Will you...?

Standing outside on the balcony in full formal attire, despite being in goddess form, Nepgear felt a little weird. She had never been to such a massive party before. Everyone was dressed up and in a great mood, which was no surprise. It was the first time in Gamindustri history that two nations allied like this.

She herself had caught not a single sign of it and it had come very much out of the blue to hear that Vert and Blanc announce their union. The preparations had taken months, a gigantic festival in the middle of the continent.

Taking a sip of champagne from her glass, Nepgear liked her outfit. The pink-white dress and gloves, the pale pink pumps, earrings and a necklace, she had been told several times how beautiful she and her sister looked today.

Of course, it was nothing compared to what Blanc and Vert looked like. She wondered if one day she might be able to have a great ceremony like this. But for that to happen, she would need to find her special someone first. She wasn't particularly interested in any humans, considering she would far, far outlive them and the choice beyond that wasn't overly big.

Uni... she loved her but she had never said it and after Uni started to be distant in the last few months, Nepgear assumed the girl now hated her for being so slow to confess.

"Nepgear." Purple Heart slowly came walking out of the big ball room, where Blanc and Vert were just cutting the cake, their height difference making them look incredibly adorable if a bit comical. "What are you doing out here?"

"I'm not used to being around so many people I don't know." Blushing a little, she felt a bit more confident in her goddess form, but hundreds of people were present. Everyone of importance the four nations had to offer had shown at the center castle, a place of neutrality that the goddesses had established after the most recent war.

"I've been looking for Noire. Have you seen her?" She wouldn't rest until she got Noire to dance with her at least once.

"I haven't seen her, sorry." Shaking her head, Nepgear took another sip of champagne. The party was going strong, covering five floors, three balconies and the ballroom, big enough for one hundred people, at the very top of the castle,It was easy to get lost in all that.

"Did you see Ram and Rom yet? They look incredibly cute in their pink and blue outfits." Saying so while she turned away, Purple Heart went to look for the object of her affection.

Emptying her glass and going inside after her sister, Nepgear put her empty glass on the tray of a waiter before heading deeper into the room, catching a glimpse of Vert feeding Blanc the first bit of the cake. It was immensely cute. Roaring applause was heard when the three meter high cake was finally declared free for all.

Seeing Uni in the distance, Nepgear approached her, curious why the white haired goddess kept avoiding her all this time. She recognize the blue haired girl she talked to The girl who had inaugurated Uni. Getting noticed by the songstress she seemingly tipped Uni off, who quickly approached Nepgear instead of running away. Blushing after seeing Nepgear in her formal attire, Uni stood for a few seconds silently in front of her. "You... look pretty good." Sighing and shaking her head quickly, Uni corrected herself. "You look beautiful." She still had the bad habit of treating Nepgear with a bit of a cold attitude.

"You're not going to run away from me?" Nepgear felt a bit hurt by all of it. "After avoiding me for months?"

"I had a reason." Uni wasn't confident enough in her self-restraint to have stayed by her side. She wanted it all to be a great surprise for the the lilac-haired girl, and she couldn't handle that if she was constantly around her. "But I don't have to run anymore."

Taking Nepgear's hand, Uni slowly pulled her away, out of the ballroom, through a hallway into what had been used as Vert's private room before the union ceremony. Closing the door behind her, Nepgear was just standing there, completely confused. Until now, she hadn't taken a closer look at Uni, but she really was beautiful. Since her inauguration during the war, her goddess form had slightly changed and she really liked the new look. The black, fingerless gloves extended all the way to her upper arms, the black dress resembling a Qipao. A small cut above her breasts exposed just a bit of skin. Wearing black high heels, she was a little taller than Nepgear now. Black stockings were the last piece that painted the picture of the beautiful black goddess.

"I want to apologize for avoiding you." Leaning against the door, Uni couldn't look Nepgear in the eyes yet. "I can't tell you yet why I was avoiding you, but you will know before night." Fidgeting a little, she really had to fight her nature to be honest with Nepgear. "Do you hate me now?"

"I don't hate you, Uni. Do you hate me? Is that why you're avoiding me?" Nepgear wanted clarity and she didn't like being lied to.

"It's the opposite." Blushing deeply, Uni stepped forward, just a centimeter taller than Nepgear, able to directly look into her eyes. "I thought you'd be able to tell... before the war... during the war... even now, I was... I mean... I'm still... I..." Turning so red that she looked like she was going to overheat, Nepgear smiled. It was very cute to watch.

