A/N- Yup. A Pokémon game came out. Hence the long gap between chapters. No one is surprised.
Anyway, I'm back, with a few more chapters to share. Probably a week or so between uploads for them, unless life happens, as it does. But let's not worry about that right now. Commence the fluff!
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Anyone who'd ever gotten onto a roller coaster for the first time would probably have a good feel for just how Carmella's night was going.
The entirety of the walk back from her talk with the chieftains daughter, she had been overflowing with anxiety. It was a lot like waiting in line to get on some terrifying ride for the first time. Seeing what was waiting for her on the horizon, the multiple loop de loops on the track, watching the cars zip around on them like a blur, hearing the screams of the people already on the coaster, it all left an overwhelming feeling of dread sitting like a rock in the young rabbit girls stomach.
To Carmella's complete lack of surprise, her feelings did not improve upon returning to her hotel room. Those four walls around her had the rabbit faunus feeling trapped, like finally getting to the front of the line, onto the ride, only to be plopped into an uncomfortable plastic seat with an even less comfortable bulky safety harness folded down over your torso, locking her in place. At that point, there was nothing to do but prepare for the inevitable.
Then came the waiting, the sitting around, trying to occupy your mind with other things. Carm did her best to keep busy, she'd bought a small kit to keep Carrot Stix clean, at Ilia's behest, and proceeded to polish the pair of tonfa until they reached an almost obnoxious level of shininess. It was a nice distraction, but completely overshadowed by the still growing anxiety in Carmella's chest. Eventually the rabbit girl resorted to pacing back and forth across her hotel room's carpeted floor.
Then, oddly enough, came a bizarre feeling of optimism. It was like the roller coaster had started to move, traveling up and up as it was pulled into the sky. It let Carmella sort of come to terms with the situation. After all, there was nothing Carm could do to stop Blake now anyway. Soon the cat girl would be revealing the rabbit eared teens treacherous behavior, telling Ilia about Carm's conversation with Blake regarding the spotted faunus herself. It was out of her hands, so there was no point in worrying about it really. Besides, maybe it wouldn't be so bad?
Unfortunately, all those optimistic and hopeful thoughts died the second the coaster reached it's peak and looked out over the top of that first downward plunge.
It happened just as Carmella was starting to convince herself that maybe, just maybe, she'd dodged the bullet, that her strangely fickle semblance had decided to spare her from the consequences of her actions, but then the coaster dropped her, and the ride truly began.
First came the fear, like thousands of tiny, icy cold, knives traveling down her spine and stabbing into her stomach. The sudden rush of emotions made the young rabbit girl gasp loudly as she clutched her chest, her legs nearly giving out beneath her. Luckily, Carmella managed to stabilize herself on a small cupboard in one of the corners of her room, propping herself up on an elbow as her body battled against feelings that weren't her own.
The sensation was just as inexplicably freaky as it had been the last few times. There was no reason for Carmella to actually be afraid, she knew that, the rabbit girl was safe and sound in her hotel room, and yet, every synapse in her brain screamed at once that something was wrong. It wasn't just any kind of fear either, there was also a hint of panic in it as well, producing a cocktail of emotions that had Carm feeling like she'd been cornered, like something she'd kept hidden and had been running from for years had finally caught up with her. That combination of feelings pretty much destroyed any lingering, comforting doubt the young faunus had about being off the hook for her earlier mistakes. It was obvious to Carmella now that Blake had spoken to Ilia.
But her terrifying ride had only just begun. Just as quickly as the fear struck Carmella, she felt it immediately become overshadowed by another, stronger emotion; anger.
As previously stated, the rabbit faunus would never consider herself an angry person, stubborn? Maybe, but never overtly angry. She'd fight for something if she had to, and if something felt wrong or unfair, she'd speak up against it, but Carmella would always rather talk things out, or forgive and forget, than throw a punch, or get into a screaming contest, and that just made the red hot rage she suddenly felt all the more terrifying.
It was like Carm just couldn't keep herself still. Where the fear had nearly thrown her to the ground, paralyzed her, the burning feeling that'd swelled in her chest and stomach made the young rabbit faunus want to get up and move around. She walked back and forth across the cheap carpet the covered the floor. Carmella was surprised she didn't leave a scorched trail in her path as she fumed. Her knuckles were white from her tightly balled fists, and her teeth were clenched to the point Carm worried she might do permanent damage.
Speaking of damage, the feeling was also accompanied by the overwhelming urge to punch something... or perhaps, someone? It was all frightfully unclear to Carmella what she was supposed to do with these emotions. More than once the rabbit girl had to keep herself from trying to leave her hotel room, the last thing she needed was to take this horror show on the road.
