Hi everyone! Welcome to Operation Date attack! Please Read and Review, and I hope you enjoy it!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Tales of Legendia, or anything from it. Thanks.
Note: If you didn't notice from the description, pairings are SenelxChloe and hints of NormaxMoses! Oh, and this was originally designed to be three chapters, but I cut the chapter boundaries out and made them 'Acts' instead.
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ACT ONE:
It was a normal morning in the city of Werites Beacon, a city to look forward to the future at. It had been 3 weeks since the defeat of Schwartz, but nevertheless, the group, (besides Jay, he still lives at the Oresoren village) decided to stay in Werites Beacon.
"AahGood morning, self," Norma Beatty had just awoken from a 4 hour sleep, the lack of which she had blamed on the Parcheesi tournament she had with Moses. "What awesome and interesting things will await me today! ..I really don't know..." After Norma had gotten dressed, she decided to get out of her room at the inn and go see her pal "Senny".
knock knock "Hello! Anyone in there? Senny? Anyone?" Norma pounded on the door to give poor Senel a rude awakening. After all, it was only 8 A.M. Curious to find out what Senel was doing, she kicked the door open (something she was really good at doing).
As the door opened, she saw someone lying on the bed upstairs, but saw someone else lying on the couch. On closer inspection, she noticed it was Chloe Valens, or, in Norma's case, "C".
"Hey. Hey, C! Wake up! What're you doing in Senny's house?" said a wry Norma. Chloe stirred and tried to focus on Norma's face, not noticing it was her before she had finished.
"Huh..? Norma? What are you doing here?"
"I should be asking you the same question, C."
"Well, someone at the hospital needed intensive care, so Coolidge let me live with him until that patient's finished."
"Uh-huh..." Norma actually liked the sound of what was going on. In fact, she was kind of glad that Chloe could live with Senel. "So Senny offered..?" Chloe still didn't get what Norma was implying but she nodded her head anyway. Norma just laughed and smiled at her. She started, "So, you two are finally getting closer?" That hit the nail on the head. The second she finished, Chloe's face turned a bright red color.
"N-No! We're not like that, Norma! He was just the only one that offered and--"
Senel woke up the second Norma eyed him in his bedroom, although he was still drowsy. "Chloe..? Is that you, Chloe?" Norma laughed at him for saying that, and when Senel found out who it was, his face turned the same bright red as Chloe's.
"Norma? What're you doing here!" Senel asked. "Oh, well, I was gonna see if you guys wanted to go to Moses' place. We're having a Parcheesi tournament today, and we need anybody we can get," Norma told him.
"Parcheesi?" Senel and Chloe asked. "Yup!" Norma answered. "Me n' Moses got bored, so we decided to play Parcheesi at his place, and then the winning tournament would be at the Quiet Lands! Isn't that, like, awesome!"
"No," Senel said with drowsiness, "Not really."
"Oh, you two are no fun! Now who's gonna join me?" Norma pouted. Senel and Chloe thought for a moment. Will was out for a while, taking care of business at the Ferines village with Shirley and Musette, while Jay was helping expand the Oresoren village, and Grune was..
"Sorry Norma, I don't think your little tournament is going far.." Chloe explained. "No one seems to have free time ever since we defeated Schwartz."
"Well, what are you and Senny doing, anyway?" The couple paused. "Uhm, Well.." They both started, "We're, uh...going to Lumen Spring together later on tonight, and we have other business to do as well." Chloe answered after a few minutes of "Ums" and "uhh..'s"
"Oh!" Norma started with her puppy-eyed face, "Well..Uh..Guess I'll just go out into the cold, harsh world, and be kicked around by mean people and bad weather and--"
"OKAY, WE GET IT!" Senel and Chloe both said at once. Senel opened the door while Chloe dragged the ticked off Norma out of Senel's house.
"JUST YOU WAIT!" Norma yelled as she banged on the door, "I'm gonna get my fun on SOOOO much, that you two will just HAVE to join me!" Norma walked to the center of town, fuming. "It's times like this that I wish G-girl was still here.." Norma thought to herself.
