Chapter Text
Starting gates surrounded her, a cage formed by cold metal. She could hear buzzing echoing from somewhere nearby, but her eyes were locked onto the green expanse that roared out into the horizons before her.
Oh how she longed for it…
…KA-CHUNK!
Run!
Her eyes flew open as she took a sharp breath, holding it for a moment before letting it flow out as she sunk back into the warmth of the bed. She wanted to go back to sleep, to embrace that slumber once more. The buzzing in her legs kept her up however, it made her feel like kicking something out of instinct. Ignoring it, Silver refused to open her eyes. She nuzzled into the back of her wife’s neck, just enjoying that warmth for a little longer before the buzzing became too much.
Eventually a groan of frustration was dragged from her lips as she leant over to kiss Fumino’s cheek, whispering to her. “I’m going for a run, I’ll be back when I’m done.” There was a murmur, and an errant hand patting at her thigh before Silver slipped out of the bed, her legs carrying her to their chest of drawers to get dressed up.
Tracen mandated tracksuit, check. Running shoes, check. Keys in pocket, check.
Nodding to herself, she headed out to the kitchen, catching sight of their daughter awake and on the couch. A large bowl of cereal nestled in her lap as she munched away at it happily.
“Morning Lovely.” Calling out to her daughter as she passed by, leaning over to drop a kiss on top of her head, feeling those ears twitch up against her cheeks as she did so.
“Oh, morning mumma. You going for a run?”
Chuckling, Silver nodded. “Yes, I am. Just getting a bottle ready for when I get home.”
“Can I come too?” The excited voice melted her heart, but she shook her head.
“Sorry hun, not today. Mumma’s going on a big run, she’s got some bugs in her legs she needs to get out.” Putting the bottle on the counter, she wandered over to the couch her daughter was on. Leaning on it to look down at her daughter’s lovely blue eyes. “However, when I get back, we’ll go for an extra run around the local tracks then, ok?”
“Aww, fine, is mum still asleep?” Her daughter pouted, before looking back at the television as it played some anime about umas racing through space. Uma Line or something.
“Yep, but she should be up soonish. So, be good for a bit longer alright?” Silver’s hand reached out, ruffling her daughter’s brown hair.
“Eugh! Mum!” Those small ears pulled back as her hand reached up to ward off Silver, drawing a laugh from the older woman.
“Stay good Lovely Day, I’ll be back soon!”
Stepping out the door, Silver just took off with a smile on her face. Her feet felt like they were gliding along the dirt path as she went. Joy itself was singing in her heart.
It sang so loudly, so sincerely, that Silver couldn’t help but doubt it as it flowed so clearly within her. She was old, too old to be a professional racer. Nearly fifty? No one wanted to see such an old uma running, it’d be embarrassing to see them shuffle behind the pack for minutes for them to finish. No one especially wanted to see such an old sack attempt to dance and sing.
So why… why did her legs demand that she run? That she continued to run till she gave every drop of effort that she could? Why did they demand so much from her?!
Her teeth grit, the scenery whipped by her vision. All she could hear was the pounding of her feet along the running path on the streets. Buses and cars flashed by her as she overtook them. She just wanted to scream at them, to tell them to make sense!
The sound of a whistle snapped her out of her funk, blinking as she looked up to her legs for a moment to see a police uma running beside her. “Slow down, miss!” The barked order caused her to stumble to a stop. Sucking down breath, Silver could feel herself wobbling on those legs of hers.
“Now, miss, do you understand why I’ve had to pull you over?” The Police Uma was frowning, one hand on her hip and staring up at Silver’s face.
Blushing, Silver shook her head. “Uh, no? I apologise if I’ve done anything wrong.”
“You were speeding, miss. This is a forty zone, and you were clocked at going sixty five. I’ll need your ID and registration.”
Blinking, Silver’s mouth opened for a moment. “Sixty? That’s… That’s not possible.” However, she did dig into her pockets, pulling out her licence, offering it to the police uma.
