The Goddess who Defied Fate

Chapter 13

Shiro stood by the reflecting pool and watched the images of Earth. Hue stood at her side, smiling.

“So, you still like looking into the reflecting pool. I’m not surprised,” Hue said.

“I missed being able to look at people’s wishes here. Even after all this time, I still feel so physically connected to this place.” She smiled shyly and moved a strand of hair behind her ear. She didn’t fail to notice the blush on Hue’s cheeks.  

“A ‘physical connection’? That’s a rather provocative way to put,” Zyglavis said teasingly.

“You’re starting to get on my nerves. This is the Department of Wishes’ reflecting pool. If you’re done here, get out already.”

The king watched their interaction, chuckling quietly. Shiro sighed exasperatedly. “What a happy day. But Huedhaut, you’re forgetting something important,” the king said.

“Something important?” Hue asked.

“You are no longer branded with a mark of sin. Accordingly… if you go down to Earth with your divine powers unsuppressed, Earth will be negatively affected,” the king answered.

“Oh, that’s right.” Shiro looked at the ring on my right forefinger. “You’ll need one of these.”

“Where did you even get that?” Hue asked.

“It just appeared in my room one day when I was very little.”

The king gracefully opened his hand, bathing Hue in a cool light. A pretty, delicate ring appeared on his finger. “I have no intention of keeping you from visiting Earth or the heavens,” the king said. “As long as Huedhaut wears that ring, his divine powers will not affect the Earth,” the king said.

“Please accept it. It is not a mark of sin, but rather, a sign that you have my blessing.”

Shiro threw her arms around Hue. “You really do love grabbing onto me as hard as humanly possible,” he said. She laughed and pressed her cheek to his chest.

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When the king, Zyglavis and Kuro left, the area around the reflecting pool fell silent in their absence. Shiro could look at this fountain forever and never get bored.

“You can see everything in so much detail. I’d almost forgotten how amazing it is. I wonder, is it because of the water you filled it with, Hue?”

“Maybe. But I can’t create pools of water this clear on Earth. The clarity of water has a lot to do with the divine energy present at any given location.”

Shiro hummed. “Oh, I just remembered…”

“What is it?”

She sighed. “Zyglavis totally wrecked the mansion. Leon and Teo held him off, but they can’t be too happy about all of this.”

“Leon’s probably kicked back relaxing, waiting to hear the good news. And Teo… He’s probably pretending to be worried about you and using that to pick up girls.”

“Frankly, none of those would surprise me.” She smiled. Even now, Hue was hard to understand sometimes.

“You’re thinking something arrogant right now, aren’t you?” Hue asked teasingly.

“I would never!” she grinned. Hue’s hand moved smoothly to play with her hair

“Shiro.” Hue’s blue eyes were too beautiful. Shiro felt as though she could drown in them. He took a lock of her hair and kissed it. She never thought she’d be here again. Be with Hue. She was terrified of the unknown when she first met him again. But her wish actually came true. She never spoke of it, tried not to think of it, but it became a reality. “You’d better get back to Earth soon.”

“I suppose I should. I can’t stay up here indefinitely,” she replied.

“But before you go… There’s something I want to show you. Come this way.” Hue took Shiro by the hand. His fingers felt unusually hot as they intertwined with hers. “You can touch me as much as you want from now on.”

“So can you.” She felt a blush creep onto her cheeks.

“Let’s go. The evening breeze should cool those red cheeks of yours.”

“You’re making fun of me, aren’t you?”

“I would never.” Shiro chuckled when he threw her earlier words back at her as she followed him.

The stars outside glowed far more brightly than the stars she’d seen on Earth, but the most beautiful part was the flowers. A hundred different varieties, each more beautiful than the last, all in full bloom.

“Beautiful, right? You used to love this place,” Hue smiled at her.

“I never stopped.” Shiro walked along the stone path, admiring the flowerbeds and inhaling the pristine fresh air of the heavens. Watching her, Hue snapped his fingers a few times. Now that his mark was gone, he didn’t have to touch her to use his powers anymore. “What are you doing?”

“The last night we spent together on Earth… We were drinking alcohol from Earth and you said something… You sadly mentioned that, after drinking the alcohol I made, you couldn’t drink anything else.”

Shiro smiled wryly. “I never could, even before.”

Hue chuckled. “You looked seriously resentful. But we don’t have to say goodbye anymore. So, please forgive me.”

“Typical Hue. Even in love, you never change.”

“Oh. Well, if you’d rather me be sweet to you, I can do that too.” Hue brought his face close to hers. “But if I do that, I don’t know how far I’ll go. Are you okay with that? What do you want to do, Shiro?”

