Day two of her trip to Tokyo started with Niko going for an early-morning run at half past six. She'd taken the time the previous night to look at a map of the area around her to plan a route, so she wouldn't get lost. In case she did get turned around, she had her phone on her, so it wouldn't be too hard to find her way back.
There was something about going for runs so early that Niko could never get enough of. The air was cool, and felt great on her face as she worked up a sweat. There was little traffic, and very few people were awake. At least, that's how it was at home. In Tokyo, it seemed the city never slept.
Even at such an early hour, there were cars regularly passing her, people milling around cafes, and shops open bright and early. Niko wasn't sure if she liked that or not. On one hand, sometimes running alone so early was a bit nerve-wracking, but on the other hand, she enjoyed the quiet. So while she wasn't really alone on her run, the noise threw her off.
After about an hour, she finally looped back around to her hotel. A brief stop at the in-house cafe to grab breakfast, and then Niko was up the stairs and on her way back to her room. Halfway up the stairs, she turned the corner and ran straight into someone on their way down the steps.
Stumbling backwards, Niko had to grab the railing to stop herself from tumbling down at least a couple steps. "Oh, sorry! Are you okay?" Recovering quickly, she shifted to the side and extended a hand to the girl as she swayed back.
The other girl's hand shot out and slapped hers away. Niko's eyes widened. "I don't need your fucking help." The response was all but snarled, and Niko recoiled. As the other girl straightened, she finally recognized her. Nao. "Get out of my way, moron."
Niko found herself frowning, before she narrowed her eyes and stepped back up to the landing she'd been about to go around. "Listen, I already apologized. No need to be so nasty." She spoke with a soft shrug, watching the wing spiker carefully as Nao straightened and glared down at her.
"Fuck off." Nao spat at her, and Niko's brows lifted in surprise. After a brief pause, she simply shook her head and walked around the other girl, heading up the stairs again. Apparently Nao's nasty attitude hadn't dissipated since yesterday. Whatever her issue was, Niko wasn't intending on standing around and just being her verbal punching bag.
She had just taken a couple steps when Nao spoke again. "I don't like you." Stopping, Niko turned and faced the girl again. Patiently, she waited for her to continue - as she so clearly wanted to.
The wing spiker stood, glaring up at her with her hands curled into fists at her side. "You're so full of yourself. I've seen videos of your matches. You aren't that great. It's like you think you're a gift from the gods. There's plenty of liberos out there that are better than you." Every word was spoken lowly, laced with venom and what Niko could only describe as hatred. "Maybe if you actually practiced every now and then instead of sucking up players so much better than you, you'd actually be halfway decent. You're going to bring this team down."
If it weren't for the fact that half of her words were false, and the other half were things that Niko already knew, Nao's words might have stung. Instead, all they made Niko do was shrug and her frown soften. "It's unfortunate that you think that way, but I'm not going to argue with you about me. You barely know me, so your opinion is just that - an opinion. Not fact."
She pursed her lips, head tilting to the side a bit as she peered down at Nao. "And I'm fully aware of the fact that there's plenty of liberos out there that are better than me. There's always going to be. That's how life is." Niko watched at Nao's face darkened, eyes following the way her lips opened in what could only be described as a grimace. "It's why I continue to strive to better myself. It's why I always will. Anyway. See you at practice later. Have a good day, Tanaka-san!"
Rather than wait for another reply, Niko turned and jogged up the stairs. This time, Nao didn't stop her. The encounter left the libero feeling unsettled, but there was nothing to be done about it for now. So instead, she brushed the feelings away and sat down the eat.
When she pulled out her phone, she saw that she'd received a message from Asahi. All feelings of unsureness were gone in an instant, instead replaced by a rapidly beating heart full of excitement. When she opened the message and saw that it was a picture of him, Niko bit her lip and let out a soft squeal.
It had taken quite a lot of convincing to get Asahi to the point of willingly sending her pictures every now and then. He'd been so shy and nervous about it at first, she'd had to take a lot of time to convince him that she wanted to see him every day - even if only in a picture. Now, he sent her pictures every couple of days usually, or when she specifically requested them.
This particular image had Niko's heart racing wilding in her chest, and her cheeks grew warm. His hair was down, brown locks falling around his shoulders as he gave the camera a sleepy smile. He'd clearly taken it shortly after waking up, if the messy hair and bleary eyes were anything to go by. Absolute perfection, in Niko's eyes.
