This fic has been on my computer for two years now- IT'S FINALLY FINISHED. Thanks to Tempest Type-0 on AO3 for giving me enough feels at the ending of your fic to prompt me to finally write something fluffy. Which, you know, I still have like two more chapters to go so maybe I'll write something else that's fluffy to combat the feels after I actually finish the fic /sigh

Also, I absolutely suck at fluff, but this game deserves a happy ending, damnit! This fandom does not need more angst writers like me! I also haven't written anything in a while, so this was a good breath of fresh air :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy Type-0

The spring afternoon was perfect; May had seen to it that the April rains were sent away, and the blossoms were all late in their blooming season, carpeting the ground with flowers here and there. The mild weather made for a promising day outdoors, and Queen, Cinque, and Deuce took full advantage of that fact as they took a few hours out for lacrosse practice. Of course, that was after bumping into Nine in the Arena, who moped and vented and cried to the three girls for a solid half an hour about Emina's rejection and finding out about Izana all in the time span of about thirty seconds. Queen had to call King on her COMM, who literally dragged the lance-wielder away from the field before his lance, which he was hurling out of the field like a javelin, hurt someone. Or himself, for that matter.

"Poor Nine," Deuce murmured as the three made their way back to their rooms. Queen chuckled, straightening her glasses.

"Not that Emina is at fault though, Nine isn't exactly someone's ideal guy for a relationship."

"Well, I suppose it depends on who it is!" The flutist almost giggled as she grasped her lacrosse stick, recalling how she saw Nine and Sice together the other day mooning over Emina and Kurasame respectively. This was after Seven had told her Sice tried to give the Commander a love letter, which she accidentally handed to Seven herself instead. The end result? Instant humiliation. Cater, who was with Deuce when Seven was telling the story, had laughed so hard she was almost in tears when she heard about how Sice kept wailing, "IT WASN'T FOR YOU!" in the main hallway. The more she thought about it, the more Deuce was convinced that she could somehow push the spiky blond and silverette together. Their personalities certainly matched. Maybe she would ask Rem to help her when they got back to the dorms.

Cinque suddenly gasped; their words triggered the memory of something she had been dying to ask them for the better half of the day, though it had been pushed to the side during the day's excitement.

"So, hey! What do you think about Ace and Mutsuki?"

Deuce frowned as she tried to make sense of her friend's question. "Hmm? What's that?"

"You know..." Cinque clapped her hands together excitedly. "Their attitude! Something's going on!"

Deuce's eyebrows furrowed as she called up the recent memories she shared with the pair in question. Classes, homework, training, missions, class outings, dorm room chats...nothing seemed out of place. "Really? You think so?"

This was when Queen cut in after clearing her throat. "The two of them are dating, you know."

"Huh?!" Deuce and Cinque exclaimed simultaneously, stopping and whirling back to face her. The younger girls' eyes widened, vivid greens and blues looking back at Queen's lavender ones in shock.

"In fact, I saw them walking along Couple's Road."

"What? Are you serious?" Cinque gushed, wanting to hear the juicy details.

"Yeah, I saw it with my own eyes too!"

As her two friends chattered excitedly about this new revelation, Class Zero's number two frowned, looking at the ground as they continued their walk. Of everyone in the class, she and Ace were the closest to each other. He had been her partner since she was taken in by Sorcery at seven years old, the two of them always training and learning to work together on and off the battlefield, talking, going out on missions. Deuce trusted him completely- not that she didn't trust the others with her life, because she did- but as she thought about the shape of his turned back on the battlefield, a card in his right hand ready to strike the enemy, a hot flush of unpleasantness rushed down her body. The two of them talked about everything. If there was something big like this happening, why didn't Ace say anything to her? Or anyone in Class Zero, for that matter? They all shared an incredibly close and special bond. Was she being replaced, now that he had found another friend, another partner?

The image of the young girl from Class Twelfth...now Class Zero...came to mind, with her fair skin, green eyes, and slate-blue hair tied up in a hair tie that sported two pink ornaments at the top, her too-big uniform with the sleeves devouring her arms and hands, her ever-present bag of explosives, and her fiery, self-preservative demeanor. Try as she might, Deuce couldn't imagine the pairing, Mutsuki and Ace. She would have to see this for herself to believe it. Another unpleasant feeling made her shudder, the bite of betrayal gnawing in her mind.

