Chapter 10

I told ya I wasn't done yet! We've gone through the angst for set up, now for the fluffy pay out! I have a few more plot points I want to flesh out before I end it, so keep tuned, and as always enjoy!

"Come on, let's go home! Everyone is waiting for us!" Neptune joyfully offered her hand to the woman beside her. This would be a day that neither of the women would forget for the rest of their lives, however long that may be. But even still, they were in the middle of bumfuck nowhere and needed to get home.

"Awe man, did I make everyone at home worry too?" Uzume scratched her head before accepting the hand offered to her, getting pulled up. Now standing she looked over to her partner for an answer.

"Hmm just a little, but don't worry it'll all be fine when we walk through the front door together, Ooo! Ooo! Can we hold hands when we walk in, that'll be super cute!" Neptune exclaimed while grabbing hold of Uzume's hand to explain.

"Gah, that'd be so embarrassing!" Despite her best efforts Uzume could not stop herself from exploding into a rosy hue. She had simply done it without thinking. As her thoughts caught up to her she could only think back to what she had said to Neptune not 5 minutes ago. "Sorry Nepsy, I told you I'm no good at showing my emotions…"

"Silly I'm just messin with you, we can go at whatever pace makes you comfortable, I'll be happy as long as I'm with you.'' Neptune brightly beamed as she responded.

As the new couple looked to start heading out of the dungeon they soon saw the horde of monsters awaiting them. One could almost see the color drain out of the girls' faces.

"Uhh you wouldn't happen to have an eject button would you Nepsy?" Uzume started.

"Well I mean I sure hope I do…" Neptune brought out her bag. She was the one to always carry the essentials for dungeon crawling wherever they went. Uzume would only ever carry rudimentary supplies such as basic healing items, so Neptune had long since taken to carrying enough supplies for two. The extra cost was a bummer sure, but she honestly had more money then she knew what to do with, so she just accepted it.

After a few minutes spent looking through her bag, eventually Neptune triumphantly pulled out the comically large red button. "Tada! Leave it to Ol Nepray Vision!" Neptune took hold of Uzume's hand as she very over dramatically slapped the red button. Rumor had it the eject buttons lost their effectiveness if the button was not slapped with enthusiasm.

As the two materialized at the entrance of the dungeon they took a moment to look around to orientate themselves before they set off. Quickly however they ran into an issue. The bridge that Uzume had made was no longer, meaning walking between the islands was not an option.

"Guess the author's poor decisions finally caught up to us huh?" Neptune chuckled as she looked at the vast emptiness between them and their destination.

"Yea, guess we have no choice…" Uzume stated as she engaged her HDD, and after the bright flash dissipated Orange Heart stood in her place.

"Ooo all aboard the Uzume express!" Neptune yelled as she jumped into Orange Heart's arms, wrapping her arms around her neck.

"Nepsy! Silly you have to warn me before you do something like that"

"I knew that you'd catch me"

Orange Heart simply sighed as she began her flight to the portal, all the way she carried Neptune bridal style. Orange Heart had flown while carrying others before, as during the incidents involving this dimension the human members of the party, including Neptuner herself, had to be carried. However that was usually done piggyback style, this was entirely different! Or at least in Uzume's mind there was a clear distinction. Not only was she afraid of dropping her, this was also totally super embarrassing.

Neptune however had no qualms to be had, as a matter of fact she soon fell into a tranquil state. She trusted Uzume would never let her drop, and being in her lover's arms seemed to have a relaxing, almost hypnotic effect. With the way she was held she could hear Uzumes every heartbeat, a reminder to her of their now shared closeness. Soon she felt the fatigue and strain she had put on her body throughout the day overtake her, and sleep soon thereafter.

Arriving at the portal, after disengaging her HDD, Uzume looked at the girl in her arms, now asleep. She wasn't quite sure how she felt about this development. Part of her was annoyed at the lazy girl for falling asleep at a time like this. But even more than that was a feeling of genuine joy that washed over the woman's features. She didn't have the heart to wake her at this point, sighing deeply as she began her trek a thought flashed through her mind, how did I get here?

Her life up to this point had been nothing short of a slow moving car accident. With tribulations and challenges awaiting her as she tried to find meaning in her life. Trying to figure out what exactly she was supposed to be doing with the power she was born with. With every step forward came with an equal or greater amount of steps backwards. Somehow, through some divine intervention, Uzume was glad. She was glad she lived her life. If it all led up to her being where she was at this moment then it was worth it.

As she progressed further into the Zero Dimension it occurred to Uzume that she had not explained to anyone why she had been running through. They surely must be worried sick, she made a note to walk by and explain herself on her path. Her base just so happened to be not very far out of the way so she made a quick detour.

