—09:48 hours, Wednesday, 19th of the 6th month, 1215 Remnant AD.
Xiao Long Residence, Patch Isle.
*Thunk*
An ax fell swiftly, cleaving a moderately-sized piece of wood down in half.
Tiella grabbed another log and placed it on the chopping block. She propped it right-side-up and rested her ax on her left shoulder. She huffed through her nose and wiped the sweat off her brows and forehead with the white towel draped around her neck. She grabbed the shaft of the ax, rubbing and testing her grip on it for a second.
Her hands had gone sweaty due to working under the sun for the past 15 or so minutes — not to mention the humid weather of the island. It's slightly different from the dry, polluted air in the city of Vale. That wasn't to say that Vale's air was particularly dirty, but given that it was an industrialized city making use of Dust as its main power source — which is a highly volatile substance — the air could stand to be cleaner, to say the least.
In contrast, the air in Patch was cleaner, though a little saltier in large thanks to the sea surrounding it on all sides. The scent of humid, salty air, the sound of birds chirping hidden behind leaves in the forest, the soft bellows of the wind weaving through the trees — all of it felt nostalgic and drove a sense of "homeliness" to Tiella's senses.
In her words, Patch was "fucken' bucolic" — a term she learned from Karen in their younger teens.
Done with basking in the island's ambiance, Tiella gripped the ax with both hands and raised it just above her head. She took a second to eyeball the log in front of her and swung forward, letting gravity do most of the work as the ax fell sharply with another thunk, cleaving the log cleanly in half.
It was a trick she learned from her old mercenary team. Back when she was just starting her training, she wasn't the 195 cm tall, muscled giant she was known for. She was still just a 158 cm tall 10-year old. Karen — 136 cm tall at the time — thought she was still too tall for a girl just a few months older than her but Tiella liked it better that way.
Karen was great at a lot of things — she was smart, strong, and stylish. She knew for a fact that she had good looks and was more than willing to make good use of them but she always wanted to be just a tad taller.
That desire never really went away.
So when Tiella quite literally grew to have an advantage over Karen, she always found a way to rub it in her face.
But despite the height advantage, 10-year old Tiella didn't have the strength to properly wield even the smallest chopping ax they had. She was still recovering from the abuse she took day in and day out since living with her uncle at that time, so she spent a little over a year focusing on recuperating and rehabilitation while simply observing how the small mercenary group worked.
Little Tiella was an eager learner, but understandably, she was physically weak — though that somehow didn't affect her growth as a child. So, seeing as their newest recruit was having trouble with the simplest tasks, good Ol' Bobby taught her how to make good use of the forces around her instead of fighting against it.
Basically, if one were to let an ax fall down with nothing but a little push and the pull of gravity to aid its quick descent, one would be able to cleanly chop a log in half as long as the blade was angled correctly during the fall. It took young Tiella a few days to get it right but she eventually did it. And when she did, she was ecstatic — quite literally jumping for joy, the picture of innocence.
Since then, she'd taken a liking to chopping wood as a pastime and was always eager for the task even when she didn't have to.
She took a deep breath and let out an easy sigh. Sweat ran down the sides of her face again, so she quickly wiped it all off with the towel draped on her shoulders. She looked to her right and found that she still had a small number of logs left to chop.
She stretched her neck to the side and gave her exposed shoulder a few thumps then did the same on the other. She rolled her shoulders front and back before resuming her work of chopping the rest of the firewood in half.
For the next 2 minutes, the rhythmic thunk of chopping wood mixed harmoniously with the ambient forest that surrounded the cozy residence of the Xiao Longs.
After finishing her work, she placed the head of the ax on the chopping block and leaned on it with both hands flat on the butt while resting her chin atop. With how tall she was, she felt a little awkward with her balance, so she put one boot up on the chopping block and just shut her eyes for a moment of respite.
"This is nice."
She basked in the glow of the warm sun while letting herself be enveloped by the gentle sea-forest breeze. And she was content with enjoying the bucolic moment until she heard footsteps and wolf-whistling that disrupted the ambiance she was so keen on relaxing in until much later. She opened her eyes and saw Karen looking at her through the top of her lenses while wearing a cheeky half-smile.
She sighed deeply, hanging her head low before opening her eyes and raising her head to see the offending blonde.
"Fuck you want?" Tiella asked tiredly.
And the reply she got was a pebble in between her eyebrows.
Her head flew back a bit while the pebble bounced up. Tiella pulled her head back to yell at her partner but she was interrupted when the same pebble landed on top of her head.
Karen's trick shots never did stop at just her firearms. Anything Karen held in her hands that she could throw, she could play with ease.
Tiella grabbed the pebble and threw it back at Karen, only for it to get slapped back into the middle of her brows a second time. She grabbed the pebble and, through sheer force of anger, crushed it in between her thumb and index finger.
Veins popped prominently on her forehead due to immense frustration, but she held it in check while gnashing her teeth and forcing a smile on her face — though her eyes clearly stated her intentions to get physical if pushed further.
Deciding that she'd had enough fun with her partner, for the time being, she grinned wider and placed both hands on her waist.
"Taiyang's calling you for brunch. They're all waiting for you there."
Tiella huffed air through her nose with a frown, her glare at Karen withering just a tad. She shouldered her ax and stood relaxed on one leg.
"Sounds to me like you're not joining."
Karen smiled while adjusting her glasses. "You know me, Tielle."
"Yeah, yeah." Tiella frowned disappointedly.
