#aria accept concern and help challenge.

[prosegalaxy]

"Aria and the Enchanted Forest: A Tale of Magic, Conflict, and Balance"

The sun dipped below the horizon, casting an ethereal glow over the enchanted forest. Aria, a young sorcerer with raven hair and piercing green eyes, stood at the edge of the woods, her fingers tracing the symbols on her magical staff. She had been searching for years to uncover the secrets of this ancient magic system, and today, she finally found it. The air around Aria shimmered, and a tall man with silver hair and robes adorned with intricate patterns stepped out of the forest. He introduced himself as Eldric, a master sorcerer who had been guarding the enchanted forest for centuries. He offered to teach Aria the ways of magic, but there was one condition: she must prove herself worthy by mastering the first spell. Aria accepted the challenge and focused her energy on casting the spell. The ground beneath her feet trembled as sparks of blue and purple light danced around her. Eldric watched with a mixture of admiration and concern, knowing that the power she wielded could be both a blessing and a curse. He shared with Aria a story of an ancient conflict between two groups of sorcerers who fought over the enchanted forest's magic. The battle ended in a stalemate, leaving the forest forever changed but the outcome uncertain. As they spoke, Aria felt a growing restlessness within her. She realized that the echoes of the past conflict still lingered in the air, and she knew that she could not ignore them. She had to choose: would she become an ally or an enemy? With a deep breath, Aria resolved to find her own path, one that would challenge the status quo and redefine the boundaries between magic and reality. Aria stood in the heart of the enchanted forest, its vibrant colors and mystical energy filling her with awe. The ancient magic that surrounded her was like nothing she had ever experienced before. She could feel the pulsating energy through the air as if it were alive. In this place, spells and enchantments danced in harmony with nature. As Aria wandered deeper into the forest, she came across a wise old tree whose branches seemed to touch the sky. At its roots sat a figure cloaked in shadows, his face hidden beneath a wide-brimmed hat. This was Eldric, a master sorcerer who had been guarding the enchanted forest for centuries. "You seek the ancient magic system," Eldric said, his voice deep and resonant. "I can teach you." Curiosity piqued, Aria eagerly agreed, and under Eldric's guidance, she began to learn the intricacies of the magical system. They practiced casting spells together, each one more awe-inspiring than the last. The forest seemed to come alive with magic as they worked, and Aria couldn't help but feel a growing sense of responsibility. "There was once an ancient conflict between two groups of sorcerers over this enchanted forest's power," Eldric told her. "They battled for centuries until they finally reached a stalemate, but the outcome remains unclear." Aria pondered this information, her mind racing with possibilities. She knew that she wanted to find her own path and challenge the status quo, redefining the boundaries between magic and reality. As she stood in the enchanted forest, Aria felt a newfound determination to forge her destiny. Aria stepped further into the enchanted forest, her heart pounding with both fear and excitement. She could feel the magic in the air, a tangible force that seemed to hum with life. The trees around her shimmered with iridescent light, and she couldn't help but be in awe of the beauty before her. As she continued down the path, she suddenly heard a voice, clear and commanding, calling out from the shadows. "Aria!" It was an elderly man, cloaked in robes that seemed to shimmer with the same magical energy as the forest itself. He introduced himself as Eldric, a master sorcerer who had been guarding the enchanted forest for centuries. "You've discovered something rare and powerful," Eldric told Aria. "The ancient magic system hidden within these woods has the potential to reshape reality itself." Aria listened intently, her curiosity piqued by this new information. Eldric continued, "But beware, for there are others who seek to control this power for their own gain. There's an ancient conflict between two groups of sorcerers over the enchanted forest's magic." Aria asked what had become of that conflict, and Eldric explained that it ended in a stalemate, with the outcome still unclear. Aria knew she couldn't let the balance remain uncertain any longer. With Eldric's guidance, she began to learn the ancient spells and enchantments, determined to find her own path and challenge the status quo. She knew that redefining the boundaries between magic and reality would not be an easy task, but Aria was ready for the adventure that lay ahead of her. Aria stepped into the enchanted forest, her heart pounding with anticipation. The trees seemed to whisper secrets as she ventured deeper into their embrace. Suddenly, a tall figure appeared before her. "Who dares to enter?" he asked in a booming voice. "I am Aria, and I seek knowledge of the ancient magic system hidden within this forest," she replied boldly. The sorcerer, Eldric, narrowed his eyes. "You've stumbled upon a secret that has eluded many. I have guarded this forest for centuries. Come, let me teach you." In the heart of the forest, they began to cast spells. Aria watched in wonder as swirling vortexes of energy formed at Eldric's command. "This is just a taste," he said, his voice filled with pride and warning. "Tell me, what happened between the sorcerers who fought over this magic?" Aria asked. Eldric sighed. "Two groups, each claiming mastery of one half of the forest's magic. They clashed for centuries until a truce was called. No one knows if they still exist or if their legacy has been lost to time." Aria's eyes sparkled with determination. "I won't simply accept that. I will find my own path and challenge the status quo, redefining the boundaries between magic and reality." Eldric raised an eyebrow, impressed by her determination. "Very well, Aria, let me teach you." He placed his hands over hers and closed his eyes. A warm glow enveloped them, and in that instant, Aria felt a surge of energy coursing through her veins. "This is the essence of magic," Eldric whispered as he opened his eyes. "It's all about understanding the balance between the elements and harnessing their power." He pointed to a nearby tree, and Aria watched in awe as its leaves changed colors, creating a beautiful display of autumn shades. "Now it's your turn," Eldric encouraged her. With newfound confidence, Aria focused on the energy within her and tried to manipulate it. The leaves on the tree danced and swirled, but they didn't change color as she had intended. "Remember, magic is about balance," Eldric reminded her gently. Aria closed her eyes, concentrating harder on the harmony between the elements. She felt a connection to the tree, understanding its needs and desires. With that connection, Aria cast a spell that resonated with the tree's essence, and the leaves transformed into a vibrant array of autumn hues. Eldric beamed with pride at her accomplishment. "You have a unique gift, Aria," he said warmly. "But remember, magic is not without its risks. The ancient conflict between sorcerers over this forest's power shows that even the most enchanting abilities can lead to discord." With a newfound understanding of her own potential, Aria vowed to find her own path and challenge the status quo, redefining the boundaries between magic and reality. Aria's eyes widened as she gazed upon the enchanted forest for the first time. The trees seemed to whisper ancient secrets, and the air shimmered with untapped magic. Eldric, the master sorcerer who had been guarding this mystical realm for centuries, appeared before her. "I am Eldric," he introduced himself with a nod. "And you must be Aria." Aria couldn't help but smile at his matter-of-fact tone. "That's right. So, you know about this magic system?" Eldric chuckled softly. "Yes, I am well-acquainted with its mysteries. The enchanted forest is a battleground for two groups of sorcerers who have been in conflict over its magical power for eons." Aria's curiosity was piqued. "What happened to the conflict? Did one side win?" "No," Eldric replied, shaking his head. "The battle ended in a stalemate. A truce was called, but the outcome remained unclear. The forest continued to hold its magic, waiting for someone like you to redefine its boundaries." Eldric then began to teach Aria about the balance between elements and harnessing their power. "In this magical realm, each element has its own essence. To cast a spell, one must find harmony within themselves and the elements they wield." Aria closed her eyes, concentrating on the flow of energy that surged through her fingertips. Eldric watched her intently as she practiced casting spells under his guidance. "Remember, Aria," he reminded her, "the magic is within you, not the spell itself." As they continued their lessons, Aria began to understand the delicate balance between magic and reality. She felt a newfound sense of purpose, determined to challenge the status quo and redefine the boundaries between magic and the world beyond the enchanted forest. Aria stood in the heart of the enchanted forest, her eyes wide with wonder as she took in the beauty and magic around her. She could feel the pulse of power that thrummed through the ancient trees, their roots tangled deep within the earth, tapping into a wellspring of energy that fueled the spells cast by the sorcerers who had come before her. As she wandered further into the forest, she stumbled upon a clearing where an old man sat beneath the shade of a massive tree. His eyes, as sharp as the keenest dagger, locked onto Aria's. "You must be Aria," he said in a voice that carried both wisdom and power. "I am Eldric, and I have been waiting for you." Aria blinked, taken aback by his certainty. "How do you know my name?" she asked, her voice barely more than a whisper. Eldric smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "The spirits whispered it to me when they sensed your arrival. They knew that I would need an apprentice like you, one with the potential to break the stalemate that has gripped this forest for centuries." Aria's curiosity was piqued. "What stalemate?" she asked, her voice stronger now. "There once were two groups of sorcerers," Eldric began, his voice low and filled with gravity. "One group sought to harness the magic of the forest for their own personal gain, while the other sought to preserve its balance and purity. The conflict between them raged for decades, until they finally reached an uneasy truce." "But the stalemate left the future of magic uncertain," Eldric continued, his voice still filled with solemnity. "Only a true master of balance can restore harmony and unlock the full potential of the forest's magic. I believe that master is you, Aria." As he spoke, Eldric reached out and placed his hands on her shoulders, his eyes closed as a wave of power washed over them both. The ancient sorcerer was teaching Aria to cast spells, helping her tap into the very heart of the enchanted forest itself. Together, they would forge a new path, one that would challenge the status quo and redefine the boundaries between magic and reality.

#Aria #and #the #Enchanted #Forest #A #Tale #of #Magic #Conflict #Balance #science #fiction #magic #systems #spells #enchantments #sorcerers #Eldric #ancient #conflict #harmony #balance #elements #powe

[mindfiresolutions-blog]

Overlooking Web Accessibility

The Internet is an ever-increasing storehouse of knowledge. The web and the internet as a whole serve as an important resource in many aspects of our lives: education, employment, recreation, commerce and more. Web Accessibility simply means that the web is to be made accessible to everyone. And that includes people with special abilities too – an aspect generally overlooked in haste. 

The concept of Web Accessibility has been around for a decade, but it is unfortunate that true meaning in its entirety has been lost on many of us, the web developers. It’s time that we built ramps to our sites so that it benefits not only people with disabilities but also enhances the experience of all types of users as a whole.

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Let’s see some examples:  When you are watching a video in a noisy environment and cannot perceive the audio correctly. Without being able to hear the audio, you have to guess what the whole video is about. It can be frustrating, right?

Let’s take another one:  If you have broken your arm in an accident and can’t use the mouse to explore the web. You have to remain cut off from the internet until you recover. Or find ways to manage to access it with difficulty, mostly through pain, or be at the mercy of people who would spare some time to assist you.

There are people out there who face these challenges at every instance of their attempts to access the Web. The true essence of Web Accessibility lies in addressing such concerns and ensuring that the Web is accessible by all, without any discretion. 

The World Wide Web Consortium(W3C) published a set of guidelines, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines or WCAG 1.0 in 1999, as an initiative to the Web Accessibility Initiative(WAI) project. The revised version, WCAG 2.0 was published in 2008, which is more technology-neutral, and therefore, is widely accepted by the developers to make their site more accessible.

It may seem like a huge task to accomplish at first, but in reality, it takes only small steps to make your website accessible to all. Steps that should be undertaken are 

Using alternative texts, and descriptions for the images.

Adding subtitles and transcripts for videos.

Ensuring that your site is fully and equally accessible by the keyboard. Making use of the Accessible Rich Internet Tags (ARIA) tags.

Having a good color contrast.

These are some tools which can help to make your website more accessible:

WAVE by WebAIM

Accessibility Developer Tools by Google Accessibility

Some plugins like: WP Accessibility and Accessibility by Userway

accessScan

So, let’s look at the bigger picture and start taking the necessary steps towards building a platform that is more accessible and more usable, and fulfill our responsibilities as web developers. It’s high time we focused on the masses who might be unable to access the internet just like normal people can. The onus lies with us to take individual responsibility of the same and spread the awareness to others. The realization that mere oversight or negligence on our part can be the source of much trouble for others should guard us against it. 

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The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author. To know more about our company, please click on Mindfire Solutions. 

#software development #software testing #api testing services #python developers #php web development #python development company

[incendiaris]

♡ @liminaled​ asked: ‘ ❝  you don’t understand.  i need you safe.  not because i don’t think you can handle yourself but because i can’t focus on anything else if there’s even the smallest possibility you’re in danger.  ❞ / ophelia to arianna tbh ’

     ⁚⁛❄  the raw tenderness in ophelia’s admission has fondness blooming behind arianna’s ribcage, even as she steels her expression against it. “ you’d be a lot happier if you closed your heart to it, ” she sighs truthfully, avoiding ophelia’s gaze because she doesn’t want to see what she knows will be written there. “ I’ve survived for this long, ophelia. ” her voice is firm. understanding, but edged with finality. “ the odds are in my favour, and my gut rarely steers me wrong. I’m fine. ”

‘ you can kill me but don’t you dare touch them ’ dynamics. [ always accepting. ] 

#[ ARIANNA. ] MEME. #[ CONNECTIONS. ] ARIANNA & OPHELIA + liminaled. #aria accept concern and help challenge.

[nosastrra]

FIVE TIMES TOUCHED FOR @KENASAKIS.​​ ✨

crowds parted like the seas and aurora could feel the hairs on the back of her neck rise. there was a flicker of air over the base of her skull, a ripple in the dark energy announcing the presence -- someone powerful, someone that made her skin crawl. aurora tested her own restraint, her eyes trained on the lusterless surface beneath her arm. it was juvenile, the equivalent of covering her ears; her stuttering breaths becoming the hymn she clung to. 

dark energy darted along the length of her spine, forcing her to stand straighter almost immediately, losing the competition with herself immediately as her eyes met the vibrant greens of the _queen of omega, _whose brow arched in amusement, like she couldn’t believe this human was looking her in the eye. aurora was still fielding the shivers of the the biotic touch - no one every used their dark energy on her so delicately, yet so threateningly. the threat was concealed. stand proper when i’m in the room. 

so aurora pulled her shoulders back and squared her jaw, forcing the challenge in her eyes underneath a million layers. touch me again. i dare you. 

“what do you want?”

there was an eeriness in the way aria’s voice formed in velvety tone but it cut straight through her constructed confidence. aurora had a feeling the words were dripping with ominous threat, like the question didn’t really warrant the answer, but she couldn’t _not _answer. so she turned her head as aria circled her like a bird of prey, waiting for her to balk so she could swipe down with sharpened talons. “i want out of eclipse.” 

aria’s head fell back as it disappeared out of aurora’s periphery, “and that’s my concern -- why?” 

aurora’s head careened carefully to the other side to meet aria’s gaze, to assure her of the heftiness of the offer she was about to make before she held her breath, letting the anticipation build. _did she feel it too? “ _because i can help you get jona off of omega. once and for all.” 

that seemed to get her attention, lids drawling over her eyes as she regarded her with curiosity, rather than dismissal. aria’s hand moved, but aurora didn’t break eye contact as **the sinewy fingers swept a few blonde hairs out of her face. **a gesture so gentle behind a smile so sinister, “i have some use for you yet.”

aurora watched aria - watched the way the tension ran between her shoulder blades. getting omega back was not an easy feet, and she could tell it wasn’t done the way aria particularly preferred, given the lack of blood stains on the floor where the general had set up shop. aurora didn’t know aria to show mercy, and rumor carried in the echoes of aria’s banshee scream as it rippled through the walkways of afterlife. nyreen was gone. 

she didn’t know what she was doing here - aria wouldn’t be looking for comfort, nor would she be accepting it. so instead, aurora found herself stepping up to the console, regarding the holo of the station and the various flickering alarms, the havocs of a battle fought and won, but at what cost? did it take a toll on aria? aurora’s eyes flickered to aria’s face -- asari never quiet showed their age, but in this instant aurora could have sworn she’d seen the lines the centuries have carved into her magenta complexion. 

instead, aurora spoke the only language she knew aria understood. her shoulder brushed against aria’s as she leaned against the console, her head bowing to catch aria’s gaze, “cerberus will get what’s coming for them, aria” 

fighting it was pointless. it was easier to give in. 

give in as aria pinned her between her body and the wall. they were toasting a job well done, another victory and hails of prosperity for omega, when conversation drifted to its dramatic recapture and aria’s mood quickly soured and turned bitter. she spewed promises of revenge and painful prologues, and aurora watched in entranced silence. that spite used to terrify her, now -- she wouldn’t admit to aria, she _would hate that -- _but not so much. in a way, aurora could see right through it. it wasn’t an act, but a projection. aria might be feeling things a lot more deeply than any of them did. 

that was when aria met her gaze, and the glass clattered the ground. her boot crunched the pieces noisily as she pushed the young biotic into the wall, and aurora could just give in. but she didn’t. her fingers encircled aria’s wrists, and calculatedly, let a biotic surge give her an advantage as she pushed aria back into the wall. the tension grew thicker as aurora’s fiery gaze peered up into aria’s, begging her to take her up on the challenge. locked in a tete a tete, aurora knew aria hated losing, and aria knew aurora hated being told what to do. a dangerous, volatile combination just about to combust and catch them both in its radius.

aurora leaned into the couch, head tilted into the heel of her palm as she watched with unabashed amusement aria completely derail the subject of her interrogation -- she didn’t call it an interrogation. _networking, _she said. even on the citadel, aria t’loak’s reputation preceded her, and all she’s been doing since her arrival is orchestrate her tactic to retake omega. it was almost ridiculous, how aria’s menace captivated and held so-called conversation when the relentless pounding of purgatory’s bass made it almost impossible for aurora to hear her own thoughts. 

“okay, enough.” aurora finally pushed herself off the couch, and grabbed aria’s hand. she saw the looks she got, maybe caught wind of a few gasps, as she dragged the asari behind her towards the throngs of writhing bodies. “we’re in a club.” aurora reminded her as she pulled aria’s hand to let it rest on her waist as she shimmied her hips to the beat of electronica, planting her hands firmly on aria’s hips to pulled her closer, almost flush against hers. “even you could use a dance break. admit it.”

#muse || aurora jett. #opp || kenasakis (a). #verse || undefined (a). #I MEAN? I HOPE THIS IS GOOD??? #i didn't proofread so pls excuse any typos. #drabbles.

[straightouttatheashes]

An Ultimatum

“Aeriden!” Pheonix barged into the backroom - making the man jump at his desk, spilling ink all over the page he’d been writing on.  “Aria? What...how did you get in here? You didn’t tell me you could pick locks otherwise-” “I can’t. Not well at least.” His sister waved her hand, which made Aeriden raise a brow, and look past her towards the front of the shop. “I’m going to have to replace that, aren’t I?” He muttered, before setting the inkpot aside, and lowering his quill - staring down at his ruined page for a brief moment. “...Is everything alright? What happened?” Considering she’d just broken into his shop, and loudly announced herself. So much for having a quiet weekend to catch up on work and re-organize the store. “I have a deal for you.” Pheonix put a hand down on his desk - a look in her eye that made him slightly nervous. “...Go on…” What came out of her mouth next, he definitely did not expect to hear. Well, the ultimatum, at least. “I can’t accept that you’re gonna just, study this magic bullshit. Not alone, at least. I found you someone who can help, who’s trained. But -” She leaned forward, attempting to drive her offer home. “I want to challenge you. If you win, you can go study. Do whatever you want. I’ll tell you who to talk to. But if I win, you give up. You stop everything and forget about it.” Aeriden held her gaze for a moment, narrowing his eyes. By now he knew of how deadly she was - her stories of her fights, her survival. It was a gamble, and he knew that. But he also knew she thought she’d have the upper hand because of this. “...You’re going to fight me. Really?” He laughed, honestly just trying to push those thoughts away and forget he’d even heard her proposal. “Aria...this -” “Is the only way I know how to bargain with you. You never said you’d give it up after what I said. So I’m doin what I do to settle shit.” Her hand raised, and then slammed onto the desk - knocking his inkpot over. Again. “If you beat me, I’ll stop. I promise. Take my challenge, Aeriden Brightfall.” There was a sharp tone as she spoke his name, and he locked onto her gaze….before sighing, running a hand through his hair, and giving in. “Fine, Aria. I accept your challenge, and the terms that come with it.” As soon as he accepted, Phe grinned and backed away from the desk - snickering a little at the ink spill. “Great. I’ll meet you by the coastline near the ruins at four. If you don’t turn up, Aeriden...I’m taking it as a forfeit.” Before he could answer her, or even quip back, Pheonix winked and left - the noise of the door opening and closing, signaling her final departure. Glancing to the pool of black leaking across his desk, Aeriden sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. She had no idea, did she? He couldn’t tell her. He had to go through with this. --- This is a stupid idea. He’s your brother. You’re going to fight your goddamn brother. This is stupid. It’s dumb. For a moment, neither one of them moved - a small distance away from each other, waiting for a signal from either side. But of course it would be her signal - she was the one that started it, after all. Pheonix watched as Aeriden stood there. No weapon, no armor. Just the clothes he’d been wearing when she’d busted into his store - minus the vest with that all familiar brooch. She’d only need to get up close to him, land a few hits...and he’d be down. The bet would be hers. He’d be safe from whatever bullshit he was going to get into, tutor or not. Little did she know. “I didn’t realize this was a staring contest, sister.” His voice cut through her thoughts, and she laughed. “No, it’s a fight! Sorry, I was...thinking. Anyway! We bow first, and then the first move is whoever’s got the guts to do it.” Aeriden nodded, watching her movements. As they both lowered into a bow, he exhaled slowly - feeling the tingle of magic, the chill of ice, snake up his arm. And the first move was his. Pheonix narrowly missed the large, sharp icicle that shattered against a tree behind her as she ran forward, dodging another one that shot up under her feet. As she got close - she grabbed his outstretched arm, yanking him forward to knee him in the stomach - but a sudden force threw her back, her body crashing to the ground as she shook her head to regain her senses. The fuck was that? Aeriden caught his breath, the split-second mind blast making his head pound, but Pheonix was already on her feet again before he could truly recover. A sharp jab connected with his stomach, and he doubled over as a strong kick sent him to the ground. Letting out a wheeze as the impact winded him - it was all he could do to quickly roll to the side and manifest a shield of sharp, jagged icicles around himself before his sister descended on him. If he wasn’t quick - she could end this with one blow. As the jagged spikes shot out - Phe brought her arms up, sharp tips tearing into her skin before she could catch herself and jump back before one of those spikes instantly impaled her. “Fuck, Aeri. You aren’t making this easy.” “A challenge is never easy, Aria.” He kept the shield up - trying to think of his next move...but she’d beat him to it. He felt the heat flare up against his shield - as Pheonix drove a fistful of flame into his barrier, icicles exploding, shattering, and falling to the ground. He could see the bloody wounds on her arms, and wanted to call the match off there, but this was his sister. She’s had worse...and she was passionate about this. He had to hold up her challenge...but he had to win. He could never say why...it would break her more than it is now. It was a little too late to notice the arcane missiles shooting over the top of the barrier - countering her own magic, which imploded upon impact. A pained yell escaped her as she once again found herself on the ground - smoke engulfing her hands and arms, the overwhelming shock of the arcane magic coursing through her. Spluttering, she willed herself to get back up - adrenaline kicking in. She needed to win. She had to… But Aeriden was on his feet - hand outstretched as a row of icicles appeared around him. “Aria, call it off, please. You can’t-” “I can!” She yelled back, spitting blood and glancing to her hands. Burnt. No matter. She didn’t feel it right now. “I’ll win, Aeriden. And you’ll stop this...and everything..will be..fine!” He couldn’t believe her. He could see the blood, the burns. The glow of her tattoos as she once again ignited her hands. She was going to do this, and see it through to whatever extent. Was she stupid? No. He understood why. But she had underestimated him. After everything she knew….she had still convinced herself she’d win. He was proud of her. So he bit back his regret, as he watched her become slowly encased in ice - starting with her feet. Not that she’d go down without a fight. The sound of icicles shattering, blasts of fire from each kick, each punch she gave drowning out her yells as Pheonix tried to get close to him. Her brother watched as the weight of the ice grounded her - rendering her immobile, one last punch connecting with his face - the crack sending a shock through his own body as tears stung at the corner of his eyes. Tasting blood, Aeriden looked back at her - one of the icicles of her prison digging into her neck. Silence. There were no words, and there didn’t need to be. He could see the defeat in her eyes. Yet...perhaps as soon as the match started, maybe she figured it out. “Aria…” “...Let me go, Aeriden. You won. ...Grats, yeah?” Pheonix spoke through gritted teeth. Not because of the sharp point that threatened to tear her flesh. Not because of the stinging pain that was now catching up to her as her body stood in it’s icy tomb, frozen. No, she’s had worse. What hurt, was the thought of what could be, now. She hoped...that Aeriden wouldn’t destroy himself. “I’m sorry.” As his magic released her, she dropped to the ground, catching herself on her hands and knees - letting out a choked sob, masking it with a cough and a small wheeze. They’d both need medical care...but she wanted to be out of his sight when she received hers. Afterall...she’d come out of this worse. She didn’t answer his apology with anything else but a small smile - shakily getting to her feet and weakly returning her damaged hands to her side. “You hold up okay, Aeri.” Pheonix sighed, chewing her lip - forcing herself to meet the concerned eyes of her brother. “I uh...had no chance, really.” “Then why did you do this? Even after finding someone to teach me, you still gave this last ditch effort….” He winced as he saw her wounds. “I dunno, I thought...after what I said. After like…” Phe began before shaking her head, wiping blood from her mouth. “Why can’t you let it go, Aeriden? You know my reason. Why won’t you stop?” The question hit him hard, and he felt himself unable to say anything. He couldn’t. She couldn’t know. Not yet… Pheonix noticed his hesitation, and frowned. She had at least thought he’d finally give her an answer. Didn’t he owe her that much? A reason? She didn’t believe his first reason anymore. Not...entirely. But he’d won, and she knew it unwise to call a rematch. “Good luck, Aeriden.” The sharp tone she used hurt her. “I’ll...I’ll see you another time.” Aeriden’s expression faltered, brows furrowing as he reached out to his sister. “Pip..wait..” “Pyraelia Sunmote. She’ll help you. You know her, so the rest is on you. And don’t use that fucking name.” He let her go - no doubt she had her own place to be. Someone to see to heal her wounds. A hand raised to rub at his own face, where she’d struck her last blow. Magistrix Sunmote... @pyraelia​ for mentions

#writing

[ranwing]

Kadam Fic: Learning To Fly (18/?)

Title: Learning to Fly Series: A New Direction (was Season Four Remix) Pairing(s), Characters(s): Kadam, Kurt Hummel, Adam Crawford, Burt Hummel, Rachel Berry, Santana Lopez, Carmen Tibideaux, Cassandra July, Artie Abrams, Tina Cohen-Chang, Elliot “Starchild” Gilbert, Dani, Adam’s Apples, Original Characters Rating: PG13 (rating may change) Genre(s): canon divergence. Parts: 18/?

Summary: As another school year starts at NYADA, Kurt seemed to have it all. The respect of his teachers, a group of wonderful friends and best of all, getting to live with the man that he’d come to love. So of course the universe would throw a few curve balls in his direction.

Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, Part Seven, Part Eight, Part Nine, Part Ten, Part Eleven, Part Twelve, Part Thirteen, Part Fourteen, Part Fifteen, Part Sixteen, Part Seventeen

One AO3

A/N -  I'd like to both thank and apologize to all of my readers for the long delay in getting this chapter completed. I'd unfortunately been delayed by both a bout of writer's block and having surgery last month which set my plans to write back considerably. Thank you all for the wonderful comments and words of encouragement! I'm grateful to all of you for sticking with me.

Morning arrived with its usual clarion from Kurt’s cell phone alarm ringing at six, rousing him from sleep and reminding him that he had day filled with activities to get through awaiting him. Pushing off the sheets that had gotten wrapped about him during the night, Kurt sat at the edge of his bed and gave his body a long stretch to work out the sleep stiffness before getting to his feet.

With the semester starting to wind down, the students at NYADA were being put through the meat grinder by their instructors. Freshmen might have had the assumption that after all the work done on their spring musical that the professors might take it a bit easier on the upper classmen, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. The more that he and his classmates manage to prove themselves, the more their teachers demanded. Kurt figured that by the time he graduated, Madam Tibideaux would expect him to be able to climb to the top of Mount Everest while singing an aria from Rigoletto in full voice the whole way up.

Well, this was what he signed up for, he reminded himself with a self-administered mental slap upside the head. And if he didn’t dawdle too much, he had enough time to go for a run and burn off some of the cake that he and the Apples had gorged on the night before. That would leave him just enough time to shower before his morning classes. But first things first…

Kurt couldn’t help from smiling as he studied the map pinned over his desk, seeing the wave of blue pins stretching across the image of the United States. Each marked a city where Adam had performed; cities where his play had met with critical regard and where his reputation as an actor continued to grow. Kurt no longer looked at that map with dread, facing it as a reminder of just how long it would before Adam was returned to him. Now it was a confirmation of just how much his lover had been able to accomplish.

With only one lone red pin left, it was also a reminder that Adam would be home right around the time that Kurt was finishing his finals. The feeling of disassociation was being replaced by one of happy anticipation and now they both had plans for their shared future to look forward to.

Butcher’s Bill had just wrapped up its run in Seattle and Kurt had happily marked the occasion with a triumphant blue push pin. Now a solitary red pin marked the final city of the national tour and if they hadn’t run into any delays, Adam would be leaving Seattle for San Diego by midday. That would allow Kurt to exchange that last red pin for a green one, signaling that the tour was nearing its conclusion.

It felt oddly thrilling that he could now legitimately count down the days without being overwhelmed by their sheer number. That his perspective has shifted from only being able to see how long he would be apart from Adam to actively anticipating the day of their reunion. He could look at his calendar now and actually see the day that Adam would be returning to New York, just over four weeks away.

There was a lot that still needed to be ironed out for them. They didn’t have an apartment so finding a place to live was going to be first on their agenda. Kurt could stay in the dorms through the summer if necessary, and he would be spending a few weeks at Garrison during the festival. If he had to leave the dorms for some reason, he knew that could spend a few days at a hostel until he and Adam got an apartment lined up. After all, that’s what he did when he first arrived in New York with nothing more than his suitcases and his dreams. It hadn’t been so bad, and it would be a lot cheaper than a hotel until they got settled.

He was more concerned for Adam, who would be effectively homeless after the tour ended. If they didn’t have something lined up by the time Adam returned to New York, Kurt knew that Adam had friends with sofas that he could crash on until they signed a lease, and he also could room at a hostel for a few days if needed.

Still, finding a place would have to be a priority for them. They were in this together and would see it through.

For all his tendencies to try to control and micromanage every detail, he had his greatest successes when he threw caution to the wind. Whether it was his impromptu audition, challenging Rachel to Midnight Madness or letting himself accept the flirtatious overtures from a handsome Englishman, each time he’d let his carefully crafted defenses fall he’d been rewarded beyond anything he could have hoped for.

He would have faith that he and Adam would get their practical affairs sorted out relatively quickly. Kurt didn’t care if he and Adam found themselves living in another closet-sized apartment for a year or had to leave the neighborhood where he’d felt so at home in. He just wanted for them to be together.

After tying on his running shoes, Kurt plugged in his headphones and trotted downstairs to get in the exercise that his body very much was craving. By the time he returned a bit over an hour later, Kurt was feeling much refreshed with his head cleared of the usual morning cobwebs. He stopped by his room to grab his robe and toiletries and walked down the hall to the communal showers.

A half hour later found him in the dorm break room, reading through some notes he had jotted down for his stage movement class and eating his yogurt when he spotted one of Madam Tibideaux’s assistants enter the lounge and look about. This wasn’t unusual when the Dean wanted to catch a residential student before classes started, though he did feel a trace of concern when she approached him.

“Good morning Kurt,” she greeted pleasantly. “Sorry to disturb your breakfast, but the Dean would like for you to stop by her office this morning after your lesson with Professor Collins. There’s something that she needs to discuss with you.”

No, that didn’t sound good, Kurt thought though for the life of him he couldn’t think of anything that he might have done to warrant a call to the office. All of his classes were going well, and he’d been getting nothing more than positive feedback from Madam Tibideaux during his last few sessions with her.

“Is there something wrong?” he couldn’t help from asking. This wasn’t something he needed at this moment.

The assistant just smiled, clearly aware that most students naturally assumed that being summoned to the office didn’t mean anything good. “No, not at all,” she assured him. “The Dean has a guest coming in and she wants you to join them. It’s one of NYADA’s big sponsors and she likes to show off her favored talents.”

