"Alright, open your eyes."

"Okay..."

Pieck had promised Zofia a surprise, something that was "better than a sleepover" according to her. Zofia had no idea what to expect, and when she opened her eyes she didn't quite know what she was seeing. Pieck was holding up a set of documents, dense with Marleyan legalese, as well as two purple armbands, each bearing a decal of a howling wolf.

"...what is it?"

"This is what's known as an '2nd-Grade Unsupervised Hunting and Roaming Pass'"

"Which means?"

"Which means that we're going on a field trip~"

The smell of the pines made Zofia unbelievably happy. It was a smell she hadn't experienced in a very long time, since her first and only ever time outside of Liberio. Her mother and father had saved up for 5 months just to afford a "Supervised Trail Band", which allowed them all to go on a small hike for a weekend in the forests outside of the city. It had been pretty underwhelming, and they were followed at all hours by two chain-smoking Marleyans, but she was young so those memories were still fond ones. But this was on a completely different level. She would keep on closing her eyes and deeply inhaling, trying to breathe in as much of that lovely, earthy smell as she could manage.

Pieck was clearly very happy too. Zofia would turn and see Pieck gazing up at the trees, staring in awe at them like she'd never seen one before. When she would notice Zofia looking at her, she would blush and they would both laugh. Pieck had been out here a few times before, but not enough that its beauty ceased to amaze her. Nature can never truly cease to amaze, if you love it enough. Paradis had been even more beautiful, Pieck told her, but there had been no time to enjoy it's beauty. Zofia wondered if she'd ever get a chance to see Paradis, too...

They weren't out here just to sightsee, however. This was still a training mission, and neither girl intended to slack off. They walked around 40 miles on the first day out; a distance that might've killed Zofia a few months ago, but now she could do it easily. Back in the academy they had moved up to full-marathons, and Zofia had recently managed to get her time under 3 hours, now a full 30 minutes ahead of any competition. It felt good, to go from being a scrawny teenager into someone who was now starting to develop real muscle. And hiking up into the mountains above Liberio made those muscles burn, a joyous burning that made Zofia feel strong and adult and wonderfully powerful.

It felt nice, to be stronger.

There was another reason that Zofia was so overjoyed to be out here in the wilderness. She was on the hunt. She was looking for a certain, very special type of bird; a blue crane. Pieck hadn't thought much of it when she'd shown her photos of it from her bird-watching magazines, but Zofia had assured her that she'd change her mind if they ever saw it in person. She kept staring out into the plains below the mountain trail, watching the tall-grass sway rhythmically in the breeze like a great ocean of greenery. It took a few hours, but eventually Zofia spotted the distinctive plume through her binoculars.

"Look! Look! Over there!"

She couldn't contain her excitement, stimming with her arms by flapping them up and down. Pieck stopped and came over to her.

"What is it?"

"The cranes I showed you earlier! There's a whole flock of them over there!"

Pieck took a look through the binoculars, then immediately started making her way down the mountain.

"Come on, let's go!"

"But... what about the trail?"

Pieck turned, with that wide, happy smile covering her face. The smile Zofia had come to adore.

"Zofia, you've been talking about these birds all day.
Come on, let's go see if we can't get a little closer~"

PIECK'S POV

As it turns out, they were able to get much closer. They waded through the ocean of grass until suddenly they were less than 100m away from the cranes. She had never seen Zofia so excited; she acted like these strange blueish birds were famous celebrities that she'd suddenly spotted on the street. And as they got closer, she understood why Zofia was so enamoured. These birds were almost ridiculously elegant, to the point that they didn't even look real. Every movement they made, every feather on their coat, every gently flap of their wings, all of it seemed like it had intricately planned out by some great, unseen artist.

"...in a couple of months they'll all migrate down to the wetlands, closer to the river, because..."

Zofia spoke in whispered tones, trying not to startle the cranes but also struggling to contain her pure joy. Pieck was distracted. These beautiful birds reminded her of something, and she was struggling to think of just what that thing was. Then it hit her. It was obvious.

"They remind me of you, Zofia."

"...because they- Huh? They do?"

"The colours of their coat. That silvery-blue tint they have. It reminds me of you,
the way your hair compliments your eyes. I don't know how to describe it, it's just..."

Pieck turned back towards the cranes, watching as their heads bobbed up and down out of the yellowing grass.

"...beautiful."

