Be Kind to Me
Work, work, work! How clean does Bron want this godforsaken ship?!?"
Obviously, the swabbie was none too pleased about drawing cleaning
duties- AGAIN. 'Fifth time this week', he thought. He was young, but at
the rate he had to scrub the deck, he was going to have carpal tunnel by
next year.
Just then, he heard footsteps. He furrowed his brow, suspecting that one
of his crewmates was messing with him again by making a mess of the deck
with muddy boots.
"Oh, for the love of- Do you have to tortur-"
The swabbie was stopped short when he realized just who it was that he
was talking to.
"Oh my- Craftlord Pratty! My apologies."
The newly-crowned Craftlord of Iron looked distracted, but acknowledged
him. "It's okay. Can I have the ship to myself for a while?"
"Sure, but I have to clean-"
"I'll take over. Just take the night off."
There are several things that the young lad had thought impossible.
Obviously, this was one of them. Regardless, the boy handed her the mop
and the sponge, then walked below deck, beginning to seriously
contemplate seeing a psychologist. Or maybe just talking it over with
the crew... or not.
--------------------------------------
Pratty had finished cleaning the ship like she promised an hour and a
half ago. Yet, she just couldn't tear herself away from the spot that
Sugar and her used to frequent.
'Sugar...'
The very reason that Pratty had been so out of sync for the past week.
They'd always visited this very ship after those battles in the
tournament. Her Guardian Beast was a very unusual (if predictable)
creature, even by Beast standards. The girl looked like a fairy, for
pete's sake! She could be passionate at times, wielding her aquatic
magic to protect her master and her friends. But she could also be very
jealous when she felt that someone was flirting.
From the very moment that they'd met, she knew that she was in for a
weird experience.
--------------------------------------
The ritual had finally been completed. After several minutes of waiting,
Pratty could finally get to work on forging new weapons on her own. A
blue light flashed, blinding all the people in the room. When she could
see again, a woman with pinkish-purplish hair and a matching pair of a
black bra and shorts was there, floating three inches above the ground.
Bron, Pratty's master, looked stunned. "Wow. It's Sugar. I never
expected you to call forth the same one as your father..."
The woman looked disoriented, looking around the room, finally settling
her eyes upon Pratty. She looked the apprentice up and down, then simply
asked if she was Shintetsu's child.
Pratty got that question a lot, but didn't see it coming from a Guardian
Beast. "Um, yes... I am."
Her new Guardian smiled for a moment, then floated toward her, becoming
a clear violation to her personal space. The white-haired sixteen year
old blushed a little bit, and decided to ask her to take a few... uh...
steps back. And that was when the kissing started.
Sugar had placed her hands on Pratty's shoulders, placed her lips upon
her master's, and began to allow their tongues to mingle.
Pratty was now as red as a beet, and Sugar, perhaps sensing this, broke
off the makeout session. Sugar smiled widely, and simply said, "Hello,
Master. My name is Sugar."
Bron simply looked at Pratty, sweatdropped, then proceeded to head up
the stairs. "When you're ready, I'll show you two your room."
Sugar squealed with excitement, following Bron."Oh goody! Our own little
love nest!"
Pratty, still stunned from the spit exchange, simply raised her right
hand to her lips. "That was my first kiss..."
-----------------------------------
'And that was only the beginning.'
Unbeknownst to the Craftlord, three figures were standing about twenty
feet behind the vessel that she stood on. One had fiery red hair, with a
sword at her side, whilst the other was the object of Pratty's eye at
the moment. To Sugar's right was Bron's niece, Razzy, dressed out in her
usual yellow outfit and bandana. Since no one else was going to start
the conversation that the three knew needed to occur, she figured that
she'd begin.
"Okay, so she's here. Why did you bring us here?"
Sugar kept her eyes on Pratty. "She's been coming out here on her own
now for about a week." She turned to look at the redhead. "Sanary, do
you know why she's come out here?"
The girl to Sugar's left thought hard for a moment, before shrugging her
shoulders. "No idea. She seemed fine this morning, though."
