Chapter 3 - The City Of Love

The next morning, Lena walked into a small little coffee shop a short distance away from her university, wearing a pair soft mittens due to the rather cold weather outside.

She hadn't minded the cold back in London, but here in France, she found herself shivering if the temperature even gently dipped into the single digits.

As she sat down in a small cubicle seat, with a cup of coffee in hand, she opened out her phone, checking to see if the text she had sent earlier that morning had been seen.

Lena: Hey Angie, could you and Fareeha meet up with me tomorrow morning? I've got something I want to talk about.

The message had been seen, but there was no sign of Lena's friends anywhere.

Lena sipped up her coffee, wanting to be patient. Angie's a busy gal, she reminded herself. She's got a lot on her plate, so if she doesn't show, don't be sad, at least you've got Hana still.

Lena smiled to herself. She liked giving herself little pep-talks. Emily had suggested she do it back in high school and the plucky brit hadn't stopped.

Maybe she should tell her about Amélie? Give her friend a call and talk about the good old days.

Well, maybe not just yet, since Lena still had to make sure she and her new French lover had a relationship to even tell Emily about.

As Lena sipped her coffee, she then heard the door to the cafe open up behind her.

She looked around and saw two women, one with blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing a black turtleneck, and an Egyptian woman with black hair, gold clips in her hair and wearing a blue jacket with the logo of some sports team on the sleeve, that Lena didn't recognise.

She knew exactly who these two were, and she couldn't have been happier to see them.

"Angie! Fareeha!" Lena cried out in joy.

The blonde woman smiled and took the other woman's hand, leading them over to Lena. "Lena, it's so good to see you!" She said in a thick Swiss accent.

"Good to see you too, Angie," Lena replied. "You too, Fareeha."

"You haven't changed much, Lena," Fareeha remarked. "You're still a small fry."

"And a cute one at that," Angela added.

Lena blushed. "Oh stop it you two."

After Fareeha had ordered herself a coffee, and Angela bought herself a chocolate muffin, the happy couple sat in front of Lena, the three friends enjoying each other's company.

"So... how've things been with you?" Lena asked Angela.

"Very tiring, Lena," Angela remarked. "Travelling everywhere can be quite the hassle sometimes."

"But I've been keeping her company," Fareeha stated. "and sane."

Angela rested in Fareeha's buff arms, smiling. "and for that I am thankful."

"I'm surprised the Egyptian military let Fareeha be on leave for this long," Lena remarked. Fareeha was an active officer with the Egyptian defence forces and had met Angela while she was in Cairo.

"Well, I got my higher-ups to see how valuable Angela was," Fareeha told her. "She is a medical prodigy you know."

"So, they let her tag along as my bodyguard," Angela said. "Although, it's more or less just an excuse for us to date."

Lena giggled. "You two are really cute together... which reminds me of why I called you here."

"Yes, we were wondering the same thing," Angela admitted. "Especially after you had to cancel on us meeting up last night."

"I know, I know, and I'm really sorry about that," Lena apologised.

"We aren't mad, Lena," Fareeha put in. "We would never be mad at you."

Lena wiped her brow. "Well, that's a relief."

"So what is the reason we're all here?" Fareeha then wondered.

"Well," Lena began, trying to figure out how to put this into words. "I've recently become... involved with someone."

Angela's eyes widened. "Lena... are you saying that you have a girlfriend?"

"Yes," Lena replied, nodding happily. "Her name is Amélie and she goes to the same uni I do. Or at least she used to, it's kinda complicated."

"Lena, that's wonderful," Angela told her. "I'm grateful. When did you meet?"

"She's in my ballet class," Lena informed her. "She used to give everyone these cold looks, and took pity on me and well... she smooched me last night."

"Sounds pretty intimate then," Fareeha remarked.

"Well... not that intimate," Lena corrected her.

"You see... she's my first girlfriend, and I don't want to screw this up. She's just so... perfect."

Angela smiled. "She sounds like a keeper."

"Well, that's what I want," Lena said. "So... that's what I wanted to ask you. How do you two keep your relationship alive and such?"

"You're asking us for relationship advice?" Fareeha inquired.

"Well, you've been in a relationship longer than anyone else I know," Lena admitted.

"Well..." Angela began. "I suppose you should always be honest with her. Never lie about anything and never be afraid to talk about anything with her. Trust is the most important part of a relationship."

"Loyalty is also a good point," Fareeha said. "Always be there for her when she needs it. Keep her happy and protected, and..." She looked at Angela. "Never give up on her."

Angela leaned close, kissing Fareeha softly on the lips. "Wise words, beloved."

Lena smiled. "Okay... I guess that stuff could work for me."

Angela held Lena's hand. "You'll be fine, Lena. This will work well for you. I hope this Amélie girl is as good to you as Fareeha is to me."

