco with laser beams, and you noticed another Marine Officer approaching him with sea stone cuffs.

You grabbed a gun and ran towards them. Even rusted, you were incredibly fast. With an impulse, you jumped and grabbed Marco by the collar, shooting the marine with Haki-imbued bullets.

But again, too late.

Perhaps years ago, you would have been able to prevent this from happening, but at that moment, all you could do was get him out of Kizaru's sight, causing his laser to hit you in the thigh.

You turned in the air, changing your position so that he fell on you when you landed. In that battle, his life was worth more than yours, and it was your duty to offer support to the Commanders - your Commander, especially. His body had already gone through a lot of stress, and the sea stone handcuffs prevented him from using his powers.

You tried to muffle the scream when you hit the floor.

¨You ok?¨ you asked.

With so much of a glimpse he put himself to his feet, ignoring you and the blood he spilled before running back to the mess.

From that moment on, the situation got really bad, really quick. You went berserk, killing the marines like a freaking calamity. Your thigh was gushing blood, deep gashes covered your body, and your heart was torn apart.

Because despite all of your effort and sacrifice, the mission failed.

You didn´t see what had happened, but the person you were supposed to rescue, Ace, the Second Division Commander, was dead on the floor. And his brother was having a breakdown.

Ace had a peaceful smile on his face, and you thought that it would have been nice to get to know him better. From the days you shared a cell, you understood why Pops wanted to keep him. He was a pretty nice guy, after all.

☩

¨And how did you end up here?¨ Ace asked you.

¨Remember the solo mission thing?¨ he nodded, and you gave him a ´ta-dah face.

Suddenly, he got pale.

¨This... This is where you´ve been for the past two years? Why?¨

You hummed, pondering over your words.

¨I know things about the World Government that I shouldn´t. And when they found out, I got an ultimatum... I could turn myself in, or they would have thrown a buster call on us.¨

¨Y-You sacrificed yourself? But you know Pops could have handled it, right? We all could have handled it.¨

You smiled at him, deciding not to tell him the ugly truth.

The World Government knew about your knowledge regarding the Ancient Weapons and the National Treasure of Marie Geoise for a long time, but they waited to get to you. They waited until they had the perfect chance, and Whitebeard´s illness was just it.

At the beginning of his illness, he didn´t have the proper medication and life support devices, so he was vulnerable. Still stronger than all of you together but too vulnerable to deal with the Admirals and the CP-Zero.

When you took Whitebeard´s hand and accepted to be his daughter, you swore your loyalty to him, you vowed to protect your family even if it cost your life.

¨Yeah, I guess this one is on me.¨

After listening to everything he had told you, you knew Whitebeard would use the public execution to rescue him. He would not let anyone take another child of his.

That was the reason why you couldn´t tell Ace about your father´s state - not that he didn´t know, but he could be oblivious. And he would be crushed with guilt if anything happened to your old man.

¨Hum, but tell me, kid. Any chance the phoenix had already forgiven me?¨

You saw your answer in his awkward look.

¨He didn´t know about this as well, right?¨ Ace opened and closed his mouth a couple of times ¨He thought you had bailed on us when Pops needed you the most and... he still likes you, Y/N. He´s just hurt.¨

¨Yeah... okay...¨ you whispered.

¨If you´re right... and Pops comes to rescue me, I´ll let everyone know you´re here. And we´ll come to rescue you.¨

Your nose burned with the feeling of crying. Even with his powers restrained by the sea stone cuffs, he was so warm.

¨Well... I could use another day in the sun.¨ and you sobbed.

☩

But there was no sun.

There was no sun, and your father, together with Ace and thousands of your allies, were gone.

And the dream of brewing saké with your family, you did reach it, but couldn´t hold it.

When he opened a crater on the ground, separating him from his crew, you stood beside him, begging him to reconsider

¨Pops, don´t do this...¨ you whined, choking on your own tears ¨I-I just came back...¨

He looked at you in the eyes and wiped your tears.

¨My daughter... I´m sorry I failed you.¨ You shook your head and held his huge hand ¨I know you´ll take care of the boys. Your room and your seat remain untouched.¨

You couldn´t say anything else before he threw you on the other side.

Now the Red Hair Pirates were collecting Whitebeard and Ace´s bodies to assist with the funeral. Jozu scooped you in his amrs and carried you back to the ship as you cried. He walked you to your old room and put you in the bed, leaving without a word.

Inside of your cabin, you raged, not wanting to accept the fate of things. You punched the walls until your knuckles bled, you cried until your throat hurt and wished to go back in time, when you were in your dirty cell, and Whitebeard was still alive.

When do you think people die?

When they are shot through the heart by the bullet of a pistol?

When they are ravaged by an incurable disease?

No. It’s when… they are forgotten.

When the sun began to fall, you got up from the cold woodboard and reached the door, making your way to the deck.

The Commanders and the rest of the crew were scattered around, mourning their losses. The family was falling apart, and this time Pops wasn´t there to glue the pieces back together.

I know you´ll take care of the boys.

His words echoed in your head.

You watched the hundreds of men injured, bleeding through their wounds and passing out unattended. Where was the man in charge?

A sudden anger consumed you, and you rushed to his room, kicking the door open.

¨What the fuck do you think you´re doing?!¨ he didn´t answer, nor did he move.

Marco looked miserable, sitting on the mattress, leaning forward with both hands on his head.

You had a lot of emotions going on in your head.

You were happy because you got to hear Whitebeard call you daughter one last time, but you didn´t know how to live in a world where he didn´t.

You were happy to be with your family again, but it killed you to see them crumbled like that.

¨Not now.¨ he spoke when you approached with calmer steps. His voice was hushed and broken.

¨Marco, you have to-¨

¨Get out, yoi.¨

¨No. You are the one getting out and help-¨

¨GET THE HELL OUT, Y/N!¨ he roared.

¨NO!¨ you roared back and pulled him by his collar, facing his teary and red eyes. ¨YOU TURNED YOUR BACK TO ME ONCE, BUT I WON´T LET YOU DO THE SAME TO THEM!¨

You let go of him and shed heavy tears.

¨You have thirteen Commanders and hundreds of men out there who need you. So suck it and step in.¨ you said with gritted teeth.

¨They can handle themselves, yoi.¨ he grumbled.

You scowled

¨Is this how far your loyalty goes?¨ he clenched his fists ¨Pops offered you a seat on his side, and you took it! NOW USE IT!¨

¨SHUT UP! YOU DON´T KNOW THE THINGS WE´VE BEEN THROUGH, Y/N!¨ he marched towards you, stopping a few inches from you and yelling in your face ¨You have no idea the things we´ve lost, the things I have lost!¨

¨I do know!¨ you pushed his chest ¨I have always known, but you didn´t! You didn´t because you´re Marco, the Phoenix! And you´re great! Great rare, mythical Devil Fruit. Great First Division Commander. YOU. ARE. GREAT.¨ you sobbed, helpless ¨But being great didn´t make you confident, it made you spoiled. It made you forget what loss feels like. And now you lost. We lost.¨

He let himself fall on the mattress again, head down, tears dropping on his ragged pants.

