Spring (part 5 of 6)

a Shoujo-Ai Mascots fanfiction by Toweringman

Back to Part 4
May turned to beautiful June. Swallows wheeled high in the sky, chasing 
each other in seeming oblivion, and countless bees and butterflies 
flocked in the flowers that covered the countryside.

With the coming of summer, a mellow peacefulness took over everyone. 
Nobody hurried, no work was urgent and there was always time to stop and 
sit in the sun for a while. Arine spent a lot of time in her garden, and 
spun mainly for fun and to pass the time when Mia was not with her. 
Which was not often. Mia's village had also settled into an unhurried 
laziness, which meant that Mia came nearly every day, and often stayed 
for the night.

Arine could remember wondering, in the beginning, how their warm 
affection would last as time passed. Whether they would have enough to 
talk about to fill the hours of their long walks. Her fears could not 
have been further from the truth. She felt more affection for Mia with 
every passing day. Happiness, affection and friendship all melted into a 
glowing warmth in her mind. She didn't know what it was that she truly 
felt for Mia. She must have turned the thought in her head a thousand 
times and there was no answer, but she could not make herself think of 
the future too much. She only wanted to live one day at a time, to only 
look forward to the moment when she would be with Mia again.

             .......

Arine smiled as she packed a basket, smaller than usually. Today, both 
of them would bring a surprise lunch and share. Arine had made some of 
Mia's favourites, and also some treats she had never made for her 
before. A familiar knock sounded at the door, and Arine hurriedly closed 
the wicker lid of the basket. The contents would be a surprise up to the 
end. She walked to the door and opened it, opening her mouth to greet 
her friend, but the words froze on her lips.

Mia was wearing a stunningly beautiful reddish brown shirt with flowery 
lace at the sleeves and hem, as well as around the alluringly low 
neckline. A flowing white skirt bared her legs almost to the knee. 
Arine's mind vaguely registered that the shirt was made from the thread 
she had made, but her eyes were already elsewhere. Glittering silver 
bracelets shone on Mia's wrists, and a matching necklace of small linked 
plates adorned her slim neck. Intricate silver earrings hung on her 
ears, two on each, shaped like crescent moons filled with flowers. Her 
hair had been gathered up on the back of her head and held in place with 
an ornate pin, delicate wisps of dark hair spreading up and to the 
sides, and around her eyes was a subtle touch of reddish eyeshadow.

Mia blushed, and Arine distantly realized she was staring at the girl 
with her mouth half open.

"I-", Mia started with a blushing smile, obviously unprepared for the 
impact she had on Arine. "I got this shirt finished this morning", she 
said, fumbling in her words a little but beaming happily at Arine. "It 
made me feel so beautiful that I wanted to dress up a bit-" She looked 
down at her feet, then threw her arms around Arine, her basket still in 
her hand. "Hey", she said, laughing as she hugged her friend, "you're 
making me blush. Do like it so much?"

Arine felt like she was being roused from a spell. The small crescents 
felt cool against her cheek. "This must be the best use my thread has 
ever been put to", she said slowly. Her head felt light. Even though Mia 
always wore her lovely jingling bracelets and often had a colourful 
necklace, Arine had never seen her with her hair up, in such beautiful 
jewelry. She wrapped her hands around Mia, feeling a tingling on her 
skin from touching her.

Mia hugged her for a while, then loosened her arms and pulled back 
enough to look into Arine's eyes, tilting her head a bit to the side. 
Arine's mouth felt dry. "Thank you", Mia said tenderly, then gave a 
smile. "I have more surprises waiting in the basket, but they're for 
later. Shall we go?" She let go of Arine and turned to look at the 
garden. She loved the flowers, and usually wanted to walk there every 
day to see the newly opened blossoms.

"Sure", Arine said, taking her eyes off Mia with an effort.

It was like she had never seen the dark-haired girl before. Beautiful 
only barely began to describe her. She was elegance itself, delicate and 
ethereal, while losing nothing of her adorability and warm earthiness. 
Arine turned around and walked to the table. She filled a glass from a 
water pitcher and took a drink, feeling hotter than the cool air of the 
room accounted for. After finishing the glass she took the basket and 
walked back outside into the bright sunlight, her thoughts feeling 
sluggish. Mia rose from where she had been sitting among the flowers, 
smiling brightly, and they started down the path.