Kurt nodded, feeling a sense of relief that he wasn’t going to be called out on the carpet over something. But being invited to meet a sponsor could mean something serious for his career prospects and he needed to make a good impression. That meant a quick touch up to his post run grooming and a change of clothes to something a bit more polished.

His morning session with Professor Collins went well, the genial teacher putting him through his paces as he showed off the greater flexibility he’d been developing in his voice. He was smiling when he left the studio, his teacher’s praise raising his spirits and putting him in a good mind to meet this sponsor. If Madam Tibideaux wanted him there, he should be confident that it was something that he was up to.

Kurt paused at the bathroom, checking his appearance one last time before heading to the dean’s office. Madam Tibideaux’s assistant was seated at her desk outside and smiled and Kurt’s approach. “You’re just in time,” she greeted, rising from her chair to greet him. “Let me just poke my head inside to make sure they’re ready for you.”

Kurt smiled and nodded, waiting patiently for her to get permission for him to enter the office. He took the opportunity to smooth out any imaginary wrinkles on his shirt before he was granted admittance. He thanked Madam Tibideaux’s assistant politely as she ushered him in and closed the door behind him before facing his teacher.

“Good morning, Madam,” he greeted politely. “I hope that I’m not late.”

The Dean placed down the cup of tea she’d been daintily sipping from and offered him an encouraging smile. “Not at all, Mr. Hummel,” she assured him. “You’re right on time. How was your session with Professor Collins?”

Kurt couldn’t resist smiling. “It went well,” he insisted confidently. “I’m feeling much more confidence in transitioning through my entire range.”

“Excellent,” Madam Tibideaux said, looking quite pleased at his pronouncement. “I’m looking forward to testing that in our next lesson.

The person seated in the chair with it’s back to the office door turned in her seat and Kurt felt his breath seize at the sight of her cap of short red hair and a wryly arched eyebrow raised. June Dolloway looked him up and down as she had at the gala, her thin lips drawing into a smile that appeared far too predatory for comfort.

“Mr. Hummel,” she greeted, more than a trace of challenge in her voice as she held up a slender hand to him.

Kurt quickly forced himself to rally, pasting a pleasant if bland expression on his face and reaching out to gently shake the older woman’s hand. “It’s a pleasure to see you again,” he claimed as sincerely as he could manage.

She just snorted, clearly not believing him. “No one is pleased to see me,” she admitted with a sharp grin, picking up her teacup. “But they act like they are because I have an obscene amount of money and I like to throw it at what suits my whims. That makes everyone polite.”

Kurt couldn’t help from admiring her honesty and lack of caring that she was more feared than admired. There was something refreshing about that kind of clear-eyed perspective. That didn’t mean that he was dropping his guard at all around her, because he suspected that she would happily eat him alive if he gave her the least opportunity.

“Have a seat, Mr. Hummel,” Madam Tibideaux offered, clearly set in her role of mediator. “Mrs. Dolloway wanted to meet you again. She was quite taken with your performance.”

Kurt smiled blandly as he settled into the offered chair. He remembered her comments at their first meeting and while they might have been compliments technically, he didn’t miss the insults that were barely hidden in her words. But he trusted Madam Tibideaux not to steer him into a situation that he would end up regretting.

Mrs. Dolloway’s expression was schooled into a neutral pleasantness, but Kurt could tell that she was watching and testing him. To see if her comments that could easily be interrupted as affronts got a response. Kurt was determined not to let her win this little meeting.

“I always do like to keep an eye on performers that interest me,” Mrs. Dolloway reminded him, the barest hint of threat in her tone. “I found you to be very intriguing. You have a unique presence on stage and I’m sure that you know how unusual your voice is.”

Kurt allowed himself to smile. “I’ve been told that once or twice,” he confirmed a bit ironically.

She pursed her lips thoughtfully at how he didn’t seem intimidated by her. “I find it utter fascinating to see someone who doesn’t seem to fit neatly in a conventional mold manage to play those parts so well. Normally they’re so focused on showing how unique they are that they make themselves unemployable.”

The warning in her tone was unmistakable and Kurt already knew exactly how to counter it. “Maybe. But I also feel that being so unique lets me stand out from everyone else,” he insisted confidently. “A countertenor whose range can cover traditional tenor roles is going to be remembered. And some composers and directors will get a chance to take advantage of what I’m able to do that others can’t.”

Mrs. Dolloway’s expression lightened a bit, as if pleased that he wasn’t cowed by her demeanor. Madam Tibideaux nodded in approval at her student and added, “One of the things that we’ve been working on is developing Mr. Hummel’s singular talents while still making him as marketable as possible. I think that going by his success in Les Misérables and his performances at the Garrison festival, we’re on the right track.”

“I haven’t been to Garrison in years,” Mrs. Dolloway mused. “Is that old coot, Tillman, still running things?”

Kurt managed not to laugh, thinking that Mrs. Dolloway should be the last person in the world to call someone old. “Yes, he’s still directing,” he confirmed. “We’re doing ‘A Midsummer Nights Dream’ and ‘Troilus and Cresida’ this season.”

Mrs. Dolloway looked at him pointedly. “And what were you cast as?” she asked pointedly, her tone clearly issuing a challenge.

Kurt smiled proudly. “Well, last season I played Don John which was really exciting as it was my first summer with the festival. This year I’m Puck and Patroclus,” he stated confidently. “I’m rather looking forward to doing another nice dramatic death and putting my stage combat to practical use.”

The sponsor seemed almost impressed. “Well, there certainly does seem to be a lot more to you than pretty hair and a flashy wardrobe,” she granted, a trifle reluctantly in Kurt’s opinion. “I suppose that you’re wondering why I wanted to meet you today.”

“The question did cross my mind,” Kurt answered back, allowing a bit of fight coming out in his voice. He wasn’t inclined to give an inch, no matter how influential Mrs. Dolloway could be.

She just smiled, amused by his show of spirit. “I mentioned a showcase that I’m organizing when we met at the gala,” she reminded him.

Kurt nodded, indicating that he’d remembered. “When I didn’t hear anything, I just thought you’d changed your mind about me participating,” he said blandly, making it clear that he hadn’t been bothered by being omitted.

If Mrs. Dolloway was offended by his lack of interest in her connections, she didn’t show it. “Well, to be honest, I was vacillating between inviting you or not,” she admitted without a trace of shame.

Kurt managed to refrain from rolling his eyes. Of course, she did.

“The showcase is scheduled next week to benefit scheduled for next week to support the Lexington Home for Retired Performers. It’s an old age home for film and stage actors,” she explained, her tone becoming more matter of fact. “I’d scheduled a number of top students from various theater programs to perform, but one of the Julliard seniors flacked out on me. Something about a nervous breakdown…”

Kurt couldn’t help from arching a brow in response.

Mrs. Dolloway looked at him pointedly. “So now I have a hole in our performance schedule that I need to fill,” she huffed. “I was thinking ‘why not give that high voiced kid a shot’.”

Kurt didn’t respond immediately, not quite sure how he wanted to take her invitation. It was hardly worded in a flattering way and while he wasn’t offended that he wasn’t among her first choices for the benefit, he wasn’t sure if the performer who dropped out really did have some kind of breakdown or if he just wanted to get away from this difficult patron.

He mentally sighed, wishing that he could beg off with rehearsals or work for the festival, but she would be able to ferret out pretty quickly what his rehearsal schedule was. Being caught in a lie would just reflect badly on him.

“This can be an interesting opportunity,” Madam Tibideaux advised, seeing his reluctance. “Many of the residents of the home were quite renowned performers in their day. You can learn a great deal by speaking with them.

“And the home really is a great asset to our community. Sadly, it’s not uncommon for actors to be left with little financial support as they age. This facility allows them a safe and dignified place during their golden years.”

Kurt didn’t doubt her, and it sounded like the exact sort of charity that he would want to support. It was indeed a worthy cause and might just be worth the effort of dealing with Mrs. Dolloway for one day.

He looked to the older woman, who was watching him with a cool, calculating stare. “I’d be happy to help,” he claimed, smiling with all the charm he could muster. “It does sound like a wonderful cause.”

Mrs. Dolloway genuinely seemed surprised that he agreed to the invitation and Kurt rather enjoyed putting her back on her expensive heels a bit. He didn’t get as far as he has by letting small minded fools stand in his way. Even if he gained nothing personally, he would be pleased to help the elderly actors have a comfortable retirement.

She finally nodded, looking a little impressed despite herself. “Good,” she granted with no trace of reluctance in her voice, and Kurt couldn’t help from thinking that he just won this little confrontation. “I’ll let Carmen know the details. I’m fairly certain that you’ll be able to come up with two numbers that would be appropriate for the occasion.”

“I will,” he assured her self-assuredly. He was already making a mental list of potential material.

“Then I will see you next week.”

Mrs. Dolloway turned back to Madam Tibideaux and placed her teacup on the desk. “Carmen, it’s been a pleasure, as always.”

When the Dean began to push her chair back to get up, Mrs. Dolloway raised her hand to stop her. “Oh, don’t bother… I can show myself out,” she insisted blandly. She turned one last look to Kurt and nodded in his direction before walking out and closing the door behind her.

Once she had left the room, Kurt allowed himself a sigh of relief and couldn’t help from wondering just what he was letting himself in for. His teacher seemed just as relieved to have her troublesome visitor leave and turned a satisfied smile to him.

“I know that she’s a bit of a character,” Madam Tibideaux granted. “But she really can be an excellent sponsor. She’s helped launch a number of careers and she’s been a tremendous financial support for our school.”

“I don’t doubt that,��� Kurt insisted. “But I get the feeling that her favor can be a double-edged sword.”

Madam Tibideaux chuckled at his clear-eyed view of the matter. “I’m not going to disagree with you,” she confided. “The ones who often run our profession are the wealthy. Whether they invest in productions or patronize the ballet and opera, performers have to decide for themselves how to navigate their influence. I know this is difficult, but I think that you would gain a lot more from this experience than Mrs. Dolloway will get in bragging rights since you’ve already technically been discovered.”

Kurt knew that his teacher was taking pleasure in that respect and wouldn’t begrudge her the honors. “I just want to make sure that I perform at a level where I won’t stand out in a negative way,” he said. “It’s rather on short notice.”

“Mr. Hummel, in all the months that I’ve known you I’ve never seen you fail to rise to the occasion.If I might offer my suggestions,” she proposed with a reassuring smile, earning an enthusiastic nod from her student. “For this crowd, I would stick to something classic. Using a song from the era that many of the home’s residents were active would be well received. There are certainly enough songs that take advantage of your natural range and your unique vocal qualities.”

That made a lot of sense, Kurt thought. And he suspected that Mrs. Dolloway’s tastes would lean towards the classical. He could work with that.

“I would also like to offer some advice,” Madam Tibideaux said carefully, and Kurt looked up at his teacher intently because he trusted her judgment.

“I know that June Dolloway can be difficult to deal with, and you shouldn’t feel obligated to accept her as a sponsor just because you agreed to perform at the benefit. Even if she offers,” the dean advised. “She does have a certain amount of influence. She built up a substantial bit of wealth from her various marriages and she has a lot of connections in the business, though how seriously she can be taken seriously is open to debate.”

“Then why is she one of NYADA’s biggest donors?” Kurt asked curiously. “If she’s that out there?”

The Dean offered him a confiding smile. “Because she is willing to help support our school financially. It’s sometimes worth it for me to humor her if it opens up her checkbook, but I know what I can and should expect from her. I always warn my students who catch her eye to be very cautious in how they deal with her. Yes, she can open a lot of doors for you. But she also can be very fickle, and I’ve seen her drop proteges as abruptly as she picks them up.”

Kurt nodded in understanding, recognizing that he would need to manage this opportunity with the same care that he did the options that Coach Sylvester presented. If he could gain Mrs. Dolloway’s respect, he might be able to take advantage of her connections while not putting himself in her debt. He knew that he had enough challenges in his path without having his career controlled by someone who looked down on him in any way.

He met up with Rachel and their friends for lunch, needing their support and feedback. “I want to do this,” Kurt insisted over pizza. “It’s a really good cause, but I really don’t want anything to do with that Dolloway woman. I think that I’d just be setting myself up for trouble.”

Rachel reached out and grasped his hand in solidarity. “I think you could handle her,” she claimed, having seen her friend outsmart and manipulate people to his own ends many times before.

“Kurt, you always could just do the show and call it quits,” Analisa reminded her friend. “There’s no law that says just because you’ve agreed to perform one time that you owe her anything more. Just take advantage of getting seen a bit more.”

Kurt nodded but insisted, “I just don’t want to make any enemy of her. I get the feeling that she can really go out of her way to screw me over if I offend her in some way.”

Jamie took a big bite of his pepperoni and mushroom slice and chewed thoughtfully. “She reminds of a director I had at arts camp when I was a kid. It was obvious to everyone that she had her favorites and would go to the ends of the earth for you. Until you weren’t one of her favorites anymore. Then you might as well not exist.”

“Is everyone in our industry crazy?” Katya asked. “I mean, it would be nice just perform and not have to deal with people in charge with attitudes like that.”

“I feel like it’s some kind of test,” Kurt bemoaned. “Like Mrs. Dolloway is setting me up to fail.”

“So, don’t fail,” Rachal said logically, as if it were truly that simple. “Kurt, you don’t need us to tell you how good you are. Just treat this as a chance to perform and do what you know you can do. You don’t owe her anything more than that.”

Kurt looked to his group, yet again grateful that he’d managed to find such a wonderful collection of supportive friends.

Analisa looked to her favorite duet partner and offered a bright smile. “Mind if we tag along for moral support?” she asked.

Mrs. Dolloway hadn’t mentioned anything about him bringing guests, but Kurt didn’t see the harm. He’d feel a lot better having a few friendly faces in the audience.

“I’d love you guys to be there,” he said. “I’m not going to hoard the chance to mingle and network.”

Kayta reached out to pinch his cheek. “So generous,” she praised.

Kurt playfully swatted her hand away, earning a round of laughter from his friends. Relieved that he wouldn’t be facing Mrs. Dolloway without some reinforcements at his back, he looked thankfully at his friends.

“I really appreciate this, guys,” he said sincerely. “But let’s dig in… this pizza isn’t going to eat itself.”

* * *

Adam looked at the theater marquee, feeling both a great sense of pride and a tremendous wash of relief. Their final opening for the national tour was just a few short days away. After this, it would be a countdown until they all were able to return home.

He hadn’t quite known what to expect from this job, but it had been both tremendously fulfilling and harder than he could have ever imagined. Still, despite how painful as his separation from Kurt had been, he honestly wouldn’t trade the experience he’d gained. He was learning a great deal more about himself as an actor and Adam knew that the connections he’d made and the regard he’d earned would serve him well in the future.

He walked over to the stage door, greeting the security guard pleasantly before being admitted and directed towards the dressing rooms. This was probably the largest venue that they’d performed in to date and with the relatively small cast, he’d only be sharing the dressing room with Niall. The racks with their costumes were already in place, the costumes wrapped neatly in plastic to protect them during the shipping process.

It would be nice to have the extra space and a bit of relative privacy, Adam considered as he set down his makeup kit and began to organize the dressing table to his liking. He pulled out a folder containing the photos that he would want to have close at hand. Some of them were getting a little battered from their months long journey around the country but were all the more precious to him as a result. There were his parents, who had never failed to support his aspirations and one with his big sister posing with a shaggy rescue pony. He had a photo of his Apples, taken as their last get together before he left on the tour and most importantly, one of his Kurt to be placed in a spot of honor so that Adam could see him at all times.

Adam smiled and couldn’t resist tracing the outline of Kurt’s features with his fingertip. He missed his lovely boy so much and couldn’t wait to see him again. So much had happened for the both of them and he was eager to see his young man having grown into the potential that Adam knew that Kurt possessed from the start. He had always known that Kurt was an exceptional being, both as a performer and as a man and now it appeared that the rest of the world was starting to catch on as well. He was looking forward to seeing how Kurt was handling the real recognition of his worth.

These final weeks of Butcher’s Bill was setting Adam on the course for his career and he knew that Kurt was likewise taking concrete steps towards his own. All of this was worthwhile, Adam told himself. They had so much to look forward to and Adam was never more confident that they would be facing their future together.

He had a few hours before their director would be arriving for their afternoon run-through. That should leave him a bit of time to relax and maybe do a bit of sightseeing with his friends. Now that the end of the road was clearly within sight, he found his normal optimism and good spirits returning in full.

Making one last check that he had everything that he needed, he stepped out of the theater into the bright sunlight. The anxiety that he’d felt for so long was finally easing and he looked forward to the challenges that these final weeks of the tour would present. For once, he felt more than ready.

* * *

“You look fantastic,” Rachel assured him as Kurt checked the lay of his tie for what was likely the nineteenth time in her estimation. She gently took his hands and forced them down to halt his fussing.

“Are you sure?” he asked, checking his outfit once again to make sure that the creases on his designer slacks were pressed straight and his shoes were polished to a gleaming finish. Rather than giving into his first instinct to wear one of his more conservative outfits, he’d decided to go with something that was truer to his personality. The bold herringbone pattern of his dress pants tailored to fit the line of his body perfectly and drew attention to his best assets while the button-down shirt had just enough stretch that he could wear it tight enough to take advantage of his shoulders. His hair had been freshly cut and styled, the sides neat and the top combed into a tall crest.

“It’s fine,” she promised with a warm smile. “You’re not nervous, are you? This kind of performance is right up your alley.”

Kurt sighed, knowing that he was being silly. Maybe his choice of material was a little ambitious, but he was confident in his abilities to handle it.

He knew what the issue was, even if he didn’t want to admit it. Mrs. Dolloway’s opinion of him still rankled. He didn’t know if she was actually homophobic or just enjoyed needling people where they might be vulnerable, but he was really put off by her attitude. If it hadn’t been for the cause that this showcase would be benefiting and Madam Tibideaux’s show of support, he didn’t know if it was worthwhile to put himself through this.

There were eight students performing, and he was one of three representing NYADA. Most of the others were from Julliard, and he could certainly admire their talents. These were students primarily focused on classical technique, with a good number of them on track for professional opera or recording artist careers. He was suddenly quite grateful for Madam Tibideaux insisting on him focusing on classical technique in his own development. He should be able to hold his own with a group like this.

He also couldn’t argue that Mrs. Dolloway wasn’t throwing a lot of money at this event. She’d rented out the Studio 54 theater space, setting it up like a nightclub venue with tables and seats arranged about the stage. There was plenty of room for the various guests and donors attending, but tables situated closest to the stage were dedicated to the residents of the actor’s home. The elderly performers had turned out in their best clothing, apparently eager for the outing and looking forward to seeing what the younger generation had to offer.

Kurt’s own friends were seated towards the back, and he was grateful for their presence. He hadn’t expected to find so many good friends at NYADA but felt very privileged to have done so. Between his classmates and the Apples, he had a solid base of support in New York. That his relationships didn’t boil down to nothing but rivals that would cheerfully kneecap him any chance they got had come as a deep relief for him.

Deep inside, Kurt felt a bit of a thrill that he would be standing on a Broadway stage, even if it wasn’t an actual Broadway production. Not that it looked much like a proper theater, but he knew the names of the famous actors who’d performed in that venue. Knowing that his small contribution to the history of this newer theater filled him with a sense of pride.

Rachel leaned up to give him a quick kiss on the cheek, careful not to get any lipstick on him. “I’m going to go join the others,” she said, squeezing his hand reassuringly. “I’ll see you when you’re done.”

He nodded and offered his friend a thankful smile. “Rachel… thanks for coming today.”

She just grinned back. “Did you ever think that I would miss this?” she chuckled. “Break a leg!”

Left alone, Kurt moved to join the other performers, grateful that for once he didn’t feel completely out of his element. The two NYADA students were performers that he’d become very familiar with over the past months, having worked them during their run of Les Miserables. He wasn’t at all surprised that Mrs. Dolloway had invited Brett Sosa, given that he had the classic good looks and honey-smooth tenor that would appeal to a broad audience. He was a bit surprised that she’d invited the young woman who’d played Cosette rather than the more dynamic singers for Eponine and Fantine. But Abigail Thomas was gifted with one of the most gorgeous soprano voices that Kurt head ever heard, and he knew that she would make the audience very pleased.

He greeted them cheerfully, glad to have some familiar faces in the group. “I was wondering who Mrs. Dolloway would wrangle from NYADA,” he said confidingly. “I should have figured that you two would be her top picks.”

Brett gave him a warm pat on the back. “Good to see you, Kurt,” he greeted happily. “We were wondering ourselves since she was being so damned closed mouthed about things.

Abigail nodded in agreement. “I’m trying to figure out why I’m here since everyone knows she never sponsors women,” she complained lightly with a knowing smirk. “She likes to go after men who remind her of one of her husbands.”

Kurt couldn’t help from laughing. “I wonder which of them I remind her of,” he mused amusedly. “Because he must have really pissed her off at some point.”

Brett chuckled in response. “Madam Tibideaux did warn me that she was a character,” he advised. “But she can open doors and if she can get me in front of the right people, it might be worth it. I’ve been hitting auditions and I really need to nail down some work after graduation.”

“Me too,” Abigail sighed. “You’re lucky, Kurt. You probably aren’t facing the same kind of pressure just yet.”

No, he wasn’t, Kurt acknowledged to himself. But he had his own pressure to deal with. It didn’t pass his notice that, yet again, he was the least conventional performer in the room. Even so, he wasn’t going to allow that to bother him. He was looking forward to showing off his mettle against the kind of tenors and baritones that they audience expected to see and the song he’d chosen for the occasion would make the most of his full range as a singer.

Maybe it was petty and even a bit counterproductive, but he was looking forward to seeing Mrs. Dolloway’s self-satisfied smirk vanish when she realized that he wasn’t going to crumble in front of her. He wasn’t just going to match what the other students were able to do; he was going to be the best on that stage.

Mrs. Dolloway swept into the backstage area, dressed in a pale grey Chanel suit and Kurt judged that the jewelry she was sporting that looked like it could probably cover all the students’ rent for the next three years. She looked over the group and offered a smile that held nothing in the way of genuine warmth. Like all the interactions that Kurt had with her up until this point, her expression was predatory and slightly contemptuous of everyone she came across. He couldn’t help from wondering if she actually liked any of the prospects that she sponsored, of if she just enjoyed jerking their chains as she dangled prospects and possibilities  before them.

“I’m so glad to see you all,” she greeted benignly, if not with any great sincerity. “Before we get started, I wanted to thank you for supporting this very worthy cause. We’ve got a good-sized crowd and I’ve got them well primed for you. I certainly hope that that you all perform at the level I’ve come to expect from students of your caliber.”

None of the students missed the threat in her carefully chosen words, that whatever support they might hope for with this patron would evaporate if they didn’t perform at their best. Of what they could expect if their best was judged not good enough.

A few of the students looked genuinely nervous and Kurt suspected that at least a few of them sincerely wanted to gain Mrs. Dolloway’s support for their careers. He felt himself smile a little bit, relaxing when he realized that he honestly didn’t much care if the arrogant woman liked him at all. He just wanted to perform well for his audience, especially the elderly actors who deserved to have a pleasant afternoon. And for his friends who were so supportive of him. He didn’t want to disappoint them.

From their position offstage, he could hear Mrs. Dolloway greeting her audience and Kurt tuned her out. He didn’t care much about whatever spiel she pulled out of her finely dressed ass. He was sure that she would be able to coax some decent funds for the retirement home and his only purpose there was to perform to the best of his ability. Then he could hopefully put June Dolloway in his rear-view mirror.

One by one, the students were called out onto the stage and Kurt allowed himself to enjoy their performances. Mrs. Dolloway might be a total pill, but she did seem to have a real eye and ear for talent. Every one of the students she’d invited to perform were, to an individual, exceptional. He never had a problem admiring the talents of others and he felt rather privileged to be counted in a group like this.

There didn’t seem to be any set pattern to how they were called up, and he knew that he’d better be prepared at an instant’s notice. He’d done his warmups and just focused on keeping his vocal cords loosened and lubricated. Swishing some lukewarm water in his mouth before swallowing, he mentally ran through his performance notes, wanting to give his best effort.

Brett had just completed an absolutely stunning rendition of “Almost Like Being In Love” to great applause from their appreciate audience when Mrs. Dolloway stepped onto the stage, applauding him with a smile. Once the audience settled, she turned to them with a teasing smile.

“Well, now I think it’s time for something a little different,” she pronounced. “NYADA certainly has been generous with the talent we have this afternoon, so let me present Mr. Kurt Hummel.”

She looked to the stage wings and gave Kurt an appraising look, as if daring him to back out but he just smiled serenely. Not even taking a second to check his outfit one last time, Kurt stepped onto the stage and nodded his thanks to the prickly patron. Mrs. Dolloway just smiled and nodded a challenge to him before allowing him the stage.

Kurt turned his focus to the audience and the band began to play the opening strains to his first number. He wondered if anyone watching him would be surprised at his choice because this song had the potential to be a total train wreak if the melody got away from him at any point.

There was a gentle rhythm that felt almost like a heartbeat, and his voice rose out gently to match it. “Like the beat, beat beat of the tom tom,” he sang gently, each word falling neatly onto the percussion. “When the jungle shadows fall.”

His voice shifted octave just slightly, slipping into the next level of his range with smooth effortlessness, the words trailing elegantly. “Like the tick, tick, tock of the stately clock as it stands against the wall.”

The octave shifted again, and Kurt’s voice rose to meet it. “Like the drip, drip drip of the raindrops, when the summer shower is through,” he sang smoothly, his voice adjusting to the quick change from higher to low notes without any breaks. “So a voice within me keeps repeating you, you, you…”

The heartbeat rhythm was replaced by a warm jazzy tone and Kurt’s voice slipped easily into the new cadence. “Night and day, you are the one,” he sang passionately, allowing a faraway smile to touch his features as he thought about the man who was inspiring him. “Only you, beneath the moon and under the sun. Whether near to me or far… It’s no matter darling, where you are. I think of you…”

Kurt knew that technically had had it. His voice agilely danced through the various octaves and key changes without any hint of struggle. The song made use of nearly his entire range and required him to be able to bounce from octave to octave without hesitation or interruption.

But he was no mere technician. The warmth in his voice and the soul powering the words was what would set him apart. The singer was a man deeply, passionately in love and Kurt certainly had enough of those feelings to lend appropriate authenticity to his performance.

“Night and day,” he crooned, allowing all his feelings for Adam come out in his voice. “Day and night. Why is it so? This longing for you follows me wherever I go. In the roaring traffic’s boom. In the silence of my lonely room, I think of you.”

This separation had been one of the hardest things he’d endured, but his feelings for Adam had only grown. If absence did indeed make the heart grow fonder, then his heart was nearly overflowing with love for his absent partner. He could only express it now in his voice.

“Night and day. Night and day!” The key changed and Kurt voice rose elegantly as he slid into his upper range. “Under the hide of me. There’s an oh! Such a hungry yearning burning inside of me.”

He moved across the stage, doing a soft weave step that worked nicely with the flow of the music, letting himself get lost in the music and emotion. His voice slipped easily into his lower register, coiling like a spring.

“And its torment won’t be through, till you let me spend my life making love…” Kurt’s voice shot up to his upper register and he held the note for a long, dramatic second before letting it fall back into his middle range. “To you! Day and night! Night and day!”

He finished with a vocal flourish and couldn’t help from smiling when the audience applauded enthusiastically. Kurt thought that he’d sounded quite good but getting that kind of feedback from an artistically educated and appreciative audience… it would never get old.

Through the lights, he could see his audience. Mostly the seniors seated at the tables who seemed especially enthusiastic. One in particular caught his eye; a petite dumpling of a woman with short grey hair and grinning widely as she applauded. He smiled at her, nodding his thanks.

As for Mrs. Dolloway, standing in the wings… Kurt didn’t bother to look for her reaction, because it didn’t matter to him if she liked his performance or not. The band was already cuing up the music for his next number and he had an audience to focus on.

He was glad that he’d selected an upbeat number for his second performance, using songs from the same songwriter to tie his act together. He’d already proven that he was a singer. Now he could let them see just how much of a showman he could be.

He smiled beatifically looking out to the audience, using the older woman he’d spotted as a focus. “When the little blue bird who has never said a word, starts to sing, ‘Spring, spring’,” he trilled gently, letting his voice float on the music. “When the little blue bell in the bottom of the dell, starts to ring, ‘Ting, ting’.”

He did a little bit of dancing, moving across the stage as he sang. “When the little blue clock in the middle of his work, sings a song to the moon up above.” Kurt allowed a bit more power to come out in his voice but kept it carefully under control. “It is nature that's all, simply telling us to fall in love…”

He allowed a short pause to build up anticipation before continuing softly. “And that's why birds do it, bees do it,” he crooned delicately. “Even educated fleas do it. Let's do it! let's fall in love.”

Love might be the subject of ninety nine percent of songs written, he’d considered, but he didn’t know of many songs that so perfectly expressed the joy of discovering love. That one wasn’t above that heady emotion when sense could be tossed aside in favor of just feeling. Sometimes it would strike like a lightning bolt, but other times it came on more gradually. Like sinking into a perfectly warm bath. He’d been fortunate to have discovered love in both ways but having that moment when you truly fell was some of the most wondrous, terrifying moments of his life.

“In Spain, the best upper sets do it,” he confided playfully. “Lithuanians and Letts do it. Let's do it, let's fall in love.”

Kurt saw the plump little woman nodding approvingly, watching with the others seated at her table. An elegantly handsome black man leaned over to whisper something in her ear, his eyes focused on Kurt with the other man just watched with a slightly dazed smile on his face.

“Some Argentines without means, do it,” Kurt lilted, letting the best qualities of his voice shine. He knew that his voice was distinctive, and he wasn’t going to hide that fact no matter what Mrs. Dolloway thought. “People say in Boston even beans do it. Let’s do it! Let’s fall in love!”

Kurt had enough dance training under his belt that even though he hadn’t enough time to plan his choreography in advance, he could improvise and have it look thought out. He turned on one foot and danced across the stage as he sang, using the jazz technique that Ms. July had beaten into him and used the movement to accent his vocals. He could see the approval of the audience as they clapped in time to the music and cheered him on.

He gave a final spin, coming to stop in front of the older woman’s table and offered her and her friends a charming smile. “The world admits bears in pits do it,” he sang, letting more power come into his voice and giving the woman a sly smile and a little shimmy of his shoulders, causing her to giggle in response. “Even Pekingeses at the Ritz do it. Let’s do it! Let’s fall in love.

“The royal set sans regret did it, and they considered it fun. Marie Antoinette did it, with or with about Napoleon!” Kurt confided to his audience, glad that they were enjoying the bawdy nonsense. “Parliament pleasure bent did it. Mam’selles every time they’re short of rent did it.

“Let’s do it,” he belted, winding up for the conclusion and letting his voice soar. “Let’s fall in love!”

It might not have been the same thrill that he got from performing Les Misérables, but the audience was applauding and cheering, and Kurt couldn’t be more pleased. He gave a brief bow and waved to the crowd before stepping off stage.

Mrs. Dolloway was giving him an odd, appraising look but didn’t have the opportunity to speak with him right away. She stepped out to introduce the next performer and Kurt took the opportunity to make a quick escape.

He stopped by Abigail and Brett, the three of them quietly congratulating one another for their fine performances before Kurt made his way to where they audience was seated. Taking care not to draw attention to himself and detract from the young woman singing a glorious aria, he stealthily made his way to the table at the back where his friends were seated. They were all smiles and while they couldn’t immediately express what they thought without disturbing others seated around them, Kurt knew that he had done what he’d set out to do.

Rachel smiled at him warmly, her dark eyes clearly communicating how well she thought he’d done and reached out to grasp his hand. He returned the loving squeeze and allowed her to rest her head on his shoulder while they watched the remaining performers.

Once all the students were finished, Mrs. Dolloway took the stage again bask in the admiration of the audience, nodding her thanks at their applause. With practiced graciousness, she thanked all the performers and sponsors of the retirement home, urging everyone to stay for the reception. The house lights came on to illuminate the room and the band began to play a pleasant jazz set so that everyone could mingle and talk.

