A/N: Happy April Fools' Day! It's been almost a year… haha… but hopefully I'll find it in me to get this fic finally done on time!

Thanks for reading!


April 14 – 3:30 p.m. – Seasonal Alliance Headquarters – Recreation Room

Miku was busy pacing in the recreation room, a pool of water having formed where she'd been mindlessly walking about, lost in thought. The leaders had just had another brief meeting about the situation, which was stabilized but still dangerous. It might've been cold, but nothing nasty that would throw off the balance of nature. The only thing that worried Miku was Kaito's beleaguered report that Rin had joined in the chaos too, refusing to come back until she made some friends, whatever that was about. It was a very typical thing for Rin to do, trying to make friends even with the world at stake. Not something Miku appreciated much, but at least that meant that Rin would hopefully come back once she befriended everyone, which had never been difficult for the blonde anyways, though then again, this was Team Winter they were talking about. Other than that, they were doing okay managing the weather without Rin for the time being, so the leaders decided to let the sun be.

Besides, Kaito deserved a little break from scrutiny now that the situation was being exasperated by the victim of all people. As much as Miku tended to argue with Kaito, she had to admit he'd done a good job keeping his temper in check, keeping the snow to a minimum, enough to change to rain except for that one time it'd been too early in the morning for anyone to do anything. He was obviously trying to get Rin back, and getting tired as a result of it, so Miku gave Kaito a free pass today.

Didn't mean she wasn't stressed.

"This is probably the only thing I can't stand about Rin," Miku groaned. "Why does she always have to go about making everyone into her friends?"

"That's just how she is," Luka sighed, watching Miku continue to make a mess with her pacing. "I'm glad she's enjoying herself but it's so like her to forget about her duties when she has people to get to know and help."

"Exactly!" Miku exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air as she circled around in the same spot, oblivious to her shoes splashing around in the puddles at her feet. "I know I'm always complaining about how difficult Len can be sometimes, but times like these make me wonder if Rin's the real troublemaker."

"Miku, please, you're going to get all wet if you keep this up," Luka said, grabbing Miku by the hand and sitting her down. "I know you're worried and frustrated but making a mess isn't going to help."

Miku only now realized what a mess she'd made. With a tired sigh, she shot Luka a grateful smile and apologized, "Sorry. Even after all these years I guess I'm still don't have a good grip on my emotions."

"You don't have to apologize for anything," Luka replied with a warm smile, sitting down next to her. Miku leaned into Luka's warm body with a contented smile. Maybe it was a side effect of her job, maybe it wasn't, but Luka always managed to pass such a satisfying warmth to the people she came in contact. Miku could never not feel calm around Luka, and she was glad to have Luka around during this stressful period.

"Moving the topic away from Rin," Luka suddenly said as she wrapped an arm around Miku's shoulders, "how's Len holding up? I see him around sometimes, but obviously he isn't as friendly around me as he is with you."

"Oh, he's … how he usually is when Rin's not around, but like a bajillion times worse," Miku groaned. "He's doing okay in front of the others of course, but every time I catch him alone he's just muttering about how dead he feels and how terrible of a person he is and how much he hates himself and … I just don't like seeing him like that. He's always relied on Rin so much but I just hate how he thinks he isn't worth anything if he can't be as cheerful as her."

"Well…" Luka hated that she had to say it, but she did anyways. "I mean, Len represents the sun after all. I don't see how he's not supposed to try and be cheerful."

"I mean sure, that helps, but there's other emotions that represent warmth and heat right? Like anger, or passion, or love and stuff," Miku argued. "He loves his sister plenty enough, and to be honest I feel like that's really what's driven him, more than that stupid mask he puts up. I think he's fine the way he is. I just wish he believed that too."

"You have a point, but in the end I think it's up to Len as to whether or not he'll listen to you. I'm sure you've done all you can though," Luka comforted, running a hand through Miku's long turquoise hair. "Besides, he seems to be getting along with Piko and V-Flower for the time being, don't you think?"

"I thought so too," Miku commented with a frown, "but the last time I mentioned Piko, Len called him a hopeless emotional train wreck or something. I don't know what he suddenly has against Piko, but you're right, at least he doesn't seem to mind V-Flower's company. I'm not completely sure why though."

"From what I can tell, I don't think V-Flower ever had a very good impression of Len," Luka lightly laughed, remembering the occasional glares the girl had shot Len during work. "Maybe that's why. He doesn't even have to bother impressing her since her attitude probably wouldn't change if he became cheerful again."

"I sure hope so. Anything that might humor Len is a blessing nowadays," Miku groaned.

