"What's with all this talk Lia?"
"Why? Are you getting bored?"
"I'm never bored with you, I guess that's why I like talking to you..."
Good enough.
Sunlight looked good on Ishika, but if Lia was being honest she'll say moonlight looked best. It stripped everything of their mask and made you see more than what was skin deep.
"Tell me then Lia, who were you before they broke you too?"
Lia had to laugh at this, how does one answer honestly without giving away the truth? Giving away the secrets she held in her for far too long.
"I was... confused."
"Confused?"
"Yes."
"At what?"
"At everything Ishika." She smiled.
"Shouldn't that come after the breaking?"
"Oh no... no... you see, I never fully realized how much falling for ...them, made me complete. Made me complete and broken into tiny jagged pieces altogether."
"I... don't understand."
"Exactly."
"Stop being such a wise-ass, and tell me plainly. You have this annoying way of talking in riddles sometimes." Ishika rolled her eyes, but Lia knew she was smiling behind that annoyed facade.
"You see Ishika, before all that hurt I naively thought love was pure happiness... when in fact it was a ... festival of emotions."
"A festival?" Ishika's laughter flowed through her as it flowed with the breeze.
God, does she love that laugh.
"A festival."
"Okay, go on."
"Let me try again. Have you ever looked through a kaleidoscope?"
"Of course."
"Love's like that. Constantly changing, happiness, sadness, confusion -- all extreme, all too valid. And I loved how much it opened my eyes, that not everything that hurt was bad, and that not everything that was beautiful could make you happy. Sometimes... the darkness can seem so, so breathtaking, even more so when you know that there's light after."
"And how does this relate to you being confused before?"
"Breaking can be a great eye-opener."
"And do you like it?"
"I do..."
Lia looked at her and her heart ached, there was always this tiny little spark inside her. The first time she saw Ishika laugh. She remembered three years ago, when she walked past the cafe where she worked at. The second time was when she was taking pictures of the street and had the fortunate moment of pressing capture when Ishika was smiling, no walls, no nothing.
Breathtaking.
And like that tiny little spark, she came to find something exactly the same inside her too. A barely visible trace that soon grew the more they got to know each other. Now Lia finds the trace throbbing and it made her ache inside to such lengths that she hopes the pain wasn't visible to everyone that looked her in the eyes.
"What do you want to do Lia? Tonight? At this moment?" Ishika's voice was so raw, so inviting that Lia almost told her the truth.
Kiss you.
Love you.
"Take more pictures of you." She brushes off the spurts of regret inside her and smothers it with a smile. She positions the camera and tries her best to capture what she sees with her eyes everyday, but knows a picture can never compare.
"Oh..."
Lia hears a tinge of disappointment and the same little spark inside her quivered.
"There's this one thing I've always wanted to do, you know? Since you're not asking."
"Hmmm? What?"
Lia looked away, her heart was pounding...
"Give in."
"Huh? Now look who's talking riddles?"
"Give in to this urge. It's crazy really..."
"What is?"
Lia was honestly so confused she looked Ishika in the eye, if you wanted the truth -- you look nowhere else but the eyes.
"This."
Lia holds her breath and finds Ishika's soft lips against hers. She holds her breath and does nothing, afraid that if she did... Ishika would pull away. She feels warm hands snake around her neck and she tastes Ishika's cherry lipstick, cherry and cinnamon. So different from each other it made Lia smile and push into the kiss. Taking in what she's offered and allows herself to open up, allows the little spark to fan out in flames and hopes it reaches Ishika's heart.
They pull away and in that instant Lia sees something in Ishika's eyes, something that turns into everything as she finally understands.
"Tell me, I'm not crazy." Ishika whispers, against the silence around them.
"You're not... You're incredibly bonkers, mad, insane really..." she feels Ishika hesitate, drawing back. Lia smiles and kisses the tips of her nose "You are all together unfamiliar, rare, strange... yet so marvelous, so beautiful." Lia whispers back.
She smiles as the realization settles between them, and in silence Lia understood much can be heard.
;-; new ship ladies and gentlemen ;-;
;-; for you
