Okay, minor Vert OOC in this because I know he wouldn't forget…well, you'll see. Seriously though, Team Vert all the way but I couldn't just end the season with that episode! (Majorly EPIC, btw!) Vergura fans: This may be bittersweet. ENJOY!
"That's it; if he isn't going to come, I am going to go down there and bring him back myself!" Agura said angrily, standing up.
"Wait, Agura! It's…it's fine." AJ held back a sniffle as he tried to stop her.
"AJ, open your eyes! It is not fine to miss your best friend's birthday! If Vert isn't going to come to us, I'll get him myself!" She replied crossly.
"You don't have to do that. I mean, he's probably pretty busy…" AJ tried, wiping his eyes.
"No. He is three hours late; he's blown us off too many times! I don't care if he is rebuilding the Multiverse brick-by-brick himself, this is the last straw!" She said, storming to the Tangler.
"We aren't going to be able to stop her, are we?" Sherman asked as she grabbed a BattleKey to the Blues' Homeworld, now the official headquarters of the Council of Five.
"Stop Agura? You kidding?" Spinner snorted as the Tangler drove out. "Besides, she's got a better chance of getting Vert that any of us. She's right AJ, he's blown us off for the last time!"
"I wouldn't say blown off…" Zoom shrugged, trying to defend his role model. "He's been really busy with the Council stuff. Give him a break."
"We've given him one too many breaks!" Agura's voice came through their coms, startling everyone. "Come on, guys. He was my leader too, but you gotta draw the line SOMEWHERE. He's known about this for weeks, and he's missed his visits for the last two months because he was too "busy." He is coming back to celebrate AJ's birthday if it is the last thing I do!"
There was silence for a moment while the group considered her statement.
"Yep." Spinner confirmed. "No stopping Agura."
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Agura rapped her fist on the doors that lead into the Council of Five's building.
"Agura?" Sol opened the door; he had been reinstated as he was an original member. "Welcome! What brings you here?"
"Hi Sol. Uhm, Vert wouldn't happen to be around, would he?" Agura tried to come off as sweet; why show her fury before it was needed?
"I'm terribly sorry, but he is in an important meeting right now." Sol gestured to one of the multiple rooms behind him in the large building. "Can I pass along a message?" The kind Sentient asked.
"Actually, no. I need to speak with Vert right now." She tried to sound firm but polite.
"I express my sorrows, but he is unavailable at the time. The Crimson One specifically instructed that this meeting was not to be distur-"
"Can we not call him the Crimson One?" Agura huffed. Quite honestly, the Huntress was sick of the hefty title. It reminded her of the days when he was simply Vert. The days that were long gone.
"Why do you feel this way? Agura, your emotion regulators seem unbalanced. Perhaps you should rest." Sol responded.
"No, thank you. I just need to talk to Vert." Agura elbowed her way past the Blue, feeling guilty but still determined, and darted into the room Sol had indicated.
"Agura?" Vert looked up in surprise from a conversation with two Red Sentients, who glared at her for interrupting.
"We need to talk." She said coolly, giving the Reds equal stares.
"Who is this…person?" One of them asked inquisitively.
"Uh, just a friend. Just give me a sec, I'll take care of it." Vert apologized.
"Excuse me?" Agura's anger at him grew and she stepped towards him. "Just a friend? I suppose AJ is just an acquaintance then?"
"I didn't mean it like tha-" Vert tried, but she stopped him.
"I'm sure you didn't mean to forget AJ's birthday, either." She snapped, and Vert's face went blank.
"Wait, no, that wasn't…" Vert glanced at his watch (I'm assuming they show the date). "Oh my God…"
Agura nodded gravely at him.
"I'm sorry, I just got so caught up in…there's just been so much to do with rebuilding and everything and-"
"Save it, Vert." She shook her head sadly. "We haven't seen you in two months. There will always be work. There will always be something to get caught up in." Agura turned to go, her point made.
"AJ's getting a new pair of ski gloves from you." She added coldly.
"Wait, he's…how?" Vert was confused.
Agura shrugged. "I knew you wouldn't remember, so I bought them and put your name on the card. He loved them, by the way."