Now that the hard part was over, Kurt turned to his friends with a satisfied smile. “Thanks for being here, guys,” he said sincerely. “It was really reassuring, knowing that you were out here.”

Analisa got up to hug her favorite duet partner about his shoulders. “Don’t be silly,” she admonished playfully. “Did you really think we would miss it? We’re all in this together.”

Jamie clapped Kurt on the arm fondly. “Why don’t we go see what kind of food they’ve got,” he suggested.

Kurt smiled and nodded, offering his arms to both Analisa and Rachel, while Jamie happily escorted Katya. There was an open bar which provided Kurt with a very well-deserved glass of white wine while waiters circulated through the crowd with trays of finger foods. Taking a fried nibble that turned out to be brie and fig preserves, Kurt mentally prepared himself to do the whole meet and greet thing. While he’d much rather hang out with his friends and enjoy the free food, he knew that it would be stupid to waste the opportunity to network on June Dolloway’s dime. Especially if he could share the wealth with his friends.

After making the rounds, accepting compliments on his performance and pocketing a few business cards from some professionals who wanted to keep Kurt on their radar, he decided that he now had full right to relax and enjoy the party. A plate of munchies and Kurt was happy to sit at a convenient table with his friends to talk. They didn’t often have the chance to enjoy outings like this and he certainly wasn’t going to pass on the opportunity.

“I could use another drink,” he pronounced after finishing off his first glass of wine. “Can I get anyone anything?”

“No, we’re good,” Jamie assured him.

Kurt got up from his seat and took his empty glass with him to head towards the bar. He’d already planned to cut himself off after two glasses of wine, knowing that this was not the kind of setting where getting sloppy would be appreciated. The crowd was a bit thick and he carefully waded his way through but couldn’t avoid being collided by someone who’d been nudged into his path. Kurt quickly caught her, helping her find her balance again.

“I’m so sorry!” the woman exclaimed, alarmed as the glass she held sloshed a bit. “Did I get anything on you?”

Even in the less than ideal light, Kurt could see that his outfit was free of liquid stains. “No, it’s fine,” he assured her, offering a smile.

She inhaled a deep sigh of relief. “Thank goodness! I would have hated to ruin your outfit after that wonderful performance you just gave us,” she admitted with a smile.

Kurt quickly recognized her as the older woman that he’d focused on during his performance and realized that she was even more adorable than he’d originally perceived from the stage. With her round face and neat cap of grey hair, she looked like she would be perfectly at home baking cookies for a score of grandchildren.

That was until he caught the mischievous glint in her eyes behind her glasses. That indicated less an inclination towards baking and a nature more inclined to being the source of trouble wherever she went.

“At least this gives me the chance to thank you,” she said with a warm smile. “You were absolutely wonderful.”

Kurt couldn’t help from smiling back. “Thank you very much,” he answered sincerely. I’m so happy that you enjoyed it.”

“Well, it’s such a pleasure to meet you in person,” she said sweetly. “I’m Maggie.”

Kurt took her hand and shook it gently, amazing at how soft her skin was over joints that were clearly showing signs of advanced arthritis. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Maggie. I’m Kurt.”

The handsome black man that Maggie had been seated with hurried over, trailed by another man with a perpetually dazed smile on his face. “Maggie, here you are,” he exclaimed, a hint or reprimand in his voice. “We were looking all over for you.”

“Oh hush… I was just talking to my new friend here,” Maggie explained. “This is Kurt and he just saved me from being knocked to the floor.”

She sighed happily. “It’ been so long since I’ve had a handsome young man to take care of me,” she teased with a mischievous glint in her eyes. Despite how she overstated his rescue of her, Kurt couldn’t help from smiling back, flattered by her compliment.

“Oh, come on,” the handsome black man reprimanded playfully. “My grandson visited just last week. He did your hair for you!”

Maggie blushed and laughed, hand-waving away her friend’s protestations. She turned a teasing smile to Kurt. “Don’t listen to him,” she insisted, patting his hand. “He always tries to spoil my fun.”

She looked to her friend and explained, “This is that lovely young man that we saw in Les Misérables. Remember?”

The man’s eyes widened slightly in recognition. “I should have remembered that,” he said ruefully. “A voice like that, you don’t forget too quickly.

“I’m Andy and this here is Marty,” he introduced, shaking Kurt’s hand warmly. “It’s so nice to meet such a talented young man.”

“Thank you,” Kurt said sincerely. “I wasn’t sure if anyone here saw our show.”

Andy couldn’t help from laughing loudly at that bit of absurdity. “Son, I don’t think there’s anyone in this room that didn’t see that show,” he insisted with a broad smile that looked far too sexy on a man his age. “It was a nice surprise to see some of the performers from it here today.”

Kurt couldn’t help from laughing at their antics. “Madam Tibideaux told me a bit about your retirement home and I couldn’t resist wanting to help,” he said with a smile. “It sounds like a really nice place.”

Andy nodded, taking a sip of his drink that appeared to be scotch and water. “It is,” he assured the younger man. “Especially when you consider that all of the residents have a lot of shared life and career experiences. Gives us plenty to talk about.”

Maggie nodded in agreement. “They have a lot of activities for old actors like us. We get to see most of the new Broadway shows, and we go to a lot of school and local productions,” she explained. “There was no way that we would miss that one.”

Her smile turned a bit mischievous as she appraised him. “I recognized you the instant you came on the stage.”

Kurt couldn’t help from laughing a bit. “I’m flattered,” he said sincerely.

“It’s a lot of fun, watching all you youngsters,” Andy complimented. “Reminds me of our glory days. I probably wasn’t much older than you when I made my big debut.”

“Oh hush, Andy,” Maggie reprimanded playfully. “He doesn’t want to hear our old stories. And we’re being so rude, taking him away from his friends like this.”

“It’s okay,” Kurt promised with a chuckle. He glanced over at the table where his friends were seated and caught Rachel’s questioning gesture at what was keeping him. He nodded his head towards his current companions and Rachel smiled knowingly, rolling her eyes playfully. “I see them all the time at school.”

Before he could say anything more, he saw Mrs. Dolloway approaching them. Her face was set in a smile, but Kurt could easily see that it was just a front for the guests. The look in her pale eyes was positively steely and whatever hope he had of finishing the day without an uncomfortable confrontation with her was totally extinguished.

“I hate to rush away,” he said was honest regret, because he would much rather hear their stories about the old days than deal with the unpredictable sponsor. “But I see Mrs. Dolloway and it look like she wants to speak with me.”

“Well, it’s been a pleasure, Kurt,” Andy said graciously, offering another brilliant smile. “You were excellent today and we’re all looking forward to seeing more from you.”

Maggie leaned up and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “Thanks for rescuing me,” she said sincerely. “I hope that we see more of you soon.”

He smiled back, giving her hand a fond squeeze. “It was wonderful to meet you,” he said graciously before turning to face the difficult sponsor. He was mentally steeling himself when he jumped in surprise because someone just pinched his ass. He turned in shock to see Maggie strolling away with her friends to find new entertainments but not without turning a mischievous smile in his direction and giving him a quick wave. Almost before he had a chance to mentally regroup, he was faced with his biggest challenge of the day.

“Well, Mr. Hummel,” Mrs.Dolloway pronounced with obviously false sweetness. “That performance was certainly not what I would have expected from you.”

Kurt let himself smile, detecting the bare trace of hard-won respect in her tone. “I’m pleased that I was able to surpass your expectations,” he allowed himself to respond with carefully politeness.

Her mouth pursed thoughtfully. “Well, it certainly wasn’t anything I would have expected,” she granted. “And I’ve gotten some decent feedback from some of our donors on your performance.”

Kurt had the feeling that getting an actual compliment from this woman would be like trying to extract state secrets from James Bond. Nor did he think that it would be worth the effort. He knew how well he’d done and didn’t need the confirmation from someone that evidently didn’t respect him.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” he granted with a smile, pouring on the sugar. “Especially since it’s going to benefit the retirement home residents.”

Something seemed to soften in Mrs. Dolloway’s eyes at his disinterest in trying to reap glory for his own benefit. He would have every right to be proud of what he’d brought to that stage but had the grace to recognize that this day wasn’t about him in the end. It was about those lovely old actors getting support and respect from a younger generation.

She quickly regained her mental equilibrium, pasting a tolerant expression on her face as if trying to reason with an unruly child. Gazing at him appraisingly, she stated “I have other performance opportunities over the next few weeks that might interest you. Perhaps we could set up a time to discuss the options.”

Kurt’s eyebrow arched in surprise at the offer. He would have thought that he would be the last person she would invite back to another of her showcases.

Trying to look apologetic and not sure if he was being totally convincing, Kurt gave a regretful sigh. “I wish that I could,” he said with as much sincerity as he could force into his voice without sounding saccharine. “But we’re getting to the end of the semester and I’ve got all my finals and critiques to get through. Then right after that, I start rehearsals for the Garrison festival and that will tie me up all summer. I’m afraid that I’m just not going to have any free time to take on any more committments.”

At least not any where Mrs. Dolloway was concerned, he said to himself with an internal smirk.

His excuse was plausible enough given the time of the year and not something that she could actually protest since he still had two years of school to go. “I suppose that your semester is winding down,” she granted with a huff. “And I doubt that Carmen would be forgiving if I distracted you from your studies.”

Kurt nodded, glad that she was buying it. To be honest, if he really wanted to, he probably could have found time to manage another showcase. He’d become very adept at juggling an overloaded schedule, but Mrs. Dolloway made it difficult for him to justify putting himself out in any way.

Still, she didn’t appear to be trying to be deliberately awful at the moment and he was glad to have helped support the retirement home. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to make nice to the old harridan.

“Maybe once school starts again,” he offered, wanting to end this on a positive note so that he at least didn’t have to worry about an enemy. While it would be idiotic for Mrs. Dolloway to try to hamstring his prospects, it would be equally stupid on his part to antagonize her unnecessarily.

“Especially if your showcase benefits a cause like this,” he added with genuine sincerity. “I was very happy to give my support today. Anything for old folks or animals… I’m pretty much a sucker for those.”

That got a genuine laugh from the cantankerous woman, and Kurt thought that just maybe he might get out of this with his professional reputation intact.

Mrs. Dolloway offered a brief nod, accepting both his refusal and the offered olive branch with a lot more grace that he would have expected. “I’ll definitely keep that in mind if the opportunity comes up,” she assured him with a sharp-toothed grin. “Even if it doesn’t, I’ll be keeping my eye on you. I’m curious enough to see how you develop going forward. You’re an interesting young man, Mr. Hummel.”

There was just enough warning in her tone to imply that she was being entirely truthful, and Kurt knew well enough not to poke a snarling cat with a stick. He reached out to take her hand, as if to shake it, but surprised her by pressing a feather-light kiss to her thin fingers.

“I’ll try to keep surprising you,” he assured her, offering a bit of a saucy wink that got another laugh from Mrs. Dolloway. She shook her head bemusedly as she walked off to find someone else to torture.

Walking back to his friends, Kurt allowed himself a sigh of relief at having managed to escape what could have been a very painful entanglement. He knew that he had handled things as well as he possibly could have managed and all things considered, it hadn’t been a terrible way to spend an afternoon. He got to offer support to a worthy cause, performed well before and appreciative audience and apparently had managed to avoid being mauled by a difficult patron.

All in all, he was rather pleased with himself. And he’d have some interesting stories to tell Adam when he returned home.

* * *

At one point, having a day off meant that Adam could rest. Being on the road and performing on tour was draining and he knew that if he intended to survive with his sanity intact, that he needed to take the opportunity to relax when presented with it. Certainly, he and his friends did sightseeing and took advantage of the various cities that they performed in. He was glad to have the opportunity to see so much of the country that he had made his home in.

But this day off would allow little time for decompressing or taking a long nap to recharge. Not when he had just a few weeks left of work and no flat to return to. He wanted to review the listings and narrow down some options before asking Kurt to take time from his studies to see them in person. Adam knew that Kurt would have his finals soon and had precious little time to go looking at apartments when he should be focused on his studies.

While staying in their old neighborhood would have been ideal for Kurt, as he could walk to school when the weather permitted and they were familiar with the area, he knew that they should also branch out a bit. Being closer to the theater district might work out and put him closer to work and auditions. And while he had a very nice chuck of his pay stashed in the bank, he knew that it needed to last until Butcher’s Bill started up in New York. Something that they could afford would be critical.

Adam had lived in New York long enough to know that the real estate market was cutthroat and apartments that seemed ideally suited to their needs would vanish from the market in an instant. It was frustrating to compile a list of prospects, only to have them snapped up before he could ask Kurt to see them in person.

Niall watched his increasing vexation with amusement, rolling his eyes as Adam ranted at another possible flat was rented before they could even check the apartment out.

“Mate, why are you driving yourself barmy like this?” he asked, watching from his bed as Adam was reviewing yet another group of listings.

Adam turned an irritated look to his friend. “Because NYADA isn’t going to let me move into Kurt’s dorm room when we get back to New York,” he snapped, aggravated by the lack of progress in finding himself a home. “I’m not fancying being homeless.”

Niall shook his head in amusement. “Just call an agent,” he suggested, as if the solution was so plainly obvious and Adam was three kinds of idiot for not noticing it sooner. “Let them do all the leg work. Just tell them when you’ll need your place by.”

Adam looked at the other Englishman, mentally kicking himself for not thinking of that sooner. Exasperated with his own stubbornness, he did a quick internet search and found an agent had very positive reviews from past clients. Speaking to her, he learned that her fee was paid by the landlords after the lease was signed, as they were saved time and work by having their prospective tenants cleared by someone else and Adam explained what he and Kurt were looking for.

A one bedroom at least, so that he and Kurt would have some wiggle room and not be living in one another’s pockets the whole time. Two bedrooms would be even better, letting one room stand as a study/guest room but he knew that would probably be out of their budgets. A decent kitchen with a dishwasher. They didn’t mind a walk up, but if the flat was more than three stories up they were prefer a building with a lift. He explained that while he wouldn’t be back in New York to sign the lease for a few weeks, they could put a deposit down to secure the flat until he returned.

She expressed confidence that she’d be able to find something for him that would be available when he returned to New York and that it would be no problem for Kurt to see the apartments in his stead. Within three days, Adam had a group of listings to review. He picked out the ones that he thought suited best and forwarded them to Kurt to look over.

“The Chelsea apartment is awfully expensive,” Kurt mused on their afternoon call. “And it’s pretty far from the subway.”

“I was thinking that myself,” Adam said regretfully. It was the largest of the flats they were considering and ticked off most of the boxes, but it was at the high end of their budget. Being comfortable didn’t matter much if they were left starving in order to cover the rent. “We can cross that one off our list. What about the one in Hell’s Kitchen? I know it’s a walk-up, but it’s only the second floor. And it’s a few blocks from the subway and the bus going downtown.”

The agent had been especially pleased to find that apartment and it would become available right around the time Adam was finishing in California. Newly renovated and in an area that she assured him had plenty of good restaurants and shopping and was very friendly to same-sex couples, it sounded like a fine place for Adam to land in.

Kurt took a moment and looked over the listing. “I like this one,” he decided. “I won’t be able to walk to school, but it shouldn’t take me too long to get there. And there’s a laundromat right down the block, so we won’t have to go too far for clean underwear.”

“And it’s not at all far from the theater district,” Adam noted. “It’s only one bedroom, but I think that it’ll be large enough for us to be comfortable. Maybe look at this one and two flats in the West Village.”

“Sounds good,” Kurt agreed. “I’ll make arrangements to see them and we’ll make a final choice. That is, if you trust me.”

Adam couldn’t help from laughing at the absurd nothing. “Of course I do, love,” he assured Kurt lovingly. “I have no doubt that you’ll pick the right home for us.”

Kurt fell silent for a moment and Adam couldn’t help from prodding, “Sweetheart?”

“It’s okay,” Kurt assured him. “It’s just… it feels like you’ve been away for so long. This just makes you coming home real.”

Adam smiled at the longing in his lover’s voice. He’d missed Kurt so badly the past few months and finding a new flat was the confirmation that their time apart was coming to an end.

“And this will be our place,” he reminded Kurt. “Not one of us moving into a space where the other had already set down roots. We’ll make it our home, together.”

He heard Kurt sniffle over the line and wished that he could be there to take his beautiful lad into his arms. Just a few short weeks, he told himself.

“I can’t wait,” Kurt insisted. “I just want to hold you and never let go.”

Hearing Kurt’s longing expressed so plainly caused Adam’s heart to tighten within his chest. They’d survived this trial and very soon would be reaping the rewards for everything that they’d gone through.

It would only be a few more weeks, he told himself.

* * *

Kurt looked about the empty apartment, glad that he’d brought Rachel along for both company and to offer an unbiased opinion. After sleeping in a dorm room, however comfortable, Kurt was desperate for some real privacy and his own shower. While Adam trusted him to make a good choice that suited both of them, Kurt worried that he’d take whatever apartment he was shown first. Having one of his closest friends who knew his tastes so well would help him to make a more reasoned decision.

He'd already decided that one of the West Village apartments might be a contender, having enough space for them to live in comfortably. The other was too small despite technically being a one bedroom and the bathroom was sorely out of date despite the high rent the landlord was requesting. Climbing up the steps to an old pre-war brownstone on the west side, he hoped that this apartment might suit them better.

“The apartment gets a lot of good natural light,” the broker, Monica, explained as she guided them around. “The windows are new and will muffle out a lot of the street noise.”

Kurt nodded as he checked out the kitchen that had clearly been recently renovated. While like most kitchens in New York apartments it was on the small side, there was more space than in Adam’s old place and he was confident that both he and Adam could be cooking together without tripping over one another. It had more than enough cabinet and counter space for their needs and all the appliances were brand new, including the coveted dishwasher.

The living area was decent sized, and Kurt thought that they could fit in an actual dining table that could accommodate more than just the two of them, as well as a sofa and loveseat so they could entertain guests. He loved the exposed brick wall and the honey-warm hardwood floors, listening to his shoes clicking as he walked through the place.

“Does the fireplace work?” Rachel asked, eyeing the space in the brick wall and the small mantle accenting it enviously. Kurt didn’t blame her, as he was already envisioning hanging up their stockings during the winter holidays and setting up an elegantly decorated tree or curling up on the floor together in front of a roaring fire.

Monica shook her head. “I’m afraid not,” she clarified. “The shaft is sealed off. But you can put in an electric log heater. I have one in my own place and it gives the feel of having a real fire. It’s also a lot safer.”

Kurt nodded absently, making a note of that to relay to Adam. A functioning fireplace was on neither of their “must have” lists and it certainly wouldn’t be something that would remove this apartment from consideration. They could still have romantic evenings together, even if their fire was electrical. Having a fireplace, even a non-functional one was a definite bonus.

The bathroom had also undergone recent renovations, with a cleanly tiled shower that looked like he and Adam could share if they didn’t mind being in very close quarters he noted with a pleased smirk. There was a linen closet right opposite the bathroom, giving them additional storage space. And the bedroom…

Kurt took measure of the size, seeing that they could easily fit in a large bed and a dresser for each of them. A peek in the closet confirmed that there was enough space so that they wouldn’t be fighting over every square inch. The room had been painted recently a pale beige that invited him to imagine their pictures on the wall and white blinds on the windows that would give the space a refined but homey feel.

He thought back to the day that he and Rachel first saw the Bushwick loft and that instant that they both realized that they could make that big empty space a home. That they were able to look past the bare walls and cheerless interior and see where they could build their lives in New York. The other apartments he’d been looking at were nice, but this was the first apartment where Kurt could actually see himself and Adam living.

If he gave the word, Adam would go along with his opinion. They would pay the deposit and sign the lease as soon as Adam was back in New York. Adam could get moved in and start setting up while Kurt was finishing his classes for the year. It was a huge responsibility that his partner had placed on his shoulders and Kurt didn’t wand to make the wrong choice. He took a few pictures on his phone to send to Adam so they could discuss their options.

Letting Monica know that he and Adam would think about things and let her know which apartment they’d choose, he and Rachel walked down the stairs and out into the lively neighborhood that surrounded the pretty ivy-covered building. The street was tree-lined and surprisingly quiet despite being the middle of a weekday. Just down the block was an appealing looking coffee shop and several interesting bars and restaurants.

It was the kind of area that he could see them building a life together. He could pick at the negatives, such as having to commute to school and not living close by their friends. But those were minor complaints when he could envision their lives there. Both of them had been flying on their own for too long, learning what the strength of their wings were capable of. Now it was time to build a nest of their own.

“So, what do you think?” Rachel asked as they explored the neighborhood around the building a bit. “You’ve got a lot of nice restaurants around here.”

Kurt took in the lively atmosphere, liking the feel of the area. He appreciated how the building was down a side street and insulated from the worst of the city noise, but a quick walk would get them to all of the amenities. The Clinton Gardens were just a few short blocks away, giving them a bit of green space to enjoy during the nice weather. Walking east would take them right into the heart of the theater district. It was as if this neighborhood were all but designed for their needs.

“I think I like it here,” he pronounced, allowing himself to smile. He spotted a bakery that the real estate agent had recommended and grasped Rachel’s hand. “Come on… I owe you a treat after all your help today. Then we’ll do a test drive to see how long it takes the bus to get me to school.”

They returned to Kurt’s dorm room forty minutes later with a box of assorted cookies to share. “Well, that wasn’t bad,” Rachel decided as she sat down on Kurt’s bed. “It’s a lot easier than coming from Bushwick.”

“Yeah, I think it’ll be okay,” Kurt agreed, sitting down at his desk chair and opening the box. “I hope you know that you’re taking most of these home… Ms. July will decapitate me if she sees me eating these.”

Still, the threat of bodily harm from his dance instructor didn’t stop him from picking out a large cookie studded liberally with chucks of chocolate.

Rachel laughed, picking out a carrot cake cookie for herself. “I’m sure that between Artie and Santana, I won’t have too much trouble finding anyone to take these off my hands,” she said good naturedly. After taking a bite of her snack, she looked to her best friend.

“You look like you’re thinking awfully hard,” she prodded gently, knowing that her friend had a huge decision to make.

“I am,” Kurt admitted. “I just don’t want to make the wrong choice.”

She nodded and nibbled at her cookie. “I don’t think you can really make a bad choice,” she pointed out. “All of the apartments were nice.”

“I was a little torn between the last one we saw and the one in the Village,” Kurt admitted. “But I really like the one in Hell’s Kitchen. Even if it is farther away from school. I think that the quality of life we can have there would be worth the commute.”

She nodded in agreement. “I knew that one was your favorite. From the moment you stepped through the door,” she advised thoughtfully. “So, you’ll take it?”

Kurt considered their options again, mentally weighing out the pros and cons of each place before nodding. “I’ll call Adam and talk it over, but I think that one is it.”

Rachel smiled at her friend. “I’m glad,” she admitted. “And we all can’t wait to throw you two a housewarming party. Don’t forget to tell us when you move in. You’ve got plenty of friends to help move things.”

That was a fact that Kurt was absolutely certain of. Between the group from Lima based out in Bushwick, the Apples and the group he’d found in NYADA, he and Adam wouldn’t be alone to break their backs moving furniture. Promising beer and pizza, they would have plenty of willing helpers.

That evening, he and Adam reviewed their options and made their final choice. Adam would be contacting their agent in the morning and would transfer the deposit to secure their new home. After speaking with his lover for what seemed like hours, Kurt rolled over in bed, clutching a pillow to him.

Only a few more weeks, he told himself.

* * *

The final performance of Butcher’s Bill went off splendidly, with the entire cast giving everything they had for that performance. Standing on stage and accepting the ovation of the audience filled Adam with a tremendous sense of pride. It had been a tremendous challenge, being on the road for so long and then performing to the best of his ability every night but he had succeeded beyond anything he could have hoped to accomplish.

Of course, his time with Butcher’s Bill wasn’t done just yet, with runs in London and New York to look forward to. But he would have time to rest, recalibrate and focus on getting his life in New York sorted out again.

The cast and crew celebrated their accomplishment late into the night. There was much in the way of congratulations and commiserations, not to mention numerous celebratory toasts. Adam awoke in his shared hotel room with Niall snoring nosily in the next bed and his own head feeling like it wasn’t quite attached to his neck.

Packing his bags for the final time felt odd in a manner that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. He was, of course, delighted to be going home and could not wait to see Kurt. But after zipping up his suitcase, he felt a little lost as bereft. The pressure of his job was over for the time being, and he wasn’t quite sure what awaited him. He’d managed to find something of a routine that had kept him sane over the past few months and now would have to develop a new one going forward.

There would certainly be enough for him to do, he considered. Reconnecting with Kurt was first and foremost on his list, and there was their new flat to set up. He had his internship with the Garrison festival that would keep him busy over the summer, as well as allow him more time to spend with Kurt while they worked. He’d find a small job to keep the bills paid and himself busy until rehearsals started for their London run.

But for now… it was the malaise that came with the end of a production. The down that came after the incredible high of performing before an appreciative audience every night and doing what he’d spent his life training to do. Having the production end, even for just a few months, took a lot of the steam right out of him. It was a vastly different from his past experience with school productions and festivals. This felt much larger… more intense.

It was something that he would have to become accustomed to, Adam told himself as he checked about the hotel room to make sure that he hadn’t forgotten anything. His life would be a cycle of shows beginning and ending. Of hard work and downtime when he wouldn’t know what to do with himself. But for his first true foray into the world of being a professional actor, he was well satisfied with what he and his castmates had accomplished.

Niall pulled him into a tight embrace as they left the last cast luncheon where they’d celebrated having survived the experience. Adam found himself clinging back to the man who’d become such a close friend over the past few months.

“Now don’t forget,” Niall warned with a grin. “Cynth and I are claiming first rights for a couple’s night out once you’re settled in your place. No trying to wriggle out of that.”

Adam couldn’t help from laughing. “I won’t,” he assured his friend. “Kurt will have my guts for garters if I tried to bail on you.”

The other Englishman gave Adam another squeeze, as if reluctant to let him go. “Take care of yourself, you silly tosser. Safe travels,” he urged.

“You too, mate,” Adam returned, blinking away the tears that he swore weren’t there just a second ago. “Give Cynthia a hug for me.”

Adam was grateful to have made such a good friend on this tour, and that the whole case got along so well. It would have made for a miserable experience to live that closely with a group that he didn’t get along with for an extended period. Not that he expected that he would always bond so closely with castmates, and Adam had worked with actors that he didn’t like on a personal level, but the pressures of a tour magnified the dynamics of any cast. He was indeed fortunate to have his first experience be such a positive one.

The flight back to New York was uneventful, but as the miles of American landscape passed beneath him, Adam felt his excitement begin to swell. He watched out the plane window as mountains and grasslands passed by, speeding past cities and long stretches of road that etched their way through the landscapes. He would never cease to be amazed at just how big this country was, or how varied it was. He was wise enough to recognize what a treat he’d had, getting a chance to see more of the country than most people who’d lived their wholes lives there had.

He felt himself smiling as the pilot announced their approach to Newark Airport, knowing that it would only be a little bit longer before he was home. Or at least, in the hotel room that he’d reserved until their lease was signed and he could get into their new flat. When the jets wheels finally touched onto solid ground, he knew that he’d finally made it.

It seemed to take forever for his bags to appear on the carousal, but he soon enough had them in hand and was walking to the arrivals area. It would be just a short train ride into Manhattan, and hopefully into Kurt’s waiting arms.

After stepping through the last set of doors that let him out into the greeting area, he looked for the sign that would direct him to the train when he heard a familiar voice call out, “Adam!”

Adam looked at the crowd gathered to greet the arriving passengers and sat him standing at the front, waving to get his attention. What the hell..?

He hurried over and dropped the handle for his suitcase, catching up Kurt in a tight hug and not caring who was around to see them. Adam’s senses were suddenly flooded with all the familiar characteristics that he knew so well from Kurt and had missed so much these past months. The feel of his body, the scent of his skin and the cologne that he favored, the slight hitch in his breathing that sometimes happened when he was overcome with emotion.

Home wasn’t New York or their little flat. Home was Kurt.

He was finally home, and he never wanted to leave again.

* * *

Kurt's solos: "Night and Day" and "Let's Fall In Love" - Cole Porter

#kadam #kurt hummel #adam crawford #rachel berry #carmen tibideaux #june dolloway #original characters #cannon? what fucking cannon? #not blaine or klaine friendly

[mysteli]

Miss You NSFW (Chris X MC)

A/N: Okay! So I haven’t written smut in so long and I’m not the best at writing it but I hope this fic is still decent! The Senior came out today and this is in honour of that and also part of Chris Appreciation Week! So Tagging @chrispowellappreciation! And @maxattack-powell, @regrettingnathan and @lostinthe-pines! Also part of the Choices September Challenge using three of the themes! Home, Smut and New Beginnings! It’s a lot. Hope you enjoy this! ❤️❤️ 

Tagging @choices-september-challenge

Warning: NSFW!

PERMA TAG LIST: @brightpinkpeppercorn​ @cocomaxley @hopefulmoonobject@alesana45 @jellybean-marshmellow@mymandrake @regrettingnathan @dobie2112@princesstopgun @mechaspirit @skyila@mind-reader1 @xo-endlessmayhem-xo@sakaily @justboredtrash @regina-and-happiness @flyawayblue56 @annekebbphotography @endlessly-searching-for-you

This fic: @christopher-powell @zigthetwig @indiacater@diamondoasis (lemme know if you wanna be added or removed)

Senior year has finally arrived. The final year of Aria’s college years. The year that truly decides if she makes it in the world or not. Basically decides her future for her and guides in her into the light or into the dark. In the right direction or the wrong direction. Going on the correct path is all Aria really wants and she desires a future of success and spending it with the man she loves more than anything in this world. 

Aria has missed Chris since she’s been away from him all summer, participating in an internship which ended up being a waste of time considering she was never even offered a job at the end. Her mom tried to convince her that it may benefit her in the future when it comes to applying for jobs but Aria can’t help but refuse to believe that. What if no opportunities come her way and she doesn’t manage to find success in order to make her dreams a reality? What if no offers pass by her and she’s left to fend for herself in the real world? Alone and lost. 

That has to be one of Aria’s worst fears. Feeling like one day all of her hard work isn’t going to pay off and she’ll just be left to the wolves, falling to the bottom of the job line. Of course, she has more amazing support than any average person could wish for. Support from all her wonderful friends. Kaitlyn, James, Zig, Becca, Zack, Abbie. And of course, the most support comes from her boyfriend, Chris - who she appreciates and definitely doesn’t deserve. He’s amazing and so supportive of everything she does, just like she is with him.

From day one, Chris has been there for her and Aria sure as hell isn’t about to lose what they have for anything or for anyone. What they have is special and Aria plans to cherish it until the end because deep down, she knows she’s never gonna find anyone else like Chris. Never.

She’d reunited with him a few minutes after her parents dropped her off. It was a bit awkward to watch Chris meet her dad for the first time but the nerves were also covered up by the relieving feeling of seeing her boyfriend again. What was a bit awkward was hearing Aria’s dad mention marriage to Chris and seeing how calm he tried to be when he heard Stephen say that. In the end, Chris just accepted the blessing and shook her father’s hand. 

Aria is thankful that her dad didn’t push the topic and left straight after. That gave Chris and Aria time to catch up. Aria spent a few hours out with a meeting with her advisor and then she decided to head out to get some groceries since they were lacking in the food department. Her mind was flooded with questions as she was skimming over the shopping list, trying to process and digest all of her duties for senior year. What she has to do. What she has to achieve. How much time she has to put into hard work in order to certainly grasp her future with confidence. 

It’s all se really wants.

After rushing to the supermarket, Aria heads home, realising she’d spent most of the day and that she’d kinda left Chris on his own most of the day, which she of course felt bad about since it was their first day having seeing each other again. At a quicker pace, she hurries home, sighing with relief when she reaches their front door of their apartment. Struggling to keep her grasp on the shopping bags, Aria yanks her keys from her pocket and unlocks the door, pacing in after it idly swings open. 

Once she enters, she scans her surroundings, searching for any sign of her boyfriend but he doesn’t seem to be around, at least not in the living room anyway. 

“Chris! Baby, I got some pizza.” Aria calls out to Chris, as she strolls into the kitchen, placing her heavy shopping bags on the counter and reaching into them, grabbing the food and placing it where it belongs. 