"Besides, I'm sure you'll be fine. I know it's asking you a lot already, but do try to relax and open up to them if you can."
"We'll see."
"Because I know you can. You and the sisters already have a history of being friendly with each other, at least based on what practically everyone else at Beacon says about the relationship between you and Team RWBY."
"Who the hell are you talking about?" Tiella groaned, muttering softly to herself while rubbing her arm. "And you know me. I can't stand those kinda people — that kinda life. It's too happy."
"Too bright."
Karen sighed knowingly. "And again, I know that it's asking you a lot, but try to relax here, okay? There's nothing out here to get you — other than Grimm, of course." She winked. "I mean, look at you! You were already pretty comfortable until I broke you away from your chopping and relaxation time." She giggled.
As a response, Tiella simply glared at her while flipping her the bird. Karen simply laughed again in response to it. She let out a voiceless chuckle and gave the girl a knowing smile.
"Look, Tielle, just think of it this way." Karen received no verbal response and so took the silence as an indication to keep going. "You don't have to tell them anything about our past — your past — but you can at least tell them what you like and don't like. Just share in the good times, okay? Let them know that you love sweets, how you constantly love listening to all sorts of music genres when they ask. Those kinds of things."
Tiella cast her eyes to the ground and turned her head away. She remained silent and unmoving in that frown of hers, and for the nth time that day, Karen let out another sigh.
"Well, I'll be off now." Karen walked up to Tiella and gave her a quick side hug, nuzzling the side of her head on Tiella's shoulder. "I promised to be at Beacon when Bardy wakes up today. I also have some things to discuss with General Ironwood and Headmaster Ozpin so I'll be back tonight. But after that, all of my free time will be spent with you." She looked up and gave her a big smile before breaking away and walking off with a wave.
Meanwhile, Tiella contemplated Karen's words for a few before she remembered that Taiyang was calling for her. Just as she was about to take heavy steps to head inside the house, she felt a little nudge on her right leg. She looked down and saw a black and white furry mutt just looking up at her in that big toothy smile with its tongue hanging on the side of its mouth.
It did a little bark just as it put its tiny paws on her leg to stand up and get a better look at her.
Tiella looked at the mutt for a moment — named Zwei as she recalled — before hesitantly taking it up in her hands, holding it as far away from herself when it attempted to lick her face. She looked a wee bit miffed for a few, just glaring at it intensely with pursed lips. She looked side to side, at the windows and at the door, and even back at the forest just a few dozen meters away from the house proper before sending an intense glare at the mutt.
"Who the fuck do you think you are, huh?"
Shaking, unable to contain herself any longer, she stuffed her face on Zwei's furry side and just proceeded to rub her nose on its fur while muttering "whozagooboy!?" aggressively in a hoarse voice on repeat.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing, huh? Who the hell do you think you are, huh!? Who the hell told you you could just come up to me and act all cute and adorable and cute and cuddly and cute and adorable and cute and-"
She sat down cross-legged and hugged Zwei close to her chest while resting and smothering her chin atop its little head. She let out a suppressed squeal of "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH—!" and aggressively rubbed her cheek with Zwei's.
"You goddamn sonuvabitch, how dare you be so cute? Who told you you could be that cute, huh!? Who fucking died and made you the most adorable little fucker, huh!? Little fucker, adorable littler fucker, god I fucking love you. You're so fucking cute and cuddly you cute motherfucking sonuvabitch with your stupid looking face and your pudgy arms and legs, and your round fat butt and that cute wiggly tail and-"
Zwei, for his part, was smugly basking in the aggressive shower of love.
"E-Ehem."
And Tiella quickly stopped smothering Zwei with her unrestrained love. She stood up and put Zwei gently down on the ground. She looked at the person who coughed to get her attention and, with heroic efforts, managed a straight face despite the amount of dog fur stuck on her face, hair, and clothes.
"Yes?"
Zwei, disappointed, kept nudging Tiella's leg with his adorable little nose to get her attention once again but Tiella, with herculean efforts, ignored him.
"We, uh, p-pfft..." Yang tried — and failed — to keep a straight face and so was unable to meet Tiella's stoic gaze. "W-We... b-break! R-Right, you uh, pfft-haaaaahahahaha!"
Tiella kept her blank look upon the laughing Yang. She felt the unfairness of the world when she realized that her efforts could only be described as divine with how hard she was trying not to blush. She always thought that, if gods existed, they were flippant assholes that only help at the stupidest fucking moments.
This moment was one of them.
It took Yang a good 20 seconds before she managed to get her breathing to become stable enough for her words to become coherent.
"S-Sorry, hehe." Yang wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. "It's just I've never seen someone so aggressive with cuddling and smothering Zwei before. And I thought that seeing Weiss get all mushy with him was going to be the most unexpected thing I'll ever see today. Honestly, it was super cute despite the cussing."
Tiella merely looked to the side as she sighed mentally, wondering who Weiss was and why she was important enough to be mentioned, before returning her stoic gaze at Yang's carefree lilacs.
"Come on, you're done with chopping firewood, right? I'll help you bring 'em in but you can take a break now since brunch is ready too! It's bacon jam on toast." Yang turned to walk back to the door but abruptly turned again to give Tiella a wide grin. "Oh, and, we got milk, sweet and warm, just the way you like it!"
Tiella stood there, just looking back at the easy smile Yang had for her, and wondered. "If circumstances were different, would I have fallen for her instead of Glynda?" She gave it another second to stir in her mind before mentally shaking her head. "Maybe, maybe not but I'm too lucky with Glynda already. I'm never letting her go."
