This contains yuri, if you don't like it don't read it!

Chapter 2: Explosive!

As Estelle awoke her skin quickly turned bright red. She couldn't help but be embarrassed after that dream.

'It's because I saw that last night. I wouldn't be so embarrassed just dreaming about her like usual, but that had to sneak in. The stupid thing from the drawer…'

She quickly calmed herself, and stood to get ready for her day. First a stretch, and then a bath. She slid slowly into the warm water of her room's private bath. Resting in the water her thoughts drifted to Rita, remembering the night before. Her headed flooded with memories, she was so excited seeing the women she loved for the first time in a year.

'I just had to rush and hug her! I remember how cute she used to be. Her little, petite body; how fierce and concentrated she looked when she cast spells; the way she was coy and blushed whenever I gave her a compliment. But now– wow. She is so beautiful! Her hair is a little longer, but she still leaves it loose and free, her maturity has brought such a natural beauty. She's so tall and slender now. Oh and her eyes, those fierce emerald green eyes. I have to sneak into the lab and watch her do some research; I need to see that spark in her eyes as she thinks deeply and focuses.'

A mix of the steaming waters from the bath and her own mental images were causing her skin to become flushed. Her heartbeat was quick and fluttery.

'I'm so glad that my food turned out okay, I'm pretty sure she enjoyed it more than she let on; she's always like that. It's almost strange to get those same shy reactions from her now that she's an adult. Okay, whats next? Home-cooked food was just stage one. I'm so far behind. I didn't now how to attack this problem during our travels.'

The princess had never been interested in reading any romance novels and knew nothing beyond what was in the children's fairy tales. She was never interested in any boys she had met, nor the princes in the stories. It wasn't until meeting Rita that she became interested in the process of courtship.

The same determined look from the night before came over her face again.

'So the next stage– what should I do? I shouldn't hesitate, but I have to make sure she's fallen for me before I tell her how I feel. According to the books, I need to be really kind to her, so I guess I should try and compliment her a lot today. This is going to be fun!'


It was early in the morning and Rita was already hard at work at her new lab. She stood next to a counter, her goggles pulled down over and protecting her eyes.

The bench was covered in glassware, filled with seemingly random unlabeled solutions. Seeming to thrive in the chaos, Rita repeatedly added chemicals to her concoction, barely pausing to glance at what she adds. Her skin and hair were caked with traces of soot and residue from failed experiments.

Gauche couldn't help but giggle upon entering the lab, with her twin following behind, less amused.

"What'd you call us down here for?" questioned the red-headed twin, barely catching the attention of the focused chemist.

"I accidentally invented something," she said without ceasing to work, "that vial over there."

Gauche quickly picked up the vial of red solution that the researcher had gestured to.

"It should explode when the glass breaks, I wanted you to test it the next time you fight a monster."

The redhead quickly bobbled the flask in shock and terror. Her twin tried to prevent it from falling, but only succeeded in popping it back into the air. Without looking over, the researcher grabbed the vial out of the air.

"Again, it will blow up when exposed to the air, so please be careful."

She walked over and gently handed the little crystal vial to the knight, who still had a frightened expression. Droite blushed slightly, impressed by the smooth moves of the calm scientist.

"How exactly did you 'accidentally' invent this?" questioned the green-haired knight.

"Well it just wasn't supposed to explode so easily, it was supposed to be fuel."

The redheaded twin smiled mischievously, "so that dirt on your face–"

"I think it's time for you to leave," interrupted the researcher with a glare that would frighten the bravest of knights or fiercest of monsters.

The twins quickly, and quietly, left the lab. After getting a good distance down the hall, they were stopped by the sound of another explosion.

After a few more hours of working, and a few more disastrous explosions, Rita decided to take a break. She went for a walk through the halls contemplating her failures.

Passing a kitchen in the castle, Rita's thoughts shifted to a certain pink-haired princess.

'I should really do something to thank her for last night.'

She opened the door to the kitchen and took a glance both ways. She was thankful to find it empty; she slid in and locked the door.

During their grand adventures, Brave Vesperia had to cook for themselves out in the wild. While early on, they took turns shouldering this responsibility, Rita had quickly been removed from the cycle.

She grit her teeth in determination. 'Yuri always said that the best secret ingredient was love, so I have to succeed!'

Rita's face curled in disgust as she tasted her third attempt at making a cake.

'At least this doesn't blow up when I fail,' she thought with a disappointed face, before continuing to 'cook' Estelle's gift.