Then again, he could literally wear trash and she'd still think he was amazing and insanely hot. Running her tongue across her lips, she tried to bite back the smile that was growing on her lips. A short reply was tapped out, and then she squealed again and tossed her phone onto the bed, hiding her face in her hands.
Niko
7:48
I need more hair-down Asahi in my life please (*≧∀≦*)
Somehow, Niko managed to not pick up her phone again until after she'd ate and changed. When she did, it was because her message tone for her group chat with Hajime and Tōru indicated multiple new replies in a row.
As soon as she opened the messages, Niko laughed and rolled her eyes.
Trashykawa
8:08
GOOD MORNING!
Wake up
Feed me
Haji-Paji
8:09
Shut the fuck up trashykawa
Feed yourself
Trashykawa
8:10
Thts mean, Iwa-chan
Wat did I do 2 dsrv tht
Goblin Queen
8:11
Existed
Good morning sleeping beauties
I've been awake for hours :)
Trashykawa
8:12
Ye, well ur a psycho so
Haji-Paji
8:12
Same
Nah that's you
Goblin Queen
8:13
See, Haji knows ;)
Trashykawa
8:14
Bullies
Haji-Paji
8:15
Nah, you
How's Tokyo life?
Getting along with everyone there, demon woman?
Goblin Queen
8:16
What he said
Gooooddd. Went for a run. It was so loud?
Always :) gonna replace you two with badass girls
Trashykawa
8:17
Fuk u losr
Ur stuk wit me
Haji-Paji
8:18
Obviously. It's a city, dumbass
As if anyone can handle you as well as we can
Goblin Queen
8:19
Fuck offff
You're like leeches
Sucking the life out of me :(
I'm withering away because you're both mean
Haji-Paji
8:20
You have that backwards
I've aged forty years since meeting you two
Trashykawa
8:21
Rude
wow Iwa-chan, that's mean
We r delites
Goblin Queen
8:22
Delights* but what he said
You're so lucky to have us in your life, Haji :)
Trashykawa
8:22
Haji-Paji
8:23
Unlikely story
Just got to the gym, talk to you later demons 1 and 2
Goblin Queen
8:24
Okay byeee have fun :)
8:28
Did you die, Trashykawa?
8:31
You were already there weren't you? Ahahah
Haji-Paji
8:33
He was.
I'm going to kill him.
Trashykawa
8:34
He hit me w a vllybll
On my head
Goblin Queen
8:35
That's what you get for practicing too much
Don't let him practice more until he eats, Haji
Haji-Paji
8:36
What she said.
I know.
Talk later
Goblin Queen
8:37
Good. Talk to you later
Behave yourself, Shittykawa!
Trashykawa
8:38
Thx mom nd mom :)
Niko didn't bother replying to Tōru's last message - she knew once Hajime saw the message, he'd 'reply' enough for the both of them. Tōru's habit of calling them both mom when they started talking about his habits pissed Hajime off to no end, and often resulted in him threatening the setter with bodily harm. It was always enough to put Tōru back in line… for a while, at least.
After checking the clock one more time, Niko tossed the wrapper from her breakfast in the trash and grabbed her volleyball bag. When she raced out of her room, she stopped short as she realized several of the other girls were walking out of their rooms now as well. "Good morning!" She called out brightly.
The four that were walking down the hallway towards the elevators paused and turned towards her. Niko smiled brightly at them and bounded up as they each waved or smiled in greeting. "Morning, Kobayashi." Kasumi gave her a soft grin as she greeted her.
"I'm excited to see you all in action today! I can't wait for the practice match." Niko raved as they walked, hands moving wildly as she spoke. "It's going to be so much fun!" Kasumi laughed beside her, patting the shorter girl on the shoulder lightly.
"The feeling is mutual. I think we're all definitely looking forward to it." Kasumi grinned, and the other girls nodded their agreeance. All of them were eager to see their whole team in action. It was the first obstacle to becoming more cohesive and being able to play together fluidly. All of them had probably seen one another's matches on video before, but seeing one another play in person would be a completely different story.
As the group of five made their way downstairs, and then to the street, three more joined them. They chatted easily as they walked, everyone falling into a comfortable, ever-changing conversation. Niko constantly changed between walking forward, and turning around to walk backwards while she addressed someone. Several of the girls teased her light-heartedly for it, telling her that her constant spinning was making them dizzy.
