For I Have Sinned
Chapter Twenty-One
The excerpts from the previous chapter will continue here. Enjoy.
Yun was anxious for the elevator to hurry the fuck up and get down here so she could get up there and take her woman to dinner. Somehow she managed to reign herself in long enough to let the folks off the elevator before jumping on and stabbing the proper button with her finger. Tapping her foot and pacing the space helped pass the seemingly endless few seconds it took to reach her destination and step out into the hall.
Yun pushed through her door, pausing only to pull the key before she pulled too far away with it stuck in the lock.
"I'm home." she announced, jerking the token free of the mechanism. She started easing out of her holsters. "Ya here, darlin'?"
"I'm here."
Yun was grinning as she hung her blazer in its usual place before moving into the living room, only to drop her jaw when she got there. "Sweet gods have mercy. Darlin'...you look," she couldn't finish.
There was Claire coming out of the bedroom, cast in the amber glow of the bathroom light. She was wearing a dress. That was enough to give the detective pause. The fact that it was the gentlest hue of robin egg blue and had thin straps at the shoulders and only went just past her knees with a smoothly pleated hem was all just icing on the cake.
"Do you like it? Serah convinced me to get it...my birthday." her usually pale cheeks were reddened with nerves, unaccustomed to such attire at all much less being seen in it.
Yun looked her up and down, still unable to utter a syllable. The girl was wearing these pretty white sandals, straps going just above the ankle in a classical way.
"Darlin'...Claire, you look amazin'."
Claire giggled, cheeks darkening further. "You really think so?"
"It's what I said." Yun nodded, forcing her feet to move so she could have a closer look. She pressed her tongue between her teeth as she took it all in, convincing Claire to make do a full turn so she could see it all. She couldn't get over it. Claire looked so good in that little dress. But it should come as no surprise that a part of her wondered how fun it would be to get her out of it. Yun was only human after all.
"Gimme just a minute to change and we'll be on our way." Yun forced herself away before her hands starting doing what her brain was thinking.
"Okay. No rush."
No rush my ass. The longer it took her to put on a fresh shirt and trousers was more time spent not enjoying this one in a million opportunity. Claire Farron in a dress; who'd have thought?
Yun emerged from the bedroom preened and prepped for the night out in a snug, wine colored blouse and standard black pants. Still grinning like a fool she took Claire by the arm and they left the apartment together.
An eight o'clock reservation at McBardigan's was actually pretty easy to get, especially if you tried for it in the middle of the week. Yun knew it would be nothing at all to get a table for two in her favorite corner on a Tuesday night. They only had to wait the short time it would take to wipe the table down for them to be seated. The waitress was prompt and pleasant as she took their orders, doubly so bringing them their drinks and letting them know the steaks would be ready in minutes.
"So," Yun started, "tell me a little about yourself."
Claire looked up from her drink, curious. "You're serious?"
"Like a heart attack." and she just made a toothy grin.
Strange, yes, she thought. But it could still be fun. Claire cleared her throat. "I'm an art student."
"Oh yeah? Where?"
"West Eden."
"No kiddin'? How much longer have you got to go?"
"I should be able to graduate this coming Spring, if all goes well."
Yun nodded, still looking amused. "Got any family in Eden?"
"No. My dad, sister, and brother-in-law live in Bodhum."
"Is that where you're from?"
Claire nodded. "Are you from Eden?"
"Actually, no. My family moved to Sanctum from a reservation up north. Then after my sister and I graduated high school, her and I moved here. She went to med school and I got into the police academy."
"You're a cop? Sounds exciting." Claire was starting to share Yun's amusement at this little game they were playing.
"Detective, actually." one sable eyebrow waggled.
"So you're big stuff in the department, huh?"
"Kinda, yeah."
"Can I see your gun?" Claire actually giggled.
"Not on the first date, honey."
They both had a big laugh.
"So you got any careers in mind after graduation?"
