#’i think lumina yelling at me… is just her way of showing she loves me! :D’

[kinokoshoujoart]

30 days of Harvest Moon - day 16. mining / fight

LUMINA USED ROCK-ET LAUNCH!

honestly is it really a farming sim if it doesn’t have a girls gauntlet fight that activates at 4:44 AM in the mines through your doghouse where the girlies take turns trying to beat you to death by throwing their love interests at you 🤔

[yukiwrites]

Imperfect, and Yet...

Thank you so much for the support, @woomy-nah! I did a slightly different approach, but I still hope you’ll like it! :D

Summary: Lumina and Tsubaki spent more and more time together after their first meeting. So much that the both of them wouldn’t mind (or rather, WISHED for) if they could spend even more time together. Maybe forever.

Commission info HERE and HERE!

Perhaps it was because both of them shared similar mounts, but Lumina couldn't help but notice how much of Tsubaki she was seeing as of late. They were together in battle; during training drills; even as they groomed their mounts! He would visit the stables at the same time as her, no matter how much she changed her schedule.

Well, not that she was trying to, mind. She just found it oddly convenient, though no less pleasing. Tsubaki would usually do a large chunk of the talking, mostly of how to perfectly do this or that.

It saved Lumina the trouble of awkwardly looking for topics to talk about, since she's never been one to interact much with other people. Besides, she truly liked the sound of Tsubaki's voice. It was so melodious and manly... she could listen to it all day and night.

"Uh, I mean," she blushed deeply with that last segment. "I-I didn't mean I want to hear it at night or anything," she tried to justify herself to her own thoughts, mumbling incoherently.

"Lumina? Is something wrong? Your hand started drifting off... Goodness! You're bright red! Do you have a fever?" Tsubaki reflexively reached for her forehead, touching it with his palm.

They were brushing their pegasi by the Astral Realm's stable, talking about this or that topic. Since she spoke very little, and especially only if prompted, Tsubaki treasured the times he got to hear her voice. It was so sweet and... soft. It suited her small stature and cherry blossom hair color. Not to mention how bright her golden eyes shone sometimes...

"I-I'm alright!" She shrieked, closing her eyes as his hand touched her face. "I was just, uh, thinking of... things..."

Since she never had to make an excuse in her whole life (telling the truth or saying nothing at all were way less tiring), lying wasn't really Lumina's strong point. She really didn't know what she could tell him to make him drop the subject without embarrassing her out of her mind.

Tsubaki lingered his hand over her forehead, enjoying how she didn't shy away from it like she did many months ago. "You're not cold today, so that's a good thing, at least." He said in a soft voice, not wanting to break the contact between their skins.

Lumina shyly opened one eye, quickly widening both of them once they met Tsubaki's. He looked so soft and worried and wonderful and... and... She sighed lovingly, closing her eyes again so her emotions wouldn't show on her face (that was never a problem before she met him!). "I- my skin is always cold." Her voice was more composed than she thought it would, so she gave herself a mental pat on the back. "I'm alright now, so, if nothing else..." Still with her eyes closed, she turned her head away from him, towards her mount.

His hand didn't budge, however, and her movement only changed where he touched: from her forehead to her ear.

Once again they felt static flowing through their skins, making them jump away from each other. "W-why didn't you move your hand..." She covered her ear with one hand, raising both shoulders as though to protect herself, her face even redder than before.

Tsubaki had to take one hand to his chest so as to clutch it, afraid that his heart would break from cuteness overload. He wanted to see more of her, more of the adorable expressions only she's capable of, hear more of her sweet and alluring voice... He wanted to spend the whole day and night with her.

It was his turn to redden, the brush he held with his other hand falling with a thud on the ground. "Wh-what am I thinking?!" He whispered gravely, turning away from her. "I-I apologize, Lumina, I overstepped my boundaries." He cleared his throat, hiding behind his pegasus so as to compose himself.

"I... I didn't mind it..." She blurted out, then slapped her mouth in regret.

But he heard it.

Tsubaki heard it.