Suddenly, Aria hears light footsteps creaking against the wood of the floor. She tilts her head and finds Chris emerging from their bedroom, his back hunched slightly and his eyes watering with exhaustion. He’s shirtless and Aria’s dark eyes drift hungrily over his messy exterior briefly before she realised how tired he is. She must have woken him from a sleep. 

Chris yawns, as he runs a hand through his faded brown hair and walks up to his girlfriend, leaning against the kitchen counter with a weak smirk on his face. “You had me at pizza.” He jokes, chuckling with more of a sigh and rubbing the exhaustion out of his eyes.

Aria places a comforting hand on his arm, smiling sweetly at him. “I’m sorry. Did I wake you?” She asks, raising an eyebrow at her boyfriend.

“It’s fine. I needed to wake up anyway. Arjun wants me to start working on some ideas for the council.” Chris responds, starting the kettle and watching it carefully as it boils loudly for a moment. 

Aria frowns at that, noticing the hint of stress in his eyes. Almost like a cry for help. “Already? But I thought you were focusing on football this quarter.” Aria says as she throws a piece of bread in the toaster and switches it on. 

“I thought so too. Guess I’m gonna be doing both.” Chris sighs with regret and skims over his gorgeous girlfriend for a moment, taking her in and realising just how much he’s missed her. 

“Can’t you tell Arjun that you wanna focus on football? I don’t want you being this stressed.” Aria points out, wrapping her arms around Chris’s waist and snuggling against his bare chest. He places an arm around her in return, planting a soft kiss on the top of her head, where her dark hair lies. 

“It’ll be fine. I just don’t wanna disappoint anyone again.” Chris suddenly blurts out and he immediately regrets it when he sees Aria’s head snap up and she eyes him meaningfully for a minute. Chris tries to avoid eye contact but she always seem to draw him back in no matter how hard he tries. “Don’t look at me like that, beautiful. I don’t want you worrying about me this year. I want you to focus on yourself.” Chris adds, grasping both her shoulders and pulling her in for a long tender kiss. He lets it linger and plants a few extra kisses on her jaw before knocking their foreheads together. 

“But Chris, you know I care-“

“I know.” Chris cuts her off and cups her cheeks. “Trust me, I know. But you deserve to think about your future and let me support you this year. I’m sure I can support you a lot when you’re a hit writer for that magazine.” Chris trails off when he squints and notices a look of hurt and guilt fighting in Aria’s features. He scans her closely, watching her face fall as she frowns. “Hey... what’s wrong, baby?” 

Aria hesitates for a moment but just one look in his eyes is enough to affect her like a drug. She can’t keep one damn secret from him. “It’s just... I didn’t get the job in San Francisco. I didn’t even get offered anything.” Aria admits, her voice strained from the disappointment battling in her throat, planting a rock there. Chris’s forehead creases with concern and he tightens his grasp on his girlfriend, pulling her as close as possible and not letting her cry without his comfort. Aria closes her eyes and lets out a heavy sigh, refusing to shed a single tear. “I’m not sad, okay? I’m just disappointed. I really thought I had a shot, you know. They praised me and they made me feel welcome. I really had... some hope for a... new beginning. For me. For us.” 

Chris rests his palms on her shaking arms, rubbing calmly and planting a soft, reassuring kiss on her lips. She’s been working so hard these past few months. Too damn hard. After that whole thing with Nathan and those other Alpha Theta Mu maniacs, Aria has been trying to be more lenient with herself and how hard she works. Maybe she slacked off a little too much that’s why she never got the job. Maybe she got too distracted by everything around her and she just couldn’t stand to be in that stressful position again. However, Chris now fears that she may force herself back in that place. That place that isolates her from the people she loves. That place that drags her confidence down. That place that stops her from eating and sleeping or even paying attention to another person. Chris really doesn’t want her going back there. Back to where she constantly overworked herself. That was torture to watch her destroy all her efforts and hard work.

Chris and Aria stay in the comforting embrace for a moment, just trying their best to reassure each other. Comfort each other and promise that stress and worry isn’t going to take over their lives or affect their relationship. They’d never risk anything affecting their love for one another. It’s close to impossible. 

“...I just don’t want you going back to that place, babe.” Chris admits and releases a heavy sigh, feeling like a heavy load had been lifted from his shoulder but a certain weight still remained. “That place that hurt you. Nothing is supposed to hurt you.”

Aria giggles softly at that, kissing Chris softly on the lips. “I don’t wanna go back to that place but I can’t help but feel like I didn’t get offered a job because I wasn’t in that place.” Aria relents sheepishly, her dark eyes falling to stare at the floor but Chris tilts her chin up to meet his eyes.

“Hey. There’s no way that’s what it is. They just don’t understand how smart, generous and hard-working you are. They don’t get how much of your life and time you’d put into writing them trending articles that would make the front page every single time.” Chris assures, taking both Aria’s hands and squeezing them lovingly. “They may not love and support you. But I do... and I always will.” Chris adds, kissing each of her knuckles and planting a lingering kiss on her lips and tangling his fingers in her dark brown hair.

“Well then, who needs a crap job like that when I have someone like you by my side?” Aria replies, more confidence in her tone then before and a proud smile plays at her lips as she snuggles into Chris, taking in the warmth of this usual body heat. “Thank you, Chris. I don’t need no job or huge city to keep me going. Because you’re the only home I’m ever gonna need.” Aria reveals, smiling broadly and kissing Chris’ cheek and he catches her hand before she can cup his face and he sweeps her off her feet.

He smirks teasingly. “That’s my job as your live in boyfriend.” Chris jokes as he guides Aria’s legs around his waist and crashes their lips together, pinning her against the wall, which causes her to moan softly from the impact of the plastery wallpaper. “And that is also my job.”

“To make me moan?”

Chris smirks at that, rolling his ocean eyes slightly at her comment. “More to make you realise just how much I fucking missed you.” 

With that said, Chris guides Aria blindly into the bedroom, immediately slamming the door shut with his foot. He’s about to prove that he means what he says and that he promises to make her feel things she’s never felt before. Missing her was almost unbearable to take every day and it’s even worse to see her through a screen without being able to touch her or kiss her on the lips like he wants to do every damn day. Her going away to San Francisco wasn’t meant to be so difficult to take. Hell, she promised she’d be back a lot sooner than she actually came and then she ended up staying with her parents for a week since she was recovering from the rejection from the magazine.

Anyway, none of that mattered anymore cause now he has her in his arms and he plans to make love to her better than he ever has before. Chris wants to affect her in a way he hasn’t before. He wants to show her just how much he’s bottling up and how much tension is tangled in his muscles, dragging him down every time he’s away from her. Damn, Aria really has Christoper hooked and he just can’t seem to shake her from his heart. Not that he wants to or anything like that. He’s in it for forever. 

Her still in his arms, Chris rests his hands at her waist in order to steady her before pinning her against the bedroom door, much rougher than he intended but he can’t shake the desire and hunger that’s causing his heart to pound a million times faster in his head and the way her beauty causes a million thoughts to circle his mind. Memories of her. Mental images of her. Nothing could ever keep her off his mind. 

Their lips never disconnect, as Chris rolls one hand up and down her side while using the other to help her maintain her balance, as she wraps her legs around her waist, pressing their bodies closer than ever before, which earns a rare groan from Chris. They stagger against the wall, kissing like their lives depends on it which their needs do but they’ve never as aggressive as they are being right now. Sure, they have their fun and kinky sides but this is the first time they’ve been as... blunt as they are with each other right now. 

Chris suddenly carries Aria off the wall and carefully guides her over to the bed, watching how she quickly removes her jacket before being gently placed on the silk sheets by Chris. He swears she looks even more beautiful than the last time he saw her. It was so long ago and he remembers her so much differently than he sees her right now. Her dark hair is fanned out on the bed, creating some sort of halo over her. Her chocolate eyes burn into Chris’ ocean ones as he leans slowly closer, enraptured in her beauty. 

“What are you staring at?” She asks in a teasing tone, a mischievous smirk playing at her lips.

“Just you.” He whispers in a husky tone that matches her seductive one. Her hand drifts at an agonisingly slow pace up Chris’ bare chest, starting at his stomach before making her way up to his lips, pinching his nipples halfway through. This causes Chris to suck in a sharp breath. Her thumb tugs at his plump lower lip and he catches her hand before she let it fall back. 

Chris starts leaving a trail of kisses from the inside of her wrist to the outside layer of her shoulder, which shakes from his spine-trembling touch. All her nerves activate in her body and she begins to melt hopelessly into his touch, even more than she usually would. 

His lips drift up her neck, leaving a trail of fiery kisses in his wake, as he finally lands on her lips and catches Aria in a fury of passion. She yanks his neck and deepens the kiss, already tired from the teasing and it hadn’t even really begun yet. Chris felt too taken aback to pause her need and take control. She was way too damn convincing, even when she didn’t talk in that sweet melodic voice of hers. Her tongue slips passed the defences of his lips and she connects hers with his, letting it swirl in his mouth for a second. 

Aria backs up against the headboard, smiling against Chris’ lips when she tries to hold back a giggle when she feels the cold material of the headboard against her back. It doesn’t take her too long to gather herself and stay focussed on the heat of the kiss.

Meanwhile, Chris starts to work at Aria’s clothes, his hands sneakily snaking behind her back and slipping under her shirt. Just for a minute, he caresses the bare skin and moves his lips to her neck, her heavy pants ringing in his ears in the best way possible. Eventually, he pulls her shirt over her head and tosses it aside. Chris leans back, taking in her unconditional beauty. Her dark hair dangles at her chest and her chestnut eyes are flooding with desire. 

She wants him. Hell, she needs him. 

Chris snaps out of his trance finally and goes back to work at Aria’s neck, leaving a cheeky love bite at the base and another on her collarbone. Hickeys that will definitely last for a few days but right now, Aria doesn’t dare think about that. All she wants to do is focus on the touch of Chris and the feeling of his body against hers. He’s impossible to resist and she can’t take anymore waiting. 

She moves so her mouth is grazing his ear and prepares to whisper something. “Chris, you got about ten seconds but I finish this myself.” Aria warns and Chris’ eyes immediately snap up to stare at his desperate girlfriend.

“So you don’t like it when I take my time?” He questions in a teasing tone and she rolls her eyes at him.

“Five... four... three...”

“Okay, okay!” Chris interrupts and swiftly silences with her a kiss, pinning her down against the bed and climbing on top of her.

Hovering over her, he attaches his lips to her chest, teasingly outlining the fabric of her bra with his fingers. Aria arches her back and allows him access to be able to unclasp her bra which he does. Honestly, Chris struggles for a moment, having done that a few times. Aria has some real pain in the ass bras. It happens a lot more than it should do.

Before Aria can notice him struggling, Chris finally manages to remove her bra, instantly throwing himself down at her breasts and sucking more rough than usually on her nipples, causing her to gasp from the sweltering sensation. 

“Chris!” Aria moans his name and notices how his hands start to drift down to her waist, preparing to unbutton her jeans and slide them slowly down her legs. He manages to remove that quicker than the bra and he’s quite proud of himself when he manages to do it. 

His rough hands slide up her now-bare thighs causing her to shiver from his touch and that leads him to doing the same with her underwear, sliding them down her legs until it’s on the floor. While all this happens, his mouth never leaves her breast. Once she’s completely naked, Chris brings one hand up to where his head is and begins to palm at her other breast, only adding to the amount of pleasure running through her body like lighting strikes had hit her. 

“Damnit, Chris.” She moans with pleasure, clinging on the bed sheets and tangling her fingers in Chris’s growing hair. Meanwhile, his free hand drifts down to her waist, teasingly lurking just above her clit and outlining it occasionally, which causes her to groan in frustration.

His mouth continues to work at her nipples, finding a new sensitive spot with the hand that’s massaging her breast and causing her nipples to harden from the self-satisfying touch. Sweat creases both of them and an undeniable sensation escalates in their hearts, driving them and giving them the fuel and the strength to continue. 

Chris hand finally decides to be more lenient and his fingers impulsively start to thrash into her, exploring her interior curiously and with the obvious intention of making her feel thing she’d never felt before.

Aria’s eyes roll back from the feeling of Chris and plenty of moans and calling of Chris’ name escapes her. “Ah! Chris!” She shouts, as she tugs at parts of Chris’s hair.

He can’t help but shiver at that. “Oh, Aria!” 

His fingers continue to pump through her and the pace increases as the speed of his pounding heart increases. Sex has never felt so meaningful and so animalistic as it is with Aria. Of course, they have their kinks but there’s always something tender and romantic lingering in the air and in their hearts when they make love and it only makes every time all the more special, no matter what they do to make it as hot as possible. 

Eventually, Chris removes his fingers and mouth (and of course his leftover clothes) from Aria and positions himself over her instead, preparing for the main event, if you will. His lips barely graze hers, as his braces himself over her and he can sense the unsteady beating of her heart as anticipation runs through her and that’s what seems to fuel her, as she awaits for Chris to strike. 

Slower than he usually would, Chris teases Aria with his length a few times and earning quite a few impatient groans from her, before finally lowering himself into her, letting out all the bottled up longing he’d been holding in since the second she left. Maybe even before she left. He’s been waiting for this moment for so damn long. To have finally had his need received and to be able to feel her again. Touch her again. Even seeing her again was a blessing that Chris was so desperate to experience. 

A sudden moan escapes her, more like several moans as Chris continues to pump in and out of her constantly, giving her a hidden sense of relief as slick sweat soaks her body. She can’t help but give all of herself to Chris when they make love. It’s impossible for her to keep still and patient when he’s the one who is touching her. His touch is irresistible. Undeniable. Unstoppable and it makes her feel things she never thought she’d be able to feel. It helps her feel alive and that’s all she really wants to feel. 

Forgetting about the stress and forgetting about all their doubts, worries, regrets and unanswered questions. All they can focus on is each other. They continue to entwine in each other and melt together as one until finally... they both give in. 

Later, they lay entwined in the covers of the silk sheets of their bed, making the most of the simple moments until their senior year officially is set to start to the next day. They just want to stay wrapped up in each other’s arms forever. Why must the world give stress a reason to come out and infect people? Why not let hope and faith come out instead?

Aria is snuggling up to Chris, her head resting against her chest as she feels his breathing rise and fall at a heavy pace. “Fuck, baby. That was amazing.” Chris admits, planting a sloppy kiss in her now-greasy hair.

Aria can’t help but giggle at how speechless he is and she tilts her head so she’s looking into his eyes. “Thank you...”

“For what, Aria?”

“Just everything. You’re always there for me and you always seem to know what I want and how I want it. You love me and I love you and I know you’ll always be the one to catch me if I fall. You’re the only home I’m ever gonna need.”

Chris’ face reddens slightly at that and he softly brings their lips together for a brief moment. “I love you too. And I promise that senior year is gonna be a new beginning for us.”

“As long as we’re together.” 

#captainpowellweek #fan fiction #captain powell week #the freshman #the sophomore #the junior #the senior #chris powell appreciation week #choices september challenge #chris x mc #chris powell #christopher powell

[douglaskimberly94]

Save Relationship Meaning Awesome Ideas

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Save Relationship Reddit

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#Save Relationship Meaning Awesome Ideas #How To Save Your Relationship In 30 Seconds

[zodiac-enthusiasts]

Aries Man Personality | Who He Really Is? Who Is Aries Man? Aries man loves to conquer, loves to seduce, and then once he reaches his goals, he gets tired easily. He is provocative by nature and very dynamic. He can never stand still instead needs the adrenaline to feel alive. Lively and authoritative whenever he can. He often imposes ideas and decisions on behalf of others. Impossible not to notice him, as he knows how to be the center of attention. Aries man and especially woman love sincerity. To seduce him, avoid unclear messages instead go straight to the point. Aries hates those who talk too much but mean nothing. For Aries everything is simple and straightforward, so anyone should not hesitate to surprise him with unexpected statements of love or shameless proposals. He dreams of someone who knows how to resist their siege and who teases his imagination. Aries man has a crazy vitality. Brave to the nerve. His feelings suddenly explode and ignite everything they encounter. He faces life with loyalty and hard-nosedness, but in the end, he is naive, impatient, but also in constant. As soon as an Aries man gets tired of a relationship, he will be looking for new triumphs. Aries man is always on the hunt for the suitable love. If he likes someone, he will almost certainly be the one to take the first step. He will be impulsive and direct. The more challenging the target of his love is, the more his heart becomes inflamed. His passions are a series of lightning strikes and of inflamed encounters. Discover the secrets to making any Aries man fall in love with you! Highly Intelligent Aries man appreciates the ethical and moral things in life. He seems to hate anyone who tries to fool him or pretending to be smarter than he is especially when in front of others. He is too intelligent to sense stupidity from common sense and won’t allow anyone else to tell him differently. Aries man including Aries woman is keen on taking adventures trips in unknown places as part of his active lifestyle. Aries also likes to travel and learn about different cultures and behaviors. He is fearless, and he’s truly courageous. He dares to take the wildest adventures which only a few dare to try. Aries man seems to have a stony heart because he doesn’t recognize the word “danger." He seems to take danger heads on just like the ram in real life. Also, the Aries man is known to have clear goals for his life. Dare To Compete Aries man is a great competitor, and he is always seen to be challenging with others either physically or intellectually. He will compete only when he knows he can win. Yes, Aries man likes risks but must be able to understand what he will be facing. If Aries isn’t sure of winning he won’t fight. He can’t handle failure assumed by his inability. As well Aries doesn’t like being humiliated neither. Aries will always value a fair competition and will accept losing if he’s beaten reasonably. Otherwise, if he knows someone is cheating, then Aries will fight him out. Aries gets into a fight for a good reason, usually to protect his honor. How To Win Aries Man Heart? The highest relationship according to the stars is with the Leo Woman because she can engage in his enthusiasm and in his desire for success by holding his head. Aries man can get on well with the Sagittarius Woman. She has the same taste of adventure. The Aries man is also very attracted to the Libra woman. Libra woman is his opposite and therefore often complementary sign, who manages to stimulate him and make him feel beautiful. However, Aries man has little sympathy for the Cancer Woman. To Aries' eyes, she is too passive. With the Capricorn Woman, things aren't any different. She appears too cold and critical, which would risk making him wondering his prestige. If a woman wants to steal Aries' heart, it may seem like an impossible undertaking, right? Here is an important tip to help you out in the quest to always keep him on the rope. Aries are keen with the cleanliness, so every woman must make sure to wear clean underwear and make him believe that he is leading the game. Aries will thus become a humble little lamb. Oh.. another little advice. Never let your guard down! He has an athletic body He is highly energetic Has the ability to excite sexually. Walks heads up and victorious Has firm eyes and focused on the target Will value their partners and respects their initiatives Eager to win every competition Aries Man Friendship While being among friends, Aries will try to have a good time with them. Having fun is all part of his excellent personality also Aries is able to keep everyone entertained with a thin sense of humor. Friends value his vibrant spirit keeping them amused therefore people genuinely respect Aries friendship. Usually, Aries have many friends, but only a few can be best friends. Aries will always support his friends when they’re in difficulty. Usually, Aries becomes the center of attention and in some situations attract wrong friends but time will show how valuable they are. Befriending Aries Man If you want to call an Aries for a night in the city, you will have an exciting companion for the rest of the night evening. Though must keep one thing in mind to never make any plans. Aries tend to be very spontaneous and will come up with tons of way to have fun. This sign needs variety in friendship. A not so good part of Aries man personality is that they always look for constant changes in interest. If Aries man finds his friends boring he will start looking for new friends. Aries is well appreciated for being sharp so that making new friends will never be a big problem. Friends are pleasant but not exactly needed for the independent Aries, who does not require a large group to have fun. Although he often prefers to stay alone, his competitive nature pushes him to give his best. Ruled by the First House of the Ego, self-centeredness can sometimes take the upper hand when it comes to choices that concern people or property. On the other hand, Aries can be close with his friends to the point when he thinks they are the numbers one in his life. He is passionately competitive and fair to others Turns out to be courageous most of the time Takes the first step and expects others to follow He's adventurous and ambitious Dreads physical disability Has very clean goals Aries Man Physical Appearance Aries has a naturally irresistible charm that impresses and conquers. Usually, Aries is of medium height and occasionally is quite tall. Aries tends to have a muscular body packed with lots of energy and usually looks lean and muscular. He is concerned about his looks so keeping fit is vital for his lifestyle. Aries seems to have an athletic look which is clearly visible. Their first impression is of someone with a relentless attitude and rough looking personality. He loves to be seen as strong and victorious. His eyes are firm and somewhat appearing to gaze profoundly or penetrative especially when about to take action or start a challenge. Aries man has a rather short neck and strong wide shoulders. An Aries man, by nature, is very conscious about his physical appearance. Aries man is confident, fiery, and muscular. It is common to see an Arias have a scar on his face. Aries physical looks reveal a strong champion’s character. His robust body may gradually lose efficiency as he grows older or usually once he creates a family which means that Aries will have less time to exercise.

[beanmaster-pika]

Petunias and Black Lilies

Title: Petunias and Black Lilies

Rating: T for some profanity

Characters: Xanxus, Aria

Genre: Friendship, general

Words: 5,314

Summary: Being the Donna of a largely matriarchal famiglia, Aria sometimes forgets that the rest of the world sees her as just that—a woman. But if they refuse to recognize her ability, she’ll help produce something they will recognize. (In a parallel universe, Xanxus makes the Vongola stronger without becoming the tenth boss or being frozen in ice first, mostly because of a certain someone’s meddling.)

 The first time she meets him, she is twelve; the Giglio Nero is officially under the control of a steward until she comes of age (officially, mind—she’s feeling out her capacity in this world, her steward encouraging her here, cutting her off there, and providing her with endless records of mafia history to draw wisdom from), and he is the ten-year-old adopted feral of Don Vongola. The adults look down on him. The children are divided, some siding with their parents, others more cautious. Aria is of the latter.

She knows, when she meets him, that he is dangerous. Flames thrum and roar within him, untamed and wild, and his eyes are angry, proud, untrusting.

She immediately decides she loves him. She’s always been fascinated and enamoured by dangerous things: guns, knives, the men and women who will one day work beneath her; Xanxus is slightly different in that he is not hers, but not by much. She knows that when they grow up, he will either be a great asset or a terrifying enemy.

Therefore, Aria decides to get to know him and love him as a person. She prefers her lovely dangerous things as allies, thank you very much. Fortunately, Don Vongola makes things very simple for her.

“Hello, Aria,” he says kindly, kneeling down to speak with her at eye level. Being the holder of the Vongola Ring, he knows with unerring certainty that she will one day ascend to the head of the Giglio Nero and should be treated with caution. That does not, however, mean that he can’t try for an alliance. “This is Xanxus, my son.” The feral dodges the hand that moves to ruffle his hair, vestiges of a snarl at his lips. Oh, getting to know him will be so fun, Aria can already tell.

“Nice to meet you,” she says with a genuine smile, holding out a hand to shake. He eyes her suspiciously, but grudgingly takes the hand after a subtle nudge from his father.

Actually touching him, she can feel the strength of his Flames. They’re even more powerful than she thought, stronger than some grown men, and she doesn’t doubt that he’s strong enough for the Vongola ring. It really is a pity that his blood will disallow it. Nevertheless, he’ll definitely grow to hold a position of high power in the Vongola, bad blood or no, and if that doesn’t work out for him, maybe she’ll be able to entice him into the Giglio Nero. Goodness knows they need all the one person armies they can get. So she stands, regal as a queen despite her puerile appearance, and meets his eyes with dignity. There is something akin to recognition flickering through them at the treatment, and he in return gives her grudging respect, giving her hand a firm shake before releasing it. 

“Nice to meet you.”

Don Vongola looks positively delighted by this development, probably because Xanxus doesn’t look like he wants to kill Aria anymore. “Well then! I suppose I’ll just leave you kids to it, then,” he beams. “An old man knows where he’s not wanted. Xanxus, accompany her, would you?” And before his son can even formulate a response, he sweeps off to speak with Don Cavallone, pleased as the cat that got the cream.

“We’re a bit young for matchmaking,” Aria comments when he’s gone, drilling straight to the heart of the matter. Xanxus stares at her, alarmed and dumbfounded.

“Matchmaking?” he blurts out. His innocence concerning politics is cute, in Aria’s opinion.

“Matchmaking,” she affirms seriously. But then she smiles, and bounces on her toes. “But never mind that. Like I said, we’re too young. What do you want to play?”

Xanxus looks like a deer in headlights. It really is adorable. “I… Whatever,” he mumbles, scuffing the ground with his shoes. Okay, so clearly not a team player. Maybe something of an introvert. Or, more probably, he’s trying to meld into his new higher station and has no idea. Tutors don’t teach this, Aria knows, and it’s a crying shame no one’s seen fit to take the initiative to help him out. Enrico, she knows, is busy building up a scathing rivalry, partly to toughen up the new kid for the famiglia, partly to protect his claim as heir; Massimo is bookish and probably hasn’t interacted with him much at all; and Federico, well, he’s at that time in his teenage years where he can’t be seen going around with a kid brother or it’ll be uncool. Maybe he’s a little bit sulky about having his spot as the youngest taken, too, but he’s a good egg, if a bit mischievous, so Aria thinks that they’ll be fine on that front. But for now, Xanxus is growing more awkward and reclusive by the second, so she needs to do something about it.

“Alright,” she says briskly, mind racing to what kind of games might be good. He’s a street kid, so he won’t mind any rough and tumble, but he also has to think of his standing in their society. He’s far behind the others due to his origins in the slums, so something a little more refined might be in order. Something to challenge him, too, with tactics and strategies and no small bit of finesse, yet still fun.

Oh, yes. She has the perfect game.

“Do you want to steal a cake?” she grins. He stares back, shocked once again. But. Well.

“You’re on,” he declares.

Aria, Xanxus is quickly realizing, is not an average girl. Oh, sure, she’s pretty enough and she giggles and titters, and she wears frilly dresses and nice shoes, but she’s got a life and mischief to her that he hasn’t seen in any of the vapid girls and young ladies he’s met while standing at the side of his father. Actually, she kind of reminds him of his stepmother, eyes going calculating as they focus on their target, mapping out ways to go about accomplishing the mission.

But that’s where she’s different, mainly. Forget niceties and politicking and underhanded social engineering, she’s ready for a fight.

Xanxus can see it. Quite clearly, in fact, and he’s surprised no one has called her out on it, not when the girls here are supposed to be pretty and giggle and wear nice, unsoiled clothes. Her hands are clenching and unclenching, her stance is loose and her muscles tensed, ready for action. There’s a fire in her eyes that Xanxus sees reflected when he stares into mirrors, but it’s different from his. Purer, somehow, he can tell; and bright and warm where his fire is darker. More angry. He doesn’t doubt that he’d win if they fought–she may be taller than him, but he can tell he’s stronger. And that’s the funny thing; she sees this, his angry fire and strength, and doesn’t shy away or hold him at arm’s length. Instead, she reaches out. Xanxus can count on his hands the number of people here who do that, and two don’t count because they’re his parents now. It’s interesting, to say the least, so he’s going to roll with it.

“That one,” he says, pointing at the large créme-colored one that Leonardo Apine is eyeing. It’s one of the biggest at the party. Aria’s lips quirk into a grin.

“Bigger is better, in this case,” she says approvingly, “but it’s also harder. Think we can do it?”

“Try me,” he growls, and he’s on the streets again, hungry, about to snatch something. He’d never gone for anything big, a roll or an apple from a negligent vendor, but no one’s paying attention here because apparently a lot of rich people are either insipid or trusting. Must be all the security guards. And besides, there aren’t any consequences here, maybe a cuff on the ear and a word of reprimand, but nothing else. No beatings. His father doesn’t like violence and Carlotta much prefers making people feel guilty, so what has he got to lose? “We’re going to have to deal with Leonardo first. He’s the only one who’s really going to focus on it. Then when my father makes his speech, we’ll get it.”

“It’s on the other side of the pavilion,” Aria recognizes, nodding, but then prods him to think harder. “But that’s a basic plan. What if something goes wrong?”

“Then we’ll deal with it,” he scowls. Her face falls, and for some reason, he feels like he’s failed. A trial, or a test, with the reward being the acceptance he’s been striving to get here, so he tries again. “If Leonardo doesn’t look away, one of us can throw pebbles at him from the bushes, and the other can go get it. He’s standing near it, so anyone else who would notice will be more focused on him because he’s a wimp and screams like a little baby.”

“And if someone accuses you of hurting him?” Aria counters bluntly. “They don’t really trust you yet, and I heard you broke his nose last week.”

Xanxus doesn’t miss a beat with the answer. “Well, that couldn’t be right. I was playing with you the whole time.”

Aria grins then, excited and approving, and he knows he’s passed. They rock-paper-scissors for who does what and then split up, Xanxus circling around into the orchard and Aria slipping into the crowd. Leonardo Apine goes ever closer to the cake, and Xanxus winds up his throwing arm, and then everything goes to hell.

“May I have your attention!” his father shouts. “Thank you all for attending!” There is a short bit of polite applause. “As you all know, my youngest son recently came to live here–not Federico, I assure you. He’s still off at boarding school, don’t worry.” Polite laughter. “No, this is different. When we found him, we were astounded.” Xanxus is cursing under his breath now, hunting down Aria in the crowd. She’s biting her lip, worried, and they have no way to communicate so he has to improvise. Taking careful aim, he tosses one of his pebbles. It hits her leg, grabbing her attention. He throws another one, and it skitters against the pavement, giving her his location. She looks over, and he meets her eyes, tense. “He has the Flame of Wrath that was seen only before in Vongola Secondo, and that was how we knew. He’s very young, but we know he’ll be powerful, so please welcome him! Xanxus, would you come up here?”

Aria deliberates for hardly half a second before mouthing ‘go.’

He feels like he’s failed again, but this time… this time, he’s failed himself.

Aria meets back up with Xanxus after Don Vongola finishes introducing his new son. It’s a pity that they couldn’t nab the cake, but that’s alright. They’re only children. They can learn from this, and grow, and besides, Aria already has a contingency plan prepared, though Xanxus doesn’t know it. Plus, no one’s died. This is a children’s game, after all. It’s alright.

Xanxus doesn’t seem to think so, though. He looks angry and frustrated, teeth gritted and fists clenched as he walks over, and now Aria’s worried because again, it’s a game.

(Granted, so is Monopoly, but that’s another story she really doesn’t want to get into right now.)

“What’s wrong?” she asks immediately, catching his hands in hers and sending pulses of her Flames through them. She’s nowhere near the effectiveness of a Rain, but the atmosphere is languid and relaxed, and she’s keeping herself calm, so maybe the Sky’s harmony will work. But his Flames fight back, they don’t want to be tamed, and Aria is forced along for the ride and finds herself facing a tidal wave of self-loathing. Um. Wow.

“We didn’t get it,” he hisses, still furious, and now Aria knows it’s at himself. “I didn’t factor in the old man. And now we’ve lost our chance.” He looks on the very verge of berating himself, too; Aria recognizes the signs from one anxious Sun in her famiglia, and this is all wrong, so her hands move from his hands to his face and slap his cheeks lightly.

“Hey,” she says, slightly reprimanding, fixing him with a stern glare. “It’s okay. This isn’t a raid on an enemy family, and we aren’t grown-ups. It’s okay to mess up. This is a game, you know? A game.” He doesn’t look at all assured, but he does look very confused, and he opens his mouth again to speak but she squishes his cheeks and cuts him off. “Besides, this is a… a whatchamacallit… a learning experience. It’s harder for us to move around because we’re important, right? And there are people who know we are. We’re constricted because of our place in society.” A different kind of constriction than his previous place, she doesn’t say, but it looks like it’s dawning on him and he’s listening now, and putting together the puzzle. She’s trying to teach him, he knows now, she can see it in the way his eyes are no longer defensive, but still slightly hostile, and curious. Good, so he’s a quick study. This will make assimilating him into society much faster.

“You’re like Carlotta,” he notes, and she’s caught off guard partially because she wasn’t expecting him to say anything, partially because it takes her a beat to recognize that Carlotta is the name of Don Vongola’s wife. So Xanxus doesn’t call her mother, but also doesn’t call her an ‘old lady.’ Interesting. “You’re making me fit in. In a real sneaky, underhanded way.”

“I guess,” Aria allows. He’s not exactly wrong. “So what are you going to do about it?”

Xanxus stares at her for a moment before saying, “The old man is always talking about how it’s important to make allies.”

