Chapter Text
"Don't go." Celes reached out her hand to the glowing pink figure, who was already tensing, the air prickling with magic as she held the spell that would strip her of her second skin. "Don't-- change. Not yet."
Terra turned back to her, slowly, warily releasing the magic, its edges flickering between her fingers before vanishing completely. Celes' shoulders sagged in relief, though her hand still hovered in mid-air, poised to stop Terra if she tried to flee. Not that she'd catch her. Even if she could be faster, the Esper would flow from her grasp like flame.
"You always change," said Celes. "You never let me see you like this." She softened her voice as much as possible. "Why?"
Terra's frame was perfectly, almost unnaturally still, but her eyes looked Celes up and down, and her nose-- was it twitching? "You're afraid of me."
"Afraid?" Celes almost laughed, but managed to hold it back. Of the things in this world that could faze a former general, she'd encountered more than her share; but Terra was not among them. "I'm not afraid of you, Terra. Why would you think that?"
"My senses tell me," said Terra, sounding perfectly certain. "Your breath is shallower. Your skin is salty... cold, with sweat. Your lips are dry." Celes found herself licking them selfconsciously; it was true, they were. "I can hear your heart beating fast."
Celes closed the distance, lacing her fingers into thick shoulder fur. It felt like a bear's, and quite unlike any tame creature's: coarse and protective on the surface, but with a silken-soft undercoat that was exquisite to the touch. The urge to sink her fingers in deeper, no, to press her face against that soft layer, was maddening.
"Terra," she said patiently, "those things don't always mean fear."
"They don't?"
"No." She touched her nose to Terra's, their lips a breath apart as she spoke. "They don't."