"Where would you like to go today?", Mia asked.

Arine looked at Mia, who was smiling at at the white and yellow flowers 
beside the path. "How about the shady dune on the hills?", she said, 
having a hard time thinking about anything. She couldn't stop looking at 
her, at the beautiful young woman that was the same Mia as always, her 
friend, yet wasn't. Her skin tingled.

They walked down the hillside in clouds of swirling butterflies, then up 
a small rise and over the last hill. The endless ocean opened in front 
of them in a deep brilliant blue. The girls walked across a few sandy 
dunes to the shore. Mia laughed with delight and ran into the water. She 
had taken her sandals off when they reached the dunes, and her soles 
must be hot from walking on the baking sand. She exclaimed happily when 
the cool water met her feet.

Arine walked after her, some part of her mind thinking of taking off her 
shoes too. She gazed at Mia as the dark-haired girl splashed her feet in 
the shallow water. Mia turned to her, the sunlight glittering on her 
bracelets and earrings, the wisps of dark hair moving softly in the warm 
breeze. She smiled, tilting her head to one side, an adorable smile of 
happiness. Arine's breath caught.

The realization struck her like a crashing wave. Maybe she had known it 
for long, but her mind was hopelessly overwhelmed as it finally accepted 
the fact.

She was so in love with Mia that her body ached from longing as she 
looked at the girl. Her heart started beating like it never had before.

Mia looked at her in puzzlement. Arine had no idea what she looked like 
at the moment, but she didn't have time to try to think about it before 
Mia ran to her and took her hand.

"Are you feeling tired?", she asked, looking a bit concerned. "We can go 
back if you want."

"No", Arine said as well as she could, her heart pounding. She smiled at 
Mia even while her mind was turning inside out. "It's just really hot. 
I... think I'll have to wet my feet a bit too." She looked into Mia's 
big eyes, trying not to tremble as her mind surrendered to the truth, 
allowed itself to see what it really saw. Beautiful Mia, more beautiful 
than anything in the world. Arine wanted to take her gently in her arms 
and kiss her right there, to kiss her endlessly.

Mia smiled in relief. "That's a good idea. I'll take your basket so you 
can cool yourself a bit." She let loose of Arine's hand and offered to 
take the basket. Arine gave her the basket, wanting to take Mia's hand 
back in hers instead. Her heart pounded. But she couldn't make herself 
do it, couldn't gather the courage. She bent to take off her shoes, part 
of her mind screaming in protest. She had to cool herself off before 
doing anything at all. She walked to the water and stood ankle-deep in 
the coolness, gazing at the horizon without seeing anything. She was 
afraid to turn her head back to the shore, back to Mia. Her mind 
distantly wondered how long she had loved her. She turned back.

"Feeling better?", Mia asked her with a look of affection. Arine's heart 
leaped when she met Mia's eyes.

"Yes", she said in an effort to make her voice carry. She walked to Mia 
and took back the basket, surprised at being able to look at her from so 
close. "Let's go", she said with a smile. Her mind whirled as they 
walked, only lending just enough effort to chat with Mia, even though 
she hardly heard her own words, hardly saw anything except the girl 
walking at her side.

             .......

Mia sighed happily when she sat down on her usual spot on the dune, 
under the pines. Arine lowered herself to the sand too, setting her 
basket between them, next to Mia's.

Her thoughts had stopped spinning around like a raging whirlwind, 
changing instead into a strange calmness as she walked the shore with 
Mia. A few times she had even forgotten it for a while, letting her 
thoughts rest as she played with Mia, but she had always caught herself 
looking into her friend's dark eyes or at her beatifully arranged dark 
brown hair, the fact settling back into her mind with little resistance.

She wanted Mia, wanted to be with her forever. To have Mia in her bed 
every night, to wake in her arms every morning. To kiss her here on the 
dune under the whispering pines. She looked sideways at her beautiful 
friend, afraid that Mia would notice, wanting Mia to notice. She wanted 
to tell Mia she loved her. That she had loved her for a long time. Maybe 
she had loved her from the first day. But she couldn't. If Mia looked at 
her in hesitation and disquiet, no matter how gently, Arine was sure she 
would break down and cry until there were no tears left in her, and then 
cry more. Her mind sobbed in anguish, but she would rather have Mia as 
her best friend forever than risk separating them, even if Mia would 
still want to be her friend. Because it would never be the same. Mia 
would never look into her eyes so directly again.