“It doesn’t matter if you think it is impossible, miss, our equipment doesn’t li-” The uma took Silver’s ID, looking it over. Pausing for a moment, she glanced up at Silver’s face, then back down to the ID. “Can you please confirm your date of birth ma’am.”
“May, fourteenth. Nineteen fifty nine.”
The police uma blinked again, before looking down at the speed scanner on her hip for a moment. Grabbing her notepad device, she began to scribble some information into it before handing Silver’s ID back to her. “We’ll let you off with a warning this time ma’am, but please watch your speed in the future. Have a good day.”
Still blushing, Silver took her ID back with a bow. “Thank you, and apologies for that ma’am.” Bowing again as she put her ID away and began to jog back home. Shaking her head, a hand rubbing at her face. “Oh that is so embarrassing, so embarrassing.” She knew that if she told Fumino there would be so much teasing later.
--------
Stopped Watch kept an eye on Silver Age as she jogged off down the running lane. Pulling up her scanner once more, she aimed it to the back of the jogging Uma. Watching a far more sedate number appear on its screen. Shaking her head, she grabbed her radio and spoke into it. “Hey, Juno, you there?”
“Yeah, I’m here Watch. What’s up? Need help with that speeding uma?”
“No, just, I’m… I’m not entirely sure the scanner was correct. So I let them off with a warning.”
“A warning? Watch! She was doing sixty five in a forty zone! That is far beyond warning territory!”
Stopped Watch sighed, her ears pinning back in the moment. Eyes closing as she breathed out. “Yeah, I know Juno, but when I asked for their ID, it said they were born in 1959.”
“59? You serious?”
“Eyup, ran their name through the system and they popped up all proper like too. Silver Age, born May 14, 1959. Age 47. You see why I’m doubting the scanner now?”
“Yeah, damn. I can’t see any uma that old running that fast. That’s wild… wait! You just said Silver Age, didn’t you?”
“Uh, yeah? What about it?”
“She’s a trainer at Tracen! She’s trained some real strong racers over the years! By the Goddesses, you almost booked an elite trainer for speeding!” The laughter that came from the radio brought a growl of annoyance to Watch’s lips.
“Yeah, well, it would have been you if you’d get off your fat ass instead of making me do it.”
She just got a snicker in reply to her snippy tone. “Sure thing Watch, now get back here and let's go get lunch and forget about this, alright?”
“Fine, but you’re buying today.”
========
The physical therapists at Tracen were top notch, the leaders of the pack when it came to uma health. In a school like this, they were a finite resource that were, sadly, always needed. Most of the time it was just the students who visited them with aches, pains and recovery needs.
Rarely was it that a staff member needed to visit them, and it was part of the reason that Silver felt so awkward as she took a seat in the therapist’s office. It had been almost a full week since her first visit, an entire week of tests and exercises that she had been put through. Along with a strict diet and observance as well.
The chosen therapist had been thorough, and left nothing to chance or guess work for the entire process. Notes after notes had been taken and cross referenced. Every test had been done twice at minimum. Silver Age honestly felt more like a guinea pig than an uma at this point.
Sea Raptor was Tracen’s best for a reason after all.
“So, Mrs Raptor. What is happening to me and my legs?” Silver’s voice was tired, she felt a little desperate for an answer to this restlessness she felt. Was it age? Was it something else? She just wanted to know.
Sea Raptor smiled as she turned to look at Silver, fingers lacing together. “You’re race-ready.”
The deadpan delivery forced Silver’s brain to reset, blinking as she stared at the therapist. “I’m sorry, what?”
“You’re race-ready.”
Raising a hand, motioning for them to stop. Her other hand reached up to rub at her temples, eyes closed. “Yes, yes, I heard you but, race-ready? No, that’s impossible. I’m nearing fifty years old. I am… I am way too old to be racing! I have a daughter! I… I gave birth! I can’t be race-ready!” Looking up at the therapist’s grin once more, Silver could see it curling into a smirk.
