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Navia thinks the world is against her.
“She should fall in love with me.”
Ever since she reaches this conclusion in front of a mirror one day, while she was in her office and contemplating about what to do about some administrative cases popping up one after another in Poisson, everything and everyone seems to want to make it harder for them to be together.
“How can I make her fall for me?”
So she formulates plan after plan. Multiple plans, revolving around a certain goal about a particular someone. She starts making them a little while before the flood and executes them afterwards, when she, thankfully, survives the traumatic ordeal.
And Navia doesn’t mean to boast- sure, she may have a little financial trouble to keep an organization afloat (which is thankfully recovering quicker now), but she has many other perks!
First, she’s a good lawyer. True, she has a hard time following all procedural rules in court, but she often garnered the favor of the Oratrice before, and now Chief Justice Neuvillette, in her clients’ trials. She’s also a pretty adept cook, and countless people have expressed nothing but praise for her skills. She’s also a pretty strong fighter- even the traveler could vouch for her.
No one could kick a claymore and spin it around like her, after all.
Also, she was objectively , very, pretty. She’s a part of the Beauty Association in Fontaine, and even Sigewinne has told her often that she was beautiful. So, ha! Navia is not only flattered by the positive comments about her looks, but she also revels in it for good reason. The good reason being that most people think so and those who think otherwise are just rude.
Anyway- for these justifications and all others that she fails to mention (because she’d be able to fill up a library had she talked about her good traits all day), she thinks that Clorinde, her best friend of twenty something years, should undoubtedly, fall for her.
But she doesn’t.
And this is what makes Navia frown upon her.
Clorinde, whom she loved when they were young, whom she nearly begged to stay by her side after the duel with her father, and whom she fell so hard for, and who, all in all, grew up to be infuriatingly handsome that made both men and women glance her way with adoration, that Clorinde.
She can’t blame them.
Clorinde with her silky dark hair, a brooding, dark but dashing look, candlelit eyes as piercing as the barrel of a gun and a slightly smug confidence about herself that’s coupled with a kind heart. Overall, she’s just so annoyingly handsome.
Whenever she’s near, or whenever they’re having tea together, Navia could smell the mixture of a faint scent of cologne and of an incoming storm. She naturally smells of ozone and rain, which Navia would usually find to be displeasing if it were the weather, but never about Clorinde. Instead, she finds herself so comfortable in her presence.
Her smile is the worst (best) too; it sends an electric shock throughout Navia, from the top of her head down to the soles of her feet. It absolutely sets her on fire, and she doesn’t know whether to feel giddy about it or give Clorinde a forlorn look.
Because it was absolutely unfair that she was head over heels for this unsuspecting woman and she, in turn, doesn’t give Navia even just a mere glance whenever she was screaming look at me please with her actions.
Like, how dare she not feel the same way as Navia? The audacity.
She doesn’t fall short of any qualifications necessary to stay by Clorinde’s side. If anything, no one in Fontaine would be more suited to be her partner than Navia. However, in the end, it would still be up to Clorinde to decide what she wants.
But I can still make suggestions, can’t I? Navia thinks.
She knows, she’s absolutely certain that Clorinde feels some kind of way for her too. She just needed a little push- and no, Navia isn’t deluding herself, her good record in lawyering at court is proof enough that she has good judgment.
So she tries out a simple plan at first: simple and direct.
They were lounging around a pier that was a little far from the Court of Fontaine. She mentions that she wants to go on a picnic, and her most beloved, living human, ever so kind and gentle, picks out a spot.
Clorinde mentioned she had rented it out for a day from a girl with talking pets. Had anyone else told her that, Navia would think they were joking, but Clorinde was very serious so Navia decides to just trust whatever she says.
Behind them was a tent set up for the fast approaching evening, Clorinde reasoning out how it would be unsafe for them to travel through the waters in the dark so they could stay there for the night and isn’t that romantic?
Navia never had another best friend, but she doubts that this is something best friends do. Maybe best friends with no romantic feelings do, but she digresses.
They were in the middle of conversing about Clorinde’s recent hunting expedition when Navia couldn’t wait anymore. Her foot taps impatiently against the wooden floor boards and she gives Clorinde an anxious look. If she wasn’t going to make the first move, then Navia will. But she does allow Clorinde to take a sip of her tea before she says the words though-
“I like you.” She said.
Clorinde, to her credit, does not spit out her tea.
There was a slight pause, before she puts down her teacup slowly, and stares at Navia with an unreadable look. A pleasant sigh leaves her lips before she replies, “I like you too.”
Navia thinks she doesn’t get it.
“No, I mean I like you that way.” She repeats, enunciating every word.
Clorinde stares at her, puzzled.
“I like you that way too.” Clorinde mirrors her tone.
Simple and direct.
Then she thinks, the heavenly principles are against her- not like they were ever on her side- because then it starts to rain.
She inwardly curses the hydro dragon.
Before the curses could spew out from her mouth, Clorinde takes her by the hand and leads her inside the tent. Navia opens her mouth to say something when Clorinde begins to take off her cape, and she nearly clams up.
“What are you doing?” Navia manages to say without trembling.
Clorinde gives her a glance. Navia can’t help but let her eyes wander, because when Clorinde isn’t wearing the cape Petronilla left for her, the flex of her biceps become visible underneath the tight sleeves of her shirt. Navia swallows thickly when Clorinde moves towards her in the small space and wraps the cape around her bare shoulders.
“Making sure to keep you warm.” Clorinde answers with a small smile.
Archons.
Inside her head, the mini Navias run around in a panic at Clorinde’s words. They all have the urge to either slam their hands against the top of a table, or to shove their faces in a mental pillow to scream their heads off.
Navia ends up not doing both.
“I like you.” She repeats.
Clorinde gives her an odd look as she answers, muting the pitter patter of the rain that fell against the tent’s head.
“I like you too, Navia.”
Clorinde, Clorinde, Clorinde.
Navia ends up repeating herself through the night and Clorinde answers similarly every time.
It was a frustrating ordeal, overall, especially with how there was room for only one inflatable bed and they had to squeeze in the small space, with the woman of her dreams looping an arm around Navia’s waist and tugging her close as if to protect her from creatures of the night (a few blubber beasts and small aberrants lazing around in the vicinity of the tent).
Maybe it was also to keep us warm. Navia explains to herself, because the thin blanket thrown over them certainly didn’t keep away the cold.
