"I've been waiting for an hour, yet no sign of Fleure, who comes late to a date they planned." Michael mutters, standing near the entrance of the lively amusement park. The afternoon sun glints off the colorful rides in the distance.
"Still I never imagined, I'll be going on a date with her, normally I wouldn't agree, but she made a comment, saying we're the same, so I'm curious as to what she means, but my curiosity is running out of patie-." He is still monologuing when he looks up and sees someone running toward him, waving energetically.
"Heyyyy, I'm sorry for keeping you waiting." The person calls out. It's Fleure, slightly out of breath but smiling brightly.
"It's fine, it's fine, just slow down, you're gonna get tired real quick running like that." Michael says. As she comes closer he finally takes a proper look at her.
"Maybe it's cause, I wasn't paying attention when we met, but Fleure is really beautiful." he thinks, a little surprised by the thought.
"So, what do you think of my dress." Fleure asks once she reaches him, giving a small twirl.
"It's nice, I guess." Michael answers, suddenly flustered.
"Why am I getting all shy!!." he monologues, quickly averting his eyes as a faint blush rises on his cheeks.
"I guess", huh, you couldn't just end it at, "It's nice", you meanie." Fleure teases. The two of them walk through the entrance into the amusement park together.
"Oh yeah, why were you late?" Michael asks.
"My manager wouldn't allow me to go, saying it's dangerous for someone like me, to be moving freely in public, saying what if I get recognized and get hurt, so I did the only reasonable thing." Fleure explains.
"Which is?" Michael prompts.
"I snuck away of cause." she answers, folding her arms with a proud little smile.
"He does have a point though, you're pretty popular, so you might be stormed." Michael points out.
"Nahh, figure skating is probably not that big for people to stop what they're doing, and recognize m-." Fleure is saying when a group of girls suddenly scream.
"Oh my God, it's Fleure Van Skywalker!!, Aargh!!." They rush toward her in a wave of excitement.
"You were saying." Michael chuckles.
"Shut up." Fleure shoots back playfully before turning to greet her fans, taking photos and writing autographs with practiced ease.
Once the crowd finally disperses, she sighs. "I guess my manager was right."
"You know what you need." Michael tells her.
"What?" Fleure asks.
"A disguise." he answers.
"Yes!!, like in spy movies, like Tom cruise." Fleure says excitedly, dropping into a dramatic shooting stance.
"Not exactly, but yeah you get the gist." Michael replies. The two of them head into a nearby shop.
"Welcome, Welcome to Aoki's shop of wacky artifacts, what can I get you lovely couple." The shopkeeper behind the counter greets them cheerfully. He is wearing a long red Japanese robe.
"C-, Couples!." Fleure and Michael both blurt out at the same time, faces flushing.
"You're not couples?" the man asks, tilting his head.
"No, No, we're….actually I don't know what we are, now that I think about it." Michael admits.
"Hey!!." Fleure protests, punching him lightly in the arm.
"We're friends." Michael tells the shop owner.
"For friends, y'all are radiating a lot of couple energy." the man observes with a knowing smile.
"What are you, a couple detector?" Michael teases.
"No, I'm Aoki." the man answers simply.
"T-, that's not what I me-, look just give us the mask behind you." Michael says, pointing at a particularly eye-catching mask on the shelf.
"Ok, bringing it right now." Aoki replies, retrieving the mask and handing it to Fleure, who has already been signaling for it.
"Woah, it's beautiful." Fleure says, turning the mask over in her hands with clear delight.
"How much?" Michael asks, reaching for his wallet.
"Oh don't worry, it's free." Aoki says.
"Oh, for real." Michael answers, putting his wallet away.
"Yeah, couples promo." Aoki says with a wide smile.
"You're weird dude, come on Fleure let's go." Michael mutters.
"Thanks Aoki." Fleure says, waving as they exit the shop.
"Creepy guy, right." Michael comments once they're outside.
"Nah, i thought he was pretty cool." Fleure replies, already putting the mask on.
"Really:" Michael says in a confused tone.
"It hides my identity right?" Fleure asks, adjusting the mask.
