From the moment she saw that explosion in the center of encrypted she felt something was really wrong. It's not like she was some kind of psychic, it was just a feeling that was not justified but that Maria could not ignore to finally run to where their battle partners were after making sure the old-lady of the tomatoes was fine.

Seeing from a distance how that small flame in spherical form in the hand of that naked man increased dangerously its size, Maria could no longer resist it and -ignoring the conditions in which it would can finish her body- invoked the Airgetlám without using LINKER. Knowing that the pressure would slowly destroy her body.

Kirika and Shirabe followed, knowing the consequences of their action; destroying the remaining Noise to approach those who planned to rescue. She didn't know if it was her subconscious or they actually agreed through the silence, but she immediately focused on loading Tsubasa while Kirika went for Chris and Shirabe for Hibiki. She attributed it to that they had a similar weight and size until that explosive wave began to catch up them.

The pressure was unbearable, her gear wanted to defuse itself but she resisted more than her body could. She couldn't be so useless, she had to protect Tsubasa as she had done since they fought together for the first time together with the others in the chaos that unleashed with Frontier.

"I'll save you even if it destroys me!" The scream came from his lips before everything faded in black.

When she was able to open her eyes again, it was night, inside SONG's infirmary. She felt horrible, everything hurt a lot as expected and even with that inside her there was an ardor she had never felt, nor when she fought without LINKER as when she had an overdoses.

She tried to focus her eyes on feeling something by squeezing his hand, finding Tsubasa sleeping on a stool on the right side of her bed, holding her hand and resting her head between Maria's arm and stomach. Maria smiled tiredly, using her free hand to stroke the silky blue hair that the sakimori had. Seeing Tsubasa there made her immediately feel that all the pain was worth it.

Maria looked at the beds in front of her, where Kirika and Shirabe were undoubtedly resting. Like the Kazanari, Chris rested on a stool next to Kirika's bed, thus standing in the middle of Kirika and Shirabe, while Hibiki and Miku slept on a couch to Chris' right. All of them wore their school uniforms somewhat misplaced while Tsubasa wore her casual clothes which made him wonder how long they had been sleeping. Then Maria felt Tsubasa stir beneath her touch and pushed her hand away as she felt herself begin to straighten up and then carve out a large yawn, unusual for her. Maria didn't know if it was an effect of the dark or Tsubasa does really seem to have bags under her eyes.

Indigo eyes looked at her with sleep before showed alive again. Maria couldn't help to smile as she saw the younger calm expression on seeing her awake. Tsubasa returned the smile, feeling equally tired.

Contrary to what Maria thought, the grip on his hand did not come loose, but was intensified by surprising him greatly. She watched as Tsubasa frowned before Maria equally tightening grip on her right hand. It was incredible how they could understand each other so well without the need to speak, and they felt confident enough to put their lives in the hands of the other. It was demonstrated so many times during the mess with Carol and how Maria didn't hesitate to fall into the void to collect Val Verde's information knowing that Tsubasa would save her from being charred by the Alca-Noise or the hard fall against the sea.

Maria knew that Tsubasa had implicitly scolded her for worrying her while Maria responded with an 'I'm fine, you do not have to worry', in her glance but Tsubasa was terribly stubborn. But it's not like she could be blamed, she was too protective of her. To be honest, this was mutual. They preferred to take all the damage if the other was good. Maria didn't know if this was because the sakimori trusted that the others would be well or that Hibiki and Chris would take care of Kirika and Shirabe, but the fact was that Maria hadn't seen Tsubasa more attentive to someone's state than to herself. It could be the situation or simply the proximity to the place, but is that she never saw her react faster than when she was attacked by Galie on the beach; Tsubasa was one of the first to react, worried about her, and although the first to jump was Kirika, she met Tsubasa first. When Phara attacked her in London she saw a terribly aggressive side with the auto-scorer. Maria thought it was about the situation but Tsubasa showed up that attitude again when she was surrounded by Alca-Noise. Tsubasa always protected her, the least she could do was return it to her even if it was an occasion.

"T-Thanks for saving me" Tsubasa said after a silence moment "I'm sorry. You're so hurt cause me. I'll be stronger the next time, I promise this will not going to happen again"

Tsubasa's look seemed so determinate that, knowing her as she does, Maria knew she'll gonna do it. Also, she saw a different shine unknown for her but – for some reason – let her breathless and make her heart beat up faster.

"Don't thank me, Tsubasa. I would do every time it would need it" Maria commented with the same seriousness Tsubasa intoned in her last sentence, glancing at her friend at the same way. Now, she understood why her experiments with Nastassja failed while Serena's don't.

In spite of being too young, her younger sister had already found who to protect, to Maria. That is why the experiment had been successful while, losing her only family, knowing (perhaps unconsciously) that Kirika and Shirabe could handle themselves while carrying their own charge, and unwittingly rejecting the Symphogear for a remorse unknown to her, doubting her convictions; Mary only led to her own failure.

Tsubasa interlaced his fingers, causing her gaze to drift to them, feeling her eyes widen at the realization as her cheeks flushed.

She had made Kazanari Tsubasa the person who turned her world around, which she most wanted to protect even at the cost of her life. Now it made sense why he cared so much about her own strength. Tsubasa became the engine to be able to release what so many years ago tried without achieving it. Maria then remembered Doctor Ver's words about the power of the Symphogear and it miracles, and then it all made sense; the answer for all that was love, but... the love she felt for Tsubasa could not be compared to that she felt for Serena and the ones who, in her judgment, were also her younger sisters, Kirika and Shirabe.

¡Holy Christ!

Tsubasa's right hand caressed her cheeks.

"Rest for now, it will dawn soon." Tsubasa said delicately, playing with one of the curls that framed her face "Elfnein will come to check you surely and once Tachibana wakes up you will not know what resting is." She joked.

Maria laughed lightly and closed her eyes. The truth was that in all that time she had been unable to even straighten up, fatigue quickly hit Maria, causing her to fall asleep in just five minutes with only one thought in mind, one that was present in her since Tsubasa's gear were destroyed in London: I'll protect you.

Maria would not know it yet, but that thought was shared by Tsubasa, who, since she was about to lose her in the explosion of the Chateau de Tiffagues realized that she would not survive a world without her. Maria had become too important to Tsubasa, she had become the second person to make her forget her principles and act like an irrational person, making it harder and harder to resist her impulses and keep her feelings at bay. It started in London with Phara, followed Galie to the outskirts of Lydian and her subsequent attacks during their training trip, with Phara once again in the Kazanari mansion, during her last confrontation with Carol feeling as her heart was torn apart, with her and the others facing that invincible serpent of the alchemists and during the attack to his airplane to Japan. She always managed to make sure the damage was not critical, but now... She could have died and without even confess to her so many things!

She removed her bangs and kissed her forehead knowing that that was all she had allowed for now, better times would come and then she could free her heart and hopefully be corresponded. She looked at Maria's sleeping face and smiled, Tsubasa would definitely do it.

"I'll protect you."

Sorry if you were waiting for the next chapter of seduction but I had to translate this before Ep 5 of Symphogear AXZ come out, but you'll gonna see next chapter tomorrow.

Thanks for reading this one-shot.

Greetings, Alondra Scarlett.