"And I'm a very good girl," Fareeha remarked, smirking in a rather cocky manner.

Lena giggled. "Thanks, gals. It's always good to talk to people who understand."

Angela smiled. "That's what friends are for."

Lena looked down, gazing at Angela's rather delicious looking muffin. "Angie... is it alright if I have some of that muffin? I kinda skipped breakfast this morning."

Angela chuckled. "Lena, you know what I've been telling you all these years. You need at least three meals a day to live a healthy life."

"Sorry," Lena excused, rubbing the back of her neck.

Angela broke the muffin in half and gave one half to Lena.

Lena ate her muffin half happily, sighing as she chewed the sweet treat in her mouth. "Mmmm, best muffin ever."

Fareeha's watch then beeped, and she checked it. "Um, Angela, you have your appointment in ten minutes."

Angela nodded. "Right, right." She looked at Lena, eating her muffin half. "I have to go now, Lena. A doctor's work is never done."

Lena smiled, kissing Angela on the cheek. "See you around, Angie. I'll let you know how things go with Amélie as soon as I can."

"Please do," Angela said. "We'll be looking forward to it." Angela got up with Fareeha and waved Lena goodbye. "Auf wiedersehen," she said in her native tongue.

As her friends left, Lena felt a new sense of drive within herself. Thanks to Angela's and Fareeha's kind words, she was sure to make things work with Amélie.

All she needed to do, was ask the blue-skinned beauty out on a date.

xXx

Meanwhile, back at the university, Amélie was changing into her leotard again, wanting to do some practice before the studio got busy thanks to Madame Talmann's class.

As she slipped into her rather slender bodice, she noticed someone walking up behind her.

It was a girl, the same age as Lena, with long brown hair, a pair of arrows painted on her cheeks.

"Bonjour," Amélie greeted her, in a mix of both cold and warm tones in her voice. "Are you lost, mademoiselle?"

The girl shook her head. "No, I'm not lost. I was actually looking for you, and I thought you would be here."

Amélie stood above her, looking down with her yellow eyes. "And why would you be looking for me?" She asked her.

"I'm doing a favour for a friend of mine, well, not really a favour, since she doesn't know about it yet," the girl stated. "I think you know her. Her name's Lena Oxton."

A warm smile appeared on Amélie's purple lips. "You are a friend of hers?"

"Yes, I'm Hana, Hana Song," the girl introduced herself."Lena's my roommate."

"I don't believe we've met before," Amélie remarked.

"No, we haven't but I've heard a lot about you," Hana admitted. "But you don't seem anything like what other people say you are."

"They are unfortunate rumours, my dear, with hardly any truth to them," Amélie replied, putting on her leggings. "So tell me, Miss Song, what favour exactly are you doing for Lena?"

"Well um... she's a bit shy about your relationship, so I've come to talk on her behalf," Hana said. "She's really concerned about not being a good girlfriend for you."

"She has nothing to worry about," Amélie responded. "I do not judge her on her personality, nor do I care if she is a 'good girlfriend'. All I care about is Lena being herself."

"Yeah, I can see that, but anyway, I was wondering if I could set you two up on a date," Hana admitted. "I mean, I do know a lot about dating. I've been on tons of them."

"Then why are you so single?" Amélie remarked.

"I kinda... bore a lot of people to death with my constant talking about stuff they don't care for," Hana stated, looking down. "But just because I screw up, doesn't mean I don't want Lena to fail with this thing with you."

"You are showing great compassion," Amélie said to her. "I admire that."

"So... you'll go on a date with Lena then?" Hana assumed.

"First things first, Miss Song, I don't agree to anything until I know all the details of the deal in question."

"Oh, right... well, I was just gonna maybe have you two just hanging out. Not in this place, but just casually hanging out."

"Casually?"

"Yeah, like going for a walk, or maybe having an evening together in our dorm, something like that."

Amélie shivered. "Not the dorm, please. I always find that place has such a horrible smell."

"Okay, so maybe you two could go out somewhere?" Hana wondered. "Here, there's this coffee place near here that's really sweet. You'd probably have to take a sweater or something. It's kinda cold outside these days."

Amélie sighed. "Miss Song, with all due respect, you are not handling this very well."

Hana sat on the floor of the studio, her hands on her legs. "I know, but I just want this to work for Lena."

Amélie smiled. "Let me handle this date, alright? I know the perfect place to take her."

"Y-you do?!" Hana said, rather surprised.

"Oui, it's this beautiful restaurant in the city. It has this balcony on the roof where you can see the Eiffel tower in the distance."

"Sounds quite expensive."

"I'm a rather wealthy woman, Miss Song," Amélie told her."I can afford this."

"Yeah, but can Lena?" Hana wondered. "I mean, Lena doesn't exactly have a fancy dress or anything."

