Twisted Wonderland Moments

Unexpected yet A Thoughtful New Year(Leona/Mara)

Outside in Crane Port, everyone was waiting for the new year's ball to drop by the count of one. The majority of NRC were there, eager for the old year to end and the new year to begin.

Mara glanced at her watch to see it was 11:40 PM. She kept surveying the crowd for a certain lion beastman. Though a part of her said not to get her hopes up. Earlier, she had asked him if he was coming for the ball drop to celebrate the new year. She recalled his exact words a few hours ago.

"There's no way I'm losing sleep just to be with some noisy herbivores and watch some big large ball fall down."

Her heart felt a pang of hurt. She knew he preferred to sleep rather than stay up. But still. Part of her wished he would tolerate the noise and just endure it just to spend time with her. This year hadn't been so bad, and they actually grew close. Both of them have changed ever since the spellldrive tournament.

Still, some habits of Leona's hadn't gone away completely. She wasn't expecting to change every little fault on him. That would be asking for too much. Her eyes spotted Ruggie, walking with Jack as he carried a box filled with donuts.

"Oi! Ruggie! Jack!" She called out, walking over to him. The hyena turned to her with a sprinkled donut held between his teeth, and he waved his hand at her. "Mara! How's it going? Are you excited about the new year?" Jack asked kindly as Ruggie tried to devour his donut so he could speak.

The cheetah beastwoman giggled in amusement at those two. They were an interesting little duo. "Yeah, I'm excited. But if you two don't mind me asking, have you guys seen Leona or heard from him?" She inquired hesitantly. Part of her was holding this small bit of hope that he would maybe show up.

Ruggie and Jack already knew why she was asking and exchanged reluctant looks. "Eh, I don't think the boss is coming. You know Leona. He practically spends the last day of the year sleeping in. Sorry, vice housewarden." He informed her casually, passing a donut to Jack.

The cheetah felt her heart slump in disappointment. Her ears lowered down in sadness. "Why am I not surprised." She commented, feeling a little hurt. He didn't have to like attending these things, but she wished he would do it for her. Just once, even would be good.

Jack and Ruggie could see the sadness on her face and glanced at each other worriedly. The wolf placed a hand on her shoulder, pulling her in a side hug. "He might change his mind. You know how he is. Leona's full of unexpected moves." The wolf suggested, hoping to cheer her up.

"Forget him. Cause he ain't getting any donuts from me. Here. You gonna need some sugar to last ya until midnight." Ruggie reasoned, holding out a jelly donut for her. It did cheer her up as she smiled gratefully at him. "Thanks, Rugs." She thanked him, accepting the sweet treat.

The two savannclaw students kept chatting, which gave Jack the right moment to walk away. With a serious face, he took his phone out and started texting urgently:

🐺: "Oi. Mara's looking for you. And it's almost time for the ball to drop. Where are you?"

The wolf glanced back at the cheetah only to find she had left. Only Ruggie remained. "Hey Ruggie. Where's Mara?" The freshmen asked his upperclassmen, but then his ears perked when he heard his phone beep, indicating a notification.

"Oh, she left to go find a spot to watch the ball drop. That's it all? So did Leona say when's he coming?" Ruggie asked, but when no answer came, he glanced at Jack and noticed the wolf's ears had shot up and had a horrified expression. "What's the matter?" Rughie raised an eyebrow and glanced at the screen only to feel his heart drop.

🦁: "I'm already in crane port. Have Mara stay with you until I get there."

The two looked at each other with wide eyes and looked back at the crowd that suddenly seemed humongous. "Go track, Mara! I'm gonna go find Leona!" Ruggie instructed rapidly, and the two dashed off to make the plan worked.

Few minutes later...

11:50 PM. That was the time right now. The countdown was about to start. And yet Mara didn't feel completely excited. Despite the excited looks on everyone and the big shimmering ball that would come down to mark the New Year, she didn't have the mood to celebrate anymore.

'I am gonna have a word with him when this is over. I guess I could try to enjoy this. It's the new year.' She contemplated in her head, wanting to get rid of this sadness.

"10!"

"9!"

Her ears rose up as everyone started the countdown, and the ball started dropping.

"8!"

"7!"

Her voice joined in, counting down the minutes. She forced a smile on her face. There was a little bit of excitement bubbling up but not enough to change her mood.

"6!"

"Whoa!"

Suddenly, a force turned her around, and the next thing Mara knew was her feet left the snow, leaving footprints there from her boots. A hand was wrapped around her back while another held her legs. The cheetah bared her fangs at whoever it was, but her reaction quickly switched into shock as her golden eyes widened.

"5!"

"Le....ona?"

The one person she thought wasn't coming. Leona stared back at her intensely with his green eyes. Mara felt her ears drop, not sure if he was mad or not. Then, from the corner of her eyes, she spotted Jack and Ruggie, who seemed out of breath. The two glanced up at her and smiled tiredly. Her ears rose up, starting to put the pieces together.

"4!"

Leona then repositioned her in his arms to make it more comfortable for them, bringing her face closer to his. Their breathes mingled in the cold air as the two didn't break eye contact. She expected some sarcastic remark from or an agitated comment, but what he said caught her off guard.

"Count with me." He instructed, his eyes briefly glancing down at her lips. Mara realized he sounded out of breath. She wondered if he had been running to get here. To her? She wanted to ask him what he was doing here, but then the countdown kept going, and she found herself following his lead.

"3!"

They both joined in. The cheetah wrapped her arms around his neck, eyeing his lips and eyes back and forth.

"2!"

Did time slow down, she wondered? Was the ball all the way down? Her thoughts moved quicker than her mouth, and she found herself leaning in closer. Both their eyelids were getting heavy.

"1!"

As soon as the ball hit the ground, the two felines closed the gap and sealed the kiss.

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!"

Boom boom boom!!!!

Their ears rose up at everyone yelling, and the fireworks unleashed to the night sky. Leona, however, just kissed back passionately and smiled in the kiss at how Mara tightened her hold around his neck.

The two cats broke the kiss and leaned their foreheads against each other. Mara stared back with a big smile. Her golden eyes softened at him, glad that he actually came.

Leona chuckled amusingly at the look on her face. Nonetheless, he did smile genuinely at her and whispered quietly.

"Happy New Year, Mar Mar."

Mara's eyes brightened to hear him say that and, without hesitation, pull him into another kiss. Jack and Ruggie were watching this as Ruggie made a disgusted look. Jack just covered his face with his tail, smiling amusingly, and his friend gladly hid behind it.

"Happy New Year. Ya, grumpy lion." She told him back as he set her back down on the ground. Their ears twitched back to the fireworks cracking in the sky. The two cats turned towards the sky, and Leona smirked in amusement at how Mara smiled widely like a little cub. Still, the way the light made her golden eyes sparkle brighter than the fireworks was quite the sight for him, and he wouldn't miss it for the world.

His arms wrapped around her shoulder, pulling her close to him as she held his hand draping over her shoulder. She wasn't gonna ask why he was here or when he showed up. It was enough that he came to celebrate the New Year's with her and that there was another new year to look forward to together.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2025!🎆🎆🎊🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