Pieck didn't have to look at Zofia to know that she was blushing. She felt bad that she had to resort to this, that she couldn't just tell Zofia that she was beautiful to her face. Honesty had been beaten out of her. She wasn't the girl she was 6 years ago, she was no longer brave enough to declare her love to the world. But she wanted to. She wanted to tell her so badly. To shout out into the savannah, screaming "I love you, Zofia Reitsch!". But she couldn't. The moment passed. The majestic blue cranes all eventually took off, flying away and out to greener pastures in the lowlands. And Zofia and Pieck made their way back to the trail.

ZOFIA'S POV

The sun eventually fell behind the mountains, and the plains below them seemed to vanish into the darkness. Zofia wasn't used to such all-encompassing night. She had a new-found appreciation for the streetlamps of Liberio, with their ugly blue glow, for any light at-all was surely better than the total absence of it. But, as scary as the darkness was, the scariness was worth it, because it meant she could now see the stars.

Not the tiny pinpricks of light that you could see from Liberio, but whole constellations and galaxies and planets. Zofia had always been confused when people talked about constellations, she could never seem to piece together these dim little dots in the sky, but now she could see them with incredible clarity. It was spectacular. Pieck showed her patterns that were supposed to represent Eldian gods and goddesses, and even some that were supposedly shaped like the founding titans. She could kinda make out the Colossal Titan constellation, wearing it's belt of stars and holding its arms up triumphantly. But, no matter how hard she squinted, she still swore that the Cart Titan constellation was just a bunch of random lines and shapes.

"Oh, I see how it is~"

They both laughed. Despite the complete lack of sun it was still quite warm, so the two were laying on-top of their sleeping bags gazing up at the stars. Zofia felt the fluttering feeling that she usually got in her chest when she was able to spend an intimate moment with Pieck. But it felt different, somehow, like the fluttering was calmer. It was a much more pleasant sensation, no longer bordering on over-stimulation. She was able to actually relax now. And as she relaxed, on the precipice of sleep, she started thinking back to the past. What a strange set of events had occurred these past 6 months.

"Hey Pieck."

"Yes Zofia?"

"I'm... I'm so glad I met you."

Pieck turned over onto her side, her hair flopping over her face.

"I'm glad I met you too, Zofia."

"I remember, when I first met you, I felt so... bewildered.
I'm not sure how else to describe it. Meeting this strange,
quadrupedal woman, galloping like horse towards me,
then finding out that she was my new tutor."

Pieck laughed, remembering how silly their first interaction was.

"Were you intimidated?"

"No, not at all, I was, just, completely and instantly captivated.
Somehow I immediately knew that this was someone special,
someone that I desperately wanted to know more about."

Zofia turned from looking at the stars, now staring back at Pieck.

"I remember...
I remember looking at you on that day,
and being astonished at how beautiful you were...
like an overgrown garden... bursting with life..."

It was dark, but there was just enough moonlight for Zofia to make out Pieck's features. That beauty hadn't faded one bit, it had only bloomed and blossomed into something even more spectacular. Zofia began to feel something very peculiar. Maybe it was the thin mountain air. Maybe it was the full-moon that hung overhead. Maybe there was something in the stars. But whatever it was, it made Zofia feel suddenly brave. She knew that now, under this wild and wonderous sky, was the perfect time to ask.

"Pieck, I've been thinking about something.
I've been thinking about it for a long, long time now.
And I might be wrong, because I've never felt this way before.
And you might not feel the same, which is obviously okay, of course.
But it's gotten to the point where I can't go on, not without knowing if you feel the same way.

Pieck, I'm...

I think I'm...

in love...

with you..."

Zofia waited anxiously for a response. The moon illuminated Pieck's face, and suddenly Zofia could see tears, rolling down her cheeks and reflecting the serene, silver moonlight. But just as she was about to apologise, she saw the widest, happiest smile she'd ever seen from Pieck. Her voice was shaky when she spoke.

"Oh Zofia, you're so much braver than I am."

She embraced Zofia, wrapping her arms around her tightly, laying on-top of her. She was sobbing now, but when she spoke it almost sounded like she was laughing too. Like she was experiencing far too many emotions at once.

"I've been in love with you since the moment I met you.
I was just far too scared to ever say."

Zofia was crying too now. But they were tears of pure, unbridled joy. The night rolled on and they both kept crying, both kept whispering "I love you" over and over again, both embraced and delighted in eachothers warmth, until eventually the 30 mile hike caught up with them and they fell asleep in eachothers arms.