The world dropped out from beneath her feet; it felt as though her stomach plunged down a bottomless pit. The announcement had caught her completely off guard.
"We have an announcement to make," a smiling Minna had declared right after the morning briefing. "Mio and I are going to get married!" Standing next to her, Sakamoto beamed.
Perrine mentally berated herself for being blind-sided. She should have know something was up when all the witches were required to attend the briefing, even Sanya who had just returned from her regular night patrol, and Eila who had just accompanied her the night before.
She had heard the story of Mio planting a wet, sloppy kiss on Minna, but had dismissed that as the alcohol clouding Sakamoto's judgement. Sakamoto had passed out from the alcohol later that day, after all.
Mustering the grace and courage of a high lady of Galia, she stood up with the others and congratulated the two and offered appropriate well wishes. It took all her poise and determination to fight the weakness tingling up and down her legs, and to resist vomiting. She felt as if she were outside her body, far away, falling down a black hole, with no hope of return.
As the other witches swarmed to the happy couple, she quietly slipped out the door at the back of the hall.
Eila felt her familiar's ears twitch. Her magic perception told her something was off. Glancing quickly around the hall she saw Perrine's back as she slid out the door. Using her magic to slip between the other witches, she arrived first to congratulate the couple, pumping both their hands and heartily wishing them a long and happy life together. She allowed herself to be pushed to the back by the other girls swarming Minna and Mio.
With everyone's attention focused on the engaged couple, Eila slipped out the door and started down the hall. She summoned her magic, faintly glowing blue as her familiar's ears and tails manifested themselves. She paused just a moment to get her bearings, then headed of down the side hall that led to the dormitory.
Picking up her pace, she turned another corner and saw Perrine's retreating back near the end of the hall, a mere two doors from her room. Sprinting the last few meters, she reached out and grabbed Perrine's arm, stopping her.
"Let go of me," Perrine growled, pulling her arm away from the Suomi girl. Eila refused to release her grip, pulling Perrine closer.
"I. said. let. go. of. me!" the Gallian witch demanded vehemently.
Eila turned Perrine around and pulled her close. She wrapped her arms around the Galian witch, and whispered to her "I'm sorry, Perrine."
The Galian blonde struggled to free herself from Eila's embrace. Eila simply repeated "I'm sorry; I didn't know. I'm sorry."
The struggle drained from Perrine. She clutched Eila and began quietly sobbing. Eila stroked the bespectacled girls hair while she shook with sorrow.
"I didn't know," Eila said in a very small voice. "I'm sorry." Eila's cheeks grew warm as she saw Sanya approaching tentatively down the cooridor.
Her face burried in the Soumus girls shoulder, Perrine sobbed. "I... I just want what you and Sanya have."
Eila's cheeks burn. Sanya was staring directly into her eyes, her face blank.
The taller girl looked down at her grief stricken comrade. Still stroking her hair, she replied, "shhh. You will. It will come, just give it time."
Sanya embraced Perrine from behind, resting her head between the Galian's shoulders. "Everything will work out," she said to Perrine, so quietly Eila barely heard her.
The muscles in Perrine's body went slack; emotionally drained, she lacked the strength to stand any longer. Supporting the Galian's weight, Sanya and Eila helped Perrine into her room and gently lay her on her bed. Eila slipped off Perrine's shoes while Sanya removed her glasses and set them on the nearby reading table. With deftness from experience, Eila flipped the blanket over the Galian girl, tucking her in deftly. On impulse, Eila gave Perrine a reassuring hug and said softly "we'll see you in the morning."
Sanya and Eila tiptoed backwards out of the Galian's room, easing the door shut with a soft click. They were startled to see Yoshika and Lynette behind them in the hall.
"U-eh!" exclaimed Eila. "Miyafuji! Lynn...!"
"Is Perrine all right?" asked Lynnette, concerned.
"Well... you see... the matter is..." started Eila, her hand scrubbing the back of her head.
"Perrine is very sad," Sanya stated simply.
"Eh?! Why?" the Fuso girl asked.
