{Rin}

Later, after she and Xhez had made it back to Libera, Rin took a moment to head to the guild's Liberan office.

The sooner she got her pay, the better. She needed a nice, long break after this.

So, with some of the orcs' remains in a bag, she made her way there.

"Is this all?" The same lady from before asked.

"Um, yeah," Rin nodded.

"Alright. Let's see here... One, two..." She did some internal calculations and Rin's eyes widened as she saw her slipping several golden varols into a pouch, in addition to the plat and a half that she'd been offered.

"By the way," Rin said, interrupting her, "uh, my sister was feeling pretty tired after the mission. She wanted me to get her pay for her."

"Hm? Sure, but, if she comes around telling us that you took her pay for yourself, we'll kick you out of the guild."

"I-I understand."

Thanks to that, the lady added Xhez's pay into the pouch as well, which Xhez wanted Rin to keep for her tuition.

In the back of her mind, Rin made a note of getting Xhez something nice to show her gratitude.

"Here you go," the lady said, passing over the pouch full of varols. "Here's your pay. Oh, and tell that little sis of yours I said, 'hi'. I hope she'll remember the nice office lady from the guild when she becomes famous."

[What?]

"Uh... sure, I'll let her know."

---

{Xhez}

The next time Xhez opened her eyes, the top of her water bag was opened and as Xhez looked up, she found the moon hovering in the center of the sky, behind Rin's head, as the black-haired human looked down at her with a smile.

"Hi," Rin greeted her quietly.

"Ahhhh," Xhez yawned. "Good... morning? What time is it?"

"It's midnight," Rin answered. "I wanted to see if maybe you wanted to come out for a while."

"Sure... How long has it been since the mission?"

"A few days," Rin answered. "Thanks to you, I have enough money for the next semester at the academy. So, I, ehm, wanted to show you some sights as thanks."

[Sights?]

"Where are we?"

"How about you come out of the bag and see?" Rin asked with a cheeky smile.

"Oh, uh, sure."

Xhez quickly moved to jump out of her bag, the same way she always did. It was clear they weren't in Rin's room, however, so she wasn't too sure about what she would see when she came out. As she landed outside, the view nearly made her slip and fall to the ground.

"W-What!?" Xhez asked, as she looked ahead and found familiar lands covered under a sheet of moonlight. She'd seen these same sights before from within the Meditation Center, but, how was she looking at them from this high up in the air?

As she looked around, she began to understand the answer. Helpfully, Rin said it anyway.

"We're on top of the academy," the human stated. "The view's amazing, isn't it?"

"How did we get here!?"

"I climbed up from the Meditation Center," Rin said. "It was... harder than I thought it would be and I'm terrified of going back down again, but, here we are."

The sprite took a few steps closer to the edge, though the height at which they were standing made her footsteps feel unstable, so, she took it slow.

It was hard to believe she wasn't dreaming.

The beauty being displayed before her was something else. She felt like she was seeing the world from the perspective of an eagle.

"I wanted to pay you back for helping me with the orc raid," Rin said, behind her, walking closer. "I didn't really know what to give you, though. Sooo... I tried to think of sights you hadn't seen. And, ehm, this was what I came up with. Thanks, Xhez. Seriously."

The sprite turned around and faced her friend, finding that the most beautiful of all views available to her at this moment was that of Rin's image. She wore a long-sleeved, soft-looking shirt and some shorts, her messy hair alluded to the possibility that she'd been napping before she took Xhez up here, and her half-lidded eyes meant she was probably tired. And yet, she'd done this for her.

That fact brought something back to Xhez's mind. Something she'd realized before that she had tucked away due to the fact that the two of them needed to focus on the orc raid. Now that they were alone, with no enemies around, and a moment of peace settling around them, Xhez could ask this question:

"Rin," she began, "what do humans do with those they love?"

"Eh?"

Rin's brows shot up.

"Uh, I, ehm, what?"

Xhez took a step closer to her. The sprite held her hands behind her back as she spoke softly.

"I understand, to an extent, what human reproduction is like, but, what do humans do when they love each other?"

"I- well," Rin cleared her throat, smiling awkwardly, "I think it's probably the same as what your mothers do, no? Uh, just... spending time together."

"Is that all, though?" Xhez asked, taking another step toward Rin. "If that is all you do, then that would mean I have been interpreting the human relationships I have observed up until now quite incorrectly."

"Well, there's a little more to it..."

"Like what?" Xhez asked, tilting her head.

"I mean, you can... kiss and..."

"Kiss?" Xhez asked. "But, I kissed June in the past. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Does that mean I love her?"

"Um, probably not, i-it just..." Xhez could see Rin's face turning a bright shade of red. "It... it feels different when you do it with someone you love."

"Is that so?" Xhez asked. "Does sex feel different as well?"

"Xhez," Rin said, laughing all of a sudden, "where's this coming from? I- well, I know you said you wanted to have sex with someone, but..."

As she heard that, Xhez took one more step toward Rin. They were now within arm's reach of each other. Her being so close made Rin stop talking.

