What if end was begin?

Then would men be like mothers?

And the falling of others would be like

The first leaves of flowers

-What If, Sylvan Esso

…

Strelitzia shivered as Anora slipped her hand into hers. The bright, genuine smile on the naturally tanned girl caused Strelitzia to blush so hard that she had to look away. Not that this wasn't a routine for them. Every day the two girls would meet at Fountain Square and go off to do their missions together. It was Anora who took more of a leading role in them too. But for a regular mission, the raspberry pink haired girl seemed a lot more excitable than usual. She insistently tugged Strelitzia away from the fountain.

"You're really excitable today." the taller of the two noted, even though she couldn't quite look Anora in the eye. "Where are we going?"

There was a movement from Anora that Strelitzia only happened to catch. A cheeky little gesture of the smaller placing a finger to her lips, indicating that it was a surprise. That only made Strelitzia's heart accelerate more.

"N-no hint?" she questioned with a squeak. "I mean, as long as I'm with you then it doesn't really matter. But… But you have to give me something, you know? It's rude to keep a girl waiting."

Anora only grinned wider- tugging Strelitzia even more. The latter had no choice but to follow. Anora was quick to take the two of them to the open air market. Many of the stalls did not have an actual operator behind them, instead using an honor system instead. But Anora didn't go to any of them. Instead, she took Strelitzia to the front of a store that held a large display window- one of the few in Daybreak Town to actually have them. Strelitzia watched as Anora quickly looked over the display window, looking for something in particular, before letting out a small sound of joy.

"What is it?" Strelitzia asked, looking at the contents behind the window as well. It wasn't much. There was a necklace decorated with rubies and sapphires, an imitation princess crown forged in gold, and then a pair of silver bracelets with a small assortment of charms on them. It was the bracelets that Anora wanted Strelitzia to see, and did her best to point out.

She pointed to them excitedly, looking at Strelitzia with an expectant face.

"It's lovely." Strelitzia agreed, or thought she was agreeing to. "But it looks really expensive. If you want us to have one, then it would take a lot of careful munny saving."

Anora only grinned even wider. She motioned for Strelitzia to stay where she was before heading into the store. Everything seemed… not odd, exactly. However, Strelitzia hadn't seen Anora this excited in awhile. Not excited enough to almost bounce on top of the roofs if gravity wasn't a factor, anyway. When Anora came back out of the jewelry store, she didn't hold anything back as she quickly presented the silver charm bracelets up to Strelitzia.

For a moment, Strelitzia could do nothing but gawk.

"How…?" she first tried to say as Anora came closer. "How long have you been saving for these?"

Anora didn't answer- she had her attention set on other things. She carefully took Strelitzia's wrist, held it up (and Strelitzia kept it up), and took even more care of placing the bracelet around her friend's wrist. After it was on, Anora let out a happy sigh as she took Strelitzia's wrist with both her hands. Strelitzia had watched her do all this, then looked down as well. How did Anora get her bracelet on so quickly? Did she put it on before she put the other on Strelitzia? It didn't matter, really, and it was quite mesmerizing to watch the two bracelets glimmer in the daylight.

"Three months." Anora announced. Strelitzia blinked for a moment before looking up at her friend.

"What?" she wondered.

"Three months." the raspberry pink haired girl repeated. Her hands moved from Strelitzia's wrist to her hand. "It's how long we've been friends."

Strelitzia's only reaction at first was to stare at the other girl.

"You act like you don't have a lot of friends, Anora." she then tried to say. It was nervous, almost shaking, as if she wanted to make light of it but didn't know how.

It was there, for a small moment, you could see Anora's smile break. The small squeeze she gave Strelitzia's hand was when the orange haired girl realized that it was true. Anora didn't have a lot of friends. There had been Ephemer, but he left the next day without warning. One could even contest that your party weren't really your friends- a good support group, maybe, but hardly close enough to really be called a friend. It was why the silent girl called her Chirithy more than anyone Strelitzia knew. There was no one else that remained that close to her.

No one, that is, besides Strelitzia.

Because of this, Strelitzia looked away with an embarrassed blush. "O-oh…" she stammered, "I didn't realize… I didn't mean…"

Anora quickly shook her head. Even if it was meant to be a 'don't take it personally' gesture, it did not stop Strelitzia from feeling ashamed all the same.

"A-Anora…" Strelitzia then tried to say, "I… I'm glad…"

Strelitzia wasn't able to finish her thought as Anora immediately went in to hug her. Her heart beat faster as she felt the smaller girl start to cling to her clothes. Strelitzia's hands were shaking as she wrapped her arms around Anora. The two were caught in a tight embrace that neither one wanted to deviate from. It was Strelitzia that pulled away a bit just to press her forehead against Anora's.

"I promise Anora," she whispered, "I'm not going to leave. We're friends now. We'll always be friends now. Our hearts… our hearts are connected. Right?"

The only -and best- answer Anora gave her was through a small tilt of her chin. Strelitzia melted into a bliss unlike any other.

I'm glad I was brave enough to meet her.

…

Something had happened to Strelitzia. This waiting, this expectancy, it ate at her worse than it had when Ephemer didn't show up those months ago. But this was different. Ephemer came back. He apologized for that day, and they soon made up to spend the whole day together. Strelitzia did not. Instead, Anora got to meet Strelitzia's brother for the first time. He was kind as he listened to her give her recount of the last time she saw Strelitzia. He looked so sad when Anora said that Strelitzia hadn't shown up for the past few days or so. But that was also the moment when Anora realized something wasn't right.

"I'm sure she'll be fine." Ephemer assured her, apparently reading her perplexed expression like a book. "If not, you and Lauriam would be the first we tell."

"Promise?"

Ephemer looked at her, blinked, then nervously rubbed the back of his neck like she had caught his bluff. Of course, it might have been because it was so rare for anyone to hear her voice. Maybe both. The longer it took for her to hear back from Ephemer, the more she was sure that it was both in some regard.

But in this moment, Ephemer scooted a bit closer to her and held out his pinkie finger.

"Promise." he agreed. His face held a determined certainty to it- the nod he gave even more so.

Anora looked at him, then at his pinkie finger. She carefully took her own pinkie finger and wrapped it around his. The two of them smiled at each other, as if everything would be alright later on. She should have known better. Ephemer tended to make pie crust promises (easy to make, easy to break, after all), unintentionally or not. And for keeping from her what happened to Strelitzia? Anora would never forgive him, or Skuld, or anyone.

But through all her anger, Anora couldn't help but wonder, 'What if I never met her?' Then she gave a shudder. She couldn't imagine what it would have been like if Strelitzia hadn't been her friend. The days leading up to Master Ava's speech would have been much different, wouldn't it? The three of them trying to find Ephemer… Strelitzia defending her against the Nightmare Chirithy… The more Anora thought about it, the more she wished she would stop.

Just how much would have changed if Strelitzia had never met Anora?