¨So you don´t get to drown yourself in commiseration, Marco. You don´t get to sit here, feeling sorry for yourself.¨ your voice came out weak ¨They need you. I... need you.¨

You watched him for a couple of minutes but seeing that he wouldn´t move, you sighed, ready to leave the room and do his job.

¨I hated you, yoi.¨ Marco said before you could leave..

¨I know.¨ you whispered and leaned against the door.

More tears fell.

Two years in Impel Down were not enough to break you, but that... that was a difficult hit to take.

¨All these years, I hated you every single day.¨

¨I know.¨

¨Even when I thought you were dead, I hated you.¨

¨I know.¨

¨And when Pops told me what you did for him... I hated myself.¨

The both of you broke down.

¨I know, Marco.¨

You turned slowly and walked to him, sitting by his side, laying your head on his shoulder.

His shaky hands held yours, and you weakened, feeling the touch you missed so much.

¨I can´t do this, Y/N.¨

¨Yes, you can.¨ you touched his face gently, so he would look at you ¨We can.¨

You slipped to the floor, holding each other in your arms, hoping that the tears would wash away the pain, the guilt, and regret.

80 notes · View notes

botwstoriesandsuch · 4 years ago

Note

Idk if you do ship ask but I've always hc that most ritos are affraid of thunder, since that could very easily harm/kill something flying (like a rito), so do you have any headcanons about link comforting revali during a thunderstorm?

Heya! Thanks for sending this ask, I had so much fun writing it! If you wanna know why it took so long, it’s because I accidentally keep making these essentially oneshots instead of headcanons...I get too wrapped up in the atmosphere lmao.

Anyhow, please enjoy, and thanks for your patience! :P

Revalink during a thunderstorm:

2553 words

Revali always thought green was a decent color, it paired well with his evening blue feathers and eyes after all

But this trip was really challenging his beliefs…

“Tree. Tree. Large tree. Giant tree. Leaf. Bush. Greenery. Tree. Giant leaf. A verdant green. Emerald green. Fern green…” He listed off his observations rhythmically

Revali suddenly stopped walking, patting Link on the back.

“Why Link, you won’t believe this, but if you look up now, you can experience this rare sight of a tree. Impressive isn’t it?”

Link turned his head to see Revali gesture grandly at the Faron scenery, before rolling his eyes. ‘You’re such an ass…’

The Rito smirked, content with the annoyance he was causing Link, before continuing to walk beside him, pointing out the “variety” of nature.

He had been traveling with Link across the jungles of Faron, helping him fly over the waterfalls and rivers for...reasons he had forgotten. Something ordered by the Princess? Checking Shrines? Updating ruin locations? Something, something, Zonai, Sheikah, database...and other nonsense words that Revali didn’t really care for, point was, “this expedition would run all the more smoothly with your skill set,” so, here he was.

In hindsight that was probably only said to flatter him into coming, but it’s not like Revali was going to complain. One on one time with Link wasn’t an opportunity he would have passed up on, anyway

Walking under the lush forest canopy, Revali picked at the 700th vine tangled in Link’s hair. “This exploration stuff sure is paying off...I’m experiencing so many new things. Like plants, and water, and bugs. Never could have experienced this anywhere else.”

Link raised an eyebrow, holding up his hands to sign, ‘Come on now, don’t be like that. We’ll be done with this soon, so quit being pretentious for two seconds and enjoy the beauty of nature!’

Right, because the beauty of the sweltering, sickly green, claustrophobic jungle crawling with insects and slimy creatures, dwelling in a sticky, sappy, foliage that seemed to tie your wings down to the earth with it’s grasping vines and prickly leaves… THAT was just the thing for a Rito from Tabantha to enjoy

Revali clicked his tongue. “You think I’m the pretentious one? That one leaf is the size of a Hinox’s arse. What’s even the point of that?? Do the lizards hate the sky that much?” He gestured towards the thick canopy above once again

Link’s expression suddenly changed as he peered through the leaves, noting how the sky’s sunset colors had started to darken with greying clouds. He spoke bluntly

‘There’s a storm coming.’

“Oh? Wonderful…”

‘I think there’s a cave we can use for shelter near the northernmost waterfall.’

“Think? My ability of flight, and overall state of being, is not suited for moisture, so I’d really prefer if you were a bit more certain than, ‘think!’”

‘Well we can always sleep out here if you want… We’ll have to stay overnight judging by the size of those storm clouds.’

Revali shuddered as another sapphire blue lizard crawled across the forest floor near his talons, much too close for comfort. The image of laying down in the dirt, being mocked by the infectious green that covered the sky, for over eight hours, he audibly groaned.

Fine, hypothetical cave it is.

“Get on my back already. The sooner the day is done, the better, I suppose.”

Flying through the air, Revali feathers rustled in the growing wind, he could start to smell the storm in the air. Thankfully, Link’s cave turned out to be real, providing dry shelter from the oncoming, feather-drenching rain, thank Hylia. If he had to do his braids and ribbons again after he spent all morning just—

BOOM!

Not two seconds after Revali had landed them both in the cave, a deafening sound shook the ground and carried Revali’s soul to hell, heaven, and back. The sound that escaped his beak was none short of a shrill squeak you might hear come out of a thousand baby birds.

Behind them, green sparks fizzed against the earth, starting a small fire, before it was quickly extinguished by the now pouring rain.

Revali shuddered, shaking off the few droplets on his wing. His feathers seemed to tremble from the charge in the air, and his mind was racing with thoughts of what would have happened if he was two seconds slower in his descent, but he concealed it all with a neutral frown.

“This forest is lucky the rain started, that bright explosion of death nearly made me think we were under attack, I’d have nocked a bomb arrow or two.”

‘The...thunder and lightning, you mean?’

“Shut up I know what lightning is.”

‘I guess it makes sense you’re not that familiar...the most action you’ll see in Rito Village is cold winds and snow.’

“I said I know what lightning is.”

‘Oh, don’t worry, I heard you. I heard you very clearly a few seconds ago…’

Revali let out a few “hmphs” before sitting down on the cave floor. Link started to chuckle to himself before starting a fire, the cave was wide enough for the smoke to escape and not suffocate them, and it’s warmth was welcomed wholeheartedly by the Rito Champion.