A tear rolled down her cheek, and she hurriedly lifted her hand to wipe 
it off. She tried to shake herself mentally. Mia was there with her, and 
would be with her tomorrow and the day after. She didn't need to do 
anything right now. Maybe, if she told Mia how she felt, the dark-eyed 
girl would tell her she felt the same, that she had been afraid to say 
it too.

She looked again at Mia, wording her feelings in her mind. How would she 
say it to her? But she was certain that looking into Mia's eyes, she 
wouldn't get the first word out of her mouth even if she had practiced 
saying it a thousand times. Just thinking about it, thinking about 
laying her feelings bare for Mia to know, her heart started beating like 
her life was at stake. Harder than for her life. Imagining those large 
dark eyes looking at her in gentle attention made her heart pound like 
it was going to break through her chest. She shifted her hands in the 
sand, trying to calm down, to take a deep breath.

Mia turned to look at her, and her eyes widened in concern.

"Arine?", she asked worriedly, taking the baskets from between them, 
then moved to sit closer to her. "What's wrong? You looked so sad."

Arine tried to breath normally, to make her voice sound light. "No- 
nothing really." She swallowed. "Just a sad memory. It'll go away. Don't 
worry." She smiled at Mia, trying not to become breathless at the sight 
of her eyes. Why did she look so different now? Arine could find no help 
in thinking of Mia as her friend. She just wanted to lose herself in 
those big dark eyes forever.

"Would you like to talk about it?", Mia said gently, putting her arm 
around Arine's shoulders. Arine felt her skin heating at the touch, and 
her heart did nothing to slow down its desperate pounding.

"No", she managed in what she hoped was a reassuring voice. "Really, 
don't worry about it. Just stay there and it'll pass." She'd rather have 
escaped from the place to calm down alone somewhere, but that was 
impossible. And she wanted Mia to stay there, forever with her arm 
around her.

Mia looked into her friend's blue eyes. Arine had looked so lost that 
Mia's chest tightened in pain. She wondered what it could be. Arine 
sometimes looked sad when she gazed at the sea, but she always lit up 
when Mia smiled at her, forgetting her worries and laughing happily. She 
had told Mia a lot about her aunt and of her faraway friends, and Mia 
knew she had felt very lonely after her aunt passed away. Maybe that was 
what had come back to sadden her mind. Mia wanted to comfort her friend, 
to talk with her, help her forget her sadness. But if Arine said she 
didn't need to talk, Mia believed her. She could still help her friend 
by being close to her and holding her. She loved Arine so much, wanted 
to heal all her sad memories.

"All right", she said gently. "Just promise me you'll talk about it if 
it doesn't go away." She shifted and turned to Arine, putting both hands 
around her friend, then leaned onto her and lay her head gently onto 
Arine's chest.

As her head pressed on Arine's soft bosom, she started at the thudding 
sound of her friend's heartbeat. She had never set her head on anyone's 
chest, and hadn't known that she could hear it so clearly. But the loud 
sound was soothing, beautiful, because it was Arine.

She suddenly started even harder at the realization that Arine's heart 
was beating so fast. She nearly jumped up from fear, at the thought that 
Arine was afraid of something, that they were in danger, but she managed 
to hold still, noticing that Arine was quite relaxed herself. She let 
her head settle back onto Arine's chest, having moved only slightly, and 
held her friend tight.

Her thoughts raced. She couldn't understand why her friend was so 
agitated. Arine had only looked very sad. Mia tried to think what could 
make the lovely yellow-haired girl so sad and so uneasy at the same 
time. Arine had been a bit quiet all day, and Mia already knew her 
friend so well that she could easily tell when she was feeling down. And 
today, she had often noticed Arine watching her with an undefineable 
look in her beautiful blue eyes. A look of affection and tenderness, yet 
at times it had been mixed with something she hadn't seen there before. 
A quiet, lonely, beautiful emotion. Sadness. But why-

Mia felt a shiver along her body. The distant crashing of the waves on 
the shore faded in her mind.

The suddenly apparent rigidness in Arine's pose drove the fluttering 
thought home. The yellow-haired girl must feel her chest pounding 
against Mia's ear just as well as Mia heard it, and her pulse was doing 
nothing to slow down.

