YURI SHIPPING OLYMPICS 2024 - BONUS ROUND 3

[a1c0bb]

For this bonus round, we're looking for prompts inspired by plant/flower symbolism and the language(s) of flowers!

Here are some resources on flower meanings:
Script Florist
Farmer's Almanac
Wikipedia: Hanakotoba
Wikipedia: Plant Symbolism

This round will end on July 1st.

Fills can be in any format, and you can fill your teammates prompts, but you cannot fill your own prompt.

You can post as many fills and as many prompts as you want!

for your prompt post title, please use the following format:

PROMPT: TEAM [TEAM NAME]

for your fill post title, please use the following format:

FILL: TEAM [TEAM NAME]

POINTS - BONUS ROUNDS
For prompts: 10 points each (maximum of 150 prompt points per team per round)
For fills:
First 4 fills by any member of your team: 100 points each
Fills 5-10: 50 points each
Fills 11-20: 40 points each
Fills 21-50: 30 points each
Fills 51+: 25 points each

Comments

FILL: TEAM ACE ATTORNEY

[yurigi]

Ship: Lana Skye/Mia Fey (Ace Attorney)

651 words

There were two things that Lana Skye wished she hadn’t taken for granted. Having done so, her life had shattered into a million pieces.

One of those things was her freedom. Before Phoenix Wright had found the truth of the SL-9 incident, she had constantly felt the walls closing in around her. She knew she had to do Gant’s bidding for Ema’s sake, but the constant, looming dread that someone would discover Ema’s supposed crime hung over her like an anvil dangling from a frayed rope. Its cold shadow seeped into her, straining her relationship with her beloved sister, for whom she would do anything to protect. That crushing weight had been lifted, but the damage of two years of holding Ema at arm’s length had been done.

Of course, after the trial, she had taken on a different pair of shackles; however, those felt like aluminum compared to the lead ones that Gant had burdened her with. Her time in prison was the freest she had felt since becoming chief prosecutor.

The other thing she had taken for granted was her relationship with Mia Fey. When it had begun, every moment with Mia had sent her heart aflutter. As time passed, though, they settled into a comfortable routine. She still loved Mia, of course. That would never change. But they way she loved her did. No longer were there butterflies in their stomach when they kissed— their intimacy was just another fact of life. Or so Lana thought. As Lana started putting more time into her career, quality time with Mia became a rarity. And eventually, it became a “never”. She couldn’t blame Mia for growing tired of being second to Lana’s work, for becoming sick of feeling like Lana’s dirty little secret. She had meant to tell the people in her life, she kept telling herself and Mia, but Mia eventually saw this for the lie it was, as she was wont to do.

Even after their romantic relationship ended, she still took their now-strained-and-cordial relationship for granted. Sporadically exchanged texts, a few phone calls, one deeply awkward visit to her office.

Lana Skye’s freedom was something that had been returned to her. She swore to herself she would appreciate every day of liberty, and to close the distance between herself and her sister. But Lana Skye’s relationship with Mia Fey was something she would never have again. As much as she regretted them, Lana’s heart ached for the days when taking their relationship for granted was a possibility.

The first time she visited Mia Fey’s grave, it was raining. She stood in front of the tombstone with her inappropriately cheery transparent-floral umbrella (an old favorite of Ema’s, and the only one Lana still owned). She felt a hot tear slide down her cheek. But more than the somber atmosphere, more than the almost-offensively simple epitaph of “Here lies Mia Fey”, what drove her to cry was the fact that the place where Mia was buried was covered entirely in grass and wildflowers. Of course, Lana hadn’t expected a freshly dug grave. But the stark reminder that Mia Fey had died, and instead of halting like it should have done for such an occasion, time cruelly marched on. It was enough to crack her hardened heart.

But at the same time, other fissures inside her were slowly closing. She knelt on the grass, placing the bouquet of sunflowers she’d brought carefully against the tombstone. She hoped that somehow, as their name implied, they would stop the dreary rain and project the blazing warmth of the sun onto Mia, the same blazing warmth that Lana had felt in her chest when she had first laid eyes on her.

Lana Skye had taken two very important things for granted, and there was nothing do be done about that now. All she could do was slowly begin to gather the scattered shards.