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Eliza Valdez was making her way down planet Nauru's atmosphere in her Series 'Z'. Due to the planet's still inactive docking ring this meant the whole procedure had to be done manually, something which brought the pilot absolutely no joy in doing. In fact it was the whole planet that she disliked not just the procedure of getting down on the ground. There was absolutely nothing of interest or charm to her on that Dune-like world. Eliza had been on this hellish world before and her memories were far from pleasant. It was all sand, endless sand as far as her gaze could reach. The fine grains of sand she brought back with her on board her Sabre last time took days to properly clean out of the cockpit, another thing which she found absolutely no joy in doing. The sky in front of her looked clear thus far which meant she at least had the luck to not have to operate in the middle of a sandstorm, another thing which the cursed hole that was Nauru often offered it's most unfortunate visitors. There was a very good reason why the planet was a desert world with clear absence of any water and that was it's surface temperature. Another thing which Eliza was hardly finding any joy in. There was also the fact she connected the place with a certain someone that owed her money for quite some time now and was very devoted to making sure he never pays her back. Yet another one to her very long and detailed list as to why she did not like this place. In some advertisement or praise the Maltese girl remembered somewhat vaguely this big sphere of nothing but sand was called the 'Jewel of the Omicrons'. If this was indeed the best the Omicrons could offer then the bar was set quite low. So low you had to put effort not to surpass it. Perhaps the only thing she could imagine being worse than being crash landed down there was to float forever in the cold dead space in an escape pod until the life supports systems fail and you either freeze to death or suffocate. As expected in neither of which Eliza found any joy.

As she got closer to the planet's surface she could finally see some specks and spots marking the otherwise monotone terrain of the desert world. Those were the remains of less fortunate visitors, skeletons of man-made vessels which met their unfortunate end on this barren planet and now were slowly consumed by the sandy embrace of Nauru. They served a good reminder to the young pilot to stop thinking about how bad this place was and actually focus on her piloting. Otherwise she risked adding her Series 'Z' as another tombstone in the endless graveyard that was this planet. A thought which brought her not even a slight hint of joy. Somewhere out there in the vast sand was hidden a planetary base on which she was supposed to already be judging by the Sirian Meridian Time that her heads up display was showing. Eliza was late again. She wanted to blame this on the planet somehow but at that very moment any even remotely believable reasoning behind it slipped her mind. Why couldn't they meet somewhere nicer? Like Baden-Baden? Why did it have to be this god forsaken planet? All these questions had one simple answer - because Eliza did the dumb thing to suggest it in the first place. If she had known the repercussions of opening her mouth about it she would have never done it. And how was she to know her sarcastic remark about it would be completely and utterly missed by Loyola and taken as a genuinely good idea. Or perhaps this was a punishment for something Eliza had done, be it from Loyola or the universe herself. Either way it did not matter as this brought her just as much joy as the rest of the things listed above regardless of who was to put to blame for it. The waypoint marker visualized by her helmet was pointing into the seeming nothingness. This could mean one of two things - Eliza needed a new navigation computer or this was an underground facility that did it's best to draw minimal attention from above. Luckily it soon proved to be the ladder as the top of a metallic dome soon appeared behind the small dunes that covered the otherwise monotone surface of the planet.