Link thought that would be the end of it, Revali volunteered to take the first night watch, and the Hylian thought nothing of it. Before either of them knew it, Link had somehow drifted off into a peaceful sleep

BOOM!

Another crack of thunder. Sure, thunder had been roaring in air for the last two or three hours, but this time the lightning struck close enough to the cave that Link could feel the vibration against the earth.

He rose with a yawn, stretching his arms as if he had been woken by chirping birds, and not the midnight sky’s roars

Glancing towards Revali’s direction, concern started to creep onto Link’s face, as he watched the Rito with furrowed eyebrows and a frown

As far as he could tell, Revali hadn’t moved an ant’s inch from when Link had last seen him before he dozed off. His jade eyes were fixed on the jungle, and the feathers on his neck seemed to raise everything the sky glowed a shocking flash of green.

Despite having sat up from the fire, Revali didn’t seem to notice that Link had woken.

Link waved his arm in front of him, trying to catch the Rito’s gaze.

‘Hey? You ok?’

Link’s actions cut into Revali’s tumbling thoughts, but he quickly recovered from his initial shock with a click of his tongue

“I’m fine. Just watching to make sure your tired person doesn’t get ambushed by some crafty lizalfo. You’re welcome, by the way.”

Link paused, but in the end, he nodded his head in acceptance. ‘Alrighty then. Well, you go ahead and get some rest. I can take the next watch.’

“...ah. Right.”

Revali awkwardly shuffled closer to the fire, pinning his back a bit deeper into the shallow cave.

He didn’t bother to lie down

‘Are you sure you’re ok?’

“I’m fine. I’m just not tired yet is all”

‘Well you should try to get some sleep, cause tomorro—’

“Yes, I’m well aware, I don’t need the reminder of our schedule.”

‘It would probably help to not face the forest, cause the movement and noises can be distracting when you’re trying to sl—’

“Yes. I understand, thank you. As I said I’m not tired so—”

‘But Revali, I just said—’

“Look! I’m fine, stop pestering me about it, OK? All I want is to just be able to—”

BOOM!

Comically— or perhaps in this atmosphere, un-comically— a lizard fell off the side of a tree near the cave’s mouth, visibly fried and very much dead

Link, ever the survivalist, grew excited at the prospect of a free elixir ingredient, but as he turned to Revali to share this good news, he was greeted with a very still Rito, his feathers pressed stiffly against himself as he seemed to be holding down his other wing, presumably because it was shivering.

That was strange, considering Link had taken care to keep the firewood stocked. He looked at Revali again, his green eyes seemed to be swirling with racing thoughts and fears

......fears…

Hylia he was an idiot

Although in fairness, it works both ways

‘I’m sorry...I should have realized you had a greater fear of lightning given the circumstances…’

The Rito suddenly jerked his head, his voice rising in pitch by the second. “W-What?! I don’t know where you got that idea from. Circumstances?? I’ll have you know I’ve trained for years to be quite fearless.”

A sudden flash of light came from the corner of his eye, and Revali had to clamp his tongue to keep silent. If it weren’t for his feathers, he’d be as white as a dove.

‘Are you sure? I’d imagine the thought of thunderstorms are a lot worse for you Rito..’

‘You know, given all the rain, and the chance of being electrocuted, and shot out of the sky by a bolt of lightning, and the loud sounds that probably remind you of an avalanche or a bomb, and also falling out of the sk—’

Link suddenly cut himself off, realizing a bit too late that the explanation of the factors involved with thunder and lightning wouldn’t exactly help Revali’s attitude.

The Rito only stared at Link, his beak clamped shut. Finally, he let out a sigh.

“I’m fine.”

Silence, then a scoff from Link.

Yeah, right.

He started pulling out an assortment of items from his small pouch—how Link magically managed to fit cart-fulls of apples, armour, and weapons in there was beyond him. Link joked that it was because of magic tree children, at least, Revali thought he was joking

‘Ah-ha! This should make you feel better!’

Link pulled out a golden helmet, it looked Gerudo in style, and it was covered in green, red, and blue gemstones

‘This thing absorbs lightning, and disperses it, so you don’t get hurt!’

Revali raised an eyebrow, hesitant

‘No! Seriously! This thing has saved me dozens of times, it’s seen hundreds of storms, and it’s taken on countless lightning strikes directly on this part!!’

He pointed excitedly to the bright green gemstone’s at the helm’s crest.

Revali could only shift his weight in discomfort, and Link finally got the hint.

‘Ah right. Maybe the lightning prone object isn’t for you...but…’

Link pulled out a weird, flexible hat, in the shape of a fish. It’s giant eyes stared askew at the cave’s walls, and when Link put it on for demonstration purposes, it basically looked like an octorok had spat a starving fish on his hair

‘This little guy is called Lucky. He’s made out of this thing called rubber, and it’s supposed to help keep electricity from touching you. Pretty nifty fashion choice too, right?’

“I will be plucked dry and drowned before you catch me wearing that hideous thing.”

‘Lucky doesn’t appreciate your unkind words…’

A few more minutes pass by, Link unloading the items in his satchel in an attempt to ease Revali’s mind. But most suggestions failed to truly convince him. Occasionally, the storm would boom again, and Link would rub Revali’s wing gently, if only to keep his attention on the weird yellow mushrooms in his hand. Nonetheless, it was a small thing that the Rito appreciated.

After a few more rounds of talking, Revali finally sighed in defeat. “I appreciate your gesture Link, I truly do. But I’d really prefer to just, not think about lightning at all, rather than be surrounded by your cluster of trinkets and tools.”

“So again, it’s fine. I can just sit here and wait it out. Don’t torment me any further with your...endless basket of comfort foods. I do hope that you donate some of those to the needy, I can’t be seen walking around with a selfish, hoarding hero after all.”

Link ignored the quip and Revali’s attempt to deflect the conversation.

‘Are you sure there’s nothing else I can offer you?’

Revali opened his beak to say no, before closing it. He looked Link up and down, from his fuzzy golden head, to his pathetic and dirty blue tunic, to his brimming, sky blue eyes.

Revali opened and closed his beak again, before saying, “no, it’s OK.”

Link frowned, tapping his fingers to his chin.

Then, he swiftly grabbed at the blue scarf around Revali’s neck.

“W-Wha—hey!”

‘Just borrowing this for a sec!’

Despite Revali’s attempts to retrieve it, Link was already unfurling the scarf to its full length and width. Surprisingly, it was long enough, long enough for Link’s plan, anyhow

He turned back to Revali. ‘Snuggle up closer to the fire. If we’re gonna sleep towards the back of the cave like this I’d prefer to be as warm as possible

Revali’s expression was indescribable, at least verbally. Through the power of writing I can only describe the expression as something that conveyed feelings such as:

?!?!?!!?!!??!?!?!?!!!??!?!?!!?!!?