"Actually," she pressed her bottom lip between her teeth, hesitant to say what she was thinking. "I was thinking...maybe I'll write a book."
"Yeah? What kind?"
"Fiction...don't really know for sure yet."
"You gonna illustrate it too? I mean, you said you were an art student, so I assumed..."
"It's all just a pipe dream right now, so who knows. What about you; are looking to be one of Eden's finest forever?"
"Not forever." she shook her head, pausing to take a sip of her drink. "About six more years and I can retire. From there, who can tell? Just have to see where the cards fall."
Their food was delivered before the conversation could continue. It was the perfect opportunity for the two of them to process what was going on. It was strange, completely unlike them, but maybe there was the fascination. This is how normal people date, this is how normal people get to know each other and build a relationship. They were anything but normal, as was the nature of their bond. It was just an odd desire to see how the other half lived, and it wasn't so bad after all.
"I still remember the first thing you told me about eating steaks. The only way to do it was medium rare," Claire was smiling as she spoke, cutting a few pieces off the sizzling slab of meat on her plate, "and that steak sauce was a sin against god."
Yun laughed as she chewed, a fist over her mouth. She swallowed and said "And that stands true to this day. I don't even know why they bother still puttin' this stuff on the table anyway."
"For the poor bastards that don't know how to eat."
"I'll drink to that."
They would finish their meals with touches of back and forth as they went. They would stay long enough to split a dessert before heading back home around ten. In the parking lot, Yun held onto the game a little longer and offered to walk her date to her door, making note of how it was such a coincidence that they happened to live in the same building. And the same floor. Hell, even the same apartment. Funny that.
"Well, this is me." Claire said as they stood in front of the door.
"What do ya know, me too." Yun grinned.
"I had a great time tonight."
"Me too. Don't suppose I could come in for a spell, could I?"
Claire didn't answer right away, she held Yun's gaze before finally smiling. "I'd like that."
They entered the apartment together, the door clicking quietly shut, the deadbolt sliding into place.
(-)
Claire's poetry teacher was quietly intimidating, and she preferred to be addressed as Dame Lulu; she had a masters but opted for the more gender appropriate title. Even when she was happy -or at least what passed for her interpretation of the emotion. She was just so dark. Her hair was a long and elegant shadow that followed her everywhere, and her clothes always drew color from the very cold side of the spectrum. Deep amethyst cosmetics framed her curiously crimson eyes and made their seemingly unnatural color pierce right through you. And her voice, regardless of her current mood, had a natural hush...it made you want to run and hide. All that aside, she had the creepiest stitched dolls on her desk, their button eyes just vacantly staring across the room.
Although Claire had never felt threatened by her, she found herself anxious when the time came to turn in her report. She felt confident that her paper was thorough, well written, and filled all of the criteria, but it wasn't until some weeks later that she realized there was more than one part to this particular final. All of the seniors would be questioned by the dame herself.
Claire was called into her office perhaps two weeks after having turned in her paper.
"Have a seat."
She did as she was instructed, no hesitation.
"Robinson Jeffers isn't a modern poet...why did you choose him?"
"It wasn't so much that I consciously picked him, ma'am, but that his work sort of...drew me to him."
The dame nodded. "I appreciate that you took the time to make note of his personal history in your report. Often times students will neglect the lives of poets, not realizing what a role it plays in making them who they are."
"I agree."
"Did you, by chance, do any research on his home?"
"No, ma'am, I didn't think it was entirely relevant."
"It was just a question. I've visited the island, it's quite stunning." The dame had yet to look up from the papers in her lap. "Can you cite the poem you chose?"
For a brief second she was stunned, unable to move her mouth. How could she have expected that? She swallowed the shock and forced the words to come.