And just like that, they’re friends.

They both get terrible stomachaches for devouring all of the cake after that, but Aria pesters her steward to allow her to visit the Vongola more often. Xanxus studies hard and trains harder, scowling the whole way as he pushes for becoming the ninth’s successor. He learns how to shoot a gun before she does (she never quite forgives him for that and hits the training ranges as often as she can once she’s able, but she just can’t seem to surpass him. He’s got a skill with the gun that she can’t hope to match, but she can damn well be better than a great many others) and earns his stripes after protecting the ninth from a drive-by shooting. Aria’s steward is horrified by how disappointed she is that she wasn’t there, but there’s not much he can do about it except repeatedly tell her to look after her health and welfare once she becomes the boss. It happens on her seventeenth birthday, and she and Xanxus drink like fishes in celebration. The hangovers are killer, but Aria thinks it’s worth it, because once Xanxus has been drunk under the table he apparently turns into a giggly drunk, and that’s something that she’ll treasure forever, especially since she knows that it’s not likely to happen again.

There is one thing that worries her, though.

“I’ll catch up with you soon,” he’d murmured when he was still a brooding drunk, slurring slightly. “Just you wait. I’ll be the tenth boss, and I’ll make Vongola a hundred times better than it’s ever been–and a thousand times better than the Giglio Nero.”

She knows it won’t happen. She knows it’s physically impossible for him to inherit the Ring. But that night in the bar, she’d felt sentimental, and instead of chuckling and ribbing him like she does whenever else they breach the subject of his legitimacy as heir, she leaned over, ruffled his hair, and smiled. “I’ll take you up on that challenge.” And that was that.

“No,” Aria says again, warding off Leonardo Apine’s advances, “I really can’t.”

“Just one drink,” he insists, smiling gleefully at her obvious discomfort. “After all, you’re a boss, aren’t you? It should be fine. Just a little drink between a couple of mafiosi, it’ll be fine.” He does so enjoy mocking her.

She bites back a sigh and stamps down on the urge to blow her hair out of her eyes where some of it has fallen out of her chignon. “No, I really can’t. I have a prior arrangement,” she explains.

“Well, surely they can come, too!” he crows, the delight in his eyes taking on a fever pitch, believing himself to be calling her bluff. Fool. She almost pities him.

“Is that so?” a voice rumbles, and the prior arrangement makes himself known as muscle and anger and fire.

Leonardo pales, immediately backtracking in his words as he attempts to scramble away. “X-Xanxus!” he sputters, glancing back and forth between the other and Aria and connecting the dots. Once he’s done that, he finds his options depressingly bleak. “S-So sorry! Didn’t know she was yours.” Shaking, he bows his head slightly and bids goodbye before getting the hell out of there.

“Mine?” Xanxus echoes when he’s gone, quirking an eyebrow.

“Yours,” Aria shrugs. “He assumes.” She snorts. “It’s like he can’t believe that I’m a genuine boss with independent thought and ability.” They share a grim chuckle at that, knowing that it’s exactly what the moron thinks. They’re traditional mafia, after all, and women… Well, women don’t have much place here except in the home. The Giglio Nero, though ancient, are small and unassuming, most of the donnas having husbands to parade to the outer world as the boss, and few realize exactly how much they do, and they like to keep it that way, but Aria, well. Aria doesn’t. Neither did her mother, for that matter, but then, her mother had never ordered any raids. In that, Aria’s different.

For now, though, she will put the cynical musing aside; there’s a bar to visit and a friend to catch up with, and she’s got the funniest story about Gamma to share with him and maybe some earth shattering news to deliver if they get drunk enough. They leave with no haste, but little leisure, and catch a cab to take them to the bar. The driver takes them for a couple. Aria doesn’t blame him. Xanxus is quick to correct him with a complementary angry growl, which is always amusing to no end, but it’s… subdued, a little bit. Less bite, more bark, and considering the fact that Xanxus is almost all bite, that’s worrying.

She doesn’t mention it. She has the worst feeling the reason is going to come out tonight and she’s milking the peace for all it’s worth.

During the drive, she takes off her heels and begins massaging her aching feet with a hint of Sky Flames, heaving a relieved sigh as she does so. Xanxus raises an eyebrow.

“Thought women don’t suffer in heels,” he notes.

“You clearly need to speak with Zia Carlotta more,” she snorts. “She won’t be as obvious about it as I am, but damn these things are like death traps.”

“Can’t imagine walking in them.”

“Yeah? Try fighting in them.”

They carry on like that, arguing and teasing, and Aria is struck by the thought that she’s really grateful for nights like these where she can treat Xanxus like she treats her men instead of the heir to another famiglia; his shoulders are less tense, and he looks like he might actually be enjoying himself somewhat, just. Talking. And laughing. With someone near to his own age, someone he can see as equal without compromising his strict, fanatical belief in his rights as Don Vongola’s heir, an actual friend of sorts whom he can relax around.

(She’s heard rumors about that young swordsman, naturally. Of course she has. But she’s known Xanxus since he joined the Vongola, and he’s only known him for a month, tops, and the difference should be obvious.)

The fact that she’s feeling this nostalgia and sentimentality now is even more worrying. It’s almost as if she’s wallowing in something that will never happen again.

They reach the bar without incident and immediately head to the counter. Xanxus is a regular, it seems, and drops her a recommendation before ordering his own drink. He’s got better taste in alcohol than she does, so she follows the recommendation and charms the barkeeper with a smile.

“It’s really freaky how you do that,” Xanxus mutters, sipping his drink. Aria laughs a little, her lips on the rim of her cup but not drinking yet.

“A woman has to use what she can in a world ruled by men,” she chides. He grunts an approximation of an agreement, and they chat for a while. No horrible truths are revealed, he laughs at the Gamma story, and they depart without incident. It’s enough to make an already paranoid girl nervous.

Her worry, as it turns out, is not unwarranted. Xanxus has decided on walking back, and she follows. He drops the bomb then.

“I’m not the Ninth’s real son.”

His voice is steady, but Aria can hear waves of anger within it, cascading and roaring with what she’s sure are betrayal and disbelief. She’s also having a spot of trouble on the disbelief front–she’d never expected that he’d just… tell her this. Xanxus is a proud man, as he should be, given that he was raised Vongola, and this admission of horrid truth is uncharacteristic of him, and tells Aria with startling clarity exactly how much trust he places in her. She purses her lips in a thin line and stares at his back. He turns, then, to look at her, and takes in the calmness of her demeanor despite the fact that the rational response would be at least some level of shock, and then he states flatly, “You knew.”

“You don’t seem surprised by that,” she responds, tone carefully neutral. The fury in his eyes is contained for now, and she’s earned some degree of tolerance as his childhood friend, but she knows she must tread carefully–no one has ever tamed the feral; he’s merely gotten trickier, wiser to their ways and exercising more self control. That’s what’s making him more dangerous now; he doesn’t just have his Wrath, he’s got brains to go with it and can’t be dealt with so easily by making confrontations a battle of wits. He barks out a short, humorless laugh. Almost miserable, she’d say, if she didn’t know him better.

“Thought you might,” he says. “You’re Giglio Nero. You’ve got all that shaman seer shit going on, right? Must’ve been a no brainer. Did you find it funny? Helping me better my chances at becoming the tenth boss even though you knew it wouldn’t ever happen?” His voice is rising, and with it, his rage, his self control slipping; Aria knows she needs to do something quickly but is cut off. “You knew all along, didn’t you? So why didn’t you tell me? Friends–hah!” He spits at the ground near her feet, and she grits her teeth. If she were Don Vongola, she would be trying to deal with this with placating words and contradicting force. However, she’s not Don Vongola, she’s the Donna Giglio Nero, and Xanxus’s childhood friend, and she knows that the best choice here is to fight fire with fire–placating comes later.

She takes a step forward. “We are friends,” she snaps, matching his anger with her own force. He looks angrier, but no more unreasonable, which is a good sign. Also slightly satisfying, because she practically wrote the book on dealing with Xanxus and is glad that it’s coming in handy here. “And next don or not, you’re still Vongola. Family isn’t totally by blood. And the Vongola are a pillar in our world, and they need to be strong, so by God I was going to help. The Giglio Nero isn’t up for power grabs, not while I’m the boss; and you’re one of the strongest they have.” Xanxus looks like he’s going to try to argue, but since he’s such a mess of superiority and inferiority complexes, she doubts his arguments are going to make any sense and presses forward. “Xanxus, why do you want to lead the Vongola? Answer me that, at least.”

That makes his pause and think. Good. If she can facilitate his rationality, then he’s more likely to actually listen to sound advice. After a moment, he begins, in a hoarse, halting voice, “I want- I want to make it strong. We’re weak, under the old man’s rule. Too friendly with the weaklings and sycophants. Enrico, Massimo, Federico–they’d just continue on like him. We’d fall into ruin. And I don’t want that.” The fire in his eyes is controlled now, and even more fervent; he prizes the Vongola–or his idealized image of it–above all else, and that’s showing here. “But why do you need to know that?”

Aria draws herself up to her full height–still shorter than him, but no less powerful or august in bearing. “Because we’re friends,” she reminds him. “And I need to know your intentions before I can support you here.” Xanxus looks thrown off by this, like he hadn’t expected she’d offer assistance. She can understand why, she supposes; a fight for succession is more or less declaring civil war within the famiglia, but that doesn’t change the fact that garnering outside support could be plenty useful in such a campaign. The Giglio Nero have always had cordial and fairly intimate relations with the Vongola, and as such, her support could carry a heavy weight in the political side of the fight. Most of the Families in the Vongola’s official alliance are in it for the power anyway–the ‘weaklings and sycophants’ Xanxus had spoken of so contemptuously–and they’re more than likely to just go along with whichever heir happens to be strongest or most cunning.

Of course, that’s only if Xanxus refuses to back down, and if Aria knows him, that’s exactly what’s going to happen.

He’s regarding her now, cautious. “I never said anything about needing support.” “You also never give up on your unhealthy obsessions,” she fires back. “You’re planning something.”

“And why should I tell you?” he counters. “You could be colluding with the old man, maybe you have been from the start-”

Yeah, she’s gonna cut him off right there, and she does with a sound slap. He looks startled by this, given that she rarely engages in fisticuffs with him or even fights in general, but that’s good. The shock leaves his mind open. “Xanxus,” she says, enunciating clearly, “you are the greatest fool I have ever met. First of all, why on earth would he enlist an eleven-year-old’s help, and second, just why would I go against you just because some old man told me to?”

The gears are turning in his mind now that logic has penetrated the haze of anger and betrayal, so she throws in a reassurance before changing tacks. “I’ll help you however I can if necessary, but Xanxus, I don’t think this is a good idea. The ninth and his closest circle know without a doubt that you aren’t Vongola by blood no matter how much you are one at heart, and the Sky ring will reject you as ultimate proof of that. You’ll have to start a bloody massacre to get that position as decimo, one that will make lasting ripples, for you and everyone who supports you, and quite frankly…” Her hand moves to her abdomen as she delivers the final blow. “If at all possible, I’d like to avoid my baby being born into a period of war.”

If her arguments were slowing him down before, now she’s rendered him positively frozen. The fire dies out in his eyes, replaced by utter befuddlement. “Baby?” he repeats, bewildered.

“Baby,” she affirms. “I’m pregnant. I won’t tell you by whom, or the whens or wheres or hows, but there’s an Aria Jr. growing in my womb and I would be honored if you’d be her godfather.”

Xanxus is silent for a long while, absorbing that. When he speaks again, it’s slowly, as if he’s making sure he’s got his facts and inferences right. “You’re pregnant,” he says. “With a child.”

“Yes, Xanxus, because there are totally other things I can be pregnant with,” she snorts, rolling her eyes. He shoots a glare at her but continues.

“And… it’s going to be my godchild.”

“Well, only if you accept the position, but that’s the general hope, yes.”

“And… wartime isn’t a good time for it to be born.”

“Obviously. And I’ll be sending her to be raised by her father if there’s going to be a fight.”

“How-”

“Seer.”

“…Right.” He goes quiet again, contemplative. Aria waits patiently for his conclusion. “…I was going to attempt a coup on the ninth and my bro-” He cuts himself off, hesitant as he ever gets.

“Your brothers,” Aria prompts, because she has no such qualms about his current identity crisis. And was, past tense, that’s a good sign.

“…My brothers.” He stops again and studies Aria’s stomach. It’s an exercise in futility since she isn’t showing yet, but maybe he’s drawing something from it on a spiritual level. He comes to an apparent conclusion, and while no heavy load of intangible tenseness visibly removes itself from him, he looks less like he’s going to do something crazy and dangerous. “…Guess I’m not, anymore.”

And Aria is relieved. Her victory here, she realizes, is directly attributed to how close they’ve grown over the years, and the suddenness of her surprise, and maybe even a little bit to the alcohol Xanxus has consumed, but what she knows for certain is that her friend is not going to be frozen in Dying Will Ice in this timeline. Years won’t be stolen from him. He’ll live his life. And you know what? It’s going to be a damn good life.

Laughter, slightly hysterical, bubbles out of her now as she grabs him and pulls him into a hug. “It’s good to hear that, you great galumphing idiot.

Omake

“Can I name her?” Xanxus demands a few months later, eyeing Aria’s swelling belly as he pushes a stack of completed paperwork out of the way.

“What? No,” Aria says, startled. “She’s my baby, not yours.”

“But I’m going to be the godfather,” he argues. “I’ll call her Uni.”

“What kind of a name is that?” Aria demands, taken aback. She’d been expecting a proper, well-used name, like Bella, or Columbine, not, you know, something that sounded like he’d come up with it off the top of his head.

“Uni, because she’s part of the reason why the Vongola are still uni-fied.” Xanxus smirks as Aria gapes at him in disbelief.

“Get the fuck out of my office.” When she finds out who taught him how to pun she’s going to skin them alive and rip out their intestines.

(A/N: Petunias, in the language of flowers, means anger or resentment, and as you probably know, giglio nero translates to black lily. I hope you enjoyed this! *grins* Aria was surprisingly fun to write, though Xanxus stopping because of a baby does seem a little far fetched to me. Comments are appreciated!)

#pika's post #pika's writing #khr #xanxus #aria #finally done yay

[yuya-the-entertainer]

Reincarnation

// I decided, in the wake of Arc-V’s ending, that I would write a fanfic taking place after the end of the series. As I figure, I can’t fix the problems with the series as a whole, but the ending deserved more time and care put into it with a greater resolution so I seek to try to give it that if I can.

[Oh, also, to note: I use she/her pronouns for Yuya in this because trans girl Yuya is my headcanon. Just in case you weren’t aware prior to reading this.]

That said, please follow the read more link to begin reading!

---

“Yuya!”, boomed Yusho’s confident voice from across the stadium. “Your journey is not over yet! You must face me before you can enter the world of the pros!”. Yuya smiled brightly, activating her duel disk and looking toward him. “Of course! An entertainer has to accept all challenges!”. She jumped up excitedly. “The fun has just begun!”

Then came a pause, followed by the sound of Yuya’s duel disk shutting off as she fell limply back down to earth on her feet. She hesitated. “At least... that’s what I’d like to say. But there’s something I have to do first, dad”.

Yusho stared at her expectantly. Hr gaze shifted to the people in the audience, and for a moment, those old feelings of isolation and fear returned to her. Her gaze fell on her friends, all with an expression of concern. She looked at Shun for a moment, but quickly turned away. He was smiling, but his eyes were dead and tears were beginning to form. Sora standing beside him struggled to keep his expression, and his arm shuddered. She noticed that he leaned slightly away from Shun. Reira’s laughter had stopped.

After gazing around the entire stadium, her eyes locked with Yuzu, who stared back at her with understanding. “Yuzu...”, she began, determination and fear both in her voice. “I need you to duel me one more time. I need to do one more thing.”

Yuzu nodded expectantly. “I understand, Yuya...”, she trailed off, holding herself in her arms, struggling to keep herself together. “I felt it too, the moment I came back to this world.”

Yuya looked back toward her mother in the audience, who nodded in encouragement, then looked to Yusho. The older Sakaki, with a bright smile on his face, lifted his hands to the air. “It appears we have one last, unexpected duel for you!”, he shouted, his powerful voice echoing throughout the silent stadium. The air suddenly felt lighter, and the joy returned to the audience. Yuya wiped tears from her eyes as she and Yuzu walked to separate ends of the arena, and the Action Field began to appear.

As the circus tent rose around her, Yuzu couldn’t help but begin crying. The field that had been chosen was “Athletic Circus”, the field she and Yuya had fought on countless times in their past. Before anything had happened. Before they had met their counterparts.

Their counterparts... Yuzu stood there, broken over that word. There was this horrible, uncomfortable feeling about it. She knew they were gone, the girls she was connected with. Rin, the girl Yugo had worked so long to reunite with. Ruri, the girl Shun and Yuto had traveled to their dimension to find in the first place. Serena, the girl who had befriended Yuzu... who Yuzu had hoped, when this was all over, would be just one of their many friends. She had dreamt of things ending so differently, back when she saw Yuya dueling Jack in the Friendship Cup.

The courage that had felt so empowering in her before was suddenly gone. Her will to fight was gone. The pride that had once allowed her to stand up to Roger was entirely missing in her. She had gained the souls of her counterparts, yet Yuzu felt more empty and alone than ever before. She could barely even feel Yuya across the field from her.

“Ms Hiiragi!”, came a voice, shaking her thoughts. It was Reiji’s voice from the side of the arena. As he brought her back to reality, he tossed her his duel disk. She placed it on her arm, activating it, and retrieved the deck that had appeared with her.

Neither she nor Yuya had the strength to recount the Action Duel chant before beginning. As such, the duel started with an abrupt shout of “duel!” from both players. Yuya stared at the cards in her hand intently. Yuzu dared not look at her own cards.

“My turn first...”, Yuya mumbled, almost inaudibly. A trembling hand took one of the cards in her hand, and placed it on the duel disk. “I summon Entermate Discover Hippo...”, she mumbled as the monster manifested. She slumped her arms in defeat and declared “turn end”.

Yuzu nodded, drawing a card from her deck in response. Only now did she dare look at her cards. But now it was clear what was happening. Her hand contained four monsters, all of which were of different archetypes. She had never played any of them before.

She plucked the remaining two cards from her hand and stared at them for awhile. She closed her eyes, focused herself, and breathed deeply. “here I go!”, she declared with determination.  “I set the scale one Moonlight Wolf and the scale five Moonlight Tiger on the pendulum scale!!”, she shouted as she set the cards down. “This allows me to summon multiple monsters from my hand at once... so appear!”. She set the remaining four cards down on her duel disk. “First up is Wind Witch - Ice Bell!”, she shouted as the monster flew up into the sky with a trail of white snow behind it. “Next to the stage is Aria, the Melodious Diva!”, she spoke as she smiled familiarly at the monster. “Moonlight Blue Cat!”, she announced as the monster pounced forward. The last card, a small bird, flew up into the sky alongside Ice Bell. “I also normal summon Lyrical Luscinia - Sapphire Sparrow!”

The four monsters stared expectantly at Yuya, who began to tremble while looking at her own hand. Nervously, her free hand began to reach for the goggles on her head. As she touched them at last, Yuzu’s voice came to her. “Yuya, wait!”, she demanded. Yuya’s hand stopped dead in its tracks, reminded of Yuzu’s commanding presence. “Look at me!”, she demanded.

Yuya looked up to meet Yuzu’s eyes, only to be met with a kind expression on her face. “Don’t worry”, she said softly. “It’s going to be okay. I can feel it, and they can feel it, too.”

Yuya smiled weakly and nodded, then drew a card from her deck. “Then it’s my turn, Yuzu! I’ll answer them, then!”

Yuya looked at the cards in her hand. “I set Entermate Handstandacoon from my hand in my pendulum zone and activate its effect!”, she announced. “I return Discover Hippo to my hand!”. She rearranged the cards in her hand, and placed one on the duel disk. “I special summon Speedroid Beigomax from my hand as I control no monsters!”, she declared as the monster appeared on the field. “Then since I control only a level three or lower monster, I special summon The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots from my hand!”, she declared. The next monster materialized quietly next to the first. “Lastly, I normal summon Predator Plants Fly Hell from my hand!”, she declared, and the vines of the monster slowly grew from the earth and grew into a biting mouth. “With this, it’s all here”, Yuya confirmed. Yuzu nodded in agreement.

“I activate the last card in my hand! De-Fusion!”, Yuya cried out. She then looked to Yuzu. “Don’t let me down!”

“Of course”, Yuzu responded with a smile. She jumped onto a trampoline and bounced to a platform higher up, grabbing an Action Card in her fingers along the way and sliding it into her duel disk. “I activate the Action Spell... Encore!”

Yuzu grinned down at her friend as the two spells began to glow. “This lets me play a card from the graveyard”, she explained. “And I choose Yuya’s De-Fusion!”

“And in an Action Duel...”, Yuya said with a smile, “...every effect is real”. The shape of her arm began to blur into four shadows and separate further and further and her eyes re-focused. Soon a brilliant aura was engulfing both of the duelists.

On the side of the field, Asuka placed a hand on Shun’s shoulder. Shun, who had turned away with an expression of despair, looked in surprise back at her. “Shun, watch...”, Asuka spoke gently. “This is the result of your efforts, at last.”

As the glow faded, the Action Field and all the monsters disappeared along with it. The duel disks on Yuya and Yuzu’s arms deactivated. Next to Yuya stood three other duelists. Yuto held the red cloth wrapped around his arm, trying to grasp the reality that he was alive. Yuri stood looking at the ground, shifting his feet around uncomfortably. Yugo stared across the now clear stadium at the green-haired girl on the other side.

Beside Yuzu stood three other duelists, as well. Ruri looked around at the many smiling faces and confused expressions, searching for the faces she could recognize. Selena stood closely next to Yuzu, intimated by all the strangers suddenly staring at her. Rin’s eyes were locked on Yugo.

The groups ran across the field to greet one another, and collided in one big pile. Rin embraced Yugo, whose words were impossible to understand among his loud crying. Yuto nervously extended a handshake to Ruri, who tackled him in a hug. Selena continued to stand closely to Yuzu, who looked at Yuya with a bright smile. “I knew it. I knew we could do it”, she said, beginning to cry as well as she placed her hand on Yuya’s shoulder. “We did it, Yuya!”

After a long reunion, the kids had all settled down. Everyone ran about the duel stadium in a frenzy, excitedly greeting their new friends.

“Rin!”, Yugo said as he pulled her excitedly toward Yuya. “This is Yuya! She’s a great duelist! We dueled together! Uh, at least... I think we did? I’m still kinda having a hard time remembering...”

Rin sighed. “Settle down Yugo...”, she groaned, then smiled at Yuya. “It’s nice to meet you”, she said. Yuya nodded happily in response. “Yeah! I can’t wait until we all get to duel!”

Yuri had made his way over to Reiji and was shouting at him indignantly with his arms folded. “So let me get this straight, Yuya won the Junior Youth while we were all inside of her soul, but that still doesn’t mean we get to be pros too? That doesn’t count?”. Reiji sighed, but let out a quiet laugh under his breath. “Duel me right now to decide it then, I won’t lose!”, Yuri demanded.

Yusho looked down at them all as his daughter approached him again. “Well, Yuya. It looks like the future of entertainment dueling is even larger than I could have dreamed”, he said as he gazed down at them in admiration.

“You’re right, dad”, Yuya said as she laughed. “The fun has only just begun!”

#ooc #fanfic post #yugioh arc v #yuya sakaki #yusho sakaki #yuzu hiiragi #yuto arc v #yugo arc v #yuri arc v #selena arc v #rin arc v #ruri kurosaki #// no one else gets tagged 'cuz i'm lazy

[spicyamour-blog]

All Amourshipping Hints

Serena's hints

Lumiose City Pursuit!

When Serena sees a live news report of Ash trying to calm a rampaging Garchomp on Prism Tower, she silently looks on, seemingly in awe at Ash's bravery. When Ash jumps off the tower to rescue Pikachu, she gasps in fear for his safety. However, this may have been merely general concern, since the news camera never showed Ash's face in full until he was safely on the ground.

Upon seeing Ash's face on TV, she ponders whether she recognizes him, having a flashback scene of a younger Ash at the end of the episode.

A Battle of Aerial Mobility!

Serena decides to begin her journey after seeing Ash on television. Upon arriving at Professor Sycamore's laboratory, and before choosing her starter Pokémon, Serena tells the professor that she is looking for the boy who was on the news. Her eyes seem to light up considerably when Sycamore identifies him as Ash.

A Blustery Santalune Gym Battle!

After Serena and her Fennekin finished eating breakfast, she says she will be soon in Santalune City and is excited to finally get to see Ash.

When Serena is walking down the steps in Santalune City, she thinks about how she cannot wait to see the look on Ash's face when he sees her. Then, she has a flashback of a young Ash extending his arm, as if he was offering her his hand. When the flashback ends, she is seen blushing slightly.

When she sees Ash battling Viola, she is so overcome with excitement that she runs toward the battlefield, seemingly planning on going directly on there to greet Ash without noticing that the battle is still in progress.

Later, when Ash loses the battle, Serena is obviously remorseful and attempts to speak to him, but is further saddened when he runs past her without noticing her, since he is concentrating on his injured Pokémon.

When Serena returns Ash's backpack to him (which Ash had left behind at the Gym), she starts to ask Ash something while blushing a little, only to be interrupted by the Pokémon Center bell.

When Ash falls to the ground while catching Pikachu and Fletchling, Serena is the only person to call out his name in worry.

When Ash is on the ground from the intense training, dirty after falling to the ground while catching Pikachu and Fletchling, Serena walks up to him and hands him a handkerchief to clean himself up with, showing her thoughtfulness towards him.

Serena looks nervous before she asks him if he remembers her. It is interesting to note that when she is seen interacting with her mother, Serena has a sassy and rebellious attitude towards her, but whenever she is around Ash, she seems to be extremely hesitant and nervous, contradicting the personality that viewers have seen from her in prior episodes.

Battling on Thin Ice!

After she asks Ash if he remembers her, Serena mentions that they met in Professor Oak's Pokémon Summer Camp in Pallet Town. When Ash remembers attending the camp, she is overjoyed and tells him that she went there as well. However, when he says that he does not remember her specifically, she is visibly disappointed, but instantly cheers up, obviously not wanting to be upset or angry with him.

When Ash says that his battle was a disaster, Serena says she thinks he was awesome and reminds him that he once told her to never give up till the end, and that he hasn't changed at all since they met. These words helped Ash continue his training in order to win the rematch against Viola.

When the group is having dinner after the training session, Serena glances at Ash and smiles at him while he is eating. Since this is directly after him saying that he is sure to win the rematch, this strongly implies that she is admiring his determination and is impressed by it.

Throughout the entire Gym battle, her cheering for Ash seems to be in a more enthusiastic way than Clemont and Bonnie. She also keeps reassuring Clemont, Bonnie, and Alexa that everything is going to be okay and that Ash would win, showing that she strongly believes in him. Later, when Ash becomes overwhelmed by Viola's new battling strategies, Serena cries out to Ash that he should not give up (echoing a motto Ash had told her in their childhood). In that scene, the emotions are seemingly emphasized. Her encouragement snaps him out of his panic and helps him win the battle.

Giving Chase at the Rhyhorn Race!

After Ash asks Serena to join them in their travels, she puts a hand over her heart and smiles before winking at him and accepting the invitation.

When Clemont asks Serena why she started her journey, she pulls out the same handkerchief Ash used to bandage her, and shows it to Ash in a second attempt to get him to remember their past. This shows that Serena has kept the same handkerchief Ash used to tie up her knee with after all these years.

In a flashback of when Ash and Serena first met as children, Ash bandages Serena's knee and then pulls her up from the ground. She ends up falling into his arms in some sort of hug, and the camera zooms on her surprised face. Then, she quickly pulls away and looks at him, a surprised expression on her face. When Ash is showing her the way out of the forest, she is wide-eyed and blushing. This flashback indicates that Serena developed feelings for Ash after that incident.

When Ash identifies Serena as the same girl he helped when he was younger, she blushes.

 Flashback of Ash and Serena

Ash asks Serena why she went through all the trouble of returning the handkerchief to him and she replies with "Not just that. You see, I also really wanted to see you again". Serena then pouts, blushing, when she complains about Ash failing to remember her.

Serena puts on a pink outfit for Rhyhorn racing and then asks Ash what he thinks of it with a blush on her face.

When Ash wears the outfit for Rhyhorn racing and ask how does he look, Serena says that he looks perfect.

When Serena is on top of the Rhyhorn and demonstrating for Ash how to ride one, she is blushing.

Serena is impressed after seeing Ash's hard training and that he didn't give up, Serena realizes that maybe she has misjudged Rhyhorn racing.

After the cameras broadcasting the race get disrupted and the group can't see what is happening, Serena calls Ash's name in a worried tone.

When it is nighttime and everyone is sleeping, there is a view of the whole room with Serena's bed shown to be empty. It is then revealed that Serena is in the kitchen baking. At the end of the episode, she hands to Ash a pouch filled with cookies. She blushes and tells him that it is because she is thankful towards him. Then, she has a flashback of her and Ash when they were younger holding hands. After the flashback ends, she winks at him.

Mega-Mega Meowth Madness!

When Ash falls down, everybody else worries about Pikachu, but only Serena yells Ash's name.

To Catch a Pokémon Smuggler!

When Ash blushes after he mistakes his stomach growling for a strange sound, Serena looks at him and smiles.

Kindergarten Chaos!

When a teacher named Penelope challenges Ash to a battle and states that if she wins, he would have to come with her, Serena freaks out and begins to blush. After Ash loses the battle, as promised, he will be with Penelope for a while, making Serena even more shocked. Later on, when Penelope takes the group to the kindergarten she works at and Serena realizes she misunderstood her, she puts a hand over her heart in relief.

When Ash is pushed out of the truck by Team Rocket, Serena quickly runs towards him while shouting his name and asks if he is all right.

After Penelope's car come into the warehouse where Team Rocket was hiding., Serena is relieved when she sees Ash is alright.

A Rush of Ninja Wisdom!

In the beginning of the episode, while Ash is training with his Frokie, Serena is taking care of his Pikachu, instead of carrying her Fennekin.

A Conspiracy to Conquer!

When Ash and Clemont follow after the "Pika-bot" and left behind Serena, Bonnie and Meowth. Serena is the only one that yells Ash's name.

It can be noted that while Serena is hypnotized, she goes after only Ash while ignoring Meowth.

Breaking Titles at the Chateau!

In the beginning of the episode, Serena and Bonnie are both excited to introduce the idea of the Battle Chateau to Ash. While Bonnie blushes over the possibility of cake, Serena is blushing because she is sure that he would like it and suggests him that they should go there. After they arrive there, Serena asks if this is something Ash's interested in, which he answers in the affirmative.

When Ash is battling Chester, Serena is the only one who is cheering for Ash while Clemont and Bonnie only give compliments about Chester's Fletchling.

A PokéVision of Things to Come!

Serena is visibly worried when Ash mentions that the video of Aria looks cute before he clarifies that he's talking about Aria's Fennekin. Once the clarification is made, Serena's expression softens.

When Serena asks Ash for help with her video and he declines, she is upset. Note that she asks Ash before everyone else.

Serena convinces Ash to help with the filming telling him that if he doesn't take a break, his training won't be productive.

At the end of the episode, Serena specifically asks Ash what he thought of her video with a blush on her face.

Going for the Gold!

After seeing the golden Magikarp for real, Serena high fived with Ash.

An Undersea Place to Call Home!

When Ash and friends are using one of Clemont's machines to randomly decide the two who going in the submarine together, Serena unhesitatingly chooses the same arrow as Ash, before either of the siblings can.

When Ash attempts to stop Team Rocket from escaping, Serena tries to stop him because of the danger involved.

Climbing the Walls!

When Ash is rock climbing in Cyllage Gym, the camera focuses on a worried Serena.

Before the battle between Ash and Grant starts, Serena is very worried. She clasps her hands together which catches the notice of Bonnie and Clemont. She then begins to blush and, at one point, tears up when thinking about how hard Ash has trained.

When Grant's Onix is going to use Rock Tomb, Serena is shown to be growing worried about Ash and calls his name in concern. Later when Ash is having trouble she clasps her hands together.

A Battle by Any Other Name!