“You always did love to tease me.” Her chest hammering in her chest, she didn’t dare pull away. Hue smiled and narrowed his eyes affectionately before snapping his fingers. A water jug appeared.

“Have a seat. I’ll treat you to something truly first-rate.” Hue carefully inspected the water jug and a variety of bottles of alcohol before selecting a drink. The gold liquid he poured into her glass looked like the alcohol of the gods in the stories humans made up.

“It’s delicious. The drinks you make really are the best. Sitting here like this with you… It’s almost hard to believe our lives were just in danger.”

“You and the Earth… Everything is safe… I’m so glad.” Hue leaned against her. “If I’m not touching you like this, a part of me still can’t believe I’m not dreaming.” Shiro ran her hand through his midnight-blue hair.

“It’s not a dream, Hue.”

“That’s just how miraculous what just happened feels to me. We’re probably going to have to perform many more such miracles.”

“We can do it. Honestly, I still can’t believe it myself. After everything I went through to save the Earth all those years ago, to be the one to throw it into chaos again…” Shiro shook my head in disbelief. “Lying to myself about my own heart, about love. Even denying the nature of my own feelings.” Hue poured a different variety of alcohol into her now empty glass. This one was a beautifully fragrant, cherry blossom pink spirit.

“The Earth will be okay as long as neither of us do that again.”

“I know. Even if we fight or argue sometimes… As long as we don’t close our hearts off, we’ll be fine.”

“You’re right. Besides, a fight happens when both parties face each other honestly and share their opposing viewpoints. Occasional confrontations like that just go to show how strong our love really is.”

Shiro smiled softly. “That was a very ‘Hue’ thing to say.”

“I must take the utmost care not to wear out my welcome with you.”

She laughed. “You’re starting to sound a little drunk.”

“Yes, on you.” Her cheeks flushed crimson. “You’re intoxicating, Shiro.” Hue moved her head to press her forehead to his. Her skin burned hot where it touched his.

“Are you seeing my future?” she asked.

“Yes.” He smiled.

“I’m pretty sure I know what you’re seeing, even without asking you. I know you’re in my future. You never wear out your welcome. How could you? I’m only here now on the strength of my love for you.”

Hue’s cheeks flushed. “Do you realise what you’re doing to me? You say the cutest things when you drink. That’s a bad habit. I hope you’re not like that in front of everyone.” Shiro chuckled. “If you keep letting your guard down like that, you’ll find yourself in trouble. Like this.” Her world was flipped upside down, and flower petals fluttered in the air. She was lying on a bed of flowers, Hue lying next to her. “The stars feel even closer like this, don’t you think? You love the stars, so I thought you might enjoy this.”

“It’s beautiful…” Shiro's words were little more than a whisper.

“I’ve always wondered why humans look at the constellations in the night sky. I mean, how could they connect the stars and see lions, and bulls, and even young men carrying jugs of water? But… I feel like I understand now. Ancient humans must have seen what they wanted to see in the sky.”

“Modern humans are the same. So are gods. When I look at this sky, I see nothing but you, Hue.” Shiro smiled at the sight of a comet shooting through the sky. “Humans always wish on shooting stars. But whenever I saw one, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I only ever had one wish. To be with you again. And after you returned to the heavens, I thought that was it. No matter how many shooting stars I saw, it would never matter, because you were already gone.”

“Shiro…”

“So the fact that we’re here together now makes me incredibly happy. Happier than I thought possible.”

“You really are nothing but trouble. I thought I told you to stop saying such cute things.” Hue responded by flashing her a devastatingly gentle smile. He pressed his forehead to hers again. “I didn’t think I would ever see you again. I would look into the reflecting pool, unable to touch you, yearning for you… But now…”

“Yes, you can touch me. As much as you want.” Shiro took his hand in hers. “I want you to.”

“What did I tell you about saying cute things…? Wait, never mind. I might as well let myself enjoy your offer. I’ll stop trying to tell you how cute you are. It would be faster to just show you.” Shiro smelled Hue’s natural scent more strongly. His lips, still wet with alcohol, trembled slightly as they touched hers. After a few seconds that felt like a sweet eternity, he pulled away and smiled. “I saw even more of your future. I’m never losing you again, Shiro. No matter what you say, I’m never letting you go.” Shiro started to say his name, but Hue silenced her with a flurry of kisses. Kisses hotter than any comet in the sky. “I won’t repeat myself, so listen carefully… I love you. Only you could capture my heart like this. Only you are this precious.”

“Hue…” Unable to express herself in words, Shiro cupped his cheeks in her hands and brought his face closer until their lips touched again. She couldn’t get enough. She wrapped her arms tightly around him as they kissed again and again.