(GS3) Field: Forest

[Cherry]

Yugure wasn't exactly synchronized with Narukami, so the fight quickly got out of hand for her. Especially with the trash called Divine Seal Dragon, Dungaree, who kept popping up in hand when she didn't want it. She wasn't focused on the fight in general, clearly. More of just a violent desire to beat Cero's face in. Garmore was happy to work with his previous Vanguard again, even if it was for a short time. Ezel, however, refused to cooperate. He even purposefully blotched up his Limit Break by calling Flame of Victory.

The fight ended in Cero's favor due to a mass of Grade Threes swarming to the queen's hand, something that happened often. Not a single draw trigger in the midst of the fray either. Regardless, Cero got what he wanted, so she quickly swiped her cards away, stuffing them back in their deck case.

"Now get lost! You've already ruined enough of my evening!" Yukino shouted at Europe's king, ignoring everything he said. She then looked toward the employees and yelled: "And if you idiots don't get our food in the next five minutes, I'm going see to it that this place shuts down, and your faces are mangled!"

Nobody needed to tell them twice. Even with the amount of money Cero gave him, he just got smashed a new one by her heel. With a threat to shut down and do the same to them, they got to work on the queen's order before anything else.

After a breath of relief, she sat down with Haruka. "Sorry about that", she spoke so calmly, as if nothing happened. Flashing a cute smile, she took his hand again. "Now, where were we? You wanted to say something to me?"

Cero -5 Affinity

[Beryl]

Satoshi typed out a brief text to Yukino as he sat around waiting:

Man, I should've gotten Haruka's number from you so I could pester him about...I think it's called "bro" stuff?

Hope things are going well. Got a letter from my mom, they're sending more fresh food out to me. Looks like we'll have another feast soon.

[Jello]

After decidedly all was said and done, Haruka had pretty much given up. The evening had been lots of pressure from the beginning. Not only did it take a millennia to get to the dinner, but Haruka had instantly been cast aside when that one loudmouth showed up.

"Huh.. ? Oh, the fight is over."

Haruka was once again in contact with Yukino, but he could tell his expression didn't match the inside. He was smiling that she was back. But he was just downright alone at the moment.

"I, oh... Yeah." He was still smiling. And at this point he didn't have any other masks. A smile was all he had to offer when he nouthed the words.

"I-I love you.", but audibly it was nothing more than a faint whisper. He couldn't be anymore honest. The problem is that melancholic smile is the only thing he can give her right now.

But he isn't lying either. He won't scowl at her, he won't sulk of pout or sneer in the face of Yukino. He couldn't.

So he smiled like normal. He gripped her hand. And then let the smile fall. He finally looked her in the eyes.

"I love you, Yukino." He spoke it this time. The first time was confirmation for himself, the second was for her to hear and to know.

[Cherry]

Yukino froze, hearing him the first time. The second time, the actual flow of time was restored for her perceptive. The queen proceeded to write a quick little note for the waiters, saying they'd be right back. While the food was preparing, she stood up, took her beloved's hand, and led him out of the restaurant. Moonlight shining down from above on the pair, they got to a spot with a good view of it. Where they'd bask in the light, a place for this to be solidified - this moment. In the silence of the night, she pushed herself toward Haruka, embracing him tightly. Then, finally meeting his lips with hers for as long as she could hold.

"I love you too."

Haruka +10 Affinity

[Jello]

He felt the rush of summer wind outside. Everything from the moonlight to the breeze and all, it felt way too surreal. Yukino had led Haruka out of the restaurant, after his confession. It was weird to think not only did he say it out loud, but also to the person he meant it for.

She didn't hesitate, not even for a second. Her arms linked around Haruka as she pressed her lips to his.

Haruka would never admit it, but he wouldn't mind if time had stood still in that set of moments. Those several seconds, what felt like even less so.

She said it back.

"I love you too."