A part of her hopes Clorinde doesn’t hear the loud beating of her heart while another hopes she does. Some time between two to four in the morning, Navia lies awake in her arms, and wonders what it would be like if Clorinde loves her, if she’s already acting like this when they aren’t even anything but more than friends and less than lovers.
“I like you so much.” She ends up saying, sleepily so, right before she falls asleep at around five in the morning, arms wrapped around Clorinde’s side. She must have imagined feeling Clorinde tense up and let out a breathless laugh.
I like you too.
Is the last thing Navia imagines hearing before sleep completely overtakes her.
The second time the world tries to interfere with her love life was a week after that little, epic picnic by the lake.
“She should fall in love with me.”
This is what she tells Furina when she accidentally meets her while shopping at the Fleuve Cendre. Frustration fills her steps as she thinks of what to do, to make Clorinde confess, or at least make her heart rate rise for even just a little.
She needs to feel like how she makes Navia feel.
Furina looks at her as if she rightfully belongs to an asylum. But Navia hasn’t lost any of her mental faculties, and she doesn’t need to recover any of her equanimity.
She’s in her right mind!
“Who?” Furina hesitatingly asks.
Navia should give her credit at least. Furina just waved at her and was about to go her own way earlier but decided to stick around, when Navia, who hasn’t spoken to a single person outside of the Spina for the last few days, allowed the words to come tumbling out of her mouth.
“Clorinde. She should fall in love with me.”
She’s not shy at all to proclaim such words in front of Furina, whom she deemed to be her friend. A wonderful, secret-keeping friend. After all, she could keep anything and everyone’s secret for five hundred years, and while Navia feels a bit bad dropping this bomb on her on a random day at a random hour, she feels like she was about to explode otherwise.
Furina gives her that look again. Navia should feel offended, because she was pretty sure asking for Clorinde to fall for her was not out of place. They’ve been by each other’s side for years and years, fates, friendship and lives carefully intertwined with one another that if Navia needs to erase memories of her from her mind, she’d have to remove like, more than half of her memories.
Furina was in the middle of picking out macaroni and Navia thinks to chastise her later when she ends up buying more than what she should. Navia doesn’t remember what she herself was supposed to buy, but maybe it isn’t that important if she can’t even remember it-
“Navia,” Furina clears her throat. “You are aware that Clorinde likes you right? More than she does most people?”
Navia frowns. “Most people like me.” With the exception of her father’s enemies and that guy who tried to kill her on one occasion. But again, she digressed.
She knows Clorinde likes her, but she wants her to fall in love with her.
Furina takes a red macaroni pack- conchiglie shells- in her hands and pauses. She stares at Navia with a curious look before she picks up another one and frowns, as if she’s remembering a specific memory in her head.
“Right. But Clorinde likes you more. ”
“But I want her to want me-” in more ways than one, but Navia bites her tongue. Too much information, she thinks.
Furina’s eyes dart around her nervously before she raises a finger to her lips and gestures for Navia to keep quiet. Navia must not have been able to control the volume of her voice again.
“I-I think this isn’t something we should be discussing in public, don’t you think?” She whispers.
Tr ue, Navia thinks. Though Clorinde doesn’t read the newspaper, Navia would rather not drag her name through the mud if there are nearby reporters in disguise (and there probably are).
Her shoulders slump. It isn’t as if she’s looking for validation about Clorinde’s feelings from someone else; if anything, she would rather keep to herself. But maybe Furina, who had counseled countless couples, and who had served as an authorized solemnizing officer of marriages past, would give her some sort of advice, maybe.
Furina seems to sense her feelings because she sighs and waves the macaroni around. She mumbles something under her breath, which Navia knows is about her and Clorinde, before she raises a brow at her, straightens her posture and uses that infuriating tone she used to have while she was in the government.
“Okay, Demoiselle, how about this, if you want her to want you,” Furina wrinkles her nose, “Why not try courting her?”
So Navia does.
Because Furina is right, she should court Clorinde. Not the traditional Fontainian way, where she has to offer up five blubber beasts and fifteen pearls as a courting offering- she doubts Clorinde would like that- but just the way Clorinde loves, with acts of service.
She ends up making a blueberry cheesecake. To keep her intentions without any ambiguity, she adds cream on top, in practiced motions to form the words, “I LUV U.”
Afterwards, Navia scavenges the nearby lakes for pluie lotus, fashions them in a yellow bouquet, and then makes a trip to Cafe Lutece to make Clorinde’s favorite coffee, black with two creams and a teaspoon of sugar, (and she wrinkles her nose at that) before putting it in a recyclable coffee cup.
Finally, she waits for her outside of the Duelists’ Building three minutes before office hours are over.
She shuffles from one foot to another and chews on her lower lip to calm herself. This is what Clorinde does for her every time they meet up- flowers in hand, a coffee cup in the other, coupled with a smile on her face. The only difference is that Navia has a cake with her.
She is well aware that Clorinde doesn’t talk much outside of their little games and conversations. This makes it hard for people to understand what she wants to convey, so she uses actions to show what she means. So Navia wouldn’t mind doing things like this for her if this is what she’s comfortable with.
“Navia?”
Speak of the hot devil-
“Clorinde!” Navia squeaks out and inwardly curses.
Clorinde gives her a small, confused, lopsided smile and Navia just wants to kiss her so badly she has to dig her nails into the palm of her hands to keep herself sane. Clorinde’s eyes drift to the things in her hands, before she meets Navia’s gaze with a puzzled look.
“I didn’t receive any telegram. Were we supposed to meet today?”
They usually do meet ever so often, and Clorinde always frees her schedule for Navia. But they didn’t have any plans today, and Navia knows she’s tired, judging from the way her usually rigid posture relaxes and slumps.
“For you.” She nearly shoves the items in Clorinde’s hands.
Thankfully, Clorinde is quick enough to process things and immediately grasps the coffee and half-embraces the shoved bouquet and cake in her arms.
See, this is where Navia starts believing there are no gods to hear her prayer (though that’s a given since Furina left her position as Fontaine’s archon a few months back so obviously there isn’t a god to hear her prayer-)
As soon as she steps away from Clorinde, she nearly stumbles backward, tripping over nothing. Had Clorinde not dropped the cake to quickly move forward and wrap an arm around her waist to tug her back into her space, she really would have embarrassed herself in front of countless passersby and the newspaper press.