"'I am not dead, I have only become inhuman: that is to say, undressed myself of laughable prides and infirmities. But not as a man undressed to creep into bed, but like an athlete stripping for the race.'" she took a breath, becoming comfortable with her memory. "'The delicate ravel of nerves that made me the measurer of certain fictions called good and evil, that made me contract with pain and expand with pleasure; fussily adjusted like a little electroscope...that's gone, it is true. I never miss it, if the universe does, how easily replaced.
"'But all the rest is heightened, widened, set free. I admired the beauty while I was human, now I am part of the beauty. I wander in the air, being mostly gas and water, and flow in the ocean; touch you and Wutai in the same moment...have a hand in the sunrises and the glow of this grass. I left the light precipitate of ashes to earth...for a love token.'"
Dame Lulu had watched, not just listened as Claire recited the piece with ease. Perhaps she was impressed, if so she made no indication. "You've already stated in the report what you believe it means, the author's intent -quite well I'll add- but what does it mean to you?"
Claire blinked, again surprised. "Transformation." she tried her best not to make it sound like she was guessing.
"In what way?"
"Well...it could be literal or abstract. For me...it's both. Physical change from one phase of being to another, or metaphysical change...seeing the world in a whole new way because nothing about you is the same. I was drawn to this piece because it simplified my life experience into just so many words. It had taken years and broken them down to just a paragraph. It's...profound."
After a moment, the dame just lifted one ebony brow. "That's all?"
"Um...yes?"
"You're very direct, aren't you, Miss Farron?"
Was that a trick question?
"That's quite all right. Another thing that is often forgotten is when to leave the purple prose in the poems and keep them out of the analysis. That is something I've come to appreciate about you, you give me the least bullshit."
"Oh...thank you." Should a teacher really use that kind of language?
"And while you're a very long way from being a poet yourself, once you get there, you'll know what you're talking about."
Claire simply took the compliment for what it was, nodding in acceptance.
"With that being said, coupled with your class performance, I'd say you've earned a passing grade. Congratulations."
"Thank you." Claire nodded.
"And if you don't mind, I'd like to keep this," she held up Claire's report, "as a reference for future seniors on how a report should be written. Yours was objective and to the point, and I like that."
"Please, help yourself. And again, Dame Lulu, thank you."
"It's been a pleasure. You can go."
Claire saw herself out, releasing a sigh of relief once she knew her teacher wouldn't hear.
(-)
Fall gave way to Winter, and Winter would eventually fade into Spring with its usual quiet fanfare of singing birds and afternoon showers. More importantly, for some, it was graduation season. College as well as high school seniors were all scrambling to get their shit together for the big day.
It was coming down to the wire, even for Claire. Since the turn of the semester, she would sequester herself longer and longer into her workspace in the bedroom, spending hours a day trying to finish her painting before the deadline. It was terribly close to being complete, but she was still unsure. She had a gnawing desire to take it to Prof. Feywood and have her look it over, see if she could give her some advice or spot an otherwise obvious mistake she had made. But on the other side of that doubt was a fear that if anyone saw it before it was finished would jinx her. Not that she believed in such things. In the end she would stand her ground and press on, finishing the painting a month before the project was due. That is, with a little help from Yun.
Taking her instructor's advice she had Yun do some poses for her, taking photos for quick reference to make sure her anatomy was accurate. Claire must have taken no less than a dozen digital stills just of Yun's hands. They would prove invaluable resources for the few minor yet crucial adjustments she needed to make before signing the portrait.
Once the paint dried she covered it up and forgot all about it for the next two weeks, a time she took to decompress from the manageable stress of the project's weight. Claire went about her errands per the usual; school, groceries, a date with Yun here and there. But as that last month waned into its last days, a buzzing anxiety settled in. Butterflies in her stomach. Come Friday, her work would be on display for all to see and scrutinize. Not just art enthusiasts and other staff from the Fine Arts department, but likely a healthy number of folks who didn't know clue one of what effort goes into such things. Laymen who only knew what they did or didn't like. She just prayed those latter mentioned persons had nothing to do with the grading process.