“Yes, and every test that we’ve done has led us to a singular conclusion. You, Trainer Silver Age, are race-ready. Your body is demanding to run. That is why you’ve been feeling more and more restless, that those ‘bugs’ as you describe them, are crawling over your legs.” Scooting her chair out from behind her desk, she waved at Silver’s legs. “They are demanding you run, to pour out every bit of effort they can, to put cleat to turf or dirt.”
Silver did not answer her, instead choosing to look away with a frown. She knew she was being childish.
“You might try to deny it Trainer Silver, but you know what happens to students who don’t run while race-ready. You know nothing good happens from holding back on that urge.”
Silver did know, it was one of the most important lessons a Trainer took on. “Yes, I know. You can’t deny them their desire to run…” Sighing softly, she lent on her knees, running her hands through her hair and over her pinned ears. “So, what do I do then? I’m still old, I’m not going to be able to run in anything professional.”
“And who said you couldn’t?”
Blinking, Silver frowned as she looked up. “Uh, I’m old? I don’t have the speed or capabilities to catch up to the other trainees.”
“Trainer Silver Age, you run like an uma in their prime. You could easily run in the Twinkle series if you wanted to. In fact, I’ve already sent the results of the tests to the Director herself, and, if the timing is right…”
The two of them looked up, hearing a polite knock on the door. Silver’s head slowly turned to look at the grinning therapist. “... You’re a sick woman, you know that right?”
“Sure do! Come on in!” Sea Raptor scooted her chair back behind her deck.
The door slowly opened to reveal Secretary Hayakawa, the woman’s smile felt like the most damning thing Silver could envision in the moment.
“The Director wishes to see you, Trainer Silver. Please come along.”
========
Silver’s hands slammed onto Akikawa’s desk, the taller uma half glaring down at the grinning Director. “Director! I can understand your excitement but there is no way under the Goddesses’s very vision that I am moving into the student dorms! I’m far beyond being a student!”
Yet that grin did not leave the Director’s face, her fan snapping open before Silver’s face, causing her to rear back in shock.
ACCEPTABLE!
“That is fine! I merely wished to test the waters as the dorms have always been an important aspect to a runner’s growth during their career!” The fan snapped closed. “However, I would truly be cruel to deny you your family during such a stressful time as well!”
“Director, I haven’t even accepted joining the Twinkle series either. I’m old, I’m almost fifty! I, no… no one wants to see a fifty year old uma fumble along behind the younger racers.” Silver sighed, her eyes closed before she fell back into her chair.
Director Akikawa looked right at her, letting Silver stew in her own emotions for a moment. “Trainer Silver. What do we do here at Tracen Academy?”
“We train students, help them through their careers. Help them grow and be the best that they can be.”
“Yes, we do do that, but, what else do we do other than that?”
Silver sighed, her eyes closed as she rubbed at her temples once more. “I.. don’t know? Help them recover? I’m tired and stressed Director, please stop with the games.”
Akikawa smiled, before she walked around her desk, stopping beside Silver. Her hand reached up to grasp Silver’s shoulder. Her voice was much softer than Silver could have ever expected. “Dreams, Trainer Silver. We give our students the chance to live their dreams. We aren’t here to just teach them, we are here to see their dreams become the truths they so desire.” Her hand dropped away, taking a step back as Silver looked up at the Director. “So, what do you dream of doing, Trainer Silver? What has been your dream since you’ve become who you were meant to be?”
Silver sighed, her hands rubbing at her face a little bit, breathing. Her first words were muffled by her hands, purposely hiding what she spoke into her palms. Akikawa raised an eyebrow at her employee, staring at the eyes that looked at her through parted fingers.
Sighing louder, Silver dropped her hands from her face. Her elbows leaning on her knees. “To run with my trainees.” Admitting it made things feel a little easier, it made her legs itch a little less. “I want to run as hard as I can with my trainees, to compete with them.” Looking up at the Director. “But I’m old, I can’t run like they can.”