Truthfully, the whole ordeal didn't go on for particularly long, but it felt infinitely longer to the poor rabbit faunus. The whiplash of emotions alone had her brain doing cartwheels to catch up, but it wasn't the worst part. What was worse was Carmella knowing that she was the cause of these emotions. The things Ilia was feeling right now, they were result of the long eared faunus' choices. Even worse than that though, was the fact the rabbit girl knew that at least some of this anger she felt vicariously through her spotted friend was squarely directed at her.
However, somewhat ironically, the only reason Carmella made it through any of this at all was thanks to Ilia. As she laid sprawled out on her bed, her fingers digging tightly into the sheets covering it, that was when the rabbit girl remembered the breathing exercise the chameleon faunus had taught her during their shared panic attack in the mall's dressing room earlier. So the brunette girl started counting backwards slowly, breathing in time with each number in an attempt to clear her head. It worked... mostly, in the same sense one could stop a hose from spraying water by bending it in half. The emotions were still there, pounding at the door, but at the very least Carmella felt like she could more easily tell the difference between Ilia's feelings rushing through her mind and her own panic. It helped to bring a bit of order to the chaos, and let the distressed faunus calm down a bit.
Then, just as quickly as it had started, the foreign emotions were cut off again. Carmella still had no idea how her semblance worked, but somehow she must have hit an off switch somewhere, or maybe it'd just stopped on its own? There was really no way for her to tell. Regardless, she was grateful for the moment of relief the silence in her head brought.
"That... sucked..." Carmella said to herself as she laid in bed, her limbs sprawled out so that the rather small rabbit girl was taking up most of the large mattress.
She was beginning to regret ever unlocking her stupid semblance in the first place, especially if it was going to give her this much trouble. It felt like she'd just run a marathon. Ilia and herself might not have done any actual, physical, training today, but she felt just as exhausted as she would have if they did. The rabbit girl heaved a massive sigh, managing to lift one of her arms just enough to let her palm flop down onto her face as she groaned. Now that Ilia's emotions were done tormenting her, it was time her own to take their turn.
Lucky her.
Because as terrible as the entire ordeal she'd just experienced was, it was nothing compared to the guilt and frustration she felt for what she'd done.
Gods, she'd really blown it, hadn't she? That was so like her. Carmella managed to find someone equal parts cool, cute, tough, and most importantly, willing to put up with her from some reason, a literal dream come true, and the rabbit girl had decided it was a good idea to go ahead and shoot herself in the foot right at the start of the marathon.
Why couldn't she have just been happy with what she had? Just happy that Ilia wanted to spend time with her? Why did Carmella always feel the need to get involved with other peoples problems? She'd been that way ever since she could remember, and it had cost her more than a few relationships in the past. Who knows how things could have gone with Ilia if the rabbit girl had only just minded her own business.
... Except... Carmella knew she never could have done that. It just wasn't her way to stand by while people suffered. However, just because you had the best of intentions, that didn't always lead to the best results, this whole debacle the rabbit girl had landed herself in being an excellent example.
Carmella peaked one of her golden colored eyes out from between the fingers of the hand that was still flopped over her face. She wondered when she'd hear from Ilia... or if she ever would.
That was a new and scary fear to crawl into the rabbit faunus brain. What if, instead of chewing her out like she deserved, the chameleon girl just decided to never speak to Carm ever again? What if Ilia chose to just cut the other teen out of her life all together? The very idea had the knots in the brunettes stomach tightening.
She didn't want things to end that way, without even getting the chance to apologize. If Ilia wanted to be mad at her forever, that was fine with Carmella, no sane person would argue otherwise, but at the very least, the rabbit girl wanted a chance to say she was sorry, to get it off her chest, then... well, that was up to the spotted girl herself.
Maybe Carmella should take some initiative? Now that she was ninety percent sure the chameleon girl knew what she'd done, the rabbit faunus could at least make it clear that she acknowledged her mistake. Anything was better than laying here feeling awful, she needed to do something.
Unfortunately, while the rabbit girl was eager to start making a plan, she was still too nervous to do something as bold as rushing over to talk to Ilia in person, even just mustering up the courage to call her seemed impossible right now, so she decided to start simple, and reached over to grab her scroll from its charger on the nightstand.
A text certainly wasn't the ideal way to deal with this kind of situation, but it was about all the rabbit girl could build up the courage to do right now. Plus Carmella figured that maybe just typing the words out before speaking them would give the long eared faunus a better chance of keeping her foot out of her own mouth. She didn't need to actually send the message, Carm just needed some perspective, the chance to put a little extra thought into her words, to really think things through before she accidentally made this mess even bigger.
It wasn't a bad idea on paper, but in the end Carmella spent about an hour laying down in her bed, her scroll held out above her, the blinking line in the empty text bubble seeming to taunt her as it remained blank. Multiple times, she'd started typing, getting about a word and a half down, before giving a frustrated grunt and deleting what she'd wrote. Turns out this was a lot harder than she'd expected.
Then, just as the rabbit girl was about to start another sentence she had no intention of finishing, her scroll suddenly chirped in hands.