With that, there was no way Haruka couldn't instantly break into a smile. A genuine one. The kind he had when he had coffee at the Espoir House, or when he ate sea-salt ice cream on the beach, or when he stared at stars on the park bench.

It was that sort of smile.

He wanted to savor every second of it.

Yukino +10 AP

[Crystalia]

Miyuki wasn't sure how long she'd been sitting there exactly. Her sense of time had been skewed, and it felt like her brain had stopped working. All she could do was sit there, and remind herself that Hana was gone. That it was something that she might have been able to prevent, but didn't. She tried to collect herself several times, to calm herself down, but it didn't work. The most she was able to do was prevent herself from completely breaking down and crying, but it was close.

In her head, part of her was still trying to encourage her. 'Giving up won't solve anything. Nothing will change if you act like this'. But she couldn't bring herself to listen to those words. The feeling of failure kept hammering into her, she could picture Hana just vanishing in her mind, tears streaking down her eyes. She just lay there, against a tree, trying not to cry. Voices in her head cried out in protest, but she was too far gone to listen to them.

[Lance Korilum]

After realizing there was no point in being at the beach, Cero decided to walk through the woods yet again...  There was no real reason for him to stay in Japan until his building was completed at this point.  He'd never be able to get stronger if things kept going on like this, which just made him infuriated...  Deciding that now was the time to return to Europe, he set out for the airport.  However, as soon as he came to this decision, he noticed someone leaning against a tree...  Miyuki, broken.  Just like he had been.  Cero sighed, realizing he couldn't return to Europe just yet.  First, he'd repay this debt...  Next, he'd bring back his old rival.

  Cero walked up to Miyuki, and said two simple words: "Stand up."

[Crystalia]

Miyuki wasn't sure exactly how long she'd been there. It had gotten dark, and colder, but she couldn't tell the exact length of time. She could see someone standing far away. Or perhaps they were close by, she couldn't quite tell. She glanced at them blankly, and vaguely recognised it to be Cero. 'Oh yeah he broke down here a few days ago'. The thought ran through her head, and then vanished again, like all her thoughts right now.

'Stand up.' She heard those words from him. 'Um what' ran through her head. Was this some kind of pity thing? Or maybe he was trying to repay her for the other day. Not that she had even done much the other day. Still, why would she stand up? It was more comfortable to lean against the tree, not that it mattered. Her vision was starting to blur anyway. It seemed like just staying in the forest for hours, without any warm clothing wasn't the best thing for one's health.

In the end, all she got out was one word. 'Why?' That was all she said, as she continued to lean against the tree.

[Lance Korilum]

"To just sit there is to accept failure.  I don't know what caused this, nor does it matter.  What matters is that you Stand Up, here and now, in the face of adversity.  No matter what the obstacle, no matter what the loss, no matter what the problem, Stand Up against it," Cero shouted, offering Miyuki his hand to help her up.  "If you can't Stand Up, you have no right to call yourself a Vanguard fighter!  Stand Up because that's what a Vanguard Fighter does!  Even when all Hope has abandoned you, don't abandon yourself.  Call out with your Soul, and don't give up!  Even if the Damage seems irreversible, a miracle can be Triggered!  If you've lost something, you can't find it by Resting, you have to Seek it for yourself!  To let yourself slow down...  Well, that would just be an insult to your feelings up to now, wouldn't it?  Now tell me, are you just going to continue sitting there?"

[Crystalia]

'I don't even' was all she thought. Whilst it was nice of him to try and help her, her problem was not vanguard related. Well not directly at least. Although it would probably still cause her pain or guilt to play it anyway. In the end, she knew she couldn't accept it. As possibly inspirational as the speech was meant to be, it didn't help with her problem.

