Author's note: A one shot I came up with. Happens in the same universe as "Just stay close to me" but reading it isn't required as this is a standalone story. I first thought of it as a third chapter to that, given the title but I changed my mind.

For the love of Bayo x Jeanne!

Bayonetta touched her left cheek and felt it sting when the fingers made contact with the reddened skin.

"Ouch."

"Jeanne must have been pretty mad to slap you." A man wearing a cowboy suit said with a smirk. "Seriously, you witches have totally sharp reflexes, but you didn't get to avoid being slapped?"

Bayonetta couldn't help but heave a sigh. "I wasn't fighting any angels or infernals, Cheshire."

"Seriously, though. What happened?" Luka inquired, handing over a wine glass to the black-haired woman. Taking the wine glass filled with light punch, she then recalled what happened earlier that morning.

"I suppose we could try Japanese food one of these days," Cereza said as she stared at a poster of a Japanese restaurant out on the street. They were on the way to get groceries, which they do together on weekends, usually on Saturday.

"Well, that doesn't seem to be a bad idea. Haven't tried anything Asian ever since we moved here." Jeanne said casually, while pulling out a shopping cart near the grocery store entrance. Cereza stayed close to Jeanne as they walked between aisles, feeling a little apprehensive.

"Cereza," Jeanne sighed in annoyance. She felt the dark-haired witch grip tightly on her arm, like she was some sort of dog not being allowed by its master to walk freely. "What's gotten into you?"

"Just so that people would know you're taken," Cereza said playfully. "And that creepy men wouldn't be prancing around trying to flirt with you."

There had been an incident a few days back, when Jeanne was catcalled and caused Cereza to seethe in anger. She was almost ready to pull out Shuraba and slit the man's throat, but Jeanne stopped her.

"And you almost made a scene that time," Jeanne rolled her eyes as she remembered that moment. Cereza turned away, sulking; her arm not loosing the grip over Jeanne's as they continued shopping.

As they got out the store and walked into the parking area, a group of men whistled and catcalled Jeanne; much to Cereza's annoyance. Jeanne's eyebrow raised to signal Cereza not to mind them, which the latter obliged. The two witches walked past the group of men, however one of the men followed them and got a hold of Jeanne's behind. This in turn caused Cereza's gut to churn and pulled out Scarborough fair, the barrel of the gun touching the creepy man's chin.

"No one said you could touch," Cereza's eyes were filled with anger. The man felt shocked as he saw the madness in the dark-haired woman's eyes. The other men in the group were seen running from the scene, seeing that Cereza had weapons and could fight back.

"Cereza!" Jeanne held onto the raven-haired witch's arm to stop her, as she didn't want to make a scene given that other people might see the commotion. The terrified man ended up running away.

"I told you not to make a scene," Jeanne felt furious.

"And why? Because I am a girl and I can't protect my lover?" Cereza's crossed her arms and felt equal frustration.

"No, it's not like that!" Jeanne shot back at Cereza, trying to make reason that those are human beings, not angels they slay on a regular basis. Cereza held Jeanne's arm tightly, an attempt to get her closer to her side.

"Cereza, are we at this again?" Jeanne was forced to let go of Cereza's arm, which stunned the dark-haired witch in return. She felt awful and...unwanted. She winced at the gesture, and caused pain to build up within her chest. Jeanne turned away to hide her exasperation.

Cereza came close and tried to hug the platinum blonde woman, but the latter struggled.

"Jeanne, I-" Cereza was interrupted by a slap on her left cheek. The dark-haired witch turned her head and saw Jeanne, the shock evident on her face after what she had done.

"Jeanne-"

"Please, Cereza," Jeanne turned away trying to hide her tears. "Just... leave me alone..."

Cereza obliged; she didn't want to make the situation worse and walked away-towards the direction of the bar.

"Maybe you were too overprotective of her," Luka said in a bit of a scolding tone, much to Bayonetta's annoyance.

"And why wouldn't I? She had been dragged to Inferno..." Bayonetta trailed off, remembering how Jeanne risked her life for her, the fear of losing her surfaced for the first time-even though it had been months since that incident.

"Look, I didn't say your reasoning is not valid. It definitely is," Luka's facial features softened as he said this. "As a powerful being, I can understand why you're hell bent in protecting her." The long-haired man took a gulp from his wine glass, then spoke again.

"But, somehow, you gotta trust Jeanne and not let her feel too suffocated. I mean, with you two as the most powerful women I know, I've no doubt Jeanne can take care of herself and you, too."

Bayonetta sighed. Cheshire was right, somehow. Was she being overprotective to the point it felt too suffocating? It's not what she had intended to begin with.

She wanted to make things right: for herself, for both of them. She just had to.

Bayonetta slammed the table, only to find that she left a hefty amount of cash, much to Luka's surprise.