Sugar disagreed. "No. You weren't there this morning. She barely touched
her food. I'm getting really worried about her."
Razzy squinted, trying to figure out just what it was that her former
competitor was thinking. "Maybe she's hung up over something. Like
Shintetsu... or a boy or something, I don't know."
Sanary's eyes widened. "Razzy, that actually sounded like a half-way
decent idea."
"I know."
"But your ideas are always-"
"I know."
"...I think my brain just exploded."
Sugar simply kept quiet through the whole exchange. 'Why, Master Pratty?
Why do you walk alone so often these days?'
She'd been trying to think of everything, if anything, that she'd done
in the past week to upset Pratty, but she hadn't come up with anything
besides her usual flirting- was that it? Her master had never taken her
words offensively, so what was going wrong?
"Sugar!"
Sugar brought herself back to her senses, and faced Sanary. "Yes?"
"I asked you a question. You didn't answer."
"What was that?"
Sanary sighed, and then repeated herself. "Do you think we should try to
talk to her?"
"Um... no."
"Okay, then what about just one of us?"
Sugar didn't answer again. Sanary motioned to Razzy to walk away with
her a little bit. "We'll be right back."
Once the two friends had walked away about fifty feet, they stopped.
"What'd you think?"
Sanary looked back at the ship. "I think that you had it right- Pratty's
got the hots for some boy, and Sugar's not pleased with her method of
coping with an unrequited love."
Razzy nodded. "One of us is going to have to talk to her. Not Sugar,
though."
That got Sanary's curiosity sparked. "Why?"
"If Pratty didn't want Sugar with her on these walks, then why would she
want to talk to her now?"
"Good point. You talk to her."
"What?!? Why me?"
"Because you were able to figure out why Pratty's so depressed and why
Sugar doesn't want to talk about it!"
"No! That was a lucky guess! Besides, you know more about feminine pride
and all that!"
"Oh, come on. That was a weak excuse. You go."
"No, you go."
"You."
"You."
"You!"
"You..."
--------------------------------------
'My legs are really starting to go numb.'
Pratty shifted a little in her position, deciding to lean forward onto
the wooden barrier. Nope, still not able to think clearly.
It used to be so simple- Sugar would make a pass at her; she'd blush,
and pretend that nothing had happened.
But ever since that incident in the Labyrinth and Parista, things just
couldn't return to the way they were before. 'That was a nightmare.'
--------------------------
After getting her rear end handed to her by Parista, she was approached
by the Holy Spirit of Ice, Kuhrya. He offered a way to forge a weapon
that could send Parista back to the Spirit World. The ingredients were
hard to come by, but not impossible to find. Summonite Gems? Summonite
Ore? Sakuro had offered to retrieve those items. But there was one final
item on the list.
Her Guardian Spirit's soul.
Sugar.
When this revelation was made, Pratty stood still, not quite sure that
what she'd heard and what he'd said were the same thing. 'Her soul?'
She turned to look at Sugar, trying to find some way that she could find
some scrap of morality in this exchange. Sugar floated over to Pratty,
and smiled. But not in her usual, cheery manner, but more of one that
knew what her Master had to do.
"Just do it. If I can serve you in the hereafter, then I would die
happy."
Pratty couldn't speak a word. She just felt so guilty even thinking
about sacrificing her Guardian. No, not just a Guardian, one of her best
friends. And Pratty was not the kind of person to abandon a friend to a
miserable fate.
After what seemed like eternity, she finally found courage enough to
speak.
"Is there no other way?"
Kuhrya stayed silent for a moment, before smiling. "Yes. But I would
need all of Shintetsu's swords-"
In a flash, Pratty made a run for it, off to retrieve her father's
swords from her home...
------------------------------------------
And then Parista was defeated, Sanary was saved, and Pratty finally
followed her dead father's footsteps to become a great Craftlord.
'Speak of the devil...'
She'd turned around to start pacing again, only to find Sanary walking
toward her.
"Hello, Pratty."
Sanary stopped about three feet from the girl.
"Are you okay? You seem stressed."
"Hm? Oh, it's nothing. I just kind of want to be by myself right now."