Eila shot Sanya a brief, dark look. With a resigned sigh, she explained "Perrine was carrying a torch for Major Sakamoto. She was crushed by Minna's announcement."
"Eh!?" Yoshika and Lynn exclaimed at once.
"What should we do?" asked Yoshika, upset by the idea of one of her sqaud-mates in distress.
"Just be her friend," responded Eila simply. "Let her know she isn't alone."
Miyafuji nodded in understanding. Behind her, Lynn smiled in agreement.
"You're such a nice person, Eila," Yoshika exclaimed. "You shouldn't hide it."
Eila's cheeks blazed crimson. Looking down at her shuffling shoes, Eila muttered "It's nothing like that." She finished with a half-hearted "baka."
Yoshika clasped Eila's hand gave it a firm squeeze. Turning to Lynn, she linked arms with the girl from Britania, and the two girls skipped down the hall toward the kitchen where they had lunch duty. Eila and Sanya could hear snatches of conversation as the two went down the hall, "...breakfast tomorrow morning..." "...planting flowers ... base ..." until they turned the corner.
Sanya and Eila returned to their room, and began changing for bed. Sanya was beginning showing her exhaustion, and Eila had night patrol duty with her in the evening. After slipping into her sleeper top, Eila turned around. Sanya was standing a step away.
"Eila?"
"Yes?," she answered tentatively at Sanya's unexpected appearance next to her.
"Do we have something?" Sanya's wide eyes probed Eila's face. Her eyes show the faintest traces of fear.
Eila's ears burned. Her heart pounded, a thousand butterflies dancing in her stomach. "Yes, please!" she replied with desperate longing. Overcome with fear of Sanya's reaction, she stammered: "I... I love you, Sanya."
Sanya blushed. "I love you too, Eila," she said quietly. She closed her eyes and tilted her head up.
Eila closed her eyes and met Sanya's lips with her own. Gently, passionately they kissed, lips tingling with electric thrill.
Sometime later they came up for air, embracing, Sanya's head snuggled un Eila's chest. "You know, you really are nice," Sanya murmured sleepily.
"It was nothing like that," Eila began protesting. "I..."
Sanya's finger on her lips stopped the Soumi girl in mid-sentence. "The proper response it 'thank you'" the Orussian girl corrected. "Thank you," said Eila, almost a question. Sanya began giggling, infecting Eila with her merriment. They kissed again.
Eventually they crawled into bed, exhausted, entwined in each others' embraced. "Good night, Sanya,"murmured Eila. "I love you." Sanya squeezed Eila. "I love you, Eila," she sighed, as both girls drifted to sleep.
That evening Eila and Sanya walked to the hanger. They made their way silently, as usual, but instead of their usual stride of two witches on their way to patrol duties, they held hands, wrapped in their own intimate bubble. They entered their strikers and launched with minimal chatter. After they left the hanger, the man conducting the launch batons said to the flight mechanics: "It's about time!"
"What, do you think...?" said one mechanic.
"Absolutely! Did you see how relaxed they were? I've never seen them like this before."
"Good for them!" said the other mechanic.
"...such a cute couple..."
Duties finished for the day, they made their way to the service personnel section, falling into a discussion of the local football teams, and what to do next leave.
High above, Sanya's magic radar showed clear skies. The radarman in the command tower smiled as the two glowing dots frolicked across the screen.
After an uneventful night patrolling the River Rhine, the two witches returned to base, exhausted. Night patrol, more grueling than day patrol, had taken even more out of Sanya than usual, which was compounded by her being deprived of a significant portion of sleep due to the previous day's events.
She nearly made it to their shared dormitory before before she had to lean on Eila, relying on the older witch to assist her the final distance. Eila gladly helped her out of her clothes and into the bottom bunk, the only one ever used, and covered Sanya with the blanket. After tucking Sanya in, Eila leaned forward to kiss her on the forehead. Sanya's eyes opened groggily, her arms reached around the Soumi girl's neck. She pulled Eila forward and they shared a lingering good-night kiss.
"I love you," Sanya gurgled sleepily.
Eila blushed lightly. "I love you too," she smiled, and gave the Orussian witch one last hug as she watched her fade completely into sleep.