ace is literally so in love with mira, it hurts.

so here, i wrote a thing. it's short and drabbley, but i hope you enjoy it.

usual disclaimer; i own nothing, save for my writing.

i.

When you first meet her, you don't want anything to do with her. She's cold, the way she wipes the floor with you in a duel, and then looks upon you with a smile. But there is something mysteriously charming about her, the way she pulls you back up and smiles and tells you you're already a part of her resistance.

Maybe that's why you get so angry at her.

She's so pretty, you know? She's endearing and growing on you even though you're still kinda mad at her.

But maybe that's why you don't hesitate in joining her little resistance.

ii.

You don't appreciate her interest in Dan. After all, it was just supposed to be you and her freeing the Bakugan. She never said anything about Baron, or these ridiculous humans - maybe she did say she was looking for brawlers (plural), but that doesn't mean she can go and add new members to the team without your say so.

You're a team, after all.

But Dan being a human isn't the only reason you don't like him. When you try to push it far out of the reaches of your mind, it just keeps coming back. So when you challenge him to that duel (because he doesn't belong in the resistance), you have to keep telling yourself that you're not doing it because you're jealous.

(But you are so very, very jealous, the way her eyes shine at him in some kind of lovesick puppy way.)

iii.

You argue with her because you care about her - probably too much for your own good.

She can't go to see her brother - firstly, because it pushes off the team's purpose, but mainly because you just don't want her to get hurt. She's your friend (but she's more than that, she's Mira) and you can't bear the thought of her getting herself hurt - either physically or emotionally.

You don't want to have to bandage wounds or pick up the pieces of her broken heart when her brother isn't anywhere to be found. That's why you put up such a fuss.

(You're just trying to keep her safe, that's all.)

iv.

Dan must be spouting lies (you knew you never should have let him into the resistance) with the way he talks about Mira going and betraying the resistance. She's Mira, this was her cause first, and you can't believe that she would ever betray it (you).

You could kill him for lying to your face like this. This isn't something you take lightly.

But when Baron pipes in - "He's telling the truth," - and you hear that Mira left willingly with Spectra (her brother who you don't trust, who could get her hurt), you suppose it must be true.

That doesn't stop it from feeling like your heart has shattered into a million pieces.

v.

When she apologizes for leaving the resistance, you instantly forgive her. You're standing there against the wall, watching her - all smiles at being back with her true friends - and you can feel your gaze completely soften.

"I always believed in you - I know you. You'd never go back on your word."

And she's smiling brilliantly there, too, and you can feel your heat hammering in your chest when she smiles like that at you.

"Thank you."

Then the two of you share a smile, and it just feels so good to be reunited with Mira that you don't want to think about anything else, ever again.

vi.

When Julie starts crushing on you (whatever), something burns in Mira, or so you notice. You're her closest friend (or so you hope), so you have to notice the way she gets just a tad angrier than normal at Julie.

(You're not smiling, shut up.)

Then Julie switches numbers and Mira says something like "Just because you like Ace" and you can literally hear the poison in her words and you feel your heart beating faster, there, too, because maybe she likes you the way you like (love) her.

(And she sounds way angrier than she did when she was jealous about Dan and Runo - and that's not making you smile even larger, shut up.)

vii.

She's laying there, on the ground, out cold. And you can feel your heart almost stop when you see the scene, and the next thing you know, you're holding her in your arms, hoping she'll wake up.

(You failed - you just wanted to keep her safe, dammit, this is all your fault, oh god-)

And then Mira wakes up and she looks at you with her blinking blue eyes. There's nothing that can describe the amount of relief you feel when you hear the soft "Ace?" come from her lips.

"I'm here."

(You're not letting her go.)

viii.

You don't like that Mira spends so much time with Keith. He may be her brother, but that doesn't change anything. She should pay more attention to her other friends, too, you know -

"Don't worry Ace," Julie slaps you on the back, "She's just excited to see her big bro!"

"Yeah," Percival adds, "You have nothing to worry about."

You're not blushing, you're not.

Julie laughs.

ix.

Julie comes to talk to you later that night (and oh boy, you really don't wanna talk about how you feel about Mira), but you don't say no. It'd be nice to know where you stand (at least, from a female perspective).

"You love her, don't you?" she asks, and she's got this knowing smile on her face and you just kind of stare back, with the most serious look on your face.

"Yeah."

There's nothing to hide anymore. You could try all you want to say that no, you don't love her, you just like her in that way, but you realized a long time ago that you were head over heels in love with her.

And you're not ashamed.

x.

Yeah, you love Mira. Ace Grit loves Mira Clay. There's nothing else to it.

All your thoughts are consumed by her, (like when you were almost drowning, or when you heard her voice). She's your best friend - she's the one you go to when you can't sleep, or when you have way too much on your mind, and you can always count on her. She'll never turn away from you.

So maybe you care a little too much about her (it's not enough, you tell yourself), and maybe you don't exactly get along with her all the time (but you're always worried about her), but you feel so strongly about her that even you can't numb the feeling anymore.

(You figure this out somewhere in the middle of this crisis - oh, what a time to figure out you're in love with someone, huh?)

But what the hell are you doing?

You can't exactly... make a move, you know? You're in the middle of this whole "freeing the Bakugan" thing. The resistance is important to both you and her, and you can't distract her. Not when the tension is high and you're all so close to liberating all these innocent creatures.

(Oh, screw it. You're too far into this mess.)

So you kind of... kiss her. Yeah. Full on the lips, too. It's kind of awkward, but it's your first kiss. She's blushing, and you're blushing (you're an idiot), but she's smiling her smile that dazzles like diamonds. Nothing else has felt so right.

You're somewhere past just friends, but you don't have time to discuss it right now. Which you understand, albeit reluctantly.

But maybe after this whole crisis, you can talk about it.

(You're in. And you've kinda... never been happier.)

end

thanks for reading.