When they arrived at the gymnasium, the girls stayed clumped together, minus the two that had walked alone - Nao and Natsumi. The coaches were there waiting when they all arrived and were quick to go straight into business mode.
Hisakawa clapped his hands together, silencing the team and drawing their attention to him immediately. "Good morning, ladies!" A chorus of 'good mornings' was repeated after him, and he smiled before putting his hands to his hips and continuing. "I'm sure you're all excited for the practice match, but we're going to warm up first. We'll stretch, do some short drills, and then we'll sort you into your teams. Let's go!"
Another sharp clap from him, and the team dispersed, spreading themselves around the gym to begin stretching. Time flew by, and before Niko realized it, Tsubasa was blowing a whistle and calling for the girls to gather up.
"Terrific, now for the best part!" The girls gathered together, and everyone was buzzing with excitement. Niko clasped her hands together and bounced up and down on her heels, waiting to find out the teams. "Teams for the practice match will be the following-" Tsubasa pulled a whiteboard up next to her and uncapped a marker, writing down the names as she said them.
"Green team will be Kobayashi, Maki, Nakahara, Matsumoto, and Oshiro." Their respective roles being libero, middle blocker, setter, wing spiker, and wing spiker. Niko had to hold back a squeal of excitement. "Purple team will, obviously, be Tanaka, Suzuki, Kimura, Watanabe, and Sato." Wing spiker, setter, wing spiker, middle blocker, and middle blocker. So the teams were fairly evenly matched. "Now, for starting rotation."
Tsubasa drew out quick diagrams of both teams' rotations, as Hisakawa began passing out green or purple pinnies to the girls. Niko and the rest of the green team gathered up quickly on one side of the court, grinning and nudging one another excitedly.
Adrenaline rushed through Niko's veins, and her entire body was absolutely buzzing. Finally, she would be playing an actual game of volleyball both with and against her teammates. It was going to be terrific, she just knew it.
When the whistle blew, the entire atmosphere of the gymnasium changed. Everyone focused on the game. Despite just being a practice match, everyone was intent on giving it their all. The first serve went up from one of the wing spikers on the green team, Oshiro Tomoko. It was a solid serve - nothing fancy, but stable as it soared towards Etsuko.
"Shit." Etsuko cursed, frowning as she moved forward to receive it. Kimura Momo was on the right, with Nao positioned right beside her. Both of them were wingspikers - who would Etsuko send the ball to? Niko had only a moment to ponder it. "Kimura! Sorry, it's short!"
The receive was wobbly, and just as the setter had said, it was a bit short. Yet still, Momo leapt into the air, her body arcing and hand flying out to smack against the ball. From the back line, Niko watched as Tatsuo and Kasumi moved forward together, their movements just barely out of sync.
They both jumped, arms stretched up above their heads. The ball hit Tatsuo's fingers and ricocheted back on the other side of the net. Watanabe Natsumi, one of the purple team's middle blockers, was already there when it began falling to the ground. Her arms met the ball from underneath, and she called out. "Etsuko!"
"Kimura!" The ball soared from Natsumi to Etsuko, and with a perfect set from her to Momo once again. The best decision, Niko thought to herself. Momo was in the best position to spike it, again.
This time when Momo hit the ball, it flew past the reaching hands of Kasumi and Yumi. Niko's heart sped up, but she was already in motion. She vaulted forward, left arm outstretched. When the ball made contact with her skin, Niko had barely half a second to revel in the high of the feeling before she hit it towards Yumi. "Yumi, you've got this!"
Her body curled in as she neared the ground, softening the impact and allowing her to roll back to her feet in one nearly fluid motion. By the time she was standing again, the ball was already on the other side of the net, being set by Etsuko once again. Niko's lips curled up into a wide grin. The game was insanely fast-paced… she loved it.
Nao was the next to touch the ball, lips thinned into a hard line and brows furrowed in an angry arc. With all the force behind her, Nao's palm hit the ball - and it sailed straight towards Niko, who was mid-stride.
Her feet planted themselves to the floor and she shifted, bringing her arms up to block the ball from hitting her face. The sting of the impact did little to dim her mood - if anything, all it did was make Niko more giddy. "Nice! Yumi! Sorry, cover!" The ball arced away from Niko, in a half-hearted path to her team's setter.