Amélie smirked. "Don't worry, I have something in mind for her to wear. Something I know she'll like."

Hana giggled. "Ohohohohoh what are you gonna make her wear?"

"I'm not telling you," Amélie said, flatly. "I'll send the outfit to your dorm room as soon as I find it."

"Wait, what about the rest of the date?" Hana wondered. "Do you want me to book a table at the place for you two?"

"No, no, I will handle it all, Miss Song," Amélie told her. "I will um... text you when I am ready."

Hana smiled. "Okey-dokey." As she got up to leave, she looked at Amélie one last time. "Thanks by the way... for being there for Lena."

"No need to thank me, Miss Song," Amélie replied. "I was only doing what I thought was right."

xXx

Later that evening, Lena returned home to the university dorm, having decided to do a little bit of shopping while she was out in the city.

"Hana, I'm back!" Lena called to her, walking through the door. "I've re-stocked your Doritos!"

Hana looked up from her computer and grinned. "Lena, you're awesome!"

"I know you are but what am I?" Lena teased before putting the shopping bags down and resting on the bed.

"So how did it go with Angela?" Hana asked her.

"I think I got some very useful tips," Lena remarked. She put her hands on her hips in a very proud manner. "Look out Amélie, Lena's coming to give you love."

Hana giggled. "Funny you should mention her... Because..."

The British girl raised an eyebrow. "Because what?"

"Well... I did you a favour and set up a date for you two."

"Y-you did what?!"

Hana then smirked, very pleased with herself. "I thought you would be grateful."

Lena blushed. "Well... I didn't think you'd actually go and ask her about it."

"Well, I can't exactly be a dating guru without actually setting up dates can I?" Hana smarmily remarked.

Lena rolled her eyes and sighed, giving in. "Alright, where did you set it up then?"

"Some fancy french place in the city and I didn't arrange it, Amélie offered to do so."

Lena felt touched at how her girlfriend had gone to this effort for her. "Awww, that's real sweet of her."

"Yeah, she even sent you something to wear," Hana stated. She walked over to the end of her bed and picked up a brown package. "I haven't opened it yet, but it's from an 'A. Lacroix' so it must be from her."

Lena took the package and opened it up, and when she saw what was inside, her mouth went wide. It was a very formal looking black tuxedo, with a bow tie and a pair of gloves.

"Hana..." Lena tried to get words from her mouth. "It's a tux. She sent me a goddamn tux."

The Korean girl then looked at the package, confirming to herself what Lena had told her. She stifled laughter, but couldn't hold it in for long and burst into a fit of giggles. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"What's so funny?!" Lena argued, rather embarrassed.

"Oh, Lena, you're gonna look so dapper," Hana remarked, calming down.

"Hana, I don't even like suits!" Lena told her.

"Have you ever tried one on?" Hana asked her, wanting to know if Lena really didn't like it, or was just being coy and not wanting to put the suit on.

Lena shook her head in response.

"Then how the hell do you know if you like something if you haven't tried it," Hana slyly stated, smirking.

Lena sighed. "Fine, I'll put the bloody suit on. It is for Amélie after all."

"That's the spirit!" Hana chirped. "She's gonna love you in it."

Lena then looked at the tag on the back of the outfit, trying to make out what the words were on it. "Who's G.L?"

"Not a clue," Hana stated. She looked at her watch, checking the time."Looks like you better get dressed, Lena. Amélie will probably be waiting at the restaurant in an hour."

"Um... could you help get me there?" Lena asked. "Because you know French better than me, and I'll need to take a cab."

Hana giggled. "No problem, love," she replied, mimicking Lena's accent.

xXx

After Lena had changed into the tuxedo and Hana had called her a cab, the cockney girl was on her way to her very special first date with Amélie.

As she sat alone in the back seat, the sights of the city moving past her, she felt herself feel slightly out of breath.

The tuxedo was a little tight around the collar of the shirt and no matter how lose Lena made her dickie bow, the feeling of being strangled by her own suit was still present.

Bloody hell, Lena swore to herself. You'd think James Bond would have better luck with these.

Even Mr Bond would have been more confident about women than Lena was. If Lena had channelled even an ounce of Sean Connery while talking to Amélie, she'd have wooed her a long time ago.

Still, she was thankful that Hana had helped out this evening. She was still thinking of ways to thank her at this moment.

Maybe she could buy her a new game? Nah, Hana mostly pirated her games and probably had every emulator known to man installed on that computer.

Whatever Lena would do, she knew that Hana deserved something in return for this.

Part of her wanted to try and talk to the driver of the taxi, hoping to start some kind of social interaction, but he probably didn't speak a lick of English, so it didn't matter.

She was anxious to see Amélie at this point. While it had only been a day, it felt like a lifetime.

