Sweet
Finnel bunched her brows in concentration, puckering her lips. She mixed chocolate, sugar, marshmallows, butter, and milk. She stirred the confection together in a mixing bowl with a wooden spoon, making sure the batter smoothed out into an even layer. Saki showed Finnel how to bake fudge. After careful coaching underneath Saki’s watch, Finnel produced something that wasn’t burnt, charred, or completely inedible. Confident she can do this herself, Finnel thought making Aoto a batch was a nice gesture. She wanted his face to beam with happiness towards her, reaching out and patting her on the head for her hard work. Finnel tried so hard for his sake, because he fought and protected her in battle. This was his reward for helping her. It’s only natural she would do so, right? Sometimes she screwed up the simplest of things, but she wouldn’t mess this up! She would do better, for Aoto!
“Um, so I do this, then that, and…I think I’m about done,” Finnel poured the batter into a tray.
She then placed the tray into the refrigerator so the sweet treat set and hardened. “I really hope Aoto likes it…a-and when I give him the fudge, I will…I will finally confess my feelings for him.”
Finnel’s cheeks reddened with warmth, which made her fidget with her ribbon nervously. She smoothed the wrinkles of her dress and preened herself in front of the mirror, making sure not a single hair frayed out of place or a blemish sullied her skin. Finnel wanted to look perfect for Aoto. She told him she made a surprise for him. So having him visit her cozy bungalow meant she made herself presentable. Remembering when Aoto smiled and said he looked forward to it, her heart fluttered in sweet anticipation. The darker side of her mind, the side that insisted she didn’t deserve a happy ending. It claimed she was a bad girl and deserved only the worst punishments. Finnel slapped her hands against her cheeks, before practicing a smile. She repressed those thoughts into a dark corner of her mind, her feeling and emotions eclipsed by thoughts of Aoto.
She heated the fudge, and then beat the mixture until a creamy consistency emerged all over. Once this finished, Finnel looked at her handiwork in satisfaction. Nothing burnt to crisp, nothing charred beyond recognition, and nothing would taste like burnt cinders (she hoped). She practiced all night and day to make the perfect batch. This was the first thing she made that looked satisfactory, something Saki would make. Finnel thought about her rival with some fondness, yet she wouldn’t lose! She wouldn’t lose Aoto to Saki!
A knock rapped on Finnel’s door. In her flustered state, she ran around the kitchen, cleaning things up in last minute haste. Once everything was placed in its proper position and no clutter and sticky messes splattered the kitchen, Finnel opened the door. Aoto grinned at her, appearing pleased. Once he made his way in, he wrapped his arms around Finnel and pulled her into a warm hug. His blue eyes sparked with excitement when he caught scent of the delicious smell emanating from the kitchen.
“It smells delicious in here,” Aoto commented, “Is Saki helping out in the kitchen?”
“N-No, it’s just me,” A slight blush warmed her face while she fiddled with her ribbons. “I um, made you some fudge, and…I thought it would be nice if I made something sweet, you know, because I know you can get a sweet tooth sometimes and…and then…”
Finnel poked her two finger together. “A-And then I wanted to tell you that I really, really like you, Aoto. I like you a lot. When I saw you with Saki-chan, I was jealous, and I was afraid that you cared for her more than you cared for me.”
She looked at her shoes while she continued on. “I don’t want to force you to choose or anything. But I’m really, really happy that you took the time to come here and spend time with me. I appreciate that, from the depths of my heart.”
Aoto then tilted Finnel’s chin so she faced him. A great grin split on his face while he looked at her. “You’re pretty cute when you’re being earnest like that. Now, about that fudge….”
Finnel wrapped her arms around Aoto. “Of course. I’ll let you sample a treat. And then maybe afterwards, we could…maybe we could go out together and spend some time someplace fun, just the two of us. Or we could, you know…maybe we could stay here, and watch a movie with the lights turned off and then…”
Aoto smiled. “I’d like that, just the two of us together. It’s a date then.”
Finnel’s heart swelled when Aoto said yes to her proposal. She continued to hug tighter against him and nuzzled her head against his chest. “Oh, Aoto…you have no idea how much this means to me.”
Without even thinking, Aoto kissed Finnel’s lips, savoring the taste of her as thoroughly as he would have enjoyed the chocolate fudge. Aoto’s tongue explored the contours of her mouth, before they both parted for air. After looking at her with an adoring blue gaze, he said, “I love you, Finnel.”
Editing Pass Number 1 - March 13, 2021
