samaqi: Please listen to this song for this chapter, I used AI to generate it and it was pretty good.

watch?v=tXlhM32bQS4

Burgundy Eyes

[Verse] I met you on a rainy day, babe Didn't know what hit me, but I was caught in your gaze Your burgundy eyes, they held a magic spell Got me feeling things I couldn't even tell

[Verse 2] Every time you walk into a room, babe The whole world disappears, it's just me and you I don't know why, but I can't seem to resist The way you make my heart skip a beat, it's like a twist

[Chorus] You're the mystery that's got me feelin' so confused Can't explain this feeling, it's like I'm being used But I don't mind, 'cause it's you, babe, it's you With your magic touch, your burgundy eyes so true

SeeD ceremony's banquet.

"Acma, are you ready?" Trepie #23 called out to her, urging her to join the banquet.

"Not yet! I'm debating whether I should wear these weapons!" Anna replied. "Oh, Hyne, you look stunning!" Acma looked up from struggling with her high heels and noticed Trepie #23 in a bright red dress.

Acma couldn't help feeling jealous of the non-SeeDs who had the freedom to dress up in nice cocktail dresses, while she and others like her were confined to their new SeeD uniforms. Acma appreciated the uniform for showcasing her abilities, but the SeeD uniforms looked undeniably dull compared to the elegant cocktail dresses.

They walked together to the dance floor. The SeeD exam takers greeted each other and engaged in light discussions about the mission before taking turns dancing with the girls. By the third dance, Acma began to regret wearing the high heels, but she knew she had no other option.

And then, she saw him.

Apparently, Zyma didn't tell her that he was back. Why would he anyway?

He seemed to ignore her. Maybe that's what he meant by 'reset'.

He asked Trepie #23 to dance with him first. Then he danced with several S20 classmates whom Acma was sure he had never spoken to before, except during trades. Somehow, he managed to carry out entertaining conversations with them, judging by the laughter of the girls throughout their dances.

He could charm anyone. What a jerk.

Acma didn't have much time to rest between dances. By the time Raddie asked her for a second dance, she found herself too exhausted and declined with the excuse of tasting more wine which she didn't like. It was then that Zyma asked Trepie #23 to dance with him. Again. They seemed to have a serious conversation, not paying attention to perform proper dance moves.

Irritated, Acma turned away, longing for some fresh air on the balcony. Finally, he came to her.

"Last song of the night. Would you like to dance with me?" Zyma's voice came from behind her as she gazed at the starry night.

"No, thanks. I'm feeling disoriented from the wine," Acma replied.

"You're not old enough to drink, right?"

"Who cares? And you know I'm much older than 17. Biologically speaking."

He stood next to her, his eyes fixed on her instead of the night sky.

"You look beautiful today," he complimented her.

"Oh... invite another girl, please. My heels are bleeding," Acma retorted.

Zyma chuckled. "Ointment?"

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"On the house, of course," he added.

She scoffed. If he thought of robbing her first salary after she became a SeeD, she seriously considered breaking his nose.

"But seriously, no more dancing? You can take off your high heels, step on my shoes, and lean on me like a corpse. No need to do anything..."

"A corpse? You compare me to a corpse?" Acma furrowed her eyebrows, but struggling hard not to laugh.

"Come on. If we don't dance together, others would find it weird," he convinced her.

Thinking it would likely be the first and last dance she would have with Zyma, Acma finally gave in and followed him to the dance floor.

Zyma helped her take off her high heels, and he also removed his shoes, which was probably the most gallant thing he had ever done for her. Normally, he even refused to carry her gear. He didn't believe in gentlemanly manners during missions. In fact, he encouraged her to bring only essential items, understanding her tendency to overthink and bring the whole shop if given the chance.

"Your eyes look stunning. Did you put on makeup?" he complimented her.

"Trepie #23 did," Acma replied.

"She's a genius artist. Your burgundy eyes... so true."

"What's with you today? Stop flirting. You just say that to anyone."

"I don't. Who else in this world has these smoky burgundy eyes?"

Elutia... Acma thought of her sister, but didn't want to bring up this heavy topic with Zyma.

"The truth is... it's a torturous process to achieve this smoky effect. This mascara and eyeshadow powder are irritating my cornea like hell," she said.

Zyma chuckled. "You know what I'm going to offer?"

"Eye drops?" she guessed, already chuckling at her own answer.

"On the house," he confirmed.

"Wow. Free ointment and eye drops. What great perks for being a SeeD."