It all wound down to a Friday night, and Claire anxiously looking herself over in the bathroom mirror. Her hair was combed, teeth brushed, all BO had been managed appropriately. But she still didn't feel ready. The event was semi-formal, so she opted out of the mild discomfort of wearing a dress for slacks and a blouse. She looked somewhat professional, yet relaxed enough to socialize at an event where that was likely expected.
Yun eased into the meager space behind her, the detective's frame outlining her own. She looked at her lover's reflection in the mirror and found some comfort in Yun's easy smile.
"You look fine." Yun assured her, hands on the bend of her shoulders.
"Thanks." Claire breathed.
"You ready for this?"
"I hope so."
"You'll pass, don't worry." Yun bent her head down and kissed her cheek. "Now let's get goin', yeah? Don't think it would serve to be fashionably late."
"Okay." and with a deep breath, and one last glance in the mirror, the two stepped out.
A ten minute drive would have them on campus, and with Claire's help Yun was able to navigate the conjoined parking lots to eventually park near the fine arts building. Claire went in first to find Prof. Feywood. Once she had the necessary instructions she went back out to the car to fetch her painting and take it to the exhibition room at the heart of gallery. She would linger long enough to help set up the other displays before returning to the car.
"How much longer?" Yun asked as Claire stood outside the car, pacing a little.
"Another ten minutes and people should be showing up."
"You expectin' anyone special?"
"The dean, board of trustees...some city officials, alumni." Claire listed the expected attendance in the order her professor had given her when she had asked the same question. "There's going to be a silent auction to raise money for scholarships."
"Ain't that somethin'?" Yun found herself genuinely impressed. "What about your grade?"
"My professor said she would grade everything throughout the course of the event. I'll get my grade Monday, I guess...maybe tonight."
"You're gonna do fine, darlin'. Just relax."
"I'm trying." she pushed out after taking deep breath. "It's just..." she didn't want to just pass, she wanted to excel. "You know."
"Yeah, I know. You're a perfectionist. Don't gimme that look like I couldn't have noticed." Yun just grinned. "Trust me, you got nothin' to worry about." Then she stepped out of the car after rolling up all the windows, and then locked it tight. She stepped up to Claire and held out her arm. "Shall we?"
Claire nodded, steeling herself as she took hold of Yun's forearm and walked with her.
The crowd inside was considerable, Yun was impressed. She never thought the college art community was all that big of a deal, but this was proving her wrong. She picked out members of the Board of Education, the Lieutenant Governor, and...Sazh? Yun pointed him out in the crowd to Claire. She hadn't seen him in a long while so she was fine with the idea of stepping over and having a chat with him.
"What's up, chief?"
"Oh, Yun, Claire, hey." he wasn't too surprised to see them, though it was obvious he hadn't expected to.
"Didn't know you were into the arts."
"Dajh's mom got me hooked on it...got a small private collection. Thought I'd come by and check it out since I was free. Besides," and the older man smiled a little.
"C'mon, spill it."
"I got a date."
Yun's brows raised and smile cut her mouth. "No. Who?"
"You could say I'm...hot for teacher."
Claire mimicked Yun's expression with one of her own. "Prof. Feywood?"
"Her and I went to high school together. She's divorced now...she called me up and invited me here. Dajh is out with friends tonight so...who knows."
"Oh, you dog." Yun laughed quietly. "But she's cute from what I can tell," the detective had caught a few glimpses of her so far this evening, "I'll wish ya luck if that helps."
"I hope it does, I haven't been on a date in years." He looked out into the gathering of bodies, and then back again, still smiling. "You two look good tonight. Glad to see you together again."
"Thanks, chief."
"And good luck tonight, young lady." he nodded to Claire and waited for her quiet response before moving away and going about his own business.
"Now why don't you show me around, sunshine? Let me meet this bombshell professor of yours."
Claire swallowed, cheeks already tinted red from the attention. "Okay."