‘We’re gonna hug, you dense bastard’

Revali started to sputter out questions, and list of logical reasons as to why that suggestion was absurd. But suggestion turned to action as Link wordlessly wrapped the scarf around the two of them, before snuggling into Revali’s feathers.

On the brightside, Revali was stiff for different reasons, other than lightning.

In hindsight that was probably part of his plan

The Rito was silent, as he struggled with the decision of either allowing himself to be comfortable, nestled with his favourite soft scarf, and his favourite (he would never admit it) Champion

Or to put up his usual quips and walls

Was Link annoyed about this? Happy??

Spirits above he was so embarrassed, Link was probably doing this out of pity, like some mother tending to an infant...

Or maybe it wasn’t like that...? Was it something else?? Some other feeling that had cause him to take such a drastic action to—

‘What’cha thinking about?’

Revali felt Link’s arms move under his wing, and he looked over at the Hylian. He looked so...tranquil, and relaxed...and...stunning....despite his terribly kept hair

“Nothing.”

Link raised his eyebrow, ‘Yeah?’

Revali narrowed his eyes in confusion, but nodded, to which Link turned back and nestly his face into his soft feathers.

What kind of a question is that? What am I thinking about? This situation that came out of no where of course!!

What else would he be thinking abo—

...

The Rito could only smirk to himself finally putting together the pieces of Link’s scheme

Another moment of silence. At least, to Revali it was silent. The only sounds he could hear were of Link’s breathing, and his own heartbeat.

The thunder whispered in the background

Revali smiled, while resting his beak on Link’s soft hair

Then finally, thoughts turned to dreams turned to peace; Revali slept sound as the rain pattered to the sound of his beating heart

HA god what a loser it’s so corny I could die. Who would even right such a thing ahahaahha— oh wait

[If you enjoyed this content, a like and a reblog is greatly appreciated! Let’s me know that I should make more, while also giving me that extra serotonin.]

#botw #breath of the wild #legend of zelda botw #loz botw #botw headcanons #fuck it i might just tag this as fanfiction #botw fanfiction #revalink #revali #link #link botw

156 notes · View notes

jetscooters · 7 years ago

Text

So I've got this note in my phone full of writing ideas I'm not using for short stories and D&D campaigns, take a look and feel free to use any (Some are cliché)

Guy with superpower to create dead copies of himself

Somebody wakes up not remembering anything, assumes an ID he's carrying is his and uses that name

Sitcom: someone complains about new yoghurt size

Character who is actually a magical being in disguise

Person sends them on a mission to find a monster who tricks people by asking them to find something, is also the monster

Powerful beings fighting a war on scales people can't even comprehend

"Telephone ring": Allows magic users to cast a variant of a spell they know, but as if it had been misheard, e.g. "Magic missile" into "Manic thistle", once per day

Town of mannequins

Person majored in a dead language, keeps mentioning it, but never has any use for it

Submarines emit sounds and frequencies to look like a civilian cruise liner, but there must not be any scheduled to be in that area

Joke about how WW3 lasted like an hour

Anti-intellectualism following a Great War leads the earth to be a Luddite world surrounded by more advanced colonies

Child genius whose intelligence was wasted because they were raised as a soldier

"Your pack's open"

"It's not open"

"Oh"

*backpack is ripped*

People need to stay in a sterile "bubble" environment when receiving gene conversions due to needing their immune systems shut down to stop it from rejecting the nanobots splicing the new genes into all of their cells

Semper proficio

Species that humans can communicate with through gestures and head movements, but it looks hella stupid

Aliens send down robot animals

Heroes crash on island, find bunker from old war

Injured "god" in ship's hold, causes warps in reality around it, when players dump it, start hearing rumor about a cursed section of the sea

See you tomorro- oh. I guess not.

Sunset: Green flash

A space pilot is terrified of the ocean, because the pressure differences are so much more, it's always dark, and stuff lives there

Players land in a drop pod somewhere, and other landing crew's survival depends on surviving a statless check of DC 15

People leave the earth to escape the political situation

Earth returns to a low-tech agrarian society after technology is characterized as destructive

Mirrors in the dark can be used as portals to another world

Technologies originally meant for space habitats find use on earth after climate catastrophe

"You know, there used to be animals other than people"

"Really?"

Holding a created universe in a "jar", and keeping it safe

Demons are manipulated into believing that people are evil

A "true" immortal eventually faces "death" when it runs out of energy needed to think

Party has to escort infant chosen one, protect from parties who want them for own interests

Devices can be powered by consuming blood sugar

Throughout the ages, a space station has been visible in orbit. A story about the first expedition to that station, culminating in the discovery that life on the planet was decimated and reseeded by the station.

Surrealist short story (comedy?) where weird things are mentioned only in passing

Sci fi retellings of Greek myths

If the Muslim empire had never invaded Spain the first Europeans may not have reached the americas for another few hundred years

Some black comedy: When we were driving home through Houston after the flooding and hurricane, we passed by the aquarium. Now, this aquarium has a sign on all sides saying "AQUARIUM: an underwater adventure!" This would have been the only part of the building actually above the water

A few immortals are unconsciously taking life away from people, making them mortals. They see it as a necessary curse to keep the balance

Fish slowly becoming human through surgery

Robots are discriminated against, people with bionic limbs start to have crises about if they're less than human

Good robots are killed by bad people

An elite military squad is honored and applauded for being more robotic while actual robots are reviled and feared for becoming more human

People in a town think a dragon lives in a neighboring mountain, mountain turns out to be a volcano

1 note · View note

moirakoro · 8 years ago

Text

Hi @lacunicamare! Here is your back-up gift for the @yuri-on-ice-valentine-exchange; I’m sorry it took so long! I wanted to have it posted for White Day, but I went with your slowburn prompt (with a bit of pair skating!!) aaand the whole fic got a bit out of hand, ahem. Anyway, happy belated Valentine’s Day/White Day - I really hope the length of this makes up for the wait!

Title: Around the world, with you Rating: G Characters/Ship: Mila/Sara + Emil and Michele Word count: 5′726

You can read this on AO3 too!

On the evening of the last day of the Grand Prix Final in Barcelona, once the Victory Ceremony and the compulsory interviews and the fan meetings and the congratulations are over and done, Mila walks back to the hotel with a smile on her face and alone. Although she didn’t manage to snag gold this time, her silver medal weighs nicely on her chest, under her coat where she kept it hidden from indiscrete and/or ill-intentioned gazes. Now all that’s left is to go back to her room on the fifth floor, change into something more comfortable than her Russian team official sportswear, and perhaps read a book or play some 3DS or leave sarcastic comments on Yuri’s Instagram posts until she feels like sleeping.