"Take over my shop." He suddenly put a key in her hand. "Use whatever you want."

"What?" Acma was taken aback.

"I bet they'll assign me a long mission tomorrow morning. I won't be able to run the shop. Use it. They won't send you on long missions until you're 17 and a half on paper, correct?"

"I'll stay in the lab and do instructor work," Acma nodded. "But I can't accept this. It's too much responsibility."

"You don't have to maintain the business. Just use any items you want. Share them with your close friends. But please don't sell my GF armories."

"Why don't you give it to Trepie #23 or Shrewdya?"

"Why would I?" Zyma questioned.

Acma shook her head. "This is too much for me."

"You just need to keep the key," Zyma said, his smirk disappearing.

"Okay, fine, if that's all you ask. Don't make me pay back if something gets lost," Acma agreed.

"I trust you. You are a keeper," he smiled again and squeezed her tiny hands.

Urgh... cheesy jerk. Acma exclaimed internally.

"Stop flirting! I'm not used to this, especially coming from you," she exclaimed.

"What? I can't practice my lines on the only girl I know I can't get?" he smirked.

"Fine... Waiting for a big game tonight, huh?"

He didn't correct her.

Pervert jerk.

Burgundy Eyes ← please listen to their theme song :).

"Thanks for the dance," Acma said as the song came to an end.

"Thank you," Zyma replied. "Now, business. I've rewatched the mission footages a couple of times, and there are some things I want to discuss. Do you want to go to your room?" he asked.

People began to leave the dance floor, signaling that the party was coming to an end.

Business? They had just finished the SeeD training. She doubted there was much "business" to discuss all the way back to her room.

She understood what he might be implying, but she couldn't understand why he would choose her—a seemingly unremarkable girl in a proud SeeD uniform—amidst a sea of elegantly dressed cadets.

"Are you… sure?" she asked.

She had a tendency to be vague, a defense mechanism to shield herself from potential embarrassment. Yet somehow, he always managed to grasp her meaning.

"Always. Are you?" he replied, turning the question back to her.

He smiled contentedly as she followed him to her suite. He walked slowly by her side instead of skating as usual. She chuckled internally as this was the first time they walked to her room through the hallway and opened the door, like any normal person on Earth would do. As she keyed in her room, as if he had also realized this, he said, "I can't believe this is the first time you've opened the door for me this way after six months."

"Not even Timeth has come to this room," she admitted.

"There's a first time for everything, A," he said, using her code name, and she couldn't help but blush at how intimate it sounded coming from him.

As they entered the room, she adopted a serious and professional tone, asking, "What's the business matter you want to discuss?"

Taking the signal, he also changed his voice and pulled out the map of their SeeD exam mission. "I want to make sure you won't make this deadly mistake again..."

He vented about what went well and what could have been done better in the SeeD exam.

"You're a magic caster, fine. But you've got to cover your blind spots by moving. If I didn't catch that bullet, you'd be dead before reaching the mansion," Zyma paced back and forth in Acma's room, as if it was his own, a familiar habit of his during their partnership.

"And the decision to let Devie return with four hostages on her own. I don't know, I wouldn't have done that. If there were one or two fake hostages mixed in, Devie would have been in grave danger. I would have assisted the entire group in reaching the exit and called for additional backup. Trepie #23 would have likely been stabbed regardless," he continued.

"That makes sense... when you put it that way," she replied. "I was really concerned about Trepie #23, and Devie could have been killed. Personal matter... I guess I still struggle to keep it separate from business, just like you said," she trailed off and smiled awkwardly.

"Perhaps it's not such a bad thing..."

"Yeah?" she asked, surprised. Then she sensed what he was implying and quickly changed the subject. "Um... is there anything else?"

Zyma hesitated to leave. He was skilled at reading people, especially her, so he couldn't miss that she also didn't want him to go. She had not made up her mind about him yet. She was scared that he was toying with her feelings, that this was just a show he put on, and that if they got too involved, it could lead to danger given their mercenary titles. There were a million reasons to send him out the door, yet only one good reason to let him stay.

"I think we should give it a try. See if we can handle business while being together," he stated clearly.

"What? But... why?" she whispered.

"I honestly don't know," he replied, closing the distance between them. "Whenever I gaze into your eyes, I feel trapped. Being with you is like traveling down a one-way road. I try to turn back, but nothing feels right. I can't explain why... but I can't imagine my life without you being safe. That much I know for certain. We've always been a great team. Why don't we gave us a try?"