Director Akikawa smirked faintly. “Trainer Silver. Let me be honest with you. Therapist Raptor had already figured out you were race-ready within the first couple of days and had informed me of this fact.” Her fan snapped open to cover the lower half of her mouth.
QUIET!
“I requested them to perform further testing, to see the limits of your body. To see if you could properly keep up with the newest generation.” The fan snapped closed, slapping down into the Director’s open palm. “And those tests revealed that you are entirely capable of keeping up with those in their junior years. So, all that is needed to do is find yourself a trainer to scout you!”
Silver just looked at Akikawa, seeing the humour in those eyes. “Director, I’m a trainer. I can do all that paperwork myself.”
“Aww, and deprive me of the joys of being your trainer?”
Silver sat up, pushing herself out of her chair as she heard the voice of her wife. A smile extended across her lips as she leant in to give her a small kiss in greetings, wrapping her arms around her gently as they embraced each other. “Fumino, what are you talking about? You know I can do it myself.”
“I know love, but you’re going to be doing some proper training for yourself as well as looking after your current trainee. You’re going to be much busier than expected I imagine.”
“Ok, true, all the paperwork for myself, Kawakami and dealing with training for the two of us would be a hassle…”Silver rubbed at her eyes, sighing as she thought. “Though, wait.” She looked at Fumino for a moment, her head turning to look at Akikawa, before flicking between the two of them a couple times. Finally, she slowly turned back to Fumino, eyes narrowing. “They told you about this before they told me, didn’t they?”
“... Yes? But like, only a couple hours ago while you were with Therapist Raptor. Gave me time to finish up training and come up here to talk.” Fumino smiled, squeezing Silver gently.
“Hrrrm, fine, you’re off the hook for that, then.” Silver looked back at Akikawa, putting her hand in Fumino’s, squeezing it for the moment. “So what, you put me in the Twinkle series. I’m still nearly fifty years old. How do we explain that?”
“Simple, we tell the truth. Something happened that delayed your race-ready status all this time, call it an imbalance of hormones if you will, Trainer Silver. The simple truth is that you, having been looked at by experts, have been discovered to be race-ready, so, you are going to race.”
Silver closed her eyes, sighing. “Radiation. Claim radiation if you must. Both my parents passed away from it a long time ago, so, it could have affected me for the story to work.”
A sombre moment passed through the office, before Akikawa nodded respectfully. “Of course, but we’ll only speak of it if we need to.”
“Thank you. Though I still feel a bit stupid for all this, everyone is going to be so much younger than I am.” Silver’s ears pulled back against her head. “It's just, I. I’m just going to be that old fart in the race.”
“And the Winning Live love.”
“Not. Helpful. Fumino.” Giving her grinning lover a half-glare, Silver sighed in frustration. “Now that is going to be even more mortifying. Can’t I just… sign a waiver to avoid doing any of the Winning Lives? Surely I can avoid doing that!”
INCORRECT!
By the Goddesses Silver hated that fan at this very moment, she glared at the paper. “Unfortunately we cannot do that, you know that the Winning Lives are part of how we promote racers and their merchandise too.”
The truth made Silver groan, before grimacing faintly. “Ugh, merchandise.”
“I don’t know why you’re disappointed. I love the idea of buying a little Silver Age in her racewear.” Fumino piped up, grinning even as Silver pouted at her.
“Wait… Racewear? Oh damn it. I knew I was forgetting something else.”
Akikawa had snuck herself back behind her desk and was furiously working through some paperwork. Humming as her pen danced along the paper. “And… done! Silver Age is now officially signed up for the Twinkle Series, and has been assigned to Trainer Fumino Nase! Pending approval obviously. They might try to claim conflict of interest.” The sheaf of papers was handed off to Secretary Hayakawa, the woman having been there since the start of the conversation.