Walking into the camp she for many years called home, Uzume quickly heard buzzing around her as she found herself face to face with a small army of monsters. The sight alone would cause any seasoned hunter to scream like a girl, but to Uzume this was just part of life, these were her friends and family. They believed in her so she had a duty to provide for them.

"Miss Uzume! You're back!" The first monster to speak out was Fried Shrimp.

"Yo! Fried Shrimp! How have you been?"

"Never mind me, are you ok Miss Uzume?" There was a building sense of anxiety among the monsters as the question was left in the air.

"Oh me? I'm fine, don't worry! Sorry bout earlier, I… I uhh I had to take care of something in a hurry, sorry for not keepin you all in the loop." As she gave her hand wavy answer she gulped as she expected the monsters to drill the actual reasons out of her. However to her surprise there was jovial approval among the group.

"Ok so Miss Bug Hunter was telling the truth, does that mean we'll get to play?" The baby bug looked up with unhid excitement.

"S'That what Nepsy said?"

"Yes, Miss Bug Hunter said we'd all play when you got back" Gulping, Uzume prepared herself for what she had to do next.

"Ohh, well I'm sorry but as you see Nepsy out of it, so we'll have rain check that for a bit. Sorry" Uzume bowed to the best of her ability while still holding Neptune in her arms.

"Awww cmon can't you just leave the girl to sleep somewhere?" A voice rang out from the horde. Uzume thought about it for a moment before concluding somewhere in her being apart from Neptune felt like a poison.

"Sorry, she's really gotta get home, she helped my rear end out so it's the least I can do" Uzume carefully explained herself. Before trotting off, leaving with one last comment "We'll play in a few, promise!"

Leaving her base behind her, Uzume continued her march through the dimension. Eventually she felt stirring in her arms, looking down at the girl she was carrying, Uzume noticed that her eyes were fluttering open. "Yo, slept long enough there, Nepsy?"

"Nngh 5 more minutes" Neptune groggily responded.

"No more cliche lines, you got 30 seconds before I drop you, my arms are killin me" Uzume threatened, whether she was sincere or not is a mystery, as Neptune begrudgingly took to her own feet.

"You're a meanie…"

"Oh yea? And who's the one who fell asleep like a baby in a meanie's arms huh?" Uzume said with a smirk trying to get back at Neptune for all the hassle she had caused the past hour.

"But yer so warm and comfy" Uzumes plan immediately backfired as she felt the larger woman latch onto her side. "Anywho, where are we? Like obviously this is Zero, unless that short tempered CPU went off the deep end back in Hyper…"
"Oh, were about 30 minutes away from the Hyper Dimension portal"

"I slept that long? Wow you sure are strong" Neptune said with a small sense of guilt.

"Eh don't worry about it, consider us even for helping me out back there" Uzume chuckled as she tried to explain herself.

Soon a silence befell the two as they walked like this. This wasn't the first time that day that the two found themselves in silence. But unlike before this felt right. Whereas before it felt like an anaconda wrapped around their necks. This time it felt akin to diving under the covers during a cold night, and letting the warmth overtake you. This feeling made it all worth it. Even if it had only been for but a day, or longer in Neptune's case, being like this made all the doubt, pain, and awkwardness worth it.

Only one question lingered on Neptunes mind. It was simple, and really a formality more than anything. Still she felt the question hang in her throat as she tried to ask it.

"Something up?" Uzume, as if almost sensing the feeling, spoke up.

"Ohh… Well…" Swallowing Neptune drew forth upon her courage once more. Come on, this is the finish line! She thought to herself as she began. "So are we like, you know, girlfriends n all that smooth blues?" Neptune felt her face heat up for the first time in a long time as she finished. Truly it was odd. Surely this was nothing more than just a clarification. I mean bloody hell the two shared that kiss together, so if that wasn't a sign then what was!

"Nhg!?" Nearly tripping over herself, Uzume looked over to Neptune. "Well, I mean, yea that would make sense, but I've never done anything like this before" The last part came out nearly as a whisper.

"Well I got good news for you, it ain't exactly like I have either, so what do you say?"

"Ah to hell with it, of course!" Uzume used all her being to yell out her answer. To this Neptune wrapped herself around her now girlfriend. After a brief moment the two broke apart as they continued towards the portal.

As they finally found their way towards the portal that connected to their final destination they made their way through without much event. Appearing on the other end, they only then realized just how long their excursion had taken, as it appeared to be early evening as they arrived. Deciding upon not making and waste they quickly made their way through to Planeptunes Capital city.

Soon thereafter they found themselves upon the Neptower once more. Making their way up the tower they found themselves in front of the entrance to the residential wing.