She’s already grinning at the idea when she enters the hotel lobby, but she barely has time to pass the revolving door before her eyes spot someone she thought had returned to their room long ago. Sara Crispino is standing in the lobby with her twin brother, already changed out of her gym clothes; and judging by the Italian Mila can hear, they’re… arguing.

Now, Mila doesn’t know a lot of Italian besides no and si and the mandatory ti amo, but she’s pretty sure she’s hearing a lot of the first one. Besides, it’s unusual for Sara to sound this annoyed. So Mila steps closer in a mixture of concern and, well, curiosity – and that’s when her fellow competitor notices her. Instantly, Sara’s eyes light up and she waves at Mila; the next second she’s asserting a last few words in Italian, then she turns to her and gives her her brightest, most suspiciously innocent smile.

“Right, Mila?” she asks. “We were planning to go to the funfair together, remember?”

Oh. So that’s why she seemed so relieved to see her. Well, Mila doesn’t have a single memory of anything related to a funfair, but what kind of friend doesn’t play along with their friends’ little white lies?

"Yeah,” she answers naturally; not to show off, but she’s a talented liar. “Sorry I’m late, by the way. Let me just go back to my room and change, and we can leave in like, five minutes at most!”

Michele seems to believe her and the way her lips curve into a perfectly faked smile, despite the doubt still obvious in his eyes, because he says nothing. Which is good, since it gives Sara an opportunity to grab Mila’s arm and drag her in the general direction of the elevator.

“See, Mickey, I’ll be alright!” she promises in a cheerful voice, before turning her gaze to Mila. “I’ll go with you. Let’s get ready quickly, I can’t wait to leave!”

Two seconds later, the elevator doors close behind them and both women are left alone, away from Michele’s dubious, concerned glare. The change in Sara’s attitude is instant, as her shoulders relax and she puts her hands in the pockets of her coat, sighing.

“Wow, that’s not very nice, tricking your brother like that,” Mila comments. “May I ask what he did to deserve it?”

Never one to do anything but laugh at her friend’s gentle teasing, Sara lets out an amused chuckle. “He followed me to the GPF, although I explicitly told him not to. It’s nothing serious, but he’ll never learn if I don’t get a little angry at him. So there’s no way I was going to let him come to the fair with me.”

Mila raises a skeptical brow. Michele’s always shouting he’ll protect his sister against everything and everyone, but the truth is she’s actually the one mothering him all the time, isn’t she? “Keep up the good work, you’re raising him well,” Mila snickers.

The elevator comes to a halt once it reaches the fifth floor, and the doors slide open. The both of them step into the corridor, Sara escorting Mila all the way to her room; and it’s only when the Russian skater swipes her key card on the reader that her friend and competitor speaks up again.

“Thanks for being my alibi, by the way,” she says with a sincere smile, unlike anything she was giving her brother earlier. “I’ll just wait a few minutes before I go back downstairs, then I should be able to leave without a problem.”

“Uh? You mean I’m no longer invited?”

Mila revels in the way Sara’s beautiful, purple eyes grow wider in surprise. Well, to be quite honest, she hadn’t been planning to go to any amusement park or anything of the sort tonight, but she and her friend only have so few opportunities to spend time together in a season; besides, Mila finds she really wouldn’t say no to some food right now. Especially if there’s cotton candy. Or churros.

“You’d like to come anyway?” Sara asks, still unbelieving.

“Yeah, sounds like fun. Also, you won’t have to sit next to creepy old men on rides if I’m here.”

Once again, Mila was just teasing her, but Sara laughs a true, sincere, happy laughter. “Alright then, but don’t make me wait too long!” she says as she playfully motions for her friend to hurry up and go change in her own room. Mila doesn’t need to be asked twice.

It’s way past ten in the evening when they arrive at the fair. For a second Mila suspects the rides might be closed before they get on the first one, even, but she forgets about it the moment they step into the area and notice how many people are still there having fun, from groups of teenagers talking loudly to couples sharing a box of candy or a serving of French fries. It’s a good thing they only came this late, after all; she can’t begin to imagine how crowded the place must have been in the afternoon. Besides, all the lights – from the rides and the food stands and all the games – shine so brightly in the night sky, it’s truly a sight to behold. Sara seems to agree, given her soft smile and the amazement that lights up her eyes when Mila turns her head to look at her. The sight makes Mila realize once again just why Michele is so adamant that his sister must be protected from all guys, and simultaneously want to make Sara have even more fun.

So she puts her hand on Sara’s shoulder and suggests they try out the pendulum ride first – to which Sara agrees heartily.

A whole hour and a half later, they’ve shouted their hearts out on two more rides, found out Sara is basically a goddess at bumper cars, ventured into the haunted house (where Mila kept gripping Sara’s arm every time something jumped in front of them and Sara laughed because, apparently, her brother always does the same), and somehow even found the time to grab something to eat. It’s almost midnight, now, or maybe even past midnight, and people are slowly starting to go home, but some rides are still open – including the Ferris wheel, which Sara had wanted to ride ever since she saw it in the distance, she tells Mila.

“It’s what made me want to come here in the first place. It was so colorful and bright from afar… and it’s even prettier from here.”

“Let’s hurry up and go before it closes, then!”

Thankfully, they don’t even have to run to make it to the last ride of the night. There are barely five, six people in front of them when they get in the queue, and a few minutes later, they climb into one of the small capsules, which rises as soon as the wheel mechanism is activated again. It takes the capsule a good two minutes to get to the top, but once it does, the happiness in Sara’s eyes is priceless; she sits on the edge of her seat with both hands on the window and looks at the illuminated city below like it’s the most beautiful thing on earth. Which, well, it might be, Mila must admit.

“Don’t you think it’s amazing, being able to see the city from above?” Sara asks. “I wish I’d had time to go sightseeing…”

“Like we ever have time to do that,” Mila sighs. “Ever since I got here, it’s been nothing but practicing, practicing, practicing, and sleeping whenever I had the time.”

“And my plane is taking off right after the banquet tomorrow…”

This time, it’s Sara’s turn to sigh. Their capsule is starting to come down; it will make another full turn, but then they will have to get off the ride, probably, which means their little evening of fun is almost over. They have no right to be disappointed, since they’ve already stayed up way too long for people skating in the gala at two tomorrow, but Mila’s heart still clenches. Oh, well. At least tonight was amazing. She’s glad she didn’t stay in her room, in the end, because even annoying Yuri all night can’t compare to an evening at the fair. (And she got both cotton candy and churros, so really, who is she to complain?)