"I love you." Her face scarlet red, Uni kept looking at Nepgear, wishing she could just turn invisible. But if she couldn't handle that, there was no way she would be able to handle what was coming later.

Nepgear blushed a little at the sudden confession. "You've been avoiding me because you love me?" It didn't quite make sense but she didn't doubt what Uni was saying.

"I want to say it even right now but that's not what I planned... so I kept my distance. I didn't think you'd start thinking I'd hate you." Looking a bit depressed, Uni almost jumped when Nepgear started to play with her hair, twirling a long strand of her around her finger.

"You should just have said something..." Smiling happily, Nepgear felt her heart beat like crazy. So their affection was mutual. "If I knew you'd feel about me like that... I'd have told you I feel the same."

"I knew. I knew already, geez." Pouting, Uni wasn't that slow to understand the signs. "That's why I waited until today to tell you." Hearing Blanc and Vert's voice over a loud speaker in the ballroom close by, Uni knew that it was her turn soon. "Be in the ballroom when I give me speech, okay!"

Vanishing without another word through the door and leaving Nepgear behind, Purple Sister didn't quite know what to make of her behavior. It was obvious she was hiding something but what?

Returning to the ballroom just like Uni asked her to do, Nepgear waited for Blanc's and Vert's speech to end. Seeing her sister, arm in arm with Noire, to the far left, she smiled to herself and wondered how long it would be before those two gave their announcement for union too.

Purple Heart, and then Black Heart and finally herself followed to give speeches for the now united couple before Uni's turn was up. Standing in the crowd, Nepgear was listening to her go on about Vert and Blanc, just like everyone else. But then things changed.

"Before I step down, I have something important to say." Taking a deep breath, Uni was so nervous she felt like she was about to fall apart from the inside. "Even before the last war started, there was a girl I always held in high regard. She is kind, beautiful, merciful and most of all, she is always there for the people that need her. During the war, we were enemies and our nations were about to annihilate each other several times. But even with her as my sworn enemy, I could never stop thinking about her. I could never so much as try to forget about her or hate her. And when the war ended, there stood nothing between us. Despite my duties as one of Lastation's two goddesses, I tried to spend as much time with her as I could."

Nepgear stood there with her mouth slightly open, completely surprised by this sudden, public declaration of love. Was Uni going to tell the whole world that she loved her? Her face was turning more and more red with every word.

"And I apologize for these last few months where I had to keep my distance. But I couldn't risk saying these words at any time or place but here, where all of us are together." As if it was a cue everyone was in on, a single beam of light hit Nepgear, the people around her stepping away quickly. "Nepgear, I love you. And I know that you feel the same way about me. But just loving you is not enough for me anymore." Trying to breathe, Uni stepped down from the stage, slowly making her way towards Nepgear, the people having formed an open lane between them.

Kneeling in front of the girl she loved, Uni produced a ring box from behind her back, slowly opening it, revealing a golden ring that had two different gems combined together. A pink and a black diamond. "Purple Sister of Planeptune, Nepgear, will you enter a union with me?"

Completely frozen for a second, Nepgear reacted by hiding her mouth behind her hands, her eyes wide in surprise. Her heart was beating so fast that it would jump out of her chest any second now if she didn't do something. Uni on her knees, showing the ring to her, in front of over a hundred people, their sisters, everyone!

"I..." Opening and closing her mouth, Nepgear almost shouted her answer. "Yes! I'll be your partner, Uni!"

The applause was deafening when Uni took the ring out of the box, put the box on the ground, took Nepgear's left hand and put the ring on her ring finger. Standing up, Uni's face was scarlet red, just like that of her love.

Without warning, Nepgear laid her arms around Uni's back, passionately kissing her, the applause getting mixed with cheers. A kiss that released stored up attraction from months, and in Uni's case, from years. Holding on to each other for several minutes, the applause kept going, now mixed in with bits of laughter.

A bit to the side, Purple Heart stood with Black heart. "When are you going to propose to me?"

"Huh? W-what are you saying? We're not like that at all!" Trying to get away, Purple Heart held her back.

"I can't believe our little sisters got to it before we did."

"Uni has grown up so much... I mean, I-I'm not gonna enter an union with you! Who would?!"

With one party over, the planning for the next was already starting.

~~~ A true union of hearts will last a lifetime ~~~