It was the first spike she'd received from Nao, and already Niko could tell that the girl was a heavy hitter. The sheer power behind the spike made it difficult to receive properly, which then made it harder to control its trajectory to her teammates. It was those kinds of balls that allowed Niko to learn and improve herself, though.
Yumi was quick to receive the ball, despite its sloppiness, and turn it into an absolutely beautiful set to Kasumi. It was a rapid changing of hands, and Niko had barely blinked before the sound of the ball hitting the court sounded on the other side of the net.
The first point of the match went to the green team. Cheers erupted from Niko's teammates. Winning first point was a feeling like none other. Both teams were spurred on to play harder.
For a practice match, the volleys were lasting absolutely ages. Neither team was giving one another an inch. The second point was won by the purple team, third by green, then another for green, then purple - and so it continued, going back and forth over and over again.
When deuce was achieved, neither team was surprised - nor were the coaches, from what Niko could tell. They stood at the sidelines, both smiling and nodding as they spoke to one another while watching the girls.
There were a few things that Niko was able to piece together over the course of the match. First, Yumi was an absolutely genius setter. No matter how bad the toss to her was, she turned it into a beautifully arcing set that went right to the teammates she called for. The first few were a little shaky, but her form rapidly improved as she learned her teammates preferences.
Second, Sato Rika truly lived up to her nickname 'Forcefield'. She blocked more of the green team's balls than the rest of her teammates combined - it was terrific to watch her calculate and shuffle and move so quickly.
Third, Kasumi's spikes could possibly tear her arms off if she received one. The girl was insanely strong - none of the purple team could steadily receive her spikes, and they slammed on the other side of the court with such force that it reverberated throughout the gymnasium.
Fourth, and finally, Nao was targeting her. All but three of the other girl's spikes were aimed straight for Niko - and those three were haphazard, sudden spikes that Etsuko set to her seemingly out of nowhere. Each and every other spike shot straight for Niko, no matter where she was at.
Her teammates noticed it - the looks they shot her each time it happened solidified that thought. Nao's teammates noticed it as well - they threw her sidelong glances and frowns, and once Etsuko said something to her, only for the girl to scoff and move away.
It was baffling. At first, Niko assumed that Nao simply wanted to see what she was made of - which was perfectly fine. However, after she'd received a few of the girl's spikes Niko began to catch on and started being able to guide the ball and control it more, despite the force behind it. That only seemed to piss Nao off more, as the next balls were even more forceful.
By the time the match ended, Niko's arms were bright red, and she was positive there'd be bruises by the time morning rolled around. In the end, the green team won 30-28. They were all sweating profusely, and filed off the court to retrieve towels and drinks that had been set out for them.
"Take a short break, then gather up over here. We're gonna go over some of the logistics of the match." Tsubasa called out, receiving a series of 'okay' and 'yes's in return. With a towel wrapped around her neck, Niko squirted the flavored drink into her mouth as she watched everyone mill about.
Before long, the green team had gathered around her. "Hey, you alright?" Kasumi was the first to speak up, moving up beside Niko and nudging her with her elbow lightly. Blinking owlishly, the girl looked up at her teammate and nodded.
"Yeah, why?" Niko said after swallowing a mouthful of her drink, brow furrowed.
"Nao."
"Ah. Yeah, no, I'm fine. I dunno what her reasoning for all that was, but it didn't bother me. I've received much worse spikes than those before." Shrugging, Niko opened her mouth and squeezed the bottle to fill her mouth again.
This time when someone spoke, it came from behind her. "She wanted to break you." The voice startled the group, and they all whipped towards it. Etsuko stood there, hands on her hips and a deep frown curling her lips down. After a brief moment of silence, she continued. "I don't know the details, but for whatever reason, Nao really dislikes you. About halfway through the match, she said that she was going to break you when questioned by Momo. It's why she kept aiming for you. Hoping that you'd slip up, so she could break you."
Niko stared at the setter, swishing the liquid in her mouth as she contemplated a response. Such an odd thing to learn. Why would her teammate want to break her? Even if it's a practice match, in the end they are still teammates.
