The sky was lit with the serene colors of the morning sunrise as the young dark mage Ophelia stood at the banks of a lake. She watched as the sun rose above the stilled waters and illuminated the clouds, utterly amazed at the sight. This was where she had been escaping to every morning for the past week, as she had only just discovered it. She had only happened upon it during a restless night while they were camped in the surrounding forest. She went exploring to find somewhere to calm her mind so she could actually fall asleep. After finding the lake, she fell asleep to it's calming sound of crickets and wasn't discovered until the next morning by Kamui. As far as she knew, only she and Kamui knew about this place, and she planned to keep it that way. There was something magical about it being her little secret.
Soon, however, her peace was cut short and her vision went black. A pair of roughed hands covered her eyes and her heart rushed. Were they under attack? She was about to elbow the person holding her captive, until a familiar voice spoke up.
"Guess who, sweetheart?" The voice spoke with a recognizable allure to it, the same tone that the owner used to flirt with young women on the streets. Ophelia let out a soft giggle.
"Cut it out, Soleil," the mage teased, "you nearly gave me a heart attack." The hands let go of her and her sight was filled with the brilliant colors again, only now they were fading away into baby blue. She turned around, the cape of her outfit flowing gently as she faced the mercenary who had been behind her. A grin was spread wide across the other's lips.
"Glad I spoke up before you took me out, I felt you tense up," Soleil said, the grin still on her face, "but what are you even doing out here? I've been looking all over for you."
"Really? Why, has something happened?" there was a hint of worry in Ophelia's voice. Had she been so foolish to leave the camp unattended? She was sure that someone was on patrol before she left.
"Nah, Eponine and her old man have been patrolling the camp since we all went to sleep last night," she answered, "but I did want to tell you that we've been given orders to move the camp tomorrow morning. The enemy is sending a few soldiers our way. They're quite a ways off, but Kamui wants to be safe."
The blonde mage blinked. They were leaving so soon? It wasn't supposed to be until a few more days. She turned away from her friend to face the lake. Moving the camp would mean leaving the beautiful sunrises every morning.
"Why do you keep coming here anyways?" the voice of the other snapped her out of her trance, "I didn't even know this place even existed."
Ophelia closed her eyes as she began to speak. "It's very calming and serene here. It's an area of nature untouched by man, a piece of nature in it's purest form. My favorite part about this lake is the morning sunrises. The sunrise is gorgeous over the lake and every time I see it, I forget about all the troubles that have been plaguing us lately." She sighed dreamily as she finished speaking.
The other stifled a laugh. "Phelia, you've always been so dreamy. You even have your head in the clouds during battles," Soleil laughed, "but it's cute when you go off and talk about your dreams."
She just smiled as the other called her cute. No blush, no getting flustered, she simply smiled. It wasn't the first time the other had called her cute and adorable. At first she would be a little embarrassed, Soleil would tell her that her cheeks would look like little cherries. Now she appreciated it when she was given compliments by her. In fact, she always wanted more, she yearned to be noticed by the pink haired mercenary.
"Thank you," was all she said for a few moments. The silence that followed held awkwardness for the mercenary behind her. What was Soleil supposed to say? Her heartbeat was quickening with each passing moment. She felt as if she was just rejected or something, even though she had only given the other a compliment. She opened her mouth to say something to end the torture of silence, until the other spoke up instead.
"I'm going to miss coming here, you know. I wish there was a way I could take the sunrise with me." A sigh followed Ophelia's sentence, but this time it was filled with sadness and defeat. Again, Soleil didn't know what to say. She needed to find some way to console the other, as she seemed really upset. After thinking a little in the silence, she came up with the perfect idea.
"C'mon Phelia, let's get back to camp for now. You should start packing, alright? We leave after sunrise tomorrow, so you'll have another chance to see the sunrise for the last time." She finally said, her voice piercing the silence. Ophelia turned around to face her again, nodding her head. The two of them walked back to the camp together.
The next morning, Ophelia rose early to see the wonders of the sunrise once more. She made the short trek out to the lake quicker than she ever had. She wasn't going to miss a second of this. When she got to the lake, however, she found someone else there. Standing at the banks was a very exhausted looking Soleil. She had deep dark circles beneath her eyes, and she was holding something under her arm. As the blonde stepped closer, the other's eyes brightened.
"Soleil, what are you doing out here? You look like you haven't slept at all." Her words were full of worry for the other's health.
"That's because I didn't sleep last night. I was painting this for you." The other spoke, her voice soft. The object was handed to her, and she took it. As she took the cloth off from around it, her eyes began to sparkle.
"Oh Soleil, this is..." She was awestruck.
"This way you can have the lake's sunrise with you everywhere." The other said sheepishly. Ophelia would admit, this painting looked like a child had gone at it, but it was still beautiful. She was so happy the other had done this for her, and in that moment she couldn't control herself.
The mage stepped forward and pulled the mercenary into a deep kiss. Of course, Soleil was surprised, but that didn't mean she didn't enjoy it. They stood there for only seconds, but it felt like hours to them. As they parted, Ophelia smiled.
"I've been meaning to do that for a long time now." She said, slightly breathless.
Soleil grinned, her face flushed with red. "No fair, I was supposed to be the one who made you blush, not the other way around."
As they turned to the lake, the sunrise was almost done. Ophelia sighed.
"Looks like I missed the last sunrise. Heh, but that's okay. I got two things that were ten times better than any sunset." She winked at Soleil, and the other laughed, her blush slowly fading.
"Make that three things." With that, the two of them were kissing once more, the remnants of the rising sun illuminating them.