The girl let out a sigh of relief before adjusting her trajectory for landing. Now came another part of this journey that she found no joy in - transmitting the landing codes with one hand while trying to balance the nimble craft with the rest of her limbs. The fact this wasn't the vacuum of space meant she couldn't just let the craft drift carelessly and a single wrong move could send her stalling down embarrassingly close to her final destination. The universe was merciful this time. Her display lit up in green as the codes were accepted and her craft was granted landing access. The big metal dome began opening to accustom her Sabre. Hopefully the facility was equipped with a sophisticated enough machinery to take care of all the sand that was about to blow in. Eliza really did not want to repeat that endeavor of cleaning up all the tiny pieces of sand from her ship. As she made her descent further down she raised the ship's nose and gently lowered the throttle along the way down. The touchdown was soft enough not to break anything. Good thing the ship's shielding array could also serve in a way as a kinetic dampener. The engine's roar soon silenced as the young pilot flicked off all the switches. The hangar dome closed above her head and the illumination lights switched back on dispersing the darkness that had surrounded her ship. Another sigh of relief was in order. Eliza could probably stay in there and enjoy what she had accomplished just now but every minute wasted in that cockpit was another minute being late. She unstrapped herself from the seat, removed the flight helmet and put it in front of her seat and between her legs and finally pulled the switch that opened the ship's hatch. One thing though she had not anticipated and that was the fact the top of her ship still had traces of sand which blew in right before the steel dome closed above her. With the hatch opening up this obviously poured the dry substance of her nightmares straight onto her auburn hair. It took her but a few moments to realize what had just happened and it sent her from that all too recent tranquil state of feeling content into a downward spiral of unmatched fury as she yelled at the top of her lungs:

"FUCK NAURU!"
The guildmistress had already arrived an hour early to finish up some business related to her group. Once she was notified of Valdez's arrival, she'd put her work down and head for the location straight away. Any sound of Loyola's heavy military-esque boots hitting the metal hallway floor as she approached the landing pads would be muffled by Elizas echoing voice. Compared to her usual elegant getup, at the given moment she was wearing a simple pair of baggy camouflage pants and a black boyish tight V-neck T-shirt, the getup felt quite uncharacteristic for her. As she reached the end of the moody corridor, a large automatic door standing before her slid open, now putting Eliza in her sights. Coming up from behind the Series-Z, the first thing she'd say once sneaking her way behind Valdez would be: "You know, the whole building heard that sweetie."

Once the person she addressed would take note and turn to face her, Enma would immediately notice what happened to her partners hair. She couldn't help but lightly laugh to herself, taking a single step towards Valdez and blocking any attempt at retribution to her mockery with a short greeting kiss on the lips. "I like the sandstorm look." She'd say with a mischievous, up-to-no-good yet blunt smile. "Come on, mother is waiting for us."
Enma's greeting was met with a dagger sharp stare. If she wanted to appease the storm of anger that Eliza had manifested into, she would have had to do more than a welcoming kiss, especially after putting salt in the fresh wound. The auburn girl bit her lower lip instinctively to hold down any subconscious attempt to spur out any more profanities or insults, closed her eyes and then exhaled deeply. This cursed backwater planet had won and all too quickly at that. Alas getting retribution upon something inanimate such as this ball of dunes and dust was a pointless endeavor that the redhead could see as futile even in her current fit of rage. Regardless of that deep down Eliza was still very furious but her blonde half who was the only person around was also the last person she'd want to lash out at anyways. Instead in a sign of clear defeat she mumbled behind her teeth. "You know I had just showered before arriving here. Now I look like a mess." Knowing that further complaining about it would likely bear as much fruit as it has up to now Eliza simply motioned Loyola to lead the way. Her capitulation against the force that was Nauru was unwillingly and figuratively signed there and then.

With that petty conflict between woman and planet out of the way Eliza finally noticed Loyola's unusual attire. In the young redhead's mind she only missed a pair of aviator glasses and a tilted to the side red beret to be the stereotypical drill sergeant of her imagination. How long had Enma been stuck down here to be forced to wear grunt fatigues? Or maybe this was a new phase of fashion for her? No, she wasn't the military type to like this sort of look, it was definitely out of necessity. This thought brought a mischievous smirk to the young girl's face as she was following the target of her soon to be retribution down the hallways of the facility. The snide remark was loaded in the barrel and ready to fire. "Hon, are you sure this butch look is the right way to approach your mother about us?" An eye for an eye, perfectly executed. There was absolutely no chance that Enma would ignore such a cheeky remark.
It didn't take long for Enma to feel a bit of remorse for poking fun at her partner in such a way, even if Eliza was the one that suggested Nauru in the first place. Though with that in mind she couldn't help but find the redheads attempt at containing the flaming rage she herself almost ignited amusing, it was good payback as even Loyola didn't quite enjoy having to spend extra time in an underground installation very prone to being backed up and shut off during sandstorms which were quite frequent for reasons obvious to anyone. After being stuck there for a week due to her duties, prolonging her stay even for a day could lead to even more struggles depending on the weather condition. Though at least with Valdez down here she wouldn't be as bored.