Outside, Gauche awoke to the cursing following the sixth cake. She had nestled up in the branch of a massive tree outside the castle for a nap. She peered down into the window to find Rita angrily bashing the failed dessert with a wooden spoon.

"Gauche! I finally found you!" shouted a frustrated Droite from the ground. Noticing that her sister was giggling, she quickly asked why.

"It's Rita," the red head responded, with a pause to laugh more.

With a blush, Droite quickly shouted back "let me see!" before Gauche could finish, and attempted to jump up onto the branch, since the window was too high to be seen through from the ground. On the way up, her leg caught her twin, causing both to topple onto the ground.

From her position on the ground, Gauche saw the bottle that had been jarred from her pockets move towards the window, in what felt to her like slow motion.

The explosive shock left Gauche dazed, but her impending sense of panic caused her to get to her feet quickly. She could sense the killing intent from the opening in the wall, causing a shiver to run through her spine.

Both twins quickly started to run but a whip flew out from the smokescreen catching Gauche around the ankle and forcing her to trip.

Turning, the terrified knight managed to stammer out "R-R-Rita! Uh... sorry! It was an accident!" before furious mage managed to close the gap.


Back in the lab and still fuming, Rita quickly got back to her experiments in an attempt to calm herself down.

After a few hours, her focus was broken by a sudden question.

"Working so hard on your first day, Rita?"

Without stopping her experiment she replied "Yeah, can't expect me take it easy, there is always something new to figure out."

She nearly dropped her test tube in surprise when she realized who she was talking to. She turned to find the beautiful princess who had entered the lab.

Another explosion would probably have occurred if the princess had been smiling, but she was just staring intensely directly into the pair of emerald green eyes.

"Uh, Estelle? Is there something you wanted?" the researcher questioned, her face blushing after a minute of silent staring.

Seeming to snap out of a trance, Estelle quickly blurted out "Yes! It would be so much fun if we had dinner together."

"Sure, let me just finish this experiment."

Estelle just wandered around the lab while Rita finished with her work. Aside from the chemicals, there were also various engines and mechanical devices scattered throughout the room.

These new machines that operated without blastia were immensely interesting to her and there were no books in the library about how they operate.

Finding a natural way to generate power took a full two years after the defeat of the Adephagos. Naturally the same genius that came up with the way to save the world also created the new source of energy.

Estelle's mind drifted a little, she couldn't concentrate since she had finally seen that look, the one she hadn't seen for years.

'The brightest genius, the most enticing beauty, that wonderful look in her eyes'

"So amazing!" she giggled to herself.

"We trying to use engines for transportation."

Estelle turned to Rita, who had crept up close behind her. Estelle paused for a second, 'perfect opportunity, According to the books–,'

Estelle concentrated, turned, and leaned close to the researcher. "Actually, I was talking about you," she whispered.

A bright blush flushed across Rita's face. She hesitated for a second, turning her gaze away from the pink-haired princess.

"Y-Yeah, it's too bad my brain is the only good part about me," she stammered, rubbing nervously at the back of her head.

"I meant all of you," Estelle retorted quickly, in a still slightly hushed voice, drastically increasing the blush that already covered Rita's face.

"Anyway," Estelle continued, "Let's go eat."

Having slightly returned to her normal color, Rita nodded.

The two of them walked down the hall silently, headed for Estelle's private dining room. Too nervous to talk after Estelle's comments, Rita's fingers played with the strap of the messenger bag that was resting on her back.

She likes to wear it, since she feels more comfortable having something there now that she doesn't need her usual book of formulas and spells. But now, it brought only a sense of nervousness.

'What is with Estelle today? Is she just teasing me? I mean, she's being so– flirty? No, that can't be. I'm just imagining it. I just think that because it's what I want. Thats right. Exactly what I want.' She shook her head to clear that thought away

'She's just being nice like always.' She gripped down on the strap of her bag.

'In the end I could only make sandwiches. She'll say they're delicious no matter what, she's always so kind and considerate.' Her lips curled into a smile, but then quickly dropped it. 'How do I know if she really likes them? She wouldn't give an honest response if it seems important to me. Of course! I need to act like it wasn't a big deal. Yeah, if I stay calm, she will be honest because she knows that she won't hurt my feelings. Wait, wait, wait. We're just friends; nothing more. This is just repayment, not some attempt to gain her favor. Is it…? Crap.'

They arrived at the room. Rita realized that she hadn't said a word the whole time and that it was probably awkward.

