Wave was going on a late night stroll through the palace, not only thinking about the Empire but about Run... to be more precise about the conversation they had about the empire before the blonde had died. Run had been pretty aware of how messed up the empire was; even going as far as saying that if he hadn't decided on fixing the empire from the inside that he probably would have joined the rebel army. To Wave, one that had only figured how wrong things were really are just recently this had come as quite a shock... groups like Wild hunt causing atrocities, the king being only a little boy and being controlled by the prime minister, and people like Kurome growing so messed up from being raised by the Empire...

What the hell was he fighting for? Was the promise he had made to him, really worth this?

Thats when he heard it.

The teigu user heard the distant noise of someone crying, or at least that's how it sounded to him. Though his man instincts were telling him it was a girl crying, making Wave think about the oh so many lessons that his mother had taught him as a young boy.

Be respectful to your elders.

Don't get into any unnecessary fights.

Always cheer up crying girls.

So with the wise lessons of his parent in mind, Wave walked towards the general direction of the crying. Soon enough after so much walking it seemed that the noise was coming from deep inside the royal gardens. The steps that he took with his leather boots echoed through the halls of the large palace as weak moonlight illuminated the walls from the windows, making it easier to see. Soon enough he entered the huge garden, the noise could clearly be heard now and Wave was sure it was definitely a female crying. From having any doubts of the crying coming from a man gone, Wave had his thoughts full of cheering up some beautiful girl, maybe that beautiful girl would even become her girlfriend!

As he walked into the gardens, the only girl he could think about crying in the royal gardens was Lady Esdese. He wasn't gonna lie, ever since he first saw her Wave grew a bit of puppy love crush on her... sure, he now saw her more like some kind of demon than a damsel in distress but that didn't matter! She was probably heartbroken to find out that her supposed lover Tatsumi was actually a rebel, part of Night Raid. TO be honest he had mixed feelings on this... he thought Tatsumi was pretty decent, friendly enough too. To be honest Tatsumi had seemed pretty normal at first, but then again he had been comparing him to his team.

To lost in thought, Wave hadn't realized that he had gotten so close to whoever was crying that all that was stopping him from seeing them was an incredibly large bush, 'Well... here we go.' with that thought in mind the sea lover walked through the bush as quietly and stealthy as he could, prepared to come face to face with Lady Esdes-

But then he saw Kurome.

What.

The candy addict was facing away from Wave, so her back was facing him. She was curled into a ball as her head was resting on her knees, sobs and constant murmurs would cause her to shake lightly every now and then. Wave on the other hand though simply froze there, to be honest the Grand Chariot user was a reconsidering going through with this. Kurome was a girl, cute definitely. And he would be lying if he said that his first impression of her hadn't changed but...

Damn it, screw it! Wave suddenly began to approach her with the outmost quietness, though he was so nervous that the teigu user began to sweat a bit. Perhaps it was because of his clothing, and the weather being so hot recently... yeah that was it.

Enough of buying time!

He let out a breathe, suddenly realizing that he had been holding in air before speaking, "K-kurome?"

Suddenly the female teigu user froze in spot, all sobs and any sign of sadness disappearing from her curled up form. Kurome took her head off of her legs and turned slightly to look at her comrade, "Wave? What are y-"

"I heard you crying," Wave cut her off before she could finish her sentence, noticeable hint of worriedness in his tone. He was feeling more relaxed now, since he hadn't been cut down already by Kurome the male teigu user felt a bit more confident now, "Are you okay, Kurome?"

Kurome wiped her eyes, suddenly the emotionless assassin everyone knew so well of returning instead of the sobbing girl he had seen only seconds ago, "Yes, and i wasn't crying. You must be confused, Wave."

She stood up, her teigu latched onto her hip as he looked up at him. Despite saying otherwise, Kurome's eyes were slightly red, "If you'll excuse me now, i feel tired." she turned away from him, "Esdese has something to announce tomorrow, probably some assignment. So we need our rest."

