Pair One: Meiru and Roll
All you need to know on the before this is that Netto and Meiru were dating, but he did something and they'll never see each other again. Whether he's dead or they broke up for some reason is irrelevant.

Pink petals drifted soundlessly in the wind, settling themselves on the damp spring earth. A few swirled in the air with the gentle breeze, floating to land instead on the still form of a teenage girl lying in the midmorning-dewed grass. Soft lips parted in a silent cry as one of the petals brushed them.

'Netto…'

The name died in her throat before it was even spoken. A single tear rolled down her cheek before splashing onto her bare neck. Another breeze ruffled red hair, tufts sparkling with the wetness of the grass they lay on. Brown eyes, unfocused, stared up at the sky, gaze seemingly following the path of the single fluffy white cloud that drifted there.

"Meiru-chan?" the called-for girl blinked, for the first time realizing where she was in her daze. Abruptly she sat up, rubbing her eyes and looking for the source of the voice. As if in answer to her unspoken query, a small pink device dropped onto the ground as she folded her legs up. She reached for it, and the Navi inside appeared as a hologram on her shoulder.

"Roll." There was a not-uncomfortable pause as her strained words hung in the air, seemingly unused to speaking but for crying the past while. She hesitated, then continued. "…Do you…know why…why he did it?" her voice shook at the last part, as if those simple words could bring back the memory.

The Navi wasn't going to make excuses, even for someone so dear to her best friend's heart, at a time like this. "No."

A simple word, yet Meiru flinched as she heard it, running a pale hand through bright hair. She fingered a few strands absently, twirling them idly in the air. Roll seemed to regret this spark of pain she'd caused, as she hastened to add to it.

"We can't know why he did it. It was Netto. He probably thought he was doing it for you." A soft sigh, and she smiled at having found the right words to comfort.

"It's not fair," Meiru whispered. To many her words may have seemed petulant, but Roll saw the truth behind them. Even as a teenager she still believed in fairytales, and her dreams had all but crumbled away. The Navi's lack of response was silent agreement.

Thin fingers reached up into the wind, catching a flower petal between them. Without a word being spoken, Meiru set the petal down on her shoulder next to Roll, her fingertips brushing the projection lightly as she drew her hand away. This was one action the pink Navi could not quite fathom, for all she knew this girl as well as she did herself.

A long minute passed by with nothing and no one counting the seconds. Then Meiru spoke, Roll watching her carefully.

"I'm sorry."

The words were surprising, but even more so was the underlying sadness. "Meiru-chan?"

Another sigh, this one of sorrow. "I've been a terrible friend to you. Can you ever forgive me?"

Roll stared, shocked. "Meiru-chan…you haven't been a bad friend at all!"

"Yes I have." Her gaze shifted once more to the cloud in the sky, the one floating lazily over them. "I've put you in danger so many times, and I never even asked you what you wanted."

She got a smile in return for that. "That isn't terrible at all. I would've done it anyway."

Meiru's voice faltered. "I never asked you…"

"You didn't have to," her tone was gentle. If she could have, she would have reached out a digital hand to brush the nearby cheek. "I would have done it all without you asking."

"Why, though?"

Normally this question would have deserved careful thought, but this time the answer slipped out of Roll's mouth almost before her operator finished the previous sentence. "Because I love you."

"Oh." The Navi felt she'd said something wrong, for Meiru's eyes remained unfocused and distant. At last she spoke, and every word fell through the air like the dewdrops now dripping onto the ground. "I love you too."

Touch wasn't necessary. Roll smiled as Meiru turned her head slowly to look over at her.

"It'll be all right, I know. After all, I have you…"

The cherry blossom petals danced in the cool breeze as morning gave way to noon, the same wind running gently through red hair and unhindered by a light projection.

-FIN Pair 1-