Before sighing and following the younger blonde back into the house.
Within the Xiao Long residence's round dining table, things became a little... livelier.
"We get to eat Weiss's cookies again!"
"Not right now, Ruby! Please, properly sit down on the dinner table!"
"Yeah, but still!"
"Wouldn't it be a lunch table since that's what we're having now?" Yang commented.
"Technically, it should be a brunch table." Taiyang corrected.
"Ugh! Fine," Weiss whined. "It's a dining table, happy?"
Ruby was bouncing on the balls of her feet in excitement. Weiss was helping set the table — which was both expected and unexpected. Blake was sitting by the table with a smile on her face sipping coffee, just watching the homely scene in front of her — without her bow too. Yang had a big grin as she entered, leaving Tiella by the door.
Tiella pocketed her sweaty hands with an uneasy look. She met eyes with Taiyang and he gave her a reassuring smile.
"Thanks for chopping up the firewood! Come and sit anywhere you like," Taiyang offered. "I hope you like bacon jam on toast."
Tiella tried to return the gesture with a forced half-smile and nodded in thanks while taking a seat next to Blake. "I've... never had bacon jam but it sounds good, thank you."
Yang and Ruby gave her an odd look.
"Dad's bacon jam is really super good!" Ruby praised.
"Well, if you've never had any, now's the best time, don't you think?" Yang smiled.
Tiella tried smiling back and her effort was well appreciated despite the obvious awkward forcefulness behind it.
Weiss placed a plate in front of Blake and then another one for her before moving on to Ruby and Yang.
"How are you feeling?"
Tiella was a little surprised that the seemingly quiet bookworm of the team was the first to initiate a conversation with her. The reason she chose to sit next to the brunette was precisely because she thought that there wouldn't be a conversation between them. She took a moment to not gawk at the exposed cat ears atop her head but Blake noticed and she quickly shot her a reassuring smile while moving them.
"I'm..." She looked away, down at the empty plate in front of her, "fine."
"That's good."
"Yeah."
"We apologize if we come off as unpleasant to you." Blake smiled apologetically, earning a questioning look from the amnesiac girl. "I suppose we're just more used to..." She paused for a second. "I suppose we're more used to acting like this when we're with you — though, admittedly, they're still acting a little bit more subdued."
Tiella turned her head away and ran her fingers through her hair. "It's... not that. I don't think you're being unpleasant. Don't worry about it, but thanks anyway."
"Please don't think I'm one of the people she's talking about," Weiss said as she sat next to Tiella. "I'm acting just the way I usually am with you — I'm not as energetic as those two. It's the sisters that are holding back because they don't want to surprise you and make you feel uncomfortable."
"It's fine, really, thank you for your consideration but, please, don't mind me. I know I'm being rude right now but... sorry."
Weiss looked at her blankly for a moment before turning her attention to the food on the table.
"I see. Very well. No offense taken."
Brunch came and those who were still hungry had lunch just two hours after.
The setting was Ruby's room on the second floor of the Xiao Long residence.
The time: 12:53 pm
The date: Same day.
And inside, four people wearing paper bag masks sat in a circle on the floor.
"The anonymous meeting of board members to understand the mind of one amnesiac Celestiella Margory has now begun. Miss W, let's begin with what you've found," Said the cloaked paper bag masked girl.
"More like bored members." The girl who had her blonde mane flowing out of her paper bag mask quickly jabbed.
One with a lopsided ponytail jutting out the side of the paper bag with a tiara on top began. "Ruby, I-"
"Shush, Miss W! This is an anonymous meeting! We shall address ourselves as none other than our given codenames!"
"Codenames!?" Miss W yelled in indignation. "Ruby, we are-"
"Shush!"
"Ru-"
"Shush!"
"Just drop it, Miss W," Blond Paper Bag Mask interjected before the back and forth could keep going for longer. "Let it go so we can finish the meeting sooner, right, Miss B?"
Miss B, who wore a paper bag with holes cut out at the top for her cat ears merely sighed in resignation.
"Can we please just start already? It's hard to breathe in this because it's pressing on my nose." Whined Miss B. "And the sound of the paper bag is honestly irritating my ears."
Miss W sighed, pulling on her paper bag mask securely as she reluctantly reported on her findings. "Tiella-"
"We will refer to the subject of the matter as Subject Star." Miss R interjected.
With a prominent vein on her forehead popping right out of her paper bag, Miss W corrected herself through tightly gnashed teeth. "Subject Star, before brunch began, looked quite uncomfortable when we were giving her hospitality. That's what I've noticed, at least."
"Why do you think that is?" Miss R queried.
"I'm not sure. Maybe she simply finds us annoying."
Miss R deflated a bit after hearing Miss W's hypothesis but Miss B's words made her stir in her thoughts.
"I think she's unused to receiving kindness."
"Unused to receiving kindness?" Miss R put her hands together as she leaned towards Miss B. "Explain."
"She said so herself a couple of times already — she wants to be left alone. She wants us to stop minding her, to stop giving her attention. She wants space."
"Like you?" Miss Y interjected dryly.
"No," Miss B bit back, "unlike me, she isn't saying it because she wants peace and quiet for the sake of it. I think she's just not used to it. Like receiving a gift out of nowhere. It puts her on the spot and she doesn't know what to do with it. It's stifling."
"I see," Miss R nodded sagely. "I don't really get it. If people surprised me with cookies out of nowhere, I'd instantly take it."