Carmella let out a quick shriek, before accidentally releasing her scroll and having it fall down onto her face.
The panicked faunus comically fumbled with the device, before finally grabbing it and then rolling onto her side to read the message she'd just received.
We need to talk.
Ilia's message was like a punch to the gut for Carmella.
At first glance, the text seemed pretty in line with the direct tone the spotted girl usually messaged her with, but the subtext behind it was obvious to Carm... Or maybe she was just being paranoid... both were distinct possibilities at this point. Regardless, before she could even reply, another message came in.
Meet me at the market. Usual place
Carmella's heart felt like it was beating in her throat. She gave a quick glance out her hotel rooms window, into the dark sky displayed outside.
Now? She typed back, not exactly eager to be wandering the night covered streets of what was still a strange city for the rabbit girl. Although, with the level of anxiety Carmella was experiencing, getting mugged could almost be seen an much needed distraction from what awaited her once Ilia and herself met up.
Yes. Ilia almost immediately replied. There's no sense in delaying it.
After swallowing the lump lodged in her throat, Carmella responded with a meek; Ok. See you in a bit, before pressing the screen of her scroll against her forehead and giving it a few light smacks with the device.
"Well, so much for getting the chance to think things through," the rabbit girl muttered miserably.
However, as much as this turn of events had cranked her anxiety up to eleven, at the very least Carmella took a small shred of comfort in the fact that her worst fear hadn't come true, that Ilia had decided not to just flat out ghost her. Somehow the idea that her spotted friend had chosen to destroy Carm quickly and in person- rather than have the rabbit eared faunus' own brain doing it to herself slowly and painfully over the course of the rest of her existence- made Carmella's mood a little brighter.
"At least I'll get to see her again," the brunette said with a sad smirk as she sat up in bed and swung her legs over the side to stand, "even if it might be for the last time..."
And with that uplifting and cheerful thought, Carmella left her room, and then the hotel itself, stepping out of its lobby and into the cool Mistral night.
The rabbit girl hadn't really spent any time in the city after the sun had set. She always made an effort to be back in her hotel room before nightfall, mainly out of concern for her own safety. The ambitious young faunus might get delusions of grandeur sometimes, but at the end of the day, she was a teenager, alone, thousands of miles away from her home and family. Literally anything could happen to her, and while there could be excitement found in that idea, it dwindled significantly as the sun went down. Mistral might not be the biggest or most industrialized kingdom, but it was still new to her, and with that newness always came a sliver of fear, one that only grew without the comfort daylight provided.
Fortunately, the lanterns Carm had noticed walking the streets earlier were all now burning brightly, casting a bit of much needed light on the kingdom. There was an almost comforting hum coming from each of the lampposts that was picked up by the rabbit girls sensitive ears, a sign that the lightning dust powering it was doing it's job.
Honestly, with the streetlights, as well as the glowing signs from a few of the random bars and other establishments that remained open, Carmella's walk wasn't nearly as foreboding as she'd imagined. She wasn't even the only person walking the streets at this hour, granted it didn't come close to Mistral's usual hustle and bustle during daytime, but there were still plenty of people coming and going, the sunset seeming to only slightly diminish the cities liveliness.
The young rabbit girl's head shot all around as she took in the bizarre seeming spectacle. She wondered if it was like this in all the major kingdoms of Remnant. She'd only ever lived on Menagerie, obviously, and that place always seemed to shut down with the sun, with the sole exception of the nocturnal section, of course. Not that Carmella had ever spent a great deal of time there.
She'd heard tales about the "robust nightlife of the city" that existed in other parts of the world, but this was her first time really experiencing it firsthand. It was actually sort of mesmerizing, but Carmella did her best not to gawk at the bright and shiny sights and sounds too much as she made her way. The last thing she wanted to do was make it obvious just how much of a country bumpkin she was to any unscrupulous folks that might be watching from the shadows.
It was strange, the long eared faunus had walked this route a dozen or so times now since arriving in Mistral, but seeing it all lit up like this made it feel like the first time. The trip actually turned out to be a lot more interesting than Carmella anticipated, so much so that she almost forgot about the circumstances that had brought her out of hotel room at this time of night... almost.
As soon as the rabbit girl turned that last corner, and the view of the marketplace appeared before her, she felt her stomach drop and the tightness in her chest returned tenfold.
The sight of the abandoned markets carts was not an unfamiliar one for Carmella actually. The market was usually still closed at the time she'd been getting up this last week or so to meet with her spotted teacher, but the idea that it wasn't just about to open up, and would be remaining in its current closed state for hours to come felt weird to think about. The passing feelings were pushed aside easily enough though, as the rabbit girl looked around for Ilia.
There was no sign of the ponytailed faunus, which was more than a little unnerving for Carmella. It made her wish they had set up a more concrete time to meet up. The closed market was much less inhabited than the rest of the streets she'd walked down. It made the rabbit girl contemplate going back the way she'd come and waiting for Ilia in a place with more... well, "witnesses" didn't feel like the most comforting word, but-
Then a gloved hand landed on Carmella's shoulder.