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Norma sat on one of the benches in the center of town, looking as bored as ever. "Aw, maaaan..There's just nothing to do. Hmm..Maybe I can make up a song about boredom and sing it! Oohh, I--"
"DID SOMEBODY SAY SING?" Norma completely forgot. The Bantam Bouncers once told them if any of them said "sing", they would sing like never before..Norma tried to stop the nonsense from the Bouncers as soon as possible.
"Uh-uh. I didn't say--"
"Of course you did, sister!" Curtis, the lead Bouncer said from the fountain top. "We Bantam Bouncers hear EVERYTHING! ..Or, at least most things. Right, Isabella?" Isabella nodded to Curtis and said her infamous line: "Yes, Curtis."
"O-KAY! A one, a two, a one two three and--
"Hey there you there causin' boredom, don't ya know the rules of this town!"
"Boredom is--"
A moment after they began singing, Norma was already gone. Curtis was as sad as ever.
"Isabella, is our singing that bad..?"
"Yes, Cur-- I mean, No, Curtis."
"UGH. Come, Isabella! We must go to voice lessons! TO A VOICE TEACHER!"
"...Yes, Curtis."
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"I gotta run, gotta run, gotta get away, gotta run gotta--OOF!" Norma was running as far away from town as possible. Or at least she was until she bumped into Moses Sandor.
"There ya are, Bubbles. Been waitin' for ya back at the hideout," Moses told her.
"Ah, Red, watch where you're going! ..Oh. Sorry about that. Everybody was too busy. Will and Shirley are at the Ferines village until this evening, we're here, Jay's helping the Oresoren, Senel and Chloe are going on a date, and--"
Moses stopped her there. "Waaaaaaiiit just a sec. Did you just say Senel an' Chloe are goin' on a date?"
"Uh..Well, they're going to Lumen Spring tonight..Does that count as a date..?" Norma asked Moses.
"Well, Well, Well!" Moses said in surprise, "I never thought they'd actually get THAT close! Norma! Let's go to my place. We gots ourselves a date to make 10 times better!"
"Red, I never knew you wanted them together.." Norma said in puzzlement.
"A course I did, Bubbles! I saw you did, too." He took out the old Synopsis book and opened up to where it told about "Operation Love Attack". Norma looked at the book. She didn't realize anyone had actually gotten it. Not even Jay bothered to know, and he usually wanted to know everything.
"Ohhh. You saw thaaaaaat." Norma realized, "I'm glad you and I are on the same page now, Red. From now on, we're gonna be the Lovebusters!"
Moses was appalled. He knew Norma made up stupid nicknames, but this one took the cake for the stupidest. "LOVEBUSTERS! That's plain stupid, Bubbles. Let's go to my place. We'll make a better name and plans 'ere." Norma nodded, and the two were off, forgetting about their Parcheesi tournament, to devise a plan for "Operation Date Attack."
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ACT TWO:
STAB!STAB! Chloe was finishing off a group of monsters near town. "Take that! You've got a lot of nerve if you're coming this close to the town!" She told the nearly dead monster. She kept stabbing and stabbing until the monster didn't move.
A lone applause came from about 3 yards away. It was Senel Coolidge, who had decided to join Chloe on her hunt. "Nice job, Chloe, but..I think you may have used your Sword Rain a bit too much..."
Chloe didn't mind getting criticism from Senel. She actually liked it when he came so she could hone her skills with Senel's help. She looked down at the dead Peepit and saw bunches of marks in the Peepit's body. "Heh. Guess you're right about that. Maybe I'll try to open up my horizons next time. Thanks for the advice, Coolidge." She smiled at him, and he smiled back at her.
"No problem. Just..can you do me a favor..?"
" Huh? What is it now?"
"Could you just call me Senel? I know you're used to it, but.."
Chloe blushed. She had been calling Senel by his last name for as long as she'd known him, but..She always liked calling him by his last name. "It seemed more knightly," She thought.
"I..I don't think I could do that.." Chloe argued on the way back to Werites Beacon.
