Haze, Lora and Jin were sat around their campfire as they did; Jin was currently sleeping while Lora and Haze kept watch (even Jin needed to sleep sometimes after all) and were talking to each other about a battle earlier in the day, but Haze's mind had wandered elsewhere. She was thinking about ~Lady Lora~.

Haze didn't ever reveal it, but she loved Lora, much more than she let on. For her whole existence since resonating with Lora, Haze had been very closely attached to her, with everything just feeling better when Lora was near. She felt so often lonely and full of longing when Lora would go out on missions with Jin alone, and she was deeply envious of his clearly greater closeness with her.

She had long attributed this to just her natural instincts as a blade to protect her driver, but more recently, she had come to better terms with her feelings for Lora, realizing they were more than just a blade's normal attachment, but something deeper, and as she felt embarrassed to admit to herself, the feelings were not always fully wholesome either, as she realized when she noticed her thoughts (and indeed her gaze) started to wander to certain places when they bathed together, and when she saw Jin and Lora kissing when they believed they were alone.

But her desires could never become reality, ever. Lora already had her handsome protector and lover, and she presumed Lora perceived her relationship with Haze the same way Haze had for so long; a close, but at best sisterly bond. Not what Haze was yearning for.

Haze stared at Lora, trying to focus on her words, and not quite succeeding. Her face was so close, and she looked so enticing; Haze thought back to a couple of nights ago when she had seen Lora and Jin together, and wondered what that would be like… She had tried to imagine it before of course, but no harm could come of fantasizing about it again…

Before Haze had even noticed, she had leaned in and their mouths had connected.

Her eyes were closed, perhaps out of fear that if she opened them she would wake up from this wonderful dream. Lady Lora's lips were so soft, and warm, just like she always imagined they would be… But it only took a moment for her to come to her senses and remember that this wasn't a dream or fantasy, this was very real, she had actually kissed her lady, not simply imagined doing so. Haze's eyes shot open suddenly with fear and she quickly pulled back. Lora was looking back at her with wide, surprised eyes, and Haze drew her hands up to her mouth with shocked realization of what she had just done.

Her eyes began to water, and with a wavering, quivering voice she whimpered, "I'm so sorry my lady, I…"

She couldn't finish her apology, as tears started streaming down her face and she stood up, turning away and running. She didn't know where, anywhere would do, as long as she didn't have to stand under Lora's surely judgmental and disgusted stare.

"Haze, wait, please come back–"

She couldn't hear Lora's pleas, she could only hear her own blood pumping through her entire body, and the sheer terror flooding her mind. She couldn't even hear her own quiet crying.

She eventually wandered into an unfamiliar alcove, and she sat down on a rock beside the water, which shimmered with the bright moonlight. She leaned forward and held her head in her heads, and finally let out her feelings, in the form of piteous sobbing. I've ruined everything.

She must think Haze was some kind of perverted deviant, to be feeling this way about her, someone that was essentially her twin and practically a sister to her. How could she be so foolish as to actually kiss Lady Lora? Lora would certainly never want to see her again, or let Haze see her either. Lora didn't need Haze anyway, not when she had Jin, her original blade, the one who protected her and always has; the one she loved in every way possible…

She opened her eyes, full of tears, and stared into the clear water of the pond in front of her, with Lora's face staring back. Oh how badly she envied Jin, and wished Lady Lora could love her like she did him; that she didn't have this face and body, so that it would be possible for Lora to return her feelings, or so that at least her soul wouldn't ache with so much longing when she looked at her reflection in the mirror, or the water in front of her now.

But alas, she couldn't change her appearance, or the fact that Lora already loved someone else, and she couldn't change how she had destroyed the relationship they had before–

"Haze, there you are, I was worried about you." said Lora's soothing voice from behind, filled with… Concern? Haze was frozen; why was Lady Lora here?

Lora sat down and wrapped her arms around Haze. "It's okay Haze, it's okay, I'm not mad at you..."

R-really? Haze thought to herself, stammering even in her own mind; perhaps Lora didn't hate her for what she had done, but was instead here to kindly turn her down and explain why they couldn't be together. That would be just like her; kind and affectionate and perfect as always.

But Haze couldn't bear even the most gentle rejection from her Lady Lora; Haze would prefer to have her core crystal torn out and smashed into tiny pieces, rather than her heart. She wanted to be able to keep pretending that one day it could maybe be possible…

Lora still with her arms around Haze, used one hand to stroke her head. "Shhhh, please don't cry, it's all fine."

Ohhh, that feels nice. With the help of Lora's gentle grooming, Haze managed to calm herself enough to stop sobbing, instead only streams of tears remaining. How could it be okay? Haze wondered. "I-I'm so sorry my lady," she forced out in a choked voice. "I didn't mean anything by it, i-it was just an accident."