He tenderly caressed her hair, their noses nearly touching, anxiously awaiting her reaction.

"But… how about Garden's attachment? Are you not afraid of being used?" she reluctantly asked.

"I don't mind. 'Cause it's you, babe."

After a few seconds of silence without her refusal, their breathing grew heavy. Zyma pressed his lips against hers.

They moaned as he put one hand around her waist and tugged her small figure against him. They slowly moved with her back facing the bed. As the back of her knees reached the side of the bed, she lost her balance due to his gentle push and sat down on the bed. He kissed her lips and used his tongue to search the taste in her mouth.

"Um... Sweet wine."

"Do you have every taste in reverse?" Acma chuckled.

"Are you studying me now? In this moment?"

"Does that work with your vision? Like you said, I'm beautiful, which might mean the opposite."

"I can smell colors… and your eyes… they smell like lavender."

"Oh! I know, I know. You have synesthesia!"

"Whatever, just accept the compliments, nerd. Relax and enjoy. My last order."

They lay down. He applied more pressure from his chest onto hers, intensifying their sensations.

Acma had never kissed anyone before tonight, and the sensation was overwhelming for her. She briefly thought about the possibility of transmitting diseases through kissing. But Zyma's touches quickly made her mind go blank, erasing any scientific nomenclatures from her thoughts.

Acma wasn't sure what would happen next as he began taking off her SeeD uniform. She still had many reservations, but she allowed him, thinking there were more clothing to shield her. Only when he hastily rolled her tank top up from her waist, her consciousness returned.

"No," she said firmly.

He immediately stopped whatever he was doing at her command, making sure she truly wanted to stop by looking at her face illuminated by the moonlight. She quickly pulled her tank top down and crossed her arms around her waist.

After a few seconds of both of them frozen in silence, she stammered, knowing she owed him an explanation. "Um… I'm..."

"It's okay, really," he interrupted. He began to rise back onto his knees, preparing to leave. "You see, my mom always told me…"

She quickly got up and grabbed his hand. "We can still cuddle..."

Not waiting for her to finish, he quickly returned to her lips and cupped her cheeks with both hands, pushing her back onto the comfortable bed.

Noticing her slight frown, he propped himself up on his elbows and asked, "Am I hurting your wings?"

Snapped back to reality by his question, she widened her eyes in shock.

"Yeah, I know," he smiled, content that his intuition had been accurate. "My mom also had wings in her human form. I had a hunch about it already. You always sleep on your stomach whenever you pass out in my room. You always wear a backpack, even when there's nothing inside. You refuse to ditch your cadet uniform, even when it's scorching hot. I remember how you freaked out when the terrorists took away your uniform. And let's not forget that time you walked out on me on that empty beach before ending us because you were afraid that people might see your back. Now I understand another reason why you cried that day, besides me being a carefree jerk," he explained, his smile widening as he resumed kissing her.

She reluctantly returned his kiss this time. "You... you don't think it's... I'm..." she sighed and shook her head, "I asked Timeth to cut them off the moment I found out last year but they keep coming back. I feel like... a monster."

"Oh, poor baby," he reassured her, gently stroking her hair. "I hate that I didn't inherit my mom's cool wings. I bet they look sexy on you if you let them grow. Can I see them?"

She hesitated for a moment but eventually nodded, swayed by his gentle touch. Rolling onto her stomach, she allowed him to roll up her tank top, revealing her shoulder blades.

"They're beautiful. It's actually a good practice to trim them like this to have a strong base," he caressed her back. "You said you've been cutting them for a year? Perfect timing. Let them grow naturally from now on. It'll take a few years for them to reach their full length. I have some special clothing in my room to help conceal them, I have a lot of clients with this concern as well. No one will notice, at least for the next year or two," he put a gentle kiss on her back.

She still felt hesitant. "But I can't hide them forever. What will others think of me?"

"True friends will accept you for who you are. If they choose not to hang out with you because you can fly with your beautiful wings... well, it's clearly their loss."

She chuckled. "How can you always be so positive like that? I wish I could be as bold as you."

"And you will be, babe," he said, pulling her tank top back down into place and turning her head to face him. "I've been with you for six months, and God knows how much you've matured, not just in your skills, but as a person. You've helped me grow a lot too. Can't you see that? I'm so proud of you, babe. You'll go far. Let no one shame you for who you are. Accept your gift and fly high."

She smiled and lightly kissed him on the check. "Thank you, sensei."