"How come?" Senel asked.
"I'm just used to it, that's all. I don't think I want to change what I do unless.." Chloe trailed off, her face red. Senel was eager to hear the answer.
"Unless what, Chloe?"
"Uhm, nothing! Don't worry about it!" Chloe said shyly.
Senel sighed. He was looking forward to what she had to say. In fact, he almost always looked forward to what she had to say. Chloe was always a good friend to him, and he always wanted to be a good friend to Chloe. He had never had this close a friendship with anyone besides Shirley, but he was able to open up a bit more to Chloe than anyone else. To him, though, it was still confusing.
The sun was starting to set on the Legacy. All turned quiet as the sun made its decent into the sea for the night. When Senel and Chloe entered the city, two familiar faces waited for them at the entrance.
"Senel! Chloe!" A high-pitched voice called out.
"Ah, we've been waiting for you two." Said a deep voice.
"Shirley, Raynard, What were you doing waiting for us?" Shirley tried to get some sense into the couple's heads, since they didn't remember.
"Don't you guys remember?" Shirley questioned, "We were supposed to have a group meeting today to see how everyone was doing since we left the Cradle of Time. It's almost been a month, you know," Shirley said.
"Ohh," They both replied in unison, "So..What's the problem, then?"
"We can't seem to find Moses and Norma," Will told them. and that's where things got silent for a few minutes. The four were all in a train of thought, asking themselves where those two would be. It was already getting late, and Shirley was starting to get impatient.
"Well, I guess we should just start without them for now. I'm sure they'll pop up later on in the night," Will said after the long silence. "Yeah," Shirley added, "Jay may also be at Will's house. We don't want him to be waiting long." Senel and Chloe nodded. After the whole group agreed, they ran over to Will's home to get the meeting ready.
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When the four arrived at Will's house, Jay was there waiting along with the company of Harriet, Will's 9-year-old daughter. When they got into Harriet's view, she yelled at them, especially her father.
"Where were you? Me and Jay were waiting for a while to meet you here, but NOOO, you don't show up! You four need to be on time!" Jay noticed her anger. "Harriet, calm down," He said with a slight smile, "I'm sure if they were late, then they must've had a good reason. Right?"
"Please Harriet," Will consoled, "We'll explain it when we all sit down." Before they had the chance to explain, Norma and Moses barged in while Norma said with delight, "The princess is here!" She looked at Moses and continued, "..And her lowly servant," She said, staring at Moses.
After about 20 minutes of explaining what had happened, Harriet had finally gotten the point. "Ohhhh...So Senel and Chloe were hunting, you were with Shirley, and Moses and Norma were playing Parcheesi?" Harriet asked her father.
"For the last time, YES," Will answered with annoyance, "Senel and Chloe were hunting, I was with Shirley at the Ferines village, and Norma and Moses were playing Parcheesi..."
"Okay, okay," Said Harriet, "I get it now. I'm gonna go make you guys some tea, and if you don't have some, I'll never talk to any of you again! ..Okay?" All of them nodded in disdain, and Harriet went to the kitchen to make the tea.
After long hours of talking, it was already 9 P.M. during the meeting, many things were discussed, such as how the Oresoren were doing, pleas for Harriet's cooking to have gotten slightly better, and how everyone was doing after almost a month. Will had still been protecting the city as a sheriff with Senel and Chloe's help, Shirley was the new ambassador for the Ferines and Orerines, Jay was progressing well with the expansion of the Oresoren village, and even found a new bunch of Oresoren near the Legacy's stern. Norma and Moses, on the other hand, were fighting alongside each other to make themselves an inseparable team, named: The Boredom Busters ( Norma's Idea..) Although all of them had one similarity in their journeys: They all mourned for Grune. All of them helped make a proper grave for her until she was reborn, and many picnics at the Altar of the sea (where her grave is) had been planned for the near future in her memory.
"Well," Moses said, "Looks like me and Bubbles are gonna go now, right Bubbles?" Moses said while winking at Norma.