The capsule finishes its second turn, and slowly comes to a halt. Mila gets off the ride first, still a bit dazzled by the city lights, but Sara follows her closely. It’s late and they’re tired, so they agree it’s time they go back to the hotel, and they leave the area. A five-minute taxi ride later, they’re back in the hotel elevator. When it stops on the fourth floor, Sara gets out. “Let’s do that again sometime,” she says.

And the last thing Mila sees before the doors slide close again is her fellow competitor and friend waving at her.

After Barcelona, they go about a month and a half before standing on the same ice again. They’re in Ostrava, this time, for the European Championships; it’s one of those competitions that happen over the span of five days and not four, which means they’re not skating every day. As athletes in the Ladies’ division, they’re actually only performing on Wednesday afternoon and Friday evening, which leaves them… well, not free, because they still need to train and exercise, but with a lot more free time than during the GPF on Thursday and Saturday.

“We could take a walk around the city tomorrow,” Mila suggests when they meet in the locker room after their (very successful, to say the least: Sara is in first place with Mila coming second) short program. She’s not sure her friend will say yes, since, well, last time Mila had kind of invited herself, and maybe Sara’s not that into city tours- But she does, in fact, say yes, and Mila can’t help but let her satisfaction show on her face.

Coincidentally, men solo competitors aren’t skating until Friday, so on Thursday afternoon it turns out Mila isn’t meeting up with one but two Crispino siblings, including a very tense-looking Michele – although he seems to relax a bit when she calls their names and he notices her. Or rather, he notices it’s just her Sara was planning to go out with.

“So, do you have any idea of where you’d like to go?” Mila asks, as naturally as she can manage. The truth is, somehow, she spent almost an hour browsing TripAdvisor last night; she realized she didn’t know what kind of places Sara liked to visit, though, so she ended up… making a list of some kind. Nothing much, just the addresses of a few landmarks, museums, parks and shopping malls in the city.

“I’ll let you choose, Sara,” Michele answers – but Sara doesn’t look like she has any idea either, so Mila takes it upon herself to suggest something.

“Well, if you’re into art, there’s this museum-”

She doesn’t have time to finish her sentence, though. Suddenly, there’s a shout-

“Mickey! Sara!”

And some human tornado going by the name of Emil Nekola throws his arms around a very annoyed Michele’s shoulders, having appeared out of nowhere but seemingly decided to invite himself into their little group.

“Hi, Mila!” he says when he finally notices her, too. “Were you all planning to go sightseeing? I can show you around, if you’d like!”

Oh, that’s right – Emil is from Czech Republic. Even though he may not live in Ostrava or anywhere near, it’s highly possible he’s been here before, if only for nationals or smaller competitions; so he must know at least a few things about the city… That means Mila’s been working for nothing, which is a little frustrating but, oh, well. Sara agrees enthusiastically and her brother would follow her to the end of the world in a heartbeat, so there’s no way Mila can say no.

A short bus ride later, they end up in the middle of a crowded street, which looks like a nice place to do some shopping – except that Emil suggests they should grab something to eat first, since he knows a restaurant nearby who serves the best meat, and… isn’t he totally clinging to Michele? When his arm isn’t thrown across the Italian’s back, he’s always at least got a hand on his shoulder; and he keeps talking to him to the point where it annoys Michele because he can’t even keep an eye on Sara (which, to be honest, is for the best : Sara is a grown woman, for heaven’s sake). Still, Mila almost feels like she’s intruding on something, and she can barely stifle her laugh. Suddenly, Sara’s fingers are on her forearm and she startles. She looks away from the men of their group to shoot her friend a questioning glance.

“Looks like we’re no longer needed,” she remarks, amusement shining in her purple eyes. Mila mimics her knowing smile; Sara feels the same as she does, apparently, and nothing could make her happier right now. “So, about that museum you mentioned earlier…”

“It’s not too far from here. And I don’t think they’ll even notice if we leave right now.”

They exchange one last look of complicity, one last conspiratorial smile, and just like that it’s settled – Sara grabs Mila’s hand, and a second later, they’re gone.

There are two museums in the area, actually; they opt for the least popular but best rated one. Sara waits until they’re almost there to grab her phone and send her brother a quick text, one that’s saying just enough for him not to be (too) worried but not so that he’ll come running to the museum the second he reads it. They had no idea what to expect, since the House of Art doesn’t have a permanent collection on display, but the exhibition they get to see turns out to be far from boring. It’s modern art from the 1980s; there’s not a piece or artist Mila knows or has even heard of, but it’s all very colorful and Sara seems to like it, so that’s okay. Trying to find which abstract painting looks the most like any of their fellow skaters is the best, most fun part of the whole experience – especially since it makes Sara laugh every single time, and her laugh must be one of the most beautiful sounds Mila has ever heard.

They leave the museum about an hour later, none of them having suggested they catch up with Emil and Michele, and Mila secretly hoping they’ll have some more time to themselves. It’s really fun, being just the two of them. They barely have time to step out of the museum before the Russian skater feels a drop of rain wetting her hair, though. An annoyed look almost makes it to her face – except Sara is quick to take an umbrella out of her bag and open it for the both of them to take shelter under, and that makes Mila’s irritation vanish instantly.

“… How can you be so well-prepared?” Mila lets out, honestly impressed.

“I’m just used to checking the weather when we’re abroad.”

Mila almost asks who she means by we, but it’s obvious – she and her brother.

“You really never stop mothering him, huh,” she comments in a snide tone. “Do you pack his luggage, too?”

“To be fair, he does carry my bags.”

Their eyes meet, making them both laugh – and when Mila offers to hold the umbrella, ‘cause I’m sure you miss your personal knight in shining armor, Sara gladly takes up the offer.

Between Europeans and Worlds is usually a rather uneventful period: no major competitions but a lot of practice, practice and practice again, and definitely no time at all to keep in touch with friends other than by liking their Instagram pictures. So it comes as a surprise, really, when Mila flies to Switzerland for an exhibition in Lausanne and discovers Sara’s been invited to perform here as well. A very, very pleasant surprise. Especially since it turns out Michele isn’t among the participating skaters, and his and Sara’s coach fervently refused he skipped practice to escort his sister to the neighboring country. Okay, that sounds kind of mean – but really, it means this is the first time Mila can spend some time with Sara without having to worry about upsetting her over-protective brother. Besides, although she knows how much her friend loves her twin… Sara needs her own space, and she looks so much more beaut- happier. She looks happier when she’s allowed to be the grown, independent woman she is. Right.

“Have you ever been in Geneva?”

Mila blinks and looks up from her dessert. It’s the night after the last day of the exhibition and they’re both tired from performing two days in a row, but they agreed to have dinner together nonetheless. Though expensive (it is Switzerland, after all), their meal has been amazing so far, but at some point Mila started reflecting on today’s events and Sara’s programs, and she got kind of side-tracked.

