When she walked into Planeptune's Basilicom Noire's heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest. Maybe this had been a bad idea, maybe C-Sha was wrong she should probably just go back and think of a plan.
"No!… I can't back down now. I need to settle this once and for all" Noire sighed as she said that, why was this so difficult it's like she was getting prepared to fight a final boss.
Although if she was being honest fighting a final boss was looking more appealing by the minute 'It's now or never. Besides I need to do this for my own sake as well' with new found determination she walked in further.
"Oh, Noire!" Nepgear said surprised.
"H-Hi, Nepgear. Is… Neptune around?" Noire asked.
"No she went out doing some quests not too long ago".
"I don't suppose you know where she went off to?" Noire asked hopeful.
"I'm not entirely sure I think some were near Virtua Forest but that's all I know, sorry".
"No it's fine I'll just go and-" her stomach growled which caused her to blush.
"You sure you should go out on an empty stomach, you burn a lot of calories when you're in HDD" Nepgear said.
"I'll be fine. I can last a few more hours" Noire assured her though she wasn't so sure herself.
"Noire…" Nepgear said in accusatory tone narrowing her eyes "How long have you been in HDD?"
"For about a majority of the day" Noire admitted.
"Noire! You know how taxing it is to stay transformed for that long!" Nepgear exclaimed.
Noire sighed and said "I know, I know. I just… I've had a lot on my mind".
"It's about Neptune isn't it?" Nepgear suddenly asked her expression softened.
The Lastation CPU blushed heavily upon hearing that "Wh-What?! I have no idea what you're talking about".
"Noire, I don't know what the issue is between you and Neptune" Nepgear lied "But Uni told me you've been different, normally you have this… aura of confidence about you but lately she says that's completely vanished. Now you seem uncertain about the things you do" she finished up.
Noire could only stare at her wide eyed as she took in what Nepgear had told her 'Wow… I didn't know I made Uni worry about me that much' she cleared her throat to regain her composure "It's something personal between me and her,…" she brought her hand up to her chest then clutched into a fist "…and I can't wait any longer Nepgear" she finished with determination in her eyes.
The Candidate had a feeling she was going to leave regardless of what was said. So she gave Noire a comforting smile "Well in that case good luck with her Noire".
She smiled back "Thank you Nepgear".
Now more determined then ever Noire ran out to the balcony and transformed, though upon finishing it she brought her hand up to her temple and winced "Okay, no transforming at all tomorrow" she vowed.
"Wait! Noire!" Nepgear called out running to her.
"Oh! Nepgear what is it?"
Nepgear didn't say anything and just handed her two pudding cups with two plastic spoons "I'd imagine you two would probably want a snack after being transformed for so long".
"Thank you, Nepgear. I'll be sure to let Neptune know" with that parting line Black Heart took to the skies to Virtua Forest.
Purple Heart brought her katana in a guard stance as a ball of fire collided with it, she brought it down ready to attack as looked at her adversary, which just so happened to be an Ancient Dragon.
"I'd never thought I would end up in this type of scenario again" the CPU of Planeptune then smirked "But that's never stopped me before. Delta Slash!" she sent two crescent energy waves from her katana which held the monster in place then followed up with a horizontal slash where a symbol was briefly seen before exploding.
The Ancient Dragon staggered back but quickly regained its footing and charged at her "You're not the only one who can attack head on. Cross Combination!" Purple Heart readied her katana then waited for her opportunity to strike as she ran, or rather hovered, forward then swung her katana knocking off guard and followed up with severe more and finish off by sending up in the air with a skyward slash then sending back down to the ground with an overhead slash.
Despite her efforts the dragon was still standing. Purple Heart sighed in annoyance "Figures you'd require more to take down".
Luckily for her backup had arrived "Fall Slash!" a white crescent wave came from out of the sky striking the dragon from behind. Black Heart then landed next to her but staggered a bit upon her landing.
