Summary: Eli and Nozomi return to Tokyo to attend the 15th year reunion of their graduation from Otonokizaka High School.

Reunions are a special occasion, especially between friends who haven't seen or spoken to each other in a while. It gives them the opportunity to share the intimate details of their lives while simultaneously basking in a feeling of nostalgia that reminds them of the simpler days of youth.

Ayase Eli had been spending so much time travelling with her dance group that it had been 18 months since she'd spent any time in Tokyo. And 15 years since she'd spent more than a brief half hour at the Otonokizaka School she had worked so hard to save. Eli frowned. Her wife, Nozomi, would chide her for creating frown lines probably. Eli chuckled.

"Heading straight for the student council room?" Yazawa Nico stepped out of a shadow, large sunglasses, mask, trenchcoat.

Eli shook her head, "I thought you were staying in Numazu."

"My wife…" Nico still sounded so proud when she used that phrase, "decided she wanted to meet me in the music room so she's dropping off the girls at her parents. And I snuck in here. Everyone thinks Nico is too busy."

"Nozomi thought you'd be here no matter what you told the press."

"How is she?"

Eli sighed, "Tired of travelling, I think."

Nico had spent too much time tired of travel to talk about it. "Doesn't seem much smaller. People always say their school seems smaller."

"It's been 15 years." Eli looked around her, "It does seem a little smaller." Eli glanced down at Nico, raising an eyebrow.

"Nico appreciates your not making that joke.

"Nozomi or Maki would do it so much better."

Nico shoved Eli, "Don't be a loser. Where is Nozomi?"

"I don't know. She wanted to surprise me."

"So student council room."

"Probably."

"Maki's waiting in the music room."

"Well, it was nice to see you."

"Bet you make it to the reunion before Nico."

ELi channelled Umi, "I will not be taking that bet, Yazawa. Don't do anything…"

"Shameful?" Nico winked.

"Don't you want to set an example for your daughters?" It was ridiculous to talk to Nico about anything serious when she had that gremlin twinkle in her ruby eyes, but Eli enjoyed their friction.

"They're not here." Nico paused, turning to watch pink cherry blossoms melt into a bold twilight blue, "But everything started here." Nico turned back to the school, bowing. "Thanks for saving it, my friend."

"We all did."

###
"You're late."

Eli knew Nozomi couldn't fit in her high school uniform but here she was, looking fresh from graduation, skirt shorter than regulation, shirt very very form fitting, her hair braided, her green tie matching her sparkling eyes.

"I ran into Nico." Eli kissed Nozomi on the cheek, "Did they take back your diploma?

"No." Nozomi caught Eli in a hug, pulling the taller woman into a nicely comfy chair, "Just got nostalgic. You've been gloomy all week."

"They upgraded the furniture." Eli deflected, patting the padded arm of the leather chair Nozomi had dropped them into. A large desk had replaced the shoved together tables of their era. Eli wondered what the current student council president was like.

"How's Nico?"

"Short." Eli snickered. "And on her way to a private concert."

"They didn't bring the girls?"

Eli shook her head, gloomy again. Nozomi sighed, flexing her fingers, and with a hum, stabbed for Eli's ticklish spots.

"Nozomi…stop it…I…" Eli doubled over, choking out pained laughter.

"Tell me what's wrong, Eli-chi?"

"I can't."

"You can. You have to talk to me, Eli, or I can't help."

Eli broke away from Nozomi. "No, you can't help. We decided not to…and I don't want to push you or force you…"

Nozomi leaned back in her chair. Her cards had been unclear on Eli's mood and Eli had dropped no hints so Nozomi was guessing blind.

"Is this about Tokyo? Do you want to…"

"Of course, it's about Tokyo, Nozomi, everyone we love is in Tokyo and everything we want to do is everywhere else and you don't want children and I don't know how you pack them for the road, even though Nico does, and here we are again, after so many years, so many cities, and it…it still feels like home, and I just feel so…disconnected, unmoored…lost." Tears. Eli's startling blue eyes. So many years fell away and Nozomi was 16 and scared and she knew the only thing that mattered in this world was filling those blue eyes with hope again. Eli was too shy to look at her. "I always thought our daughters would be walking through these halls."

Nozomi was immediately out of her chair, her arms around Eli, holding her so tight, so there was no room for Eli to slip away, no room for more gloom, holding Eli so tight that Eli would feel as anchored as Nozomi always had with Eli's arms around her. Eli relaxed, sobbing into Nozomi's shoulder, "I'm sorry, Nontan."

"It's okay, everything's fine, I love you, Eli."

"I don't want to want what you don't."

Nozomi turned Eli's face gently, so Eli was looking directly at her, "I want that too."

"Nozomi?" Eli stepped back, confused, but Nozomi kept an arm around her waist.

Nozomi laughed, twirling Eli into one of the comfy chairs and falling into the other, "I never told ya, but I never thought Nico would make it, giving up touring, screaming audiences, moving to Numazu, being a mom. I figured she and Maki would eventually hire a nanny or something and go back to the jet set lifestyle, not shuttle between grandparent visits and school vacations. But we've been watching them grow up, and their family grow up, and they're just…" Nozomi inhaled, her eyes never leaving Eli's, "who they've always been. But more. And they love it."

"They do."

Nozomi got quieter, "And they didn't do it alone. No one let them fail, even when Maki was so sick after Ruby was born."

"Yeah."

"I didn't want to have kids just so I wouldn't be alone, Eli-chi. Or kids I would leave."

"You would never do that." Now Eli was leaning forward, sliding her chair closer to Nozomi, her gentle hand sweeping tears off beloved cheeks. "I know you."

And Eli did. She knew everything about Nozomi, every quirk, every nightmare, every fantasy, every failing, and yet still, in those touchstone blue eyes gleamed total adoration.

Nozomi smiled, "I think our child would look like you."

Eli gleamed, "As long as they care about people as much as you do."

"Nico is going to talk our ears off with parenting advice." Nozomi groaned dramatically.

"Maki is going to bury us in toys." Eli said, remembering the roomful of plushies Umi and Kotori came back from the hospital to find after the birth of their son.

"But ours will be the cutest. And the coolest." Nozomi stood, pulling Eli to her feet, lifting her in a spin-hug.

Eli giggled, "We'll start calling Nico a grandma, she'll hate that."

"I like that. Granny Nico." Nozomi put Eli down, stepping closer, eyes serious, Eli feeling a thrill as Nozomi's voice dropped to a low whisper, "But I want to talk about you, Eli-chi, and how you still take all of my breath away."

"Nozomi."

###
Maki had opted for the trendiest little black dress available, playing her way through a mini concert of Muse songs in it surprisingly comfortably. And then Nico offered her arm, Maki took it, and pink suit and black dress resplendent, they walked through the halls, making their entrance into the decorated gymnasium. Nico glancing around, Maki catching the movements.

"Looking for your high school crush?" Maki asked, arching an eyebrow.

Nico rolled her eyes, "Nico will deal with you later. Eli and I had bet."

"About?"

Nico spun, on tiptoe, surprising Maki with a kiss, "Who'd hit the dance floor first. But it's a slow dance. Join me?"

Maki, blushing, nodded, and they drifted easily around the dance floor, the year of their meeting taking up as much of their attention as the fourteen years after, this one night.

A/N: IF Heaven is running another event, where every couple days, a starting paragraph is posted. This one resonated with some NozoEli things I've been thinking about so I hope you enjoy.