"Consider it my treat, Cheshire," the sound of heels trailed off as Bayonetta walked towards the door. Rodin smirked while cleaning wine glasses from behind the counter. Luka raised his glass as he saw the deadly witch walk out the door.

"Don't worry, Bayonetta! It'd be my treat next time! Just make sure you two have made up!"

Bayonetta couldn't help but grin.

I wonder if Jeanne's home. Cereza thought. Her chest felt a little heavy. What should she say when she enters the door? 'I'm home?' or 'I'm sorry'? Sorry for what, exactly? Cereza wasn't exactly sure how to bring the matter about, nor she had any experience when it comes to normal human things such as arguments. Truth be told, as much as she was experienced in the area of fighting, the only thing she knew was to shoot bullets or slash things with bladed weapons and she'd call it a day.

But this was something new, something she never thought she'd experience despite being a few centuries old. And the wretched stuff was something she never wished to bring up. It wasn't her nature.

She grabbed the card from her purse, took a swipe to unlock the door and let herself in to her home.

Her and Jeanne's home. It always belonged to them.

To her surprise, the house was quiet. She figured Jeanne isn't home yet, which downed Cereza's mood. She took off her red heels, put on fluffy cotton slippers and walked towards the living room.

Surprisingly, there were two tea cups on the low table. The pot was filled with tea, the aroma filled the living room which Cereza found soothing. Cookies and madeleines were on small trays, the smell of them still newly-baked.

Jeanne came out from their shared room, obviously felt surprised when she saw Cereza staring at the table.

"Cereza," Jeanne called out, her tone a little shy and subtle. "You're back."

"Jeanne..." Cereza stood there, wanting to say 'I'm sorry', but the look on her lover's face made her hesitate.

"Cereza, I..." Jeanne couldn't find the words to say. Instead, she poured in a cup of tea and handed it to her...just like how the black-haired witch would after her long work day in school.

Cereza followed Jeanne's lead, sitting on the couch beside her and took a sip from the cup. Moments later, Jeanne spoke, this time a low voice.

"I'm sorry, Cereza..."

"Jeanne...?"

"I'm sorry because I ended up hurting you. I felt really bad about it, because I promised myself not to hurt you ever again..."

Jeanne remembered having to fight Cereza under Balder's mind control. She felt awfully terrible doing things not within her will. And now she had been free, she ended up hurting Cereza again-which made her feel guilty.

Cereza put down her tea cup and scooted closer to Jeanne, draping an arm on her lover's shoulder.

"I should be the one saying sorry, Jeanne." Cereza began, tears welling in her own eyes as she spoke. "I didn't realize I was suffocating you because I'm being overprotective of you..."

The black haired witch rested her chin on Jeanne's head, enveloping her in tight hug.

"I just...felt scared ever since that incident-when you got dragged down to Inferno. You're within my reach and yet... I couldn't protect you."

Cereza pulled away from the hug, her hands held on to Jeanne's cheeks... both of them were crying at this point.

"I didn't realize I've been suffocating you to the point you couldn't breathe, that I didn't trust you. When in fact, you're the only one I trust...that I could lean on. I'm so sorry, Jeanne. Please, for-"

Her rambling was interrupted by a finger on her lips. Jeanne smiled through her tears.

"Shhh. It's okay. I already did. Will you forgive me?"

Instead of replying, Cereza leaned close and kissed Jeanne on the lips. Jeanne kissed her back, lavishing her lover's soft lips. The smell of the tea and the light punch got to her senses, which made her pull away.

"That is just great, you had a drink at the bar and didn't invite me?" Jeanne said in a mocking tone, yet she was smirking.

Cereza chuckled softly. "I needed it to realize a few things." Another kiss, this time long and deep.

After a few moments, they pull away again, both trying to catch their breaths.

"Jeanne?"

"Hmmm?" The white-haired witch replied.

"Slap me when things get out of control like that again." Cereza laced her fingers onto Jeanne's, the latter's face began to show concern.

"But, Cereza..."

"That wasn't a request." Cereza said sternly, but, she found herself suddenly laughing at Jeanne's shocked reaction.

"It's okay, Jeanne. You won't hurt me."

"You idiot..." Jeanne's hand tapped her lover's left cheek, which caused Cereza to wince.

"Ouch..."

"S-sorry." Jeanne leaned in and kissed that spot, trying to soothe it somewhat.

"Well, I can get used to this." Cereza can't help but smirk. "More slapping means more smooches, yes?"

"Oh, fuck off!" Jeanne turned away as if she was sulking, yet a smile crept on her face.

In the end, they both knew what mattered the most: it was each other.

And that's what she wrote. This may have not what I had in mind originally, but the moment I started writing out the scenario it created a story on its own.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this little something.

Toodles! :)