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your beautiful future
Somehow it’s Chuchu who finds her first.
Miorine Rembran, Princess of Asticassia; President, gardener, trophy. Miorine Rembran, someone Chuchu’s come to begrudgingly respect, who looked out for them, who listened when many others didn’t. Who is one of the most passionate people Chuchu has ever met, not that she’d tell her that. Someone who built something beautiful for one girl and committed to it for everyone.
Miorine Rembran, who’s currently got her knees to her chest and her head in her hands.
Honestly, if it weren’t for her bright hair, Chuchu may have missed her. Covered in ash and dirt and something that looks worryingly like dried blood, GUND-ARM’s damn-near prestigious President sits trembling in a corner of some half-exploded building, shaking every time anything makes a sound.
Chuchu swallows.
The comms system they’ve been using to keep in contact are being incredibly unreliable at the moment. Earth’s falling apart as it is, and they’d all been in such a rush to leave that they hadn’t brought anything with them. The tentative plan: Find Miorine, steal Aerial back, get out before anyone dies and maybe stop the war seems to be falling apart at the seams (Chuchu’s not sure whose brilliant idea it’d been to split up), but at least she’s working towards at least one of their objectives.
Chuchu’s dads are helping search somewhere nearby, but the sound of gunfire had drawn their attention a little while ago, and she’s trying very hard not to worry about them. She only just got to see them again—there’s no way they’ll die without her.
(“All this,” her papa—the most level-headed of her fathers—had said when he first heard the plan. “All this for a Rembran?”
Chuchu hadn’t been able to do anything but laugh. I know, she’d wanted to say. You don’t even know the half of it.)
Now Chuchu’s done it; she’s found Miorine, and Miorine’s alive, at the very least. Shaken up for sure, but still breathing. Suletta will appreciate that.
Miorine also clearly has no idea that she’s actually here. She seems either too frightened or in shock to have heard Chuchu coming, and Chuchu’s—well. Chuchu’s not entirely sure what to do in this situation. Be gentle, maybe. Miorine may be the one being blamed in the news, but if there’s anything Chuchu knows about her, it’s that she’s interested in the idea of Earth. None of this is her fault. It can’t be.
When Chuchu crouches down, Miorine flinches anew, but she doesn’t look up. Up close, Chuchu can better ascertain the damage; a scrape here, a bruise forming there. It looks like there’s blood dripping from her face, but it’s not a lot, and Chuchu lets out an uneasy breath, relieved beyond belief.
“Yo,” Chuchu says finally, when it becomes clear that Miorine’s not going to notice it’s her who’s here without a little prodding. “Get up, Rembran. We’re here to get you.”
Miorine flinches again, this time much worse. She looks up slowly and stares at Chuchu like she thinks she’s hallucinating, and up close she looks even worse; there’s a gash across her forehead that comes worryingly close to the tip of her left eye, and the rest of her face is streaked with dirt. Chuchu’s never seen her look so unsettled or bedraggled, and she decides immediately that she hates it.
“What— Panlunch?” Miorine’s voice is shredded, hoarse and dry. “What are you doing here?! You—you can’t be here, not now!”
Chuchu scoffs. “Just like you to have a martyr complex. What do you want me to do, just leave you where I found you? Come on,” she says, ready to stand back up. “Let’s go.”
Miorine doesn’t reply for a long moment. Her gaze is wide and wild, her usual silver bloodshot with deep circles under her eyes. She croaks, finally, “I c—can’t.”
Not totally unexpected. “Okay,” Chuchu says, biting back the irritation that rises with her inability to do anything. “Then let me just—” she scrambles to turn on the radio channel that she’d attached to her uniform. It crackles once, then fizzles out. “Hey, can anyone hear me? I’ve found her.” Another spike of frequency, this time quieter. “Anyone? Hello?”
No one responds. Chuchu lets out a violent curse.