Hearing her snarky comment, Enma did feel a bit cornered on what to say back, nipping her own upper lip in a moment of thought before swirling around in a clunky attempt at seeming girlish, bending forwards to let her rack push the fabric as much as possible with her hands behind her back, expression tired, blunt, but somehow in a charming way, ready to pull the so called desperate comeback. "I thought you'd like the commando military look." Definitely not referencing an actual commando given how much larger, and free her front couple bundle package seemed apart from her back side appearing to have "no strings attached". At least that gave more than clear enough confirmation to Eliza that Enma did run out of spare clothes with the time she was stuck down here. "And here I almost slipped my tongue and called you beautiful irregardless of being messy or not." She'd end that statement with a very obvious smug smile and a short sarcastic wink before turning back around, immediately continuing to walk forwards, a bit more ahead of Eliza this time, finally coming around to giving an actual reply to the second part of her provocation. "I think mother had enough of me in that fancy suit."
Eliza's blue eyes appreciated what Enma had to offer in her attempt to look more feminine and lovely. Teasing her about it seemed to have paid off in an unexpected way which the redhead found quite enjoyable nonetheless. Being focused on admiring the shapes it took her but a few moments before she realized the true meaning behind the word 'commando' that her blonde partner emphasized on. The young girl smirked at the concept, perhaps this look Enma had wasn't all too bad after all? With Eliza's mind drifting into some nicer places and subjects, Loyola's next line of comeback was fairly ignored by the metaphorical cogwheels that were at work in Eliza's mind conjuring some less than decent scenarios between the two. With this new perspective on things Nauru started to look like a less dire situation than what it was few moments ago - the reinforced walls were thick enough to keep the hellish sand out and she finally had the opportunity to spend some time with her blonde partner in life and 'crime'. Yeah, Nauru was definitely not as bad as it looked not much more than 5 minutes ago.

Even though she found the charm in her partner's new looks she couldn't just admit it outright. That would've been admitting defeat in this little game of playful teasing which the redhead would not allow so easily. Instead a quiet retreat was in order as Enma stormed up ahead in a hastened phase with a smug smile on her face. She might have won this battle, but not the entire war. Then suddenly as a god's gift a comeback spawned in her mind - "Oh, but why you never asked me if I ever get tired of your 'fancy suit' look?" she tried to sound as sad and jealous as she could but alas her attempt was mediocre at best. Either way it was still something and meant this little skirmish of wit was not over just yet!


Launa had been sitting in her room for sometime now, and while she appreciated the luxury afforded to her, she couldn't help but feel claustrophobic about the entire situation. She hadn't seen her daughter in just over four years now, and while she was looking forward to a reunion, she couldn't shake the weight of the underground facility off her shoulders. Having spent some time in a Gallic prison, the confinement of her room and the facility left her uneasy, feeling like she had walked from one cell into another. Shaking her head clean of the doubts she reminded herself that she was a guest here, and not a prisoner.

Either way, she had waited long enough. Enma might be the ever busy Guildmistress of the Core, but she was still Launa's daughter, and it was time to finally start that reunion. But first, a breath of what counted for fresh air on Nauru was in order. Leaving her room and carefully making her way through the labyrinthine corridors of the facility, Launa began making her way to the landing bay, where she was convinced she would find a way to get a chance to stretch her legs and get out from the subterranean installation. Maybe she wasn't as comfortable with confined spaces as she tried to tell herself. Rounding a corner, she stopped in surprise as she saw familiar blond and red hair ahead of her in the corridor.

