RR Presents Oneshots

Letters (PAOLTE)(Paola Santiago)

I moved their ages up so let's say they're around fifteen

𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹

Paola's mom had finally saved up enough money to send Pao to a girls' boarding school in the city. Emma also went there, and the two had requested to be roommates, which was approved.

Pao loved it there. The facility was a nice respite from her old, dilapidated apartment, and the courses were a challenge she threw herself headfirst into. She didn't have many friends there besides Emma, but that was fine for her. As long as none of the other girls stuck their noses into her business, she was cool.

There were only a few things she missed about her home back in the middle of nowhere. Her mom, obviously, the Gila river and stargazing next to it, and most prominently, Dante.

He attended a public high school closer to the Riverside Palace. Pao was only able to see him a few times during the school year. Neither of them had cell phones yet, and there wasn't a landline close to Paola's dorm.

That left them with just letters. Dante had  suggested the idea at the end of summer, which surprised Pao a bit, since he never struck her as the pen-pal type. Nevertheless, she agreed, secretly delighted that she could keep in touch with her best friend, and that he would write back faithfully. Aside from Dante, she would also write to her mom plenty of times. The mail service made rounds to the Riverside Palace every other day, which gave Pao and Dante plenty of opportunities to write to each other every week.

One time, Pao had accidentally forgotten to write back to Dante for a week, so he'd panicked and sent another letter, asking if she was okay or if he'd said anything wrong in his last letter. Pao had almost cried while reading it. She wrote back immediately, and that was the only hiccup in the whole cycle.

Months flew by, and the school year was coming to a close. That week, two letters came from Dante- one for Pao, as usual, and one for Emma.

Emma had looked surprised at first. Dante barely wrote to her, which was fine, since she was too busy in the social circles to write much, but nevertheless, she took the letter. She skimmed the neat writing, then threw the sheet at Pao, who had just finished reading her own letter.

"Read it," Emma said.

Pao frowned at the piece of paper lying facedown in her lap. "What? Why would you want me to read your letter?"

Emma's eyes sparkled. "Just do it."

Pao's curiosity outweighed her caution. She picked the letter up and scanned over it.

~Time Skip brought to you by Bruto the Chupacabra~

A week later, Paola was waiting nervously by the river, at their normal meeting spot. Emma was attending the birthday party of one of their classmates that night. Pao had also been invited, but she declined the invitation. Since she'd come home for summer break, she hadn't been able to talk one-on-one with Dante, and tonight was perfect— not too hot, not too cold, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky, making it perfect for star-watching. She'd already spread a blanket on the ground and laid down a grocery bag filled with sweets. The whole thing reminded her of the good ol' middle-school days, with Emma, Dante, and her hanging around this area, before the whole thing with La Llorona and the Ninõs de la Luz. Pao's mom still didn't like her hanging out around here, but Pao still had her dagger and knew how to defend herself, and Dante had told her that his abuela would let him take the Arma de Alma whenever he went back to the river, which wasn't often anyway.

Pao was a bit early, and Dante had... something going on. She'd forgotten what is was, but he said he'd be a little late than normal.

She heard a noise- a stick snapping. Instantly, her dagger was out, and she found herself facing... Dante.

"Oops," she said. She was glad for the darkness, as it hid her blush of embarrassment. "Sorry."

Dante laughed. "It's fine. I don't blame you for being on guard."

"Come on," she said. "Let's see how sugar-high we can get in thirty minutes."

"That's... not a good idea," Dante said.

Pao stared at him.

"What?"

"Did you just suggest we not eat candy in the middle of the night? Sheesh, you're sounding like me now."

"Oh no, how terrible," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

They settled down on the blanket, splitting the candy.

"This is nice," Pao said as she popped a few M&Ms into her mouth.

"Yeah," he said. "Like things were before all the crazy. How was the school year?"

"It was fun," Pao said. "I've got a lot of summer work, though."

Dante's nose wrinkled. She could relate to that sentiment.

"It's good to be home, though," Pao added.

"Yeah," Dante said, his eyes meeting hers for a few seconds too long. "It's good to have you back."

And despite the secondhand confession Pao had read in Emma's letter, she felt totally at home. No need for the boy/girl weirdness between them. It was just Dante and Paola, and it would always be.