It felt like a cold bucket of ice water was poured down the rabbit girls back and she leapt a good foot in the air, giving a loud gasp as she spun around, hands up, ready to defend herself.
However, instead of an eight foot tall mugger, with a scar on his cheek and an eyepatch, like she'd been expecting, Carmella was greeted with the sight of a familiar looking girl with spots on her cheeks and a long ponytail.
Ilia looked about as surprised as the rabbit girl. Carmella's heart was racing like a... well, like a rabbits. Then however, the chameleon teens lips curved upwards, and the long eared faunus realized her friend had scared her on purpose. She'd used her sneaky semblance to get the drop on her. Carmella would have been more upset, but figured that she probably deserved that- if not worse- for all the sneaking around she'd done earlier that very day.
"Hey," Ilia said, the mischievous grin still plastered across her face.
"... Hey?" Carmella replied, hand over her chest to try and relax her still frantically beating heart.
That was about as far as the conversation seemed to go between the two faunus, as the sound of distant chatter ate up the silence between them, stretching on for several moments.
Eventually the smile on Ilia's face wavered and slowly fell, along with her gaze as it drifted to the ground between the two. Carmella could feel the discomfort radiating off the other teen, discomfort she'd caused with her nosy behavior. It was too much for her to take.
Ilia let out a deep sigh, closing her eyes for a quick moment as her brow furrowed, and then she began to speak, "Carmella, I-"
"I'm so sorry for what happened!" The rabbit girl blurted out suddenly. "I know you told me to leave it alone, and I really wanted to, I told myself like a million times to 'not be stupid and respect Ilia's privacy' but I couldn't, I just had to be stupid, okay? I'm really sorry I'm so stupid, I just wanted to help, and sometimes that makes me even stupider, I wasn't thinking straight, I never should have gone to see Blake being your back, I should have just let it go, and-"
The rabbit girls sudden outburst cut off Ilia like a truck on the freeway, and once the words started, Carmella found it impossible to stop, her eyes welling up with tears as continued on and on. The chameleon faunus could only stare in stunned silence at first as Carm continued to spiral downward, firing off about a million words a minute.
"-I thought if I understood what was going on, I could make things easier for you, but I just made things worse, and if you want to be mad at me, that's fine, okay? But it's not Blake's fault, I only got her involved because you said her name today at the mall, not that it's your fault either or anything, I don't mean to say that, obviously, I just-"
"Carmella?" Ilia tried to interject, but the other teen didn't seem to notice.
"-really thought that with my semblance I could fix things, but it's stupid too, just like me, so that added, like, three more layers of stupid to my idea, but-"
"Carmella," the spotted girl tried again, futilely.
"-I know that's a lame excuse, that's not why I came here, I just needed to get this all off my chest, and I totally get it if you never want to see me again because of this, I do, but-"
"Carm?" Ilia tried again, a bit more forcefully, trying to pull the other girl out of this self imposed nosedive.
"-I just couldn't let things end between us without getting the chance to apologize and tell you how stupid I was, and that I never meant to make things worse, and that you've been a great teacher, and I wanted to say thank you, and I don't expect you to ever forgive me, and you deserve so much better, and- mph?"
Carmella was finally, mercifully, stopped by Ilia, as the chameleon girl took a step forward and placed her ungloved hand over the spiraling rabbit faunus' mouth.
The words came to a halt as Carm stared straight ahead at Ilia with wide eyes. The chameleon girl stared back, her cool, blue irises diving deep into the other faunus' golden colored ones.
"Got all that out of your system?" Ilia asked with an amused look.
"Mmm hmm," was Carmella's muffled reply as she nodded dumbly, trying not to focus on how the warmth of the other girls hand seemed to be spreading up into her cheeks, as well as the rest of her face, or to ignore just how close Ilia was standing right now.
"Good," the spotted faunus replied with relief. Then she also seemed to notice the sudden proximity, and removed her hand while taking a step back.
Ilia cleared her throat loudly into her forearm, trying to hide the pink rising to her spots on her cheeks. The often flustered girls antics did manage to bring a smile to Carmella face, lightening the mood tremendously.
"A-anyway," the chameleon girl stammered out, running a hand over the pulled back hair on her head, "I appreciate everything you just said, but you don't have to worry, I'm not mad at you... not really anyway."
Carmella gave a confused look. "You're not?" she asked. That didn't make any sense, or at least wasn't what the rabbit girl had been expecting to hear.
"Well, I'm not going to say I'm thrilled with what you did," Ilia replied, crossing her arms. Carmella flinched a little under the agitated look she received, but the chameleon girl didn't look nearly as furious as Carm had expected her to be, "...but I also get why you did it. So maybe there's enough blame to go around here."