She felt drowned in emotions.

For a long time she had wondered what it was that she really felt for 
her friend. She was so happy, so completely carefree and content with 
Arine that she couldn't have said what more separated the feeling from 
love. She had found herself looking at Arine, at her beautiful eyes and 
her lips, found herself fantasizing about kissing her. She had always 
pushed away the thought, thinking how wrong it was to think of her best 
friend so. Still, seeing Arine with her long hair flowing in the wind, 
smiling at Mia with those enticingly blue eyes, had always made her 
heart miss a beat for the joy she felt. Maybe... maybe she was simply 
dragging her feet to accept what was true, wanting to live in the 
carefree moment and covering her troublesome thoughts with laughter and 
play.

Mia relaxed her body with an effort and made herself be taken by the 
sound of Arine's heartbeat. She didn't feel afraid of it anymore, 
because she knew it was pounding so hard for her, only for her. It was a 
beautiful sound, so filled with longing and so afraid of being rejected. 
Everything Arine had done fit in place in her mind. She couldn't doubt 
it. She felt her eyes sting from the thought of Arine so anxious and 
uncertain. She tightened her arms around her friend, hugging her like 
she never wanted to let go. She didn't. The sound of Arine's heart, so 
true and open, told her what Arine couldn't say. She held onto the girl, 
feeling her own heart start beating faster, feeling her mind unclouding. 
The pines whispered above them. She could almost hear them telling her 
to do it, encouraging her to follow her heart and that of her friend.

She slowly loosened her arms around Arine, seconds feeling like minutes. 
Still resting her head on Arine's chest, she listened for a while more, 
for an infinity, to the beat that called for her affection and 
attention. Then she raised her head, moving her eyes steadily upwards 
from Arine's shirt to her neck, to her mouth. Her breath felt tight.

She lifted her eyes to Arine's. Arine looked anxious and surprised, 
afraid and captivated, a million emotions that Mia couldn't read for all 
the feelings raging in her own mind.

"Arine", she said, some part of her stunned at the lack of tension in 
her voice. "Do-", she started, faltering a bit but feeling encouraged by 
the soft rustle of the pines. "Do you want... to try it? Because", she 
forced herself to look into Arine's eyes instead of pulling away, "I 
think I'm ready for it now." She raised her hand to caress the small 
braid at Arine's temple, then softly touched Arine's cheek with her 
fingers. She slid her hand under the braid to Arine's neck, her body 
burning. With one more look at Arine's eyes, her beautiful clear blue 
eyes, she turned her head slightly to the side and pressed her lips onto 
Arine's.

After a never-ending moment she stirred, a wave of exhilaration passing 
through her as their lips parted. She opened her eyes, colours blinding 
her. She looked at Arine through her lashes as the yellow-haired girl 
slowly opened her eyes. Looking at the beautiful clear blue, she didn't 
need any more confirmation. She turned her head to the other side and 
kissed Arine softly on the side of her lips, then on her lower lip. Her 
heart pounded as she felt Arine's hand on her back, sliding up to her 
hair, and trembled with anticipation as Arine's other hand caressed her 
ear. Arine took her head gently in her hands and kissed her softly, 
their bodies pressing together. Mia moved her tongue to touch Arine's 
lip, then deeper into her mouth. She shivered as she met Arine's tongue, 
so soft as it tenderly pressed onto hers in desire. It felt strange, not 
at all like she had imagined it. It felt so good that she wanted to hold 
onto Arine forever in one endless kiss. She tightened her hands around 
her, pressing her lips harder onto Arine's, their tongues exploring each 
other's mouths.

Mia pulled away with effort, breathing hard. She didn't know if minutes 
or hours had passed. Arine looked just as breathless. Mia's heart leaped 
at the look in Arine's beautiful eyes. So fulfilled with happiness. She 
gazed into them through her lashes, hanging onto Arine's shoulders with 
her hands, her heart beating hard in exaltation. The pines rustled 
softly.

Arine felt like she was sweetly drowning into Mia's eyes, into the 
heaven of the bottomless deep brown. Her ears rang. Mia's body pressed 
onto her, her full breasts firmly against Arine's. Arine could still 
feel Mia's lips on hers, kissing her hard, could feel Mia's soft tongue 
deep in her mouth. It felt so infinitely better than anything she had 
imagined.