"Because you're used to kindness for no reason," Miss B replied. "I'm sure Ya-"
She quickly paused after receiving a death glare from Miss R.
"I'm sure Miss Y has given you treats for no reason in particular before."
"Yeah, she has." Miss R nodded with Miss Y.
"Then that just means you've gotten used to it. It's part of your nature to accept things from Miss Y without thinking too much about it — "Why is Miss Y giving me this?", "Did I do something good today?", "Did she do something bad to me that I don't know about yet and she's trying to get on my good side before I find out about it?", "Is something bad about to happen to me so she's making me happy right now?" — those kinds of questions."
The rest of the board members paused for a moment to take in Miss B's words. The first to break the silence was Miss Y.
"You're saying she has trust issues?"
"At this point, it'd be hard to discount it. Especially after what you told us when you came back yesterday after meeting them."
"Yeah..." Miss Y nodded with a hand to her chin under the paper bag mask. "I remember Dr. Maxwell saying how Cele- Subject Star had "zero fucking trust in anyone" or something," She paused when she earned a light slap on the elbow from Miss R.
"Then that just proves my point even more. She has trust issues, which, considering her circumstances, aren't entirely unfounded. That's even ignoring her mercenary past before Beacon. I think that even with the words from someone close and trusted, I'd find it hard to believe that everything really is as she says it is."
All board members took another moment to pause and try to understand Miss B's conjectures. Miss W, who had been quiet since she was asked at the start of the meeting, spoke up.
"I believe..." She paused, gaining the attention of her fellow board members. "...that it's the opposite."
Surprised, Miss R, Miss B, and Miss Y all looked back at Miss W in puzzlement. Taking their silent confusion as a moment to formulate her words, she continued.
"That isn't to say that Miss B is wrong, but I believe that it isn't just because of trust issues."
"Continue." Miss R nodded.
"Right. I think..."
Miss W crossed her arms under her chest and let her gaze wander the room in search of proper words.
"I think that Subject Star is suppressing her desire to be attended to. To have people noticing her, caring for her, showing her that it's normal to just do things out of kindness without expecting anything in return."
She let her eyes fall to the floor while choosing her next words.
"Ask yourself, where do a person's trust issues come from? Would it not normally be because of a past experience where they ended up being betrayed? When they expected something of a person but they ended up being disappointed? Or worse, hurt because of it?"
Miss B's, Miss Y's, and Miss R's eyes all glanced away from Miss W's as memories resurfaced to the forefront of their minds.
"Perhaps it happened so often to her in the past. Perhaps it was only one thing but it hurt her so much that she finds it hard to open up and let others in."
"I overheard how Dr. Maxwell tried to convince her to open up before brunch." Miss B recalled. "Subject Star didn't look convinced but she did look like she was contemplating her words."
Miss R voiced her question softly. "What do you suggest we do?"
"Should we just keep doing what we were doing earlier after all? Even when she says that she doesn't need us to be extra considerate of her?" Miss Y asked.
"I'm not sure, honestly." Miss W sighed, slumping her shoulders a little before sitting upright. "Would it be better to continue as we have like Miss Y suggested? Would it be better to do as Subject Star asks and leave her alone unless she comes to us on her own volition?"
"Maybe a delicate balance of the two?" Miss B suggested, catching everyone's eyes. "It's going to be hard, but if we can find the right balance of "assertively offering assistance" and "waiting to get asked for help", then slowly but surely, we can make her see that it's okay for her to trust us."
"But is that really okay?"
All heads turned to Miss Y who voiced her doubts.
"I mean, is it really okay for us to do something like that? Wouldn't we be meddling too much? Even before she lost her memories, we were her friends at best and students at least. None of us really qualify as her close friend, you know? She's got Dr. Maxwell, Lilly, and Goodwitch to better help her when she needs it, doesn't she?"
They all considered her words in silence.
"I'm not saying I don't wanna be the girl to help her out and, really, I wanna help because she's my favorite Beacon person and stuff, but..." Miss Y paused while playing her hair with her fingers. "I dunno... I really wanna help but then I also wanna take this chance to get to know her better. But then using this particular chance kinda feels... off, you feel me?"
Miss R nodded empathetically. "Yeah, it's like... weird. Like, it's not "bad" bad but it doesn't feel good either."
"You don't want to take this chance because it'll feel like you're doing something due to an ulterior motive." Miss B tried to explain.
Miss Y quickly snapped her fingers at her. "Exactly!"
"But is that so bad?" Miss W voiced her own doubts. "If, ultimately, it's to help her, then is it so bad? Even with an ulterior motive, the nature of the motive itself — while it is intended to take advantage of her current predicament for personal gain — isn't inherently evil, is it?
Is it not meant to help not just us, but her too? Would it not be better for her to feel comfortable? For her to let go of her anxieties? So that we can see her having fun like before? Why is it bad to want to be close to another person when they're down? I don't understand..."
"Maybe it's because it feels like we're pushing our own beliefs onto her when she's vulnerable like that." Miss R answered softly, earning a blank yet puzzled look from Miss W. "It feels like controlling her to get what we want, even when it's based on good intentions. I wanna help her because that's what I wanna do and our parents always said it's good to help people and stuff, but I think this is different from just saving another person from a Grimm attack."
"This is more complicated than we thought," Miss Y commented with a sigh.
The seconds ticked by with no one speaking further. It wasn't after a minute or so when Miss R broke the silence with a moderately audible clap.