“Of course Director, I’ll make sure to submit this at the earliest moment. Do we have any other options should the primary one fall through?”
Silver hummed for a moment, her ears flicked in thought. “Assistant Trainer Gold City. I know she’s Fumino’s assistant, but if we have to, she's my next top preference. Gives us a degree of separation to work with at least.”
“True, and she’s been ready for a solo trainer experience for a while. She just hasn’t felt that initial connection with a trainee yet, so maybe she’ll get that with you Silver.” Fumino spoke, squeezing Silver in once more with a smile.
WONDERFUL!
“Brilliant! We shall perform that paperwork as needed, if needed! See to it, Secretary Hayawaka!”
Secretary Hayakawa bowed with a smile, turning to leave the room quietly to the three of them.
“Well,” Silver sighed. “I guess that settles that then. We are finished, yes?”
“Indeed! Except for one more thing!” Akikawa’s eyes gleamed, the smile that curled across her face sent a chill down Silver’s spine.
“And what… is that?”
Akikawa’s arm raised high, the fan snapped open with great flair.
UNIFORM!
The colour drained from Silver’s face. She could feel Fumino’s hand squeezing her own in excitement.
“No, no way. I am not dressing up in that uniform!”
========
Much later, in the Tracen general store. Silver Age stood in the changing room, her ears pinned back in annoyance, her tail lashing in frustration as she stared at the mirror before her.
“Mumma! Come out! I wanna see you!”
The siren call. The traitor’s last gambit. Her lovely daughter, Lovely Day. Silver slumped, sighed and squared her shoulders as she stepped out of the change room with a blush, and a small glare ready for her wife.
“Wah! Mumma, you look so pretty!”
Damn it, Silver couldn’t stop the smile from crossing her lips. Even hearing the snap of photos being taken from her wife’s phone couldn’t dull her joy.
“Thank you honey, you make mumma feel real pretty.” Crouching down to catch her daughter as she ran towards her, picking her up into her arms. “And one day, you’ll be getting to wear this uniform too as you run to chase your dreams.”
“Wooow… I can’t wait to run like mumma can!”
Silver felt her cheeks burn, her eyes closing as she squeezed her little love tightly. Goddess she felt so lucky, glancing over to her grinning wife. “And I can’t wait to run with you.” Kissing her daughter’s forehead. “Though, what do you think about bringing your mum out for a run too?”
Silver watched a bit of the colour drain out of Fumino’s face, her darling wife staring at the sheer excitement on their daughter’s face. Her mouth opened, froze, before slowly nodding. “Yeah, uh, sure. We can go for a run babygirl.”
“Yeeeeeees!” Lovely Day wiggled from Silver’s arm with her cheer, feet hitting the ground running as she bolted out of the general store.
Silver smiled, walking over to Fumino, leaning down to give her a gentle kiss. “You’re a wonderful mum.” Pulling her up onto her feet from the chair.
Fumino pouted after her smile. “And you’re cruel, suggesting I go running with you too.”
“Well, you did put me in this uniform, but don’t worry. I won’t let her run you too ragged. That’s for me to do later I think.”
Fumino chuckled, eyes closing as she smiled. Her hand taking Silver’s in return.
“Mum! Mumma! Hurry uuuupppp!”
The shout from outside brought a laugh to the couple’s lips. Smiles crossed their lips as they lent against each other. Enjoying the silence for a moment before Silver broke it.
“So, does this mean you’re fucking a high school student now?”
Fumino choked as Silver giggled, the two of them finding a moment to contain themselves before Fumino spoke up. “You also realise you’re going to have to tell the squad right?”
Silver sighed. “... Yeah, I know. Goddesses she’s going to have a field day with this. Let's just go chase our daughter first.”
“Sounds good.”
========
Silver Age frowned as she heard her phone buzzing frantically again and again. It had been going wild for the last few minutes and Fumino had utterly refused to interact with it. Each time her wife glanced at the screen, she seemed to smirk before shaking her head. Honestly, the entire situation was getting frustrating.
