Disclaimer: X-Seed owns these characters.
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Silent Confessions
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Rebecca was curled up with her knees against her chest while she studied the sunset off in the distance. Her cheeks dazzled in the orange sunshine, proof of her sobbing. The tears finally stopped themselves from flowing, but she could not find it within herself to go back to the party with a smile on her lips. Sniffling once more, she buried her head into her knees and pulled her knees closer. The wind was starting to pick up.
Rather than being cold, though, Avril's only struggle with the wind was keeping her hair out of her face so that she did not trip on the hundreds of pebbles scattered about the land surrounding Laila Belle. Her delicate figure stumbled occasionally, but her determination to find her friend pushed her on.
The others insisted on accompanying her to search for the young red-head, but Avril convinced them to let her go alone. For some reason unknown, she felt that she would be the only one able to comfort Rebecca.
After a few minutes of wandering helplessly across the grassy hills, the young woman froze when she happened to glance at freshly made boot-steps in the ground. With a surge of relief, Avril began to quickly trot along, following the steps to the destination of their owner.
Unfortunately, the wind was feeling extra spiteful that day. It whirled around the hills and flew right at Avril's lengthy bangs, pushing them upwards and causing them to slap Avril right in her eyes. With a tiny screech of surprise, she closed her eyes a second to late to shield them, tripping over a rather large pebble at the same time.
Rustling sounds infiltrated Rebecca's tranquility as her thoughts were interrupted. She turned around to try and spot all the commotion, rather surprised when her eyes landed on a figure rolling down the hill at a threateningly fast speed and heading straight for her. Before any of her muscles could twitch into action, the tumbling figure reached its target.
With an exaggerated crashing sound, both girls painfully landed facedown in the grass. The redhead stirred first, using one arm to lift part of her body, then finally slipping the other one under her to fully raise herself from the dirt. She plopped down and rubbed her face, groaning in pain. After a few seconds, she paused as her face crinkled up into a look of displeasure. She childishly stuck out her tongue and desperately tried spitting the dirt and rocks out.
The other girl finally managed to sit herself up, and she not only had a mouthful of dirt, but a head full of twigs, leaves, and small rocks. Rebecca paused when her eyes met with Avril's, her tongue still hanging uselessly out of her mouth. The two girls quietly looked at each other.
In a sudden gesture of happiness, Avril began to giggle. Her giggles soon turned into full on boasts of laughter, and before she knew it, Rebecca was laughing with her. Even when their lungs began to ache, their laughter merely died down to chuckles.
Silence eventually replaced their shouts of happiness.
Rebecca's gaze had focused itself back on the sunset occurring before her. Reds, blues, purples, pinks, and oranges danced with jubilance across the Western sky. These colors outlined the curves of her face. But they also lit up the stains on her now-filthy cheeks that remained from her late tears.
Avril placed herself close to Rebecca and rubbed at the stains on her cheeks, trying to clean them away with her gloved fingers, and hopefully with any sadness lingering in them.
Rebecca blinked as she came back to Filgaia, slightly turning her head to get more a glimpse of Avril. She continued to quietly watch the older girl attempt at wiping the dirt off of her face. Her green eyes stayed in a fixed position as her thoughts overcame her again.
The redhead thought about the progress Avril had made from when they first found her, she thought about how long the journey had been so far, she thought about the extreme sadness and disappointment from earlier that day when she heard of the Circus's disbanding, she thought about how Avril's misstep cheered her up, and she thought about how darned beautiful the young woman beside her looked in the setting sun's rays.
Avril finally felt Rebecca's gaze on her and shyly looked up. She froze, nervously asking, "Wh-what?" Rebecca's eyes remained transfixed on her face, causing a blush to sneak onto her slightly bruised cheeks.
Snapping out of the enchantment, Rebecca cleared her throat and quickly looked at the ground, where she sat with her legs straight out in front of her. "It's nothing…"
"Oh!" Avril exclaimed. Rebecca jumped in her boots and looked at her friend with widened eyes. "Sorry…" She finally remembered why she ventured out this far in the first place. She began fishing out the lines she wanted to say.
Rebecca had just returned to staring at the sky when Avril continued. "I know I can't feel your disappointment right now, and I know that I've never felt it before, but… I want you to know, even though the circus no longer exists, that doesn't mean that all the hard work and effort you've put into acrobatic shooting is a waste. Just look at Pastel. You brightened up that girl's dark and dreary life by performing your show for her. And who knows, you may even start your own circus up again and show Filgaia just how much excitement they have missed by watching your amazing talent. So, please, don't be sad and don't cry. Never give up. You're determination to be in the circus since you were a child is something I can't understand and never hope to, but I don't want to see such passion go to waste. Please, don't give up so easily. You're too wonderful to let this bring you down."
Droplets fell from the trembling rims of her green eyes, but this time, Rebecca did not feel any sort of sadness. She bit her lower lip in an effort to pinion her tears, but they continued to fall. Avril panicked, holding her hand to her chest in her trademark pose. "Please, don't cry! I didn't…"
In a tight embrace, the acrobatic shooter lunged forward and wrapped her slender arms around Avril's waist, digging her moist face into the extravagantly clothed bosom. "Rebecca…?"
"I'm… I'm just so happy…" Happy? Avril wondered. "I never even thought of the situation like that, I just…" she paused to wipe away some tears, trying to quell her sobbing, before continuing. "I've been such a depressing sight all day, and you brightened it up in so many more ways than one."
Avril stroked Rebecca's hair and pulled her in closer, resting her head on the younger one's. "You're too kind, Avril. But that's what I like about you. You're so giving, so helpful… You even came out to look for me even though it was getting dangerously windy, and now you're covered in scratches and bruises because of me." Kind was not the right word Rebecca tried to grasp, but she failed to find any other one. Words like lovely, brilliant, and charming flashed through her head. There were also, true, but…
The platinum-haired girl did not know how to respond to such flattery. Instead, she returned it. "But, you yourself are also wonderful, Rebecca. As I mentioned, the passion you have for things, and how much they influence you to work towards the future… you have so much heart, and you're hurt easily because of it. Such a sensitive side of someone… I barely laughed for the first time today. My emotions are stuck in a block. I want to be able to show them like you."
Rebecca's tears stopped once again. She pulled herself out of Avril's arms and looked into her face as she replied, almost joking, "Well, then we would make the perfect match for each other since we'd complete each other, huh?" She chuckled.
"We would," Avril simply agreed. She did not pick up the joking tone, though, and really did feel, deep in her heart, and her and Rebecca were meant to stay together, no matter what.
And, to be honest, Rebecca kind of felt the same way too. She felt close to Avril. She felt the closest she had ever felt with anyone, since Dean's oblivious personality shot down any of her attempts to get close to him.
But Avril seemed to understand. Even without speaking to her, Rebecca felt closer to Avril every second she spent with her.
Rebecca planted herself back into her friend's welcoming arms and cuddled with her. The sun was nearly parted and the cold invaded the once existing warm breeze. As cold as the air was though, the warm feeling of love and comfort remained in both girls' hearts.
They eventually returned back to camp, but until then, they remained in each other's arms, silently confessing how much they loved each other.
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