When Miette offers Poké Puffs to the group as an apology, Serena is shown to be upset and angry when Ash says he would like to eat them.

Miette asks Ash teasingly if he has a future bride in mind (in reference to Bonnie asking women to have her brother Clemont) to see how Serena would react. Serena is shown to be paying close attention from the corner of her eye with a frown, and then looks away and pretends indifference.

When Ash is holding on the tube to stop the air flow from reaching the mecha so it could run, the camera goes to a worried Serena, who yells out his name in concern.

At the end of the episode, after Ash calls Serena's name, Miette teases Serena about him and says that if Serena doesn't tell Ash how she feels about him, then she will. Serena blushes bright red, but walks away smiling. It is interesting to note that Serena is the only girl to not deny her feelings for Ash when teased about it.

The Bonds of Evolution!

When Ash bangs his head against the tree after catching Pikachu, the camera focuses on Serena, who shouts his name in concern while clasping her hands together.

Heroes - Friends and Faux Alike!

When Ash tries to go down the transporter after Pikachu, Serena tries to stop him from doing anything dangerous while Clemont and Bonnie do nothing.

Mega Revelations!

When Ash is battling Korrina, only Serena is cheering him on, while Clemont and Bonnie are complimenting how strong Lucario is.

The Cave of Trials!

While everyone's picture is being taken, Serena slides closer to Ash leaving an obvious gap separating them from the others and unlike everybody else, Serena isn't looking into the camera but is looking at Ash when the picture is being taken.

After the group photo, Serena is seen admiring the picture with Ash and sighs happily until he calls her to hurry and she turns around with a blush.

When the group is entering the cave, Serena grabs on to Ash.

The Aura Storm!

As Mega Lucario is about to uncontrollably use Power-Up Punch on Ash, who is protecting Pikachu, Serena yells out in concern.

The Forest Champion!

As Ash follows Bonnie to attempt to save the berries that were stolen by a wild Ursaring, Serena calls after him in a worried tone.

Serena is the first person to ask if Ash is all right after saving Hawlucha.

After the mist covering the battle clears up, Serena is the first one to be seen running towards Ash, worried if he is hurt.

The Cave of Mirrors!

After Clemont's invention called the "Other Dimension Converter" explodes, Serena's eyes glisten with tears when she thinks Ash has disappeared forever.

Throughout the episode, Serena is immensely worried about Ash, more so than Clemont and Bonnie. When they are in front of the mirror that Ash went through, Serena clasps her hands together and wishes for Ash to return.

When the mirrors drift apart, Ash is carried to the other side away from the group. Mirror Serena yells at Serena that if she wants to travel with Ash, her will for him has to be strong. Serena's eyes widen and then she nods her head in determination realizing that if she wants Ash back, she has to try her hardest.

Serena saves Ash by grabbing his hand and helping him make it back to their dimension. Even with both Clemont and Bonnie reaching for Ash, it is Serena who manages to reach him.

After Ash is safely back in their dimension, Mirror Serena tells Serena to take good care of Ash; Serena smiles and nods her head in understanding.

At the end of the episode, Serena asks Ash if they will always be traveling together from now on, to which a smiling Ash replies with that she should not even have asked such an obvious question.

Forging Forest Friendships!

When Clemont hears a story about a Pokémon that controls trees, captures humans who hurts the forest, and eats them, Serena immediately worries about the possibility that Ash might be eaten.

After Pikachu finds Ash, Serena is the first one heard saying his name in concern.

Summer of Discovery!

At the end of the episode, Serena is out on the dock brushing Fennekin's tail, Serena recalls Ash's dream first as she makes note of how all of her friends are pursuing their dreams and wonders what her dream is.

Day Three Blockbusters!

Serena is immediately worried and asks Ash if he is okay as he lies on the ground after saving her.

After Ash injures his foot, Serena nurses it with a wet cloth and her hand seems to linger while she is doing so, and is also apologetic to him, blaming herself that she injured his foot.

When Serena exclaims how amazing Ash is after hearing him talk about his dream, he looks at her in surprise. She quickly becomes embarrassed and tends to his foot again to change the subject.

Serena takes Ash's advice when he said, "Nothing we ever do is the waste of time," to come up with the idea for a new Pokévision video.

Serena is persuaded by Ash that she will find her dream with her Pokémon.

Foggy Pokémon Orienteering!

Serena asks about Ash's prior foot injury with a concerned look on her face.

After Ash runs through the forest being unable to see anything in the thick fog and hits his face with a tree, Serena calls his name in a worried tone.

As Ash makes his way back across after saving Bonnie from the other side, Serena, who says in concern that he can do it, conveys that she does not want Ash to lose his footing and hurt himself.

Battling Into the Hall of Fame!

During the entire episode, each time Serena battles, she is usually ordering Fennekin to support Pikachu. This is an interesting hint since she could have chosen to assist Clemont instead or battle more independently like Clemont and Ash did.

When Serena recalls how Ash practiced the rhythm battling style the night before, she is the only one who finds it amusing as she giggles and calls Ash clumsy.

Origins of Mega Evolution!

After Korrina asks Ash if he is ready for the Gym match, Serena is worried about Ash and tells him that he doesn't have a definite strategy with a concerned tone of voice.

When Ash and his Pokémon are practicing their dancing moves, Bonnie and Clemont start laughing at Ash's clumsiness and Serena tells them to stop.

When Clemont's machine called "Not-A-Very-Good-Dancer Automated Good Dancing Device" is about to explode and hurt Ash, Serena is the only one that tells Clemont to stop it with a worried tone.

After Clemont's dancing machine blows up, Serena tells Ash that she can teach him to dance. Although the two dancing together is not shown, the scene moves from day to sunset where Ash and Serena have just finished dancing and Ash collapses from exhaustion from a full day's training.

Showdown at the Shalour Gym!

After Ash sends out Hawlucha to battle Mienfoo, Serena is the only one that cheers for Ash.

Serena expresses her excitement when Hawlucha starts doing the rhythm battling strategy.

When Ash's Hawlucha is struggling with the rhythmic battle style, the camera briefly focuses on Serena with a worried look.

After Hawlucha defeats Korrina's Mienfoo, Serena internally cheers for Ash to win.

Pathways to Performance Partnering!

When Team Rocket throws a smoke bomb, Ash and Serena turn towards each other and cover both of their heads with their arms to protect each other.

A Stealthy Challenge!

While Ash is training Froakie and Pikachu, Serena is the only one who is cheering for him while Bonnie and Clemont only give compliments about the two Pokémon.

When Ash and Sanpei come to the Safe House, Serena asks Ash if he is okay with a concerned tone of voice.

At the end of the episode, Serena is taking care of Ash's Pikachu while he is battling Sanpei.

A Race for Home!

When Ash tells Serena that it was thanks to her teaching that he was able to participate in a race, Serena visibly blushes.

When Grace brings Ash and Serena together, they look at each other with embarrassment.

When Ash is about to reveal Serena's goal to Grace, Serena quickly covers his mouth.

As Serena is practicing her routine, she becomes discouraged but instantly cheers up as she remembers Ash's encouragement.

During the race against Grace, when Serena falls behind, she shouts the words Ash told her when they met, helping her win the race.

A Slippery Encounter!

When Ash falls down after Goomy lands on his head, Serena calls out in worry, despite it not being a dangerous situation.

When Ash walks down the slope and begins to speed up uncontrollably, Serena calls out his name in worry.

When Team Rocket orders their Pokémon to attack Ash, Serena is the only one who voices her concern.

One for the Goomy!

After Serena and Bonnie are separated from Ash and Clemont, Serena is calling out for Ash, but not Clemont.

Serena apologizes to Ash because Goomy got lost when she was fighting Team Rocket.

The Green, Green Grass Types of Home!

When Serena goes out onto the balcony, she watches Ash training and admires him for his hard work, which also motivates her to work hard for her first Pokémon Showcase.

While Ash's Hawlucha is struggling against Ramos's Weepinbell after being poisoned, there is a momentary close-up on Serena's worried face.

 Serena blushing with her hand on the ribbon Ash gave her.

Under the Pledging Tree!

When Serena registers for the Coumarine Showcase, she looks at Ash and loses her sense of doubt and nervousness when she sees him nod in encouragement.

As Ash and Serena walk away from Bonnie and Clemont, Serena's thoughts are voiced over as she quickly comes to the conclusion that she is on a date with Ash.

While walking, Serena blushes and attempts to hold Ash's hand. Her hand is visibly shaking and has turned red, possibly out of nervousness, and she is unable to grab his hand.

When Ash and Serena are riding the monorail, Serena sees Ash looking happily out the window; this makes her smile and blush.

When Ash goes on his own to look for presents for his Pokémon, Serena is visibly disappointed at being left alone.

When Serena tells Ash that his Pokémon would be happy with anything he gives them because all of his Pokémon are similar to him, Serena moves very close to Ash.

During the fireworks, when Ash gives Serena the blue ribbon as a gift for helping him out, Serena is surprised, blushes, and happily accepts the gift.

A Showcase Debut!

During the Pokémon Showcase, Serena recalls Ash's advice from Day Three Blockbusters! and makes sure to put everything she has learned on her journey thus far into her performance.

When Ash points out that Serena is wearing the ribbon he gave her on her new outfit, she blushes.

An Oasis of Hope!

After the group gets captured, Jessie remarks on Serena's haircut and James asks, "Perhaps nursing a broken heart?", Serena responds angrily, "That is none of your business!"

As Ash voices his anger, Serena joins in while Bonnie and Clemont remain quiet.

When Ash is struck by Iron Tail, Serena calls out his name in worry.

The Future Is Now, Thanks to Determination!

When Ash, Clemont, Bonnie, and Serena enter to the ventilation duct, Serena moves closer to Ash.

When Ash is able to get close to Pikachu while being electrocuted and almost reaches past Pikachu's mind control, Serena is looking at Ash in awe due to his bravery.

Battling with Elegance And a Big Smile!

After being challenged to a battle by Aria, Serena is hesitant to accept the challenge, but does so after being encouraged by Ash. She blushes as he does so.

During her battle with Aria, Serena looks at Ash several times and later mimics his battle style.

At the end Serena tells Ash that is time to go and when the group is running Serena and Ash are looking at each other.

Good Friends, Great Training!

Serena blushes while asking Ash what strategy he has for his upcoming Gym battle against Clemont.

Serena worriedly calls out to Ash after the fire closes in on him.

The Moment of Lumiose Truth!

Serena is excited and blushes when Hawlucha's Karate Chop hits Heliolisk.

After Ash's Hawlucha defeats Clemont's Heliolisk, Serena is cheering in excitement for Ash.

Serena puts her hand over her heart when she became worried about Ash losing the battle against Clemont.

After Ash's Gym battle victory, Serena is excited and puts her hand over her heart.

Serena cheers on Ash during his battle and congratulates him after he defeated Clemont.

Garchomp's Mega Bond!

When the radio waves begin to hurt Professor Sycamore and Ash runs to help him, Serena calls out Ash's name in worry.

When the group reunites with Ash and Blaziken Mask, Serena calls Ash's name with a concerned look on her face.

Defending the Homeland!

When Ash becomes frustrated after Keanan talks about how Pokémon should solve problems alone, Serena looks at him with a worried expression.

Beyond the Rainbow!

As Ash, Goodra, and Florges are in Team Rocket's jet, Serena becomes concerned and whispers Ash's name in worry.

When Team Rocket's aircraft is damaged and loses control. Serena is the only one who orders the bug army to help Ash and the Pokémon.

When Ash and his Goodra land safely on the ground after falling from Team Rocket's jet, Serena runs up to Ash to check on him. In doing so, she puts her hands on both his shoulders and exclaims her relief that he is all right.

So You're Having a Bad Day!

While searching, Serena called for Ash first.

Both Serena and Ash are relieved to see each other when they reunite.

Scary Hospitality!

When Ash runs out into the hallway to find Bonnie and his friends hear him cry out in surprise, Serena becomes extremely worried about Ash and shouts his name in concern.

A Fashionable Battle!

When Serena and Bonnie are looking on a dress, Serena asks only for Ash's opinion about the dress, but when she looks back, he is already outside battling with Sawyer.

When Serena is on stage in her furisode outfit, she is surprised by Ash's presence, and she blushes when he asks her how she had gotten on stage.

When Serena and Bonnie reunite with Ash and Clemont, Serena only calls Ash's name.

Fairy-Type Trickery!

Before entering in the Laverre Gym, Serena is the only one showing confidence in Ash in his match against Valerie.

When Ash's Fletchinder is having trouble battling Sylveon, Serena cheers on Ash while the others remain quiet.

After Spritzee knocks Fletchinder out, there is a close-up on Serena's worried face.

A Relay in the Sky!

When Ornithol suggests that Ash enter the relay with his Pokémon, Serena becomes concerned and asks Ash if he and his Pokémon will be okay with a worried tone of voice.

During the relay, Serena is supporting and taking care of Ash's Noibat.

Lights! Camera! Pika!

When Serena is filming and sees Ash and Pikachu grow bashful after Frank compliments them, she remarks on it while blushing.

Performing with Fiery Charm!

Miette teases Serena about her relationship with Ash several times, which causes Serena to blush and get flustered. This includes when Miette:

asks Serena if her new haircut may be due to being rejected by Ash.

states that she would succeed in getting Ash.

after losing the Pokémon Showcase, whispers that she will also not give up on the other competition, referring to Ash.

During the Poké Puff Baking round of the competition, Serena has a flashback of Ash enjoying her Poké Puffs for inspiration. The last image and sound she recalls of the flashback is Ash laughing.

When Serena's dress is ripped after bumping into Jessie, Serena's first thought is to fall into despair, but she quickly recovers after remembering Ash's never-give-up attitude, and was able to tailor her dress in time for her own performance.

Serena seems happy when Ash congratulates her on the Showcase as she blushes when he states that her dress fits her well.

Serena looks a little worried when Ash wishes Miette good luck.

Over the Mountain of Snow!

When Ash tells Serena that she can ride along with him on the Mamoswine, she blushes. Later when Ash and Serena start riding Mamoswine, Serena is blushing.

Serena thanks Ash for praising her on how she managed to cross the bridge despite her fear due to the enormous height.

When the Mamoswine were running to smash the boulder in their path, Serena holds on to Ash's shoulders.

After Ash jumps off of Mamoswine to confront an Abomasnow, Serena is the only person to call out his name in worry and then follow him.

When Ash and Serena are impressed about the hot springs after they enter in the Frost Cavern, Serena grabs Ash's shoulders.

Serena blushes when Ash compliments her for finding the herb they were looking for.

Adventures in Running Errands!

When Ash is going to check the roof of the Pokémon Center, Serena tells him to be careful because of the rain. It could be noted that she only expresses concern for Ash's safety, even though Clemont is right next to her and risking almost-certain electrocution by working on the failed power equipment.

Serena blushes when she asks Ash how he thinks of her nurse outfit.

Mending a Broken Spirit!

When Ash, Clemont, and Bonnie find Serena at Woodward's house, Serena only mentions Ash when she expresses her surprise at seeing them.

When Team Rocket tries to steal Pikachu, Serena specifically appeals to Ash for help in battling them.

A Legendary Photo Op!

When Ash races and jumps to the lava to catch Talonflame, Serena calls out his name in worry.

When Frogadier releases its Frubbles and wraps Ash and Talonflame before they fall into the crater, Serena calls out Ash's name in worry. After Ash is saved, Serena scolds him because that was a reckless attempt.

Tag Team Battle Inspiration!

Serena blushes when Shauna suggests that Serena likes Ash.

Serena freaks out when Ash overhears her talking about him.

Cloudy Fate, Bright Future!

When Serena hears Ash's conversation with Frogadier about his dream she looks at him in admiration and remembers when he told her that she will find her dream together with her Pokémon.

All Eyes on the Future!

Before the Gym match starts Ash's friends say that his battle against Olympia will be difficult and wonder if he can win. Serena is the only one showing confidence in Ash and says that he will be fine, he is constantly looking ahead and will find a way to win.

When Professor Sycamore and Clemont comment about Meowstic's abilitties protect them from before Ash's Pokémon can attack. Serena is shown to be staring down at Ash and whispers his name in worry.

After Psyshock hits both Talonflame and Frogadier, Clemont wonders if Ash can win the battle, Serena shows confidence in Ash and says that he will be fine.

When Frogadier blocks Dark Pulse using Cut and leaves Olimpia impressed, Serena cheers on Ash.

After the battle ends, and Ash explains his strategy involving Pikachu that helped him win, Serena is seen gazing at Ash in admiration while recalling something he said several episodes ago, before the conversation resumes.

A Giga Battle With Mega Results!

When Ash rushes in to help Nurse Joy get out of the cracks, Serena grabs him to support him.

A Fiery Rite of Passage!

When Pyroar breathes fire to throw Litleo into the air and Ash runs down the hill to intercede, Serena is worried and shouts his name in concern.

The Legend of the Ninja Hero!

After Ash and Sanpei jump off the balcony in pursuit of Kagetomo, Serena is the only one who immediately tries to follow before being stopped by Shinobu. Even after Shinobu tells her to return to Ippei as a safer alternative, Serena hesitates and whispers Ash's name in worry.

Meeting at Terminus Cave!

After Ash experiences pain from Ash-Greninja, Serena asks Ash If he's alright with a concerned tone of voice.

A Windswept Encounter!

While Ash is warning his Noibat not to venture too far away, Serena is seen looking fondly at Ash.

Party Dancecapades!

When Serena receives mail about the dance party, she looks at Ash and blushes when she finds out that all Performers attending must have a male partner.

It is proposed that Clemont becomes Serena's dancing partner (due to Clemont's Bunnelby being Serena's Eevee's dance partner). Though she accepts for Eevee's sake, Serena is visibly reluctant and sighs in disappointment while glancing at Ash.

When Ash and his friends meet up with Miette again, Serena is shown to be shocked when Miette grabs Ash's hands and asks him to be her partner. Serena freaks out even more when Ash accepts.

When Miette looks at Serena and winks while holding Ash's hand, Serena seems upset and determined.

When Ash is following Miette around with a pile of dresses, Serena looks at him and sighs.

During the rotation dance, Serena constantly glances at Ash, blushing while doing so.

Serena is blushing and watching in slow-motion as Ash extends his arm towards her, and is extremely shocked, disappointed, and upset when the rotation dance ends without her and Ash dancing.

A Meeting of Two Journeys!

When Ash slides down a nearby lamp post and chases after Team Rocket, Serena calls out to him in worry.

When Ash reunites with his friends, Serena asks Ash if he is okay with concerned tone of voice.

Master Class Choices!

Twice near the beginning of the episode, Serena is visibly nervous about the upcoming Showcase, but perks up after Ash encourages her.

When Sylveon becomes anxious and Serena fails to motivate her with words, Serena remembers Ash's advice regarding food and offers a Poké Puff to Sylveon in order to cheer her up.

An Electrifying Rage!

When Ash, Noibat, and Hawlucha are separated from Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie in a cave, Serena becomes extremely worried about Ash.

When Clemont, Bonnie, and Serena see Ash safe in Joule Town, Serena is the first to call out his name.

Master Class is in Session!

When Miette asks Ash who he would cheer for if she and Serena were opponents, Serena starts blushing in the background.

When Miette asks Serena if they've progressed, Serena gets annoyed and pulls her away to start chewing her out.

Performing a Pathway to the Future!

When Palermo asks Serena to withdraw from the finals, Serena recalls she and her Pokémon have come this far, to live this dream they are hoping to achieve and says Ash's words, she does not want to give up until the end.

As Serena's rivals split up after the Master Class Showcase, Miette teases Serena concerning her relationship with Ash, causing Serena to blush, before leaving.

Serena is later seen contemplating her future alone, when Ash finds her. Ash then encourages her, which resolves her confusion.

When explaining why she turned down Palermo's offer to be under her tutelage, one of the reasons Serena stated was that she wished to continue her journey with Ash.

Battling at Full Volume!

When Ash gets wet, Serena tosses him a towel, worried that he would catch a cold.

When Ash is about to say Iron Tail, Serena imagines that he is about to say "Love" or "I love you".

When Ash is sick and holds hands with Serena, she blushes intensely.

When Ash collapses, Serena's eyes tear up and she becomes extremely worried about him.

While Serena is placing a washrag on Ash's head her hand lingers around his face.

When Jimmy appears and asks for a battle Serena continually keeps trying to make sure Ash isn't disturbed in concern for his health.

Serena decided to battle in Ash's place who is sick because she does not want him to hurt himself.

When Spike uses Dig to evade Pikachu's Thunderbolt, Serena begins to panic, but resolves her problem remembering what Ash would do in this situation and comments that she watches Ash's battles more close than anybody else.

During her battle Serena becomes extremely excited when she realizes she "can" battle with Pikachu just like Ash can.

When Bonnie shouts over to Serena and begins to ask why she's wearing Ash's clothes, Serena blushes and screams to prevent her cover being blown.

When Bonnie teases Serena about her dressing up as Ash she blushes intensely.

When Ash steps in against Team Rocket Serena asks Ash "If he's alright" with a concerned tone of voice.

When Serena turns around and sees Ash stretching after stopping Team Rocket, she is seen staring at him in awe.

The Synchronicity Test!

When Ash fainted during the battle against Alain, Serena calls his name in worry and rushes to check if he's okay.

Making Friends and Influencing Villains!

After Ash was hit in the head Serena hands his hat back to him and asks if he's okay with a concerned tone of voice.

After Ash says he's hungry Serena offers Ash a pastry. Ash is also the only one Serena offers one to.

When the gang finds Ash, Serena calls out to him.

Championing a Research Battle!

When Ash and Greninja are training, Serena is taking care of Ash's Pikachu.

Serena worries about Ash doing anything reckless during his training with Greninja.

When the group see Ash and Greninja get to the finish line, Serena is the only one who cheers for Ash.

When Ash finishes his race with Greninja, Serena hands Ash her water bottle so Ash can have a drink.

When Ash faints during the battle with Diantha, Serena calls out to him in worry and is the first to run over and check on him.

A Full Strength Battle Surprise!

When Ash's friends approach him after he defeated his opponent, Serena encourages Ash and tells she knows he will win his Gym Badge.

All Hail the Ice Battlefield!

At the beginning of the episode, Serena encourages Ash to win his Gym match.

When Ash starts struggling during his battle with Wulfric, Serena is shown growing more worried about Ash.

After Avalugg defeats Ash-Greninja, Ash faints, there is a close-up on Serena's worried face.

Later that evening when Ash leaves, Serena tries to stop him and asks where he's going with a concerned tone of voice.

The following morning when Bonnie asks where Ash is, Serena is shown to be extremely upset and worried about Ash, who still hadn't returned.

Seeing the Forest for the Trees!

At the beginning of the episode, Serena takes it upon herself to go find Ash and talk to him.

When Serena finds Ash, she tries to cheer Ash up and encourage him, reminding him of how he helped her with her goal.

Serena tries to comfort Ash, pointing out he can talk to her about anything that troubles him.

Serena's eyes tear up when she throws a snowball at Ash, pointing out this isn't the Ash she knows, since the "real" Ash is usually so positive, act like a leader and never gives up, telling Ash is not himself.

When Serena throws two more snowballs at Ash before she left, she was on the verge to confessing her feelings for him.

Serena is shown to be upset and angry with Ash after he yelled at her.

When it starts to snow, Serena grows concerned for Ash and heads off to find him even though she is still mad at him for yelling at her.

During the blizzard Serena is shown to be extremely worried and concerned about Ash.

After telling Clemont and Bonnie about her argument with Ash, Serena's eyes tear up.

When Ash finds his way back to the others, Serena is shown to be extremely relieved when she sees Ash is alright.

After Ash apologizes to Serena for the way he acted to her, Serena starts smiling with a light blush on her face and her hand moves in front of her heart briefly.

A Real Icebreaker!

Before the Gym battle rematch against Wulfric, Serena is shown to be worried about Ash and whispers his name in concern.

Serena begins to smile during the Gym match as she realizes that the Ash she knows is back.

When Ash once again experiences pain from Ash-Greninja, Serena is shown to be growing worried about Ash.

After Ash's Gym battle victory Serena is shown to be cheering in excitement for him, more than Clemont or Bonnie.

When the group runs over to Ash after the Gym battle Serena is shown to be happy for Ash's victory. She then whispers Ash's name but appears to not know what to say to Ash next.

At the end of Ash's Gym match, Serena looks at Ash and says to herself, "This is the Ash I know, the Ash that I admire."

When Ash reaches his arm out to Serena for a fist-bump Serena smiles at Ash and returns the gesture.

A League of His Own!

When Everett challenges Ash to a battle before the league, Serena grabs Ash's arm to stop him from battling, so that he wouldn't miss registering for the Lumiose Conference.

As the gang walks away from Everett, Serena is seen holding hands with Ash as she leads him away.

Before Ash leaves for his first match, Serena encourages Ash one more time and tells him good luck before he leaves.

When Ash is late for his first battle, Serena is shown to be worried and whispers his name in concern.

While watching Ash's battle, Serena is shown to be watching him in awe; with a slight blush on her face.

Analysis Versus Passion!

While Ash seems to be having trouble, and his friends worry that the battle is proceeding exactly as Sawyer has planned it, Serena says she believes in Ash and that he isn't going to lose since nobody can imitate him.

A Riveting Rivalry!

During Ash's battle, while the others are commenting about how Ash will have problems and may not win, Serena is shown to be staring down at Ash and saying to herself: "You can win Ash. I believe in you".

As Serena cheers Ash on, she can be seen blushing.

As the battle intensifies, Serena becomes increasingly worried.

After Ash wins his battle against Sawyer and advances to the final round, Serena blushes while her eyes glisten with tears of joy.

Finals Not for the Faint-Hearted!

During Ash's battle, Serena is shown to be cheering for Ash the loudest, and consistently has confidence in him winning.

Each time Ash wins, Serena is the only one who stands up as she cheers for him.

Before the episode ends, Serena is praying for Ash to win telling him and Pikachu to "hang in there"

Down To the Fiery Finish!

During Ash's battle Serena repeatedly assures everyone Ash will win and maintain her confidence in him.

When the battle between Ash and Alain begins to intensify the camera zooms in on Serena having an increasingly more worried expression for Ash as he slowly loses his advantage.

After Goodra is defeated by Bisharp, the camera focuses on Serena looking worried and silently calling out to Ash in worry

Serena despite being disappointed expresses how proud of him she is, being happy to see he's smiling and did the best he could in his battle despite losing to Alain while the rest of their friends were either expressing their disappointment at Ash's defeat or complimenting the battle.

A Towering Takeover!

Before Ash and Alain leave to find the source of the roots attacking Lumiose City, Serena tells Ash to be very careful.

Rocking Kalos Defenses!

After Ash finds Clemont in Lumiose Gym, she calls him on his walkie-talkie so Professor Sycamore and Steven could tell him where Team Flare's Giant Rock is heading. After sending him their location and telling him to come to it, she tells him to be very careful with a worried look, despite Clemont and Alain also being with him.

After Ash assures everyone that they will stop Lysandre and save Chespie, Serena's expression softens and she happily tells him that they will be waiting for him.

After Braixen is saved by Charizard, she is relieved to see Ash.

Forming a More Perfect Union!

After Ash comes out of the Giant Rock, Serena's relieved to see him safe and mentions him specifically, despite Pikachu, Greninja, Alain, and Chespie being with him.

Battling With a Clean Slate!

After Serena tells the group that she's hesistant on what she wants to do next in her journey, Ash assures her that she will be okay and he believes in her when deciding on the next step for her journey which causes Serena's eyes light up considerably thanks him for his support.

The First Day of the Rest of Your Life!

After Clemont and Bonnie decide to go back to the Lumiose Gym, Ash asks Serena what she plans on doing and to hang out with him around Lumiose City which causes her to blush.

After Ash suggest that he and Serena have a battle she blushes intensely when he holds her hand and leads her to the battlefield.

After her battle with Ash she sincerely thanks him for always supporting her.

Serena spent much of the episode depressed and unsure of what her next step would be on her journey, but after her battle with Ash and his encouragement she resolves her confusion.

Facing the Needs of the Many!

As Ash is getting ready to jump from the mountain in order to get to Xerosic's aircraft, Serena takes his hand and says she is coming with him.

Till We Compete Again!

When Ash's mom tells the gang that she'd love to have them come to Pallet Town for dinner Serena starts blushing.

While the group is eating breakfast before they leave to go to the airport, they notice Bonnie looking sad and after she halfheartedly assures the others she's fine, Ash and Serena look at each other with a worried expression for Bonnie.

Before going down the escalator Serena tells Ash that he is her goal.

Serena tells Ash that she's going to get better for him the next time they meet and winks at him.

Serena also tells Ash that she will be a more mature woman when he next sees her.

As Serena is going down the escalator, leaving the group, she turns around, asks Ash for one last moment, runs back up to him and kisses him.

Serena is shown blushing as she goes down the escalator after kissing Ash, then her eyes glisten and she thanks him for letting her kiss him and for all he's done for her.

After Serena arrives in Hoenn she reflects on her adventures with Ash in Kalos all the while remembering him assuring her she'll be fine and he has faith that she'll be great.

Ash's hints

A Blustery Santalune Gym Battle!

After Serena returns Ash's backpack to him, he apologizes to her because he was focused on the battle that he didn't notice her.

Battling on Thin Ice!

When Serena encourages Ash who is having trouble in his training. Ash thanks Serena and says her encouragement helped him.

Ash and Serena have a personal conversation, Serena says that she doesn't know what she is going to do, Ash encourages her that she should take her time to find her own goal.

Giving Chase at the Rhyhorn Race!

In the beginning of the episode, after Serena says she doesn't know what she is going to do, Ash asks her to travel with them, saying that it was because of her that he won the Bug Badge and that it would be nice if she stayed with them. This is the first time that Ash has asked a female companion to travel with him. It can also be noted that when Ash asked Serena to travel with him, he appears to be nervous, which is shown in his voice and when he scratches his cheek; cheek scratching is a classic anime symbol for nervousness.

In a flashback of when Ash and Serena first met as children, Serena hurts her knee. Ash arrives, takes out a handkerchief upon seeing her injury, and bandages it up for her. Then, he holds out his hand and when she hesitates to take it, he grabs her hand and pulls her up, quickly taking her by surprise and making her fall into his arms in a hug. It is noted that during the hug, it is Serena who pulls away and not him. Afterwards, he holds her hand and helps her find her way back to the camp.

After the flashback, Ash finally remembers Serena as "the girl with the straw hat." After Serena pouts for not recognizing her right away, he apologizes.

After learning that Serena took Rhyhorn racing lessons from her mother, he asks her to train him so he can participate.

Ash is impressed by Serena's bond with Rhyhorn and says she is amazing.

Ash happily chooses the Rhyhorn that Serena suggest he should pick.

Ash smiles nervously when Serena states that the Rhyhorn racing outfit fits him well.

After receiving cookies from Serena, Ash seems to enjoy them a lot.

Grooming Furfrou!

When Serena comments on how it must be great to have one thing to love to do. Ash is the only one who hears her and asks what she was saying.

Mega-Mega Meowth Madness!

It can be noted that Ash checks on Serena first and asks if she was okay instead of checking on Bonnie or Professor Sycamore.

The Bamboozling Forest!

As the group is looking for Pangoro's bamboo leaf, there is a scene where Ash helps Serena cross a small river by holding her hand. The scene only shows Ash and Serena getting across and not the others.

To Catch a Pokémon Smuggler!

When Ash tells Dolan to let everyone out of the net, he explicitly mentions Serena, but not Pikachu, Clemont or Bonnie, calling them "the others".

Awakening the Sleeping Giant!

When everyone is holding each other's ears from Snorlax's snoring, Ash is holding Serena's ears.

A PokéVision of Things to Come!

When Serena is in her Fennekin outfit, Ash is seen to be blankly staring at her, possibly out of attraction. His is the only face out of everyone present (an audience including Bonnie, Clemont, Dedenne, Froakie, Fletchling and Pikachu) that has a different expression than the others. It is also worth noting that the camera focuses on just Ash's face at first, showing everyone else a few seconds later.

Ash takes Serena's advice when she said he need to take a break, even though he wanted to continue his training.

As Serena runs to save Fennekin, Ash is the only one who calls out to her and helps her battling Team Rocket, while Clemont and Bonnie do nothing.