"Yeah, pretty much." Michael answers.
"Nice, I'm Batman." she declares, placing an arm over the lower half of her face in a dramatic pose.
"Now I see why she didn't find aoki weird, they're the same." Michael thinks to himself.
"So where to next captain?" Fleure asks.
"Let's try out the rides." Michael suggests.
"Yes!, I love how high they go, let's test them all." Fleure says, eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Uh, fine, let's test them all." Michael agrees, though a little reluctantly.
They spend the next hour and a half trying nearly every ride in the park. By the end Michael looks slightly green.
"I think, I'm gonna throw up, from all these rides." he admits.
"Don't be a Wuss, it's just a little altitude." Fleure says with a bright smile.
"Just a little alti-, look let's just sit down ok." Michael answers. The two of them head over to a food stall and take seats at a quiet table.
"I'm surprised your mask didn't fly off throughout those rides." Michael remarks.
"I told you I'm Batman, Batman's mask never falls off, ever." Fleure replies, once again placing her arm over her mouth in the Batman pose.
"Anything you say." Michael laughs.
"So, what got you into figure skating." he asks after a comfortable pause.
Fleure is silent for a while, her expression growing more serious. Finally she answers.
"My mom, she was a figure skater back in the days, but an injury made her retire early, So when she had me, she saw a second chance, so she put me into figure skating."
"Since, I could remember, her goal was for me to win a championship, to win what she couldn't, and I thought that was what I was born for, to fulfill her dreams."
"So, I poured everything into it, but shortly after I won my first championship, she died." Her voice stays steady, but the usual playful energy is gone.
"I-, I'm sorry to hear that." Michael says quietly, genuine sadness in his tone.
"So after her death, I pushed myself more, winning more and more championships."
"Hoping, she's watching from beyond, but one day I realized, I'm winning all these events, but I'm so empty, nothing to my life other than figure skating, no friends, no school life, nothing, all alone."
"After that realization, who could still think of skating." Fleure finishes, bringing her hands together. Tears begin to form in her eyes.
"You have a friend now." Michael says softly, placing his hands over hers.
"Thank you Michael, thank you." Fleure replies, smiling as the tears finally fall.
"I know you've been meaning to ask me, what I meant that day right." she says after a moment.
"Yeah, I want to what you mean by, "We're the same", if you don't mind." Michael answers.
"It's fine, but to answer your question, we'll need to go somewhere else first." Fleure says, standing up.
"Ok." Michael replies. The two of them leave the amusement park together.
Outside, a uniformed driver stands beside a sleek black luxury car.
"Welcome back Madam Fleure." the driver greets respectfully.
"I thought you snuck out?" Michael asks, surprised.
"I snuck away from my manager, but this right here is my driver Jarvis, he takes me everywhere, and he doesn't listen to my manager, only me, isn't that right Jarvis." Fleure explains.
"Positive madam, where are we headed to?" Jarvis asks as they climb into the car.
"White Flower hill." Fleure answers.
"Ok." Jarvis says, and the car pulls away smoothly.
They arrive at the base of a quiet hill. Michael and Fleure begin walking up the path while Jarvis remains behind. Near the top, Fleure suddenly runs ahead toward the very tip of the hill.
"The answer to your question is right here." she calls as she reaches a spot surrounded by clusters of pure white flowers. Michael follows and notices a simple grave nestled among the blossoms.
"I take it, that's your mother's." he says quietly, staring at the grave.
"Yeah, this was our favorite spot, the flowers give an aesthetic to the hill, that nothing else can replicate." Fleure answers. She is now standing right at the edge of the hill.
"I get that, but you're too close to the tip of the hill Fleure, you might want to come back a little:" Michael says, worry clear in his voice as he steps closer.
"This, this is what I meant." Fleure says. Without another word she lets herself fall backward off the hill.
Michael shouts and lunges forward, but he is too late to catch her. When he looks down, however, his eyes widen in pure shock.
"I told you, we're the same." Fleure says calmly. She is floating effortlessly in the air, the white flowers and the open sky framing her figure.
"You have powers too." Michael breathes, staring at her in awe.