He gripped at his pegasus' reins, chewing on his lower lip. "You... didn't? Would you mind if I- no, no, nevermind. How preposterous of me to even entertain such thoughts with a fellow soldie-"

"I wouldn't mind." Once again she blurted out under her hand, now slapping her other hand over it. Stupid mouth! Stop running on your own! She thought as her eyes started to spin in embarrassment, her heart pounding so hard by her chest she was afraid he could hear it.

Tsubaki dug his nails over his chest, wanting to squeeze his own heart lest it exploded. Did... did she mean that he could touch her? Or that they could keep talking? He didn't finish his sentence, after all.

What would she think if he went up to her and touched her out of the blue?! What a disgrace it would be if she rejected him!

There were no books for him to read about on how to be perfect in a relationship between two people. There's no formula to teach someone on how to act during this or that situation, which made him even more lost! If he weren't perfect, he was nothing!

Surely his reaction wasn't perfect, either. He was hiding behind his pegasus while taking deep breaths and hoping that his heart would stop beating so loudly. It has no business yelling at everyone in a 10 mile radius that he's excited to spend time with Lumina.

To entertain the thought of touching her, of spending even more time with her... To hear more of her embarrassed voice, to watch her delicate and small hands work...

"Oh, gods." He mumbled, realization settling inside of him.

He loved her.

He loved her!

Surprised with his own feelings, Tsubaki stepped away from the pegasus so as to look at Lumina in the eye. She shared his same expression, though much, much more adorable than he could ever be. She had both hands over her mouth as though she'd regretted saying whatever she did moments previous, her pale skin so red it could rival his hair color.

Tsubaki opened his mouth to speak, but no voice came out. He did it again, only to fail again. Damn, his perfect act was slipping out! He had to hide to compose himself, but how could he, when he was in Lumina's presence?

He wanted to share every minute, every second possible with her. "Lumina..." He managed to say finally, his voice a bit crooked.

"Y-yes?" She said a pitch too high, clearing her throat. "Yes?" She said it again, proud of how composed it was.

"Would you care for a ride with me tonight? I have something I am in a dire need to tell you, but it cannot be here, nor now." It has to be perfect, he thought with a shy smile sprouting across his face. He would take her to a stroll under the stars, then they would fly over the mountains towards a secluded glade so they could watch the moon and then... only then he would tell her how much "I love you."

"Wh- eh?" Lumina sputtered, widening her eyes so much it pierced a hole into Tsubaki's chest.

Still not realizing he had said it aloud, his smile grew simply by witnessing her embarrassed mien.

One second passed. Then another, then two more.

"DID I SAY THAT OUT LOUD?" He covered his face with both hands, crouching on the ground to hide. "D-don't look at me! Oh, how disgraceful!"

Stunned, Lumina leaned on the wooden beam and slowly slid down to the ground. "You- me? Really?" She gasped softly, placing both hands over her chest in a vain attempt to still its wild beating.

"Ahhh! I do, but not like this! It wasn't perfect enough!" He cried out, too embarrassed to care about how lame he looked as he still covered his face.

"... Yes, it was. It was perfect." She said, feeling a lump grow in her throat."

"Are you listening? I just confessed my love in a stable!" He sniffled, gesturing to their general location, not realizing what she implied as his mind spiralled in a vortex of failure.

"So what? If I do it too, will it still be imperfect?"

"Nothing you do is short of perfect! I bet you'd look adorable and flawless even if you confessed in a sta-" he stuttered, realization settling in for the second time, "in a stable..."

"I don't care for being perfect. I don't care if you're not perfect. Actually, this is the first time I saw how adorable you look when you lose that perfect mask and I... love it. Much more than the other one that I already loved." She said shyly, both hands still over her mouth as though in an attempt to muffle her voice and run away from there.

"You're not serious. You can't love something imperfect!" He gasped, trying to run away from that strange acceptance. "I have to be the perfect me for you to love-"

"Shut up, you thick man." She pouted, walking on fours towards him and pushing him down on the ground. "I'm saying that I love you and that's final. I also said that it's okay to touch me, so start now!" She blurted out, knowing she would deeply regret it later. How dare she be that bold!