'Although, I'll admit that staying here too much longer would be a problem' she thought. Her vision had been blurring a minute ago, and she felt slightly dizzy. In the end, she took the offered hand, but not in the way he probably intended it. 'I'm sorry, but vanguard is not the problem. Thank you for trying to help anyway.' She said that as best she could, trying to hide how she felt. With that she turned away, to walk back to the city. Perhaps she was being weak, but it was all she could do right now.

[Lance Korilum]

"I see," was all Cero managed to say as he watched Miyuki return to the city.  He turned away, frustrated with himself that he was unable to repay his debt...  If the problem wasn't Vanguard-related, he realized he couldn't help...  Despite his belief in using his strength to inspire others, he failed to bring someone out of despair.  Had he really gained anything since two months ago, or was it all just some false belief in himself?  No, he couldn't question himself now...  He had to continue...  Even if he had failed this time, he wouldn't fail again.  Well, if he was capable of understanding others, he wouldn't fail again, a talent Cero was quite lacking in.

[Hope]

Text from Hana to Miyuki:

"Hey Mi-hime, how have you been? Sorry for leaving in such a short notice. ~ <3 BELLA"

[Beryl]

Sitting cross-legged in a small clearing of the woods, the amalgamation of champion and spirit, Satoshirot, meditated. This had become a common practice to clear up thoughts and have revelations as one entity while they were separate. Today's subject was, of course, the previous day, which, out of rage, combined them together, at least for the time being.

That didn't last long, as Sephirot's being disconnected itself from Satoshi to give him room to breathe. As an entity, they were quite powerful together, but it wasn't good for the body to have two souls inhabiting it. Taking a deep breath of relief, the farmboy wiped sweat from his forehead. "Warn me next time you're going to do that..."

Seph chucked, but nodded. "My mistake, I assumed we shared the same harsh emotional response to Yugure's capture."

"Right...about that..." Satoshi had been doing some thinking, and while he was still very upset with Neu's choices and how every step of the way, no matter what she said, she seemed to be pulling wool over their eyes, it occurred to him that there was a fairly good chance that Yukino was, in fact, fine. Even though Neu had hurt her before the Triad, the Lion, and her collective group of friends, there was a chance that being pulled into the Rift was important. Maybe even healthy for Yukino to understand her path better. Sure, she didn't have to be the Chosen Sword. But who said that the Chosen Sword was an object? If anything, they proved that the Sword was quite human.

He shook his head. "As much as I want to shake that girl by her shoulders and ask her why the hell she keeps doing stuff like this, I think there's a possibility we could be assuming way too much of Neu Edelweiss."

Seph raised an eyebrow. "But was it not clear what she was doing in order to---"

"She's testing Yukino because she lost her way." Satoshi blinked his calm eyes. "If anything, she's helping us help our friend, even if it feels like she's got bad approaches to her intentions all the same."

Seph shrugged. "So you want to potentially forgive her, after all of that?"

"Well, I wouldn't say 'forgive...'" Satoshi stood up carefully, making sure he had full control of his body again. "I'd say more along the lines of 'try to understand.'" As much as he had thought it over, he hadn't really given Neu the chance to show off the fun that her Vanguard was. Mostly because she seemed so bored and disinterested in the game despite praising it.

Seph sighed, then nodded with a small smile. "Enemy or not, she still deserves to speak her mind."

The farmboy nodded and gave a bit of a grin. "Let's go get something to eat, yeah? I'm starvin'."

Neu +5 AP

[ryujiknight]

On my way to Card Capital, I decided to go to the park for some fresh air. On my way I saw a bench in what looked like a clearing in the woods, instead I sat their and enjoyed the peace and quet. I still had that feeling that I am missing something from my life. A feeling like I lost someting very close, but I still dont know what it is...

[Kuro]

Haruki went to the forest to chillax in the scenery of greenery. He saw his friend Shin'en sitting in the forest and remembered when they and Kurai all met up at the residential area. Haruki called Kurai to come to the place so they could all meet up. He walked to Shin'en and waved hello.

"Hey Shin'en, good to see you."