Mirta watched Flora play with the ends of her hair as she lay staring up at the ceiling, humming a just-about recognisable song by Blue and the Jackets. As Mirta reached off the bed to pick up her clothes, she wondered what Flora might be thinking about. She hated having to leave so soon, but she was scheduled to help with Cloud Tower's restoration in half an hour and it was going to take twenty minutes to get there.

"Will you be back for dinner?" Flora asked, still not moving from the bed. The room they'd been allocated had been two singles, but they'd pushed the mattress together so they could sleep together. Amazingly, their host family remained completely oblivious and Mirta had been told multiple times by the mother that her friendship with Flora was so endearing. She still didn't know how to reply to that.

"Yeah," she said. "It's pot pie night, I don't want to miss that."

Flora laughed and sat up, the morning light coming in through the gap in the curtains caught in her bedhead and gave her a glowing halo.

"Do you want me to walk you there?" She offered. "I don't need to be at Alfea until eleven."

"Thanks but I don't need you to; I said I'd meet a few of my old classmates on the way over."

"Lucy?" Flora's inquiry sounded innocent enough, but it made Mirta fidget nervously. They had talked about her ex-girlfriend a few times before but it was uncomfortable; Lucy was in Mirta's head and they both knew it. She was the reason that Flora had gently turned down the idea of exclusivity. Not that either of them was seeing anyone else anyway.

"She'll probably be there, yeah…" Mirta said sheepishly.

"You know that's okay, right? I'm not going to be mad if you spend time with her."

"I know, it's just," Mirta paused to sigh. There were many reasons. She wasn't used to being in this kind of relationship; before, if she'd been going out to see an ex-girlfriend, Lucy would have been deeply unhappy and would have made that known. It was a huge adjustment to be with someone who wasn't demanding her full and undivided attention.

"'It's just'?" Flora prompted when she went quiet.

"Lucy keeps talking as if I'm coming back to Cloud Tower next year," she said. She'd told her multiple times that her transfer to Alfea had already gone through and that this was really happening, but Lucy acted like she hadn't heard. "I don't know how to react to any of it."

Flora shuffled over next to Mirta on the edge of the bed and put her arms around her. Mirta felt a gentle kiss on her collarbone.

"It might take the first day without you for her to come to terms with it. But you don't have to let her make you uncomfortable, you are allowed to stand up for yourself." Flora squeezed her tighter.

"I think she's still mad at me."

"If she is, it's not your fault."

"Still feels like it," Mirta grumbled. "From her perspective I just vanished after the break up and then reappeared as a fairy, with a fairy."

"If she didn't want this to happen, maybe she should have broken your curse," Flora smiled and kissed Mirta lovingly on the lips. "Then she would have been the one you made out with as soon as you were human again."

Mirta's ears went red. She hadn't been thinking when she'd done that. She'd spent so long being cared for by Flora as a plant, and even before that they'd spent a lot of time alone together and so she'd just kissed her without really thinking about it. Flora clearly hadn't minded though.

"You know that wasn't the only reason, right?" She asked, trying not to sound as embarrassed as she was.

"I do," Flora pressed her face into Mirta's neck. "But I'm not going to forget that you did it."

"Did you tell all your friends about it?" Mirta was still pink and Flora giggled.

"Yes, and Stella found it hilarious. So now a lot of other people know too."

"Good to know her determination not to be weird about you liking girls hasn't affected her gossiping," Mirta observed. Stella's attempts to be a good friend to Flora had manifested in wild gestures of support. And while it was certainly a preferable response to some Mirta had received, it weirder her out.

"I don't think she's actually uncomfortable as much as she just doesn't want either of us to think that she's uncomfortable," Flora said. "How did people react when you told them about us?"

"Well…" Mirta paused. "I don't really have that many friends here, and the ones at home don't know you so they didn't have a great deal to say."

"I meant to ask," Flora said as she got out of bed and went to pick out her own clothes for the day. Mirta admired her as she bent over to get a t-shirt. "Does Lucy actually know that we're dating?"

"Yeah… someone told her before I got a chance to."

Mirta wasn't one hundred percent sure that she would have had the guts to tell Lucy face to face anyway. She'd seen her in Magix the one time Mirta had gone into the city on her own and it had made her heart plummet. Of course she still cared about Lucy, it hadn't been that long since they'd been together. The way Lucy had stared sadly at her across the street had told her everything that Mirta needed to know.

They'd spoken later, though. And it was almost like before, but then Lucy had asked about Flora and she had remembered that things had changed.

"Sorry." Flora turned around, clean underwear in hand, and gave her a sympathetic look. "I know this still upsets you."

"I don't know why you're apologising, I'm the one with baggage and kindly making you deal with it."

"I don't mind," Flora said as she continued getting dressed. "I like you."

God only knew why. Mirta didn't dislike the way she looked, but it was a mystery as to what a girl as beautiful as Flora saw in her. She wasn't going to question it though, if Flora wanted to date her Mirta was absolutely ok with that.

"I like you too." Mirta got up and kissed Flora, one hand in her messy hair. "But I am definitely late now and I haven't even got dressed."

It was hard to leave a room with Flora in it, but Mirta really did need to be at Cloud Tower soon. She got dressed quickly, and as soon as she was decent she dashed out the room, grabbing the croissant the host mum had waiting for her.

"Coffee as well?" Her hostess asked. "It's in a to-go cup."

Mirta accepted that gratefully and went to pick up the brown paper bag of snacks Flora had left in the fridge for her. She peeked inside to see all the treats neatly packaged as well as the little handwritten note with a heart on it. Can't wait to hold you again tonight, it said, I'll miss you.

"It's so nice that you two get on like this," her hostess said with a smile, dragging Mirta back into the real world. "You're very lucky to have a friend like her."

"Yeah," Mirta agreed as she hastily closed the bag and put the snacks in her rucksack. "I'm so glad I have a friend like Flora."