A/N: Hello! This is based on Tsubasa's behavior more in early episode one and in those flashbacks before Kanade died. Let me know what you think of it. This is for the Friendship challenge. Enjoy everyone!

For the Friendship challenge. The prompt was: "Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great." -Mark Twain

The countdown had begun.

Clock ticked, clock bit, the music only ran for so long before you lost the beat.

… Okay, maybe she was overthinking this a little. Just a little!

"Kanade, stop laughing!"

Tsubasa was not fixing her hair in the mirror for the fifth time. She wasn't doing it, not her. Sitting the wrong way in her chair, Kanade was muffling snickers behind her hand, red eyes glowing with that unobtainable easygoing mirth that just fit her as much as her mess of red hair that rarely needed a brush.

"S-Sorry," the older girl said, the air in her voice saying how unapologetic she actually was. "But it's graduation. You've already got the job and the party's been prepped since January, what are you fretting over?"

"I-you were just as nervous as I was when it was you graduating!" Kanade made it very easy to bicker with her, like teasing people was her sport or something. Tsubasa felt her face darken and Kanade laughed.

"Yeah, cause I couldn't dance on the stage!" She leaped from her chair and sashayed over, wrapping her arms around her partner's neck. "It's graduation. You'll do great."

Tsubasa felt her face flush again. "What if I trip?"

"You dance on your hands with swords on your legs," Kanade deadpanned, walking over to the refrigerator in their room. She pulled out an orange popsicle and bit off the top, crying out a little at the slight brain freeze. "You're not going to trip."

Tsubasa toyed with the folds of her school skirt. "Even so..."

Kanade flopped back in her chair, leaning backwards over it and licking the melting popsicle. "Want some?" she offered.

Tsubasa wrinkled her nose. "What, no... Kanade..." The whine left her lips before she could stop it. "You're not helping!"

"How am I not helping?" the older girl protested, taking another bite from her frozen treat. "I'm trying to get you to cool down before your head explodes."

Tsubasa let out a small, undignified huff and sat down in her chair. "W-Well, it's not working."

"That's because you're always so stiff!" Kanade's protest bubbled with teasing laughter and the sloppy half-melted ice plopped to the ground, splattering onto the carpet. This, Kanade winced at, and a worried expression was one Tsubasa rarely saw off the battlefield. She had seen her partner fired up, excitable and pulling everyone around her, in tears, agonizing. The last two were expressions she always tried to hide, and inevitably. But the blank concern was something relatively new, and judging by how quickly the smile rose to hide it, very private.

So Tsubasa passed Kanade the paper towels and let her pick it up, deciding not to ask.

Kanade never talked much about her family. Tsubasa never thought much of hers. It made things easier, in the long run. She hadn't seen them in a long time.

The room was quiet for a while, until Tsubasa heard the popsicle crash into the trash can. Then she worked her throat for a few moments, trying to speak.

"...I'm scared." Her words were smaller than the room, almost lost in it.

"Of what?" Kanade turned to look at her fully, red eyes big and solemn and old despite the fact that she usually looked young when she smiled. Tsubasa found herself fidgeting at the gaze on her, like the spotlight was already there.

Face red, Tsubasa breathed to calm herself. "I, I have to give a speech, and, well, you know, I'm not exactly-"

"Good at talking?" Kanade grinned. "No, but you're a great singer." At the rising frown on Tsubasa's face, Kanade hastily raised her hands. "I'm trying to be positive here! Show me your speech."

Tsubasa almost refused, she didn't want the inevitable laughter from the cheesy statements that tended to crop up in valedictory speeches. Then again, it was Kanade, who tended to say a lot of corny things and make them sound sincere and well-meaning. She pulled it up on her computer at that thought and moved to let Kanade see. The elder was quiet as she read and Tsubasa clamped one hand over her right knee to keep it from shaking.

Kanade sat back slowly, brow furrowed. Then, after the silence was almost disturbing, she grinned. "I've got an idea!"

"Oh no..."

Kanade rolled her eyes. "Oh, just trust me, you stick in the mud! You're going to be fine because it's you, and I'm gonna make sure of it."

–

The day arrived and Tsubasa felt her knees quake.

This was never going to work.

It was funny how she could easily pick up a sword and fight to the death, but the idea of talking in front of people without a song to guide her was the equivalent of being held down to a table for a root canal. She peered out into the crowds of blacks and browns and yellows, hearing whispers, seeing heads turning and waiting for the graduation ceremony to begin. There was no sign of red fluff, but most people were standing, and the entire division, tiny as they were, had to show up. It was what they thought was right.

She was less afraid of tripping now, but not by much.

The ceremony, when it began, breezed by the introductions and the feelings and she found herself up on the stage before she realized she had even walked to the podium.

Well, at least she hadn't tripped on the way there.

She gripped the wooden shelf where her hands couldn't be seen, and in her anxiety, scanned the crowd. Were they here? Were they even-

There! A spot of bright, spicy red, sitting up straight, just visible over a man's head. Her eyes were probably glowing with pride. Even from here, Tsubasa could guess that. She stared at her a second more, and took a deep breath, putting her hand to her heart. Her fingers trailed around the Relic at her neck and she breathed.

It was too quiet, painfully still. It wasn't like the days full of crowds and screams before she had even breathed a word. It was like Tsubasa was singing to an empty auditorium.

Until that moment.

In the currently quiet air, she heard a single humming noise. The humming was so quiet, it could be mistaken for the sound of the air ventilation system. But Tsubasa knew the voice and it caused her shoulders to relax in relief.

Maybe this would work. She kept her hand over her Relic and began to speak.

Looking at each face was hard, and at times, she had to shut her eyes and just listen to the steady hum that she knew was her partner's voice.

"You're a better singer, but you can't sing your speech, right? Well, you can follow my rhythm, and say it that way."

It should have been impossible, but it was Kanade.

And Kanade always believed in her.

The end was followed by applause and cheers and Tsubasa stumbled to her chair, feeling like she was going to be sick.

She didn't care what happened, she was never doing a speech again.

But she had to smile at her uncle's proud expression, and try not to laugh at their lead scientist waving energetically over his broad shoulders.

At the end, when it was really truly over and she had her proof of graduation, she made her way from the crowd and searched until she was dragged back by a pair of stringy, strong arms into a hug.

"You made it," she heard in her ear. "Told ya."

Tsubasa blushed. "I know. Thank you."

"Tehe." Kanade paused in her overexuberant brushing of Tsubasa's hair. "You tripped on your way down the stairs."

"... Oh now you tell me."

Kanade laughed, hugged Tsubasa again, and pulled her away by the hand. "Come on, the old man wants to celebrate!"

"My-The commander isn't an old man!"