A/N: I just discovered this fic, which I wrote about a year ago but decided not to publish because I wanted certain themes to last longer than they did. I just wrote it for fun, so I didn't really plan on publishing it, but I'm actually very fond of it so here it is. I hope you enjoy it!
Finally, after years of training, the time had come for Miku to become partnered for life with a determined equal, someone with whom she would fight eternally side-by-side. It had been described by the seniors as 'locked in an ever-deepening dance of trust and compassion.' Being born, or built, rather, into the anticipation of what would await her upon finally completing solo-training and meeting her lifetime partner, the moment left her excited and slightly nervous for the first time in years. She had practiced her part of the dance seamlessly every morning before she headed to training, memorizing the moves by touch so that she could complete them even in an instance of forgetfulness. She waited in a small, dark room. White light seeped in from outside, coloring the walls before her until fading into beautiful darkness. She knew that her partner was going to be her equal, but at the same time she was worried, seeming as they were usually assigned from birth unless extreme differences in performance were displayed. She knew that he would probably be someone that she had either never seen before, or someone that she saw on a daily basis. It could not be Len, because their scores varied by over one-hundred, meaning that even if they were assigned at birth, she would have received a partner of better equality. The sound of the previous set of partners completing their dance was nerve-wracking, but anyone worthy of a partner after being trained wouldn't let that interfere with their performance. A crowd roared, and Miku couldn't even remember why it was there in the first place, but it had something to do with merit and prestige.
She heard a 'click' signifying that the partnered people had entered their joined booth, and prepared herself, taking a deep breath and watching the wall in front of her with a concentrated expression. Unclenching her fists and wiping her palms on her legs, she was ready as a secondary click raised the panel in front of her and let her step onto the walkway before her. As she took in the room, she did not let her eyes stray from her path. She was on a bright white catwalk that was thinly bordered with silver, illuminating the room around it. Far below the path in a bowl-shaped arena, there was an audience that appeared navy-blue thanks to overhead lights. Before her, there was a circular platform that was wider than the path that led to it. The platform was centered by a silver axis signifying where the dancers could not stand, and three other paths branched out from it. Branching out from the center to Miku's right was a walkway that a well-dressed man had begun to ascend. To her left, a pathway led to a booth that was three times the size of the room that she had just left, which was where the partners would go when they had completed the ceremony. Finally, directly before her, on the opposing side of the raised circular platform was another path, where she could see a pink-haired woman approaching.
Miku almost lost her composure, but remembered that failure at partnering resulted in being labeled as 'deficient' and thrown into storage. In any other situation, she would be overjoyed. The strongest person in the entirety of the training force had been assigned her partner. This was someone that she fell second to by only a few points, making her logically the partner to be most aspired for. The crowd, which had been watching them grow up as if it were a reality-television show, all displayed the awe that Miku was too professional to express. Some of the members of the audience snickered, knowing full well about the rivalry that the women shared. Almost everyone was very aware of the moderately humorous situation. This was a woman that Miku had barely surpassed on her final challenge, and by a half-point.
They finally finished the seemingly infinite walk towards one another. Standing on opposite sides of the center of the circular platform, the turned mechanically towards the man that had been approaching, coming to stand beside one another in nearly perfect symmetry that was only disrupted by their height difference. They turned towards one another a final time, and waited for the man's signal. Upon receiving it, Miku extended her hand for Luka to take and they stood there silently, both incredibly angry, yet appearing sobered as they made eye contact.
"Miku Hatsune, unit 01 and Luka Megurine, unit 03," the man began speaking, and both of the addressed women stood like statues, not even nodding in acknowledgement, "in this universe plagued with discord, in a time torn and crushed by trillions of different forces, all warring against one another with seemingly no end in sight, you two are to be partnered. You will fight alongside one another always, for the rest of an eternity, and in you I imbed the strongest, purest bond of trust. Before you speak the bond, do either of you have any objections to our choice in your partnership?"
Miku knew that she could speak up and be given very little penalty. She could speak up and ask for a different partner. She stared into the woman's ice blue eyes, waiting for her to make her objections. They both stood there in silence. Why wasn't Luka saying anything? Why wasn't Luka asking for a different partner? The other woman appeared to be waiting for Miku to do the same, and thusly, no objections were voiced.
"Do you agree to your partnership?" asked the man. "Please confirm your bond." For an eternity disguised as a second, neither woman spoke. Then, seemingly reaching an annoyed agreement, they both confirmed the statement.
"I, Luka Megurine, agree to a partnership with Miku Hatsune."
"I, Miku Hatsune, agree to a partnership with Luka Megurine." The crowd murmured upon Miku's response, clearly surprised that neither woman had spoken against their assigned bond.
"Very well, speak the bond." said the man, taking note of every interaction.