Realizing that everyone was waiting for her response, Niko swallowed and opened her mouth, starting slowly. "Well… It didn't work. I don't know why she's got a problem with me - I've never met her before today. I've never even played against her before." Pursing her lips, Niko fell silent for only a moment before continuing. "Whatever it is, if she'd just come talk to me I'm sure we could sort it out. Until then, though, she can aim for me as many times as she'd like. If I mess up, that will just push me to do better the next time."
Slowly, her lips curled up into a grin and she took one last drink before setting her bottle down on the nearby bench. "Thank you for telling me, Etsuko. Try not to worry about Nao too much, guys. I'm sure it'll pass before long." Niko patted Etsuko's shoulder lightly before sliding around her teammates and heading for her coach.
Four days later, Asahi and Niko finally met up in person. Or more specifically, Niko received permission from Ukai to come visit the boys after practice at the school they were staying at. Her coaches had given the girls a day off, after four insanely intense days of practice.
The first half of her morning had been spent exploring the area, and by afternoon she was on a train heading for this 'Golden Week' training camp that Karasuno was attending. When she arrived in the city, Niko spent a short amount of time meandering around to see the scenery, reveling in how different it was from the area she was staying in.
When Niko showed up at the gym, she waited outside, sitting on the ground with her back pressed against the building and phone in her lap. Only a few minutes later, voices grew louder from the door a few feet from her. Moments later, Karasuno was pouring out of the gymnasium and they were dashing up the hill.
None of them noticed her - too focused on the… honestly, Niko wasn't sure what they were doing. Was it was a drill of some sort? Whatever it was, she took the time to savor the sight of Asahi running up the hill. Somehow, she managed to hold back the urge to snap a picture of him.
It was only when a few of them turned to make their way back down the hill that they noticed her. Yamaguchi lifted his hand and waved at her. "Hi, Kobayash-"
He'd barely even spoken before Nishinoya and Tanaka's yells covered the sound of his voice, drowning out the rest of her name. The duo rushed down the hill, only to fall and slide down it on their backsides about a quarter of the way down. Niko lifted her hand to her mouth, trying desperately to hold back her giggling at the sight of them tumbling towards her.
That failed the moment she heard Tsukishima make a snide remark about how graceful they were. Devolving into laughter, she gripped her stomach. The two boys scrambled up, now significantly more dirt-covered than before, and rushed forward.
"Kobayashi-sempai!" "Kobayashi!" "You're here!" Choking back her laughter, Niko grinned up at the two second years.
"Indeed I am. Tanaka-kun, Nishinoya-kun. What a coincidence seeing you here." She pushed herself to her knees, then up off of the ground, pocketing her phone as she did. Both boys were quick to wrap her in a hug, still halfway yelling.
"What are you doing here?! I thought you were practicing!" Tanaka said first, pulling back with a wide grin.
Nishinoya followed him, pulling back and putting his hands on his hips as he beamed at her. "Did your practice end? How long are you here for?"
Giggling, Niko patted both boys on the shoulder. "We got a break for the day, so I came to visit Asahi - and the rest of the team, of course. I'll be here until the evening, I suppose." They whooped, and she laughed again. "But right now, I believe you guys are still practicing. Go back inside before you get in trouble!"
"Aw, but-" Before either of them could truly start, Suga came up and grabbed their shirts, tugging them away with a smile at Niko.
"Hi, Kobayashi-san. Always nice to see you. And she's right, we need to get back inside." Suga ignored the desperate whines and calls from the second years, guiding them back indoors quickly. "One minute, Asahi!" He called out over his shoulder before pushing his charges indoors.
Instantly, Niko was grinning brightly. Turning, she came face to… well, chest with Asahi. He started stepping back, one hand lifting up to press to his neck. She launched herself upwards. Niko's arms slid around his neck, and she felt his go to her waist as he stumbled backwards, caught off guard.
His skin was flushing brilliantly, and Niko caught the subtle hitch of his breath before he reigned that in… just barely. Tilting her head back, she grinned brilliantly at him. "I missed you."
The redness of his skin spread up to his ears. After only a brief moment of hesitation, he smiled a slow, unsteady smile. "I… I missed you, too." Her lips found his cheek, and his breath stuttered against her jaw. Niko took a moment to bask in the absolute bliss before she pulled back and slowly wiggled her way back to the ground.
She delighted in watching him avert his eyes and rub the back of his neck, shuffling awkwardly. When his gaze met hers again, Niko stopped biting her lip to smile at him. "You should go back inside before Dadchi comes to find you." Giggling at the thought of Daichi or Suga dragging the poor bear back inside, Niko took his hand in hers and tugged him towards the door.
