Promises Woven in Red and Gold

So here we are at the end. I hope the last chapter is a good one. And I hope you all like it!

Part 7: Red and Gold

Prompt: Relax

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Red

The sun was just starting to tinge red when Faye made it back to their apartment. As she stepped inside, she tossed her bag onto the nearby table.

"Celica, are you home?" she called. "Sorry, work kept me back late again."

There was no response, not that she really expected one. She glanced out the window. Perfect weather for an evening walk. She could hardly blame Celica for deciding to head out today.

Still, Faye couldn't quite shake off the odd feeling of loneliness at coming back to an empty home. It was funny how quickly she'd grown used to Celica moving in and sharing the apartment with her. Her gaze fell upon Celica's latest work, still half-done and she paused for a moment to admire the pastoral scene that had started to take shape under her brush.

And then she realized that there was a folded note on the kitchen counter alongside a plastic box. Faye smiled to herself as she walked over and unfolded the piece of paper.

Decided to take a walk. Made some sandwiches in case you weren't able to get dinner on the way home. See you later. Love you!

The tiny, thoughtful gesture was still enough to make Faye's smile widen as she clutched the paper to her chest and looked down at the food that Celica had prepared for her.

And then, she turned to glance at the clock on the wall and she quirked an eyebrow. If her guess was correct...

Grabbing the box, she turned and headed out the door once again.

Fifteen minutes later, Faye strode along the pathways of the park, and her pace quickened as she caught sight of a familiar figure relaxing along one of the park benches.

Soon she was near enough for the sound of her footsteps to reach Celica, and as she looked up, her eyes widened for a moment before she tilted her head and gave Faye a knowing smile.

"You didn't have to rush out here, you know that?"

"Of course not!" Faye smiled at her. "But I wanted to! And I knew you'd be around this area so I'd be able to find you easily."

"I'm that predictable, am I?"

"I prefer to call it 'reliable'." Faye settled herself on the bench beside Celica and pried open the lid of the box. "Do you want the cucumber or the tuna?"

"Cucumber is fine." Celica accepted the offered food and for a moment the two of them simply ate their food in comfortable silence.

Faye swallowed the last bite of her own sandwich and nodded her head. "Yup! This is definitely way better than eating dinner at home on my own!"

"Oh, were you lonely?" The question was casual, but by now Faye could read Celica well enough to tell that she had tensed up ever so slightly, and Faye resisted the urge to sigh.

"It's not your fault." She slumped back against the bench, feeling the wooden slats press into her back. "What with our planned expansion of the daycare our working hours are all jumbled up now and I guess our schedules aren't so neat anymore." She was silent for a moment before she let out her breath in a sigh. "But yeah, I guess I still don't like coming back to an empty house."

"... I could wait at home for you if you'd like."

"No, don't." She had a frown now. "The last thing I want is for you to miss out on something you enjoy for my sake."

For a moment, neither of them spoke. And then Celica reached over and intertwined her fingers with Faye's.

"Are you worried about something, Faye?"

"No," she said automatically.

Celica merely raised an eyebrow.

Faye sighed and slumped. "... Yes. Kind of." She leaned against Celica, and closed her eyes with a smile at the comforting warmth of her lover. "I just... feel like I haven't been able to do much for you lately. I'm always so tired at the end of the day. I don't want you to feel neglected, you know."

She felt Celica plant a kiss against her forehead, and despite herself a thrill ran through her body at the touch. "If something like that is bothering you, then please, talk to me about it. I'd be more than happy to let you know my side of things, and to offer support."

"It's silly." Faye didn't like to think about burdening Celica with her petty fears and worries, and so instead she closed her eyes and focused on enjoying the feeling of Celica being so close to her. "You don't need to get involved with my own hangups."

"I know. But I want to." She could hear the smile in Celica's voice as she turned Faye's words back at her. "We're in this together. And if you have any fears or doubts, no matter how small or silly you think they are, well, then I'll be more than happy to ease them for you. After all, that's a perfect opportunity for me to pamper you and spoil you rotten."

She snorted. "You do that anyway."

"Even moreso, I mean," Celica said with a small chuckle, and Faye luxuriated in how that sound seemed to make the whole world seem just a little bit brighter.

Faye sighed, the sound a mixture of contentment and wonder. "What did I ever do to deserve you?"

"Hm, let me see. Well, eight years ago, you happened to notice a lonely little girl sitting by the roadside and you decided to go over and cheer her up. That was a pretty good start." She felt Celica reaching over to stroke her hair in slow, gentle motions. "And so, my dearest Faye, what would you have me do to make you feel all better?"