Navia yelps and places her hands on Clorinde’s shoulders, feeling the way her fingers dig into her hips and seeing how Clorinde looks at her with all the concern in the world. This close, she could feel her breath against her own lips and this made her swallow nervously. With all her might and sanity, Navia makes sure not to let her eyes stray down to look at her lips.
“Are you okay?” Clorinde whispers against her lips.
Navia’s heart pounds loudly in her chest, her throat dries, and her face flushes. But this is what she wanted- for Clorinde to see exactly how she affects her, and maybe this isn’t how she imagined it to be, but archons, her plan is collapsing in on itself because she’s the one falling harder.
“I’m fine.” She manages to squeak out in a shrill voice.
Clorinde gives her another look, and it must have been Navia’s imagination, when she sees her glance down for a second before she steps away, extracting her arm around Navia’s waist. She doesn’t say a word as she crouches down and picks up the box of cake she had dropped earlier.
Navia’s heart sinks at the sight and she crouches down with her to inspect it. The impact of the fall had ruined the cake- it crumbled and separated, and the cream on top that should have spelled out her message was a chaotic mess.
“Oh.” Navia purses her lips. “I ruined it.”
Clorinde doesn’t say a word. Some people stop by to give them odd looks, while others pass by without a care in the world. Navia understands though, if she were in their shoes, she too, would be curious why two women in their late twenties were sitting down near the Palais Mermonia in front of a messed up cake.
This doesn't seem to bother her companion however; instead, Clorinde gently lays down the coffee cup and bouquet on her side and removes her gloves. Navia watches her without enthusiasm, lips quivering in frustration at ruining her own courting plans (and spoiling food).
Which is why she tries to stop Clorinde when she breaks off a piece of the top half of the cheesecake and pops it into her mouth.
Navia stares at her.
Clorinde stares back, still chewing.
To be fair, the cheesecake was ruined, but the box kept it safe from falling directly to the dirty pavement.
But that shouldn’t be important right now-
“It’s delicious.”
What?
“What?” She blurts.
Clorinde licks off the excess on her fingers and Navia swallows thickly at the sight. She shakes her head, flustered, before she repeats her question.
“The cake, Navia. I love it.” Clorinde answers gently.
The whole thing is amusing really; they were in front of a government building, surrounded by the presence of employees heading home, and most likely are being watched by the press as always. They’re crouching on a dirty sidewalk, leaving their things lying around, and Clorinde is eating cake in a box dropped on the ground (technically).
Navia wants to cry.
“You didn’t have to eat it.” Navia’s voice trembles.
Maybe it’s because Clorinde is so sweet, and so gentle, and so attentive to her needs that makes her feel emotional; or maybe it’s because she isn’t aware of what she makes Navia feel, in this moment, and even years prior.
“If I wasn’t so stupid as to trip and fall over nothing this wouldn’t have happened-”
“Navia.” Clorinde look like she was trying not to laugh.
“I don’t know why you made the effort to bake me a cake, bring me flowers and coffee-”
“-you do this for me all the time!” Navia points out.
Clorinde halts her speech. The corners of her lips curl into an amused smile. She takes another piece of the cheesecake and raises it towards Navia’s lips. When Navia refuses and tries to protest, Clorinde shoves the piece into her mouth.
“…I would always choose you over the cake,” Clorinde raises a brow. “I know you’re going to say it doesn’t mean much because I’m not a huge fan of sweets but shush. ”
She was correct, had Navia not been chewing, she would have definitely pointed that out.
“-That doesn’t mean though that I won’t appreciate it even if I dropped it by instinct to save you. So I’ll cherish what I can now.”
This is unfair, Navia thinks. Clorinde really had no manners-
Today, she mustered up the resolve to court Clorinde, determined to make her confess that she too, has fallen for Navia’s charms. So it’s unfair, how the opposite keeps happening- Truly, where were her manners, going off to continuously make Navia’s insides a mess?
Navia is the one who keeps falling harder and harder.
She’s certain that the reporters will have a field day with this one; and they would still try to make Clorinde look bad, so she’ll have to prepare some countermeasures before they even think of putting the article out.
Inwardly, she gloats about how much Clorinde cares for her wellbeing and everyone could see, but some other part of her mourns the fact that she might never have more than what they have right now.
I love you. She wants to say aloud, and she might explode at any time, because loving Clorinde isn’t enough, and her lungs ache in such a good way whenever she’s looking at her like she is now. Maybe she should suggest swapping chests if it would help Clorinde decide to return the intensity of her emotions.
“Is it good?” Clorinde asks, a curious look in her eye.
Navia swallows the bile in her throat and answers weakly, “It’s good.”
“How do I make her fall for me?”
She asks the same question in a miserable way a few days later.
She creates an appointment with Chiori to repair some of her dresses recently ripped and torn during some of the missions she sent herself to do the days preceding today.
When she comes in, removing her sunglasses and whipping her hair in a fashionably, dorky manner, she finds Chiori sitting at the reception desk, sipping tea and reading a newspaper. That alone isn’t anything out of place; until Navia sees the headlines and pictures of her and Clorinde feeding each other cake on the ground.
Navia groans and plops herself right on top of the reception desk. Chiori gives her a disapproving look before she returns her attention to the newspaper article.
“I’m afraid if you came to me just to ask for advice on your love life, I’ll be kicking you out.”
There is no bite to her words as she flips through the next page and voila, more photos of her shoving her gifts to Clorinde, and true to her theory, they spun some kind of story about her rejecting the “champion duelist’s advances.”
Navia narrows her eyes.
“It’s just-I know Clorinde likes me back.” She ignores Chiori’s warning. “I just need her to realize it.”
Chiori grimaces. She sighs and puts down the newspaper before crossing her arms and giving Navia a look between disdain and pity.
“Navia, I think you need to realize that Clorinde likes you more than you actually think so. But if you don’t think so, then why don’t you do something with her that she likes to do?”
True to her word, Chiori kicks her out after paying the fees for the fixtures and repairs.
But thanks to her, Navia does get an idea; a fun one perhaps.
She doesn’t usually go hunting with Clorinde in the wild, more because it’s sometimes hard to keep up, but there were times where both of them went out to play hide and seek when they were younger that Navia deems was similar to Clorinde’s preference of hunting.
So she sets out to look for a place where they could have a little fun. After traveling from Lock Urania to the Weeping Willow of the Lake, she deems the Foggy Forest Path fit for her idea.
