She finally did it. Dial had so many things to share that day, so many words to say to all the people she knew and cared about. Coming out as a trans girl was a big challenge for her, one she dared to take. But she still needed to say one more thing. And for that, she needed as much courage as before or even more. She was nervous, she couldn’t even look at Mayl, who was shocked and speechless, still processing what just happened. But Dial was happy, happy enough to show a gentle smile on her face.

“I always felt that way, but couldn’t put it into words. Dex, Yai and you… You all are important for me. You are my best friends. But I always knew, it was you I couldn’t imagine my life without. I never understood why, but I know now: it’s love”, confessed Dial.

“Dial…”.

That was all Mayl could say. She was still trying to convince herself she heard right. Dial was confessing, right there at that moment. The more she understood her words, the more the fears in her heart vanished. She wanted to rush to her and hug.

“But…”.

Suddenly, Dial made that small insert, freezing Mayl in place. That light smile in her face faded. Mayl could feel her hand trembling, trying to hold onto hers, as if fearing it would disappear any second.

“I… am scared. I worried a lot because… would you still like me now as a girl? Or did you prefer me as… ‘Lan’?”, confessed Dial with sad tone.

At that moment, Mayl understood. The very same fear she had just some hours before, the fear that was holding her back from confessing… Dial felt the same. Or even worse, she had been worrying about that for so long, much longer than her. One thing was being accepted as a girl, but being loved as one was a different thing. Something Dial feared it wouldn’t happen.

“I was happy thinking we could be together. I imagined us together so many times. But… what if you didn’t like my true self? I was scared of losing you! And still, I just couldn’t keep living as someone I’m not”, continued Dial.

How could she say that? The idea of Dial repressing herself just to stay with her... For Mayl, that idea made no sense at all. She would have never been happy knowing that the person she loved the most was suffering for not expressing her true self. But that didn’t matter anymore, Dial opened up and showed herself. She found the courage to overcome her fears and show her true self. In Mayl’s eyes, she was fantastic.

“So… if you don’t like me anymore, it’s ok. I’ll accept it. I just hope… we can still be friends”.

She said that, but Mayl could feel it in her words. That was not enough for Dial. She wanted something more, just like her. She finally knew. All that time, her love was mutual. She might have lost the chance of confessing in the first place, but she still had a chance to show how much she loved Dial. Slowly, she reached Dial’s face with her hands, gently rising it just a little bit, without turning her around. For a moment, Dial was surprised by the soft touch of Mayl’s hands, incapable of understanding what was happening. And then, something soft touched her right cheek. Mayl had approached her slowly and kissed her on her cheek. Dial turned around slowly and looked at Mayl. She was blushing and her teary eyes were shining.

“I would NEVER stop loving you, silly!”, said Mayl with confidence and care.

The roles turned around. This time, Mayl was confident enough to express what she actually felt, while Dial was processing the situation, her face as red as a tomato. Even if she expected to hear the word ‘love’ coming out from her friend’s lips, she wasn’t prepared for a kiss. And still, she couldn’t look away. Mayl’s eyes were so pretty and honest that lured Dial into them.

“You’re right. I always liked you. You are brave and caring and… a bit clumsy sometimes! I liked all those things”, confessed Mayl. “But when I saw you today… I felt something so… intense inside me! I mean, you’re so pretty, but also, you… shine! You took off a burden from you and… you look so radiant now”.

“I… I shine?”, mumbled Dial nervously.

A part of her wanted to hide in a hole out of embarrassment. Mayl was saying so many beautiful things to her, things Dial never believed she would hear. And still, she didn’t try to run away. She was embarrassed, but happy. Happy for being so close to the girl she liked, knowing that her love was mutual.

“That’s when I knew!”, exclaimed Mayl, releasing Dial’s face and holding her hands. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you! I want to graduate with you! And go to highschool, and then college or… who knows? But I want to stay together with you forever and ever!”.

Just like a broken dam, Mayl couldn’t hold back her feelings anymore. Her heart was open, releasing everything she held back for so long. But realizing she probably said much more than expected, she blushed.

“Well, I mean…”, mumbled Mayl nervously. “That is… if you want to, of course”.

After saying that much, Mayl couldn’t look at Dial out of embarrassment, focusing on her hands instead. But that was not fair. Precisely because she had gone so far, she had to reach the end. She raised her eyes slowly, but what she saw astonished her.

Dial was crying. She had a beautiful smile on her face, but at the same time, tears flew down her cheeks as little pearls. She had never seen Dial cry before, or so Mayl thought. At that moment, distant memories came back, with Dial often crying when she was a child and Mayl comforting her. Somehow, that reassured her that Dial had always been Dial, even from very young.

Dial couldn’t hold back anymore. Not only she was accepted as her true self, but there was someone who loved her for being herself. She still couldn’t believe how lucky she was for having such amazing people in her life, but she was grateful. Grateful that Mayl felt the same as she did.

“I… I’d love to”, said Dial with broken voice. “I also want to spend the rest of my life with you. And all those things: highschool, college… I want us to share as many special moments during our lives. I want to grow up with you”.

Mayl had waited for so long to hear Dial say something like that. Maybe not something as romantic, just any proof that she liked her. But her words were beautiful to Mayl’s ears, with the power to move her to tears. The two girls kept looking at each other, smiling at each other, holding their hands. They would remember that day for the rest of their lives, not just as the day Dial showed up to the world, but also when their love began. Then, Dial began fidgeting.

“Can I… Can I kiss you too?”, asked Dial shyly.

It was such a simple question, but in Dial’s mouth, it sounded so pure. Mayl found every new thing she saw in her then girlfriend so beautiful and charming. How couldn’t she be in love? Without saying any word, the girl nodded and looked aside, revealing her left cheek. Dial approached her slowly and kissed her with delicacy, just like Mayl did a few minutes before. Both felt something warm inside, as if their hearts telling them a wish just came true. They looked at each other and giggled. It had been such a wild conversation, but in the end, they were relaxed with their happy ending. Mayl stood up and offered Dial her hand.

“Shall we go, milady?”, asked Mayl with playful tone.

That took Dial by surprise. She was embarrassed for being called “milady”, but also, she had never seen Mayl show such a direct attitude. Maybe now that they both had confessed, her girlfriend was showing new sides of herself as well. Dial didn’t say anything. She just took Mayl’s hand, stood up and, following her in her roleplaying, she did a light reverence. Was it ridiculous? Maybe for everybody who could watch them. But for them, it wasn’t. It was just one of the so many ways they could express their love. Holding hands, they began walking back home, accompanied by the beautiful sunny weather.

“Hey, Mayl. Do you remember that theme park where ShadowMan attacked us?”, asked Dial. “Would… you like to go again? I still owe you a proper date”.

Of course Mayl remembered Castillo. She was so excited of going there with Dial (or Lan back then), but so many incidents happened they couldn’t enjoy their date. Still, she was surprised Dial would bring that up. But looking at her, she could see how much she wanted to have that date.

“That sounds like a plan! What about this weekend?”.

The two girls kept talking about the first one of the so many plans they would share from that moment forward as a couple. When she woke up that morning, Dial couldn’t even imagine it would end up such a way. But at that moment, all she felt was bliss in her heart knowing that was the first day of a full life she would enjoy along her family, her friends and her girlfriend. All that as the cute, shy and clumsy girl she was meant to be.