By Her Side (ch4)

Okay so I'm a bit late with week 4's fic cuz I was busy all weekend and saw episode 4 late, but these two weren't in it much anyway. So this chapter is a bit short, just something I figured could've happened before they saw the orchestra concert. Tiara's perspective for a change!

Disclaimer: I do not own Lapis Relights.

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                                                         Chapter 4.


Although it's proven to be a rather harrowing morning - what, with two of her fellow classmates nearly falling to their deaths off the side of a cliff in the forest just a little ways off campus - Tiara and the others had managed to avoid tragedy.

As the five of them walk back to school now in the breaking light of dawn, she's just so relieved that everyone made it out with only a few minor scratches here and there, herself included. And luckily, they don't run into any more Magical Monsters along the way.

When they make it back to campus, the three sisters thank both Tiara and Salsa for their help before retreating to the building, intent on showering off the dirt and grim of the woods. Tiara waves to Salsa, whose stomach is growling, so she hurries off to find her teammates to have breakfast together.

And only now when she's alone does Tiara remember her own teammates. One in particular.

"Oh no… Rose is gonna be so mad at me…"

After all, Tiara had left in the early morning hours before the sun had even risen, and she'd left without waking Rosetta or even leaving a note to tell her where she was going.

"If I'm quick, maybe I can get back before she notices!"

She'd already put on her uniform, so slipping back into bed and pretending she'd just woken up won't work. She'll have to act as though she'd already gotten dressed and ready for the day, though she had forgotten to put on her namesake's headpiece.

Tiara hurries back into the building, running down the hallway as quickly as she dares, praying Rosetta is still asleep.

If she finds out I snuck off to someplace dangerous, she'll have my head for sure…

She runs all the way back to their shared room and unlocks the door with a wave of her hand over the crystal there. She opens it slowly and tiptoes inside, only to find the room empty.

"Huh?" Tiara climbs a few of the steps to Rosetta's bunk to find it unkempt and unmade, as if she'd thrown herself out in a fluster. "Oh man…" Rosetta had already woken up to find her gone, so now she was probably scouring the school for her. "I'm too late…"

Tiara wails softly to herself as she hurries back across the room. She needs to find Rosetta before her friend starts to panic and begins tearing the school apart in search of her.

She bursts out the door, wondering where she should look for her first, and decides to go to their other teammates' room to start. But before Tiara can even take a step in that direction, she hears frantic footsteps tearing around the corner, and a familiar high-pitched voice.

"Tia!"

Tiara turns just in time to see Rosetta skidding at the end of the hallway. She spots Tiara and gasps, putting her hands to her mouth for a second before dashing straight toward her.

"Tia!"

Tiara sighs in relief that they'd found each other so soon.

But she braces herself as she realizes Rosetta isn't slowing down.

"Rose-?" She takes a step back, but Rosetta doesn't stop until she all but crashes right into her, throwing both arms around Tiara full-force, almost hard enough to send them to the ground. With a yelp, Tiara scrambles to grab onto her, clinging to her back.

"R-Rose-?"

"Thank goodness!" Rosetta cries. "I was so worried, Tia!"

Tiara wheezes a little as Rosetta's embrace only tightens. But she smiles, glad they've found each other again so soon.

"Sorry," she says sheepishly. "I was just, uh… helping out Tsubaki-san and-"


"Tia!" Rosetta moves back from her sharply, holding onto her shoulders and giving Tiara a firm glare, half angry and half relieved. "What were you thinking? Going to the forest without telling a teacher! Without telling me!"

"Aha… so you knew about that…"


Rosetta draws in a breath and nods.

"Yes. When I woke up and found you weren't in bed, I thought you might've left to shower or something. But then I couldn't find you anywhere and I started to worry. Not Lavie or any of the others knew where you were either, so I started looking for you. I only just saw Salsa in the cafeteria and she said you'd gone with her and Tsubaki-san into the forest this morning! She said Monsters attacked you! Tia-!"