Faye cracked her eyes open again and looked up at Celica. Her face was bathed in the warm golden light, framed by the her long curls of hair that seemed to catch the rays of the setting sun to glow with an inner fire. Her smile was radiant, and Faye felt her heart flutter at the sight. At times like these, she felt like she was falling in love with Celica all over again.

"Can we stay like this?" she murmured, her voice barely rising above a sleepy whisper. A comfortable warmth seemed to have seeped into her bones, weighing them down and making it impossible to even contemplate the idea of getting up and moving. "Just for a little while longer?"

Movement, and she felt Celica's head resting against hers. "But of course."

And so the two of them remained there, watching as the sun slowly sank into the horizon, staining the landscape a brilliant red.

Life was good.

Gold

"Sorry I'm late guys. Anything happen yet?" Gray said as he settled into the seat beside Celica, giving her a tiny nod hello as he did so.

"Oh, nothing much," at Celica's other side, Faye shrugged and pointed. "I was just asking Kliff what time his flight will be."

"And I was just about to tell her that it's five hours from now," Kliff glanced down at his watch. "Plenty of time. Especially since we chose a restaurant so close to the airport."

"True enough," Gray glanced out the window. "So, excited?"

"Hm," Kliff leaned back in his chair, one hand idly twirling a lock of his hair. "To be honest, I'm feeling a fair amount of apprehension. To be granted a scholarship to such a prestigious school as Altea National University is a high honour. I'll have to work hard to live up to the expectations set for me." A slight smirk graced his features. "Of course, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited. I never had much chance to travel before, and now... heh. Talk about the world being my oyster."

"Well when you come back with your fancy Master's degree don't forget the rest of us little guys who helped you make it to the top, yeah?"

"Oh, rest assured I'd never forget any of you." Kliff let the smirk linger for a moment. "No matter how hard I try."

"Oh, come on!"

A round of laughter as the waiter came over to ask if they were ready to order, and the next hour was spent eating and reminiscing about the many escapades they had gotten to over the years. And after that was a slow leisurely walk towards the airport.

And then it was time for Kliff to enter the departure hall, and as they gathered around him, Faye clapped her hands together.

"All right everyone, I made some going away presents just for this occasion! Kliff, hold out your hand."

He raised an eyebrow but complied, and Faye quickly tied a colourful woven cord onto his wrist.

"A... friendship bracelet?" Kliff raised an eyebrow as he held it up to his face to get a better look. "Well, it's certainly up to your usual standards of craftsmanship."

"And that's not all! This one has a special design!" Celica had to smile. Faye was so excited she was practically bouncing on her feet. "See that little tab? If you pull on it, you can pull out a longer piece of cloth! I sewed a special message onto it, just for you!"

As Kliff did as instructed, his usual sceptical expression faded into a smile of genuine fondness. "'No matter how far the roots of a tree spread, they will always remain connected.' Isn't that a scripture verse?"

"Maaaybe. But it's also something good to remember, isn't it?"

"I suppose." Kliff nodded once. "My thanks, Faye. I'll be sure to treasure it."

"I know you will. Oh yeah, I decided to make one for everyone too! Here, Gray this one's yours..."

As Faye busied herself with handing out her handmade gifts, Celica had to smile at Faye's overflowing enthusiasm that she always had whenever she got the chance to share her handiwork.

In fact, she was so amused that it took her a moment to realize that Faye hadn't given a bracelet to her.

She blinked once, then quickly shook her head. No, she probably intended it to just be something shared among her childhood friends after all.

And so she shoved that thought to the back of her mind as she joined the others in bidding Kliff farewell.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Celica asked as she closed the door to their apartment behind her.

"Oh, it's nothing much." Faye stood in the middle of the room, arms folded and an expression of contemplation on her face. "I just... well, Kliff's gone now."

"Not forever." Flicking the lights on, Celica walked over and embraced Faye from behind. "And I know Gray and Tobin were already floating ideas that we could all go visit him in Archanea once we can all arrange a few days of leave at the same time."

"I know, but it's still..." Faye sighed leaned back into Celica's embrace. "I guess I still like to look back at the past a bit more than I should."

"Well, just so long as you continue to move forward too. And I'll be there to prod you along, don't you worry."

"Thanks." Faye smiled at her before her eyes twinkled with something like mischief and she pulled away. "And on that note, was my imagination playing tricks on me or were you just a little upset I skipped you over in the gift-giving?"

Celica felt her eyes widen for a fraction of a second before she was smiling and shaking her head. "It was no bother, Faye. It was something meant to be shared between your childhood friends, wasn't it? After all, I wasn't even able to confirm my attendance at the farewell gathering until earlier today."