All of the senior portraits were arranged at the back of the room, beneath a selection of lights. Prof. Feywood made her place nearby to meet and schmooze with all the right people while keeping an eye on her students' work. She was expected to make face time with all of the alumni -which was easy as she considered most of them her friends- as well as the social delegates -which wasn't as easy seeing as she didn't consider them more than acquaintances. With that being said, she was actually glad to see Claire, it gave her a legitimate excuse to take her attention away from a member of the Board of Education who was shoving his anti-arts rhetoric on her for the third time.
"Miss Farron," Feywood all but told off the man who had been speaking to her to shake Claire's hand, drawing her in. "Are you enjoying the event so far?"
"I am, professor."
"And is this who I think it is?" she eased forward and extended a hand to Yun.
"My girlfriend, Detective Yun Oerba."
"You never said she was a detective," Feywood gasped, "I'm very pleased to meet you."
"Likewise. How do you know me, exactly?"
She would keep the explanation to a minimum, seeing the redness on Claire's cheeks. "She talks about you occasionally, mentions how she uses you for reference when she works."
"Oh that, yeah. You know, anything to help."
"The arts community needs more people like you, detective," she leered at the man beside her. "But I want you to know that Claire has been a real pleasure to work with. She's very talented."
"Don't I know it. Now if we could just get her to believe it, you know?" Yun smiled and put an arm around her blushing woman.
"Has she shown you the painting?"
"Can't say she has."
"I haven't given it due attention either, shall we?" she was more than happy to walk away with them, completely disregarding her prior engagement.
Yun could feel Claire tensing under her arm as the three of them walked down the row of portraits. She was nervous, which was understandable. So was the way she sort of backed off while Yun and the professor looked the portrait over.
It was a dark, intimate image. The background was awash in dark blues and muted shades of tan to create a sense of space. A source of light was appeared in the form of the synthetic halogen glow of blues and whites, pulling back the veil on the scene of a nude female figure that appeared to be sitting in front of a bathroom mirror and a sink. The reflection was ill defined, blurred and vaguely familiar. Along the rim of the tarnished porcelain were a few small, transparent orange plastic bottles with scribbled labels and heavy white caps. To serve a metaphorical purpose, each of the bottles had red thread spooled onto them.
The female figure hunched, muscular structure made up in gentle relief with shadows and muted flesh tones. Her skin was smudged, dirty, just like her messily cropped hair. Dark and mud colored with faint traces of color trying to bleed through. Back swept near the ears that made them appear suspiciously dog like. The figure's frame was fractured in places, cracked like clay and scratched all over. Tears in the flesh that opened up to a darkness beneath.
And while the image was dark, the action in the painting was anything but. With the red thread wrapped around the bottles, the figure was sewing herself back together. Some of the openings had been stitched up, albeit with an untrained hand. Lacerations in the thighs, stomach, wrists, and face had been tended with uneducated care. While the cracks and fractures sported bandages and adhesive strips placed by what appeared to be disembodied hands clearly not her own. Two of them were distinctly male, aged, fatherly. The other two were feminine, strong, but nurturing.
The elements altogether formed a picture of injury, of personal suffering and doing so with a sense of isolation. But by the same token, it was an image of recovery, reparation that can only take place when others shoulder the pain with those who hurt.
Yun would feel the message of the piece more than understand it, and it made her heart clench. She found herself remembering the stray again, and it threatened to draw tears.
"It's very much unlike anything I've seen you produce in class, Miss Farron." the professor shook her head slightly, quietly amazed. "I knew you had the potential, but I couldn't have imagined an interpretation like this." she had a look about her much like Yun was feeling, a little teary. "I dare say yours is the most authentic out of the entire senior class."
"What...what do you mean?"
"This wasn't an objective approach," she continued, "you drew on something quite personal, didn't you?"
Her cheeks were still red. "Um, well...yeah...I did."
