Work Text:
October 26th 2028, 1800 hour [6:00 pm] (Japan Standard Time, UTC+09:00, 16 hours ahead of Denver):
The silver-haired girl known as Yukina sat on a chair as she wrote down words on a notebook, her dominant hand slightly trembled as she gripped the sleek Fisher space pen in purple.
The Flame to My Inner Ice by Yukina Minato-Nakagawa
In my high school days then
When Ran and I rivaled each other way back then
To me, I was always a cat lover
And Lisa teased me specifically for that
Then I met you on that January morning
And I can’t stop thinking about you afterwards
Cause there is something in you that capture my mind
And I can’t figure out what that is
I loved the way your vibe radiated awesome
The way you smile at me without pressure
The way you sometimes surpass my singing
The way you look at me that’s so irresistible
And I grew to love all of those
Yet I can’t tell you how I feel
So I watch your onstage passion
And that is my inspiration
Then I gained the confidence to tell you
My fully devoted, undying that was real
And you told me you felt the same way
My heart was beating uncontrollably that day
Now there’s a ring on my finger
Proving that you are my significant other
The thought of you made me euphoric
Because I’m proud to be a Nakagawa.
“It’s not the best thing that I wrote…” Yukina sighed; “But I-I hope she’ll like this…” she anxiously said. Ran and her girlfriend Ai was on the bed, and so is Katrina (the permanent UK resident since 1976 and former lead of Katrina and the Waves).
Yukina held the notebook in her right hand as nervously glanced down on her left wrist, looking at her turtle-shaped black Doxa Sub 300T Sharkhunter and the 20mm black Bonetto Cinturini 295 rubber strap that it’s paired with (both of which are her wedding gifts from Kyle). She looked at the date window and sees the number 26, and it’s all she needed to know.
Today is her 29th birthday (a week after Stan’s), and crucially, today also mark the start of the second year of her and Nana’s marriage. In other words, today is their wedding anniversary (also a week after Stan and Wendy’s 5th anniversary).
Now, all of this wasn’t something that Yukina expected, but she wasn’t complaining about it at all; if anything, she’s grateful that it happened. Back in her high school days at Haneoka (not to be confused with Tokyo’s Haneda Airport), she was still having feelings for Lisa; though if she was honest, her feelings were all over the place back then. Hell, she even had a crush on Kasumi and even Ran of all people. It’s safe to say that she doesn’t know who to crush at all.
And then, she met Nana for the first time, in-person. While it was just a friendship at first, it wasn’t meant to be just that for long.
Sooner or later, Yukina couldn’t help but feel her heart beating uncontrollably whenever Nana was in her sight. She didn’t know back then why she was feeling like that with Nana, but it made her wonder if she was having a feeling for her. Still, Yukina refuses to confess her feelings, cause she can’t even socialize, being a bit of an introvert.
But she can’t run away from it forever, cause it just kept growing and growing, and in the process, it also eroded whatever feelings she had for Lisa (or even Kasumi and Ran too) like fluoroantimonic acid versus anything else in this universe (except for Teflon). So, with all the courage she built up over time, she took a risk and confessed to Nana, like the brave American pilots of the Eagle Squadrons that piloted the Supermarine Spitfire during the Second World War before 1942 (which Stan’s late granpa Marvin was likely a part of, as he did talk about about flying a Spitfire over Germany that one time in WW2; either that, or Marvin is referring to one of the four groups of the US Army Air Forces stationed in the UK and Mediterranean that also operated the Spitfire, but he had dementia towards the last few years of his life, so it’s not very clear what he's refer to). It pays her off wonderfully, because Nana had the same feelings for her too.
With a bit of struggling together, fate brought them here. Happily married, and with a ring on their finger to show their love to each other.
Going back to the current moment. Nana was out with the rest of Roselia along with Stan and Wendy. Now that Yukina was done writing her poem, she just sat there on the bed; Ran and Ai flanked her right side, while Katrina was next to her on the left. On Ran’s wrist was her black titanium solar-powered Venturian Wildsider with the 20mm black with gray and red stripes Luff Phoenix Bond Elastico elastic strap, and Ai was sporting her blacked-out solar-powered Momentum SQ30 Eclipse Black-Ion with the 20mm orange Dassari smooth FKM rubber strap (with the black PVD-coated buckle). Meanwhile, Katrina was wearing her black no-date CWC GS Sapphire in steel on her left wrist with the 19mm black and olive Crown & Buckle 'Bond' standard NATO nylon strap.
Writing a song is one thing, but writing a poem is another thing entirely; they aren’t the same at all. This poem that Yukina wrote is special, for her one and only.
“Ran, I don’t know how it will turn out…” Yukina plainly said in an anxious tone; “How do you think she’s going to react?”
“I don’t know about that, Yukina, but doesn’t Nana love you a lot?” questioned Ran.
“Yeah, I think so…” Yukina trembled as she replied back.
“Like, I haven’t seen Nana-chan being that much in love with someone else when you wed her.” Ai explained.
“Yeah, Ai-san, you’re right~” Yukina chuckled.
“Don’t worry about that, Yukina,” Katrina said, trying to calm her down; “I mean, Nana wouldn’t return your confession if she wasn’t in love with you the same way you’re in love with her, right?”
