Chapter 10: Love Reigns

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

Snuggled close to Galatea, Cynthia shuffled her feet shyly as she listened to Helen wail at the top of her voice in the private karaoke lounge. No one in the room cheered the loudmouth girl on, but she didn't care. Deneve and Clare had tired expressions on their faces, but hints of a smile remained on their faces.

Helen was a friend who made them laugh.

"I'm so glad the festival is over. It was difficult to keep up the act for too long," sighed Miria, who sat beside Flora. "Why don't you sing?" asked the Yellow Rose.

Sitting straight on the red sofa, the White Rose looked at Miria in surprise. "Me?"

"It's natural, isn't it?" said Galatea, taking a sip of melon soda – one of the many soft drinks that stood on the table in the centre of the room. She gave a rare, encouraging smile. "You are our resident diva after all, Rosa Gigantea."

Cynthia smiled to herself.

You are confident.

"Very well, then. I'll try my best."

Flora chose a song – Cynthia didn't know who the artist was – and began to sing with her angelic voice. Yuma and Tabitha stared up at her in utter amazement, and Clare simply sat in admiring silence. Galatea chuckled. "Ha! I told you, Cynthia," she said suddenly, pulling her close. Cynthia blushed at the sudden intimacy. "I told you Flora is good at everything. She's the saint of our school."

You are complicated.

Cynthia knew well of Galatea's quirks, of her weaknesses and faults. But they were part of Rosa Chinensis – they were partly why she was so seductive, so winsome. It was the same with Miria's sternness, or Flora's perfectionism. The Roses were not perfect – they were perfectly imperfect.

Yuma and Tabitha began to fight over the remote. The choice was dire, a matter of life and death – eighties music or pop? Helen laughed as Deneve and Clare snickered. Galatea could not help joining in, holding Cynthia so tightly that it felt as if they were one person.

There are so many ways I love you. Maybe I can never explain them completely. And I probably don't want to. Or I'll lose sight of your eyes… the touch of your hands.

The Roses and their juniors continued to sing, laugh, and cheer into the night, and it would be early morning before they left the karaoke bar and gone home.

But Cynthia would not look back. She would always look forward to the next day, the next time she could see her big sister again.

No matter where I am, you'll always dwell in my heart.

A/N: So here I am in London, working and studying. Europe provides plenty of inspiration for European themes, of course, in particular the main setting of this light-hearted fanfic and its inspiration, Maria-sama ga Miteru. But I can't help but miss Japan, which is my favourite holiday destination hands down. Because in the end, this is a fanfic of two Japanese anime.

Where did Galatea x Cynthia come from, though? Well, they have pretty much one dialogue in the entire manga (forgot which volume it's in) and it was from that one dialogue that I wrote several stories worth of Galatea x Cynthia. Maybe I'm just trying to find an excuse. But if you ever reread that short dialogue, you might agree with me that the potential was, and is, always there… ;)

Cynthia is comparable to Yumi in Marimite, although more assertive and definitely more physically developed. Galatea's personality, as Rosa Chinensis, is a fusion between imperious Sachiko and sardonic Sei. Even Riful – Galatea's grande souer – resembles Sei's ex-lover, Shiori (although as the sadistic Riful proved, looks are deceptive). I enjoy seeing what happens when Galatea has not only her usual confident personality, but also the inner conflicts of Sachiko and contradictory emotions of Sei.

Twin Goddesses will be taking a break after this short chapter. It will be a short while before I'll be back with this fanfic, but I'm glad I started it and laid the foundations for it. I hope you enjoyed this slow-paced, easygoing story about a prestigious school where our usually blood-crazed or dead Claymores live a normal, peaceful, and quirky students' life.