"Unit 01, Miku Hatsune," Luka started speaking, "though life around us has turned to chaos, the depths of which can not be known, I pledge always to be by your side and hold your life as I would my own." To Miku's surprise, she had evidently been taught the other half of the speech despite being the same sex. "I bond myself to you, Miku Hatsune, for as long as I can protect your life with mine. I trust myself to you, and for the rest of eternity, pledge to our partnership." she finished. The speech was short, but it was unusual for a partner to modify the original text anyway. Miku began her part of the pledge.
"Unit 03, Luka Megurine, when the future is no longer a thing to be seen, I will stand proudly beside you to face the unknown, never will fear interrupt my attention, I pledge to defend your life as my own." she continued, staring into Luka's eyes as they stood motionlessly before a silent audience, "I bond myself to you, Luka Megurine, for as long as I can protect your life with mine. I trust myself to you, and for the rest of eternity, pledge to our partnership." There was a brief silence in which neither woman breathed before the man spoke again.
"You may begin the bond on the count of three." said the man. Luka raised her arm, not allowing any stiffness to seep into it despite her annoyance, and Miku twirled once, before they resumed their prior stance. The man initiated the countdown, and music played. Luka began to lead Miku, gracefully pulling her through the steps that they had both practiced for an indeterminable amount of hours. They danced elegantly, coming together and dancing apart in an act full of slow spins and idle yet brisk steps. After five minutes, Luka twirled Miku a final time and they came to a stop, standing at the opposing side of the circular platform from the man. They stepped back and bowed to one another, as if entirely unaware of the audience, before standing up. The man nodded, and they began to walk down the path that led to the shared chamber. Once the panel opened and they walked inside, they felt the room rotate in a circular motion with a 'click' so that the next partners would have one of their own. Neither woman spoke. They both occasionally shot glances at one another, but didn't dare act out since any unusual behavior would be filmed and released publicly. They stood there for a considerable portion of time before Miku walked over to the back wall and occupied a solitary couch. Seeing this as a challenge, Luka sat down as well, not allowing herself to be the only one standing as Miku relaxed.
Miku curled up on her end of the couch, making herself comfortable while basking in the annoyance that she was almost certainly causing the other woman. Luka tossed her hair over her shoulder, feigning nonchalance. They felt the room turn in another circular motion and heard a 'click,' signifying that there were probably only fifty more pairs to go before they had to leave. After a long period of silence, Luka heard an almost inaudible purr and turned to glance in disbelief at Miku, who appeared to have fallen asleep. She felt tired simply looking at the other woman, suddenly wanting to curl up and share in her sleep, but she didn't expect to be woken up, and wasn't particularly in favor of living for the rest of eternity inside of the partner room.
After a while, she succumbed to the sleepiness that seemed to be radiating from the other woman and fell into a peaceful slumber. Hours later, she awoke groggily and glanced around the room, feeling the terror of abandonment for a moment before seeing Miku sitting next to her, watching the numbers on the wall. There were only fifteen pairs left. She felt Miku's gaze on her and turned to regard the other woman. Neither partner wanted to back down, and so the accidental glance turned into a full-fledged staring competition that very quickly escalated into awkwardness.
"So we're partners." said Miku, deciding to accept reality.
"Why didn't you say no?" asked Luka, beating the other woman to her point.
"I was waiting for you to say no." Miku responded defensively. Luka responded that she had been waiting for Miku to say no.
"But the world out there is dangerous." said Luka, "Not to mention the universe, and the galaxy. Partnership is a...lifetime commitment. We couldn't just get into it half-heartedly." Miku just shrugged, causing a few strands of teal hair to fall over her shoulder.
"What I'm trying to say is, I don't know why you hated me in the first place, but we really need to end competition now. I'm your partner, and you're mine. We will never have a relationship with anybody else that is stronger nor nearly as intimate as this one. We need to agree to actually be there for one another." Luka said, pausing for a moment before she continued. "I have to trust you."
"I thought I hated you because you...hated...me?" Miku asked questioningly. "Besides, when I spoke the pledge, I meant it."
"You're remembering things incorrectly. You hated me before I hated you." stated Luka, confused.
"No, on the first day after you were put into the training, I went up to you and you entirely avoided me before constantly glaring in my direction." said Miku.
"What?" asked Luka, "Oh, no, I was just really shy. When you approached me, I had no idea what to do, and I freaked out. Then I kept looking at you because I was afraid you'd talk to me again."
"Oh..." muttered Miku, moderately disturbed that it took a lifelong bond for them to discuss this, "But... then you kept trying so hard to... best... me?" she stated confusedly.
"Not at first. Then you started getting angry, so I worked harder." said Luka, "That was when I started to actually fight you." There was a pause.
"...Oh."
A/N: I have many other chapters written. As you can see, the rivalry theme didn't last long enough because I write both characters as rational, so clearly they can just talk it out. Also a note from the me of the past when I didn't think I was publishing this: "- Ch. 1 'Together 5ever' (I'd never actually name a chapter like that, but I mean I'm not publishing it, so... Let's bring the pain!)" As always, please leave your thoughts in the reviews, I really enjoy reading through what you have to say ^-^
