Oho? Ohoho? Oho[i]ho[/i]ho? What's this, then? What's this? Aha! Finally, now the sword is under the other chin! S-so [i]this[/i] is what that feels like!

Do give Yue a teensy bit of credit, please. She does her best in this moment to do the thing right. At least, she tries to make it feel how she remembered feeling after every other time it happened to her. The tiny, oh-so-safe bit of pressure that tilts Tianic's pretty head juuuuuuuust so! The casual smirk and the careless hair toss that are supposed to crown the winner and bless the loser at the same time. The long, burning stare that holds the defeated's gaze and threatens to turn them into the hypnotized instead. Hold it. Hold it! Hoooolllld iiiiiit...

Ok that's enough of that! Yue bursts into a fit of giggles and, dropping her sword to the ground with an embarrassing clatter, swoops down and flings her arms around Tianic in just the biggest hug. Quick, while she's still got 'em! Laughing, almost sobbing, she pulls her very very first ever Real Duel Opponent close and squeezes every spare bit of love she's got into her. 

"You were! You were! You were so! Amazing! The way that you moved and the way you planted your feet and the, the, the uh, um, the drawing thing was just so, like, I've never actually seen anything, y'know, never knew anybody could do that kinda thing while they were still fightin' but you were all like whoosh twist clack sparkle! Y'know?? And it's just so, you're so very, oh my goshies gosh can we be friends? Is it ok if we're friends even if I've gotta go someday and you don't gotta come with? 'Cause I, like, goshies. I, you, um! I've seen so much stuff and done so much stuff since I left home and I even sorta kinda saw [i]two whole princesses[/i] doin' duel stuff sorta kinda near me-like, like y'know, like pointin' a sword at me one time an' tryin'ta turn me into a mouse or whatever maybe but then wolf stuff got involved and [i]you don't need to hear about this sorry sorry[/i] and another time I bit the first cookie in front of Qiu, like, [i][b]the[/b][/i] Princess Qiu and she chased me with her heli-whatsit, but... but!"

It's ok, right? It's ok to kiss somebody on the cheek when you don't really know 'em? But you do, don't you see? You [i]do.[/i] You know 'em almost better than you know Sis (that is, uh, your sister or whatever, assumin' you've got one and she also zipped off to the big city to be a social... uh... stalactite? Person thingy?), 'cause you've done a dance with them where you bared your entire soul just now, and you sang about love and she sang about a different love right back, and the whole thing's just like transformin' into some new and even better you, isn't it? You could poof her back into a wolf right now and promise her with seven sun's worth of wishes that she'd never get to be her human self again and it won't make a lick of difference to how much more beautiful and perfect and aware she feels now, and how much Tianic's shinin' next to her even if you told her it was her wolf curse the whole time. 

"But I've never... seen anybody do it like you did. And, and I thought... it was beautiful. I thought [i]you[/i] were beautiful. There was a second there where I really, honestly wanted you to win and then you just, just, just like, y'know, said nah no thanks that ain't me, and I'm like... you can [i]do[/i] that? I'm gonna remember this forever. I'm gonna remember you forever. And it's, um, like, it's fine if you don't wanna be, I mean, if you'd rather just... all I'm gonna say is that, actually I don't even know what the rules are around here, do they allow visitors in prison and suchlike? 'Cause if they do then you should come to my cell for a bit, since it's actually really super nice? For some reason? Is that just how you do things up here? No I mean nevermind it doesn't matter none I just mean, like, you can come see me and I'll make you a... a cake. To say thanks. For being my first."

And she smiles, our Yue does, and she finally pulls away and her smile's got a bit of a shimmer going to it already. It's just a bit wetter than she wants it to be, smiling while she tries to stand back up. There's that subtle shifting in the air, where everything doesn't get to be perfect forever after all. That curse is still gonna extract its due, and apparently somebody owes it a lot. And even someone as super-secret-triple-special as Yue (don't tell her, ok?) doesn't have the kind of allowance that'd let her pay it off. So she can feel it pulling at her. It's happening already. The Fluffening. 

But she stands her ground, as maiden turns to wolf once again. She doesn't run away or say anything more to ruin the moment, but just turns and points up at the stands where something else just as amazing as all this is about to happen. It's her turn to watch, right? It's her turn to watch with her new friend, and with Kat, and with Hyra who's going to be just, just so proud of her and tonight is going to be perfect. Just perfect, even though...

No. She's standin' her ground here, ok? Nobody and nothing's gonna make her regret pourin' her heart out here in the arena, not even knowing it might've cost her the one last chance she'd have (maybe ever) to taste Hyra's lips with hers and finally finally finally get to know what kissing her's like, girl to girl. 

But, well, she's not all transformed yet, is she? She's got a moment for one more miracle. She just... can't take it. 'Cause if she goes rushin' off after all've that, she'll punch a big ugly hole right through the middle of everything she just tried to tell Tianic. So... so she'll pass, y'know? She'll let it go. See? See Tianic? Sometimes this is how love looks. And sometimes it's like...