"And the winner of the Mistral Regional Tournament, Pyrrha Nikos!" The tournament announcer said as the crowd cheered loudly
Pyrrha panted in exhaustion, it hadn't been an easy match but with proper use of Semblance she was able to secure her victory. Looking at the crowd Pyrrha offered a smile and waved politely, though searching through the crowd Pyrrha spotted someone that made her smile widen. Her best friend of five years, Pyrrha doubted she'd have come as far as she has without Neo to train and spar with her.
Neo clapped loudly for Pyrrha, as she couldn't cheer for her, even creating a large sign of Pyrrha using her Semblance, much to her friend's embarrassment who ducked her head down and left the arena.
"Okay Neo calm down, you can see your girlfriend later." Terra said watching Neo's face turn bright red to both her and her wife's amusement
"She's not my girlfriend!" Neo typed furiously
"Yet," Saphron said in a singsong voice, Neo's blush only intensifying as she lowered her head trying to ignore both her mother's teasing
The reason was rather simple given the conversation Neo and Saphron had a few months ago.
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Neo went downstairs fiddling with her hands nervously. Reaching the bottom step Neo saw her mom watching TV, her mother having already left for work.
"Neo, hey! What's the matter?" Saphron said smiling before noticing the expression on her daughter
"Can we talk?" Typed Neo
"Yeah, you know you can tell me anything sweetheart." Said Saphron turning the television off and patting the spot next to her
"So, what did you want to talk about?" Saphron asked, Neo biting her lip
"Well there's someone I like, but I've also known for a really long time and don't want to risk losing them as a friend in case they don't feel the same." Neo said
"Oh you have a crush! Tell me who it is, anyone I might know, what're they like, when can Terra and I meet them?!" Saphron asked rapidly
"MOM!" Typed Neo blushing brightly
"Right sorry, got a little excited. It's just my little girl has her first crush! Alright first tell who is it?" Saphron asked
"I don't really feel comfortable telling them since they're younger than me." Replied Neo
"How much younger?" Questioned Saphron, Neo hesitating for a moment before typing her response
"Two years." Neo answered not looking at her mom
"Really that's it?" Saphron said with an unladylike snort. "That's nothing."
"Mom, please focus." Neo pleaded
"Right sorry again. Well the best advice I can give is be honest and tell this person how you feel, maybe after something like a date to give them a better idea you want to be more than friends." Saphron said before putting a hand on her daughters shoulder and giving an encouraging smile
"But Neo, trust me when I say don't wait too long as you never know when someone else will come along and snatch them away, and you don't want to live with that regret. Even if they don't feel the same about you, rejection is always better than living with a 'what if'." Said Saphron, Neo nodding before hugging her mom
"Thanks mom." Typed Neo
"No problem sweetie. Now come on who is it?" Saphron asked wanting to know who her daughters crushing on
Sighing quietly Neo knew she had no options, either not say anything which would make her mom just guessing or pestering her until she answered or tell her and then deal with teasing from both her mom and her mother.
"It's Pyrrha."
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Neo deeply regretted telling her mom who her crush was, now she has had to deal with both of her parents teasing her relentlessly whenever she was with Pyrrha.
Speaking of Pyrrha, Neo had planned to ask the redhead out on several occasions but always ended up chickening out, too afraid of both rejection and losing her friend. When Neo had finally mustered the courage to ask Pyrrha out, the younger girl had told her about her plan to enter the Mistral Regional Tournament. This stopped Neo from asking her out, not wanting to distract her friend from training for the tournament.
But now that the tournament was over, Neo was not going to back down now and finally ask Pyrrha out, just as soon as they were out of Mistral.
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"You really impressive, Pyrrha, the way you moved around your opponents and being able to avoid all their attacks like it was nothing." Saphron said smiling at the redhead
"It was really nothing, I just got lucky a couple times." Said Pyrrha modestly knowing a lot of her opponents and the other competitors could have beaten her, as for avoiding all the attacks she just got lucky with her Semblance being able to control metal and most weapons have at least some metal in them
"Don't sell yourself short, you trained long and hard, and more than earned the win." Said Terra, Pyrrha smiling and nodding her thanks
Saphron then noticed Neo shifting in her seat and stealing glances at Pyrrha sitting next to her. Looking at her wife, Saphron saw she noticed their daughter's behavior as well. Trading looks both women nodded before standing up.
"Well me and Terra are gonna go to the dining cart to get something to eat. Do you girls want anything?" Saphron asked
"No thank you Saphron." Pyrrha declined not feeling very hungry
"Okay. Neo?" Said Saphron, Neo shaking her head
"I'm good, thank you."
"Alright come on Saphron let's give them some alone time." Terra said, Saphron nodding while sending a wink to Neo
"Go get her." Saphron mouthed.
Nodding Neo looked at Pyrrha, who was looking out the window, and took a few calming breaths.
Okay, you can do this Neo. Just get her attention and ask her out, no big deal.
Pulling out her scroll Neo typed out exactly what she wanted to say, before immediately erasing it and typing it out again, with her repeating this for several moments.
"Neo." Pyrrha said getting the tri-colored haired girls attention
"Are you alright, you've been typing on your scroll for a few minutes." Said Pyrrha concern lacing her words
Mentally cursing herself for getting caught. Taking a breath Neo typed out a message.
"I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out once we got back to Argus, just the two of us." Neo typed
"Oh. Sure, I'd really like that. I'd just have to tell my parents I'll be home a bit later than usual." Said Pyrrha
"Great! Can't wait." Typed Neo
For the rest of the train ride Neo couldn't keep the wide grin off her face.