fire flower; leopold vermillion x oc [Black Clover]

Epilogue

"Do you remember this place?" He asks.

"Of course I do." I giggle, remembering that day so long ago. "This was where we had our first date."

He chuckles, albeit bitterly. "You don't need to remind me of what I did afterwards."

"You mean when you confessed your love for me right before you betrayed me?" I tease.

He winces. "Ouch, I just said you didn't need to remind me of what happened afterwards."

I roll my eyes playfully and grab us a seat outside of the cafe. We order some light snacks, and after the waiter takes away our menus, we fall into a comfortable silence.

"So," he asks, "how was your time up North?"

"It was... stressful, honestly." I laugh a bit, remembering my first mission as a brigade member. "You have no idea how hard it was to keep Diamond spies out of Clover. But what about you, Leo? When I heard about the death of the emperor... I was shocked."

"These past few years haven't been great," he admits, his face drooping. "The Elves did a lot of damage to the city. It was hard to recover."

I reach out and wrap his hand in mine, giving it a little squeeze. "Are you doing okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine... It was just tough, having to go through that."

I squeeze his hands a bit harder, sadness welling up in me. Leo... "You can always talk to me. You know that, right?"

He gives me his signature crooked smile. "Of course, Mari." I smile back, and for a long moment, we lose ourselves in each other's eyes.

When our waiter comes back with the food, our conversation turns to lighter topics. We laugh, we joke, and we tease.

***

The afternoon passes by in a blur. After we eat our food, Leo takes my hand and we go on a walk through the city. He introduces me to all of the new shops in town, and we spend our evening at a newly-opened carnival.

After the sun sets, we find ourselves back at the Crimson Lion headquarters, standing in the courtyard. The grass now grows in wild, untrimmed stalks, tickling my ankles along with the dozens of wildflowers that pop up here and there.

"Do you remember?" Leopold looks towards the sky, and I follow his gaze. We stare up at the beautiful stars twinkling in the dark.

Slowly, he wraps his hands around my face, bringing me closer towards him. "I've waited two years for this moment," I whisper, smiling.

Our breaths intertwine. I close my eyes as he draws me closer and closer.

We kiss.