"Don't worry too much about it, Miku," Luka said. "We'll get Rin back soon, and once Len's feeling better, then we can work on getting him to act more like himself."

"I hope so," Miku sighed. The two of them sat there in silence for a long time before Miku suddenly remarked, "Luka, I wonder why it's so easy to talk to you."

"Hmm, I wonder why too," Luka hummed. Tilting her head to staring into Miku's bright blue eyes, she teased, "Maybe it's because you love me so much."

Miku rolled her eyes with a smirk. "Oh come on, it's obviously because you love me."

"That I do," Luka conceded with a laugh as she kissed Miku's forehead. "I love you more than anything in the world."

Miku smiled up at Luka. She whispered, "I love you too."

They leaned in for a kiss, the cool touch of Miku's lips brushing against the warmth of Luka's. It was a gentle kiss, a moment that felt like an eternity, free from the chaos of the past two weeks. Miku relished moments like these more than anything else. If she could, she'd spend an eternity like this with Luka, to be content and confident enough to love. Oh, how happy that would make her.

The sound of the door opening snapped them back to their senses. They whipped around, jumping out of their seats to find an embarrassed Piko standing in the doorway, staring back at them with his hand still frozen on the doorknob.

"Oh, uh, sorry for the disturbance," Piko hastily stammered, blushing harder than he should've for a teen like him. He made a move to shut the door again, but Miku was quicker, dragging the petite boy into the room and shutting the door behind him.

"Don't you dare tell anyone about this!" Miku hissed threateningly, glaring into Piko's glistening eyes.

"Miku, calm down. There's no need to be so agitated," Luka sighed, gently tugging the two apart before shooting Piko an apologetic gaze. "Sorry about Miku. We would appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone about what you just saw."

Piko was quiet for a long time before he simply said, "I won't say anything, but can I ask why you don't want anyone to know? I'm sure no one will judge."

Luka sighed. "True, no one really cares about who falls in love with who, but—well, technically team leaders aren't supposed to date each other. Something about threatening the balance of the seasons if two leaders suddenly tried to do something bad together."

Piko stared. "But Kaito and Meiko, they—"

"They're special," Luka cut in with a longer sigh. "Kaito's been attached to Meiko ever since he started his job here and since Meiko helps make Kaito an easier person to deal with, we made an exception. Plus, Meiko's smart. She knows better than to take Kaito's side in things and she's good at putting her foot down and getting Kaito to cooperate so we don't have to worry about Autumn and Winter suddenly collaborating to take over the world."

"Yeah, but I'm sure the same could apply for you two?" Piko said.

"Not exactly," Luka replied. "Miku fights with Kaito enough already, and Meiko does take Kaito's side more often when that happens. I've been trying my best to be neutral but if people knew about Miku and me, well, I suppose there'd be worry that some tensions might rise between the two warmer seasons and the two cooler seasons."

"Like a fight to plunge the world into eternal warmth or eternal cold? No one's going to think that," Piko pointed out. "Besides, parts of the world are kind already like that."

Luka stared at Miku and pointedly said, "Well, I'm out of excuses. Want to provide yours?"

Miku glared harder at Piko, who couldn't help but take a step back as the water at Miku's feet began to boil with rage. Finally, Miku lowered her head and muttered, "It's embarrassing."

"How?"

"I just—I—romance—I'm just not supposed to be a romantic person and I've spent years making fun of couples and especially that idiot Kaito so how can I just suddenly come out and say that I've got a girlfriend!" Miku said in a rush, fumbling over her last few words as her cheeks burned redder than should've been possible.

"Would it have been fine if Luka were a guy then?" Piko asked, an eyebrow raised and clearly still not buying it.

Miku rolled her eyes. "No that'd be worse. Can you imagine what Kaito would say? 'Oh, look at you, getting an adorable boyfriend to rely on!'" Miku made a face and gagged. "Ugh, I really can't stand that ice cream idiot."

Piko just raised an eyebrow and turned to his leader, who was giving him a tired smile. He summarized, "So Miku just doesn't want to give Kaito a chance to make fun of her."

"That's about right," Luka chuckled as Miku flared up at the statement. "It's stupid but I do hope you'll respect our wishes."

"Oh, don't worry, I won't say anything," Piko reassured the two. He turned to leave but paused for the briefest moment in the doorway, casually throwing his words out. "I've got my own share of secrets to keep after all."

The door shut quietly behind the silver haired boy, leaving the couple to stare after him. Finally, Miku asked, "What was that about?"

Luka simply shook her head sadly. She couldn't provide an answer to the heavy secrets Piko was hiding in his heart. That was one Piko would have to find on his own.