"You mean you're not the least bit put out. At all?" Faye was definitely teasing her now, and so Celica put a tolerant smile on her face.

"All right, for the sake of argument, let's say I was. And what would you do about it?"

"Well, it's true that I thought about making one for you too. But then making those bracelets took too long, and so I had to settle for buying you something instead." An affected sigh came from her girlfriend as she patted her handbag and Celica found herself with a smile on her face.

"Well, don't leave me in suspense. What did you get me?"

There was a moment of hesitation, and Celica realized that Faye was dreadfully nervous all of a sudden. Before she even start pondering the reason behind that, Faye had dipped her hand into her handbag and pulled out -

A small, red box lined with velvet.

Celica could have sworn she felt her heart stop.

"After all, you're..." Faye swallowed once as she held the box out to her, "far, far more than a friend to me."

With a flick of her fingers, Faye had popped the box open, revealing a gleaming golden ring with a shining red gemstone set in the middle.

Celica opened her mouth and closed it again, unable to find the words to say anything.

"I thought about asking earlier, but... well, I didn't want to put you on the spot in public or anything, so... Celica?" Faye's brow furrowed as she apparently realized Celica had yet to say or do anything in response. "Um... is anything the matter?"

"This is..." Celica finally found her voice, weak and quavering as it was. "This isn't... No!"

She could see Faye's eyes widen and start to quiver and she was instinctively retracting her arm, but Celica had already dashed to her handbag and yanked it open. Digging around, she reached for the inner compartment she had kept sealed for the past week and brought out her own ring box, only hers was a deep navy blue.

"I was supposed to ask you!"

For a moment, neither of them moved, simply staring at the other and the box they were both holding. And then the sheer absurdity of the situation crashed down onto both of them, and Celica found the both of them doubled over, howling with gales of laughter.

A little later, when they had managed to calm down a little, Faye wiped tears of mirth from eyes and gave Celica a crooked smile. "So... is that a yes?"

And Celica found that she had launched herself at Faye without being aware of it, and she was holding her close and twirling around their apartment. Her tears continued to flow, only this time she was smiling through them instead of laughing. "Yes," she said into Faye's ear, arms wrapped as tight as she could manage. "Yes, yes, yes! A thousand times, yes! I love you, Faye. You've made me – oh, I'm the happiest woman on the planet, right now."

"I thought that was me. In fact, I'm pretty sure it is."

"Oh, who's counting?" Celica closed her eyes and sighed into Faye's hair. "I'm just – I was waiting for the right time to ask, and then you go and pull this-!"

"... Well, at least we're on the same wavelength." Faye gave out a long, satisfied sigh of her own as her arms coiled around Celica..

A little later, they found themselves on the couch, coming down from their emotional high. Celica sighed and sank back, idly stroking Faye's hair.

"Would you look at that," Faye said as she held her hand out. "The ring you bought for me has a ribbon design on it."

"I thought it was appropriate." Celica raised an eyebrow and raised her own hand to observe her ring too. "And I noticed the red gemstone on my ring looks remarkably like the pendant I gave you."

A chuckle was shared between the two of them, and then Faye slumped closer, letting her head rest on Celica's shoulder.

"... Celica?" The soft murmur of someone who was already half-asleep.

"Mm?" She was finding it harder to gather her thoughts too. Well, it had been a long day.

"I love you. So much."

"I know. And I love you too."

Faye offered her a content smile before her eyes slid shut.

Celica glanced at the clock on the wall, gave a mental shrug, and leaned against Faye, closing her eyes, and letting the gentle rhythm of Faye's breathing lull her to slumber as well.

Tomorrow was another day.

Story End

Author's Notes: The first half of this chapter was the idea I had that spun out of the prompt for 'relax', and the second half was spurred by another prompt from some blog that gives prompt ideas, and I can't even remember it now. Basically the whole 'friendship bracelets, someone gets left out and feels a little put out, character who made friendship bracelets reveals the ring instead' thing.

Story Post-Mortem: Well, writing this story for Rarepair week has been a unique, exhilarating, and wonderful experience that I absolutely do not want to repeat any time in the foreseeable future.

Seriously, cranking out a 20K word story over 10 days (more or less) while following prompt ideas chapter to chapter and sticking to a set chapter count turned out way harder than I thought it would be when I first started this story.

Well, it is what it is. I hope all you readers enjoyed reading this. I mostly enjoyed writing it a whole lot! And as always, comments and critiques are most welcome.

And, after this, we'll move back to more regular updates to 'A Road Less Travelled', where the upcoming chapter is going to involve a significant amount of Faye and Celica yelling and getting angry at each other. Oh I can hardly wait.