“Okay,” she says again. “Erm. Communications aren’t exactly working, so you’re going to have to get up. Because it’s—” she’s cut off as another explosion reaches their ears; Miorine shudders violently. “Yeah. It’s not great here. You hurt bad?”
Much like the rest of the Earth House over the radio, Miorine doesn’t reply. She, however, does not have the excuse of not hearing Chuchu’s question.
“Hey!” Hesitant to touch for a couple reasons, Chuchu’s hands dance over Miorine’s shoulders before she pulls away without committing. “Answer me, Rembran. What’s hurt?”
“Just leave me alone, Chuatary,” Miorine grumbles in return. “Get yourself somewhere safe. Don’t worry about me.”
Chuchu’s laughing before she realizes it isn’t a joke. “What? I’m here for you, idiot, I’m not just going to leave you here. What are you even talking about?”
Even if Miorine’s hurt Suletta, Chuchu’s not going to just leave her in the middle of an active war zone.
Still, Miorine doesn’t reply. Her head is bowed once more, completely shut off from the rest of the world. Which is all fine and dandy, whatever, but not when they could literally be blown up at any moment.
No one is responding to Chuchu over the comms, and Miorine refuses to move. Time to bring out the big guns.
“Do you know why I’m here?” She doesn’t expect a reply, nor does she get one, and so she powers on. “It was Till’s idea to bribe a guard for the ship, though it was Aliya who guessed she had a family member who could use a good prosthetic. Ojelo and Nuno found a way to dismantle the tracker so that no one could find us after we set out, and Martin was the one who was able to make sure we didn’t land directly in the middle of a firefight.” Waiting, she sits back, watches as a visible shiver goes down Miorine’s spine. “The idea to come here in the first place, though? That was all Suletta.”
“What?” Miorine lifts her head, seeking Chuchu’s gaze with something dark and desperate in her eyes.
Chuchu bites back a smug reply. Miorine is so predictable. “I mean, part of this whole thing—” she gestures vaguely. “—is for Aerial, you know, but a lot of it’s for you, too. Her idea.” Never say I’m not a good wingman, she thinks, half victorious already. I should get a salary for this shit.
“She doesn’t hate me?” Miorine’s brow is creased, like this isn’t something she would have preferred. “She should hate me.”
Shrugging, Chuchu acquiesces with a tilt of her head. “Maybe. I don’t know the specifics, just that whatever you last talked about hurt her bad. She would barely eat, wouldn’t sleep at all. Didn’t go to any of her classes for a few days. But we managed to get her out of bed a little bit ago, got her to eat breakfast with us. And then it was okay.”
Miorine swallows harshly. “She’s okay?”
Chuchu hums, because she’s not going to lie. “She’s better now than she used to be. Of course, right after she started seeming more like herself, we got the news about what was happening here, so.”
It’s not meant to be a jab, but Miorine seems to take it as one; she hunches further into herself, and Chuchu chokes on a curse.
“Look,” she says. “Uh. I don’t know what’s happened here, but you should know that no one actually believes it’s because of you. I mean, you wanted to come and live here for so long! You wouldn’t just declare war on us Earthians. At least I think so,” she adds, desperate to add some levity to the situation. “You’d be out of a company, too.”
Miorine shakes her head. “But it is my fault.”
“Yes, I’m sure you believe that,” Chuchu says dismissively. “But believing it doesn’t make it true. In any case, Suletta definitely doesn’t believe it.”
“...She really doesn’t?”
Chuchu sighs. “Look,” she says. “Before the news broke—I don’t know what she figured out, but she realized something, and whatever it was involves you in some regard. She—I think she just wants to know why,” she goes on. She doesn’t look at Miorine as she speaks; she doesn’t really want to know herself, not before Suletta. “Why… whatever happened ended up happening. She doesn’t know the reason for it, but she knows there’s a reason, and… well.”
Miorine lets out a small huff and it sounds like frustration and guilt and something horribly tender all wrapped into one. “For Suletta, that’s all she needs.”
“Yeah. You know how stubborn she can be,” Chuchu says affectionately. “That’s the honorary Earthian in her.”