"Agura, I'm sorry." He tried.
"Don't be. Maybe we're better off." She shot at him. "Who needs a leader that can't commit?" She knew it would sting, and didn't care.
"Agura, I never said-"
"I didn't need words to know," She began, slow and even to hold back the tears. "That you weren't coming back."
"What do you mean?" He asked, trying to reach out for her but she shrunk away.
"Last week. Monday. You promised me, that you would come and take me out to dinner for our two-month anniversary." She said, devoid or emotion. "In case you've forgotten that too, you never showed."
It was supposed to be something special. Agura had been anticipating finally getting time with Vert for days, ever since he had told her. The fact that it would only be the two of them made it even more special. Agura still recalled the day they would be celebrating; the same day he was announced by Sage in front of the entire Red and Blue population. As the crowd cheered, Vert had patiently waited until the calmed to make his speech.
"Thank you, Sage and everyone. This is such an incredible honor, and I look forward to rebuilding. But before I begin, there's someone else out there who I need to thank." Like a true professional, Vert had paused for a moment before continuing, leaving the crowd in anticipation.
"Agura? You out there?" He searched the crowd, grinning, and Agura gasped. The Huntress was more shocked than anyone on her team; they had seen it coming for awhile now.
"Go on." Sherman nudged her, and she somehow found the strength to stand. Vert's familiar eyes locked onto hers, and he gestured for her to join him on the platform. She put a hand to her chest as if to say "Me?" He nodded, waving her to his side. Where she belonged. Agura shakily walked to him, trying not to duck her head in shyness, which was certainly new for her.
"Don't be nervous." He gave her a smile, as if it was their inside joke. "Everyone, this is Agura. My first lieutenant and an incredibly skilled hunter. I know that we could not have won the war without her fighting by my side." Vert said, and Agura stifled the grin threatening to spread on her face. "Go on." He whispered. "They don't bite." Agura slowly raised her hand in a wave, resulting in loud cheers from both sides of the arena.
"See?" He gave her that private grin. "They love you." Vert turned her to face him. "And I do too."
And he kissed her. In front of thousands of cheering Sentients, in front of their teammates, in front of the entire Multiverse. He kissed her, and Agura could not have felt happier.
Now, the situation was different. Vert had become so busy. Agura understood him; he could never put less than 100 percent into anything once he began, but it seemed her and him had taken a backseat to the peace of the Multiverse. At first, it was gradual. He worked with the Sentients on Modulon 5, the Blues Homeworld and the home of the Council of Five. He would go for a few hours, occasionally a few days and then come back to be with the team. They would have their private moments as well; Agura had cherished those. They had grown less and less frequent as he eventually decided to stay on the Blues Homeworld. It hadn't been an easy decision, but Vert knew he was needed now more than ever. Agura knew she sounded selfish, but she hated having to share Vert with the Multiverse. Did it really need him as much as she did?
Deep down she knew that the citizens of the Multiverse did, and that she was being self-centered, but every time she lay down to sleep without his arms around her, she just wanted to take him and get away. Disappear, just the two of them. For who cared how long? She missed him.
Well, she missed the old him. The one that remembered birthdays and wanted to celebrate one and two-month anniversaries. The one who didn't get "caught up" in anything other than her. The Vert she used to know.
But Agura was nearly certain he was gone.
"Agura, are you sure? Because I swear, I would have remembered something as important as that." His voice brought her back to reality.
"You sure? Maybe the cute little notes you had Sherman leave on my door counting down the days will remind you. Maybe hours I spent cleaning the Hub every time you said you would visit will remind you. Maybe, someday, something will remind you what is really important here, Vert!" Her voice rose in volume.
"Agura…" He didn't know what to say, because she had said to all. She was right.
"Just…don't." She raised a hand to stop him. "I'll tell AJ you said happy birthday. I hope that overseeing the return of the Multiverse is everything Earth couldn't give you, because clearly it wasn't enough." Her voice caught, and she turned to go.
"I'm sorry I interrupted your meeting."
"Agura!" He called, but the doors had closed.