“Uh…” she says, uninspired. Sara was telling her something about having a day off soon, wasn’t she? In the end, the Italian skater decides to have mercy on her, thankfully.

“I’m talking about tomorrow,” she laughs. “I mean, since neither of us is leaving until Monday… maybe we could go to Geneva tomorrow? We could take the boat.”

Right, tomorrow is a Sunday, which means they can go sightseeing and relax however they want. And Sara is suggesting they do just that – together. That sounds like a wonderful idea, in Mila’s opinion.

So on the following day they wake up at the same time, each in their own room, and they leave the hotel right before nine. The walk to the harbor is short and nice, then they’re on the deck of the boat and the cool February wind is playing with the long, black hair Sara didn’t see fit to tie up. Luckily, it’s a sunny day; with the water bright and beautiful, it’s a landscape you can’t get tired of watching. For the entire trip they talk or take pictures, the best of which Mila uploads to Instagram, and it isn’t that long until they can see Geneva in the distance. They agree on taking a walk along the harborside when they disembark; this way it only takes them about twenty minutes to get to the main tourist attraction of the city, which isn’t really a landmark but rather… some kind of enormous fountain.

“Well, here we are,” Mila says. “The… Jet d’Eau…?” she tries, uncertain of how you’re supposed to pronounce it.

Her accent makes Sara smile. “I think the t is silent.” She’s probably right.

Since the Jet d’Eau isn’t a building, it can’t really be visited, but there’s a stone jetty thanks to which it can be reached. It looks narrow and slippery, though, so Mila waits until she’s seen a handful of other tourists come back safely before venturing on it on her own, Sara following close behind. It’s no long walk – they’re under the fountain in three minutes, and they don’t stay for more than two but that’s enough for some droplets of water to reach their hair and faces.

“Be careful,” Sara warns as they’re about to climb down the stairs that separate the jetty and the harborside. She extends her hand and Mila grabs it without thinking, quietly accepting the other woman’s help.

“Thank you,” she says. She almost asks Sara what kind of moisturizer she’s using, because her skin does not only look flawless but it’s incredibly smooth too; their fingers brush gently as they let go of each other, though, and Mila forgets about it.

Around noon, they start looking for a restaurant to grab something to eat, then opt to simply go window-shopping in the streets near the harborside so that they don’t get lost. They don’t buy anything until they manage to find a boutique that’s definitely intended for tourists, with Swiss flags everywhere on the main window and a stand displaying kitschy postcards on the front. It’s surprising it took them so long to find one, Mila remarks; Sara suggests they go have a look inside to celebrate the discovery, and that’s how they end up looking at, well, the always incredible yet never really surprising amount of heterogeneous objects you’re bound to find in these kinds of shops.

“Why don’t you get a gift for your brother while we’re here?” Mila asks in a teasing tone.

Sara seems to be thinking for a second. “Hm… I don’t know if there’s anything he’d like,” she finally says, all the while giving a mug with a big edelweiss on the handle a suspicious look.

Mila is smirking by now. “It’s better if he doesn’t like it! He’ll be overjoyed no matter what you give him, right? Besides, if it’s from you…”

She only has to wait two seconds until Sara understands and a glimmer of mischief lights up her purple eyes. “He will definitely use it, even if it’s the ugliest thing on earth,” she completes, grinning, and Mila’s smile instantly matches hers. She loves it when they’re on the same page like that. And since they’re almost always on the same page – she just really, really loves it when she’s with Sara.

(In the end, they agree on a plush cow keychain that practically screams I’m a kitschy souvenir, complete with the Swiss flag on the back and a bell on the front. Michele puts it on his skating bag – and Sara still has trouble not bursting into laughter when they talk about it on the phone a whole month later.)

Worlds can’t come fast enough, after that. Mila can’t fall asleep the night before she’s meant to take a plane to Helsinki. It’s been a long time since excitement has kept her awake like that, but she can’t help it – she just can’t wait to finally try and snag that gold medal, and she just can’t wait to see Sara again. When it became like that, she has no idea; but the truth is, she misses Sara. She misses her smile and her laugh and her hand on Mila’s arm, just like she misses travelling, taking pictures, sightseeing with her. And Mila’s never even been that much into discovering new places in the first place. Besides, it’s barely been a month and a half since Geneva, and they’ve phoned or skyped more than once since then too-

But Wednesday comes eventually – and for half a second when their eyes meet, right before she smiles her usual sweet, sweet smile, Sara looks just as relieved to see Mila as Mila feels to see her. They both stay calm though, neither showing anything more than what could pass as adrenaline-induced pre-competition excitement. They exchange a few words, perhaps, promising to cheer on the other during her short program later on, and that’s it; as cheerful as Sara’s smile can be sometimes, as snide as Mila’s comments can get on some days, right now they can’t afford to think of anything but their performances. And that’s okay. Because Mila comes out in second place, Sara in fourth, and on Wednesday evening they end up in Sara’s hotel room, sprawled over her bed, all eyes focused on the maps and addresses Mila printed out and the travel guide Sara brought.

“There’s just so many things to see around here,” Mila says, almost whining.

“And so little time on our hands…” Sara completes as she lays her head against the headboard and takes a pillow on her lap. “There’s a ferry going from Helsinki to Tallinn. We could be there in three hours…”

Mila looks up from her map of the Helsinki city centre.

“The Old Town of Tallinn is on the UNESCO World Heritage list,” Sara answers the other skater’s silent question.

“Oh. I thought people only went there for the cheap alcohol.”

Now it’s Sara’s turn to turn quiet all of a sudden. Mila blinks; three entire seconds pass until she finally understands.

“Oh my god,” she says, barely containing her laughter. “That comment just sounded very Russian, didn’t it?”

Sara bursts into a pure, sweet, adorable laugh. Mila’s thought about this before but- her laugh definitely is the most beautiful sound she’s ever heard, isn’t it?

“If you mean, according to the worst clichés in the universe… then yes, it did.”

Not just her laugh, by the way. Her face, too, her eyes, her hair, her tan hands on the white pillow, her long legs on the bed sheets, her mouth – there’s nothing about Sara Mila doesn’t find absolutely stunning. And right there, right then, there’s something special. There’s something special about the way they’re talking, the way they’re planning trips they could go on and thinking of time they could spend together – something that makes Mila want to never, ever leave the intimacy of this room, the warmth of this bed.

She’s no idiot – she knows it’s love. It’s just a bit frightening to realize how much stronger it is than anything she’s ever felt for any of the multiple hockey players she’s dated.