Mia shifted, still hanging onto Arine, not sure that she wouldn't 
collapse onto the ground if she let go of her friend's shoulders.
As distant as the idea felt, they would have to let go of each other, to 
say something sooner or later. She was about to open her mouth, wishing 
that something intelligent would come out, but stopped as Arine's hand 
lifted to her hair, caressing it, then pulled loose the pin that held 
her hair up. The gentle, loving touch and the feeling of her hair softly 
falling over her neck and shoulders made her body shiver with pleasure, 
and she opened her lips in anticipation.

Arine ran her hands through Mia's beautiful dark hair. She looked so 
different with her hair loose, yet not different at all. She looked more 
like the Mia she was familiar with. Her friend. Her lovely, adorable Mia 
that she had dreamt of kissing so many times. Arine shifted her legs to 
get closer to Mia and pulled the dark-haired girl into her lap, 
embracing her intimately, then tilted her head and kissed the shorter 
girl slowly and passionately, forgetting herself in the feel of Mia 
tightly in her arms, the smell of her hair, the soft wetness of Mia's 
lips and mouth.

Finally she felt that she had had enough Mia to part her lips from hers, 
at least just enough to look into her eyes. Her head felt filled with 
softly fluttering butterflies, and she blinked in the bright sunlight. 
The sound of the waves suddenly came back to her as if the waters had 
stopped for a while to give them their privacy.

"You... did say you had more surprises waiting", Arine murmured, 
smoothing Mia's dark hair that she had tangled with her hands.

"You're one to speak", Mia said breathlessly, looking at Arine with a 
blushing smile. "I liked that. I might want to do it again..."

Arine bent her head to give Mia a light kiss. "Really?", she said 
lovingly. She looked into Mia's eyes and smiled, then suddenly blushed 
and lowered her gaze. She only half believed what they had just done. 
The sensation of her tongue deep in Mia's mouth, her hands around her 
slim body felt as real as it had a moment ago. She loved kissing Mia 
already.

Mia hugged her, pressing her head on the yellow-haired girl's bosom. 
"Would you mind holding me like this for a few hours?", she said softly.

Arine chuckled affectionately. Her heart was unsure whether to pound or 
to enjoy the bliss, and her head wasn't even trying to understand 
anything, but her stomach had an opinion.

"I'd hate to let you go, but I have to eat something." She had kissed 
Mia so fiercely that her body felt spent. She smoothed Mia's dark hair 
and gave the girl one more hug, then lifted her from her lap. Mia 
stretched her arms and smiled, her eyes shining and her hair in 
disarray. Arine looked at her, her chest tight from happiness and still 
stunned from surprise and disbelief, but she didn't have time to bask in 
the feeling as Mia started producing wonderful foods from her basket and 
setting them onto a cloth she had spread on the ground. Arine exclaimed 
in delight at the sight of the treats and took her own basket from where 
Mia had put it. Their eyes met, and she smiled at Mia. The girl looked 
even more adorable when she blushed so sweetly.

             .......

Arine licked the last sweet crumbs from her fingers, sitting in the 
shade next to Mia. She was stuffed. Mia had brought such heavenly treats 
that she had never tasted better. In the way of sweets, she hadn't. What 
she had had before the meal, though... She looked at Mia, still feeling 
like her head was filled with feathers. She couldn't make herself 
believe that it had really happened. She wanted to do it again. To feel 
those soft lips, so gentle and trembling with desire, so passionate and 
firm.

But there was no hurry. She could just hold Mia in her arms and look 
into her eyes for a few hours. And then maybe kiss her for a few hours 
more. She glanced at Mia and noticed that the dark-eyed girl was 
watching her with a loving smile.

"You are beautiful", Mia said. "I've wanted to say it for so long..."

Arine found herself blushing and looking at the ground. She loved the 
sound of that. She raised her eyes to Mia's and smiled. She didn't know 
what to say, and having Mia look at her like that was just too much 
happiness for her. Her eyes stung, and she lifted a hand to her eye. 
This was so much more than she had ever wanted. She should stop crying 
and smile at Mia. Why-

Mia moved to Arine's side and took her hands away from her face, then 
wiped away the tears with her own. She gently took Arine's head in her 
hands and looked into her eyes. Arine still sobbed, but let Mia hold 
her, relaxing.