"Miss Agura? Are you not well?" Sol asked, caring as ever. Agura wiped her eyes.
"I'm fine, thank you."
"Is there anything else I can do for you?" He asked, kindly ignoring the fact that she had blatantly disrupted his orders and disturbed an important meeting.
"Uhm….Just, tell Sage the team said hi, okay? She's always welcome to drop by." Agura managed.
"I will make sure she receives your message." Sol smiled as she left for the Tangler. Agura knew that she had a better chance of seeing Rawkus than either Sage or Vert. Apparently, as imperative as the team was in the war, after a few weeks of Sentients giving their thanks and praise, they were old news. Not key enough to be on the Council, not great enough to live on Modulon 5. Not significant enough to visit. Agura swallowed the lump in her throat. At least she would have the loyal boys to get back to.
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Agura, gone 4 pizza. Back later.
Sherman's handwriting. Sniffing it, Agura could tell she had just missed them. At least he had thought to leave a note. Agura stifled a sob. Alone was the one thing she hadn't planned on being tonight. It was easier to hold back tears when with others than alone. The Huntress let out a long sigh, taking in the mess of wrapping paper and paper plates that lay strewn around the room. At least she could busy herself somehow. Grabbing a garbage bag, Agura passed her room and caught a glimpse of the green dress. She had purchased it specifically for their two-month anniversary, feeling positively giddy about the sugar-sweet idea. Agura couldn't bear to stuff it in the back of her closet. For some reason, instead of bringing painful tears like the many that had been shed that lonely night, it reminded her to be strong.
Agura cocked her head. Now that she had made sure Vert wouldn't be coming back, she might as well get some wear out of it. The guys wouldn't be back for hours, what was the harm? Agura entered her room, slipping it on. She still remembered how the silky fabric had swished on her skin, the green her favorite shade. She could recall posing in front of the dressing room mirror and for the first time feeling like a woman. Agura gave a bittersweet laugh at her childish self, but couldn't move herself to pull off the dress.
After nearly an hour of cleaning, it was about seven. Agura was surprised when she heard a knock on the garage's door. She couldn't imagine who it could possibly be, and cautiously creaked open the door.
"Vert?"
"Agura?" He seemed just as shocked as her, taking in the dress. "Wow." He breathed. "You look…amazing."
"And you look like a back-stabbing, betraying, forgetful jerk!" She wanted to scream, but held her tongue.
"Thanks." She chose instead, then realized he was wearing a…tuxedo? "Why are you-"
"Agura, I made a huge mistake." He said, not giving her a pause to reply. "You were right. I forgot about what really counted, and that's you guys. I should never have agreed to stay there permanently. I…I missed you every night." He admitted.
"What are you doing here?" She impressed herself by sounding distant, voice not breaking from the icy tone.
"Well, I figured I still owed you a celebration. It's our eleven-week-aversary." He grinned shyly, pulling from behind him a bouquet of eleven red roses.
"You think that that's enough to make up for not being here?" Agura surprised herself with her nerve. Part of her simply wanted to kiss him and let him whisk her away, but she couldn't bring herself to forgive him. "You can't apologize to just me, Vert."
"I figured it would be a good place to start." He grinned charismatically, and Agura barely restrained herself from jumping into his arms.
"Why don't you start with AJ? He's at the Diner." She implied, and Vert's face fell a little.
"But, I thought that tonight-"
"Vert, it would mean a lot to AJ. Why don't you come back after you go say hi?" She left no room for disagreement, and actually closed the door on her leader! Agura's hand flew to her mouth as she realized what she had done, and immediately flung the door open again, but Vert was gone. On the ground in front of her lay the bouquet of roses, a white envelope tucked into the center. Agura retrieved it slowly, slitting open the top as if it were delicate. She began reading with trembling hands.
Agura, be back soon. I thought you might want to know that I'm moving back into the Hub; taking a break for a week or so. Let's go out and disappear for awhile. Just you and me. Maybe then I can prove that you mean more to me than rebuilding ever will.
I love you. Vert.
Agura smiled. The Vert she knew was back. And this time, he would be staying.