"Yeah, yeah! Lemme just talk to Shirl for a minute," Norma protested. Norma dragged Shirley over to the room of Will's house to where all of the plants were.
"Norma, what are we doing here?" Shirley asked.
"Um, I need to talk to you about Senny and C." She answered.
"What about them?"
"Did you know they were dating?"
"What! They just said they were going to Lumen Spring. They never said anything about a..date.."
"Look, Red and I need your help, and as much as you may hate it, we need your little butterfly to help Senel and Chloe get closer, okay?"
"N..No! I..I.." Shirley stopped. What was she doing? She had known Senel for years, and she didn't want him to just be given to Chloe. She wanted more information.
"What's the plan?" Shirley asked. Norma whispered the plan in Shirley's ear, and she gasped a couple of times. Yes, the plan was THAT daring.
"So, you dig?" Norma asked, "Just because that's going to happen doesn't mean you two don't have a chance at all," She said, somewhat lying.
"O..Okay.." Shirley hesitated. She knew it was probably going to get them even closer then they were, but. She did like to see Senel when he was happy, dense or not dense to Chloe's feelings.
"Coolidge, are we going to go to Lumen Spring tonight?" Chloe asked Senel.
"Ah, yeah. I just need to go get some things at my house. I'll meet you there in ten minutes, okay?"
"Okay. I'll meet you there, then," Chloe said, slightly blushing.
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ACT THREE
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Before Chloe arrived at Lumen Spring, Norma, Moses, and Shirley were hiding in the trees behind the pond. "Alrighty, Shirl, Red," Norma Started, "You got everything ready?" Moses gave a thumbs up, while Shirley pointed at the pen in her hand. "Okay, good." Norma said with delight, "Let's get down in the bushes so they won't see us."
A few minutes later, the trio was down in the trees while Chloe came down the road and sat down, waiting for Senel. She thought to herself, "Why do I feel so nervous..? I..I should feel happy that I'm going to be here with Coolidge.."
Chloe paced in a small circle, still nervous about what was going to happen tonight. She didn't really know what to do. It WAS her first date, after all..
Norma eyed the way Chloe was moving. She could tell that Chloe was nervous. It was too bad she was supposed to be undercover, she might've given some good advice.
Minutes later, Senel came down the path to the spring with a knapsack on his back. He wanted to bring some supplies just in case they got hungry. When Chloe's sight of Senel came into view, she grew nervous, but knew she could make it through this "date".
"Sorry I'm late, Chloe," He said, "I wanted to bring some food." Chloe laughed. He must've been hungry if he brought as much food as he did. Senel took out a picnic Blanket and laid it down on the ground so they could sit on it.
"...Psshhhhht," Norma heard on her walkie-talkie , "They're gettin' cozy! Commence the operation!" "No, it's too early, we need to give them some time, Red! Psshhhhhhh..."
Chloe sensed something going on, but she couldn't put her finger on it. "Coolidge, did you hear something?" questioned Chloe. "I..don't think so," he answered. Chloe thought it was just her imagination, but..was it?
"H..Hey Coolidge.." Chloe started with hesitation in her voice, "Do you..um..like Shirley..? I mean..you have known her for a while, haven't you..?" Senel was silent. He had known Shirley was in love with him, but was he in love with her..?
"WHOA! She really got to the point fast!" Norma thought as she spied on the young couple. Shirley actually wasn't looking forward to what Senel was going to say, but she still had to stay silent.
"Why are you asking something like that?" Senel asked her.
"I..I just want to know, that's all." She replied.
"Well..She's like a sister to me, like she always has been. I worry about her, and she worries about me. We're family, even though we're not. I know that may sound confusing, but.."
"I get it, I don't think I've been confused," Chloe said reassuringly.
"That's good. I'm glad we think alike, Chloe."
"Yeah, it's good to have someone around that you feel close to..Er..I mean, a close friend, that is.."
"Chloe."
"What is it?" She asked, a bit nervous on the inside.
"I'm really glad we met and ended up as the people we are. Without you, I wouldnt've been able to rescue Shirley, and I would've been weak.."