"N-Noire! Why are you here?" Purple Heart exclaimed.
"I have something very important to talk to you about Neptune" she responded.
The Ancient Dragon roared as if to tell them 'Hey, I'm still here!' the two CPUs looked at it in annoyance "Though I suppose that'll have to wait until after this is settled" Black Heart said bringing up her weapon.
"Noire are you sure you should be fighting? You don't look so good" Purple Heart said with concern.
Black Heart looked at her with determined eyes "I'll be fine. Trust me".
"Very well then let us work together" Purple Heart declared "And I have just what we need. First things first, Let's get fired up!" Purple Heart outstretched her arm and both her and Black Heart became enveloped in a red aura.
"Noire let's get into position before this wears off" the CPU of Planeptune advised.
"I know just what you're going for, I'll give you an opening" Black Heart assured flying forward "Tornado Sword!" with the wide slash she was able to throw the monster of balance "Neptune, now!"
"Thank you, Noire. Critical Edge!" she jumped over Black Heart and delivered a few powerful slashes then did a dash slash where allowed her to get behind the Ancient Dragon "Now's our chance!" she raised her arm then materialized a large blue sword in the air.
"Here we go, Neptune. Assault Combo!" Black Heart's sword grew longer and she started dealing swift powerful strikes against it.
"Now. 32-bit Mega Blade!" Purple Heart sent the sword flying down where Black Heart delivered one final strike before jumping away where the blade made contact and exploded in a white pillar of light finishing off the Ancient Dragon.
After the dust had settled Purple Heart flew next to Black Heart, who looked like she was about to collapse, then reverted back into her human form "Noire?! Are you okay?" Purple Heart said holding onto her shoulders.
"I… I'm fine I just need to rest for a bit" Noire assured.
Purple Heart looked around then spotted a large tree not too far away "Come on let's go rest over there" she ushered the exhausted CPU over where up in getting there she immediately sat down a leaned back into the tree and let out a long breath of relief.
Purple Heart closed her eyes then reverted back into human form and plopped down next to her "Whew… boy am I tired".
"Here" Noire said handing Neptune one of the pudding cups Nepgear had given her earlier along with a plastic spoon "Nepgear wanted to make sure you had a snack".
"Oh Nepgear I'll be sure to thank you later" Neptune said opening it up an immediately beginning to eat her beloved treat.
Noire on the other hand was taking things a bit slow, not only due to the fact she was very exhausted, but also the fact that the anxiety of this very situation hit her like a truck. But she had come this far it was time to confront.
After eating a spoonful of pudding Noire took a few breaths to calm herself. Meanwhile Neptune on the other hand was thinking of a way to start a conversation that would lead to her talking about what she was feeling towards her friend. Unfortunately for her not much was coming to mind.
Awkward silence was quickly filling the area and neither of them were liking it one bit. But both of them knew that it was time to confront this problem. Though unbeknownst to the other they managed to speak at the same time.
"Hey, Neptune…"
"Noire, I need to…"
They looked at each other in the eyes surprised they had done that. Noire however quickly shook it off by clearing her throat "Listen, Neptune I need to talk to you about something important-"
"No, Noire I need to talk to you something important-"
"Neptune, listen I've been kept this long enough and-"
"Noire, look what I'm about to say is important. So important…" Neptune put her spoon in her pudding cup then set down on the ground while making sure it wouldn't fall over "… that pudding… can… w-w… wait" she finally managed to get out.
Safe to say Noire's attention was caught, if Neptune was willing to set aside her most treasured treat for moment it was definitely worth listening in "L-Look, Noire I'll be real with you I consider you a great friend, my best friend in fact" Neptune looked away from her "That's kinda why I ran off. I really only saw you as a friend".
Noire could feel the tears slowly start to well up in her eyes as she heard that.
Neptune… didn't feel the same way. Had she truly ruined her friendship with Neptune beyond repair. She had hadn't she? There was most definitely no coming back from this.
