I wake up in the morning with a headache, slowly sitting up in a warm bed that I realize isn't mine. I look down at the red and black sheets and I notice that I'm wearing a blood red, large t-shirt that also isn't mine over top of my underwear. I look over to the right to see Valerian sleeping peacefully beside me on his side, his arms underneath his head as his chest rises and falls.

"About time you woke up, Princess," Valerian smirks, his eyes still closed, and I jolt in surprise.

"Y-- You were up this whole time?" I stammer and blush, to which Valerian opens his eyes and chuckles.

"Of course," Valerian rolls his eyes, "who do you think I am?"

"Um..." I swallow thickly, glancing over at him, "did we...? I remember reaching your bed, but after that..."

"No," Valerian frowns and sits up, leaning forward to brush a strand of hair out of my face, "I wouldn't want to do that while you were drunk."

"Oh," I breathe out in relief, glad that I didn't accidentally forget anything important.

"Besides," Valerian smirks, "then you wouldn't remember my--"

"Okay!" I shout and rush forwards, covering his mouth with my hands as his eyes gleam mischievously.

Valerian simply chuckles in response and I narrow my eyes at him as I pull away my hands.

"Finally," Veddrian sighs as she stands in the doorway, startling us both as she stands there with a mug of coffee in one hand and a waffle in the other, stuffing part of the waffle in her face, "I saw you two together in Val's bed last night when I came home and I couldn't wait to tease the hell out of you both."

"Veddrian, shut up," Valerian snaps and crosses his arms, blushing slightly.

"What a shame," Veddrian frowns, "I was hoping fixing that sexual tension of yours would get rid of some of your frustrations. It appears I was wrong. Woe is me."

Valerian glares at Veddrian and throws a pillow at her head as she turns to walk away and she easily dodges the pillow while sipping from her mug of coffee.

"I would really hope your aim is better than that!" Veddrian sing-songs as she walks off and I blush.

"Ignore her," Valerian sighs sheepishly and runs a hand through his hair before he turns to look at me with a more serious expression, "so...um...you never did tell me why you decided to come by last night."

"I'm..." I trail off for a few moments, looking at the bed sheets with a troubled expression, "I think I'm in trouble, Valerian."

"What?" his eyebrows furrow worriedly, "What do you mean?"

"I received mail last night," I swallow thickly, my eyes meeting his, "and...I never receive mail because there's nobody to give me mail, you know? And whenever I opened it...my old necklace was inside, the one I wore when my family died. I lost it back then. There was a letter too. It only said 'miss me' on it, but those two words were so unnerving. I ended up drinking and I just wanted to feel safe and...well...you're the one who makes me feel that way. I feel safe when I'm with you, Valerian."

"You mean you didn't go to anyone else first?" Valerian raises his eyebrows in surprise and I shake my head no, knowing he means Miles, "That..."

Valerian trails off and pulls me into a tight hug, pulling me onto his lap and I squeak in surprise as he buries his face in my shoulder and his arms wind tightly around my torso.

"That means a lot to me, Cel," Valerian breathes out and squeezes me gently, "that you would choose me of all people...I know you still probably aren't sure who you want to be with, but I want you to know that I'm going to fight for you. Got it? And I'm not going to let anyone ever hurt you. I swear to you that, Celes. If I were to lose you...I don't know what I'd do."

"I don't want to lose you either," I whisper before I smile fondly and squeeze him in return before he pulls away and grabs his comm from off his nightstand.

"Rem sent out a message about an hour ago saying that she wants us all to meet in the medical building at noon," Valerian says before he glances at the digital clock on his stand, "so that means we have two more hours."

"In that case, I'm going to go train," I smile as I climb out of bed, grabbing my armor that's scattered around the bed on the floor.

"I'll come with." Valerian says, getting out of bed as well, "I normally only train with Veddrian, which tends to be a pain in the ass, so it would be nice to have something different."

"I heard that!" Veddrian shouts from the other room and Valerian rolls his eyes as I snicker.

With that, Valerian and I get changed into our armor before we head out of the house, Veddrian waving to us from the couch as she watches TV, a piece of toast in her mouth as cartoons play. I walk a few steps ahead of Valerian and whenever we walk outside for a little bit I can hear shouting coming from the guild hall. My steps begin to slow as I listen, my eyebrows furrowed.

"--you mean I can't go there?"

I frown at the familiar voice and Valerian almost bumps into me when I completely stop walking as I'm entranced by my thoughts.

"What's wrong?" Valerian frowns.

"It's probably nothing, but I wonder what all the shouting is about," I say.

"It's probably just some whiny pissed off Vanguard." Valerian waves it off, "I wouldn't worry about it."

"I'm gonna go see..." I start, turning around and heading towards the guild hall with quick steps.

"Celes? Hey, Celes!" Valerian shouts and chases after me, "At least wait up!"

"Hah?! What do you mean I can't go see her? Dammit, I have the right to," a male voice snaps and I quicken my steps even further.

Whenever the guild comes into sight as I round the corner, I notice a tall man leaning forwards with his palms pressed on the guild counter, Ilroy leaning backwards with a weary expression as Skye stands next to him with her eyes narrowed and her arms crossed angrily. The man has unruly blond locks, a black bomber jacket with a silver gauntlet and metal glove on his left wrist, navy green cargo pants with black suspenders crisscrossing in the back, and black combat boots.

Upon seeing me enter the area, Skye's eyes flicker over to me briefly and her breath hitches as Ilroy continues to look nervous, which is enough for the man to turn his head in my direction and I nearly choke on my own air.

"Ciel..?" I whisper, my wide eyes locked onto his burning ones, Valerian's breath hitching as he comes up behind me.