The sprite looked into Rin's eyes then as she said:

"Because I love you."

She said it casually and firmly, because, ever since the thought of it first came to Xhez's mind, she knew it to be true. It was strange, however. She could tell it was a different kind of love from the one she felt toward her mothers. She couldn't put it into words, but it was different. Certainly.

She hoped Rin could help clear that up for her.

"You..." Rin's arms dropped, as though she'd lost her strength. "You love me?"

"Yes," Xhez nodded. "I figured it out just a little while ago. But, I know it to be true."

Rin had no response for that. The woman just stared back at Xhez, dumbfounded, as though that had been the last thing she'd been expecting to hear come out of the sprite.

The memories they had shared flashed before Xhez's mind, then. Every time she looked into Rin's amber eyes, it had always felt like there was a certain allure to them, pulling her in. The laughs she'd shared with Rin, the soft, peaceful times they'd shared amidst all the chaos, each memory was a priceless treasure to Xhez.

Honestly, she felt she should have figured it out sooner. Perhaps a part of her had simply felt like she couldn't love a human, however, like that feeling was not one she could aim at them, but right now, she couldn't care less about that.

"You said people kiss those they love?" Xhez asked. "Could we do so?"

Rin looked away. She didn't see anything, but Xhez could tell she was considering it.

Then, the brunette replied:

"... We could try it." The statement was made so weakly, that Xhez nearly didn't hear her. "I..." Rin took a deep breath. "I'm just sad it's me you're going to be kissing, though."

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"I," Rin shook her head, "For the last, like, four years, I've been nothing but a common whore. You deserve better than that. That's all. But..."

Xhez stopped her, moving up and placing her hands on Rin's cheeks. The gesture brought Rin's eyes down to her.

"There is no one I would rather kiss at this moment, Rin. Do you doubt that?"

"That's cause you don't know many other humans," Rin argued quietly. "If you did, maybe then..."

"I have met a few people with bright, warm Spirits. June, Eve, Elisa, Maria. I've seen humans I would call beautiful. And, I can say, there is no one I would rather kiss at this moment. So, can we?"

Her words hung in the air for a moment. Rin looked away, and then, somewhat embarrassed, looked back down at Xhez's eyes.

The amber-eyed girl teared up but then nodded.

"S-Sure."

Xhez inhaled sharply.

A sudden excitement spread throughout her body. She couldn't help but smile. The sprite took her hands and Rin let out a nervous breath as they looked into each other's eyes. Due to the height difference, Xhez stood on the tips of her toes to reach her.

As she began trying to do so, Rin lowered her head and leaned in.

And, that was how it happened. Their lips connected and Xhez felt a warmth at that moment that she had never quite experienced before.

She'd kissed June before, and she'd felt Rin kissing another woman in her memories, but this was simply different. As their lips danced with each other, and Rin's hands went behind Xhez's back, Xhez felt like she'd never been quite as close to another person. This made her feel closer to Rin than even looking through her memories had. Her lips felt like they were on fire.

It must have only lasted a few seconds. Certainly less than a minute. And yet, Xhez felt like they were frozen in time.

At least, until Rin pulled away.

Xhez leaned in to follow her, but Rin's lips did not touch hers again.

The sprite opened her eyes and found Rin smiling back at her, though there was some sadness in her eyes.

Those eyes, though, were faintly glowing in the darkness.

"How did that feel?" Rin asked.

"Wonderful," Xhez responded, giggling. "It was everything I hoped it would be."

"Yeah?" Rin giggled as well. "I'm happy to hear that."

---

{Rin}

On the first day of the second semester, Rin sat in the classroom with her head in her arms.

Two of her fingers traced her lips. She could still nearly feel the heat from Xhez's as they had touched her.

It had taken everything in her power not to push Xhez down at that moment.

Xhez had felt warmth and happiness, as she had told Rin soon after. Rin felt the same way, but with a strong lust added on top of it.

She had no clue where it came from, but it was there, amidst all the other thoughts of how warm and fuzzy Xhez made her feel, just thinking about the sprite.

However, Rin couldn't allow herself to push any further.

Not until she dealt with her own feelings. The ones she'd alluded to before her lips met Xhez's on that rooftop.

"Hey!" Eve greeted her, flying in and taking the seat next to her. "How'd your vacation go?"

"Alright," Rin responded. "And you?"

"Great! Got to go back home for a little bit. I think I got a bit too used to Libera, honestly. It was nice."

"I'm happy for you."

The fairy paused.

"... Did you not sleep well?" Eve asked.

"Uh, n-no, I'm just... a little tired, is all."

"Good morning, everyone," Harriton said, as he walked in. The students raised their heads. Clearly, most of them had fucked up their sleeping schedules. "Before we start, I have some sad news I need to tell you all."

[Huh?]

"So, uh... During the break, Varyn went on a mission, and... Unfortunately, he passed away. So, he will not be joining us this semester, I'm sorry to say."

Rin's jaw dropped.

Even Alea looked stunned.

[What?]