Author Note: Something short for my first Junnana. I love this ship so much.
When Nana received the text from Junna asking her to meet in the dance practice room at sunset, she had a feeling she knew what it was about. The evening was still far away, but her chest already felt tight. Nana agreed to go anyway, texting back a cheery "sure" with a smiley face emoticon after it.
The lights were off when she arrived, the reds and oranges of sunset filling the room with a dim glow. Junna, ever the early bird, beat Nana there. She stood in the center of the room, facing towards the door, shadow cast over the tape marking position zero. Her little fists were clenched, expression set in a determined grimace. The light of sunset washed over her, casting her in an ethereal glow.
The tightness in Nana's chest returned. Junna picked a good spot this time; she always looked beautiful but tonight she absolutely shined.
"Nana." Junna started slightly as Nana walked fully into the room. "You're here. Thank you for coming." She nodded once as she spoke, and Nana stopped a few paces in front of her.
"Anything for Junna-chan." Nana spoke softly, pushing her lips into a smile.
Junna's cheeks flushed as she reached up to adjust her glasses. "Well, I've called you here because, that is, so to say…" She released her glasses, hands coming together. Junna cleared her throat once, before the damn words Nana knew were coming spilled out of her mouth. "If I profane with my unworthiest hand."
Nana clenched her teeth, how many times had she heard this quote? Why did Junna always try to change script?
"This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this:"
The back of Nana's throat burned as she swallowed. How many times had she stood across from Junna, listening to her quote the great bard, watching her lay all of her cards on the table.
"My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand."
Was it nine now, or ten? Nana wasn't sure. She kept her smile frozen, waiting for the last line.
"To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss." Junna gestured towards Nana with an open palm. "William Shakespeare." Her eyes met Nana's directly, glinting with hope in the dim light.
Follow the script, Nana told herself, you can't divert now. As appealing as it would be to take that hand, to accept that gesture, to love Junna, she couldn't. She knew how this conversation would go, knew how to respond and what needed to be done, no matter how much it hurt. "Junna-chan, I can't. I'm sorry." She said, taking half a step back. That was her only line in this scenario, all she needed to say to stay on script.
Junna's hand shook minutely. "O-oh really." Her voice sounded smaller than it ever should. "I supposed I'm sorry too then." She almost mumbled, withdrawing her hand in towards her chest. "I'll see you later then." Nana wanted so desperately to reach out to her as she brushed past, to wipe her tears and hold her close, to shelter her from pain and sadness. Instead Nana just watched as Junna vacated the room.
The script could not be changed.
During the first Starlight, there were no confessions.
It all started on Nana's first loop. After she blundered speaking with Junna her very first moments back, she worried that she'd damaged their fledgling friendship. That turned out to not be the case, with their friendship developing largely the same way it did the first time around. Or at least, Nana thought it had.
The first confession came as a surprise. Junna had called Nana out to the courtyard, asking her to come alone. Nana had gone, unprepared for what was to come. When Junna spouted her quote, her iconic line from Romeo and Juliet, Nana hadn't understood at first. She asked for clarification causing Junna to blush and blurt out that this was a confession and will Nana please just hold her hand.
Of course Junna confessed with a Shakespeare quote.
Nana wanted to take her up on that offer, she really did. But that would mean changing her rerun. This wasn't just a stage direction being added, it meant changing the script entirely.
The change would impact all of their friends and Nana's relationships with them. It would impact the revue, which had only just begun. It would impact Junna and Nana's relationships with their friends.
So, Nana turned her down. Junna left in tears, but later that day she said she still wanted to be friends. That was good; it was how things should be.
This happened each loop. It wasn't at the same time or even in the same place, but Junna would gather her courage every loop to confess. She used the same quote from the same tragedy, always reaching towards Nana.
Nana had never expected rerunning her Starlight to hurt so much. The script she used was wonderful, but on each new loop this one part felt worse and worse.
And then the giraffe changed the game. Hikari appeared as if from nowhere, bring a whole slew of changes with her. Junna collapsed during practice, Nana's heart nearly stopping when she saw her friend prone on the ground. Nana stayed with her until she woke, discussing together what was to come.
The conversation felt different, Nana thought as she listened to Junna talk. She couldn't keep herself from frowning, already seeing changes to her script.
There was no confession on this run. Nana wondered if she could blame Hikari for that.
Within a week it all came to a head. Hikari defeated Nana in revue and nothing was the same. The script for the 100th year show came out. Junna said she liked it.
When Junna followed Nana to the prop room, the cracks formed. Nana told her about the loops and about her destined stage. It was almost a relief finally telling her, almost a weight off her shoulders. Before Junna could respond their phones rang, heralding another change.
Karen defeated Nana, bringing her rerun to its finale. She sat out in the courtyard, knees huddled to her chest. Junna had found her there.
Junna gave Nana her old dogeared copy of Starlight, held her while she cried, and helped pick her up to continue living. She helped Nana back to their dorm room, tucking her into bed and, Nana wasn't quite sure about this due to the heaviness of her eyes, placing a gentle kiss against her forehead.
For the first time in what felt like many years, time ticked forward.
A few months passed as the 99th class worked towards their next showing of Starlight. Nana settled into a routine that was somehow both old and new at the same time.
She never expected Junna to call her out to the courtyard.
Classes had been out for about an hour, so the students had mostly scattered to the dorms or to rehearsal spaces. The sun shone bright in the sky, clear from clouds on the hot summer day.
Junna waited for Nana there, posture familiar and eyes set. Nana ignored the hope that rose in her chest. "Hi Junna-chan!" Nana greeted the girl with a wave as she approached.
"Nana." Junna nodded once. "Hello." She swallowed visibly. "I have something to say." Glasses clearly needed adjusting as Junna fixed them. Nana's heart pounded as she waited the brief moment for Junna to continue speaking. "If I profane with my unworthiest hand."
Nana inhaled sharply; how many times had she heard this quote?
"This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this:"
She thought she'd never hear it again, thought she'd blown her chance with the time traveling nonsense, thought there was no way Junna was still interested in her.
"My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand."
But here Junna was, radiant in the sunlight.
"To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss."
Some things never changed. Tears welled up in the corner of Nana's eyes and she lifted one hand to wipe them away.
"William Shakespeare." Junna finished, reaching towards Nana with one hand.
"I made a lot of mistakes." Nana's voice wavered. "Are you sure?"
"Yes. I like you, Nana." Junna had changed too, she never said that during the loops. If Junna had looked beautiful before that was nothing to how she looked now, with soft eyes and a gentle outstretched hand.
Nana had a different script to follow this time. She dried her tears for her performance.
"Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much." She said, closing the distance between herself and Junna.
"Which mannerly devotion shows in this;" Nana placed her hand against Junna's.
"For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch." She stepped forward, drawing their hands up and aligning their palms.
"And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss." Nana gave a watery smile, unable to stop the tears from returning. "William Shakespeare."
Junna had tears in her eyes as well. "Is this our first kiss then?" She asked with a chuckle.
"The great bard would say it is." Nana couldn't keep the smile off her face.
Things were changing, she thought, but that was okay. She wasn't an actor repeating a play, but a person making the best decisions she could.
Nana stood with her palm pressed tight against the one of the girl she loved, committing their first Shakespeare kiss, something that had never occurred before and would never be repeated, to memory.