That at least gets a laugh out of her; it’s stifled and quiet, but it’s still progress. Miorine can’t have ever wanted to part ways with Suletta, not when she’s acting like this now. Chuchu won’t pretend to understand it, but if nothing else, she understands that much.
“By the way, I do still think you’re an idiot,” Chuchu tells her, nudging her with her own shoulder. She can’t be too soft, but she doesn’t know what Miorine’s just seen; nothing good, certainly. Chuchu’s not cruel enough to deprive her of a kind touch after whatever she’s just been through. “A big one.”
Miorine is agreeing without a moment’s hesitation. “Yes.”
“But,” Chuchu goes on, “lucky for you, she’s an idiot, too.” Her continuing laugh startles them both, full of a fondness that only Suletta Mercury can inspire. “So I suppose you fit together well.”
“I don’t know that we do,” Miorine admits quietly. “But thank you.”
Chuchu kind of wants to argue, but she’s also pretty sure it’s not her place. Her only job here is to ensure that Miorine’s coherent enough to be able to move whenever they’re able to, not play as a couple’s counselor. So in the end, she just shrugs again, allowing Miorine that one step that she’s sure Suletta will beat down in the end anyway.
“Well, you’ll have to talk to Suletta about that one. Either way you still have to come with me,” she adds, “If nothing else, I need you to keep looking for Nika so that I can hit her.”
Miorine blinks, looking lost. “Why would you hit Nanaura?”
“Long story. Not important right now,” Chuchu says, because if she thinks about that whole mess for too long right now she’ll punch anyone. “Are you ready to go now?”
A beat, in which Miorine takes a deep breath. She’s stopped shaking by now, only the slightest tremors remaining in her hands, curled into tight fists. “Okay,” she says finally, getting slowly to her feet. “Let's go.”
And what perfect timing that turns out to be.
“Chuchu? Come in, please—” They both startle as Martin’s voice suddenly crackles out of nowhere, communications apparently back up. “Can you hear me?”
Ha! Choking back a victorious roar, Chuchu scrambles to reply. “Martin?”
“Chuchu!” The clear relief in his voice is almost overwhelming to hear. “You’re okay! Where are you?”
“I—have no idea,” says Chuchu, which is true. “Hone in on my tracker, though. I found her.”
“Miorine? Is she okay?”
“She’s okay.” A stretch, maybe, but she’s alive. “Have you heard from anyone else?”
Martin laughs, the sound a comforting change from the distant explosions. “You’re the only one who isn’t back yet. We’ve even met up with your dads! They’re okay,” he tells her, and Chuchu releases a breath she hadn’t known she was holding. “Are you two safe enough to sit still?”
“Wait,” Chuchu says. “You’re with everyone?”
He laughs again, voice now tinged with disbelief. “Everyone. Ojelo says to tell you that he’s managed to lock onto your signal, so we’re about to be on our way. Don’t do anything stupid, yeah?”
“Hey, you know me.”
“Right,” Martin says. “That’s why I’m worrying.”
Chuchu rolls her eyes, glad he can’t see the way she’s grinning. She’s just glad he’s back to his usual nervous self—his horribly nervous self after apparently turning Nika into the authorities had gotten old very fast. “Hey,” she says on a whim, changing the subject, “is Suletta there, too? Miorine wants to talk to her.”
Because she’s the best fucking friend in the universe. Though this seems to be a bit of a contested idea; beside her, Miorine visibly blanches. “W—Wait a second—”
“Oh,” Martin says. “Yeah! Hold on one second.”
“Chuatury,” Miorine growls, “why would you—“
“Call me Chuchu,” Chuchu interjects, wincing. “I’m only Chuatury to my dads, and that’s just when I’m in trouble.”
Miorine, for her part, does not seem to care what Chuchu is called when she’s in trouble. “I don’t want—this isn’t a good—do not point that thing at me,” she snaps finally, staring down at the attached radio as if it’s the most terrifying thing she’s ever seen. When Chuchu doesn’t reply, she opens her mouth again—
And is cut off by the comm coming to life once more.