"Let's conclude our discussion for today then! Since we can't do much more, let's just do what we know we can!" Miss R spoke with a smile to her voice, garnering the attention of the rest of the anonymous board members. "Let's do what Miss B suggested and try for that delicate balance of wanting to help and waiting to get asked for help. But let's keep in mind to not make her feel like she's helpless, okay? Remember, Subject Star has always been a capable person and that's why we look up to her! So let's not baby her!"
Miss W, Miss B, and Miss Y shared looks with one another and nodded in agreement with Miss R.
"Give her space, basically." Miss Y nodded with arms crossed under her chest.
"Let her come to us," Miss B added.
"And help her as best as we can." Miss W concluded.
"It's like she's a kitty cat!" Miss Y added post-script, earning a glare from the cat-eared Miss B.
Miss B sighed with a slight shake of her head. "In hindsight, I suppose she would feel stifled when people she doesn't recognize suddenly started acting familiar with her, giving her a lot of attention. We're practically strangers to her again."
"True." Miss Y nodded somberly.
So did the meeting of anonymous board members conclude.
"Can we take this off now?" Miss B asked, eagerly waiting for approval.
"Uh, yes. Hehe, sorry about that, Blake." Ruby smiled meekly.
And unbeknownst to them, a certain older blonde male heard the conclusion to their talk with a smile on his features while the subject of the discussion herself stood quietly eavesdropping from outside the house, just below the meeting place's window.
Dusk neared and Tiella quietly walked to the edge of the forest surrounding the Xiao Long residence and took her scroll out. She struggled with it for a moment, not remembering how to properly use one, but after a few seconds, she found the contacts and scrolled down to the name Carol Stephanie Maxwell.
"..."
She stood silently staring at the name on her contacts, debating in her mind to call the only person she knew. She shut her eyes and shook her head with a sigh as she scrolled a little further down before opening her eyes and silently reading the name.
Hesitantly, she rang the number and waited with bated breath.
Ring, ring, ring.
"..."
Ring, ring, ring.
"..."
Ring, ring, ring.
"..."
Disappointed, she sighed and was about to end the call before it could even begin but the other end picked up and answered frantically.
[Tiella?]
Her heart did a tiny skip at the worried voice. She couldn't see her face but just the sound of it made it easy for her to imagine that the older woman was surprised.
"Hey, uh..." She walked in circles while looking down and rubbing her nape. "Sorry, am I interrupting something?"
[No, I'm sorry I took a while to answer. I was in the staff room and I had to step out to take the call.]
"I see."
[Yes.]
"Hm."
[...]
"..."
[...Tiella?]
"Yeah?"
[Do you need something?]
"O-Oh, uh..." She walked in circles the other way while letting her eyes wander her surroundings. "Sorry, umm, I just..."
[...]
"I just, uh..."
[Did you want to hear my voice?]
"..."
[...]
"..."
[...]
"Y-Yes."
She giggled. [That's funny.]
Tiella's eyes widened almost imperceptibly at the reply because she could practically hear the smile in her voice from it.
[I wanted to hear your voice too.]
She squatted down and picked up a stick, dragging it across the soil in random patterns. She let out a soft laugh, unable to keep the smile from her face. She was happy there was no one around to see it or else she feared that she might have to go on another violent tirade to hide her embarrassment.
[Hey?]
"Yeah?"
[Is there anything I can help you with?]
"No," She said, but she quickly shook her head and frantically followed up. "N-No, I mean. Yes, there is."
[Very well, how may I help?]
She let out another soft laugh and it was quite strange to her ears — she'd never heard herself so calm, relaxed, and at ease.
"You already are."
[I-I see.]
"..."
[...]
"..."
[...]
"..."
[...]
Tiella pursed her lips in a flat line, looking side to side as if the soil would give her the words she needed to speak.
"Are you sure about me?"
[About you?]
"Yeah..." She ran her hand through her hair and sighed. "I mean, do you know what I've done?" She voiced softly while her free hand clenched.
[Just the gist.]
"Like?" She gulped.
[Murder, revenge... you told me about how you've killed people for money and for vengeance.]
"And you're okay with that? Someone like me? You can do much better, you know? So much better. So, why not that Lilly girl or whatever? She seems like a real charmer. O-Or some other co-worker who doesn't have blood on their hands?"
After voicing her anxieties and insecurities to her supposed significant other, she least expected a laugh of all things as her reply, and she felt belittled because of it.
[I'm sorry if I've offended you with that but...]
Tiella silently listened, giving the older woman a chance to explain herself.
[It's just that, the night you and I got together officially, we had this same conversation.]
"R-Really?"
[Indeed. You told me about your insecurities, you belittled yourself, saying, and I quote: "Because I know you can do so much better than me. I'd say I'm on the goddamn bottom rung if we're talking standards too." end quote.]
Tiella hung her mouth open in surprise. She could actually believe that she would say such words to her if she hadn't already. And in that case, she truly did. Oblivious to the younger girl's shock, Glynda continued.
[There was also a time when Lilly questioned me whether I knew about your infamy in your world. I didn't but I disregarded them, of course. Because I believe that you would tell me if you wish to do so. I accept you, infamy and all. You are in a new world where your past doesn't matter and you can turn over a new leaf. And I'll be here to be with you along the way.]
"..."
[Lilly really cares for you, you know?]
"..."
[...]
"...I should probably give her a call too."
[Good. Though I was quite frustrated when you told me that, you know?]
"Y-Yeah? Told you what?"
[That I can do so much better than you.]
"...Because you easily can."