"I-I s-see" Noire said trying to hide how heartbroken she was.
Neptune upon hearing Noire's voice break decided she should get to the point quickly "But… when we kissed that day I… started to feel a bit different. Like you were still my friend and everything for sure, after that thought I couldn't help but feel like being your friend felt… I dunno… not enough like I wanted something more".
Noire immediately felt hopeful with each word she was speaking "Neptune…".
"Look I guess what I'm trying to say is… do you wanna? You know be more then friends" Neptune hinted.
The Lastation CPU wanted nothing more then to yes right then and there, but there was something that had to be done first. She wanted Neptune to know how she felt about her "Neptune, you don't know how happy that makes me to hear that. But before I say anything else there's something I want you to know"
Noire took a deep breath and continued on "I'm not gonna lie Neptune when we first started off being friends with one another you really got on my nerves… a lot" she said with a stern expression which quickly softened into a warm genuine smile "Then all of us started spending more time with each other after the Deity of Sin incident and beyond that. After a while how I felt about you began to change, I see you as my best friend as well Neptune you're so much fun to be around and when I'm around you it's never a dull moment. So… yes Neptune… let's be closer"
"Aw…" Neptune disappointingly said.
"W-What?" Noire said surprised.
"You coulda told me you were gonna do that now my confession doesn't seem as good" she pouted jokingly.
Noire could only give her a deadpan expression "Seriously?… That's what you're focused on".
"Well yeah normally you're the one who has a hard time with expressing how you're feeling" Neptune teased then looked at hte unamused expression on Noire's face "Ah hahaha… in all seriousness though" Neptune let out a small breath then stared her fellow CPU in the eyes "Noire… will you be my girlfriend?"
Noire never thought she'd hear those words and was practically beaming "Yes, yes Neptune I will be your girlfriend".
"Awesome!" Neptune cheered shooting her arm into the air "Umm… so what exactly do we do from here?" she asked with a nervous laugh.
"I have an idea" Noire said moving closer to Neptune who seemed to take the hint and did the same "How about we try this again"
Neptune smiled "I think that'll be a good way to kick off this new relationship".
Both closed their eyes and slowly moved in closer their lips about to make contact.
At least until Noire's phone rang.
Lastation's CPU mentally cursed wishing she had it on silent and begrudgingly picked it up, though her look softened upon seeing who it was "Huh… God Eater what's she calling for? Hello?"
"Noire! Hey. Umm… I'm not calling at a bad time am I?" God Eater sheepishly asked.
Noire held back from giving her a sassy response but held it in 'She's doing you a favour don't lash out at her' her eyes widened as it suddenly dawned on her why she was calling.
"Listen Noire I know I promised you I'd look after your daughter but I think she really wants you to come home now" God Eater explained.
"Tell her I'll be there quickly. Listen God Eater I'm so sorry for being gone for so long I just got caught up in a bunch of things and-"
"Hey, hey easy don't sweat it I'm sure you had a lot going on in your head. Just come home as fast as you can" the defence force member assured.
"I will thank you again for helping out" Noire said hanging up.
"Right… is kinda wrong we forgot about having a daughter for awhile" Neptune asked feeling a bit shameful.
"Well in our defence we did have a lot to sort out ourselves" Noire stood up and put her phone away "Ugh… I really don't wanna transform again".
Figuring there was no other way around out Noire was about to transform. That was until there was a brief flash of light and Purple Heart came up from behind her and picked her up bridal style "You been transformed long enough how about you leave the flying to me".
Noire was definitely caught guard by her gesture she couldn't actually form a response "You might wanna hold on" Purple Heart advised.
She quickly shook off her flustered state and wrapped her arms around Purple Hearts neck all the while blushing. Still she couldn't help but but smile. Today marked the day she and Neptune had began their relationship.
And Noire couldn't be any happier.