Sanary looked at her quizzically, and then fired off a sure-fire
response. "I seem to recall that you didn't leave me alone. I'd have
been a goner if you had."
Pratty cracked a tiny little smile. "I guess you're right." She began to
walk back to the wooden barrier, Sanary following behind.
Neither of them spoke for what seemed like forever. Finally (to Sanary's
relief), Pratty started to talk.
"Sanary, we're friends, right?"
The redhead blinked. "Of course. After all that's happened between us,
how couldn't we be?"
"How do you know when you're friends with someone, and where you're..."
She looked at the distressed girl. "When you're what?"
"When you're... more than friends."
Sanary made a note to thank Razzy for being right for once. "So, you
have feelings for someone?"
Her posture straightened, if only a little bit. "How did you guess?"
"Sometimes," she smirked, "you just know. Call it feminine intuition."
"I... I think so."
Sanary grinned a little, poking the Craftlord in jest. "Who is it?"
After thinking a little bit, she quickly became disgusted. "PLEASE tell
me it's not that brat from the Gold Guild."
Pratty took notice of this plea, and actually laughed a little. "Varil?
Never!"
"Well, it obviously can't be Brom-"
"No. Ew."
"Well, those are the only guys I can think of besides Chaves, and he's a
total idiot!"
Sanary was still thinking on her feet, desperately trying to figure out
who the mystery guy was, when she stumbled on it.
"It is a guy, right? Right?"
Pratty just kept silent. Somewhere in Sanary's mind, a red flag shot up.
"...Does that mean your crush is a girl?"
"I don't even know if it is a crush!"
"Is it Razzy?"
"No, and it's not a crush!"
"Then who?"
-----------------------------------------
"Why have they been talking so long?!?"
Neither Sugar nor Razzy could look away from Sanary and Pratty's
discussion, even if they couldn't hear a word of it, Razzy out of
curiosity and Sugar out of jealousy.
"She's just talking to Sanary, okay? It's not like they're exchanging
spit."
Sugar still was a little perturbed. "Even so..."
"Why do you even care? Why did you even bring us here?"
Sugar paused for a moment. 'I guess I should've known it was going to
come to this.'
"I care because I love her."
Razzy was surprised just a little. It had been blatantly obvious while
Sugar was around her Master, but that kind of affection was never openly
discussed.
"But... she's never said anything about loving you back that I know of.
So why do you still bother?"
Sugar smiled at Razzy. 'First time she'd done that all night,' Razzy
noted.
"I mean, I heard that Shintetsu promised her hand in marriage to you,
but if that's it, you know... Are you even listening?"
She nodded. "At first, I loved her because I was so glad to come back,
and so glad to finally be with his child. I told her that all I ever
would need from her was her kindness."
Sugar then looked into her eyes. "She promised me, and she kept that
promise."
Razzy had to take this all in. Sugar had openly, honestly, admitted that
all her flirting was real. Did Pratty even have a-
'THAT'S IT! THAT'S WHY!'
While this revelation came to the yellow-clad Craftknight, Sanary walked
right between the two. "Um... that went well."
"So, how did the discussion go?"
"Yes," Sugar asked, teeth gritted, prepared to rip the red-head a new
one, "how did it go?"
"I think you should talk with her."
Sugar's anger lessened by just a bit. "What?"
"I think that you need to have a little chat with your Master."
"But-"
"You'll be fine. Just go."
The Guardian Beast was confused, but barely showed any signs of it,
flying toward the ship. Meanwhile, Sanary and Razzy simply stared at the
ship and the lone person standing on it.
"Razzy, do you think they'll actually-"
"No idea. Let's just watch."
----------------------------------
'I need to start getting back home earlier. Sugar'll start to get
worried about me.'
The sun was starting to peek out over the horizon. She began to turn
around, ready to go home, sleep in, and come up with a good excuse for
why she hadn't slept in her bed-
-and found Sugar just three feet in front of her.
"Oh, uh, Sugar, uh... Hi."
She smiled sheepishly, one of those little charms that made her so
attractive to Sugar.