So she takes Clorinde there by the hand the next day.
Clorinde goes along with her, a slightly confused smile on her face. Navia leads them through the winding path until she spots the peculiar tree in the middle. She skids to a stop and so does Clorinde behind her, whose eyes never leave Navia’s person. Navia gives her a grin, amused at the curious look in her eyes as she glances from the left to the right before she looks at her again.
“What are we doing here?”
Navia exhales a shaky breath and answers, “Hunting.”
Clorinde’s relaxed figure tenses and her eyes sharpen. Navia swallows at the sight. Oh, her mind thinks. She looks pretty like this also, fingers twitching subtly to show she’s excited and eyes staring at Navia with a slight spark that crackles like a lightning bolt.
“You want to hunt today?” She asks.
Navia nods.
“That’s weird. You usually don’t go hunting.” Clorinde expresses. “What’s the occasion?”
Navia swallows the nerves down and brings up a hand to rub her nape sheepishly.
“I figured we should do something you like once in a while. Y’know, other than our usual routine.”
There’s a slight hesitancy in Clorinde’s steps as she shuffles closer to Navia. Navia knows she feels as if there’s something off, and she’ll be finding out what that something is real soon.
“Okay,” Clorinde concedes. “What are we hunting for?”
This is it.
Navia purses her lips, feeling the familiar warmth enveloping her body as a flush makes its way to her cheeks. She opens her umbrella, and pulls out the rope she tied to its handle earlier that day. Clorinde blinks as she hands the rope to her, and steps back.
“I don’t know much about hunting. But the woman at the store said this was a good rope to capture prey. I need your confirmation first though.”
Clorinde inspects the rope in her hands: 10mm diameter climbing rope about 10 meters in length. She firmly tugs on it with the other hand and Navia inhales sharply at the action.
Dear gods, what have I put myself in today?
“…it’s good. Sturdy.” Clorinde hesitantly says. “It won’t hurt the prey, if that’s what you mean.”
She gives Navia a questioning look. She’s right to do so; a few months ago, this area was filled with various kinds of monsters native to Fontaine. But since the traveler came and intervened with the area, only a glowing tree and a few slimes are left behind its wake.
Clorinde was probably trying to put two and two to figure out what they were planning to capture.
“Navia—?” She asks, as expected.
Navia reaches out to wrap her trembling hands around Clorinde’s wrists. She tugs her forward, and Clorinde follows reluctantly, stare so intense Navia feels the usual electric sparks that Clorinde gives off buzzing in the air around them.
“Today your prey is me.”
All in all, Navia thinks she did as well as she could.
She sees the way Clorinde stills at her words; the way her breath hitches loudly and the way the electric current Navia has been feeling intensified to the point she sees the crackle of electricity from her naked eye, swirling around Clorinde.
No, this isn’t the first time Clorinde has “hunted” Navia. It’s what they always did when they played hide and seek, and it’s what Clorinde did when they were apart. They’ve just never…said it directly.
Well- if they didn’t count on the fact that Clorinde did, back in Liyue, to the traveler and Paimon in the calmest way possible.
But Navia recognizes that hunger in her eyes, the unbridled excitement at the thought, and Navia tries not to bite hard on her lips, because she hasn’t seen Clorinde this pumped up in so long.
Taking advantage of her shock - Navia snorts inwardly- she swings her umbrella around and aims at the dirt just behind Clorinde.
“Navia-?”
Boom!
Navia runs.
She runs through the thick lines of trees and hopes it hides her trail well enough. Behind her, she hears Clorinde calling for her name and Navia laughs. Her legs tremble and she tries not to trip on anything, relying solely on the burst of energy that comes from the thought of Clorinde chasing after her.
It’s funny actually-
To think this is how she gets Clorinde to chase after her, not even in the way she wants. She laughs at the thought as she dives behind some bushes near the end of the foggy path that leads out into the waters.
Her heart beats loudly in her chest, pounding against her ribcage. She listens for any footsteps and any change in the air; for the rustling of the leaves and the sound of any animals nearby. She steadies her breathing silently, because she knows that Clorinde had such keen ears she would figure it out easily where she is no matter how well she hides herself.
One.
Nothing. Navia chews on her lower lips, anxiously clenching the dirt around her in her fists.
Two.
A leaf falls next to her and Navia tries not to get startled.
Three.
Some of the bushes rustle, and out came some squirrels that quickly flee from the scene.
Four.
Eerie silence.
Five.
The hair on Navia’s arms stood up and she quickly realizes something is amiss-
“Did you really think you could hide from me?” Clorinde whispers in her ears.
Navia whips her head to see Clorinde crouching right beside her, looking at her in amusement. There’s a dangerous glint in her eye, and Navia has seen it countless of times when they were younger, playing in the clearing near Poisson, and Clorinde showing off her skills in shooting. It really shouldn’t come as a surprise that she found her quickly.
But thankfully, Navia does not have a heart attack. She musters up the courage to smile at Clorinde and even reaches out to pat her on the cheek. She was still gripping the rope in one hand, a bit too harshly, as she watches Navia’s every move with caution.
“It wouldn’t hurt to try.” Navia replies, giggling.
Her vision glows and the sight immediately catches Clorinde’s attention. Alarmed, she jumps back as Navia swings her umbrella towards her and aims below at the ground, between her legs.
“It wouldn’t be hunting if the prey doesn’t fight back, will it?” She jokes.
“Navia!” Clorinde reprimands.
Boom!
She wonders then, if there is anyone else in Fontaine who likes to do what they do. Maybe there were a few who fit together perfectly like two puzzle pieces just like them, but none who would willingly subject themselves to something like this- fighting against each other and so intimately knowing that ‘ she’s going to do this next ’ in a short span of time.
It’s like a dance , Navia thinks, as she swings her claymore with all her might and Clorinde mirrors her efforts, dodging the swings and even her kicks- have you ever imagined someone parrying a claymore with a sword? And succeeding?
Maybe it’s because Navia loves Clorinde, and that’s why she can keep up with her.
She runs further into the forest, taking advantage of the fog, as Clorinde chases after her, and Navia doesn’t know whether to feel offended or insulted by the fact that Clorinde hasn’t even used her vision to close the distance between them.
How can she capture prey without rattling them a little? Tsk.