"It's all right!" Tiara quickly takes both of Rosetta's hands and squeezes them now. "Rose, I promise everything's all right! Please don't-"

But it's too late. Rosetta has already started to hiccup softly, and tears are slipping down her cheeks. Tiara's heart twists.

"Rose! Don't cry! I'm fine, see?" She squeezes Rosetta's hands again, but her friend only cries harder now. Tiara sighs in defeat, stepping close to wrap an arm around her back. "Come on. Let's go sit down, okay?"

She opens their door once again and leads Rose inside, sitting down beside her on the couch. Rosetta whimpers and wipes her face several times, but the tears keep falling, and Tiara knows it's her own fault.

"Rose…" She moves close, wrapping Rosetta in her arms and pulling her as close as possible, giving her a good squeeze. She can feel Rosetta shaking, and her heart is pounding hard. Tiara folds her arms across her back and presses up to her. "Rose, I'm all right. I'm sorry I made you worry. I should've left a note or something, but it was kind of urgent and happened really fast… I had to help them."

Rosetta tucks her face into Tiara's shoulder, sniffling.

"You could've gotten hurt… Tia, you've never been very physically strong to begin with… What if-"


"Don't worry about 'what ifs,'" Tiara says. "Nothing bad happened. We took care of each other, Rose. All of us came back safely."

Rosetta shakes her head slowly and heaves a sigh, hugging Tiara tighter.

"I know… but… but if something had happened-"

"Rose." Tiara eases her back again, thumbing Rosetta's tears away as she smiles up into her eyes. She says nothing, just rests their foreheads together before giving her another hug. Rosetta finally goes limp, the tension draining from her body now as she lets out a long sigh.

"I'm glad you're all right…" she murmurs. "But Tia, please… at least let me come with you next time. If anything ever happened to you, I-"


"You're doing it again, Rose," Tiara chides her gently. "All that 'if' stuff. You're worrying too much."


"But how couldn't I?" Rosetta whimpers. "Tia, I've seen you so sick you nearly-" She can't say it. She just shakes her head.

Tiara hugs her again.

"I know. And I'm sorry, Rose. But I'm stronger now. Because of my sister and all the people and friends I've met here. But mostly it's because of you, Rose."

"Because… of me…?"

"Yes!" Tiara pulls Rose halfway into her lap. "You've always been watching over me, Rose. Always. Without you, I wouldn't be half as strong as I am today. I'm sure of it. So just… try not to worry too much, all right? I don't want you to cry." Tiara strokes through her friend's hair gently. "I promise I'll try not to do anything reckless like that again, okay?"

It takes her another moment to compose herself, but eventually Rosetta sniffles away the last of her tears and gives a nod.

"All right, then. It's a promise." She sits back, reaching out to cup her palm to Tiara's cheek. Tiara hadn't even realized there was a scratch there until now when Rosetta starts to heal it for her. Rosetta's magic is so warm and soft. It makes her feel safe. She sighs, closing her eyes and leaning into Rosetta's touch.

"Thanks, Rose."

"Don't mention it."

Tiara gets to her feet first and helps Rosetta up before hugging her one more time. Rosetta gladly returns the embrace, sighing with relief.

"I bet you're hungry, aren't you?"


"Yeah. Kinda…"


"All right. Then let's get to breakfast. But first…" Rosetta picks up the tiara from the table they use as a nightstand of sorts and carefully slips it into place on her head. Tiara smiles up at her.

"Thanks, Rose!"

"Don't mention it."


"Aha, I feel we just had this conversation."

The two girls giggle and take each other's hands before heading off to breakfast together.

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A/N: Just something simple. I was totally expecting Rose to go with her into the forest or to just chide her for doing something dangerous when she got back. I'm just disappointed they didn't hug again this week like they did in the first 3 episodes. Hopefully next week!