"I made a promise to you, and myself, that I was going to try and be a bit more open and transparent about things, and I haven't done that." The spotted faunus held herself tightly, turning to the side, away from Carmella, as she continued, "At the first sign of trouble, as soon as the conversation got hard for me, I went back to my old ways, retreating into myself, ignoring my own problems, and I can't settle for that anymore, not when I promised I'd be better."
"Still, I should have waited until your ready," Carmella said. The last thing she wanted out of all this was for Ilia to be the one that walked away feeling guilty.
The ponytailed teen gave a humorless chuckle, accompanied with a lifeless smile. "That's the thing though, I don't think I was ever going to really be 'ready' to... get into my past with you. When I told you that someday I would be, I think that was just a convenient excuse for me to keep putting off having to talk about this kind of stuff."
The chameleon girl leaned back against a low wall of stone that ran alongside the marketplace. Cautiously, Carmella joined her, close, but not too close.
"Then, when you found out I was hiding something, you tried to find out more, and I pushed you away," Ilia continued. "Can I really blame you for going to someone else for answers after that?"
"You're not being fair to yourself," Carmella fired back, her voice teeming with concern, "I never wanted to push you, I was just worried, that's all. I didn't know what I was prying into until it was too late."
Ilia gave Carmella a side-eyed smile. "I mean, how could you know? It's not like I was being very helpful on that front."
That... wasn't untrue, but still, Carmella didn't want Ilia to take on any more of the blame here. Carm was the one who'd messed up, not Ilia. However, as the chameleon girl stared at the other faunus, waiting for a rebuttal, Carm realized she had nothing, and looked away as the rabbit ears on top of her head sank downward.
"Yeah, that's what I thought," Ilia replied, with no malice in her voice. She just kept smiling, looking more relieved by the outcome of the "argument" than anything else. The chameleon girl leaned her head back, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath of the cool night air.
There was a moment of silence between the two, before Ilia suddenly felt a hand on top of her own. She looked down to see Carmella's fingers gently curled around her own, as if tentatively asking for permission.
"I really am sorry though..." Ilia looked back up to see a pair of miserable- and remorseful- looking golden eyes staring back at her.
Without another moment of hesitation, the spotted faunus turned her hand over, accepting Carm's.
"Me too," she said, her smile turning much more genuine.
A spark of warmth appeared in both faunus' chests at that moment, as they stared into each others eyes. No doubt this was thanks to Carmella's semblance, but at that moment neither of them cared. Their emotions were finally hitting an equilibrium of sorts and had the two of them feeling the best they had all day.
Eventually, it was Ilia who released first, much to Carm's chagrin. "We sure do seem to apologize to each other a lot, huh?" The ponytailed teen said wryly.
Carmella have a quiet chuckle. "Yeah, I guess so."
"Well," Ilia said with a sigh, "one good thing to come out of this whole mess is it let me manage to have the first honest conversation with my best friend in over a year. So that's something."
There was a bit of a stinging sensation in Carm's heart as she remembered her earlier dramatization of how the late night rendezvous between Blake and Ilia might go. She wondered how it had really gone, if their... "reconnecting" had gone as "well" as she'd imagined.
Gods, jealousy still felt weird for Carmella. It wasn't a great feeling, it felt gross, like she'd just swallowed a pine cone or something. Somehow the idea of Ilia being close with another girl- one infinitely more deserving than Carmella herself, at least in the rabbit girls warped opinion- was just that unpalatable to her. Although, it wasn't like she had any right to feel that way in the first place. Ilia wasn't hers or anything. Carmella had no right to decide who her spotted friend... spent time with. If she was happy with Blake, then all the rabbit faunus could do was accept it. Ilia didn't owe Carm anything.
I mean, it's not like the two of us are dating or anything...
"So what did Blake tell you?"
Ilia's sudden question ripped therabbit girl back to reality. "Not much, I didn't want to intrude... anymore than I already had, I mean..." Carmella trailed off, and began anxiously tapping the stone she was heading on with her hands.
Don't say it, don't say it, I'm begging you... me, don't say it-
"So you guys are pretty close, huh?"
Damn it...
In spite of her brains best efforts, the sour sounding statement slipped past Carmella's lips and into the air.
Ilia gave the other teen a strange look, then looked contemplative for a moment, before opening her mouth to answer, but then appeared to give up and let it a weak, agitated sounding sigh instead.
"Not here," the chameleon girl added as she stood up and began walking away.
"Um... what's that supposed to mean?" Carm asked as she stood as well, hurrying to catch up, when suddenly the other faunus stopped, spun on her heel and turned back to face her, making the rabbit girl stumble slightly.
"What it means is; if I'm going to give you my whole life story I want to do it somewhere a bit more... special."
"Oh," was all Carmella could muster at first, trying to contain her excitement. Ilia was going to finally reveal her mysterious past to her? That was great news!... but... "Where are we going?"