"..And without you, I wouldn't have been able to face my darkness."
"And it's all thanks to you," The two both said at the same time. They both smiled and continued to talk about life, how things were before their journey, and funny stories about events in their lives that had past.
"Ahh..True love. Isn't it just so cute, Red?" Norma whispered.
"Well, they do look like they're havin' a good time together," He agreed, "But Senel's just bein' plain, y'know?"
"Couldn't agree with you more, Red. We need firepower!"
"Firepower?" Shirley asked.
"Well, the plan!"
Shirley said nothing. She knew in her heart she loved Senel, but was she really going to do something to make him fall for someone else? In a state of confusion, she stood hidden, thinking about Senel and what was going to happen.
It had been an hour since the two got to the spring, and Norma, Moses, and Shirley were getting a bit impatient...Okay. REALLY impatient. "Alright, you know what..?" Norma told them on the walkie-talkie, "Just fire the teriques. Make sure they're looking at each other. Be careful aiming, Shirl." "O..Okay, I know," Shirley said, and she aimed her Angelic Quill at Chloe's head while she was still gazing into Senel's eyes.
"Fire!" Shirley said in the walkie talkie, and she fired the Teriques with regret filling her mid. The little blue butterfly flew as fast as it could, aiming at the young knight's head before it turned away. And before those two knew it..
..They accidentally kissed. It was an accident, of course, but it was also a planned accident, y'know. For some reason, they kept it for a few seconds, even though Chloe's face was a bright crimson red.
Norma, Moses, and Shirley stared in awe. They never thought their plan was going to work. Chloe let go of Senel. Her face was even redder. "C..Coolidge..I'm really sorry..I didn't mean to--"Senel just shook his head and said. "You don't have to worry. It was an accident. I--" Senel was going to say something, but before he could, Chloe was running away, tears streaming down her face.
"Chloe! Wait!" Chloe was already out of his sight. Before he started to run after her, a rumbling noise was heard in the nearby bushes.
"No! Shut up! He's gonna hear us!" cried a voice from the bushes. Senel, as frustrated as he was, made a small opening with his hands through the bush and saw Norma, Moses, and Shirley, with her pen in hand. He remembered a small blue object bump into Chloe, but he didn't know what it was. Now he had a clue. He knew it was Shirley's teriques.
"Wait..It was you three who made Chloe bump into me?" Guilt on all three faces, they nodded. "Um, could I ask WHY, exactly?" Norma and Moses were hiding the truth. Shirley, on the other hand, was always honest, and spilled out the whole truth.
"Okay, it was us!" Shirley stated with some sadness, "Moses and Norma told me to aim my Teriques at you two because they wanted you to kiss Chloe! Okay..!" Norma and Moses's eyes were filled with some amusement, but were drowning with the guilt they had felt. Senel was very, very, VERY confused, but one thing for sure was, Senel whacked all 3 of them on the head, apologies coming from them. "I'm going to go catch Chloe," Senel began, "You 3, come with me. You're explaining everything to Chloe."
The four warriors speeded as fast as they could to Senel's house, since that was where Senel knew Chloe was. Inside, crying sounds were heard. Senel wanted to cheer Chloe up, but how? He always thought he wasn't the one to cheer people up. He thought back. He felt his heart beat faster and faster as he got closer to the house, but it wasn't out of tiredness.
"Chloe..?" Senel asked the crying girl, "Are you okay..? You just ran off, and I was worried about you.." Chloe looked at Senel with eyes of confusion and sadness, "I thought you would be mad at me since I.." She trailed off.
"Chloe, it was all a big misunderstanding. You don't have to worry. Shirley, Moses, and Norma hit you in the head with a teriques so you'd bump into me," He told her with a smile on his face. Chloe was starting to get it now.
"O...Oh. I see," She started, "Thank you for clearing that up, Coolidge..I'm sorry I brought this trouble, and at a time like this--" Senel put his finger on her lips. "I told you, everything's fine. In fact..I felt the same way you did: confused." Senel explained, "We just took things the wrong way, I guess." Chloe nodded, and she figured it all out.