"I don't believe that Haze," Lora replied, gently as ever, "if it didn't mean anything to you, and it was just an accident, why are you so upset?"

"I-I don't know," Haze lied.

"Haze, please look at me."

Haze slowly pulled out of Lora's grip enough to turn her head to face Lora, and reluctantly looked up with shame at her wonderful face, which bore a slight smile paired with loving worry in her eyes. "Tell me the truth Haze, how do you really feel about me?"

She averted her eyes nervously from Lora, replying "You're–"

"Look at me." Lora reminded her.

Haze turned her eyes back to Lora's beautiful golden ones; so pretty, she could get lost in them for hours… But then she remembered she was supposed to talk.

"Y-you're my driver, I just want to p-protect you, and h-help yo-"

"Haze, the truth." Lora warned.

Haze gulped, and then whispered, "C-can't we just pretend this never happened? We can go back to the way things were…"

"No Haze," Lora replied. "I don't think either of us wants that, or am I wrong?"

What Haze wanted right now was to not have to humiliate herself and expose her feelings about what she wanted. There was really going to be no way out of this, was there? "C-can I please have a m-moment to–"

"Of course Haze, just take a deep breath and calm yourself…"

Haze slowly breathed in, and then out again as she closed her eyes for a moment, and then re-opened them, with a renewed stream of tears.

"I l-love you Lady Lora!" Haze cried. "I w-want to spend more time with you, and be c-close to you, and hold your hand, and k-kiss you, and touch you! I want to be your lover, not just your blade…" Haze sobbed, finally baring her heart to Lora, and looking down again because looking into her golden eyes as she confessed was just too hard to bear. "A-and I know it's wrong, I'm so stupid and s-selfish, and perverted to want that, and I'm s-sorry Lady L-Lora! I'm s-so sorry!" she bawled as she buried her head into Lora's shoulder, tears wetting the sleeve. "Pleeease forgive me my lady!"

Maybe if she begged she could at least be allowed to stay, even if it would forever be at arms length.

Lora grabbed Haze by the shoulders and pulled her away so that they could face each other. She smiled kindly, with sympathy-induced dampness in her own eyes. "Thank you Haze, for being honest with me." She brought a hand up to cup Haze's cheek and wipe away a tear.

"And there's no reason for you to be sad, I love you too."

Haze sniffled. "W-what?" What did she just say?! No, that can't be; surely she's just misunderstanding a statement of a normal, platonic, decidedly non-romantic love. Haze replied, voice wavering as ever "L-Lady Lora, what do you mean? I d-don't understand…"

Lora decided to respond with action rather than words, and this time she was the one to initiate a kiss, deep and passionate rather than practically accidental and brief, and it was oh so sweet Haze thought, as they clasped their hands together.

This must be a dream. Haze thought to herself. Oh please don't let me wake up yet…

Finally, after around a minute, the pair pulled away from one another, panting lightly, though Haze was certainly affected more by it.

"Do you understand what I mean now Haze?" Lora asked softly, soothingly. Haze nodded in response.

"L-Lady Lora, p-please tell me this is real?" Haze pleaded. "Say I'm not dreaming…"

Lora laughed, "It's real Haze, but if you don't believe me–"

She suddenly pinched Haze on the arm, prompting a brief "ow" from her, and laughter from both of them. Lora always knew how to lighten the mood. When their laughing finally settled down with a sigh, Lora had a question. "Haze… Why were you apologizing earlier? I know you were afraid I wouldn't return your feelings, but even then, why would you need forgiveness for having them?"

Haze felt self-conscious suddenly. "Because… I… I thought you saw me like a sister. And that you and Jin were together already. Me wanting to be with you could make things complicated between you two, even if nothing actually happened…"

Lora clarified. "No, that's not how I felt about you Haze, don't worry about that. And it's true, me and Jin are together, but we've talked about this before, he wouldn't mind, not if it's you."

Haze blushed. Had they really talked about that sort of thing? About her?

"In fact," Lora grinned mischievously, looking over her shoulder briefly, "don't tell him I said so, but I think he very much liked the idea of sharing me with you, if you know what I mean…"

And with that, the blush deepened intensely, which Lora found absolutely adorable. Even though she usually defended Haze from it, she very much understood the appeal of mercilessly teasing the poor girl.

"My Lady… Can we stay here for tonight, just the two of us?" Haze nervously asked, leaning into Lora's shoulder, still looking into her eyes. "It's warm tonight, so we won't need a fire…"

"Of course." Lora replied, gently stroking Haze's head again.

And so the pair sat on the rock, watching the shimmering water as they fell asleep, Jin naturally coming by to keep watch over them and make sure they were safe. He didn't show himself however. Better to let Haze have this night, he thought with a smile. She deserves it.