“You better have a good reason for not answering or checking the phone for me, Fumino.” Calling out as she jogged back to where they had left their stuff, passing her wife by.
Fumino just smiled in reply. “I do, and it’s a fun one.” Grinning, she smacked Silver’s ass on the way past as she picked up into a jog herself. Heading out to the edge of the course, calling out to their daughter. “I’m coming Lovely, want to do some time attack runs, or play on the dirt course for a bit?”
The audible gasp made Silver chuckle. “DIRT TRACK! YEEEEESSSSS!” Shaking her head at her daughter’s excitement. Picking up her phone, she looked back at her family as Fumino jumped the railings. The two loves of her life headed towards the inner dirt tracks of Tracen.
Picking up her glasses, she slipped them on and squinted at her screen for a moment. “... How many messages have they sent?” Muttering to herself as she looked at the separate counts of messages sent through LANE by Gold City, Mejiro Palmer, and Daitaku Helios. They were the three oldest of her ex-trainees.
“I’ll send them a group message, because that is just too many to go through right now.” Muttering as she typed out a simple query asking them what the emergency was. Within a second of it sending, her phone buzzed loudly in her hands, it honestly made her jump from the suddenness of it.
Taking a moment to calm down, she blinked again. “Video call with.. All three?” Answering it, she held her phone up. “... Hello, ever-”
“Told you she’d be wearing it!” Palmer immediately interrupted with a laugh.
“Wei! Looking peak, Torena! Slaying the fit Queen!” Helios wasn’t too far behind, sharing screen space with Palmer. Well, those two were obviously calling from the same place to share a phone like that. Probably their apartment.
However, it was the third and final member that made Silver worry as she glanced at the stoic frown of Gold City. Those eyebrows furrowed, a pair of critical eyes stared at her.
“Silver. Pan your camera down.”
“Wha… what? Why would I…” Silver blinked, before slowly she looked down. Eyes widening, her hand twisted to point the phone upwards. She was met with the mixed laugh of Helios and Palmer. Her face scrunched up, realising the collar of that blasted uniform must have been just in sight.
“... That makes Palmer and Helios’s reactions far more realistic…” Muttering through her teeth.
“Silver Age. Pan your camera down or so help me I’m going to come to Tracen itself right now!”
Silver winced, before sighing as she slumped for a moment, keeping the phone pointed upwards before she moved to sit down. Waiting a moment longer.
“I’m heading to the door Silver! I will sprint all the way down if I need to!”
“Fine! Fine, I’m doing it. Just, Goddesses City, what were all those messages even about? I was just out with Fumino and my daughter.” Her hand moved, bringing the phone back into view once more. Staring at her three trainees, two still grinning impishly, and the third’s frown disappeared into a smile.
“Oh, someone just told us some good news so we had to call you to find out if it was true. So, gonna pan the camera down now?” Gold City’s eyebrow raised again, as if asking Silver to defy her once more.
With a grumble, Silver looked away as she pointed the camera down, huffing almost childishly despite her age.
“Oh shit! Her tail’s wagging like mad! Silvey is a happy pony!” Palmer’s voice echoed out loudly once more, making Silver cringe in realisation that yes, her tail was wagging madly.
The phone snapped up to face Silver once more, her free hand reached down to trap her tail in its grasp. “So, what is all this about good news then? The only news I’ve… got…” Silver’s eyes narrowed as she looked over towards where Fumino stood. “... Fumino told you three, didn’t she?”
Helios snickered. “Told us what Torena? She passed on good vibes, and hopemaxxed her message to us! She be bussing on good words and high clicks! Told us tah seek your tail for serving up a dish or two!” Her hands clapped loudly together. “So catching you serving cunt again was just peak chance Queen!”
Silver sighed, she really just wanted to rub her growing headache away but someone needed to control her tail from thumping happily. “So… she told you nothing at all? Just that I had some good news?”