"Where are the others, anyway?" Chloe asked Senel.
"They should be downstairs," He answered, "They want to say something to you." As soon as Chloe heard that, she went downstairs to see the perpetrators on their knees. They both chimed as they saw her, "We're really sorry," They said. Chloe gave them all a smile and said, "Everything's fine. Now that I'm realizing something..I'm glad you all did what you did..."
Shirley was just finishing a train of thought when she walked over to Chloe and whispered in her ear: "I think Senel likes you a lot better than you know, C. I'm not going to back off, but..you two are always having a good time when I see you two together. I know he doesn't realize it now, but I know he loves you," She whispered. Chloe and Shirley both exchanged smiles and shook hands. It was a truce, or, At least for now it was.
"Well," Moses stated, "I think we're all gonna go sleep now. We had ourselves some good fun, but we won't do it again."
"Yeah," Norma agreed, "I'd better hit the sack too. How about you, Shirl?"
"Yes, I'll go, as well. And I have something to tell you when we leave, Norma. It's about Senel."
"Huh? Okay, Shirl. Whatever you say."
As the 3 left, they said their goodbyes to Senel and Chloe, and headed to their homes for a good night's rest, and to reminisce on new memories. Senel and Chloe went back inside.
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"Hey, so, uh.." Moses started, I'm tired. I'm goin' back to the hideout, 'kay?"
"Alright, Alright," Norma laughed, "Nighty-night Reddy-kins!" She ran up and hugged him in a burst of happiness. Moses blushed and asked, "Uh, Bubbles..?"
Shirley was watching from a few yards away. She laughed at the fact that Norma was hugging Moses, something she thought would be impossible.
"Ah, Sorry," Norma said, her face red, "Go on to the hideout, you big animal, I'll be back there later." Feeling somewhat rejected, Moses ran off and waved to the two girls as he left.
"So Shirl," Norma started as she walked with Shirley back home, "What did you want to talk about?"
"Well..I think..After what I've done..It seems that Senel and Chloe have gotten closer. So, I.."
"You..?"
Shirley paused. She hated to say it, and even hated doing what she did, but she was prepared to say the inevitable.
"I..I don't think I know Senel as much as I used to.."
"Why do you say that, Shirl?" Norma asked.
"He's always laughing and having a good time when he's with Chloe, you know? I was never able to make him as happy as Chloe's made him.."
"Well, duh! She IS in love with him, after all--er..oops! Wrong thing to say! I thought for a second you were Red!"
Shirley was dead silent. "She IS in love with him, after all!" The quote kept ringing in her mind. "Y..Yeah," Shirley murmured, "I guess you're right.."
Norma was concerned for Shirley. She knew she had said things in the wrong tone, and her guilt grew even more. "I'm sorry if I put a damper on your hopes, Shirl. It's just, y'know, Red and me, we just wanted to have ourselves a good time, and the first thing that came to our thoughts was spying on those two!"
"No," Shirley told her, "I think..I think it was my fault. I was being so protective of Senel that I just got carried away.."
"Well, yeah. Anyone could see that," Norma consoled. Shirley was a bit upset, but happy she was able to actually confess what she had thought she'd done wrong. Even Norma agreed.
"Shirl? You okay?" Norma asked Shirley. Shirley had stopped walking for a few moments, still thinking. Shirley nodded with a new burst of happiness and asked her, "So, do you think Senel's ever going to..um..confess to Chloe?"
Norma let out a smile. She knew now that Shirley was okay with everything, and was going to be alright.
"I dunno. I think Senel needs to smarten up a little, but if we help him and Chloe, I'm sure everything will go as planned!"
"Hehe, I hope so.." Shirley commented. That moment, Norma got a great idea.
"Oooh! OOH! Shirl! Why don't you join our club! Red n' me made it! It's called The Boredom Busters!" Shirley laughed at the name, even though she was already familiar with it.
"That would be fun, I'd love to join," Shirley nodded with a smile. She found herself in one of the only good moods she had been in for a while.