Caught up in their conversation and not so subtle attempts to tease each other, neither Enma or Eliza noticed Launa sneak up on them. Gently laying her hands on their shoulders, Launa smirked as she made her presence known. "Now darlings, I could have sworn that you said we were going to meet as soon as possible. I hope that you weren't going to leave me waiting while you go on a tour through the entire stations private rooms?". Launa's tone is playful and light, and despite their being a hint of reproach in the words, its clearly not meant in an aggressive way. She was both happy to see them both, and somewhat caught off guard with the fact she had been trying to sneak out, and was as such wearing her own leather flight suit, and not the usual elegant attire she would normally be seen in for such a meeting.

Pulling Enma into a tight hug, she begins to speak again. "It's so good to see you again Enma, it feels like it's been forever since I left for Mactan. You're looking well, and so is Eliza here. Eliza, its good to see you again too, thank you for clearing up those transponder issues I was having so I could dock here to meet you both." Launa was gracing Eliza with a dazzling smile while still smothering Enma in a tight hug.


Remembering a several childhood scenes at that very moment, Enma is shortly kissing her mother. She fall into memories and it took a couple few moments to realize that they are at Nauru again. "I did really a lot to find you and to be fair I did fall in desperation. You cannot imagine how happy I am. I am sorry that I have to welcome you on this wasteland, I would like you meet you on Malta, but I screw up a little. I will pass you a leadership of our family formally soon, but for now we have a personal events coming. " Enma steps back and as it seems her pupils are dilated, which likely caused by a small dose of Nox.

Sortly taking Eliza by the hand, Enma leads her a bit closer. "I believe it is time of our family to expand, it may be not traditional. Yet, I hope that you will be open minded and give us your blessing." Not really waiting for the answer, Enma kneels down before Eliza. She was about to do it anyway and potentially breaking up with her mother, leaving all power in her hands. Enma had a lot of internal conflicts recently, in addition she fell into a Nox addition. She felt like doing everything she wanted and paying a high price for having things in her way. Even the small ones.

Pulling a ring on Eliza's finger, Enma is looking up in her eyes. "We have gone the long way, will you stay with me until the end. The end might come up soon enough, but I want to have you with me."
This all came like thunder from clear sky. There was no way to get out of this slippery situation this time. What a skillfully executed checkmate against Eliza by her favorite blonde. The auburn girl looked down into Enma's gray eyes and smiled widely not even knowing what to say. "Oh, Enma!" she exclaimed joyfully instead as she took her half's hands to motion her to stand up before pulling her into a kiss followed by a tight hug. Valdez had her worries about this but voicing them now would have only ruined the otherwise wonderful moment. Did it really matter if it was now or later down the road anyways? And it wasn't like she had not given up so much just to be with Enma already. "Of course, of course I will, my dearest!" she cheered while tightening her grip across Enma's back and playfully swinging left to right in their hug. With Eliza's answer now given it was time to hear what Loyola's mother had to say about this all. The redhead thought all this would be more gradually dropped on the senior Loyola but Enma's spontaneous nature obviously had different plans on how things have to be handled. The young Maltese girl let go of the hug and intertwined her hand into Enma's in anticipation. Their cards were now on the table it was time to see Launa's hand, figuratively speaking.


Launa had been watching the unfolding events carefully, a tight smile on her lips. "Well, this is surprising. I'm barely back for a day and already you're proposing to a person I've met for all of two hours." Launa shakes her head and a soft laugh escapes her lips.

"It seems you've both made up your minds. Well then Eliza. Welcome to the family." Launa smiles and draws them both into a hug, as they part she kisses them each briefly. "So, where is the honeymoon going to be?" She says with a sparkle in her eyes.


Enma have returned a short kiss to her mother. Holding herlself for a little bit long, she uses this moment to just whisper "Thank you." to mother's ear. "You will not regret it." She said before gaining normal distance between them.

Just looking happy, she hold pause for another moment, before replying the question. "I have planned this for a long time. And... I decided that Gallia would be an interesting option. Alternatively we could pick Hawaii, but that's rather boring for my taste. " Enma sighs, relaxing, calming down her breath and heartbeat.
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