Flabbergasted, Tsubaki's hand hesitated, slowly placing a tuft of hair behind her ear. "Do you really? I... I think I'm dreaming."

"You have no idea how much courage it took me to say that. Be ready to never hear anything from me, ever again." She whispered, her eyes watering with tears due to her increasingly hot cheeks.

"Please, no! I do so love to hear your voice." He smiled nervously, his entire body trembling.

Touching her cold yet warm skin made him feel oddly alive. Ah, he couldn't wait to find out what more they would experience in the future! Preferably in a perfect way, this time!

[aesirfalling]

Death

Part 4 of 6 (Vanille, Song of the Ancients: Atonement) - Together We Brought the Moon Down

Character/Full ATB Skill Study of the Final Fantasy XIII Cast Set to Nier: Automata Music.

She cannot tell what is more enticing: the spring dawn’s breezes heavy with birdsong and dew, or the promise of one final heartbeat, somber and steady against the back of her eyelids. Sleep, she murmurs, weaving flowers with her delicate braceleted hands and smiling soundlessly to the sun. Sleep where all friends and family have long been lowered into their eternal rest.

Sleep, so that we can all dream.

  I’m not leaving.

Vanille! You have to listen to me! They want you to die! They –

So what if I want to die? What if I should and need to die, Fang? What then? Haven’t we caused enough suffering? Haven’t we failed enough? Haven’t we –

It’s not your fault! It’s never been your fault! If anyone’s ever –

No one told me. But I see them. I hear them. I know. You can’t live and die for me, Fang. You’ve always done everything. Live –

No! Vanille!

  The souls. They come.

The towns. The world. They come…

She walks alone to the end of the altar like a bride waiting to be given away, warm silks flowing like a river over the crystal dust in her hair. She’s kissed Fang in this cathedral when the Order wasn’t looking, sworn that she’d love her partner forever, always be hers, theirs, all the way to the end of time. Even if the Cathedral would fall. Even if the wind of the lost would consume her from the inside out. Even if…

But I’m not just Oerba Dia Vanille, you know? She grins innocently, pulling out of the kiss as the Order puts her sister – partner – lover in chains, drags her out of the saint’s view. Oerba Dia Vanille belongs to Oerba Yun Fang.

Vanille the l’Cie belongs to death and God.

  Your dreams. Can I give them back? Your smile? Your tears? I hear your craving for your mother. Don’t weep over the beloved… I understand, I understand. Do you want another story? What about another myth? I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I don’t know what I can –

Sometimes the voices of the dead are calming, other times violent and seething; the Order knows how it goes – they’ll send priestesses after her, restrain her as she wanders blind in the halls of the cathedral, sedate her as she shrieks from darkness that is not her own. The fall of the crystal pillar… the encroaching chaos… every year as people have to walk towards another land, every district of Luxerion and Yusnaan lost to the unforgiving ocean, all the worlds that won’t ever come back, all the people –

“Saint!” A stern voice yells – a priestess? – frantically waving a fan over her face. “Remember your friends. Remember your name. You must not lose yourself to the dead!”

My name. My family. Serah’s sympathetic face, so young and so, so kind, listening intently to her tale in Bodhum and then twisting, so painfully, in a vision that no human can endure for years on end. Hope as a child, struggling to hold a gun, then just vanishing into the night air, disappearing without a trace –

“Do something for me, will you? Keep smiling. I – it makes me happy when you smile.”

The seizing stops. She feels them let go of her, slowly letting her bruised and exhausted body collapse and settle against the cool marble floor. It’s dark. How long has it been? Nobody’s in the church at this hour anymore. There are painted glass windows in her line of vision, pictures of Pulse and Etro serving their all-knowing Father. Are Hope and Serah in her massive crowd of voices, even now? Why can’t she hear them?

Does it just mean she doesn’t love them enough to pick them apart from the others?