Deuce tried to shake herself out of it; it wasn't, it wasn't jealousy, couldn't be jealousy, and no matter how she felt, Ace had the right to feel something different, and-

"Deucey?" Cinque's hand on her shoulder pulled Deuce back to the present, where she was standing in the Fountain Courtyard with Cinque, Queen, and Trey.

She blinked. How long had he been there?

Queen opened her mouth to say something, but Trey, with one arm acting as an elbow rest and one hand on his chin, started his spiel first.

"About Ace and Mutsuki-"

Deuce's eyes snapped over to the two other girls in surprise. Noting her confusion, Queen quickly rectified the situation.

"We were just talking about them when Trey heard us and...really, Deuce, just how much did you space out?"

The archer almost glared at her for interrupting. "As I was saying, the information definitely came as a surprise to me. Logically, I would have thought that there was a higher possibility between Deuce and Ace instead of Mutsuki. She's a wonderful person, but with how close we all are, none of us would have been too surprised with the former outcome. Although, from what King and Seven have said about the girl-"

Back up.

"M-me and Ace?" Decue pointed to herself, her blue eyes widening in shock.

Trey nodded. "With all the time that-"

"Oooooookay, Trey-Trey!" Cinque's voice sounded almost shrill as she stopped him right there. She had her moments and could be fairly ditzy, sure, but she wasn't slow when it mattered- she didn't miss the look of discomfort on her best friend's face. "Time to say bye-bye! Deucey and I have to go back to our rooms now!" With that, the mace-wielder dragged her away, leaving Queen and Trey behind. Trey opened his mouth as he turned to face Queen, but the warning glint in her eyes prevented him from speaking if he valued his life. Sighing, the archer shook his head as he looked at Cinque and Deuce's retreating forms.

She normally wouldn't have thought to head over there, but the chocobo ranch was the one place most cadets didn't really spend much time in, and Deuce wanted some peace and quiet to think. As soon as she stepped through the portal, two chocobo chicks ran up to her with their short little legs, flapping their wings and squeaking in excitement. Smiling, the flutist bent down to gently stroke their heads before making her way to the stalls. The breeze sailed gently through the wind tunnel of the ranch, causing her to sigh in contentment as she fed one of the chocobos some greens, petting its giant beak. To be honest, she wasn't a huge chocobo fan, but the big, fluffy birds were doing wonders for her spirit and relaxation- no wonder Ace loved them so much. It was then that she felt rather than saw- speak of the Vermillion Bird- Ace approach from the portal behind her.

"What's up?" He greeted her casually, stroking the neck of the chocobo in front of her. "Cinque said you wanted to see me."

"She did?" Deuce asked, surprised, before she stopped what she was doing. Suddenly, the wooden beam of the chocobo stall in front of her became very interesting. "Oh! It's nothing," she hastily threw out, reaching for another green in the opposite direction so she wouldn't have to look at him.

"Deuce."

The flutist almost sighed. Ace only said her name like that when he was pressing her for answers, knowing she was hiding something. Deuce took a deep breath through her nose, bracing herself. This was ridiculous; she was just asking her best friend a question.

"It's just," she said, turning to look at him for the first time since he got there. His blue eyes were incredibly bright, focused on her as he waited patiently for her to gather her thoughts; it was enough to send her heartbeat skyrocketing. "Cinque said something, and I wanted to ask you to see if it was true."

The magician stopped himself from raising his eyebrows. Deuce and Cinque were close; she usually didn't question the other girl's statements, no matter how off-beat Cinque was. For her to ask him to verify something she heard must either be something serious, or it was really bothering her. Taking his silence as a go-ahead, Deuce managed to blurt out her next words.

"Are you and Mutsuki dating?"

Ace's hand stilled on the chocobo's neck and the big bird let out a soft whine. He was quiet for so long that the girl looked up at him, fearful of the strange expression he had on his face.

"Deuce," he said carefully. "Where did you hear that?"

And because it was Ace, her best friend and most trusted partner, because of those eyes that were so, so blue just looking at her, it was as if the words couldn't stop.

"It's just- I was talking to Cinque and Queen today, and Queen mentioned she saw you and Mutsuki walking along Couple's Road, which couples walk on, which is completely fine and, of course, there is absolutely no problem with you and Mutsuki being together, you have your own feelings after all, and-"

"But Deuce," Ace said, stopping her as he held a finger up to her lips. "You're the one I'm in love with."