"It's nothin' to be embarrassed over, Claire. You did a great job." Yun reached out and took hold of her shoulder, pulling her in close. "I'm really proud, and you should be too."
"She's right." Feywood agreed wholeheartedly. "While humility will take you a long way in our industry, you should take credit when its due. Now, I don't know how well this will do in terms of the auction, but I can say with certainty that you have passed my class, Miss Farron. I've thoroughly enjoyed working with you."
Claire nodded, grateful. "Thanks for being so patient with me. I know it wasn't easy for you."
"That's par for the course, dear, think nothing of it. But I'm afraid you must excuse me, jerks from the board at five o'clock. Hope you enjoy the rest of the event."
"Thanks professor. Oh, before you go," Yun managed to get her attention a moment longer, "Chief Katzroy is naturally a grouch. It's not you, it's him. Thought you aught to know."
"Oh, thank you. I was wondering about that."
Yun just gave her a knowing wink and let her go about her business. She tucked Claire closer to her side and found herself pondering the portrait a little longer.
"You really like it?" Claire asked, sounding somewhat timid.
"I sure do. Pretty powerful stuff." Yun nodded slowly. "But I gotta ask...are one of those pairs of hands mine?"
"I took those pictures for a reason."
"Okay, okay...your teacher's seen me in my birthday suit too, hasn't she?"
Claire almost laughed, but reigned it in to knowing smirk. "It was just a drawing."
"Still counts."
Claire nodded. "She thought you were cute."
"Oh, well, that changes everything then."
The two of them laughed together.
(-)
Graduation day would come at the hem of Spring, a week after classes actually ended. The senior class consisted of nearly two-hundred students; that combined with extended family and faculty members would make the auditorium much too small for the festivities. West Eden University didn't have much of a sports program, but at least the football field was good for other things. Chairs, a collapsible stage, and speakers were erected at the fifty yard line and guests were herded up into the aluminum bleachers to watch it all unfold.
Kah and Claire would graduate together, his Common Language course holding him back until now. The idea left the foreigner ecstatic, as if his academic slip up meant absolutely nothing now that he could share this special night with her. Not only did he see Claire as a sort of little sister, to him she was his only friend.
Average grades in her core classes kept Claire out of the running for Valedictorian, as well as all of those other fancy titles allotted to graduates. But she was pleased to know she was in the top ten of all seniors, and in the top five of those who double majored. Although the fact that she graduated at all, in spite of all the things going on in her life just in the last six months, was more than enough to impress her. She was satisfied. Proud.
At least until the Audio and Visual club followed with tradition by putting on a senior slide show. Most of the pictures were of students she had only ever seen and never talked to before. Over a dozen photos of what could be considered college kids in their natural habitat. Dorm rooms littered with instant noodle cups and pizza boxes, coat hangers heavy with fast food uniforms right next to their owner sleeping beneath his physics book. For a few seconds the giant silver screen was lit up with a collage of photos of one person, all of them taken in the cafeteria, and focusing on the enormous pile of food on the tray. It was her, one picture showing how she decimated a burrito in two bites. She had expected everyone to laugh, but amazingly they cheered.
College kids have the strangest heroes.
Once the festivities had ended, caps thrown in the air and families congregating for pictures and praise, Claire gathered with her own brood and headed back to her apartment for an after party of sorts.
Yun and Serah fussed about the kitchen together, sorting food and drinks to serve to the few guests that had followed them home.
"You're going to try tonight?" Serah asked, though quietly.
"That's the idea, yeah." Yun tried her damnedest to focus on what she was doing and not on the pounding of her heart behind her ribs. It had been doing that since they got in the car after the event. "You think she'll say no?"
"I really can't say, as much as I wish I could. She's been doing so well...there's a good chance she won't."
"That's what I'm counting on."
"You're not nervous, are you?" Serah smirked a little.
"You can shove that shit-eatin' grin of yours, of course I'm nervous. If I were anyone else I'd be sweatin' my drawers off." and that's the truth.