With a playful smirk that set poor Carmella's heart to hummingbird speed, Ilia put a hand on her hip and answered; "Somewhere we're not supposed to."
The tone and confidence on display by her teacher was definitely doing something for the rabbit faunus, but she still had to ask the obvious question; "What if we get caught though?"
Her parents having to come bail her out of jail from a continent away didn't sound like a fun conversation to Carm, but again, with confidence that practically had the long eared faunus' face heating up like the sun, Ilia provided a iron clad solution to all Carmella's worries;
"We won't."
Well, that settles that.
"... not with my semblance anyway," the spotted girl continued, not that she necessarily had to, Carmella was already down for whatever Ilia was about to suggest.
Getting involved in criminal activity was pretty much the only thing her parents had asked her not to do while traveling to Mistral, but right now every single warning they'd ever given their daughter had been ejector seated out of Carm's brain.
"As long as we're quiet, no one will even see us. All you have to do is hold my hand as we walk together," Ilia held up her gloveless hand and wiggled her fingers as if to demonstrate, "and you'll be as practically invisible as I'll be."
Carmella fawned slightly over her teachers mastery of her own power. She didn't even know Ilia could do that with other people! She was getting pretty excited for whatever her spotted friend had planned... possibly a bit too much so, because as soon as Ilia lowered her hand, Carm instantly reached forward and grabbed it with her own.
A look of shock washed over both girls faces, with a dash of 'Oh my god, did I really just do that?!' in Carmella's case, as they both froze up.
"I- um..." Ilia started, the pink in the spots on her cheeks actually spreading out of their containment and onto her face. "I mean... I-I guess I meant we would start once we got a little closer to where we're going..."
"Oh! Right! Sorry!" Carmella shot back, perhaps a bit louder than necessary, and she quickly went to let go of the other faunus' hand, her own face beet red as well.
However, the second her grip loosened, Ilia's tightened.
"This is fine," the ponytailed teen replied quickly, already turning away and beginning to lead the other flustered girl. "This'll just save time, right?"
After another quick stumble as Ilia pulled her slightly, Carmella straightened up and matched the other girls speed, and the two walked side by side, hands entwined between them.
They continued on for several minutes in complete, if not slightly awkward, silence. As if to make sure this was really happening, Carm let her eyes drift over to her shoulder, then down her arm, to the tightly wrapped bundle of fingers and thumbs at her side.
Yup, really happening. Ilia and her were holding hands.
Perhaps it didn't seem as world shattering as Carmella was making it out to be. The two of them had been doing exactly the same thing only minutes ago, but that had been different. Back at the wall, they'd been alone, as they usually were during those few brief, beautiful moments, now though? They were walking together, in public! Granted the streets were less busy considering the time of day, but there were still still people out and about, people that would see them together and think... things! Things and stuff! About Ilia and herself!!
Okay, Carmella was definitely making a bigger deal out of this than she should. She'd held hands with people before, loads of times, romantic and otherwise. What made this time any different than any other? The answer was simple, and a conclusion the rabbit girl had found herself coming to more and more over this last week; Because this wasn't just anyone, this was Ilia.
Everything felt different around the chameleon girl she was currently holding on to. New, exciting, and sometimes a little scary feelings were being discovered every moment the two of them spent together, and Carmella was tired of pretending they weren't, tired of letting things like her own fears get in the way. So the rabbit girl decided, right then and there, as she watched that pair of hands sway back and forth as the two of them walked, she was going to tell Ilia how she felt.
She'd do it tonight, no time like the present, right? Carm would follow Ilia to wherever she wanted to take her, hear her out, get the backstory she'd been waiting for days to be revealed, and then, when the moment was right, she'd take the leap, after that?... Well, she'd see where they landed.
The rabbit girls took in a quick breath through her nose, trying to ease the growing butterflies in her stomach as she continued to look at her hand wrapped in the spotted girl's. Then her gaze went back up to Ilia, only to find the other faunus had apparently been doing the same thing as her, and their eyes met.
There was a brief flash of panic in Carmella's brain, and like every other time that had happened around the spotted girl, her mind went with vocalizing whatever idea came across its desk next in that moment.
"H-hi..." the rabbit girl half murmured, with what had to be the biggest, dumbest looking smile she'd ever given.
And right on cue after that came the immediate regret.
Hi?! What's 'Hi'!? Carm screamed internally, What's wrong with you... me? Why are you like this!?
Thankfully, in spite of Carmella's mortified reaction to her own- increasingly embarrassing- newfound lack of charm and tact when it came to talking to girls, Ilia actually smiled back. The chameleon girl rolled her blue eyes in amusement, before refocusing on the path ahead of them, the smile remaining present on her face.
Just like that, whatever remaining awkwardness there might have been between the two faunus seemed to vanish, replaced by that same that familiar warm spark in each of their chests. It would still be a while before the two of them truly understood the significance of that spark, and just how special it really was.
For it was a specialness that went beyond any mere semblance.