“Ahuh, that’s all Silvey. She sent us a message that you had news and well, knowing you, you’d be holding it for as long as you could to surprise us like last time you had big news.” Palmer was squeezing Helios into her front with an arm, trapping her far more energetic wife in tightly. “And seeing you in the Tracen Uniform and at the training course? Yeah, seems like it's great news especially after what you’ve been telling us about the last couple months.”
“Indeed Silver, and honestly, if it is what I suspect it is. That’s honestly amazing for you, so please, share the news with us?”
Hearing Gold City’s plea, Silver glanced back at the screen for a moment before sighing as she took a seat. Purposely trapping her tail under her leg, she leant forward, putting her elbows on her knees. The phone pointed up at her even as she was looking out towards where her daughter tore up dirt and turf. Licking her lips, they felt weirdly dry in the moment. She knew the silence was stretching on a bit too long, but how could she admit it? It was weird. Race ready at her age? Wild. Madness. Lunacy.
“I… Shit. Sorry. Just…”
“Take a deep breath Silver. Three in, three out. Like you taught us.” Gold City chimed in. “Like you teach every trainee.”
Silver couldn’t help the smile that crossed her lips as she took that deep, slow breath. Counting three in, filling her belly with air, before blowing it out slowly in three. A moment later she nodded again. “Ok, so, uh, the news… It… It turns out. I’m…” Looking away, she chewed her lip before looking down again. Lifting her arms off her knees, one of them began to bounce. “Turns out I’m… race ready. Confirmed by the Tracen therapists. And… And I’ll be entering the Twinkle Series. Debuting this year hopefully.”
Silver didn’t look at the screen, but the cheers and shouts from Palmer and Helios were balms for her soul and anxiety. A hand reached up to rub the tears that had started to form in the corners of her eyes.
“Silver.” Gold City’s voice called her to look down, she couldn’t help but sniff before rubbing at her eyes again. “Silver Age. You’re about to go on a wonderful journey.” Oh fuck, she didn’t need this right now. She sniffed, pressing fingers into her tear ducts to try and get them to stop. Her choked sob interrupted Gold City. “You’re about to go on a wonderful journey.”
“And it will be hard. You will struggle. It will be tough.” Palmer picked it up with a grin on her lips.
“Wei! But it’ll be worth it queen! You’ll come out strong, and slaying!” Silver couldn’t help but let out a sobbing laugh as Helios threw her own spin on it.
“But enjoy it, and embrace every step of it you can!” The three finished the last line of it off together, and Silver couldn’t hold back her tears any more as her body shook from the emotions.
“Oh you… you brats. I bet you’ve all been waiting to return that to me haven’t you?” Sniffing as she stared at the screen, smiling through the trickle of tears. “Goddesses… I can’t even believe you three remember that corny, stupid speech.”
“Of course we did Torena! Your words got mad aura and hype! Them precious bits for us to cherish!”
“Indeed Silver, and you know we’ll all be cheering for you in every race you run.”
“Yeah, yeah I know… Goddess I’m so lucky you all like me after everything.” Her hand came up again, wiping away the last of her tears as she smiled at the camera. Seeing each face return one to her. “So, thank you all. Thank you.”
“Your welcome Silver!” “Of course Silvey!” “Ye! Ye! Torena!”
“Though, Silver, is Fumino going to train you?” Gold City asked with a smile.
“That's the plan, but some folk might try to claim conflict of interest because we’re married. I’ve listed you as my second preference if she can’t train me, City.” Gold City blinked, shocked. Her mouth was flapping, but no words came out. Palmer and Helios were both silent, their eyes wide at the news. “So yeah. Thank you all again, but right now. I need to go and get my darling wife in trouble for spilling the beans early.”
Hanging up on her end before they could react, she looked up and stared at her wife for a moment longer. Her legs didn’t feel as itchy as she stood up slowly.
“Well, maybe revenge can wait a little bit.” She whispered softly as she started to jog over with a smile in the fading light.