He frowned at what seemed like a small reward.

"Quite frugal of you."

She blushed for a few seconds. Then she gave him a quick, chaste kiss on the lips and pulled back with a mischievous smile.

"Better?" she asked.

"Oh, sweet. Like a cherry on top of a giant wedding cake I've been giving you for the past half an hour," he whined with amusement.

"Hey, that's all I can do. I'm underage on paper, remember?" she said, flashing a mischievous smile.

"Of course, always following the rules. Look at what I'm getting myself into," he shook his head. "Out of all the girls out there tonight..."

"It's not too late, you know?" she pretended to pull him away and stood up, but he quickly pulled her back.

"Nah, I'm good here."

They embraced each other and talked about they had been through over the past six months.

"I think the wine got me," she yawned.

"It's late. Sleep tight, babe," he planted a gentle kiss on her head. "Do you want me to leave?"

She wanted him to stay. But knowing he wasn't one to sleep much during the night, it meant he would spend the night watching her sleep.

"Are you going to... sleep when I sleep?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yeah. I can do that. I'll behave," he reassured her. "Do you trust me?"

She buried her head in his chest.

"With all my life."

"Acma! Breakfast is ready!"

It was Trepie #23 and her delicious pancakes calling out to her.

"I'm coming," Acma got up with a yawn.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I wake you up?"

"No worries, I'm already up," Acma looked down. Shirt, check. Pencil dress, check. Legging, check. He kept his word.

"I'll save your breakfast. Oh, there's some leftover salad, too. Come whenever you're ready. I'm heading to Balamb. See you, sweetie!"

"Thanks! You're the best. Love you!" Acma called out.

She quickly found her waist wrapped in a strong arm that pulled her back into bed.

"Sweetie? Love you? And you're always complaining about me and Trepie #23 being too close," Zyma playfully frowned.

"It's different. It's friendship."

"I hope it won't become like our mentorship," Zyma said, landing a quick kiss.

"Didn't you and Trepie #23 go out in the past?" she narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

"Why don't you ask her? I can call her back now for you to ask us once and for all."

"No..."

"Come on. Why do you think Trepie #23 mentioned there's salad in the fridge? You don't eat vegetables for breakfast, right?" Zyma smirked, teasingly pointing out the hint.

Acma's face flushed with realization, and she quickly covered it with her hands. "She... knew you were here? That's why she left?"

"She's my trusted consultant." Zyma gently rubbed her back, finding her reaction endearing. "How cute!"

Acma's embarrassment lingered, but curiosity got the better of her. "Wait... what kind of consulting?"

Zyma chuckled softly. "Just... how not to make you mad."

Acma raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Like?"

"Think twice before saying anything," Zyma explained, nodding appreciatively. "And also... speak your mind. It's kind of contradictory, don't ask me why, I don't get it either. But my girl is happy, so I guess it worked."

She continued to cover her face.

Urghhh… Trepie #23, why are you on his side?

"Anyway, do you want to stay for breakfast? I can make you coffee," she offered, trying to regain her composure.

She had been warned a long time ago by her girlfriends that the morning after making out was always very awkward and it was best to avoid it. She knew she wasn't following any rules by letting him stay, let alone having breakfast.

"I'd love to, but I was just waiting for you to wake up and say goodbye. Cid paged me half an hour ago."

"Cid just got back?"

"To assign missions only, it seems," he replied, putting on his SeeD uniform.

His pager beeped.

"Great… Now it's Xu nagging."

"Don't keep them waiting."

"Anything can wait!" He smiled and gave her a passionate kiss. "Look, babe. I may have to go on long missions from now on. You take care, okay? Don't die in a lab explosion."

"I'm working in a molecular biology lab, not a nuclear reactor!"

"You're so reckless, even a feather could become a hazard."

"I'll be fine, sensei. Go!"

"One more..." He kissed her longer this time, squeezing her body into his.

When they finally parted, he said, "I love you, babe."

He paused to observe her blushing, confirming that she preferred to remain silent and skeptical of his feelings, protective of her own as always.

"There, I said it. I know you're not going to say it now. Keep it. Next time we meet, say it to me."

And he walked backward, seeing her smiling face for the last time before jumping out of the window, making a memorable farewell.

Cheesy jerk.

"You could have used the door, you know?" She leaned over the window and called out to him, not letting him have his cool this time.

He waved to her and blew her a kiss before running away.

"I love you, Z," she murmured.