"Are you sure about this?"
"Trust me, just get a running start, place your foot into my hands, and as I lift you up, focus your aura into your legs."
Carmella took a deep breath to try and push away the doubt she felt. Trusting Ilia was the easy part, the chameleon girl had more than learned that, it was the whole 'trusting herself' part that the rabbit faunus was stumbling on.
The long eared teen took another look up at the intimidatingly tall wall of stone before her, and then down to Ilia standing a few paces in front her, hands clasped together, waiting for Carm to attempt what still sounded impossible to the rabbit girl. The plan was for her to jump it, a 'relatively simple task for someone with an aura as strong as hers,' as Ilia had put it. Somehow, even while the two of them were currently trespassing, her teacher still found a way to include a lesson.
The "infiltration" had gone well so far, granted that was mainly because Ilia had been literally leading Carmella by the hand up until this point, not that the rabbit girl was anywhere close to complaining about that.
After the elevator ride up to the higher levels of Mistral, most of the trip had been a blur to the brunette faunus. She'd been in the district a handful of hours earlier, but much like the neighborhoods further down the mountain, the difference was literally night and day.
She'd thought the lower levels were lit up brightly, but that was nothing compared to up here. Beyond just the lanterns on the street, bright neon signs for bars, nightclubs, and other nocturnal forms of entrainment were so abundant it was like the sun had never sat at all. It all looked so exciting to the untraveled- and perhaps easily amused- Carmella, complete sensory overload had her head practically spinning as she took in everything around her. However, despite the never ending spectacle around them, Ilia had continued to guide her past all of it.
The chameleon girl had stared straight ahead the entire walk, seemingly unaffected by the almost polluting amount of lights around them. She seemed determined, focused only on getting the two of them wherever they were going.
And eventually they arrived at... here, wherever that was. Honestly, it was as little too dark to even tell. The further the two faunus traveled, the less lights of the city surrounded them, until eventually they'd reached a heavily wooded area, which Ilia had continued to wordlessly guide Carmella straight into. Thankfully, the pair didn't have to travel far into the spooky woods before reaching the impenetrable seeming wall before them.
Which brings us all the way back to the rabbit eared girls crisis of faith, while Ilia still waited patiently for her newfound partner in crime to take her leap.
That was easier said than done unfortunately. Carmella gave her instructor a skeptical look. "And if I fall?" she asked.
Ilia unclasped her hands and put one of her hip, giving the other faunus a bemused look, like what the rabbit girl had just asked wasn't a perfectly normal thing to be concerned with.
"Well, then I guess I'd have to catch you," the chameleon girl replied matter-of-factly.
Brushing aside the immediate fantasy that surfaced in Carmella's mind of her being caught and gently cradled in the other teens strong arms, the rabbit girl still found herself doubting her own abilities. Carm knew she probably COULD do it, she'd done enough research trying to unlock her own aura to know people with their souls protection awakened, as well as the proper training, were capable of some pretty amazing things. Honestly, when you put all those amazing things into a list, being able to "jump good" was on the more mundane side. However, the difference between being 'pretty sure' you can do something and actually doing it was a big jump- pun definitely intended in this case.
Of course, all of this was blatantly ignoring the whole "breaking and entering" part of this endeavor, and the nervousness associated with that weighed heavy on Carmella's mind. Walls were usually built to keep people out of places, and the idea of the two of them getting caught still anxiously nibbled at the back of the rabbit faunus' brain.
On the other hand, as nervous as Carmella was, Ilia seemed right at home, like she'd done this a million times before. It begged the question of just how many places like this her friend had broken into over the years. And the answer to said question and more was waiting for Carm on just the other side of this wall, and all she had to do to get there was just believe in herself a little, she could do that, right?... Right?...
Just as a groan of defeat began to build in the back of the rabbit girls throat, Carmella got a crazy idea. Maybe it was time for her stupid semblance to finally prove itself useful for once.
The rabbit girl closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to access the link between Ilia's emotions and her own. If the chameleon girl believed Carm could do this, then maybe the rabbit faunus could sort of... borrow those feelings? That was the theory anyway, she'd never tried using her newfound ability this way, let alone "turning it on" like this, every other time it had always just sort of activated on its own, but it felt like she was starting to get used to the sensation associated with it. So then, what would happen if she actively sought out the connection this time?
There was a familiar swell of warmth in Carmella's chest, like her aura was reaching out, searching for a response from Ilia's. At first, the rabbit girl felt nothing, no response, then suddenly-
Woah.
There was a strange sort of pulse inside the young faunus that made her eyes shoot open. Just like that, all her doubt was washed away, replaced instantly by an unwavering confidence in herself. Carmella could do this, of course she could, she was awesome, why had she ever thought otherwise?
"Alright," Carm said, standing up straight and smiling eagerly, "let's do it."
Ilia gave a confused look, her friends sudden change in mood not going unnoticed apparently, but then the chameleon girl shrugged and got back into position, ready for Carmella to leap off her hands and up the wall.