"Woo-hoo!" Norma yelled, "Welcome to the club! Your club name will be..Merry Merines!" Shirley was surprised at the nickname. She thought it fit her well, even if she didn't like the word "Merines".
Norma was as overjoyed as ever. "Oh, boy! This'll be great, Shirl! We can do ANYTHING we want, now! We're unstoppable!" Norma put her hand out toward Shirley and said, "Put your hand on mine, and I'll do the rest, okay?" Shirley did as she was told, and the chaos began.
"1,2,3, WHOO! Bordom Busters, Let's...GO!" Both hands were in the air.
"Yeah!" They both yelled, "Let's work together to be the best team EVER!" After that, both of them ran off, eager to tell Moses the news back at his hideout.
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Later, back in Senel's house, Senel and Chloe talked over some tea at his small table.
"So, Coolidge..I guess our little 'outing' didn't turn out as we thought.." Senel nodded and answered, "Well, there's always another time, right? We just have to make sure no one knows about it so we won't be spied on." Chloe smiled at this and agreed, but for some reason, she felt that feeling of nervousness again. 'Is this the right time? Should I tell him..?' Chloe thought. Her thoughts were interrupted by Senel's voice.
"Chloe, are you okay? You look kind of tense."
"I..I'm fine..I just wanted to say something."
"Hmm? What is it?" He asked, eager to find out.
"Well..Uhm..How long has it been since we met, Coolidge?" Senel shook his head and replied, "Hmm..About 4 months..Why do you ask?"
"O..Okay," She answered, "Look, I know this is an odd question, but..What do you..think about me..?"
Senel stopped what he was doing and thought about Chloe, memories of her and himself together flowing into his mind. "Well," he started, "You're a very selfless person, You're caring, and kind..and.."
"..And..?" She asked, her heart skipping a beat as she did so.
"..You're very important to me."
Chloe's tenseness turned into a happiness which she'd never felt before.
"You're very important to me, too.." Chloe murmured with a smile, "You were there when I was going to make the worst decisions of my life..But after it all, you helped me make those bad choices into good..And...Even when I took out all my anger on you and stabbed you, you still believed in me..I still don't know what to say after that. But Coolidge, you're strong, and you're always there for me.." She trailed off, tears flowing from her eyes. Senel saw her crying and wiped the tears away from her face.
"Chloe, you've always helped me out when I needed it the most. You were there when my spirit needed to be lifted up..When Shirley was gone, when the Quiet Nerifes wouldn't give me the sacred eres..And in the end you helped me learn about myself..I wouldn't have been who I am now if it weren't for you.."
All was silent for a few moments as Chloe and Senel gazed into each other's eyes for a moment. After a while, Senel broke the silence.
"Chloe.." Senel asked, "Do you like your room at the hospital..?"
"Well, it's a bit cramped, but..It's the only place I have. Why do you ask?"
"I wanted to ask you something."
"Huh? What are you talking about, Coolidge?"
"Well, I wanted to ask you if you wanted to stay here, that's all." Chloe looked puzzled, but happy at the same time. "You mean..live with you?" Chloe asked. Senel turned around and nodded. Chloe was overjoyed.
"R..Really? Do you mean that?"
"Well, it's sort of boring to be here alone, so I knew you'd be the right person to ask. You can bring anything you want, and you can sleep on the couch downstairs if you'd like..And no matter what, you'll always have a home here." Tears formed in Chloe's eyes as she said, "Thank you so much..Now I really have a place to call home.."
Senel's smile grew even wider. He hugged Chloe and said, "You always have.."
Chloe returned the hug and replied, "I guess you're right..Thank you, Senel.."
THE END
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Well, that's it! I've also been working on somewhat of a sequel to this, entitled "Symphony of the Past." The first chapter and the Prologue are up, and chapter 2 is in development. Hopefully, the Prologue of the Symphony is going to be uploaded by this weekend. Anyways, hope you enjoyed it, and I'd love criticism and reviews! (Nothing too harsh, though...)