"Yeah, um," Asahi swallowed, nodding slowly, "You're right- Uh. I'll go back in. Ah. Okay. Thank- Thanks." He stuttered, coming to a stop a short distance from the door. "Do you- Do you want to wait in, um, inside?"
Niko smiled softly and shook her head. "While I'd love to, I don't think that'd be fair to the other teams to add an outside distraction. I'm happy to wait for you out here." After a moment, she continued. "Honestly, I hadn't thought that you guys would come outside, otherwise I'd have waited elsewhere so I didn't distract you all. Sorry about that."
She looked up at him, only to catch him shaking his head. "No, um- you don't have to apologize. It's okay." Asahi glanced at the door before squeezing her hand lightly. "Practice should be over soon. If you change your mind, just um, come on in.." He swallowed again, and she nodded, lips curled up.
"Will do. Get back to practice now, young man!" With a laugh, Niko released his hand from her grip and backed away. Asahi shot her one more small smile before heading inside, and she slid to the ground again.
She bit her lip, covering her face with both hands as she held back a squeal of delight. It'd been just over a week since the pair had been together last, and the texting and calling was terrific, but it just wasn't the same.
Niko didn't have to wait long for practice to be over. From her spot near the door, she could hear the sound of the volleyballs slamming against the floor and voices overlapping as various teams called out to each other. Fifteen minutes after she arrived, she heard the sound of a whistle being blown and someone that she could only assume was a coach calling out to the teams, telling them to wrap it up.
The next time bodies came pouring from the gym, the eclectic colors of each team distinguished them from Karasuno. Niko leapt up from her seated position in a flash, and dashed around the players. Several of them slowed to a halt, turning slowly to watch her with varying levels of curiosity.
"Hi." Niko grinned up at Asahi when she slid to a stop in front of him. His hands slid around hers, guiding her forward and she went along willingly until they were centimeters apart. Her eyes followed the curve of his lips as they tilted upwards. Tracing the plane of his cheek to his jaw, lined with short, barely visible stubble.
When he swallowed, the motion drew her eyes downward and she found a grin spreading across her lips. Asahi's skin was being dusted with red, and how she loved watching the blush bloom across his skin.
"Um- hello- Hi." Niko shifted her gaze upwards, meeting his warm, chocolate eyes. The corners of his eyes crinkled a bit as he smiled at her. "Do, um… Do you mind if I introduce you to everyone? They've, um…" Asahi trailed off slowly as his eyes flicked to something behind her. When Niko shifted to look back, she had to hold back a laugh.
Quite a few of the players were standing and watching the duo, excited grins on their faces. When she turned to look at them, one black and silver haired player waved excitedly at her and started moving forward, only to have his shirt grabbed by a black-haired player wearing the same uniform.
"They've wanted to meet you… Since they learned I have a soulmate a few days ago… Um, you- you don't have to, though." Niko turned to face Asahi again and smiled. His absolute care for her sent a flood of warmth through her body. He always gave her a choice, and never tried to force her into anything. It was insanely sweet.
Stretching up on her tiptoes, Niko couldn't help but do a little happy dance in her head as he began to lean down to her. The little things were the best. "You're the best. I'd love to meet them." She pressed her lips to his cheek, relishing in the way his fingers tightened a fraction around her hands the moment she did. "Let's go say hi. I think I recognize that silver-haired one. Boruko? No, that's no right…"
A/N: A little later than I intended, but the week off really helped. The holidays totally threw me off and prevented me from writing for a while, so now that i'm back into the swing of things everything should be steady from now on... Keep your fingers crossed for me, ahaha! Next chapter will be Niko finally meeting the boys from the other teams, and possibly even some extra fluff between her and Asahi ;) As always, thank you so much to everyone for supporting Marks of Life and I along the way! I appreciate each and every one of you so insanely much!
eunoiapaint - I'm so happy to hear that you are enjoying it so much! I apologize for the late update this time around - I promise I'll be much more on top of things coming up :) Hope you continue enjoying their story! btw, I love the ship name!
heartdiamong - Ahhh, thank you so much! That means so much to me, honestly. I definitely will! I hope you continue to follow along with their story :D
nizem8 - Thank you so much! I appreciate your continued support! 3