That's when Kurome started to walk away to the nearest exit of the gardens, the spot she had been hiding at was pretty deep into the labyrinth-like area. A part of her was surprised Wave had managed to hear her from such a distance, had she been crying that loudly? But while Kurome started to walk away, the simple sight made Wave grit his teeth. Suddenly realizing that he only had a few moments to do his next move, if he did nothing then this would have a rather awkward ending to it. But if he did something, it could either worsen things or make things go as bad as someone in Esdese's torture room.

Screw it.

Kurome was just about to leave when she felt a firm hand grabbing her right arm, making her turn around and look at an unusual serious looking Wave. The two Jaeger members stood there, onyx eyes meeting with ocean blue ones when suddenly the male spoke, his tone was soft, "Look... i'm not gonna lie and say i know what you're feeling." With his free hand Wave turned her around so that she could be completely facing him. Kurome was as surprised as Wave that she had let herself be moved, though it was probably because she was unusually out of words at the moment to do something. "But i do know you're sad... i'm not as stupid as i act sometimes..."

Then he embraced her into a hug, firm enough to let her know that he cared, a lot for her yet soft enough so that she would be able to break away at any time, "But i'm here for you, so let it all out." Wave couldn't see it, but the female assassin had a huge blush on her face. While it may not seem like it, after he had fought with the counselor's son for her... she had grown feelings for her fellow Jagers member. Apart from Akame in their younger years, nobody had shown as much care as he did towards her.

"Even if it's just for tonight, trust me enough to share your feelings..."

One solid minute passed after the ex marine had said that, the two simply standing there in the hidden part of the large garden. The light rays of the moonlight was all that was illuminating them as Wave continued to keep Kurome in the hug. Slowly but surely though, sobs began to escape from the assassin as she rested her head on Wave's chest. The sobs would get louder by the minute as Wave did nothing more but pat her shoulder. She began to murmur about things, though because she had her whole face resting on his chest Wave wasn't sure what exactly she was saying. The few things he could clearly hear though consisted of there recently fallen comrade's name, Run, and the constant references to an older sibling.

Some part of him was glad that this was happening, he was happy to see that even the Empire could not corrupt someone to the core. Wave was happy that she could show so much emotion. Even if it had to be this way.

The two stood there for a few hours, the legs of two had grown tired long ago but neither one of them wanted to move their position; some part of them fearing that this moment would end if they moved even in the slightest. Kurome had managed to calm down a bit, the sobs had gone down and the assassin found herself simply enjoying the warmness she was getting from Wave's embrace, but out of curiosity she looked up. Wondering how Wave was doing, "Hey... Wave...?" Kurome was expecting to see Wave's kind blue eyes, maybe even after that Wave would...

The thought stopped when she came across an asleep Wave.

He was letting out soft, silent snores from his lightly opened mouth. Somehow he managed to stay afoot, while a part of her was impressive at his feat her onyx eyes looked at Wave's own closed eyes. she felt pretty disappointed at this, and began to wonder how long he had been asleep. Yet her gaze suddenly fell down towards his lightly opened mouth, and suddenly thoughts began to flood her mind.

Do it.

Without thinking, Kurome got on her tippy toes.

Do it.

Kurome closed her eyes, with each second she got closer. A light blush forming on her pale cheeks.

Do it.

"...Kurom-"

Too late.

Wave had woken up a second late. Kurome's lips had cut him off as they made contact with his own. So many questions suddenly flooded his mind, like if Kurome was really kissing him or was this just a dream? The morning sunlight began to crack the darkness of the night as Wave found himself tightening his hold around her, joining in the kiss as well.

What would happen after this? He didn't have a clue. Neither did Kurome. IF a relationship would form from this, it would surely affect how they worked in the field. Nobody should find out either, especially Esdese. PErhaps they were thinking to much into this though, maybe in the end all that would be born from this was an eternal awkwardness between the two.

But for right now, none of that mattered. The JAegers didn't matter. The empire didn't matter. Nothing but the feeling of the kiss between the two as the firm hands of Wave held Kurome's small body into a firm, yet caring embrace.