Heart of Glass

VI

Red jumps awake in the middle of the night after a nightmare, accidentally waking Chloe up as well. "You okay, princess?" Chloe asks, concern lacing her voice. "Do I look okay to you?" Red asks as she turns on the light. She's shaking, and her cheeks are stained with tears. "Come here," Chloe says, holding out her arms. After a moment, Red moves over to Chloe's bed and accepts her hug, laying her head on Chloe's chest, listening to her heart. "Whatever you saw, it was just a dream," she says soothingly. "I know, but it just seemed so real," Red replies softly. "Do you think it'll help to talk about it?" Chloe asks her. "It might," Red admits with a shrug. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Chloe says. "No. I need to talk about it. It'll be hard, but it's what I need," Red says, starting to tell Chloe about her dream.

"I was at my mom's castle, and it was the day the soldier card was executed. I was standing on the balcony with my mom, standing a few feet behind her. She told me to join her, so I took a few steps forward, so I was beside her. What I saw made my heart jump into my throat. It wasn't the soldier card who was getting executed... it was... it... it was you," Red explains, tears beginning to run down her cheeks again. "Oh, come here," Chloe says, pulling Red into a tight squeeze, rubbing her back to soothe her. "I-It seemed s-so r-real... I th-thought I'd w-wake up, and y-you wouldn't be h-here," Red stutters through her tears. "It's okay, princess. I'm not going anywhere," Chloe says. "Can I sleep in your arms tonight? I don't want to have another nightmare," Red says. "Of course you can," Chloe says, moving to the other side of her bed, letting Red lay down on the other side. "Good night, princess," Chloe says, putting her arms around Red after pulling the blankets over them. "Good night, Blue," Red replies, falling asleep after a few minutes.

In the morning, Red wakes up before Chloe's alarm goes off, finding her arms around her waist. With a sigh, Red starts quietly humming to herself while she waits for Chloe to wake up. She smiles as she watches her girlfriend sleeping peacefully beside her. She gently strokes Chloe's cheek, making her smile in her sleep. She softly kisses Chloe's forehead and notices that she's awake when she pulls away. "Sorry. Didn't mean to wake you," she says. "Don't be. I liked it," Chloe replies, sitting up on her bed. "How did you sleep?" Red asks curiously. "I slept fine. How about you?" She asks. "I slept much better when I was in your arms, boo," Red replies with a grin. "Well, I'm glad it helped," Chloe replies. Red gets up and heads to the bathroom to take a shower and get ready for the day, while Chloe gets dressed. She plans to take a shower after swords practice in the afternoon. Red exits the bathroom dressed in her usual outfit, and she takes Chloe's hand, pulling her along to class.

After class, Red decides to watch Chloe's swords practice, going to sit in the bleachers while Chloe got ready. When she walks into the gym, one of the first things that Chloe notices is Red sitting in the bleachers, and she waves. Red waves back, then Chloe returns her attention to practice. While she practices, Red watches, stunned by how well the other members of the team were able to hold their own against her. She begins thinking about trying out for the team and makes a mental note to talk to Chloe about it in their dorm later. For the time being, she continues to watch, trying to soak in as much of the practice as she can. 

After Chloe's shower, Red decides to bring up the idea of joining the swords team. "Hey Blue, can we talk about something?" She asks Chloe. "Of course, princess," Chloe says. "I was thinking about signing up for the swords team," Red says. "Are you sure? It's a pretty difficult sport to master," Chloe replies. "I think I can handle it. I was able to hold my own against you, remember?" Red asks with a smirk. "True. Now that I think about it, it might be something fun for us to do together," Chloe replies after a moment of thought. "My mom actually had me train with some of her soldier cards when I turned thirteen, so I know some things about swordfighting," Red says. "I suppose that probably helped you hold your own against me when we were fighting over the pocket watch," Chloe says thoughtfully. "Probably. So, is there some sort of sign up sheet that I need to fill out?" Red asks. "Not really. You just have to try out at practice. If you want to, you could come with me to my next practice and try out then," Chloe replies. "Sounds like a plan. When's your next practice?" Red asks. "This Friday, I think," Chloe replies. Red smiles, then heads to the bathroom to put on her pajamas, while Chloe does the same in their dorm. Afterward, Red returns and sits down on her bed, evidently thinking about something. "Red, what's on your mind?" Chloe asks softly, sitting on her bed and taking Red's hand. "What if Hadrian knows that we went back in time? He is the son of a god," she says. "We'll deal with that if it comes up, okay? All I want right now is for you to be happy," Chloe replies softly. Red simply nods in response, briefly meeting Chloe's eyes. Chloe leans closer to Red, who doesn't move, unsure how to react. She puts a hand on Red's waist, and her eyes widen slightly. Red does the only thing that she can think of, closing the remaining distance between her and Chloe. The kiss is brief, but it's the best thing Red's experienced. When they separate, Red's grinning from ear to ear, and she takes Chloe's hand, then pulls her into a hug. "That made me feel so much better, Blue," Red says into her blue hair. "Glad I could help you feel better," Chloe replies.

On Friday, Red joins Chloe at swords practice, feeling somewhat nervous about trying out for the team. "Relax, sweetie. You're going to do just fine," Chloe reassures Red, noticing her anxiety. "I don't know what to expect, though. It's not like I know a lot of stuff about swordfighting, you know," Red replies. "Red, calm down. Just use the things that you do know, and you should be fine," Chloe says, and Red finally allows herself to relax and get ready to try out for the team. She waits patiently for Chloe to ask her to try out, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. Once Chloe tells the other members of the team that Red's trying out, they all turn to look at her. Chloe explains that in order to make the team, Red has to defeat at least half of the members of the team in one-on-one matches, then win a best out of three against her. Much to her surprise, Red is able to defeat most of the members of the team with relative ease, then asks for a quick break before fighting Chloe. In the first fight, Red manages to hold her own against Chloe, which surprises the rest of the team members. In the end, Chloe manages to catch Red off-guard and beats her by touching the tip of her sword to Red's side. "One thing to know about swords is that you never let your opponent distract you," she says. "Kinda hard when your opponent is a walking, talking distraction," Red mutters to herself. Surprisingly, Red pictures Chloe as Uliana, which manages to keep her focused, allowing her to win the second fight. "Not bad, Red. You're a quick learner," Chloe says. "Well, it does help if you visualize your opponent as someone you hate," Red replies cryptically. "Okay. Whatever works for you, I suppose," Chloe says, preparing herself for the third fight. Red prepares for the third fight, planning to surprise her with one of the moves she'd learned from her mother's guards. She twirls out of the path of Chloe's sword, managing to catch her in the back with her sword, which lit up red on contact, indicating she had won the match. "That was really good, Red. Welcome to the team," Chloe says, shaking Red's hand.

After taking their showers, Red and Chloe decide to relax and listen to some music together. "What're you making?" Chloe asks Red, who's working on a drawing in her sketchbook. "It's a surprise," she replies, using her arm to hide the drawing from view. "Let me guess, it's a gift for me?" Chloe asks. "Yes, but that's all I'm gonna tell you, Blue," Red replies with a smirk, turning to a different page in her sketchbook. "Fair enough. Maybe you can show me one of your other drawings sometime," Chloe says. "Sure," Red replies simply. Before long, Red and Chloe fall asleep on the floor, Chloe with her head on her right arm, and Red flat on her back, laying side by side.

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Enjoy! Until next time!