So Mila is in love. It’s no big deal, really. Don’t listen to whatever Yuri might tell you; she’s loved people before. Still, it’s rarely ever been this… painful. The longing, now that Worlds are over and she is back in Russia and Sara is back in Italy. She can stand it, obviously (unlike a certain skater she knows –but whose name she won’t mention, that’s how nice she is– who won’t stop looking like a kicked puppy the second his boyfriend leaves), but it still hurts. Not too much, it’s just… a kind of pain that won’t go away, no matter for how long she talks to Sara on the phone, and just gets worse every time they hang up.

So when Sara suggests over Skype that she could come and spend a whole weekend in Russia with her, Mila has trouble refraining from smiling; and she definitely can’t deny the warmth spreading in her chest.

The morning Sara is meant to arrive, she takes extra care making sure she looks even better than she usually does, with her makeup and hair and clothes on point, and she gets at the airport half an hour early just in case. Sara’s plane lands on time; Mila welcomes her with a smile and a cup of her favorite coffee, which Sara looks very thankful for. The flight’s been okay, but still long and tiring, she explains – “I can’t wait to go sightseeing with you, though.” She said it without a second thought, probably, but Mila’s heart still flutters all the same. Maybe she’s imagining things, too, but she can’t help feeling like Sara is… comfortable with her, at least? It’s in the way she walks so close to Mila that sometimes their elbows touch, the way she tilts her head once they’re sitting in the bus leaving the airport and doesn’t seem bothered in the slightest by how she brushes Mila’s shoulder in the process; and later the way she doesn’t hesitate a second before taking her arm to drag her to the landmarks she’s so eager to visit, too-

Mila nervously brushes a strand of red hair away from her face. She knows she shouldn’t get her hopes up – Sara is just being friendly, that’s all. Probably.

“By the way, don’t you think it’s funny?” she asks out of the blue, arms crossed, if only because she doesn’t have enough time with Sara here to miss on opportunities to make the best of their time together. “We’re both professional skaters, yet we’ve never been skating just for fun together…”

Sara seems deep in thought for a second. “You’re right… With how many times we’ve seen each other, you’d think we would have gone at least once, but all we ever do is go sightseeing.”

“Uh, I wasn’t complaining. I like sightseeing,” Mila says. With you, she almost adds; because she’s pretty sure it wouldn’t be nearly as fun if she was with, say, Viktor or Georgi instead.

“I do, too,” Sara answers calmly. “But it’d be nice to do something different for once… How about we go right now?”

“To the rink?”

Mila can’t believe what she’s hearing. The only reason why she mentioned going ice skating together is because the idea briefly crossed her mind, but she never thought… she never even wanted… Uh, well. Maybe she’s wanted to do something else than just visit places with Sara for a while, but anything (having dinner, going to the cinema, whatever) would have been fine. Besides, it’s not like any of them has brought her skates with her today- But Sara just smiles, unfazed, and Mila finds herself unable to say no.

That’s how they end up in Mila’s home rink during public hours, something Mila has never done by herself, both of them wearing (crappy, if Mila has anything to say about them) rental skates and trying to navigate in the middle of the crowd.

“What are you supposed to do at a rink when you can’t even practice your jumps?” Mila groans after barely crashing with an inexperienced fourth-grader for the third time in a row. Sara, who skated to the side to avoid the child, scoots back closer, giggling.

“Mickey and I used to play tag all the time when we were kids,” she explains, smiling fondly at the memory. “Or we’d just...” Her fingers brush against Mila’s and Mila lets her grab her hand, too surprised to react. “… hold hands and skate around the rink. This way, everyone thought Mickey was my boyfriend, and I wouldn’t get teased.” Her grip on Mila’s hand gets stronger as she speeds up, turns around and starts going backwards, now facing Mila; she extends her second hand and Mila takes it as well.

“Can you believe Mickey wanted us to compete as a pair when we first started skating?”

She punctuates her question with a light, delicious chuckle, but Mila is too busy snickering to be amazed. “Nooo, I absolutely cannot believe that!” she blatantly lies. “Seriously, I’ve always wondered how he hadn’t managed to get you to pair skate with him somehow. You told him no, didn’t you?”

“Surprisingly, no,” Sara laughs. “He dropped me once. Then he would no longer lift me because he was too scared he’d hurt me again.”

Mila’s smile falters a little. “That’s… kinda sad, actually.”

“But we’re better off this way.”

“Yeah.”

There’s a few seconds of silence, after that, during which they’re just content skating together, with their hands warm in each other’s; until Mila suddenly looks up and groans. “Seriously, though? You can’t weigh more than Yuri, and I can lift him super easily!”

Sara’s eyes light up with interest. “You can?”

“Uh… yeah?”

The Italian skater doesn’t wait for a more elaborated answer. A smirk making its way to her pretty lips, she lets go of Mila’s hands to place both of hers on Mila’s shoulders – and they’re really close suddenly, but… all right. If that’s what Sara wants, Mila will give it to her. Swiftly, she places both hands on her waist; the next second she’s lifting her, spinning her around, and when Sara’s skates meet the ice again her eyes are the most intense purple Mila has ever seen. She remains silent for a while, lost in those eyes. She vaguely hears Sara speak, but doesn’t pay attention to what she’s saying – because she’s beautiful, and her smile is a happy one, and her hands have found Mila’s fingers again, and right know it’s all that matters.

Until Sara’s eyes widen a little. “Mila?”

“Mm? What did you, err…”

Mila blinks, and Sara’s gaze softens. “I was saying pair that pair skating looks rather fun, after all… with you.” She waits a second before she continues. “Actually… Don’t get me wrong, I love Mickey, and I love spending time with him. But everything we’ve done together up till now has been so much more fun.”

“Sara, I…” Mila bites her bottom lip. She feels the same way; and she feels so much more, too, so much that it’s almost overwhelming right now. Her fingers, wrapped around Sara’s hands, are the only things she can focus on besides her racing heart, and all she wants to do is pull Sara closer and, uh, kiss her or something. “… I love being with you, too,” is all she manages to blurt out.

Then she thinks – scratch that. If she’s meant to have her heart broken, then the sooner the better; besides, with the way Sara is looking at her right now, maybe… just maybe…

“Actually, I… may love y-”

Two lips pressing against hers prevent her from finishing her sentence. They’re gone as quickly as they came – but when Mila lowers her gaze, confused, she is greeted Sara’s sweetest, most stunning smile.

“Let’s take a trip together this summer,” she says. “And the next, too. There are so many places I want to see with you.”

Mila thinks about it for a second – she may not be into sightseeing that much, but Rome, or Paris, New York, Tokyo, with Sara…

“Alright,” she smiles. All of that sounds like the best idea ever.

#yuri-on-ice-valentine-exchange #Yuri on Ice #lacunicamare #Milasara #Mila Babicheva #Sara Crispino #things I wrote

6 notes · View notes