She turns on her heel and aims at Clorinde, knowing full well she could counter it if she wishes, so Navia will make sure to give it her all, because Clorinde deserves her best. It must be the look on her face- glee or something else- because Clorinde audibly clicks her tongue at the sight, before preparing to dash and dodge the valley of bombs that Navia sends her way.
See, Navia knows she can’t win against Clorinde in a game of speed. She’ll be caught eventually, Clorinde will make sure to do so, if the fact that she’s not slowing down or letting go of the rope is any indication at all.
Which is why Navia will make it harder for her.
This lasts for a little while; Navia runs, turns back and deliberately tries to hit Clorinde or the nearby parts of the environment to hold her off, and the latter dodges, lunges and continues to chase after her, eyes twinkling with delight.
It isn’t until they both reach the Weeping Willow of the Lake that Navia hides herself in between the suspended roots of the Willow. She tries to catch her breath, as sweat drips down the side of her face and dirt stains the tails of her dress. She’ll have to revisit Chiori soon to get it mended again sometime this week.
She may be doing this for Clorinde’s enjoyment, but there was no way she wasn’t enjoying this herself. Navia’s competitive like that- she won’t let her win that easily.
She was just on her tail three minutes ago, Navia couldn’t have left her behind so easily. But a few more minutes passed and Clorinde was nowhere in sight.
Navia peeks through the branches, eyes darting around to look for a trail of blue and purple and failing to spot anything in the vicinity. There was still a bit of daylight left, but they’ll have to end this little game of theirs soon, if they don’t want to risk having to fight their way through the night to reach Poisson.
“Boo.”
She gasps when Clorinde presses herself against her back, effectively pinning her against the Willow’s sturdy branches. Before she could reach for any weapon she had on her, Clorinde grabs her hands to cross them behind her back and skillfully loops the rope around her wrists.
Navia struggles against the binds - even going so far as to step on Clorinde’s foot with her heel, but Clorinde dodges every attempt without breaking a sweat. She places a hand against the branches right beside Navia’s head and rests her head against her bare shoulder.
“Caught you.” She whispers again, exhilarated.
Navia’s breath catches in her throat. Clorinde was flushed against her back, warm and somewhat electrifying as she whispered in her ear. She could feel the way her chest rise and fall as she breathed.
The rope around her wrists were firm, but not tight enough that it would hurt, and somehow Navia thinks that Clorinde was deliberate in her actions.
Navia counts to ten in her head before she answers Clorinde concisely.
“What took you so long?” She jokes, thankfully, without her voice shaking.
Clorinde deposits herself from her, and gently turns her around to face her. Navia spots the mud stains on her cape, specks of dirt on her blouse as well as her disheveled hair. Clorinde looks unbothered by it however, the usually calm expression back on her face.
“I had to dispose of the nearby rifthounds and slimes.” She pauses. “I didn’t want them to get in the way of my hunting.”
Navia shivers. The fact that it took Clorinde only a few minutes to spare before she came to find Navia speaks of her skills, that much is certain. She already knows this, but it doesn’t get less impressive every time. The fact that Clorinde considered her to be the prey for the hunt today made Navia’s head swim.
Though one question did perturb her:
“Why didn’t you use any of your elemental skills to catch me much earlier? I could take you in a fight, y’know.” She says in a pseudo-offended kind of tone.
And in other ways. One of the Navias in her head quips unhelpfully.
She shakes off the thought.
Clorinde’s expression softens. Navia knows she doesn’t mean to offend, but it still leaves her curious to know why Clorinde wouldn’t go all out when that’s all Navia wanted in the first place; because she usually can’t, in duels and in work alike. This would’ve been a good exercise.
But Clorinde is looking at her again , like how she always does whenever she thinks Navia isn’t looking. Maybe it’s her imagination, or maybe it’s because Clorinde’s voice really is gentle as she tells Navia the reason why.
“I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“…”
Maybe Clorinde wouldn’t disagree with her if she drags both of them now to the Palais Mermonia- or better yet-m, to Furina for streamlining of the process- and have her solemnize their marriage.
She feels her cheeks heat up, and she faces the branches again, groaning silently in both anguish and giddiness. Once again, her plan backfires and leaves her falling harder for her childhood friend.
“I see.” She says hoarsely. “Well, then- did you at least enjoy yourself?”
Clorinde chuckles and the sound is music to Navia’s ears. Her heart flutters in her chest at the sight of her eyes twinkling beneath the lowlight coupled with a small smile on her lips.
“I did. I haven’t felt that in awhile.” She pauses. “Thank you, Navia.”
“Of course.” Navia assures her. “Anything for you.”
She means it. She’d like to commit this to memory, but one movement of her arm reminds her that it would be slightly embarrassing to remember this for herself.
“Clorinde?” She calls out.
Without a second to spare, Clorinde is right behind her, leaning forward enough for Navia to be able to glance at her without moving. Her hands linger around Navia’s waist, giving her no space to turn around.
… that’s a little bit too close, don’t you think? Navia nearly says.
“…Could you remove the rope now?” She asks politely in a high-pitched voice.
Clorinde hums but remains unmoving. Navia furrows her brows and tries to turn her head to see her more clearly, but Clorinde draws closer, one hand ghostly brushing against her hip and the other tugging at the rope. Navia could feel her warm breath in her ear, which made her heart rate rise.
“The prey shouldn’t be telling the hunter what to do.” Clorinde whispers in her ear.
Navia’s mouth falls agape. “ What? ”
Clorinde has a mischievous look on her face that sends a spark from Navia’s legs to her head. Clorinde tugs on her hands again and Navia sees her smile from the corner of her eye.
“You said we’d be hunting today.”
“Well, yes, I did-”
“Today hasn’t ended yet.”
“You know that isn’t what I meant-”
Clorinde tugs at the bind and stares at Navia with that same odd look that she has failed to decipher over the countless days (years) they’ve spent together.
“You’re pretty like this too.”
Navia nearly whimpers.
She tries not to get swept up in Clorinde’s tone, and focuses on calming the beating of her heart. She has never been tied up before, not even once until now; she can’t believe she’s considering wanting it to happen again in the near future. Ehem! She’ll have more time to reflect on her desires later-
“It’s almost night, y’know.” She answers, flustered.
“Don’t worry.” Clorinde murmurs. “I hunt at night.”
Navia wants to scream.
They get home later than intended when Clorinde relents after Navia threatens to bite her.
“I’m falling harder in love with her.”
This is what Navia laments after her monthly meeting with the Beauty Association.