After another quick breath, Carm crouched low, like a runner waiting for a starting pistol. Then she took off straight towards Ilia, and once she was close enough, she hopped one foot up into the other girls outstretched hands, and just as she felt Ilia begin to lift her upwards, the rabbit girl faunus focused her aura into the muscles in her legs as she jumped.
Wind rushed into Carmella's face as she was launched up, the sudden burst of speed catching the brunette off guard and making her squint slightly. A second later, the assault of wind ended, and Carm's vision refocused and she took in the sight before her as she hovered in the air momentarily at the apex of her jump.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl, stretching the moment out unreasonably long, allowing Carmella to fully take in the amazing view before her. Over the tops of the buildings in front of her, the rabbit girl could practically see all of Mistral and Anima from her current position, illuminated by the shattered, waning moon in the nights sky. The sea of green trees before her led from the mountain the kingdom sat upon, all the way to the dark colored ocean on the horizon, with little specks of light dotted throughout, signifying the villages beyond Mistral itself. Then there was the sky itself, thousands of twinkling stars revealing themselves there, up above the polluting light of the city, framing the fractured celestial body as it looked down on Remnant from above.
It was a mesmerizing view, not to mention a reminder of just how small the rabbit girl was in the grand scheme of the world she lived in. There was so much out there, beyond this place, beyond the small island she'd called home. Carmella had only barely experienced a fraction of it, but now that she'd gotten to see a little bit of the world, there was an undeniable desire inside herself for more.
She'd seen a lot in this last week. Sure, not all of it had been perfect, but all of it had been new, and that was what she found so exciting about it. Carmella never wanted that feeling to go away. Her golden colored eyes sparkled in the moonlight, capturing that solitary second of weightlessness she felt, stretching it out as far as it could go.
Then gravity had to go and spoil the moment, and began pulling her back to the ground. Carmella felt her stomach drop just as she did, luckily she didn't actually have that far to go though, her feet quickly landing on the slanted top of the wall, thanks to Ilia's well calculated toss.
The rabbit girl rocked back and forth a bit on her heels as she struggled to get her footing on the tiles beneath her, which were still wet from the rain earlier that day. Just as Carm thought she'd established a stable base, one of her feet slipped forward, throwing her balance off, and Carmella felt herself falling backwards towards the edge.
All the confidence the long eared faunus had borrowed from Ilia evaporated immediately, replaced with her own panic and vertigo as Carm waved her arms frantically to try and save herself, but she knew it was too late.
This was going to hurt.
But then there was a blur of movement beside Carmella, a familiar shade of copperey brown hair that seemed whip past her, as she felt an arm wrap around the small of her back, holding her, and preventing the rabbit girls fall.
"Told ya," Ilia said with a cheeky grin, holding the other faunus in place.
Carm was reclined back onto the spotted girls arm as Ilia leaned forward to support her, making it look like the two of them were in the middle of some kind of elaborate dance. The rabbit eared teen was grateful it was so dark out, that made it less likely Ilia would notice Carmella's face was practically steaming with how red it was, her earlier fantasy having come to life as she remained cradled in the other girls arms.
Eventually, the chameleon faunus pulled Carm back up to her feet, before turning away and walking to the other end of the wall the two of them were currently standing on.
"Well, here we are," Ilia said, gesturing out to the buildings and courtyard spread out before them.
The rabbit girl took a moment to calm her still racing heartbeat. She hunched over, putting her hands on her knees as she took a few deep breaths to try and calm herself down, apparently her near fall had done a number on her already frazzled nerves.
Well, maybe that's not the only reason I'm a little flustered... Carmella thought to herself, stealing a glance at the other teen while Ilia was still facing away from her.
Something about her spotted friend just seemed... different, but in a good way. There was this newfound confidence Carm had noticed, she wasn't sure where it had come from, but she was definitely a fan of it, in more ways than one. Had her talk with Blake been that good?
"Not a bad view, is it?" The spotted faunus asked.
The rabbit girls heart stopped, she thought for a moment that Ilia had noticed she was staring, but then realized the other girl was referring to the view in front of her, not the one Carmella was currently... appreciating.
Stowing away those embarrassingly thirsty thoughts long enough to actually see where Ilia had taken her, Carmella was surprised when actually recognized where they were.
The view really was spectacular, but it still took the long eared faunus a second to notice the familiar looking buildings and unique architecture, mainly because the last time Carm had been here, things had been a little... hectic to say the least, but the dead giveaway that connected those final dots in the rabbit girls brain was the massive CCT tower in the center of the courtyard.
Ilia had brought her back to Haven Academy.
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A/N-Yeah, weird place to stop, I know, but believe it or not, this was still best area I could find to break up the 30k words I typed up for this part of the story.
Next chapter should be up in a week or so. Hope to see you there.
Read and review as always. Bye.