He gently pulled her against him, those blue eyes staring so intently into hers as they flickered to her lips, and then they were so impossibly close, then-

Where in Orience did that come from?! Deuce mentally scolded herself as she was brought back to reality, both she and Ace still standing rooted to their spots in front of the chocobo stall. It was Ace's soft chuckling that made her snap out of her completely out-of-left-field daydream, wherever that train of thought had been going. The needy chocobo pushed its head against Ace's hand as Deuce tried her best to keep from pouting.

"Did I say something funny?" she asked, trying hard to stamp down the emotions bubbling in her chest.

Ace gave the chocobo another gentle stroke along its neck before his arms dropped and he turned back to her, eyes full of amusement. "What Queen saw," he replied, gently putting his right hand on her shoulder. "Was me catching up to Mutsuki because she left something in the Armory. It was a nice day out, so we decided on a walk since we were there anyway, and she was telling me about a new type of bomb she's been developing. There's nothing going on with me and Mutsuki, I promise. Besides…" he trailed off with a small grin, his other hand coming up to brush a stray hair from her eyes. Both his arms then fell back to his side, the grin never leaving his face. "We've known each other a long time, Deuce. You know me. I know you. I don't think I'd be able to hide anything from you."

She tried to stop the relief that suddenly burst in her chest, the lifted weight of- of the possibility Ace…no. Deuce allowed herself a small sigh instead, her shoulders releasing her tension as an easy smile flitted back onto her face, one that seemed to find its way to her lips whenever she was around Ace. She hummed in agreement, her head tilting to the side, finally allowing the beautiful day to settle into her.

"You do know I would tell you if there was, right?" Ace suddenly asked. "If there really was something going on?" He gave the chocobo one more pat on its beak, the bird letting out a soft kweh.

Deuce's brows furrowed a little. "Ace?" she asked, confused as to where his train of thought was heading. Of course she knew he would tell her, she shouldn't have doubted him in the first place, even after hearing Queen's observation earlier that day.

He seemed to tense up a little, his blue eyes hardening before he closed them, letting out a slow breath and turning back to face her. Slowly, as if careful not to startle her, Ace slowly reached out his hand to her, gently grasping her hand and weaving their fingers together. Deuce's eyes widened; apart from having to yank her out of the way in battle, he had never initiated contact like this. It felt…warm. It made her heart beat faster, made her cheeks feel warmer, made her feel- feel safe, safe in a different way from when she was around the others, when they were fighting back to back; it made her feel as if everything else in the world could come after this moment.

"I'm telling you now, Deuce," Ace said quietly in a way that was just so Ace, looking right into her eyes and willing her to understand. "And- I don't know if, if you- but I-"

And Deuce understood. This was Ace, had always been Ace, the one who had her back in every battle, who sang along with the music she played on her flute, the one who stayed up late to study magic lore with her for the tests the next week, Ace, the one who fell asleep on the bench in Class Zero's courtyard and catching a cold more often than he should, the one who greeted her with a smile in the mornings, the one who loved being at the chocobo ranch more than anywhere else, the one who made up ridiculous chocobo names with Machina and laughed along with Jack and knocked some sensibility into Nine, Ace, Ace, Ace, and the ache in her chest suddenly lifted as the sun shone brighter outside the covered stables, as the breeze in the tunnel picked up speed, enveloping them in this one moment.

She gripped his fingers a little more firmly, a warm smile on her lips as a small laugh escaped him, and Ace pulled her a little closer to rest his forehead on hers.

And maybe they didn't say the words, maybe he didn't say the words and she didn't say them, but there would be time for that, Deuce thinks as the chocobo in the stall next to them kweh-ed happily, as Moglin scolded them in their COMMs for being late to class, as Jack yelled at them as soon as they walked into Classroom Zero with their hands held tightly, did you know that the entire class was listening in to your conversation in those darn COMMs you didn't turn off?!, as Cater and Cinque and Rem and Mutsuki clapped in delight and Eight and King chuckled and Machina and Nine exclaimed FINALLY and Sice gave the latter a good whack across the head and the two of them started bickering, as Seven smiled, as Queen gave them a knowing look through her amused smile, as they settled into their seats for the rest of the day.

We're here. There will be time.