Sigewinne finds her daydreaming in the corner and approaches to ask about her health. Navia wonders if every professional in the medical field is just as sharp as her, or if it was because Sigewinne looks older than she actually is, and is more experienced.
They were sitting in the lobby of the association, and Sigewinne had just finished making tea for the both of them.
Sigewinne doesn’t look a tad bit surprised. Instead, she looks like she’s been waiting for this moment all her life. She calmly sips her tea while Navia is having an inner turmoil that threatens to break her heart and make her never fall in love with someone else again.
“I see. Why is that a problem?”
Navia stares at her. “You’re not even going to ask who?”
Sigewinne purses her lips as if she’s keeping herself from laughing.
“If you don’t want to share who-”
“It’s Clorinde.”
“-Right.”
Sigewinne takes another sip. Navia glances at the liquid in her teacup. She’s afraid she isn’t going to react just as calmly as Sigewinne is while sipping the tea. Navia has been on the end of many experimental tea Sigewinne has conjured prior to this moment.
“So, how is falling harder for Clorinde a problem?” She asks again.
Navia sighs deeply, shoulders slumping in exhaustion.
“Because she doesn’t love me back.”
The silence that came after her words was loud. Sigewinne is gazing at her like she is one of her peculiar patients that are prone to self-diagnosing and always ends up in more trouble than it’s worth.
“…Interesting.” Sigewinne clears her throat. “Miss Navia, have you considered that she just might love you back?”
Navia groans in frustration and moves her hand animatedly. Everybody has been saying that, but it doesn’t look like that to her at all. It doesn’t help the fact that she hasn’t overshared that much and everyone is still saying that.
“She’s never said it before.” She answers, defeated.
Sigewinne hums in contemplation and raises her brow in amusement. She mumbles something about mismatched love(?) languages and takes out a notepad to seemingly write something down. Navia watches her with rapt attention until she closes her notepad and laces her fingers together.
She grimaces, as if she had bad news to deliver and Navia doesn’t know why she’s anxious all of a sudden.
“Navia…as a doctor, I shouldn’t be telling you this because it is confidential information.” Sigewinne pauses. “But since you’re the closest person to a family for miss Clorinde, I suppose you have the right to know.”
Navia feels as if she just got dosed in cold water. Sigewinne looks like she was going to say something Navia is going to regret hearing for the rest of her life. Maybe she does need the tea now.
“You see, Clorinde came to see me a long time ago…”
She rushes through the streets of Fontaine without a second to spare. She weaves through the bustling crowd preparing for a national festival soon, eyes darting around the city to look for a certain champion duelist.
A hard frown finds itself on her face as she nearly turns the whole place upside down in her search for Clorinde.
Clorinde said she’s been suffering from a strange disease.
This is what Sigewinne told her. She usually doesn’t look that disturbed unless it’s about something serious, and it seems like it is. So Navia thinks of all the places Clorinde could visit and goes through them one by one. It took her the entire afternoon to finish her search without any clue as to where she could be. Until she spots her silhouette from afar, just when she was about to file a missing person report with the Gardes.
She finds Clorinde on one of the rooftops near the aquabus station.
She’s sitting down, feet dangling against the edge of the rooftop, looking disinterestedly into the distance. She’s leaning back slightly and the wind blows through her hair, loose strands dancing in the breeze.
Navia is careful not to startle her as she climbs up. It doesn’t take long for Clorinde to realize someone was there, and she turns back to check who it is.
“Navia? What are you doing here?”
Navia huffs and sits down right next to her. From this high up, she could see the sun nearly setting behind the spots of trees in the horizon. The sky is clear today, revealing to Navia the point where orange and yellow meets and embraces everything in its midst.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Clorinde gives her a puzzled stare. “Tell you what?”
Navia whips her head to give her an angry glare. Clorinde flinches and the sight makes Navia freeze. She is slightly reminded of how hostile she used to be a few months back, and she sighs, shaking her head. She retracts her glare and bows her head in shame.
“Sigewinne told me you once went to see her for a check-up.”
Clorinde stills and her breath hitches. It isn’t that obvious, but Navia could see the subtle flushing of her face, conveniently blending together with the orangish glow of the sky. Navia scoots closer and puts her hand hesitantly on Clorinde’s forehead. Clorinde visibly swallows.
“What did she say, exactly?” Clorinde mumbles.
“She said your face always turns red whenever you visited Poisson as a child.” Navia reveals.
Her brows furrow when she sees Clorinde pale at her words.
“You told her your heart was beating unusually fast whenever we played- and you always needed to catch your breath!” Navia exclaims.
Clorinde never told her these things. Navia never even noticed; Clorinde always looked happy when they were together so she had no idea, that she could have been, all this time, possibly sick.
Even now, she looks like she wants the ground to swallow her alive.
“She also asked me if I noticed you trembling whenever you’re next to me and I had to think back really hard to remember.” Navia pinches the bridge of her nose out of stress.
“Navia-”
“-and she said your vision used to get out of control because of your sickness. Why didn’t you tell me?” Navia accuses.
Clorinde grows quiet. Her ears flush and she hides her face in the palm of her hand. Navia doesn’t understand, and she wants to understand. She gently pries away Clorinde’s hand and leans close enough that the only thing she could see was Clorinde pointedly avoiding her gaze.
“Please don’t hide these things from me.” Navia whispers. “Is it fatal?”
She can’t lose any more important people in her life. She feels like she’ll go insane otherwise. Clorinde seems to sense her worries because she finally glances back up and takes a deep, shaky breath and gets her bearing.
“I guess you can call it fatal.” Clorinde laughs weakly. “But it won’t kill me.”
Navia frowns. “How can you laugh? Is it life-threatening? Could it affect your work?”
Disability, Navia learns, in the eyes of the law, is one which so gravely affects one’s work to the point a person wouldn’t be able to continue. It wouldn’t hurt to check. She wonders if it’s something Clorinde caught when she was younger, airborne or training-wise.
She cups Clorinde’s face in her hands and examines every bit and piece she could see this close. Her long eyelashes, the faint scar that cuts through her brow, the slight blush that coats her cheek. Unconsciously, she presses the pad of her thumb against her cheek a little harder. Navia doesn’t know what exactly she is looking for- maybe it’s to check whether she really is sick.
Clorinde pretends to think all the while she leans into Navia’s touch.
“Sometimes it makes me physically ache. My heart clenches so badly I can’t breathe.” She mutters.