"Sorry I'm so quiet, I was thinking about some things."

"Don't worry Rita, I understand," Estelle said with her usual bright smile.

Rita's blush flared up a bit more as she reached into her bag and pulled out a box.

"Umm, I ended up skipping lunch today, so I h-have some sandwiches I made. I have a lot, so– if you w-want them, you can have some," she managed to stammer out nervously.

'Good job Rita. Came out really calm. Real good job,' she thought to her self sarcastically.

"T-they probably aren't any good anyway, I'm probably the only person in the world who could mess up a sandwich."

"I would love some!" Estelle replied, reaching and quickly taking a bite from the sandwich. Rita placed the box and table and grabbed one for herself.

"It's really good Rita."

"R-really? Thanks, I don't cook very often, so–,"

"You only get food this delicious with a secret ingredient."

"I didn't use–," Rita responded, taking another bite.

"Do I taste a hint of love?"

Rita's heart nearly exploded from her chest, and she nearly choked on the sandwich, prompting Estelle to make some tea.

'Yay! Success!' Estelle thought to herself, as she left prepared the drinks.

'I'm not gonna make it, I'm not gonna make it. This girl is going to kill me! Was that a hint? It had to be, that was so obvious. No, this is Estelle. She only sees me as a friend. Of course; she's the sort of girl who would say she loves her friends all the time. I'm going to have an aneurysm at this rate. Could she mean…? No, she has to mean as friends, absolutely. There is no way that the thought of another girl has even... maybe? NO. No way. It was just a joke. An inside joke because Yuri said it that one time…'

Estelle silently chuckled as she watched brunette hair flail through the air from rapid head shaking.

'Did I get her? She's getting confused now. It might be hard because we are already good friends, but just a little more will push her over the edge! I guess I can start the final stage, then my confession! She seems to be opening up quicker than I thought! Huh, I wonder why?'

Rita was shocked again as her train of thought and flailing were interrupted by a tap from Estelle as she handed her the cup of tea.

Having shook herself into being about as calm as possible, the two continued their meal, happily chatting about recent events in the empire and how their old companions were doing.

"Well, I guess its about time to get going. It's getting pretty late."

The researcher began to stand and leave, but was stopped by a tug on her sleeve.

"I was hoping we could spend more time catching up."

A pair of green eyes stared up at Rita, whose heart was starting to accelerate.

"Could you spend the night? I've been getting lonely in the castle."

Her heartbeat out of control from the princesses words, she suddenly realized she couldn't hold back if she stayed.

"S-sorry Estelle, I–"

'I have to come up with some excuse!'

"I really need to take a bath, all the failed experiments– you know– so I have to get back."

"You could just bathe here."

'Together?' quickly popped into her head before Rita mentally slapped herself for even thinking it.

"Rita… please?" Estelle pleaded, with an expression of a lonely puppy.

"Thanks, I g-guess I can stay."

'I can't say no to that! that look is almost as cute as her smile'

Estelle gave Rita some of her clothes to sleep in, once again making things very difficult for the conflicted mage, and sent her off to the bath.

'That went exactly like the book! It's time for the final step,' she thought to herself, glancing over to her wardrobe.

'I'm so excited!'


He never realized how much his bag got in the way while he was fighting when he was smaller. Since it didn't function as a blastia anymore, he had long since abandoned it. Cleaving through monsters swiftly and with great strength, he realized how much he has grown. He is able to move so quickly and smoothly now. "Even the biggest and meanest monsters should have fear! The great warrior! The Super Invincible Defender of Justice! (Who delivers packages) Karol of Brave Vesperia!"

"No matter how much time passes, you always sound like a dork," called a female voice from a cliff above the now still battlefield.

"Hey! Oh, Nan! What's up?" He shouted back, waving in an equally dorky way. He had in fact grown a bit since his old days, at least physically. Enough to say that his weapon may actually be the right size now.

"I have a job to hunt a Giganto near Zaphias, was wondering if you wanted to come."

"I'd love to! Got some friends there I want to see."

"Yeah, but if you chicken out when the fight starts, we're breaking up!"

"Never gonna let me live down the old days are ya?"


Author's Note:

So here's chapter 2, hope you enjoy it. I wanted to quickly get Estelle and Rita into a relationship, so expect some fun next chapter! I don't know how long it will take though, with college starting back up, but I'll try and release every week.

Oh and I absolutely had to make Rita tsundere-ish. I mean, if you think of her as a tsundere character, the relationship is practically canon.