Chapter 2: Gifts

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The door opened and S walked in, holding a small bag. She wore a concerned look on her face, but more surprisingly, she was also sporting a santa hat.

“I thought you may have fallen asleep in your chair again and didn’t want to wake you up.” spoke S, examining the room she had been in many times before as she quietly shut the door behind herself.

“S--You were…I thought you were going to be away! The mission, what happened? Did you accomplish it that quickly?” M ran up to S, clasping the other woman’s hands within her own as she was barely able to control her excitement and surprise, her eyes glowing at her CO.

“I didn’t want to make any promises earlier, which is why I told you I’ll be busy, but I fully intended to complete it as speedily as possible so I can return and spend the night back at base.” S explained, caressing M’s hands with her thumb. An amusing thought ran through S’s head, causing a faint smile to materialize on the young woman’s face.

“Could it be that you were secretly hoping I would pay a visit here?”

This question made M’s heart stop for a moment, likely because of how on the money it was. The younger girl stammered a bit, before clearing her throat and answering earnestly.

“Yes, S. Yes, of course I did. I couldn’t stop thinking about you and---I feel like I’m a little useless, or just a burden on you, always missing you like this or wanting to be with you.”

“Always?”
”Yes--Almost always, I’d say. Don’t get me wrong. You know better than anyone how proud I am when you’re out there, doing what you must. Even then, I can’t help but…miss you…”

M’s voice became an octave below during the latter part of her sentence, lowering her eyes as she spoke.

“I missed you as well.” replied her darling superior Officer, intertwining their fingers together.

M was feeling a tad overwhelmed. It just was not fair, she thought. One moment she was feeling as if her heart was made out of benign ice, but in an instant that ice seemingly melted, reminding her just how tender her emotions can be. All because of one woman, it was constantly brought to her attention how human she remained; the emotions, that in excess, she would consider weak still clearly existed within her.

M was lost in her cogitation and could only reply by gently pressing her face against her partners shoulder, her breath becoming constrained in correlation with the increase in the pace of her heartbeat.

The already quiet room was overcome with a momentary silence before S finally broke it.

”I’m cold.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah.”

M folded her arms, before resting her right elbow on her left palm and tapping at her chin with her forefinger.

“I can help with that.” she commented, beaming at her dear friend. Lifting her cape up by extending her arms upwards and throwing them around S’s shoulder, consequently blanketing S with her cape, before affectionately pressing up against the taller girl, embracing her tightly.

“There.” said M, a smirk emerging on her face. “Better?”

“Much.” was S’s reply, as she was unable to control the smile that appeared on her face by this action, returning the favour by contracting her arms around M’s waist. Mutually beneficial.

A tender moment shared betwixt two girls, where no prying eyes had a visual to see the uncommon, gentle vulnerability they were displaying to one another.

“What’s that?” questioned M, refocusing her gaze upon the bag S had now placed on a nearby seat. She noticed how it did not seem to be military issued.

“That?” S said, keeping one arm around M’s waist and slowly walking her over to it.

“I picked something up for you during my mission.”

Lifting the bag, she pulled out a spherical glass where the lower half was encased by a flat piece of metal. Within it was lay a delicate looking flower; a purple primula vulgaris, entirely preserved by the special properties of the capsule.

“It--is that…?” M’s eyes widened, her gaze completely fixed upon the enchanting piece of nature.

“You told me that you wanted to see it someday, correct? The moment you had said that…I made it a priority of mine to obtain it for you, one day. Just in time for Christmas, too.”

M was speechless. Covering her mouth, her face began to flush as tears started welling up in her eyes, despite her best efforts to control what she referred to as “the water-works.”

S, being a seemingly eternally understanding friend, remained silent with the intention of allowing M to compose herself. This gesture turned out to be unneeded as M grasped the present within her hands, taking a deep breath and setting it aside.

“That might be---That, besides your presence, is the best gift I’ve ever had the honour of receiving. I don’t…Is It…I cogitate on this often, but is it really acceptable for one person to…be so happy?”

S could not determine if M was looking for an answer to this question or if she was just beginning a short monologue. Regardless, she began formulating a response before M continued.

“I…I don’t have anything nearly as good for you. All I can give you is my sincere thanks, affection and…”

M spoke as she walked over to her writing desk, her cape sliding off of S’s body. Opening a drawer attached to her bureau, she gripped a few papers she had stapled together, eyeing the first page quickly before shutting the drawer with her knee.

M motioned back towards S, straightening herself in front of the other girl, before extending both her arms forward, the papers in her hands.

“For you. It’s a story about us. A really short one, but…I could not stop thinking about you. I put a lot of love into it, perhaps you’ll be able to tell… Attached herewith is another one of our s-songs, transcribed in its original language.”

Delicately taking hold of the short story and transcription, S’s eyes darted over them, a sudden feeling of nostalgia (the origins of which were unknown to her) encompassing her emotions. Unlike M, S did not have to contend with holding back tears by the bequeathed gift. Perhaps the same can not be said, however, when she would later read it, away from M, during another mission.

“I’m very humbled to have you in my life, M…”

S spoke quietly but clearly, momentarily wondering at the extent of M’s affection. She had a difficult time accepting that someone valued her, over countless others, to this degree.

“...I’m feeling cold again, if you don’t mind.”

With that, the two girls were once again in an embrace, having bared their hearts to each other.