“Miorine?” This time it’s Suletta; Chuchu would turn away if the comm weren’t physically attacked to her forearm, because the look that blooms across Miorine’s face is not at all supposed to be for her eyes. Tilting her head another direction, Chuchu points the radio at her, and Miorine doesn’t resist for a second more.
“Suletta.” Her voice, too, is not something Chuchu should be hearing; it’s soft, ridiculously so, and full of so much pain Chuchu can hardly stand it. “I’m so—“
“It’s going to be okay!” Suletta barrels right past her, startling Miorine and Chuchu both with her sudden excitement. “We—I’m on my way, Miorine, just stay right there and I’ll come get you. Everything’s going to be okay now.”
Miorine swallows audibly. “I’ve messed up,” she croaks. “Bad.” As upset as she is, she doesn’t even seem bothered by Chuchu’s presence as she goes on. “Suletta, I’m so sorry. You have no idea how sorry I am. I—“
This time when Suletta cuts her off, it’s far more gentle. “We’ll figure it out, okay? Afterwards. For now, just please—“ her tone falters, for just a second. “—please wait for me.”
When Chuchu sneaks a glance over, Miorine’s head is tilted towards the sky. Her eyes are shut, but there are new tear tracks down her cheeks. She inhales raggedly, trying to get a grip on herself, and her voice only trembles a little bit when she responds. “Okay. I’ll wait for you here.”
“We’re already in the transport,” Suletta promises fiercely. “Uh—arrival is in about ten minutes. I’m coming.”
“Okay,” Miorine says again. “We’ll be here. T—Thank you.”
A beat, as if Suletta’s not sure how to end the conversation. Then she says, “I’ll—uh—I’ll see you then.” And with one final crackle, the channel goes dead.
For a long moment, neither Chuchu or Miorine speak. Then, unable to contain herself for any longer, Chuchu goes, “Dude.”
Miorine rubs weakly at her temple, frowning when her hand comes away smeared with blood. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Not with me, clearly,” Chuchu replies, and this time she doesn’t even try to fight the amused sneer that’s starting to form on her face. “Did’ja forget I was here, or something?”
“Shut up.”
“Ha! That’s more like the Miorine Rembran I remember. So… you are going to talk this out with her, right? It’s weird.”
Kicking idly at the ground—Chuchu’s never seen her fidget before—Miorine says, “I’m going to try.”
She sounds serious, and Chuchu supposes that’s about all she can ask for. “Fair enough. Just know I’m only coming to your rescue this one time, though. Any more life-threatening trips are going to have to be handled by someone else.”
It’s a joke, really and truly. Still, Miorine’s expression flickers; not hurt, Chuchu thinks, but something like commitment. “I’m sorry,” she says again, nodding, as if she’s taking this just as seriously. Then, “Thank you.”
Disgustingly enough, here’s nothing but genuine gratitude in her face when Chuchu looks, and ugh, how could she have become friends with a Rembran? Things used to be so much simpler.
“Yeah,” Chuchu says, sighing egregiously. “Whatever. No problem, I guess.”
Seemingly exhausted, Miorine goes to sit back down, collapsing onto the ground with a stifled grunt. Chuchu follows her lead, leaning back against the cracked stone that had once held up an entire building. She tilts back her head, closes her eyes for a moment.
The sounds of fighting have dulled somewhat, either moving further away or—well. Chuchu doesn’t want to think about the other option. In any case, it’s quieter all around, which means Miorine can stop shaking like a leaf every time she hears something louder than a whisper. Neither of them speak. Silently, they sit and they wait for their friends, for Suletta. Even now they’ll still be missing someone; Nika’s absence will cut even sharper. But maybe she’s still out there, too. Maybe one day the Earth House will be reunited entirely once more.
And despite herself, Chuchu wholeheartedly believes that with Miorine back, returned to Suletta’s side, things can be better.