[You're doing it again. And no, you don't get to tell me who I fall for. And I was frustrated because, like you are doing now, you're belittling the person I love and I can't stand that.]
Tiella felt her cheeks flush rosy at the words and she couldn't utter a word in response.
[Let other people think differently of you, they don't know better and they don't matter — we simply need to prove them wrong when the time comes. But when you're doing it to yourself, it hurts to hear it and I won't stand to hear it. I've said this before and I'll say it again — I am your ally and I won't let you be alone. You don't have to worry about being alone anymore because I won't let you.]
"..."
[...]
"..."
[...]
"..."
[...]
"..."
[Are you crying?]
"N-No! I had an itch in my nose and I scratched it and now it's runny!"
[Very well.]
"Verily, it is well!"
[You know that doesn't make sense.]
"Yeah, well," She sniffled. "I thought it was funny."
[Mhmm, it is.]
"..."
[...]
"..."
[...]
"..."
[...]
"..."
[Hey, Tiella?]
"Yeah?"
She sat on the soil hugging her knees while looking up at the branches with streams of dusk light peeking between the leaves. The tears in her eyes made them look awfully brighter than usual.
[I'm sorry.]
She looked at her scroll with a puzzled brow.
"What for?"
[For...]
"..."
[It's... a little hard to explain.]
"Does it involve my lost memories?"
[Somewhat, yes.]
"I see."
[Y-Yes, umm, I know it wouldn't make sense to you now but... but please know that I am truthfully sorry. I regret all that I said the night before. It was insensitive of me, and I didn't try to understand you at the time, and I have no excuse for my jealousy, and-]
"Glynda?"
[Y-Yes?]
"You're right, I don't understand. It doesn't make sense at all."
[I-I'm sorry. You're right.]
She smiled. "So let's try this again when my memory returns, okay? And I'll decide then whether to forgive you or not."
[...Okay.]
"Yeah."
[...]
"..."
[...]
"Hey, Glynda?"
[Yes?]
"D-Do we, um..."
[...]
"H-Have I told you that I l-lov-love you?"
[Have you told me that you love me? Yes, just about every chance you could get. So much so that you always say it before I could.]
Steam escaped Tiella's head when her face turned bright red. She shifted her weight, squatting on her soles while dragging her finger on the soil. She muttered her next words softly and shyly.
"I-I see..."
[It's always flattering to hear because you say it so naturally.]
"M-Mhm."
[So now, it's my turn. I love you.]
"I-I-!"
Tiella's heart skipped a few beats and she looked around to check whether there were others nearby to overhear her again. "T-Thanks... I, umm... I can see why I fell for you and, umm, I'm sorry but I'm probably not quite at the same level of affection as before b-but, umm, y-yeah, I-"
She coughed the words out.
"Iloveyoutoo."
[...]
"..."
[...]
"..."
[...]
"..."
[...]
"...Glynda?"
[Y-Yes?]
"Are you crying?"
[N-No, I-]
"Did you have an itch on the inside too?"
[No! That's disgusting!]
"Then...?"
[I-I...]
"...mhmm?"
[I sneezed.]
"You sneezed."
[I did.]
"Quietly."
[Yes, quietly.]
"You sneezed without a-"
[-Indeed, I did-]
"-sound. You sneezed without even-"
[-that's just how-]
"-a single huff of air-"
[-other people-]
"-like, hachoo! or some-"
[-sneeze, you know?]
"-thing."
[Not everyone sounds like a shotgun-]
"Uh, huh."
[-when they sneeze, like you. Sometimes, some people-]
"Mhmm."
[-just let out a quick and sile-]
"You're totally crying."
[-nt— I am not.]
"You totally are."
[I-I—]
"Oh, see? I heard you, you just sniffled!"
[I-I sneezed s-so my nose-]
"Became runny."
[-became runny, yes!]
"Sure."
[W-Wha-.. well, you were crying too!]
"Oh yeah, totally."
[Grr... You!]
"I was just-"
[You are so-]
"-literally bawling-"
[-so unfair,]
"-my eyes out."
[-you know that?]
"Couldn't stop the floodgates-"
[Jerk.]
"-from opening, y'know?"
[...]
"..."
[...]
"..."
[Pfft...]
"Hehe..."
And just inside the house, Blake Belladonna heard peculiar joyous laughter when she sat by the couch of the living room along with her friends. She stood, catching their attention, and she walked up to the window and peered out. Her eyes widened in surprise but they quickly softened when she understood what she was watching.
"What's up, Blakey?" Yang asked, walking up behind Blake.
Blake gave her a look, unable to keep her smile away which piqued Yang's curiosity even more. Blake didn't grace her with a verbal answer but instead pointed out the window with a tilt of her head for Yang to see.
Yang did as told and the second she looked out and saw Tiella's genuine smile, her heart melted and much like Blake, couldn't keep a smile off her face. "Well, well. How about that?"
"Makes me think she doesn't need our help after all."
"Eeeehh, probably. Doesn't mean we won't be here to give it if she asks."
"That's true."
"Hey, sis, what'chu lookin' at?"
"Hehe, why don't you take a look at it yourself, baby sister?"
Ruby pouted at the nickname but she peeked out as well and she couldn't help the audible gasp that escaped her lips. She grinned large and wide. "Weiss! Come look at this!"
"Why are you all just standing there looking out the window?" Weiss asked as she walked up behind Ruby.
"Just look!" Ruby pointed gleefully.
Weiss rolled her eyes lightheartedly and peered just as well — and much like the rest of her friends, she couldn't keep the pleasant surprise from etching a smile across her features. "That's good."