"Master Pratty, why are you out here? I know this isn't 'Craftlord
business'."
'Damn. So much for putting this off.' Pratty lowered her head.
"Master... why've you been avoiding me? Do you wish me to leave?"
The Craftlord of Iron jerked her head up. "NO! No... I don't want you to
go."
"Then why have you been leaving me alone?"
"I don't know."
Sugar wrapped her arms around her beloved. 'Beloved,' she chided
herself, noting that it probably would not ever happen.
"Please, Pratty, tell me."
"That's new."
"What?"
Pratty stared into her partner's eyes. "You called me by my name. No
Master, no Miss, just Pratty."
"Oh, I'm so sorry Ma-"
She put her hand over the fairy's mouth. "No. I like it."
For the first time that Pratty could remember, Sugar blushed. Hell
must've frozen over.
"Sugar, are you actually blushing?"
No response.
"Sugar, would you really like to know why I came here?"
She didn't look, but she could tell that the pink/purple haired fairy
was nodding. She finally let go of the hug after what seemed like
forever.
It came out of her after a good minute of awkward silence.
"IcameoutherebecauseIwasthinkingofyou."
Blink. "I didn't understand you."
She sighed. 'Why does it have to be so hard?'
"I came here because I-I've been thinking..."
Pratty was so nervous that she didn't realize that the distance between
the two had shrunk to just one foot now, and Sugar had started hugging
her affectionately. And it was Pratty's turn to blush when she realized
where her Guardian's head was resting.
"About what?"
"Listen, I've just got to say it. I've been coming out here for a week
now trying to straighten myself out."
"Mast-"
"Please, just call me Pratty, alright?"
"Okay, P-Pratty."
"I was thinking about you and me." She looked at the sky, proclaiming,
"Finally! There! I said it, now life can go back to normal."
Despite this exclamation, she didn't break the hug. It made her feel
warm and fuzzy inside, and she hadn't felt that since the last time
Sugar had kissed her.
"Ma- Pratty, I can get closer than a friend right now, if you want."
Now the distance between their heads had shrunk from a foot to mere
inches.
'Screw it.'
Pratty moved her head in for the kill, making full on contact with
Sugar's lips. The Guardian's eyes widened to the side of dinner plates
while she was trying to figure out what had just happened.
Logically-
If Pratty was showing a Public Display of Affection...
And if that PDA was a kiss...
And if that PDA was with Sugar...
And if Pratty wasn't drunk or insane...
And it wasn't April 1st...
And it wasn't a dream...
It must've therefore been real!
----------------------------
She let herself enjoy this kiss. 'Pratty...'
Finally, Pratty pulled back her head. Her face was redder than a barn
filled with beets.
Pratty decided to speak first. "I think I liked that."
"I enjoyed it as well. Pratty?"
"Yes, Sugar?"
The hug that the two were sharing tightened, becoming even more
affectionate.
"Thank you, for being so kind to me."
The two began to walk home, hand in hand.
"Pratty? I love you."
The Craftlord couldn't help but smile. "I love you too."
---------------------------------------
"That was beautiful."
"Yea, Razz, maybe someday we can find something like that.”
----------------------------------------
The Next Day-
Bron finally decided to pay Amariss a visit in another of his ill-fated
attempts to woo her. It was 1 PM, for pete's sake! He entered the house,
and found a note.
*******************
Pratty,
Went to the store to spend some of the winnings you gave me.
Bron,
Don't even try to follow me. I'll be back later.
Amariss
******************
'Aw hell.'
Bron decided to abandon that plan and just annoy his favorite
ex-apprentice.
He walked up the stairs to shake her out of bed, only to find a strange
sight.
Pratty was still in bed, embracing someone who was also lying in said
bed. Bron took a closer look, to see that the mystery person was Sugar,
whose arms were also wrapped around Amariss's daughter. Both were under
the covers, and both had a tiny little smile on their faces.
And unless he was mistaken, the mess of clothes on the floor probably
meant that neither of them were wearing clothes.
'I'll let her sleep in an hour before I embarrass her.'
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