Going for the Gold!

After Ash notices that Serena doesn't know how to fish he offers to teach her. Ash spoke up to show Serena how to fish.

After seeing the golden Magikarp for real, Ash high fived with Serena.

A Battle By Any Other Name!

When Serena shows her fresh-baked Poké Puffs to the group, Ash tries some and compliments them while blushing and telling Serena, "I've never eaten such delicious sweets before!"

When Miette is announced as a finalist for the Poké Puff contest her and Serena entered, Ash initially gives a congratulatory look but upon seeing her brag about it to Serena, Ash immediately gives Miette a disapproving glare.

Upon hearing Serena is also a finalist in the Poké Puff competition, Ash immediately congratulates Serena.

When the team goes out to the forest to looks for berries for the Poké Puff competition, Ash expresses concern for Serena when she runs off by herself.

When the group hears Serena screaming from a distance, Ash calls out her name and runs after her.

Ash is the first person to find Serena and ask if she's all right.

The Aura Storm!

After Serena finds where Pomace Mountain is, Ash thanks her.

The Cave of Mirrors!

When Ash gets lost in Reflection Cave, he calls out for Serena first.

When Ash exits Reflection Cave and comes across Mirror Serena, he could immediately sense a difference between her and the real Serena by the way she spoke.

After Mirror Clemont finishes telling Ash and the others about the alternative worlds, Ash tells them that the Clemont, Serena, and Bonnie standing before him aren't the same people that he knows, and while telling the group this he mentions Serena specifically while looking directly at Mirror Serena.

When the Mirror Dimension is splitting apart, Ash makes a great leap across the chasm and grabs on to Serena's hand instead of calling upon one of his Pokémon or using Clemont's Aipom arm.

Day Three Blockbusters!

When Serena begins to fall down a cliff, Ash runs after her and grabs her hand to try to stop her from falling, but ends up falling down with her in the process.

When Serena sees that Ash has twisted his ankle, he reassures her that he's okay.

After Ash returns Serena's hat to her, he nervously chuckles and scratches his nose.

When Serena is feeding her Fennekin, the camera focuses on Ash, who is staring at her and smiling.

When Serena asks what she wants to do as her dream, Ash encourages her that she will find it together with Fennekin.

Battling into the Hall of Fame!

After Team Froakie won a place at the Hall of Fame, Serena is sad because her Fennekin lost in the battle. Ash cheers her up telling her that "it's just the begining, it may have lost today but it will get you stronger".

Showdown at the Shalour Gym!

When Ash's rhythm battling strategy seems to be failing against Korrina, he turns to look at Serena in the middle of the battle and remembers her words from the previous day's training, which motivates him and gives him an idea that helps him win the battle.

Dreaming a Performer's Dream!

When Serena was trying to protect Pancham from Jessie and Pumpkaboo's Shadow Ball attacks, Ash is the only one yelling her name in worry.

When Serena battles Pancham, Ash is carrying Serena's bag for her.

When Serena is trying to catch Pancham, Ash supports her. When Serena's Poké Ball fails the first time, Ash tells her that she should not give up.

A Campus Reunion!

When Luxio uses Swift, Ash moves in front of Serena in a defensive position.

Pathways to Performance Partnering!

When Serena is going to start her performance, Ash wishes good luck to her.

When Team Rocket throws a smoke bomb, Ash and Serena turn towards each other and cover both of their heads with their arms to protect each other.

A Stealthy Challenge!

When Serena falls down the cliff with Clemont, Ash is the only one that calls out to her.

When Sanpei tells Ash to leave, he refuses and tells Sanpei to fight together and find "Serena and the others", Serena is mentioned first and also the only one mentioned by name.

A Race for Home!

Ash praises Serena, saying it was thanks to her he learned how to ride a Rhyhorn.

When Grace brings Ash and Serena together, they look at each other with embarrassment.

Ash is constantly checking on Serena to see if she is all right.

When Grace talks about Serena not helping with cooking, Ash speaks up and compliments Serena's baking skills.

After Serena won the race against her mother, Ash congratulates Serena and tells her to keep doing their best together.

Facing the Grand Design!

When the group see a Malamar and remember their previous encounter with it, Ash puts his arm out in front of Serena to protect her.

When a truck is driving recklessly and almost hits them, Ash pushes Serena away from the road so she does not get hit. This is significant because both Clemont and Bonnie are closer to the road at the time and are therefore in even more danger of being hit by the truck.

One for the Goomy!

When the group is separated, Ash is calling out for Serena only, despite others like Bonnie and Goomy being lost as well.

The Green, Green Grass Types of Home!

After Ash defeats Ramos and wins his fourth Kalos Gym Badge, he walks up to Serena to remind her of Showcase Debut and gives Serena a boost of encouragement before the episode ends.

Under the Pledging Tree!

After Serena registers for the Showcase, she tells the group that she still feels she needs some practice, Ash encourages her to go on and assures her that she will be fine.

Thanks to a suggestion from Serena, Ash comes up with what to get for his Pokémon as a gift.

When Ash puts down his heavy bag of berries, he looks at Serena and laughs nervously.

Ash wins a blue ribbon for being a significant number rider on the Coumarine Monorail. At the end of the episode, he gives it to Serena as his way of saying thanks for her help, scratching his nose nervously.

A Showcase Debut!

After Serena shows the group her performance dress Ash is the first one to stand up and takes a few steps forward to give her more encouragement before they head to the Showcase Theatre.

In a flashback of Serena's experiences with Fennekin, when she is looking in the mirror, Ash is looking at her.

When Clemont is wondering if Serena is okay after her loss in the Pokemon Showcase, Ash assures him that she will be fine because she is strong.

When Bonnie and Clemont notice that Serena is missing, Ash volunteers to go find her.

When the group sees Serena's new hairstyle for the first time, Ash is the only one who has a positive reaction. Clemont asks what happened and Bonnie complains that she preferred Serena's long hair.

Ash comments that the blue ribbon he gave Serena in the previous episode looked great on her.

Battling with Elegance And a Big Smile!

After Serena yells at Fennekin and Pancham for fighting during their performance practice Ash is the only one who tries to calm her down. When Serena tells everyone she wants to be alone and think, Ash gives her a double take reaction before looking worried after she runs away.

While Serena is still gone, Ash notices Pancham and Fennekin are worried about Serena while waiting for her to comeback to which Ash cheers them up and assures them that she'll comeback

After Ariana challenges Serena to a Double Battle, Ash is the one who gives Serena enough encouragement to accept the challenge.

At the end, when the group is running Ash and Serena are looking at each other.

Good Friends, Great Training!

When Team Rocket's APC unit finds Ash, Serena and Pikachu. Ash puts his arm out in front of Serena to protect her.

So You're Having a Bad Day!

While searching, Ash calls out for Serena first.

Both Ash and Serena are relieved to see each other when they reunite.

A Fashionable Battle!

Serena keeps suggesting that they visit the shop to check some outfits while Ash consistently agrees. It is atypical of Ash to want to visit a clothing shop, given his established personality.

When Serena appears on stage in a furisode outfit, Ash is shown to be staring at her in awe.

Performing with Fiery Charm!

Ash greatly cheers Serena when she shows confidence in not losing the Showcase.

Ash states that Serena is amazing after trying her Poké Puffs.

Ash appears to be more excited when Serena appears on the stage.

When Ash, Clemont, and Bonnie are voting for Serena, Ash noticeably raises his PokéLume higher than the others.

Ash is shown congratulating Serena after the Showcase and compliments her on her dress.

Over the Mountain of Snow!

When the group is deciding the pairs needed to ride on the Mamoswine, Ash happily picks Serena to ride with him.

After Ash attempts to direct Mamoswine to climb but end up sliding back down. Ash only asks Serena if she is okay, but not Pikachu.

When Serena volunteered to switch spots with Ash, he had high hopes for her to get up the slope.

While crossing the bridge in the snowy mountains, a blast of icy wind frightens Serena, Ash holds on to her shoulders and comforts her. He then praises her once they are safely across the bridge.

When the group splits up to find the herbs needed, Ash again quickly picks Serena to be his partner.

Ash compliments Serena when she finds the herb that they were looking for.

Adventures in Running Errands!

When Serena asks Ash what he thinks of her nurse outfit, Ash tells her it suits her well.

Mending a Broken Spirit!

When Serena is battling Woodward, Ash encourages Serena and says she will be fine.

A Frolicking Find in the Flowers!

When the tea is ready, Ash only calls Serena to join in.

When Serena and Bonnie are telling the others about Eevee, Ash immediately blames himself for Serena not being able to approach Eevee and appears almost apologetic about it to Serena, than suggest the group go look for it after their break.

When Serena dives to catch Eevee after Jessie commanded Gourgeist to use Seed Bomb, Ash is the only one who yells out Serena's name in worry.

When Serena was trying to protect Eevee from Jessie and another one of Gourgeist's Seed Bomb attacks, Ash, again is the only one to yell her name in worry.

At the end of the episode, Ash congratulates Serena for catching Eevee.

Tag Team Battle Inspiration!

After meeting up with Tierno and Shauna, Ash and Tierno talk about the Anistar City gym, while Shauna comments on Ash's optimism and ask Serena if that's why she likes Ash which flusters Serena. After Serena gives Shauna nervous response, Ash overhears them talking about him and ask Serena to repeat what she said to Shauna.

During the tag battle with Tierno against Serena and Shauna, Ash quickly notices Serena change in demeanor. Upon Serena apologizing the others for calling off the battle she requested for the reason of her wanting to prepare for her upcoming Showcase since she got an idea from the battle, Ash tells her he doesn't mind when this happened in a previous episode Ash appeared to be somewhat annoyed.

A Performance Pop Quiz!

In the beginning of the episode, Ash is the only one who encourages Serena and wishes her good luck before she leaves.

Ash assures Serena that he will watch over Eevee while she performs.

After Serena answers correctly the Pokémon Quiz, there is a close-up on Ash's happy face.

After Eevee is startled by Jessie performance and runs away, Ash immediately apologizes to Serena for losing sight of her.

When Serena is about to search for Eevee, Ash was the first to offer to look himself.

After Serena finds Eevee, Ash assures her he will keep a closer eye on her.

Ash is excited and cheers loudly for Serena when she wins the Pokémon Showcase.

Ash congratulates Serena after the Showcase and compliments her on her performance.

A Dancing Debut

Ash appears to be more excited after Serena's theme performance than Bonnie and Clemont.

Ash is cheering for Serena much louder than Bonnie and Clemont.

When Ash, Clemont, and Bonnie are voting for Serena after her theme performance Ash raising his Pokélume a noticeable amount of time before Bonnie and Clemont do.

During Serena's performance Ash is praising her, while Clemont is quiet, and Bonnie is praising Eevee.

After Serena's loss in the Pokémon Showcase, Ash is the only one who cheers up Serena and Eevee.

Party Dancecapades!

After the battle, Ash congratulates Serena and compliments her on her battling skills.

Master Class Choices!

Twice near the beginning of the episode, Ash offers Serena encouragement when he sees how nervous she is.

Ash seems more excited than Clemont and Bonnie and praises Serena more during her performance, cheering loudly for her when she wins.

When Bonnie comments that Serena and her Pokemon look happy during the Freestyle, Ash says that makes him feel happy too.

Ash is also the first one who shouts her name and congratulates her after she wins the Showcase.

While Ash, Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie are celebrating Serena's victory Ash is shown to be winking at her.

When Serena learns the location of the Master Class, Ash puts his hand on her shoulder and assures her that he will put off his eighth Gym battle until after her performance.

An Electrifying Rage!

When the group decides to split up to get to town, Ash calls out to Serena to be careful with a serious and concerned tone of voice.

After delivering the medicine to the village when Ash tells Pikachu lets go find "Serena and the others" Serena is mentioned first and also the only one mentioned by name.

Unlocking Some Respect!

When Serena wants to go see an exhibit, Ash accepts to this, enthusiastically as well.

When Serena learned the exhibition was closed for the night and became disappointed, Ash suggests they stay at the hotel for the night so she can see it first thing in the morning.

Master Class is in Session!

When Miette asks Ash who he will support if there is a contest between her and Serena, he tells her that he will definitely cheer for Serena.

After Clemont comments that the tournament has much more attention than the local Showcases, Ash assures his friends that Serena will be fine.

Ash seems to support Serena greatly when she came on.

During Serena's Freestyle, Ash cheers for her and compliments her performance.

When they were voting, Ash shouts out her name louder than the others.

Performing a Pathway to the Future!

When Serena is going to perform, Ash cheers loudly for her.

After the Master Class tournament, Serena is seen contemplating her future alone. When Ash goes and finds her, he first shows concern for her wrist which she injured, and then encourages her for the sake of her goal.

A Keeper for Keeps?!

When Ash is eating breakfast he is looking at Serena.

Battling at Full Volume!

When Ash is walking towards Serena while he's sick, he falls into her arms.

While in Serena's arms he grabs her hand.

After Ash collapses he still continues to hold her hand.

When Ash was fully recovered, he thanked Serena for filling in for him.

The Synchronicity Test!

When Ash wakes up, he smiles at Serena and apologizes to her when he sees how worried she was about him.

Making Friends and Influencing Villains!

When Serena offers Ash a pastry he happily accepts it and thanks her as well as complements her.

When the gang couldn't figure out where to go Ash immediately turns to Serena and says that he believes in her and she can find it.

Championing a Research Battle!

When Serena hands her water bottle to Ash, he happily takes it and thanks her for the drink.

As Ash gets up after fainting, he faces Serena as he tells everyone he's fine.

All Hail the Ice Battlefield!

When Serena calls out to Ash as they arrive at the gym he smiles at her, then runs towards her and the gym.

Seeing the Forest for the Trees!

After Serena throws a snowball at Ash for yelling at her and leaves, Ash is shown to grow more upset at himself for yelling at Serena and upsetting her.

Before Ash reunites with Greninja he is shown to be thinking about what Serena said before he yelled at her.

When Ash and Greninja reunite with the group, the first thing Ash does is give Serena an apology for what he did with a sincere tone of voice. He also thanks her for helping him "figure things out".

A Real Icebreaker!

Before the start of his rematch, Ash turns to Serena after hearing her whispering his name. After seeing that she appears worried about him Ash smiles at Serena and assures her that "everything will be alright."

After the gym battle when everyone is congratulating him, Ash faces Serena and reaches his hand out only to Serena for a "fist-bump".

A League of His Own!

When Serena says Ash won't be battling to Everett; he looks at Serena, who's holding his arm, then to the ground and agrees with Serena and does what she says, even though he wanted to battle.

Ash continues holding Serena's hand as she leads him into the stadium.

When Serena encourages Ash and wishes him luck before his battle, Ash thanks her and says he appreciates her encouragement.

Rocking Kalos Defenses!

After Lysandre falls off of Prism Tower, Ash gets a call from Serena on his walkie-talkie and he immediately asks where she is in a frantic tone of voice.

Before Ash sets off with Clemont and the others to stop the Giant Rock, he tells Serena to stay back for her safety as well as to protect Bonnie and Mairin.

Battling With a Clean Slate!

While watching the reopening of the Lumiose Gym, Serena tells the group she's hesitant on what she's going to do next. After hearing this, Ash assures her that she will be fine and that he believes in her.

The First Day of the Rest of Your Life!

After their rivals go their separate ways and Clemont and Bonnie return to Lumiose Gym, Ash asks Serena what she plans on doing, then suggests that the two of them hang out together.

While they are walking around Lumiose City, Ash takes Serena to a clothing store and shows her an outfit he'd think she'd like, (something atypical of Ash to do given how he feels about such activity)

While Pikachu and Serena are looking at the dress Ash showed her, Ash is shown to be smiling at her before replacing his smile with a look of concern.

Ash is constantly looking at Serena with a look of worry while they were walking around in Lumiose City.

Ash asks Serena to battle with him then grabs her by the hand and runs to the battlefield while still holding her hand. After arriving at the battlefield he tells her he wants to battle her to cheer her up and resolves the confusion he sees that she's having.

After their battle Ash compliments Serena for her bond with Braixen and the rest of her Pokémon telling her that the bond she has with her Pokémon is the same as his bond with Greninja while scratching his nose nervously.

After their battle Ash gives Serena more encouragement for the sake of her future telling her she'll never be alone as long as she has her Pokémon with her and that he will always be supporting her no matter what she decides to do which resolves Serena's confusion and helps her decide on which path she wants to take next on her journey.

After Serena informs the group of her decision to travel to Hoenn alone Ash is the only one who congratulates her for figuring out what she wants to do next and gives her further encouragement for the next step in her journey.

Till We Compete Again!

While the group is eating breakfast before they leave to go to the airport, they notice Bonnie looking sad and after she halfheartedly assures the others she's fine, Ash and Serena look at each other with a worried expression for Bonnie.

After Serena tells Ash that she's going to get better for him and the next time they meet Ash smiles at her and expresses confidence in her.

After Serena says to Ash; "You are my goal!" Ash jumps back a bit in surprise, but then starts smiling at Serena.

When Serena starts down the escalator the first time, Ash is the only one among himself, Clemont and Bonnie to step forward and follow her.

After Serena kisses Ash, he is seen standing at the top of the escalator momentarily stunned in awe and glistening eyes, but smiles afterwards and waves her goodbye.

After Serena's plane takes off, Ash assures Clemont that she's stronger than she appears and that they have nothing to worry about just as he did after her first Showcase. Ash then tells him that when they see her again, she'll be stronger than ever.

While Ash is on his plane back to Kanto he's shown to be remembering his adventures in Kalos, when thinking about his friends in Kalos most of his thoughts were primarily focused on Serena alone opposed to Clemont and Bonnie were mostly present in group moments rather than individually. Those memories included:

Saving Serena from Clemont's "Pokéstar Shooter".

Teaching Serena how to fish and how happy she was at having caught something.

Serena being angered by Jessie who was impersonating her.

Serena nursing his foot when they were stranded in a ravine together while they were at Professor Sycamore's Summer Camp.

Giving her the ribbon he won in Coumarine City and her happily accepting it.

Falling into her arms while he was sick and collapsing while still holding her hand, (interesting about this particular memory, Ash specifically remembers only Serena calling out to him in worry after he collapses, while in the actual episode Clemont and Bonnie did as well. Also interesting about this memory that Ash was supposed to be delirious from being sick in the episode but he vividly remembers what happened).

Serena telling him "He isn't the Ash she knows" after arguing with her in the Winding Woods.

Other hints

 Valentine's Day poster with Ash and Serena.

 The poster from Animedia Magazine.

On the second promotional poster for the series, Serena is depicted blushing while looking at Ash.

Battling on Thin Ice!

After Serena asks Ash if he remembers her, Ash's Pikachu and Fletchling run to Clemont and Bonnie in response, implying that the two Pokémon sense that this is a sensitive moment between Ash and Serena and that they should be left alone.

As Serena and Ash talk, Alexa is seen smiling at the two of them, suggesting that she enjoys seeing the two of them together and even senses a spark between them. However, she could also be smiling as a response to Serena restoring Ash's motivation to train, by quoting a sentence he once said in his childhood, about "never giving up".

Before the start of the rematch between Ash and Viola, Alexa tells Serena when she heard Ash and her talking, he needed some inspiration, but she didn't think it would be from her. This sentence implies that Ash would not be as inspired and determined to win the battle if Serena had not appeared.

On the first official character connection table, an arrow is shown from Serena to Ash with the phrase "I love ...?".

There is another official poster from Animedia Magazine of only Serena and Ash sitting next to each other and holding drinks.

There is an official poster for the movie Hoopa and the Clash of Ages of Ash, Serena, Pikachu and Hoopa, in the poster Serena is seen feeding Pikachu, Clemont and Bonnie were noticeably absent.

On the official Pokémon movie website for Japan, there is a quiz where one question asks what the dialogue from Serena was at the end of Summer of Discovery! and one of the options is Serena saying, "My dream is, to become Satoshi’s bride… AH! I am embarrassed!"

In the second opening of the XY series (Mega V), Serena looks sad about something and Ash is the only one that notices and calls her to be with him to try to make Serena happy.

The first Pokemon XY ending theme only shows Ash and Serena's hats, Ash's Pokédex and Serena's guide book.

At the end of the third Pokemon XY ending theme, while Serena is sleeping, Ash places a blanket over her. This is interesting since the most likely person to do that would be Bonnie, considering their closeness.

During the intros, Ash usually appears first, followed by Serena.

During the Pokemon Special that aired between A Slippery Encounter! and One for the Goomy!, Ash and Serena were the only ones narrating their progress in Kalos while Clemont and Bonnie were noticeably absent.

The Japanese title of Under the Pledging Tree! is "Satoshi and Serena's First Date!? The Vow Tree and the Present!!"

When Ash and his traveling companions split up to go look for something, he tends to partner up with Serena.

Serena looks to Ash for guidance and advice on occasion, and she usually takes his recommendations seriously.

Ash and Serena are often eating and sitting next to each other.

So far in the series, four recurring female characters have noted Serena's crush on Ash: Miette, Bonnie, Shauna and Nini. Every time it has been openly discussed with her, rather than attempting to deny it, Serena instead blushes and acts embarrassed.

To date, Serena is the only female traveling companion to ever dress up as and impersonate Ash.

Serena is the only female companion who hasn't either argued or fought with nor insulted Ash on a regular basis or be easily irritated by his actions, Misty, May, Dawn (to a smaller extent) and Iris have all been easily irritated by his recklessness and have argued, fought and insulted Ash during their travels with him.

At the last scene of Till We Compete Again! when Ash is shown entering his house the white flowers in the foreground are Baby Breath flowers which symbolize everlasting love. It's a hint from the writers that shows their content with the ending of XY&Z having Ash and Serena kiss.

The flight Serena was going to board to head to Hoenn was H71 Latias. "H71" can be interpreted as the #071 in the Hoenn Pokédex, which is Mawile, or Kucheet (クチート) in Japanese. This can be read as a corruption of 口と, meaning "with the mouth", suggesting that Serena kissed Ash on the mouth.

In the March 2014 issue of Onnanoko to Tame no Kuchikomi & Tōkō Magazine, there is a summary of Serena where among her character description it says that she has special feelings towards Ash. There is also another character connection table with an arrow from Serena to Ash that says "very interested in".

The aforementioned magazine also includes a poster with Ash and Serena (Clemont and Bonnie are clearly missing) surrounded by Pokémon and hearts. Serena is holding a heart while looking up at Ash.

Many fans are intrigued by the ending theme since there is a line that says "two people finding a new love" followed by the scene of Ash placing a blanket over Serena.

In this episode, Ash gives Serena a ribbon, which is one of the very few times Ash has ever given a gift to one of his female friends (he gave a Beedrill to Casey in The Bug Stops Here and a flower to Iris in The Path That Leads to Goodbye!). It can be noted that unlike when he gave those gifts to Casey and Iris, he gave Serena the ribbon without any advice from another person.

However the only time both Ash and Serena had a conflict, it was over something serious instead of childish; to snap Ash back to his senses.

Movie evidence

Serena's hints

Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction

During the night after Ash and Diancie make a wish on a star, it shows Serena awake in her tent gazing at Ash adoringly from a distance without him being aware.

When Ash is separated from Diancie and the rest of his friends, Diancie expresses her worry for him, but Serena instantly speaks up, believing that he will be fine.

After Ash reunites with his friends when they are battling Riot's Greninja, Serena is relieved when she sees Ash is alright.

Hoopa and the Clash of Ages

In the trailer, Serena becomes extremely worried about Ash and calls his name in fear when he becomes taken over by the Prison Bottle he caught.

Before Ash separates from his friends, Serena tells him to be very careful.

After Ash frees from the mind control, Serena asks if he's okay with a concerned tone of voice.

Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel

Serena is shown to be carrying Ash's backpack for him.

After Ash reunites with his friends, Serena is relieved when she sees Ash is alright.

Serena gives Ash new clothing to replace his water-damaged outfit, when he wears the outfit she says he looks great.

At night, when the group is camping, Serena is mending Ash's normal outfit.

When Ash and Volcanion get electrocuted by Dohga and Ether's atacks, Serena calls out Ash's name in worry.

Ash's hints

Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction

When Ash is telling Diancie about friends, Ash turns his head to Serena, then turns back to Diancie. Although Bonnie was standing behind Serena, Ash was making full eye contact with the latter.

Ash holds Serena's hand as they cross a log together even though the help was most likely unnecessary.

In the ending credits, when Ash and the others see a shooting star, Serena is making a wish and Ash is the only one who is looking at her while Clemont and Bonnie start sleeping.

Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel

After Ash tries on the secondary outfit Serena got him, Ash is shown to be excited about it and says he really likes it.

When Serena returns Ash's normal outfit after mending it, Ash compliments Serena as he thanks her.

Similarities

Both have worn Ash's outfit.

They both wear hats and are based off of a playable character from the games: Red and Serena, respectively.

Both Serena's Fennekin and Ash's Froakie were originally Professor Sycamore's.

Both Ash and Serena have had only their mothers make an appearance in the anime: Delia and Grace, respectively.

Both own at least one Pokémon that wears sunglasses: Ash owns a Krookodile and a Squirtle, while Serena owns a Pancham.

Their first Fighting types were Primeape and Pancham respectively, both of which have coincidentally stolen Ash's hat.

They both own a Pokédex.

They both know how to ride Rhyhorn, Skiddo, and Mamoswine.

Both have unknown fathers.

Both have changed their hats at some point.

Both have traveled through their home regions in two different traveling outfits.

Both have been hit in the face with a Flamethrower attack by the first Fire-type they owned.

Both Ash and Serena have been burned by Serena's Fennekin.

Before they eat, both usually take their hats off.

They both perform cross-dressing.

They both received a new Pokédex from Professor Sycamore in All Eyes on the Future!.

They both lost against a rival in the final round of a tournament in their field of expertise: Serena lost against Aria in the final round of the Gloire City Pokémon Showcase Master Class in Performing a Pathway to the Future!, while Ash lost against Alain in the Lumiose Conference in Down to the Fiery Finish!.

The beginning of their introduction episodes (Pokémon - I Choose You! for Ash and Kalos, Where Dreams and Adventures Begin! for Serena) borrow elements from the beginning of the games of the respective generations: the opening animation of Pokémon Red and Green with a Gengar battling a Nidorino is seen before it transitions into the battle that Ash is watching on TV, and a Fletchling wakes up Serena, as it does with the player character in Pokémon X and Y.

Both Pokémon have evolved under their ownership, Greninja and Braixen.

Serena was burned by her Fennekin and Ash has been burned by his Charizard multiple times.

Trivia

Ash and Serena met each other when they were young at Professor Oak's Summer Camp in Pallet Town. This would make it the first time a traveling companion of Ash's knew him prior to the beginning of the series.

"SatoSere", the shipping's Japanese name, has been trending in Japan on Twitter at various times.

Serena is the only one of Ash's friends so far to not have invited herself along with him and to travel with Ash, and was instead invited.

Serena is the first one of Ash's female companions not to get shocked by his Pikachu.

Serena is the only one of Ash's female companions who has kissed him.

Junichi Masuda, a Pokémon composer, has tweeted a picture of Ash and Serena as Pikachu, playing with one another. In the actual tweet, he tagged multiple AmourShipping accounts.

Alternate names

SatoSere - often used, this name is taken from Satoshi and Serena

AASL - standing for Ash And Serena Love

ChildhoodShipping - another name of the shipping, due to the fact that Ash and Serena met each other when they were young at Professor Oak's Summer Camp in Pallet Town.

source: http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Shipping:AmourShipping

#amourshipping #satosere

[yourcelinesaconlineventeblr]

Maybe You Don’t Need a Date Picker

July 5, 2019; zero Feedback

Calendar controls, date pickers, date widgets, no matter you call them, nevertheless they’re described, they comply with the same primary principle — present the consumer with a calendar to enter a date (and typically a time).

Chris Blakeley, CC BY-NC-ND 2.zero

The native implementations come from browsers when authors use . Often a calendar grid, however typically built to appear to be a broken slot-machine or configurable date rubber stamp that your accountant makes use of.

Frameworks and libraries supply their own tackle date pickers, with many more choices from third-party builders. These attraction to developers who need control over the visual fashion, and typically perform, of the date picker. Notably developers who need to avoid a totally different expertise throughout browsers.

The issue is that almost every implementation of a date picker is a barrier for some set of customers. I can comfortably say each one that I’ve seen is a drawback, though maybe there’s a wonderfully strong one someplace. Even the ARIA Authoring Practices, which is extra snug with imperfect patterns, has not deigned to create a date picker.

Challenges

I’ve been testing with customers for about 20 years (to date). Something I see time and again is the frustration with date fields which are anything aside from a plain textual content area for well known dates (like birthdays). They will anger customers. Enough that I’ve seen customers give up a check (greater than once).

Customers do not need to should cease their circulate and study this new consumer interface. They don’t need to experiment to see what keys work, or learn a pile of instructions. They need to enter a date and transfer on. This is applicable simply as a lot to native date pickers. They could solely use their telephone or pc to e mail and surf the online, not enter in depth date-specific info on a regular basis.

A developer might use a date picker a few occasions a day. Every jiffy when building a display with a date picker. Heck, perhaps solely a few times a week. However a developer might have used date pickers in a single month much more occasions than a mean consumer in a yr or a lifetime.

Accessibility

I’ve not touched on the accessibility issues with date pickers. The ones that declare to be accessible aren’t. For example, we all know is a drawback for voice customers across browsers. I’m continuously tossed date pickers from libraries and asked to guage them, and they are sometimes an accessibility quagmire. There’s a purpose most accessibility professionals tense up at the mention of date pickers.

Pointless element

I gathered the next notes after only a jiffy with the ReactJS Datepicker and its accessibility notes. I’m fairly confident more points can be discovered with more time.

The buttons on the prime of the grid to navigate to the previous or subsequent month haven’t any accessible identify. If a display reader consumer provides them focus, they will be announced only as “Button”. That is a WCAG four.1.2 violation.

The arrows in the buttons have inadequate distinction with the background, which means customers in daylight, with poor screens, or with low imaginative and prescient might have hassle seeing them. This is a WCAG 1.4.11 violation.

The menus for the month and yr haven’t any accessible identify (by way of , aria-label, or in any other case). A display reader consumer will hear the present worth, however no label. While the worth might provide context for the sector, it doesn’t provide context within the general control. That is a WCAG 1.three.1 and three.three.2 violation.

The location supplies a stack of keyboard shortcuts that the calendar management supports. While supported, nowhere is that help conveyed to customers. Keyboard-only and display reader users are offered no instructions on the best way to use the management, which means they’ll possible arrow their means by way of months and years to seek out their selection. This is a WCAG 3.3.2 violation.

The earlier / subsequent month buttons, the month select and the yr select cannot be accessed by a keyboard-only consumer. Utilizing the arrow keys doesn’t put concentrate on those controls. Utilizing Tab strikes the main target to the subsequent area of the shape. Of the listed supported keyboard shortcuts, even when a keyboard-only consumer knew about them, there isn’t any strategy to get to these seen controls, which means they may probably arrow their approach via months and years to seek out their selection. This is a WCAG 2.1.1 violation.

The dates have an aria-label with them that overrides the seen textual content and adds complexity to the term. Whereas aria-label sometimes won’t work on a

, the position makes it work. On this case, as an alternative of a display reader consumer listening to “18” they hear “day dash 18”. A greater strategy can be to exclude the aria-label altogether. This is not a technical WCAG violation, but is taken into account a usability concern for display reader users.

The presently chosen date is just not conveyed to display reader customers. It is just conveyed visually. This is a case the place aria-label could also be helpful to convey the state of the calendar date, perhaps as aria-label=”18 selected”. It’s attainable aria-current can work right here. As it’s, this is WCAG 1.four.1 and four.1.2 violation.

The week days usually are not conveyed to display reader customers for individual days. As a result of the calendar does not use a

with parts for every weekday, and since arrowing proper or left moves the consumer whatever the begin or finish of a row, a display reader consumer won’t know if a specific date falls on a Monday, Tuesday, and so forth. It doesn’t assist that is additionally mis-cast with position=”listbox”. That is a WCAG 1.three.1 violation.