"Who do you think she's talking to? 10 Lien says it's Goodwitch."
"Yang, that's unfair! It's almost surely Professor Goodwitch!" Ruby pouted.
"It might be the doctor."
"No, that's definitely Professor Goodwitch," Blake added. "I've only ever seen that expression on her when she's talking with her."
"You're right." Weiss smiled before taking a seat back on her place at the couches. "Stop peeking at them, you three. That's just rude. Give them their alone time."
"But we haven't seen Celeste so happy in weeks! No, a month!" Yang whined.
"Yeah! We wanna see more happy Celeste!"
Blake sighed, content with what she'd seen and heard. From what she got, Tiella was teasing Glynda about crying.
"Girls, Weiss is right. Let's give them some space. We'll be able to see more "happy Celeste" later on — we still have a bit of time before the break ends, after all."
"Oh, fine." Yang relented with a hand on her waist before taking a seat next to Blake at quite the close proximity with her head on Blake's lap. "You won't mind if I sleep here, right?"
Ruby took a seat next to Weiss and continued playing her video game about a super tall and sexy witch that shoots guns with her boots and fights demons with her hair, it's quite intense.
Weiss, meanwhile, was simply content with her much needed downtime and relaxation even though it wasn't the 5-star hotel she was originally hoping for. And the longer she spent relaxing, the more she felt that being there was far better than being in the hotel.
It was simply idyllic.
Blake sighed in fake exasperation, covering Yang's eyes with her forearm as she resumed reading her book. "How could I complain? I'm in your house."
"It could be yours too if you become my girlfriend."
All three pairs of eyes looked back at the grinning blonde in surprise.
"Juuuust kidding."
Yang teasingly giggled, to which she earned a little bonk on the head from the hard spine of Blake's book. Yang pulled Blake's forearm lower, revealing her eyes and covering her mouth from the brunette's view and whispered in a way that only Blake could possibly hear.
"Or am I?"
Yang giggled again before hiding her eyes beneath Blake's forearm and taking a nap with a big shit-eating grin on her face. Blake, meanwhile, did her best to ignore the hammering in her chest as she raised her book a little higher to hide the blush on her cheeks from the other pair across the living room.
—18:38, Wednesday, 19th of the 6th month, 1215 Remnant AD.
Beacon Academy, West Wing Dormitory, Room 312.
"Alright, I'll be going now. You take care of Bardy, okay? I'll be with Tielle until we come back."
"Thank you, Karen. Take as much time as you need. And you don't need to worry about Bardy, I'll be sure to watch over him."
"I don't need a babysitter."
"Good! Because I'm not your babysitter nor will I ever be." Lilly smiled at Bardel, yet the gleam in her eyes promised untold pain should he give continue to argue. "You will do as I say until you're fully recovered."
"What!? Fuck no! I'm fine!"
"You can't even walk 2 steps without tripping and planting your face on the floor!" Lilly pointed her finger at Bardel's nose.
Despite his unlocked Aura's passive healing, Lilly's care, and Karen's Healing Touch, Bardel was still only halfway through on the road to a full recovery. His legs suffered such severe burns that he could barely walk from the pain. His arms strained from torn muscle fibers, severe burns, and bruises, too, so whenever he tried to so much as scratch his nose, he always ended up sucking air in deeply while his voice shook from agony.
Karen and Lilly guessed that it would take him at least two more weeks of therapy before he could even stand up properly for longer than two seconds.
As the two argued, Karen laughed, sighed, shook her head, and exited the room with a silent click of the shutting door.
It wasn't after another two minutes of yelling at each others' faces did they stop when Lilly's scroll rang from the desk to interrupt.
She looked at it curiously, ignoring the angrily yelling Bardel before shoving a rolled-up towel in his mouth and picking her scroll up to check the caller ID. She was so surprised that she fumbled with her scroll and it slipped out of her hands and nearly dropped on the floor only she managed to kick it back up and in her hands.
Breathing, she calmed her nerves and accepted the call.
"T-Tiella?"
[Hey, uh... L-Lilly.]
Lilly's voice, meek as it was, made Bardel pause as he took the towel out of his mouth. He'd just been briefed about everything that happened since that day while he was being cared for by the two girls.
And his only reaction was...
"Huh... so she's safe, right?"
His words put a smile on the two girls' faces.
Right up until he opened his mouth again.
"That means I can kick her ass for causing so much trouble once I'm better, good."
To which he earned a light chop on the head from Lilly and a heavy slap on the face from Karen.
Despite the force of the slap, it was neither painful nor harmful since it was done with her gloves off. The aggressive but fleeting contact with her hand only served to expedite the healing of his cheek if only slightly.
It was an odd sensation. It was like getting hit by a solid block of air that felt refreshing albeit dizzying from the way his head turned away abruptly.
He was taken away from his reminiscing when he heard Lilly choke up on the scroll.
"I-It's fine, your current circumstances are no fault of yours so anything you did to me is-"
[No, no, seriously, let me apologize. You're, like, supposed to be my best friend, right? Karen told me that you've been taking care of me whenever Glynda couldn't ever since... well, since that day or something.]
"Y-Yes. B-But I did it because I wanted to-"
[And now I'm apologizing to you because I want to. I realize that I fucked up. Amnesia or not, I shouldn't bite the hand that took good care of me. So... I'm sorry and thank you. I appreciate it.]
Lilly sniffled, wiping a tear away as she smiled. "Gosh, it's nothing. I'm just glad you're here, safe and sound."