She’s about to make Navia cry. Her lips quiver and suddenly the corset around her chest feels uncomfortably tight. But Clorinde doesn’t look all that concerned- she looks visibly relaxed if anything! Navia scowls and presses her palm against the side of Clorinde’s face a little bit more firmly.
“What is it exactly ?”
Clorinde gives her a blank stare.
Navia stares back, albeit a little more confused.
Clorinde separates herself from Navia’s hold, and while that was a little disappointing, there were more important things at hand. There’s a knot in her brow, and Navia isn’t sure what she’s contemplating, because she looks torn between being embarrassed and being in disbelief.
“Navia,” She says slowly. “Rethink of the symptoms.”
Of course, Navia remembers them well; according to Sigewinne, Clorinde is suffering from a strange disease that she might’ve caught near Poisson. Her face intensely flushes as if she were always blushing, her heart beats so fast that Clorinde mentions it physically aches, her vision goes out of control just like those times whenever she feels intensely-
Navia has never heard of these symptoms before.
Clorinde must’ve been observing her expression because she sighs loudly and massages her temple. She’s mumbling something to herself before she swallows thickly and bows her head.
“I went to Sigewinne for a check-up a few years back to ask about it.” She drawls.
Navia eagerly scoots closer to hear the rest of her words. Clorinde purses her lips and her face looks constipated.
“…She said there was nothing to worry about.” She eyes Navia carefully. “She diagnosed me with a crush.”
.
.
.
“A what?”
She opens her mouth and no words come out. She closes it and stares at the space between them, not knowing how she should be reacting to that revelation. Clorinde groans as if she were in so much pain and maybe she is, and so is Navia, because she was being very expressive- very vocal- about how much she was worrying for a-
A crush.
Navia decides that she, perhaps, really will flip the entirety of Fontaine upside down.
Given the time to think, she supposes it makes a lot of sense. But who could blame Navia for worrying?
Blushing, trembling, fast heartbeat…How would she have known it wasn’t pertaining to a physical disease?
Later, after this whole ordeal is over, she’ll have to think of how to treat Sigewinne the next time they see each other. Contrary to what the newspaper may say, Navia does hold a lot of grudges. Unfortunately, Sigewinne’s adorable appearance and her good record as a doctor will not deter Navia from remembering this day.
“Who?” She asks.
Clorinde seems taken back by her question. She blinks twice.
“Who?” She repeats after a heartbeat.
“Yes.” Navia says impatiently. “Who do you have a crush on?” Navia demands.
There weren’t many people around their age that they grew up with. Even if there were, Clorinde never gave anyone in Poisson a second look. If she is still suffering from this- this lovesickness , then Navia could only conclude that she still has a crush on this mysterious person.
And Navia won’t allow it. She was sure that Clorinde had feelings for her and the reality of it being quite different from what she thought might just be something she was never going to recover from.
She’d rather go to hell - if it even exists- than allow Clorinde to look at someone else-
“Navia.”
“Yes?” Navia answers with a hard frown.
The uncertainty on Clorinde’s face dissipates and is replaced by amusement. “ Navia. ”
“Yes, what is it?” Navia repeats, annoyance seeping into her tone.
It shouldn’t be that hard to talk about their feelings like adults should; they were almost thirty for Archons’ sake. Navia doesn’t even know why Clorinde is trying not to laugh right in her face when they were in the middle of a very serious, life-changing conversation here!
“It’s Navia.”
“ Clorinde, what about me-” She stops.
She retracts and thinks about it more slowly. Clorinde is giving her a funny look, and Navia wants to reach out to pinch her side because how dare someone younger than her (by barely a year) act so cheekily?
It’s Navia.
It’s you.
Navia bites the inside of her cheek and tries not to scream. She has a few options here: she could act calm and collected ; or she could tackle Clorinde to the ground and kiss her senseless; or she could act like an adult and talk about this in detail.
Go with the second option . The mini navias in her head suggest.
Navia decides to go with the third option.
“Oh.”
Clorinde raises a brow expectantly. “Just oh ?”
She makes Navia flustered. She always does- and Navia hates (likes) that about her but really, did she have to be infuriating now of all times?
Navia clears her throat. “I mean- I know. Everyone likes me.”
She thinks Clorinde will tease back, but she doesn’t. She stays quiet, so quiet that Navia could hear the distant sound of the people going on about their day below them.
Navia was expecting a confession differently; but knowing that Clorinde does feel the same way, for so long, is something she is having a hard time comprehending, because it was so easy for her to say she likes Navia. She has been trying to make Clorinde fall for her and all it takes is for her to ask-
Bah!
“I like you a lot more.” Clorinde interrupts her spiel.
Navia stutters, “Excuse me?”
“I like you a lot more.” Clorinde repeats. “A lot more than everyone else.”
Navia feels her face warming up. She wrings her hands together and stammers in her words, directing her sight to the ground to avoid Clorinde’s piercing gaze.
Oh.
She does like me a lot more.
Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knows that Furina, Chiori and Sigewinne would’ve shook their heads or facepalm at her stupidity; because had she listened the first time, this embarrassing situation could have been avoided.
What was she supposed to say to that?
Thankfully, the mini navias in her head acted quick enough to tell her what to do after a navia meeting. She recalls the… symptoms Sigewinne had told her:
“Is it true I make your heart race?”
Navia is given the opportunity to ask now, so she might as well, to finally quench the curiosity about how if Clorinde also gets her heartstrings tugged every time she sees Navia.
Clorinde clears her throat awkwardly and from this angle, Navia notices the way her ears flush.
“…Yes.” She nods, eyebrow twitching.
Navia’s heart begins to echo her words. “And I make your vision go out of control?”
Clorinde’s vision sparks. She quickly wraps her fingers around the frame to hide it from Navia. She looks slightly bewildered and ashamed, so she averts her gaze. This makes Navia want to tease her.
“…It used to-” Clorinde struggles with her words. “…around the first time I got it after a duel. When you came to see me after and tackled me in a hug.”
Navia remembers that. It was Clorinde’s first few fights in the duelist ring, and one of her opponents was a publicized sensation who tried to convince Clorinde to step down by taking advantage of the pressure from the crowd that came to watch.
She recalls having waited for her outside, and tackling her to the ground when she sees Clorinde fiddling with the vision that hung right above her chest. She remembers the way it crackled around them and Clorinde’s eyes widening because she wasn’t yet that familiar with it.