“Yeah, Katrina. It’s like what Kyle said, I’m devoted to her as much as she’s devoted to me.” Yukina answered, remembering what Kyle told her on the wedding day.
But her respite didn’t last long, as she heard an all too familiar voice from downstairs; “Yukina, I’m home with Stan and Wendy.”
Yukina didn’t respond, because it would give the surprise away.
“Yukina? We’re going upstairs.” she heard that voice again, followed by the sound of footsteps, which grew louder and louder, before the creak of the door opening echoed through the space.
“Hi, Nana! Hi, Stan and Wendy!” Yukina greeted her wife and the Testaburger-Marsh couple back, beaming a smile at the love of her life the moment she saw her. On Nana’s wrist is her black and white Ollech & Wajs C-1000 MkII paired on the 20mm red WatchBandit rhombus-patterned FKM rubber strap (with the brushed silver buckle), both of which are also her wedding gift from Stan. Speaking of Stan, he’s wearing navy blue anti-magnetic Oak & Oscar Humboldt with the 20mm blue Dassari saffiano FKM hybrid strap, while Wendy was sporting her black and rose gold Formex Reef GMT with the 22mm black Crown & Buckle USM NATO nylon cotton single-piece strap.
“Konnichiwa, Yukina!” Stan greeted her back; “Konnichiwa, Ran and Ai!”
“Hi, Katrina!” Wendy greeted the brown-haired musician.
“Hi, Stan and Wendy! Hi, Nana!” Katrina greeted them back.
“H-Happy wedding anniversary, Nana…” Yukina anxiously said to her wife as she came to her.
“And happy birthday to you too, Yukina!” Nana joyfully replied.
Yukina gently pecked Nana on the lips; “Thanks…but, could you…” she said, a little nervous as she handed the purple notebook to her wife; “I wrote a poem for you…read the first page, okay?”
Nana nodded, before she took the notebook and did as she was told, sliently reading the poem meant for her. As she scanned through the page with what Yukina wrote, a lovely smile crept on her face, amused and flattered at the poem. Then she slammed the notebook shut and smiled; “Thank you, Yukina. I love it~”
“You do, Nana?” Yukina asked.
“Yes, I don’t need something that could win awards, cause anything that comes from your heart is good enough to me.” Nana explained. She then paused for a bit before she reached into her bag, trying to find something; “I have something for you. So, can you close your eyes now?”
“What is it?” Yukina asked curiously.
“I don’t wanna spoil it for you.” Nana plainly answered; “So just do it, please?” she softly smiled at Yukina.
Yukina can’t resist it, today isn't just their wedding anniversary, after all, it's her birthday too; so she did close her eyes. She could feel Nana’s hands on her neck, followed by the cold-to-warm sensation of something metal.
“You may open your eyes now.” Nana gently said.
Yukina opened her eyes and looked down to see a silver necklace with purple sapphire rose charm in the middle. Then, she felt a whiff of emotion inside her, and then came the tears in her eyes; in an instant, she wrapped her arms around her wife, holding her in an embrace.
Nana hugged her back at the waist, but looked at the silver-haired girl with a concerned expression; “You don’t like it, Yukina? Stan and Wendy made this one for you~” she tried to assure her wife.
“T-That’s not it, Nana…” Yukina said through her sobbing; “I-It’s just that…Stan and Wendy made this beautiful necklace for me, while all I have for you was a horrible p- Mmmpph?!” Nana tighten her embrace around Yukina and kissed her passionately. Yukina relaxed into the kiss and shifted the grip of her arms to around Nana’s neck, pulling her deeper into it.
Out of breath of it, Nana slowly pulled away, but looked at Yukina in the eyes.
“That poem…is anything but horrible, because I love it the same way that I love you, Yukina.” Nana gently said; “I don’t care what gifts you have for me, cause I love you more than anything else, alright?” Nana said, then she caressed her wife’s cheek.
“I love you too, Nana~” Yukina flustered as she blushed, smiling with her wife.
“Yukina? Happy birthday to you~” Katrina said to the Minato-Nakagawa couple as they pulled away and turned towards her.
“Thanks, Katrina~” Yukina shyly replied as she held Nana by her side.
“And, Nana?” Ran uttered as she and Ai went towards the two; “Happy wedding anniversary to you and Yukina~” Ai said.
“Thanks, Ran-chan and Ai-chan~” Nana replied back.
“They’re really in love with each other, right, Katrina?” Stan asked.
“Of course, Stan! And I bet you and Wendy are like them too~” Katrina quipped.
“Right! I love him as much as he loves me~” Wendy replied, before she pulled Stan in for a brief kiss, which caught Yukina and Nana’s attention.
“Careful, Wendy, you’re gonna make him puke…well, not quite~” Yukina half-joked as she saw Stan blushed harder than the brakes on the Lotus-based Hennessey Venom GT when braking from top speed to a complete standstill. Of course she knew that it wasn’t the case anyways, he kicked that habit a while back, after all.
“Yeah, Wendy, he’s not having a vertigo, just falling for you again.” Nana added.
“Yep, Nana, you’re right~” Stan chuckled; “Haven’t throwing up for quite a while since my high school days~” everyone else also joined in with his chuckle.
One thing that’s for sure, Yukina and Nana won’t forget this moment, and so does everyone else too.