Eventually, the great car finally arrived at the restaurant in question. It was a very fancy place called Manglieu. Lena didn't know a thing about what that meant in English, but the place was definitely not her type.

After paying the taxi driver and getting out of the car, Lena felt her lungs be filled with the cold night air.

She looked up at the stars in the sky and at the balcony where Hana told her Amélie would be waiting.

Lena straightened her collar again, hoping to not be strangled all evening, especially not in front of Amélie, in her suit, no less.

She walked up to the waiter at the entrance and cleared her throat. "Um... Bon...jour?" She tried to say in the local tongue.

The waiter looked at her, smiling at her. "Good evening, Madam. How may I help you?" He replied in perfect English.

Thank god, Lena said in her head, feeling relieved. "I'm supposed to be meeting someone here. An Amélie Lacroix?"

"Oh, you know Miss Lacroix?" The waiter assumed. "She is right upstairs, would you like me to show you the way?"

"No, I'll find my own way, thanks," Lena replied. "But I appreciate it."

Lena sighed, and walked up to the stairs at the back of the restaurant, hoping that Amélie was up there.

She gulped, anxiety racking her brain.

As she arrived on the balcony, she saw her new lover waiting in the corner for her, at a table by the railing, reading the menu.

Lena blushed bright red.

Amélie was wearing a beautiful white evening dress and pearl earrings. The dress complimented her blue skin very well, a little too well.

The blue-skinned woman put down her menu and looked at Lena, smiling at her warmly, her golden eyes sparkling in the moonlight rather than turning the brit's blood icy cold. "Lena," she said softly. "You came."

Lena walked over to the table and sat down, adjusting her cuffs. "Well, I couldn't disappoint Hana, could I?"

Amélie chuckled. "You wear my brother's suit quite well."

"Oh!" Lena realised. "That's who G.L. was. That's been wracking my brain for hours."

The French girl giggled. "I see you peaked at the tag. Does it fit you alright?"

"Just about, but the collar's a bit too tight for me," Lena excused.

"Don't worry. Gerard had a very skinny neck. I'm sure you'll grow into it."

Lena smiled and took Amélie's hands. "You look great too, by the way. Like, that dress looks like it was made for you."

"Who said it wasn't?" Amélie winked. "I am quite wealthy you know."

"Wait, you are?" Lena wondered.

"How do you think I booked us a table here?" Amélie remarked.

"Well, I thought Hana did," Lena admitted.

Amélie smiled. "So, would you like to visit my place down in Bordeaux sometime? It's this big mansion over on a little island, very quiet and peaceful."

"Holy crap that sounds amazing!" Lena shouted with glee, before toning her voice down. "Ahem, I mean, of course, Miss Lacroix, I'd love to."

"Now, now, Lena, you don't need to be all fancy around me just because you're wearing a nice suit," Amélie joked. "Besides, I think you look best when you're out on stage in that leotard of yours."

Lena blushed shyly. "Thanks... I was wondering actually. If I do really well in this ballet class with you... what if we became like a double act together? And do stuff in shows as a couple?"

Amélie's eyes widened. "Wait... you want to get me back in the professional scene? With you?"

Lena nodded. "I thought it over on the way here. We could do so much together, love." She kissed her hand. "So... what do you say?"

"Well... I never really considered it... after all, I was thrown out."

"What was torn down can easily be built back up," Lena stated. "And besides, it will really help me make a mate of mine back home real jealous."

Amélie giggled. "Well, My Cherie... you have a deal. I will gladly be your partner, but... let's finish your tutoring first. You are good on that stage, yes, but I can see potential in you."

"I guess so," Lena admitted. Before she could say anything, she heard the sounds of a string quartet from downstairs, the pleasant tune making an idea form in her brain

"That's a lovely song they are playing down there," Amélie remarked.

"Almost makes you wanna get up and dance doesn't it?" Lena said. She then held out her hand to Amélie.

Amélie picked up on what Lena was up to and smiled. "I suppose it does." She took Lena's hand and held it tightly.

Lena got up with Amélie and placed a hand on her waist, beginning to dance with the girl softly, as they practised the night before.

Amélie smiled and rested her head against Lena's. "Je t'aime Lena," She spoke softly.

"Love you too," Lena replied. "That's the only French I actually know."

Amélie looked into Lena's eyes and smiled. "I guess that's another thing I'll have to teach you, partner." She then gazed at Lena, their hearts filling with affection.

As the song downstairs ended, like the night before, Lena and Amélie embraced each other, sharing a tender, passionate kiss.

Lena smiled as she kissed her girlfriend, feeling that this truly was a dream come true.

xXx

Author's note: And so ends a really cute thing :3 Special thanks to Val for starting this off with me all that time ago, and to the wonderful artist Robohero on tumblr who's pic inspired a scene at the start of the fic, and is used as the cover of this fic.

See you next time!