Orokid: I'm hyper, and I have a yuri fixation lately. Nonetheless, I was sort of writing this half-assed when I sat down to type it out. Only to have of the second page did I have written, and… yeah. I wrote the rest after typing that out. Lol. Anyway, this is what I have, and (for the safe side) I'm labeling it as rated M due to circumstances that have happened before the story starts with little remarks about it.

Besides that…

Disclaimer: I do not own Strawberry Panic!, and I doubt that I ever will get to own even the manga whenever the Hell that comes out. Still, I love the anime (and it's free on youtube) so this is all I can do- I'm making no profit and I'm only doing this for leisure. Love ya guys!

Morning After

Morning had come too soon for the two young women that had found themselves hiding away from the entire school that they were both enemy and hero to. It had only been the day before when Nagisa had stood in front of the entire population of the student body from all three schools, holding the hand of her roommate with hopes to uphold the Saint Miatré tradition (as of late) of being the Etoilé, yet it felt as though she had merely dreamt the occurrences. Who wouldn't think that after everything that had happened?

Yet it was a dream that she would treasure for the rest of her life, and she would rather be damned than have to go through the next two years without her beloved at her side.

The red haired girl tightened her arms about the waist of the silver haired goddess, pressing her cheek farther into the naked flesh that she laid upon. While she was slowly grasping at a fully awake gaze upon the world, she wished more and more as she reached the steps of consciousness to return back to sleep. Out of anything, she would rather spend the rest of her life dreaming right alongside this beautiful woman than to see the light of a new day where they would have to be pulled apart.

"Nagisa?" an angelic voice called to her from beyond her closed eyes, sounding full awake and ready and willing to meet the morning that had come. But that had only caused the younger girl to snuggle in ever closer to the woman she held on to, never wanting to let go of her again after what had occurred the night before. A soft giggle caught her ears as she did this and, in embarrassment, caused her to press herself further into the velvety skin of her goddess's body. It was only when the hand of the older girl's had pressed itself underneath the red haired devotee's chin, forcing her to sleepily open her eyes and gaze into the loving orbs of her beloved, that she awoke. "Nagisa-chan, good morning." The woman leaned in, brushing her lips against the girl whom she had been laying with through the night, one arm still wrapped about her naked companion.

Their chaste kiss seemed to cause the girl to smile, finding that being awake might not be as bad as she had first thought it to be. While she knew that dreams filled with only happiness would be better than the harsh real world, she knew that the clumsiness and the art of learning about one another was something a midnight fantasy could never give her. In fact, it was the awkwardness that caused the girl both passion and embarrassment, and she knew that she wouldn't have it any other way.

As the woman who held on to the sixteen year old, one could see that she was perfectly content with staying how things were. It did not seem to matter whether their lips continued their course or not; what did was the fact that the two of them were together, and that they had refused to be restricted by the rules and boundaries that the world had placed upon both them and many others that had fallen in love with someone of the same sex. But, as things go, the nearly graduated woman watched as her younger lover's eyes opened lazily after finally pulling away from one another. "Have a good dream, my Nagisa-chan?"

She couldn't hold back the redness that appeared upon her cheeks, and she knew that her companion would have seen through her even if she had done her best to hide her blush. It seemed to be one of the many things that she was capable of; still, she was finding that she knew little to nothing about how to read the one that she adored. She was a book- a gentle, confusing, and fluff induced book, but still a book- while her beloved Etoilé was like the ocean- filled with so many things, both known and unknown, and one could only see the surface unless one swum in deeper.

A part of her hadn't liked the swim she had taken before, but another part of her felt glad to see that the one in which she was a devotee to had just as painful a past as anyone else. That might sound as though she was being critical upon the one she adored, she didn't mean to. Back at the beginning, when they had met, she had seemed too surreal, too perfect for a student such as herself to receive attention from. She had felt unworthy, too innocent for this being of perfection, and it felt wrong to receive it when so many others wished for it more than she did. Now that she had a clue about her angel, about how she wasn't as pure or angelic as all had assumed, she didn't feel as bad about keeping this particular woman to herself.

Yes, she was being selfish for the first time in her life, and she felt good about it. Personally, she didn't even want to have another girl come close to her now that she had 'claimed' her, and she would fight to the death just so she could keep her.

But… a part of her still felt horrible to have won a prize that so many had wanted, and even more so to have taken her affections away from someone that had given her entire being to loving her alone. The last thing she had wanted was to play God with another emotions, even if her own had been gambled with time and time again by that same one she had given herself to. Besides, the one that had loved her had been her best friend, the first- no, second- person she had met at Saint Miatré.

"You're thinking again…" Of course, she was still an open book to the one she was with, and there was no changing the fact that her goddess could read her quite well. But, as she looked at her loved one, Nagisa could only bite down on her bottom lip in hope that she wouldn't let her real feelings show. Still… she was readable, and the goddess who had claimed her heart could see through her. Even if she could only read the woman's surface, she could see the hurt in her eyes- and she felt horrible for it.

Carefully, as though she might break, the woman's arms had withdrawn themselves from their embrace, and she only turned away from her with downcast eyes.

"It's not like that, Shizuma-sama," she told her instantly as she watched the girl twist away from her, reaching out and pressing her palm against her lover's side. "It's just… I've hurt so many people… just by loving you, and…" Her eyes fell to the sheets that they had previously stained with their love the night before, her hand falling to the bed out depression overtook her. "I'm sorry, Shizuma-sama…"

Once more, that hand that had lifted her chin once before had come to do it's job again, and their lips were once more pressed together in a sweet and ever loving kiss. She just wished that she wouldn't ever loose this woman ever in her life by saying something stupid. And, when they had pulled apart, there was only a smile- small, but it was still a smile- pasted upon the girl's lips. "Get dressed- we're going back to the school." Her smile grew a bit wider, and the hand that had done its job twice had reached out further and brushed her fingertips against the skin of her cheek. "I get to show you off, and people will just have to get used to us- because I love you and you love me."

Nagisa only grinned- broadly, might I add- at the concept, and had launched herself towards her lover for a passionate kiss that only they could share. This was where she belonged, whether she was guilty about it or not, and there was no changing that.

And, to tell the truth, the two of them didn't quite make it to school until sundown…

FIN

Orokid: So… yeah- what do you guys think? I-LOVE-reviews and criticisms, so, if you would, give me some. Please??? Thanks for reading my story, even if you don't review.