"All you can do is ask."
But she wouldn't do it right away, Yun would wait. Tonight was the night, but it just wasn't quite the moment. Everyone was in the thick of visiting, some two hours later, before the detective caught a glimpse of opportunity. She watched as Claire got up from the sofa where she had been squished between Kah and Jack, smothered with attention. She excused herself, stepping out onto the balcony to have a little space and fresh air. But Yun didn't jump for it, she chose to wait just a minute more. Let Claire have a moment to get herself back together.
Then, with a deep breath and push out of her chair, she went for the door.
"Wish me luck, folks." was her quiet request, just before she pulled the sliding glass door back and stepped out.
Claire immediately turned at the sound, her brow knitting, obviously displeased. "Yun, we've talked about this."
"I know, sunshine, I know...and if this was any other day, I wouldn't be out here." Part of her really hated intruding on her like this, but it was going to be worth it. "I got somethin' real important to ask ya...it just didn't seem right to ask until now. Just hear me out?"
She had every right to be upset, to eject Yun from her space...but it was Yun. Surely she had a good enough reason. "All right. This time."
A tiny sigh of relief, one step closer. "Well...ya know I love you, right?"
"I really hope that wasn't your 'real important' question."
"Gimme a second, all right?" she tried not to laugh at herself. "Still, you know?"
"I do."
"And all I've ever wanted was to see ya happy. Do I still make ya happy?"
"Of course you do. What's wrong, Yun?"
"Nothin'...nothin' just," she swallowed, stepped closer, "you know how happy you make me?"
"I have an idea."
"It's an awful lot, to be sure. Claire, you bring so much joy into my life, I can't see myself without you. You just...you light up my world and...I wouldn't trade what we've been through together for anythin'."
Claire couldn't wrap her head around what was going on, what her lover was getting at. From where she stood, it was juts very affectionate rambling.
"You've done so much...you still do so much for me...could ya do me one more?"
"What?"
Yun took another step closer, one hand fishing into her back pocket. "Could ya do me the privilege..." she took such a deep breath, she could feel both hands shaking as she pulled one free of her pocket. A token pinched between her thumb and index finger. "Marry me?"
Claire felt her breath hitch, her face heat, and the distinct pressure of her heart racing. Her eyes kept jumping, time and again, between Yun's pleading eyes and the little silver hoop between her fingers. If she said no, it would break Yun's heart. She honestly couldn't say for sure how their relationship would change if that happened. But to say yes...was she ready for that kind of commitment? Did...did Yun actually think she was good enough?
Yun felt her courage wavering as the quiet stretched longer and longer. She couldn't stand it, saying "I'll understand if...if it isn't what you want. I mean...I could've waited longer, considering you just graduated. So I get it."
"Yun."
"Yeah?"
"I will."
Yun's eyes widened and for a moment she was speechless. Then "Y-you will? That's a yes?"
"Yes."
The detective was over come with the dual compulsion to laugh and cry, so she did just that as she took Claire's hand and put the ring on her finger. When she was sure it was in place, that it fit, that she wasn't dreaming, Yun pulled into a near smothering embrace.
"Sweet gods, you don't know how happy you've just made me." she carried on, face pressed into the crook of Claire's neck.
"I think they do."
Yun sucked it up, wiping her eyes as she turned around to see the host of faces pressed into the pane of glass of the door. For a second, everything froze, one side realizing they hadn't actually been alone while the other discovered that this wasn't the best way to eavesdrop. Yun and Claire laughed before the detective turned her attention away to give her new fiancee a kiss. Everyone behind the glass started cheering.
Author's Note: All that's left now is the Epilogue. I'll be glad to finish this, to finally be able to accept that I'm still something of a the writer I used to be. And with it, will be the deadline for any questions anyone might still have. In any case, thanks for sticking with me, I'm deeply appreciative, and I'll see you at the wedding.