"You're more beautiful than anything", Mia said and kissed her, first 
softly on the lips, then deeply and passionately, pressing her tongue 
firmly against Arine's before pulling her mouth away. "You'll just have 
to get used to it", she said with a slightly breathless voice and an 
adorable smile. Arine looked at her, no longer sobbing but panting all 
the more. That had felt all too good.
She would just have to get used to it. Just the kind of thing only her 
Mia would say. She smiled.

"Thank you", Arine said and smoothed Mia's hair. Words wouldn't begin to 
describe how beautiful Mia was, but she had the feeling she would try it 
anyway if she ever caught her breath again.

"Should we head back?", she asked. The wind was picking up and the sun 
was quite low. They had planned to play games tonight, too. If the 
game-playing evening got changed into a kissing evening, she wouldn't 
mind. She blushed at the straightforward thought. She wouldn't mind if 
it didn't. Just the thought of giving Mia a light good night's kiss made 
her body heat. Her world had been turned upside down again, and twice 
certainly didn't make it the same.

             .......

The wind flapped their clothes as they walked the shore. Arine couldn't 
wait to get into her soft bed tonight after all the excitement. She 
smiled and looked at Mia. The dark-haired girl had had her hair down 
since Arine undid it. The memory of pulling off the pin and watching the 
beautiful young woman change into the even more beautiful Mia felt like 
a dream. Everything before that felt even more like a long-gone dream. 
Convincing herself that she just wanted to be Mia's friend. It hadn't 
been entirely untrue, really. There hadn't been such a thing as a single 
true feeling at the time. Unlike now. When she kissed Mia she had known 
what she felt and what she wanted. Just to be there forever.

She let her gaze rest on the girl walking a little bit ahead of her, her 
eyes enjoying the sight of Mia's flowing dark hair and her beautiful 
body. Her mind felt so clear and light now. Looking at Mia so openly 
didn't bring the tangle of guilt and uncertainty anymore. Dizziness, 
yes. Forgetting to watch where she walked, very much. She smiled, then 
stepped to Mia's side and gently took her hand. Mia looked at her in 
surprise and smiled a bit shyly. Her hand felt so soft and warm. Arine 
slipped her fingers between Mia's as they walked in the soft sand.

             .......

Mia watched as Arine dug the key from the basket. Evening's coolness was 
already settling down on the garden, and the night flowers gave a 
gentle, magical scent. She always felt so safe and content when Arine 
opened the door to her house, knowing that she would cuddle next to her 
for the night, but this time the feeling was so different, so much more 
intense. She wanted to cuddle with Arine, and in a different way. She 
must have felt a longing for it even before today, even if she hadn't 
known it. To wrap her arms tightly around her friend and press their 
bodies together. She felt shivers of pleasure from the thought of 
watching Arine change into her night shift and getting to feel her skin 
through the thin linen. She gazed at Arine's beautiful eyes and lips as 
the yellow-haired girl turned the key in the lock. She wanted to kiss 
her again. She felt like it was years since her lips left Arine's. She 
could kiss her all night. But she also wanted to savour the memory, the 
anticipation... She could wait until tomorrow. And then kiss her all 
day. Maybe she could wait.

Arine opened the door and smiled at Mia before stepping in. Mia followed 
her and watched as her friend set her basket on the kitchen floor. She 
lay her own basked down where she stood and gently closed the door. 
Arine turned to take off her shoes, but she didn't have time to bend 
down before Mia pulled her into her embrace and kissed her. She squeezed 
Arine hard as she brushed the taller girl's lips with her teeth, pulling 
her forward until her own back hit the oak door. She grasped Arine's 
shoulders as the girl responded to her longing, pressing onto her until 
she was tightly against the door. Hanging onto Arine's shoulders, she 
lost herself in the passionate kisses and the feel of Arine's breasts 
against hers. She had no idea what had been going through her mind all 
this time before today, but she couldn't imagine not wanting to do this 
with Arine.