Uzume gulped as she looked at the door, logically she knew she had nothing to fear. These were her best friends she was talking about, she knew they would accept her with open arms. But still that did nothing to ease her. The thoughts wracked her brain, before she could get too far down, she felt a hand grip her own.

"Cmon, let's go in, we've kept them waiting long enough." Neptune offered her girlfriend a warm smile as she pushed the door open, and made her way to the living area with Uzume in tow.

As soon as they turned the corner, they could see that all of the residents seemed to be gathered in the living room. With Histoire, Nepgear, and Umio sitting with the now arrived IF, and Compa around one of the tables. With Neptune lounging on a beanbag playing on her conole, much deservedly in her mind.

Almost immediately Nepgear noticed the two's arrival, "Uzume!" She yelled out, garnering the attention of everyone present as she ran towards her friend and wrapping her in a hug. "Goodness you had us all worried!" Soon Neptune, Histoire and Umio made their way over to the newly arrived girl as well.

"Ooh? What is that I see? Is that my lovely older selves hand linked with our resident senior CPU's? Neps eye misses no yuri! Way to go, me!" The younger Neptune cheekily pointed.

"Mission success!" The older Neptune managed to chuckle out. However she could sense the growing nervousness in her partner, so deciding to both get a little payback at her younger self, as well as try and ease the mood she started "Now now now, younger me, I seemed to have held up my end of a certain deal. Now if I recall the terms and agreements, you have a certain tsundere to talk to~" Neptune sweetly added.

Quickly the younger Neptune felt the color drain from her face, quickly replaced with a scarlet hue as the reality of the situation took hold. "O-Oh, uh you remember that?" Receiving a wink in response, Neptune sighed, "So I have to somehow get that stubborn mess of pride to finally be honest with herself?"

"Wait, Nepsy, what're you talkin bout?" Uzume, being the only person other than Umio out of the loop, soon voiced her confusion.

"Oh don't worry, my stud younger self just promised that if I wooed my sweety shed go and woo hers~"

"Wait lil Nepsy has a soft spot for someone?" Uzume seemed baffled.

"Aww man do we have to do this here…" The Neptune in question looked as though she wanted to crawl into a hole.

"Sure does, her name was… err what was it again?" Neptune chuckled as she tried to explain.

"Hey! That's like all kinds of rude you know!? Her name is Noire, N-o-w-a-r-u and don't you forget it pal!" Neptune, deciding she had no further pride to lose, double, triple ,and quadrupled down.

"Wow, never thought I'd ever see Nep of all people like this…" IF deadpanned.

"Aww but don't you think they'd be so cute together Iffy?" Compa joined her hands together as she thought it over.

As the conversation soon devolved from there, although quickly the group found it getting quite late, and as such left to their appropriate rooms. Soon Uzume and Neptune found themselves alone in the living room.

Uzume knew the words she needed to ask. She knew very well, after all the whole reason this event started for her was the realization that she couldn't sleep without Neptune by her. Yet even still she couldn't seem to find her voice. Still, she knew that it was something she had to do, and that she had to get herself to be more honest. What good was telling yourself something if you don't even do it?
As she stood, mustering all the courage she could, she turned to her girlfriend, "H-hey Nepsy?"

"Hmm? What's up?"

"You- you uh, gah you wanna sleep in my room?" Feeling a deep blush on her face for who knew how many times at this point today, she asked.

"Hmm, you sure?" Neptune wanted to make sure she was comfortable, despite the fact she absolutely did.

"Y-yea, I couldn't get any sleep last night, Histy said it was some fancy thing that meant I was missin you or somethin," Upon seeing the look on Neptunes face she added, "totally uncool I know"

"I think it's really sweet" Neptune gave Uzume a quick hug, offering her hand, "Cmon Im like way past super tired!" As they began down the hallway, Neptune, having suddenly remembered something important, with an 'Oops!' she quickly disappeared into the living room, reappearing just as quickly. "I forgot my Nep-Note, hey Crosty" She explained as she opened her beloved item.

"I swear to God if tonight I even think I hear you two-"

"Gah! Crosty! I'll get the needles!"

"You're one psycho bitch you know that?" Crorie felt her blood run cold, but shut her mouth nonetheless.

After quickly changing into their nightwear, Uzume and Neptune found themselves in Uzume's bed for the night. Both women were beyond tired at this point, so as the pair cuddled close they found a pleasant sleep spread throughout their consciences, happy smiles visible on their features.

Remember that bit about me just talking with one guy here... yea lol

Keany- Im glad you liked it, I really thought that the kiss scene and Kurome fading were scenes that came out well. I thought itd be interesting to handle Kurome in that way, because she is literally negative emotions personified, so what if someone made her feel loved, and experience joy? Well I thought it was cute at least lol