Round-up of WCAG violations in this calendar management as listed above:

1.3.1: Information and Relationships (A)

1.4.1: Use of Shade (A)

1.4.11: Non-text Distinction (AA)

2.1.1: Keyboard (A)

three.three.2: Labels or Directions (A)

four.1.2: Identify, Position, Value (A)

Validation

Using third-party or native calendar controls could make a developer really feel that the validation is dealt with. Handled by the collective intelligence of everybody who worked on the management.

But the developer still has to offer validation outdoors of the control. Typically validation is needed to help the fallback state for older browsers. Typically it is there to honor progressive enhancement. But principally there must be server-side validation because we know scripts break and assets don’t load and knowledge might be bypass client-side validation.

I can’t imagine that builders are going to let user-submitted content instantly into their knowledge buildings with out scrubbing it in some minimal method. And not simply because of the worry of Little Bobby Tables paying their website a go to. As a skilled consumer, I can get around confounding controls by injecting the values I would like using the browser’s dev instruments, and developers sometimes account for knowledge coming by way of outdoors of the rigorously crafted client-side validation.

The point is, strong websites and purposes already do validation on the info outdoors of that offered by the management.

An Various to Date Pickers

Customers usually are not looking for a complicated date picker each time you ask for any date. At the least not users with a keyboard.

Textual content Subject

Beforehand I’ve relied on plain textual content inputs as date fields with custom validation for the location, sometimes using the same logic on the shopper and the server. For recognized dates — birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, and so forth — it has tested properly.

Text Subject with Messaging

In this prototype I am still using a text input for the first subject, however I additionally use client-side script to convert the info to a human-readable date that I current to the consumer. This manner a consumer can get speedy feedback and worry a bit much less about matching a specific arcane knowledge format the developers want.

Briefly, I am making an attempt to deliver far much less code (and confusion) to the top consumer whereas accepting a broader range of date formats. I’m letting the robustness principle drive my strategy.

Prototype

See the Pen XQBgNO by Adrian Roselli (@aardrian) on CodePen.

You will notice that I ask for a U.S. date format. The weirdest one. This may be adjusted, in fact, however I selected it to exhibit how a globally confusing format benefits from fast suggestions.

The script to convert the date is the minimal quantity of code to show the effect. It isn’t production-ready. It isn’t even good. Attempt it by getting into “7 5 19”. Ideally, the date your script generates is the one you submit with the shape.

Notice the ARIA attributes, the connections between the fields, and use of to hold the message. These are all there to ensure it is helpful for display reader customers and voice customers.

Delivery date (MM/DD/YYYY):

Testing Feedback

Dragon Dictate users are usually annoyed with all calendar controls, together with the native ones we get from sort=”date”. In an off-the-cuff check, this one proved usable.

Informal checks (anecdata) from other customers confirmed this strategy was no worse than a textual content area and far simpler than a calendar management.

Places This Will Not Work

There are plenty of conditions the place a plain text area (with or with out the messaging function I prototyped) won’t work.

If it’s essential see chosen dates, unavailable dates, weekends, holidays, date spans, date ranges, dates the place counts from begin or finish dates matter, and so on.

Wrap-up

What we know is that native and custom calendar controls are often a drawback for customers and utilized where they don’t seem to be needed. Earlier than dropping the code on a display as a matter of habit, think about if it genuinely helps the consumer or just your workflow.

I do not suggest a good answer for the slender use case I identified, however I hope it spurs rethinking the informal software of a more complicated sample than is usually warranted.

Tags

accessibility, html, JavaScript, usability, UX

Different Posts

Earlier submit: Link + Disclosure Widget Navigation

The post Maybe You Don’t Need a Date Picker appeared first on Techno Crats Blog.

#accessibility #Blog #html #JavaScript #usability #UX #Web

[wavyunicornrider]

Maybe You Don’t Need a Date Picker

July 5, 2019; zero Feedback

Calendar controls, date pickers, date widgets, no matter you call them, nevertheless they’re described, they comply with the same primary principle — present the consumer with a calendar to enter a date (and typically a time).

Chris Blakeley, CC BY-NC-ND 2.zero

The native implementations come from browsers when authors use . Often a calendar grid, however typically built to appear to be a broken slot-machine or configurable date rubber stamp that your accountant makes use of.

Frameworks and libraries supply their own tackle date pickers, with many more choices from third-party builders. These attraction to developers who need control over the visual fashion, and typically perform, of the date picker. Notably developers who need to avoid a totally different expertise throughout browsers.

The issue is that almost every implementation of a date picker is a barrier for some set of customers. I can comfortably say each one that I’ve seen is a drawback, though maybe there’s a wonderfully strong one someplace. Even the ARIA Authoring Practices, which is extra snug with imperfect patterns, has not deigned to create a date picker.

Challenges

I’ve been testing with customers for about 20 years (to date). Something I see time and again is the frustration with date fields which are anything aside from a plain textual content area for well known dates (like birthdays). They will anger customers. Enough that I’ve seen customers give up a check (greater than once).

Customers do not need to should cease their circulate and study this new consumer interface. They don’t need to experiment to see what keys work, or learn a pile of instructions. They need to enter a date and transfer on. This is applicable simply as a lot to native date pickers. They could solely use their telephone or pc to e mail and surf the online, not enter in depth date-specific info on a regular basis.

A developer might use a date picker a few occasions a day. Every jiffy when building a display with a date picker. Heck, perhaps solely a few times a week. However a developer might have used date pickers in a single month much more occasions than a mean consumer in a yr or a lifetime.

Accessibility

I’ve not touched on the accessibility issues with date pickers. The ones that declare to be accessible aren’t. For example, we all know is a drawback for voice customers across browsers. I’m continuously tossed date pickers from libraries and asked to guage them, and they are sometimes an accessibility quagmire. There’s a purpose most accessibility professionals tense up at the mention of date pickers.

Pointless element

I gathered the next notes after only a jiffy with the ReactJS Datepicker and its accessibility notes. I’m fairly confident more points can be discovered with more time.

The buttons on the prime of the grid to navigate to the previous or subsequent month haven’t any accessible identify. If a display reader consumer provides them focus, they will be announced only as “Button”. That is a WCAG four.1.2 violation.

The arrows in the buttons have inadequate distinction with the background, which means customers in daylight, with poor screens, or with low imaginative and prescient might have hassle seeing them. This is a WCAG 1.4.11 violation.

The menus for the month and yr haven’t any accessible identify (by way of , aria-label, or in any other case). A display reader consumer will hear the present worth, however no label. While the worth might provide context for the sector, it doesn’t provide context within the general control. That is a WCAG 1.three.1 and three.three.2 violation.

The location supplies a stack of keyboard shortcuts that the calendar management supports. While supported, nowhere is that help conveyed to customers. Keyboard-only and display reader users are offered no instructions on the best way to use the management, which means they’ll possible arrow their means by way of months and years to seek out their selection. This is a WCAG 3.3.2 violation.

The earlier / subsequent month buttons, the month select and the yr select cannot be accessed by a keyboard-only consumer. Utilizing the arrow keys doesn’t put concentrate on those controls. Utilizing Tab strikes the main target to the subsequent area of the shape. Of the listed supported keyboard shortcuts, even when a keyboard-only consumer knew about them, there isn’t any strategy to get to these seen controls, which means they may probably arrow their approach via months and years to seek out their selection. This is a WCAG 2.1.1 violation.

The dates have an aria-label with them that overrides the seen textual content and adds complexity to the term. Whereas aria-label sometimes won’t work on a

, the position makes it work. On this case, as an alternative of a display reader consumer listening to “18” they hear “day dash 18”. A greater strategy can be to exclude the aria-label altogether. This is not a technical WCAG violation, but is taken into account a usability concern for display reader users.

The presently chosen date is just not conveyed to display reader customers. It is just conveyed visually. This is a case the place aria-label could also be helpful to convey the state of the calendar date, perhaps as aria-label=”18 selected”. It’s attainable aria-current can work right here. As it’s, this is WCAG 1.four.1 and four.1.2 violation.

The week days usually are not conveyed to display reader customers for individual days. As a result of the calendar does not use a

with parts for every weekday, and since arrowing proper or left moves the consumer whatever the begin or finish of a row, a display reader consumer won’t know if a specific date falls on a Monday, Tuesday, and so forth. It doesn’t assist that is additionally mis-cast with position=”listbox”. That is a WCAG 1.three.1 violation.

Round-up of WCAG violations in this calendar management as listed above:

1.3.1: Information and Relationships (A)

1.4.1: Use of Shade (A)

1.4.11: Non-text Distinction (AA)

2.1.1: Keyboard (A)

three.three.2: Labels or Directions (A)

four.1.2: Identify, Position, Value (A)

Validation

Using third-party or native calendar controls could make a developer really feel that the validation is dealt with. Handled by the collective intelligence of everybody who worked on the management.

But the developer still has to offer validation outdoors of the control. Typically validation is needed to help the fallback state for older browsers. Typically it is there to honor progressive enhancement. But principally there must be server-side validation because we know scripts break and assets don’t load and knowledge might be bypass client-side validation.

I can’t imagine that builders are going to let user-submitted content instantly into their knowledge buildings with out scrubbing it in some minimal method. And not simply because of the worry of Little Bobby Tables paying their website a go to. As a skilled consumer, I can get around confounding controls by injecting the values I would like using the browser’s dev instruments, and developers sometimes account for knowledge coming by way of outdoors of the rigorously crafted client-side validation.

The point is, strong websites and purposes already do validation on the info outdoors of that offered by the management.

An Various to Date Pickers

Customers usually are not looking for a complicated date picker each time you ask for any date. At the least not users with a keyboard.

Textual content Subject

Beforehand I’ve relied on plain textual content inputs as date fields with custom validation for the location, sometimes using the same logic on the shopper and the server. For recognized dates — birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, and so forth — it has tested properly.

Text Subject with Messaging

In this prototype I am still using a text input for the first subject, however I additionally use client-side script to convert the info to a human-readable date that I current to the consumer. This manner a consumer can get speedy feedback and worry a bit much less about matching a specific arcane knowledge format the developers want.

Briefly, I am making an attempt to deliver far much less code (and confusion) to the top consumer whereas accepting a broader range of date formats. I’m letting the robustness principle drive my strategy.

Prototype

See the Pen XQBgNO by Adrian Roselli (@aardrian) on CodePen.

You will notice that I ask for a U.S. date format. The weirdest one. This may be adjusted, in fact, however I selected it to exhibit how a globally confusing format benefits from fast suggestions.

The script to convert the date is the minimal quantity of code to show the effect. It isn’t production-ready. It isn’t even good. Attempt it by getting into “7 5 19”. Ideally, the date your script generates is the one you submit with the shape.

Notice the ARIA attributes, the connections between the fields, and use of to hold the message. These are all there to ensure it is helpful for display reader customers and voice customers.

Delivery date (MM/DD/YYYY):

Testing Feedback

Dragon Dictate users are usually annoyed with all calendar controls, together with the native ones we get from sort=”date”. In an off-the-cuff check, this one proved usable.

Informal checks (anecdata) from other customers confirmed this strategy was no worse than a textual content area and far simpler than a calendar management.

Places This Will Not Work

There are plenty of conditions the place a plain text area (with or with out the messaging function I prototyped) won’t work.

If it’s essential see chosen dates, unavailable dates, weekends, holidays, date spans, date ranges, dates the place counts from begin or finish dates matter, and so on.

Wrap-up

What we know is that native and custom calendar controls are often a drawback for customers and utilized where they don’t seem to be needed. Earlier than dropping the code on a display as a matter of habit, think about if it genuinely helps the consumer or just your workflow.

I do not suggest a good answer for the slender use case I identified, however I hope it spurs rethinking the informal software of a more complicated sample than is usually warranted.

Tags

accessibility, html, JavaScript, usability, UX

Different Posts

Earlier submit: Link + Disclosure Widget Navigation

The post Maybe You Don’t Need a Date Picker appeared first on Techno Crats Blog.

#accessibility #Blog #html #JavaScript #usability #UX #Web

[raylovesrp-blog]

Maybe You Don’t Need a Date Picker

July 5, 2019; zero Feedback

Calendar controls, date pickers, date widgets, no matter you call them, nevertheless they’re described, they comply with the same primary principle — present the consumer with a calendar to enter a date (and typically a time).

Chris Blakeley, CC BY-NC-ND 2.zero

The native implementations come from browsers when authors use . Often a calendar grid, however typically built to appear to be a broken slot-machine or configurable date rubber stamp that your accountant makes use of.

Frameworks and libraries supply their own tackle date pickers, with many more choices from third-party builders. These attraction to developers who need control over the visual fashion, and typically perform, of the date picker. Notably developers who need to avoid a totally different expertise throughout browsers.

The issue is that almost every implementation of a date picker is a barrier for some set of customers. I can comfortably say each one that I’ve seen is a drawback, though maybe there’s a wonderfully strong one someplace. Even the ARIA Authoring Practices, which is extra snug with imperfect patterns, has not deigned to create a date picker.

Challenges

I’ve been testing with customers for about 20 years (to date). Something I see time and again is the frustration with date fields which are anything aside from a plain textual content area for well known dates (like birthdays). They will anger customers. Enough that I’ve seen customers give up a check (greater than once).

Customers do not need to should cease their circulate and study this new consumer interface. They don’t need to experiment to see what keys work, or learn a pile of instructions. They need to enter a date and transfer on. This is applicable simply as a lot to native date pickers. They could solely use their telephone or pc to e mail and surf the online, not enter in depth date-specific info on a regular basis.

A developer might use a date picker a few occasions a day. Every jiffy when building a display with a date picker. Heck, perhaps solely a few times a week. However a developer might have used date pickers in a single month much more occasions than a mean consumer in a yr or a lifetime.

Accessibility

I’ve not touched on the accessibility issues with date pickers. The ones that declare to be accessible aren’t. For example, we all know is a drawback for voice customers across browsers. I’m continuously tossed date pickers from libraries and asked to guage them, and they are sometimes an accessibility quagmire. There’s a purpose most accessibility professionals tense up at the mention of date pickers.

Pointless element

I gathered the next notes after only a jiffy with the ReactJS Datepicker and its accessibility notes. I’m fairly confident more points can be discovered with more time.

The buttons on the prime of the grid to navigate to the previous or subsequent month haven’t any accessible identify. If a display reader consumer provides them focus, they will be announced only as “Button”. That is a WCAG four.1.2 violation.

The arrows in the buttons have inadequate distinction with the background, which means customers in daylight, with poor screens, or with low imaginative and prescient might have hassle seeing them. This is a WCAG 1.4.11 violation.

The menus for the month and yr haven’t any accessible identify (by way of , aria-label, or in any other case). A display reader consumer will hear the present worth, however no label. While the worth might provide context for the sector, it doesn’t provide context within the general control. That is a WCAG 1.three.1 and three.three.2 violation.

The location supplies a stack of keyboard shortcuts that the calendar management supports. While supported, nowhere is that help conveyed to customers. Keyboard-only and display reader users are offered no instructions on the best way to use the management, which means they’ll possible arrow their means by way of months and years to seek out their selection. This is a WCAG 3.3.2 violation.

The earlier / subsequent month buttons, the month select and the yr select cannot be accessed by a keyboard-only consumer. Utilizing the arrow keys doesn’t put concentrate on those controls. Utilizing Tab strikes the main target to the subsequent area of the shape. Of the listed supported keyboard shortcuts, even when a keyboard-only consumer knew about them, there isn’t any strategy to get to these seen controls, which means they may probably arrow their approach via months and years to seek out their selection. This is a WCAG 2.1.1 violation.

The dates have an aria-label with them that overrides the seen textual content and adds complexity to the term. Whereas aria-label sometimes won’t work on a

, the position makes it work. On this case, as an alternative of a display reader consumer listening to “18” they hear “day dash 18”. A greater strategy can be to exclude the aria-label altogether. This is not a technical WCAG violation, but is taken into account a usability concern for display reader users.

The presently chosen date is just not conveyed to display reader customers. It is just conveyed visually. This is a case the place aria-label could also be helpful to convey the state of the calendar date, perhaps as aria-label=”18 selected”. It’s attainable aria-current can work right here. As it’s, this is WCAG 1.four.1 and four.1.2 violation.

The week days usually are not conveyed to display reader customers for individual days. As a result of the calendar does not use a

with parts for every weekday, and since arrowing proper or left moves the consumer whatever the begin or finish of a row, a display reader consumer won’t know if a specific date falls on a Monday, Tuesday, and so forth. It doesn’t assist that is additionally mis-cast with position=”listbox”. That is a WCAG 1.three.1 violation.

Round-up of WCAG violations in this calendar management as listed above:

1.3.1: Information and Relationships (A)

1.4.1: Use of Shade (A)

1.4.11: Non-text Distinction (AA)

2.1.1: Keyboard (A)

three.three.2: Labels or Directions (A)

four.1.2: Identify, Position, Value (A)

Validation

Using third-party or native calendar controls could make a developer really feel that the validation is dealt with. Handled by the collective intelligence of everybody who worked on the management.

But the developer still has to offer validation outdoors of the control. Typically validation is needed to help the fallback state for older browsers. Typically it is there to honor progressive enhancement. But principally there must be server-side validation because we know scripts break and assets don’t load and knowledge might be bypass client-side validation.

I can’t imagine that builders are going to let user-submitted content instantly into their knowledge buildings with out scrubbing it in some minimal method. And not simply because of the worry of Little Bobby Tables paying their website a go to. As a skilled consumer, I can get around confounding controls by injecting the values I would like using the browser’s dev instruments, and developers sometimes account for knowledge coming by way of outdoors of the rigorously crafted client-side validation.

The point is, strong websites and purposes already do validation on the info outdoors of that offered by the management.

An Various to Date Pickers

Customers usually are not looking for a complicated date picker each time you ask for any date. At the least not users with a keyboard.

Textual content Subject

Beforehand I’ve relied on plain textual content inputs as date fields with custom validation for the location, sometimes using the same logic on the shopper and the server. For recognized dates — birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, and so forth — it has tested properly.

Text Subject with Messaging

In this prototype I am still using a text input for the first subject, however I additionally use client-side script to convert the info to a human-readable date that I current to the consumer. This manner a consumer can get speedy feedback and worry a bit much less about matching a specific arcane knowledge format the developers want.

Briefly, I am making an attempt to deliver far much less code (and confusion) to the top consumer whereas accepting a broader range of date formats. I’m letting the robustness principle drive my strategy.

Prototype

See the Pen XQBgNO by Adrian Roselli (@aardrian) on CodePen.

You will notice that I ask for a U.S. date format. The weirdest one. This may be adjusted, in fact, however I selected it to exhibit how a globally confusing format benefits from fast suggestions.

The script to convert the date is the minimal quantity of code to show the effect. It isn’t production-ready. It isn’t even good. Attempt it by getting into “7 5 19”. Ideally, the date your script generates is the one you submit with the shape.

Notice the ARIA attributes, the connections between the fields, and use of to hold the message. These are all there to ensure it is helpful for display reader customers and voice customers.

Delivery date (MM/DD/YYYY):

Testing Feedback

Dragon Dictate users are usually annoyed with all calendar controls, together with the native ones we get from sort=”date”. In an off-the-cuff check, this one proved usable.

Informal checks (anecdata) from other customers confirmed this strategy was no worse than a textual content area and far simpler than a calendar management.

Places This Will Not Work

There are plenty of conditions the place a plain text area (with or with out the messaging function I prototyped) won’t work.

If it’s essential see chosen dates, unavailable dates, weekends, holidays, date spans, date ranges, dates the place counts from begin or finish dates matter, and so on.

Wrap-up

What we know is that native and custom calendar controls are often a drawback for customers and utilized where they don’t seem to be needed. Earlier than dropping the code on a display as a matter of habit, think about if it genuinely helps the consumer or just your workflow.

I do not suggest a good answer for the slender use case I identified, however I hope it spurs rethinking the informal software of a more complicated sample than is usually warranted.

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accessibility, html, JavaScript, usability, UX

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[biofunmy]

Transgender Opera Singers Find Their Voices

AUSTIN, Tex. — Holding his whiskey in one hand and his Stetson in the other, the opera’s hero — a tough stagecoach driver — offered an unhappy barmaid some advice in a strong, clear tenor voice.

“You could be anything,” sang the tenor, Holden Madagame.

He should know. Mr. Madagame, 28, is part of a new wave of transgender opera singers. Trained as a mezzo-soprano, he risked his singing career when he transitioned several years ago and began taking testosterone, which lowers and alters the voice — a voice he had spent years fine-tuning for opera, where success is measured in the subtlest of gradations.

“A couple of my singer friends were sort of like, you’re ruining your career, you’re ruining your life, the voice is everything,” he recalled recently. “And I thought, it’s not. I would rather enjoy my life, and pursue singing if it happens. I didn’t know if I’d be able to.”

It turned out that he could. Now he is one of several transgender singers who are beginning to make their mark in the tradition-bound world of opera. Some, like him, found new voices, either with the help of hormones or through retraining. Others kept the voices they had built their careers on — even if it meant continuing to perform in the gender they had left behind. Now some are getting higher-profile roles — and upending preconceptions about voice and gender.

Opera itself is beginning to change: The most-produced new opera in North America in some recent seasons has been “As One,” a transgender coming-of-age story. This is happening as transgender rights are being debated by sports officials, in state legislatures and in the armed forces, where President Trump moved to ban transgender troops from serving.

As Mr. Madagame was singing in Austin this spring, a transgender woman, Lucia Lucas, was 450 miles north, at the Tulsa Opera in Oklahoma, rehearsing the title role in Mozart’s “Don Giovanni.” Ms. Lucas retained her powerful low baritone voice after her transition: Estrogen does not raise the voice the way testosterone lowers it.

“It would be great if I could just take estrogen and wake up and sing Brünnhilde,” she said. “It doesn’t work like that.”

In some respects, this generation of transgender singers is adding a new wrinkle to a very old tradition: Opera has been gender fluid since its beginnings. The earliest operas had boys’ roles sung by female sopranos, and both female and male roles were sometimes sung by castrati — men who were castrated before puberty to preserve their high voices.

When that practice ended, the high male roles they had sung were often taken by women. And many great composers, including Mozart and Strauss, wrote “trouser roles,” male parts created for women to sing. One of the most successful European transgender opera singers is Adrian Angelico, a 35-year-old Norwegian who kept his mezzo-soprano voice after transitioning in 2016, becoming one of the few men specializing in trouser roles.

We spent time with four of the artists at the forefront of this new wave.

Going From Mezzo to Tenor

At first, testosterone did not seem like an option.

Mr. Madagame, who was assigned female at birth, moved to Berlin after graduating from the University of Michigan, where he had studied singing, but things were not working out as planned.

“I got massively depressed. I just couldn’t sing,” he recalled. “And I kind of knew that it was about gender, but I didn’t want to admit it.”

By that point, he had put in years of hard work becoming a mezzo-soprano. A whole new voice could jeopardize it.

“Frankly, I did not have any experience with what would happen,” said Stephen West, one of his voice professors at Michigan, who remembered him as an exceptional mezzo.

Opera singers rely on their unamplified voices for their livelihoods, and they spend years perfecting their techniques — so they tend to be wary of anything that might strain or damage their voices. But Mr. Madagame had grown so unhappy that he decided to take the leap into the unknown.

“I decided that if I’m not singing, and the only reason that I’m not taking testosterone is that I want to sing, then I should just take testosterone,” he said.

After the first few shots, he recalled, the timbre of his voice — its overall color and resonance — began to change. “At first, it’s not the actual pitches that are dropping,” he said, “but it’s like the overtones are lowering.”

Then came a period when his voice grew unsettled: “I had no singing voice — I had, like, an octave range,” he recalled. “It was terrifying. I thought, What if it stays like this?”

He felt better emotionally, but grew concerned when he still had trouble singing after the first few months. He began to wonder if he would be able to work again.

“I have no idea: Nobody knows,” he recalled thinking. “So, yeah. Terrifying.”

He returned to some of the easy Italian arias he had learned as a teenager, not too hard and not too high. But they were suddenly not so easy.

“They teach you a lot just by singing them,” he said. “I thought, Well, my voice just needs to be retrained to do these things. But at first I couldn’t even sing those.”

Stephanie Weiss, a voice teacher with a private studio, coached him as his voice settled, and saw him through tough early moments when his voice would crack. Mr. Madagame had a breakthrough while working on a Mozart aria. He was having trouble, as many young tenors do, gracefully reaching the high notes, Ms. Weiss remembered, so she gave him a few tips — including which vowels to hold as his voice climbed into his upper range.

Something clicked.

“He said, ‘Oh my God, I never thought I could make that sound,’” Ms. Weiss recalled.

It helped, she added, that Mr. Madagame had already developed a solid technique. “Now,” she said, “he really has found his voice — in every way.”

Soon Mr. Madagame, who now lives in Görlitz, a German town on the Polish border, began getting small roles with small companies in Germany and the United Kingdom. He was accepted by the Glyndebourne Academy, a program of the prestigious Glyndebourne Festival in England.

He also became an activist, working to educate people about transgender issues. His website includes essays on “Why is it rude to ask a trans* person what their birth name was?” and “The FAQ to end all FAQs,” which includes a series of “questions not to ask but I’ll answer anyway,” including a section explaining which parts of his anatomy he has changed, and which he has not.

He dreams of singing Lensky, the doomed poet in Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin,” but he is mostly working now on smaller character tenor parts, not starring roles. “I’m 5-foot-2,” he noted — another casting challenge.

But it was a lead role that brought him to Austin. He starred in “Good Country,” an opera by the composer Keith Allegretti and the librettist Cecelia Raker that was based on the true story of Charley Parkhurst, a stagecoach driver who lived as a man but was discovered, after his death in 1879, to have been born a woman.

They wrote the part for a transgender singer — and after they cast Mr. Madagame, they tailored it with his voice in mind.

Changing ‘One Little Thing’

She entered the rehearsal room in her street clothes — striped top, silver flats, hair pulled back in a ponytail, a little lipstick on — and began singing one of the most toxically masculine characters in opera: the title role in Mozart’s “Don Giovanni.”

Mozart wrote a number of male roles for women to sing. Don Giovanni is not one of them. But as her booming, powerful baritone ricocheted off the walls, Ms. Lucas, 38, became the character — plotting his next seductions with relish and menace.

Her performances in Tulsa made headlines, and were the latest indication that her career was more than just getting back on track after she risked it by transitioning to female while working as a baritone for an opera company in Karlsruhe, Germany.

“It was always a question of, So, when is my career going to be done, so that I can transition?” she recalled in a recent interview in New York, explaining that she had felt disconnected from her birth gender since her childhood in Sacramento. “I never thought that they would coexist.”

But in 2013, she decided not to put off her transition any longer. She came out at the annual opera ball in Karlsruhe: Her wife, also a singer, wore a tuxedo, and Ms. Lucas wore a gown.

The company was initially supportive. “It was a good case study: Can somebody who is trans have a career in opera?” Ms. Lucas said. “I thought, Can I have a career after if I only change one little thing? It’s actually not something about the stage, it’s something personal. Because I’m going to continue singing baritone; I’m going to continue playing men on stage.”

Since hormones would not alter her voice, and retraining as a contralto seemed impractical, she remained a baritone. Now the vast majority of her stage roles are male — a gender she was uncomfortable with in life. But she said she had made peace with it.

“I’ll just go and put a beard on,” Ms. Lucas said, noting that she impersonates all kinds of characters onstage. “Clearly it is a disguise. It’s not bringing you back to an old life.”

When she had facial feminization surgery, she did not let her doctor do anything to her sinus cavity, nose or Adam’s apple.

“As much as I was putting my transition in front of my career,’’ she said, “I didn’t want him messing with anything that would mess with my voice.”

But after a while, her contract in Karlsruhe was not renewed, and she did not get called to auditions elsewhere that she would have expected in the past.

She grew more determined.

“Clearly my transition was important: It was more important than my career,” she said. “But now that I’ve done my transition, basically everything that I want to do, I’m like, Oh, no, I do love my career. I do want to keep my career. I’m going to fight for my career now.”

New opportunities arose. She got the chance to sing Wotan, the king of the gods, in Wagner’s “Die Walküre.” Next season she will sing at the English National Opera, an eminent company in London, in Offenbach’s “Orpheus in the Underworld.”

Her path to the Tulsa Opera began with an email from Tobias Picker, its artistic director and a composer who has written operas for the Metropolitan Opera and other major companies.

Mr. Picker was planning to write an opera based on “The Danish Girl,” David Ebershoff’s novel about one of the first people to attempt sex reassignment surgery, and he was looking for a transgender singer to appear in it. The idea appealed to Ms. Lucas: getting to premiere a new work by an important composer in which she would get to play a trans character.

But when Ms. Lucas came to New York to audition, and sang an aria from Verdi’s “Otello,” Mr. Picker decided to hire her for something much sooner.

“The Verdi was so astonishing that I thought, Well, it’s time to start casting ‘Don Giovanni’ anyway — so I asked her to do it,” Mr. Picker said.

Her appearance in Tulsa was an event. When an excerpt from a documentary that is being made about her was screened at a local art house, the Circle Cinema, Ms. Lucas told the audience that much of her work aimed to show people that being trans was not a big deal.

“I’m trying to show that being trans is not the story,” she told the crowd. “It’s sort of like anti-advocacy.”

Choosing to Wait on Hormones

“ID?” a transgender character asks a police officer in “Stonewall,” a new opera about the raid that helped spur the modern gay rights movement.

“I’d love to have an ID!” the character continues. “But the powers that be won’t give me one — at least not one that represents me.”

The line resonated with Liz Bouk, the mezzo-soprano singing it. Mr. Bouk is a transgender man who had only recently gotten a new driver’s license listing his sex as male.

“I felt like a teenage boy when I got that driver’s license,” he said. “After getting the driver’s license I went out and bought a pickup truck and learned how to drive stick shift.”

But Mr. Bouk’s transition, which came just as a hard-won career as a mezzo was finally beginning to blossom, involved difficult trade-offs. As much as he has sometimes longed to take hormones, he fears what they could do to his voice. So he decided to forgo them, and to keep playing what he calls “fiery women” and trouser roles on stage.

“If I’m working, if I’m singing,” he said, “can I stand the dysphoria of being in the wrong body, and being misgendered at the grocery store, or by people I don’t know?”

He changed his name from Elizabeth Anna to Liz (friends call him “Mr. Liz”) but put off a future change, possibly to John, so as not to confuse casting directors. He wears his blond hair long, but not as long as he used to. And he brings two head shots to auditions: one in a suit, labeled “Liz Bouk as himself,” and one in a dress, labeled “head shot for female roles.”

Since coming out as a man, he said, and feeling more at peace, his voice has improved. He has been working on shows about his journey. And he keeps getting work — and good reviews. But he sometimes has moments of yearning offstage, when he looks in the mirror.

“It would be great,” he said, “if my outsides matched my insides.”

Pushing Higher

“Please rise and remove your caps for our national anthem,” the announcer said shortly before the start of a 2015 Oakland A’s baseball game, “as performed by San Francisco Conservatory of Music graduate Breanna Sinclairé.”

Ms. Sinclairé raised a microphone and became what is believed to be the first transgender woman to sing the anthem at a major league game.

It made news around the world, and showed how far she had come since her darkest days, when she was briefly homeless and subjected to attacks on the streets of New York.

Ms. Sinclairé said that it was her earliest conviction that she did not feel comfortable in her body. That feeling carried into her singing, too.

“People kept pushing me to be the tenor, because I was tall,” Ms. Sinclairé said. “And I’m like, I don’t want to be no damn hero! I want to be the damsel in distress!”

After an unhappy stint at a bible college in Canada, she was admitted to the California Institute of the Arts — and saved enough money cutting grass to buy a Greyhound bus ticket to make the trip.

She decided to transition in her senior year at CalArts, and one of her teachers, Kate Conklin, encouraged her to try singing mezzo-soprano repertoire.

“We were working with what was already there.” Ms. Conklin said, noting that Ms. Sinclairé could already sing quite high.

Next came San Francisco, and its conservatory.

“We had never had anyone come in and audition for us who was transitioning,” said Ruby Pleasure, her teacher there. “And it was obvious that she was a diamond in the rough.”

Last New Year’s Eve, she appeared with the San Francisco Symphony. She continues to study, and is expanding into higher soprano roles. Next spring she will return to Canada to sing in an opera at the Against the Grain Theater in Toronto.

“I’m going to be in Toronto as my true self,” she said. “Singing soprano.”

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