I love you, she thinks despairingly to herself, and that’s when the tears start pooling, a cold and unforgivable thing even more chilling than the stone of the Cathedral itself. The Order will let her cry. They know it means that she still remembers. All I’ve ever wanted is to love all of you until I die.

  The years pass even in Fang’s absence. She treasures the seeing stone above everything else – without Fang’s consciousness, Fang’s body, Fang’s bravery flowing into her veins from those calloused hands clutching her own, she feels dreadfully incomplete. Her prayers in front of Bhunivelze’s altar ring hollow, as ugly as the half-Ragnarok Fang became in all those years past. But she will be enough this time, even in her deformity.

Smile, Fang, she laughs to herself behind a mural of Etro bleeding out in the first desert of the world, picking Fang’s language apart as the taller woman tries to gesture around a group of bandits, they’ll never flirt with you otherwise.

“Please rise, Saint. There are twelve more couples waiting to receive your blessing.”

A thousand years and I’ve never wanted to be holy.

  The dead never cease; she supposes death never really ceases, either, so she buries herself in prayer, learning ancient languages and rituals that she never truly understands. If Hope was here, this would be easier, she reflects miserably, drinking moodily from the cup of water left outside her chamber by the acolytes. Or Serah and Noel. Or even Yeul herself. While watching everyone from within the crystal, Fang and I entertained ourselves by trying to track the Yeuls. Fang had laughed at me for suggesting it. But when we were as we were…

“The people would not grieve if you do not pronounce everything perfectly, your Holiness,” one priest shakes his head at her, the picture of religious compassion. “All the people want are hope and salvation. If you promise it to them, then it will become real.”

Hope is dead and Light won’t ever wake up, the words rise to her lips, but she swallows them. She smiles at the man, the first man to show her any kind of kindness in months, and lets him pray by her feet. “God has a merciful and human heart,” she begins, and he doesn’t contradict her. “And so does his Savior.”

  It’s only later, way later, when she’s sitting together with Hope again in a church in the new world that she understands the true meaning of her eidolith. They are walking together through the gallery, feeling the statues and squinting at the texts, before Hope pulls her over and points out something to her. A maiden veiled and prostrate, trying to repent – and before her, glowing all rosy and beautiful on the most glorious tree of Eden, a wreath of apples.

The forbidden fruit, in so many ways, is life itself.

“Is Fang Adam, then?” She jokes, elbowing him. “Is that how all of this makes sense, now?”

“You can ask her about it,” he responds nonchalantly, his lips curved up in a small smile. “I certainly did not remember creating her in my image.”

  A bonfire, a village, a market. Somewhere to stop, somewhere where we’d not be noticed or recognized, somewhere where I could just buy her drink, and she a chocobo for the two of us to ride the world with. A place where I could laugh at her bad jokes. A place where she could complain about the dirt in my hair. A place where we could be human, where we could fail, where we could die and bury ourselves in leaves and snow…

The mirage shatters, as it always does. Fang wants the Clavis. If the Clavis is destroyed – if she can’t perform the Soulsong – what can they do?

“It’s too late to stop, Saint,” she recites, a line repeated to her by the senior priestess, who claims to have heard God. “This world is ending, and we need you to bring us to the next shore.”

  “Lightning thinks crystal is eternal,” Lumina scoffs, raven feathers and dark boots, a Farron girl from the most retro Cocoon the Pulse girl can think of. The girl dances and jumps all around the Saint, hugs her from behind and pulls on her hair. It’s strangely comforting to have visitors. It’s been a while since she’s seen Fang, and a bit longer since the Order’s given up trying to hound up a little girl who can materialize behind bars and out of thin air. “I say, she really just needs to come here and look at you.”

Our crystal pillar… it should have never fallen. It was supposed to be indestructible, infallible. Yet the bond between Fang and I had not been strong enough. Yet our love had cracked and given away throughout the flow of time. Yet I…

“Do not die, Vanille,” Lumina suddenly breathes by your ear, Lightning-serious and Lightning-sad and Serah’s smile all intertwined together in one. 

“Everything is going to be fine.”