After a long moment she found herself breathing hard with her cheek 
pressed onto Arine's shoulder and still squeezed tight between the 
taller girl and the door. Slowly, Arine drew herself away, then caressed 
the lock of hair on Mia's cheek. "Mmmm", she said slowly. Mia giggled. 
She felt the same way. She would want to be pressed under Arine again. 
She pushed herself off the door and touched Arine's lips with her own. 
"I like being here with you", she said softly, smiling, then bent to 
take off her shoes. Arine did the same.

Mia stepped into the kitchen. She felt like she was here for the first 
time. Her skin tingled from the thought of being in the different rooms 
with Arine. Her head was spinning from trying to fit together the two 
realities. From trying to decide whether to chat with Arine like usual 
or to gaze into her eyes, whether to laugh or to kiss her. She sighed 
with happiness.

"Do you feel sleepy?", Arine asked her as she poured herself a glass of 
water.

"Yeah", Mia replied with a smile. She wanted to settle into the soft 
comfort of the bed, even though she felt a little uncertain. She had 
slept at Arine's side many nights, and sometimes woken up right next to 
her, or with her arm around Arine. But she didn't know... what would 
happen this time. She wanted to be close to Arine, but this feeling was 
still so new. She was sure nothing would happen they both didn't want 
to, yet... She looked at Arine. Her gentle, kind Arine. She wasn't 
afraid.

             .......

Arine undid the last button of her shirt. Mia was sitting on the side of 
the bed pulling off her socks, her skirt already folded on the 
chairback. Arine threw her shirt on her table and reached behind her 
back to undo her bra, giving Mia a small smile. Mia suddenly felt 
overwhelmingly self-conscious. She blushed and turned her gaze to the 
floor. She had always enjoyed catching a peek at Arine when she changed, 
so why did it feel like this now?

Arine walked to her and sat down at her side, then lay on her back on 
the bed. "You feeling sleepy or not?", she asked cheerfully.

"I am", Mia said and looked at Arine. She had her nightshirt on. Strange 
that that should feel like such a big issue. Mia smiled ruefully and 
pulled off her own shirt, then took off her bra. She turned and lay down 
on the bed too, looking at Arine. "You're just so nice to look at that 
you make me forget everything else."

Arine ran her eyes down Mia. "And I thought you were sleepy.", she said 
mischievously.

"I am", Mia repeated with a blushing smile. She got up and went to fetch 
her nightshirt, wondering if Arine's eyes were following her, and 
grinned despite herself. She pulled on the shirt and put out the candle 
on the table, then slipped back in bed under her thin summer blanket. 
The room was bright to her eyes from the light of the summer sun only 
barely below the horizon. Arine looked so cute with her head on the soft 
pillow, under her blue blanket. Mia turned her eyes to the ceiling and 
sighed with relaxation and contentment. She couldn't believe it, but she 
did.

She looked back to Arine as the yellow-haired girl slipped a hand under 
Mia's blanket. Arine wrapped her arms around Mia and drew herself to 
her, pulling Mia's blanket over them both. She took Mia tightly into her 
embrace. Mia felt herself heating from the feel of Arine's firm and soft 
body. Arine caressed her hair with her hand and brushed Mia's cheek with 
a kiss. Mia parted her lips and turned her head to Arine in desire. 
Arine touched her lips with her own, her hand gently playing with Mia's 
hair, every minute movement of her body sending tremors in Mia's, then 
gently pressed their mouths together. Mia's hands twined in Arine's hair 
as she relaxed her body and let Arine kiss her deeply and slowly.

Arine gently parted their lips, still caressing Mia's lovely dark hair, 
then watched as Mia dreamily opened her beautiful eyes. She had thought 
it would be difficult, but it was so true that it felt like the only 
thing she ever needed to say.

"I love you."

Mia's eyes widened just a little, then she smiled. Such a beautiful, 
adorable small smile. Her eyes were so dark and deep, so happy.

"Arine...", Mia said softly, her hands tightening around Arine's 
shoulders. "I love you."

They looked into each other's eyes for a long while, then Arine pulled 
Mia closer to her and kissed her again, kissed her for a long time until 
she believed what had just happened.

Arine softly smoothed Mia's hair. The girl's head was pressed into 
Arine's bosom, her arms tightly around Arine. "I want to hold you in my 
arms like this", Arine said gently, her eyes closed.

Mia didn't know if she was asleep or not, and she didn't mind. "I love 
you", she said. She let herself be lost in the warm comfort.

Onwards to Part 6


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