Clorinde has liked her for so long.
“Why did you never tell me?” Navia asks. “I’ve lo-liked you for so long!”
Clorinde stares at her hands, as a smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes appears on her face.
“I did tell you.” She assures.
“When?” Navia closes her eyes and thinks hard.
“-Every time.”
Clorinde’s voice is soft. Her fingers fiddle with the end of her cape, and one of her legs bounce against the edge anxiously.
“Every time you tell me you like me, I say it back. I’m aware you don’t mean it in the same way, but I’ve always meant mine.”
I’ve always meant mine.
It’s not that Navia never meant hers; albeit she had only started being more open with her feelings just recently, but it seems she hasn’t been that clear as well.
Now she understands what Sigewinne was mumbling about under her breath earlier.
A mismatch of languages.
But if that’s the case, they can always try to meet in the middle.
“I think you shouldn’t assume what I mean.”
She reaches out to cover Clorinde’s hand with her own and squeezes. Clorinde returns the action with less force. She gives Navia her full attention, quietly listening to her words.
“I’ve been trying to-” Navia bites her tongue. Ow. “-Trying to make you fall for me for the past month.”
Convoluted plans, uncooperative weather, clumsy actions and misunderstandings. Nothing went the way Navia wanted them to. She doesn’t get a fairytale confession where Clorinde gets down on one knee and asks her to be her partner for the rest of their lives when Navia tells her she likes her. Instead, what she did was take off her cape to wrap it around Navia and then embrace her throughout the cold, rainy night.
I love you.
Clorinde doesn’t kiss Navia as planned when she gives her the things she likes, and Navia could have never expected herself to trip over nothing and cause her to drop the cake.
But Clorinde decides to eat it anyway, and chooses to keep her safe over all else.
I love you.
Then they went hunting; and Clorinde went so far as to clear the area of the monsters that roamed around, when Navia initially didn’t plan to head there, covering her reckless act without scolding her about it.
I love you.
She recalls the days when Clorinde was just new to tabletop games and how she struggled to keep up with Navia. She remembers how she tried to adapt to every situation to counter all of her quick remarks and adjusted the situation to still make it fun for her and the others.
I love you.
Maybe this is what Clorinde meant when she said she always meant it. She’s not just saying it, but acting it out.
“I love you, if that isn’t clear enough.” Navia purses her lips.
An ordinary confession. No spark, no fireworks, no cheering crowd. Plain and direct. Like she first set out to do.
Clorinde blinks as if she can’t believe what she’s hearing.
“I loved you then growing up, and I loved you even after-after that incident with my father.” She swallows.
She loved her even when she walked away, and even in her absence.
“Believe me,” Navia laughs weakly. “Everyone has been telling me that you like me back, I just had to make sure.”
Clorinde narrows her eyes. “Make sure?”
“Mhmm, that you feel the same as me.” Navia hums.
Clorinde has a petulant expression now. Her eyes are filled with uncertainty as she stares down at their hands. She swallows nervously before peeking at Navia through the stray locks of her hair that fell in front of her face. Her face might not convey much, but Navia feels the familiar static in the air, charged and intensifying, and she laughs.
Slowly, she leans her forehead against hers, and grins.
“What should we do now?” Navia pushes.
“Whatever you want to do.” Clorinde murmurs.
Fine.
“Kiss me.” Navia demands.
So Clorinde does without an ounce of delay. She squeezes Navia’s hand and leans forward to slot her lips against hers, gentle and soft. It was a short peck, it didn’t even last long enough for her to reciprocate or figure out how to reciprocate.
When Clorinde leans back, Navia chases after her and puts a little more force into the kiss, and one of them whimpers when their lips meet again. There are butterflies in her stomach, and her skin burns when Clorinde ghosts a touch over it, and it makes her groan into the kiss.
Navia separates her hand from hers, reaching up to tug on the ribbon around Clorinde’s vision and her other hand pushing her forward by the nape of her neck. She feels tone arms loop around her waist to pull her closer and Clorinde kisses her again, more fervently, more wanting, as she bites on Navia’s lower lip.
The next time they separate, Navia moves them from the edge to the center of the roof, pulling Clorinde down on top of her.
“Tell me you love me.” She demands-denies that she begs.
Clorinde gasps when Navia pulls her down again to kiss her. Her lipstick is probably just as smudged as the one on Clorinde’s lips right now. She feels the way Clorinde wraps her fingers around her wrist to pin them right beside her head before she pulls away with shortness of breath. Her chest heaves as she hovers over Navia, eyes sparkling like the crackling of fireworks.
“I love you.” She laughs. “But I wouldn’t be able to tell you that if you try to kiss me so quickly every time.”
Navia is aware that they have to get down soon. Clorinde might’ve been an expert in the dead of the night, but Navia isn’t that confident she could climb down with these goddamned heels. Well, she had a remedy for that-
But her thoughts are interrupted when Clorinde leans down, brushes her bangs to the side and kisses her forehead so tenderly it made Navia want to twirl her hair like a schoolkid with a crush.
“I love you.” Clorinde repeats, pressing the pad of her thumb on Navia’s flushed cheek.
“I love you.” She whispers in her ear and presses another peck on her temple.
Happiness bubbles in the pit of her stomach, and it bursts out of her lips in a fit of giggles. She wraps her arms around Clorinde’s neck to pull her into an embrace. A passing thought passes through Navia’s mind, about how she should bake some macarons for Sigewinne after she gets home. And maybe for Furina. Maybe Chiori too, so she wouldn’t get too upset over that last dress Navia sent to her a few days ago.
“I love you.” Clorinde says again, as she kisses the crown of her hair.
Okay, so maybe the world wasn’t against her.
Maybe it conspired to do everything in its power to bring Navia to this moment: taking Clorinde’s hand, jumping off the rooftop and using her umbrella to float them down.
The night is clear, and no one bothers them as Clorinde leads her into her apartment in a small corner of the Court, hidden from prying eyes and flashing kameras.
So it wasn’t because of Navia’s plans that led Clorinde to love her, but she does believe that it was by natural design- of some higher power or by fate, she finds that she doesn’t care. Not when Clorinde kisses her against the doorframe, and not when she whispers in her ear adoration and confessions she’d never thought she’d say.
When morning comes and she finds herself waking up right next to Clorinde, Navia concludes that it wouldn’t be so bad, being the one head over heels for this woman.
I love you.