[Once my memory returns, let's do something together.]
She paused blinking at the words she heard. It took her a second to process them. And when she did, she smiled and her immediate response was...
"No."
[H-Hm?]
"I said, no." Lilly smiled wider, chuckling at Tiella's bewilderment. "You still have that date with Glynda to go on. You may not remember now but Glynda told me that you haven't even gone on your first date yet."
[Shit, really?]
"Yes."
[Damn.]
She giggled. "And besides, I'm good." Lilly walked to the window and peered out where the setting sun dyed the night sky purplish-pink while the moon shone brightly. "Also, Glynda rarely shows it, but she can be quite jealous. But the good thing about her is that she almost never acts on it. So you better take good care of her."
[I mean, yeah, that's a given, but if you're my best gal then I gotta take good care of you, too, you know? I can't be the only one being taken care of, that doesn't sit well with me.]
She chuckled again, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Thank you."
[Right... so... when this is all over, let's do something, alright?]
"Alright."
[Right.]
"Mhm."
[...]
"..."
[...]
"..."
[W-Well, that's it for now. Thanks again, bye.]
"You're welcome, Tiella. See you later."
[It's Tielle.]
"Hmm?"
[Back when I just woke up, that's what you were calling me, right? No need to feel reserved. It feels a bit awkward for me, but if you've been calling me that way and I never once minded it, then there's no need to stop.]
Lilly's eyes widened slightly in pleasant surprise. She chuckled again, remembering the first time she tried calling her with that nickname.
"Actually, you shoved me away and called me some choice words with some choice nicknames the first time I did."
[I-I did?]
"Yes, it's quite funny, honestly."
[I-I'm so sorry-]
"Now, now, Tielle." She smiled, liking the feel of calling out the intimate nickname on her lips again. "It's all water under the bridge." She turned from the moon and let her eyes wander the room as she leaned her back and elbows on the window sill. "We were yet to be friends at the time and I was being overly familiar because I wanted to spite you. Eventually, we overcame our differences after duking it out and talking it out, and the nickname just stuck with."
[I-I see. That sounds like me alright.]
"Yes." She giggled at the fond memory. "Yes, it does."
[Alrighty then... I'll just, uh... talk to you later.]
"That would be nice."
[See ya then.]
"See you."
[Thanks again, bye.]
"Thank you for calling me. I appreciate it greatly."
And the call dropped.
Lilly sighed contentedly while pocketing her scroll. When she met eyes with Bardel and he gave her a questioning look, she smiled at him wide and pure, and the feeling of elation was enough that tears formed at the corner of her eyes once more.
Later that night, Glynda met with Lilly for dinner and they talked about their most recent call from Tiella. After dinner, Lilly called Karen to tell her how Tiella called them both and soon after the call ended, Tiella was assaulted with a teary vice-like hug.
And unlike brunch, dinner was a bit more pleasant for all parties involved.
AN: Hello again!
A bit of a short chapter this time.
There's not much to say here but my humble thanks for sticking with me up to this far.
Do tell me your thoughts on the new chapter, or don't! It's not an obligation but it is highly appreciated!
Darkmaster10000000: Thank you for the recommendation! It's about a million words long so this will be a doozy of a read but I am interested in the premise of the story. So I'll let you know once I've read it.
P.S. I've been waiting for months to write banter again and I enjoyed writing it again very well! See you in the next chapter!
—20:13 hours, Same day.
Xiao Long Residence, Patch Island.
Yang, who was eating dinner in the round table with everyone, asked the question that had been nagging her for weeks.
"Why do you call Dr. Maxwell Karen when it's not even in her real name?"
Karen and Tiella shared a look with each other and while Tiella grinned smugly, Karen rolled her eyes with a sigh, muttering the words. "Here we go again..."
"See, back where we're from, there's this subspecies of women with blonde hair and blue eyes that nag people to death. Like, literal death, they're just the absolute fucking worst. They're so goddamned stupid and entitled that practically everyone with a working brain hated them."
"Really?" Yang looked at Tiella disbelievingly while taking spoonfuls of her dinner.
"Yyyyeeup." Popping the P. "And the common thing about almost every annoying subspecies of women with blonde hair and blue eyes was that nearly every single one of 'em was named Karen."
"You can't be serious."
"For reals."
"That's gotta be a coincidence."
"It is."
"That's ridiculous!"
"Uh, huh."
"I agree!" Karen finally interjected with a throbbing vein while she angrily ate. "It IS ridiculous. But no matter how much I complained, she just kept calling me that, simply because I "nag" her and I have blonde hair and blue eyes." Air quoting the word with her fingers. "I'm, like, so what!? Just because I share a few similarities with those homicidal morons doesn't mean I actually am one of them! For instance, I actually have an education and it isn't just for show like those pompous dullards!"
"Pompous wha?" Ruby wondered.
"Second of all, I "nag" because I worry that this stupid musclehead would get spoiled rotten because Lilly just keeps doting on her! I swear she's like a grandma taking care of her grandchildren when it comes to Tielle." She shook her head in disapproval. "Also, apologize to all the Karens in the world for stereotyping them like that!"
"But I've been calling you Karen way before we met Lilly, though?"
"I nag because you're a little shit that can't cook even if it kills you!" Pointing a fork at Tiella's face.
"Now that's a low blow, Karen, what the hell!?"
"Shut up and eat dinner, you ungrateful oaf!" She shoved an entire bread up Tiella's mouth, causing her to choke while she angrily went back to eating.
