NOVEL NEXT Chapter 224: Home Sweet Home
"Ahh, home sweet home, at last!" Grinned Raven, as he pulled Celia into a hug and buried his face in her chest.
"H-Hey, that kinda tickles," She giggled as she wrapped her arms around him, before adding as she softly kissed his forehead, "Welcome back, Raven, I missed you."
"Yeah, I missed you too, Celia, glad to be back."
It was the 14th of June, 1920, and the group had returned to Persona. After everyone returned following the teleport trap, the alliance was promptly settled the next day.
While they'd been intent on leaving right away, Anima insisted they stay one more day to celebrate, as well as to make up for the unpleasant experiences they'd been put through by Anima Shield.
Jules was reluctant, but not wanting to be rude, she hesitantly agreed to stay one more day. As a result, a large festival was held the following day, with a near-endless selection of food, drinks, events and games.
The Knights ended up having a lot of fun, they were shown an almost excessive amount of hospitality by the Anima citizens, in an effort to make up for the whole mess with Anima Shield.
The festival raged on late into the night, and as a result, everyone ended up waking up well into the middle of the afternoon, earlier today.
They'd promptly packed up their things, before finally leaving the nation of Anima and headed back to Persona, going their separate ways to each of their assigned locations once they arrived.
It was currently early in the evening, Raven had headed straight for the Knight outpost to see Celia, and the other Knights offered to take over their duties for the rest of the day so that they could head home early and spend some time together, and they gratefully accepted.
"I heard that things went wrong, I was really worried. I'm glad you got back safe," Smiled Celia, as she embraced Raven warmly.
"Yeah, me too...it wasn't anywhere near as dire as things got in Sylph, but it was far from ideal. It all worked out fine in the end, at least...well, besides Lloyd's death. I didn't really know him, but he seemed like a good guy. So, I'm glad we could at least avenge him.
And things were a bit stressful until we finally took down the group targeting us, we couldn't rear easy since we had to be on alert for an attack at any given moment. Not to mention when most of the others got teleported to random locations," Recalled Raven with a sigh.
"Sounds like you had a rough time of it...okay, you're going to take it easy tonight and let me pamper you. Got any requests?" She smiled as she took hold of his hand and laced her fingers between his.
"Hm, let me think...maybe some cuddles to start with?" He suggested, as he gave her hand a soft, affectionate squeeze.
"Definitely not going to say no to that," She replied, before leading him to their bedroom.
Raven flopped onto the bed with a weary sigh, relaxing as he sunk into the mattress slightly, before turning across as Celia laid down beside him, pulling her closer and wrapping his arms around her.
"Mm, I missed your warmth...and your scent...this feels so comforting," He muttered with a content smile, as he placed his forehead against hers, staring into her eyes.
"Yeah, the feeling's mutual. Hey, wanna go on a date tomorrow night? Besides work, we've mostly just been staying in these days, might be a nice change of pace," She suggested with a smile.
"Yeah, sounds good. I wish you'd been there yesterday, Anima threw a big festival, it would've been perfect for a date," Raven sighed wistfully.
"Oh, that sounds like it must have been fun. Glad you at least enjoyed the last bit of your trip to Anima," She responded as she placed her hand on his cheek, caressing his skin with her thumb.
"I brought you some of the stuff that were being sold at the stalls they'd set up for the festival, it's all preserved in my Storage Ring. Try it out later, they're pretty good."
"Cool, sounds good," She nodded, looking intrigued.
Raven then leaned in and kissed her softly, stroking her hair as she continued caressing his cheek.
He placed his other hand on her lower back and pulled her in more firmly against him, as she slipped a hand under his chest, tracing his scales with her fingertips.
"I know it's only been a few days, but it's felt like ages...sorry if I'm a bit clingy for a while," Smiled Raven, as they briefly pulled away to catch their breath, staring into each other's eyes.
"Oh, that's the last thing I'd ever complain about. Hm, it seems like you want to do more than just cuddle," She smirked, slipping her arms around his shoulders seductively, batting her eyes at him.
Meanwhile, in Garnet City...
"No, really, I insist. It's only a couple more hours, you know, it's no big deal. Go on, go home and rest up," Insisted Ravella firmly.
With both Aster and Tacitus in Anima, she'd found herself in charge of the Third Squad in the interim, covering for her Captain and Vice-Captain.
Tacitus had gone straight home after they got back, while Aster headed for the outpost. He tried to relieve Ravella for the rest of the day and re-assume his duties, but she was insistent that he take the rest of the day off.
"I can't do that, you've already covered for me for days, I-...," Began Aster.
"Yeah, so a couple more hours is no big deal. You look pretty tired, so let me finish up in your stead. You can take over tomorrow," Replied Ravella, refusing to budge.
"I-...alright, then, I'll take you up on that offer. Thank you, Ravella, I appreciate it. If there's any way I can pay you back, just say the word," Smiled Aster gratefully.
"Hm...alright, how about this? You treat me to dinner tonight, and we'll call it even," She suggested, before nervously waiting for his response.
"Huh? That's fine with me, but it doesn't seem like it's enough to repay you for all the hard work you've put in," He responded.
"Oh, it's more than enough. So, what do you say?"
"Alright, then. If you're really sure," Nodded Aster, before adding, "I still feel like that isn't enough, though, so if there's anything else I can do for you, just ask."
"Sure, I'll let you know if something comes to mind," She nodded, before thinking to herself, "Okay, this is my chance. No matter how this goes, I'm confessing my feelings to him tonight. I've waited long enough, it's high time I make my move."
"What a great friend she is, so kind and considerate," Aster thought to himself with a smile, completely oblivious.
Meanwhile, in the Capital...
"Hm? What are you doing here, Kia? You should be resting," Remarked Akila, as he wiped his sleeve across his forehead.
"Th-That's my line," She responded with a sigh.
After they got back to the Knight headquarters, Akila headed straight for one of the training rooms. He'd felt useless in Anima, and was determined to get stronger and make sure he'd do better next time.
"I'm fine, I've got some energy to spare," He replied, before swinging one of his blades across.
"Y-Your movements are sloppy, you're clearly fatigued. I-I know you want to get stronger, but there's no point in pushing yourself when you need to rest. It'll be a lot more productive if you train after you're rested and refreshed," She pointed out.
"Yeah, but-..."
"B-But nothing. Even the Commander is resting...well, it took some convincing from the Vice-Commander and Tilda, but still. If a workaholic like her can understand when she needs to rest, I know that you can too. Come on, go home. You can train all you want after you rest, I'll even help you train," She offered, as she walked over and tentatively placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I...I suppose you have a point. Yeah, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tired, I'm totally wiped. I just-...I couldn't do anything when we attacked Anima Shield, I couldn't get over the fact that I'd killed people, and I just froze," He sighed in frustration.
"I-I understand, but even so...that isn't an issue you can get over just by training. It's something you need to overcome mentally, and that isn't going to happen overnight."
"Yeah, I guess not. If only it were that easy..."
"C-Come on, let's go. We both need rest, we can figure it all out afterwards," She replied, heading out of the room as Akila put away his blades, before following after her.
"Thanks, Kia...I appreciate it, you're so considerate."
"H-Huh? Oh, um...you're welcome," She muttered, averting her gaze as he smiled at her.