My Sweet Heart

Word Count: 3,046

Summary: Nova reflects on the details of her transition following her acceptance of the Blue King’s surprising offer to join his ranks. However, even in her contemplation she can’t seem to ignore the one constant that refuses to cease tormenting her thoughts. As much as she knows she needs to forget, she can’t find it in herself to banish those memories altogether…he’s always been the only real source of comfort in her darkest hours, after all.

*Author’s Note*: Pre-S4 verse introduction, involving Nova and Saruhiko’s unexpected reunion when they both happen to end up at S4 and the stressful exchange that ensues. To be continued in part 2.

The facility’s pristine, elegant interior had become unusually comforting to her despite her first impressions. She wasn’t sure if it was the result of some kind of twisted Stockholm syndrome, or if she’d developed a genuine acceptance of the place. It was hard to believe the latter was possible, considering the short amount of time she’d been here. But so much had transpired in that time, so much had changed…both around her and within. She hesitantly pressed her fingers to her chest, applying minimal pressure as she focused on the fabric’s smooth, high quality texture. It was unmistakable evidence of the uniform she’d be wearing every day for the foreseeable future. To her surprise, she didn’t actually find it all that uncomfortable, either.

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Word Count: 1,001

Summary: Nova catches sight of Saruhiko in an unexpected outfit one afternoon and is naturally compelled to investigate the cause.

*Author’s Note*: I know I haven’t posted anything in forever, and this isn’t even one of the pieces I’ve been working on for over a week now, attempting to get back into the swing of things for September orz but when the official k twitter account posts this advertisement for their most recent pop up shop and it instantly sends me into cardiac arrest, that kind of jumps to the top of my to do list lol. Just a short sweet little thing inspired by how I not so shortly or sweetly lost my mind upon seeing that pic for the first time. I hope you enjoy!

“What are you wearing?”

She didn’t mean to sound so startled, but her response was involuntary. The words came out before she had a chance to stop them, and she hoped her tone hadn’t offended him. In the event that it had, she was more than prepared to make it up to him. Examining him intently from head to toe, attempting to process what she was seeing without even being aware of it, she was admittedly starstruck. The man standing before her was all buttoned up in a suit befitting the atmosphere of some fancy gathering, at least from what she could tell. She couldn’t recall if anyone had recently mentioned that such an event would be taking place. If they had, it seemed like something she would have definitely remembered…perhaps she really was just out of the loop this time around. She could live with that, though, considering the pleasant surprise of getting to see him all dressed up was already starting to make up for it.

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Word Count: 1,153

Summary: Nova comes across a familiar figure during an afternoon storm and adopts the duty of ensuring said individual makes it home safe and sound.

*Author’s Note*: A different kind of fic from what I usually write, especially since it isn’t just about my selfship, but Nova actually interacting with other characters!! Or at least one other one. I think I get nervous about my characterization and personal hcs, as well as just ensuring I get dynamics right and don’t write something boring…so that’s why I tend to avoid fics like this. But it turned out pretty well this time so maybe it’ll encourage me to do more stuff like this in the future :P thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy!

The sky raged and roared with dark clouds and lashing rain. It’d been a while since Nova had seen a squall like this come through. As unpleasant as it may have been, people went about their daily lives as normally as they could, and she was no exception. She wished more than anything she could have done something to avoid it, but unfortunately for her, schedules and chores don’t tend to account for the interference of bad weather. Just as she was finishing up her bothersome errands, the young woman caught sight of something peculiar. She crossed the street and kept following the strange splash of color standing out against the afternoon’s dismal shadows, sensing something that inspired her to give chase.

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Word Count: 627

Summary: Sometimes all she can think to say is thank you, and all he can hope to do is offer her the same sentiment in return.

*Author’s Note*: Another cheesy little piece, this time even more abstract than some of the others, I think. I know my writing has always had a focus on describing emotion more than anything, and I worry that can get boring to read over and over again, so believe it or not I have actually tried shaking up my style a bit, but…inevitably it almost always ends up coming back to stuff like this. I just can’t think of any better way to communicate my love! Oh well, I’m sure with time better ideas will come. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy!

Sometimes she wished she could think of a way to thank him properly. It was a fruitless endeavor, one that almost always strung her along until she found herself going around in circles yet again. He’d already made a habit of always telling her that she did enough, that there wasn’t anything left to say, that he didn’t need anything else. But regardless of whether or not he needed it, she wanted to be able to give him something comparable to all he’d given her. He’d often tell her that she did more than he deserved just by offering him her love, and although hearing such words brought a fleeting sense of peace to her restless heart, she still couldn’t help questioning that judgement. On the flip side, she also couldn’t doubt it.

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Word Count: 1,739

Summary: Nova let’s an unexpected compliment slip out without realizing it, and in the midst of trying to salvage her blunder Yuki can’t help but find the entire exchange endearing and amusing.

*Author’s Note*: This is so cheeeeeeeesy but that’s okay, that’s what selfship writing is for, right? Well, anyway, it’s my brand and I’m trying to get back into it a little lol. Just a comical little exchange between Nova and Yuki based on a line from one of my fave movies (I’ll let people who read it guess, although I’m sure most of you will instantly know what it is) because I was thinking about it in regard to Yuki and just couldn’t help myself. I hope you enjoy!

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From the very beginning she couldn’t help being captivated by his presence. She scolded herself for acting so foolishly after learning the truth of how he viewed himself, the kinds of things he’d struggled with for most of his life. Being revered often led to being lonely, and she never wanted to make him feel that way…but she also couldn’t keep herself from seeing him as extraordinary. Handsome, kind, willing to put up with her and all her anxieties and eccentricities. Even if all of that seemed to make for a pretty low bar, he was one of the only ones that’d ever been able to meet it, much less exceed it. He exceeded everything in her eyes, for himself and for her, and as much as she wanted to share such thoughts with him, she often lacked the means of how to communicate them without making him uncomfortable. At least, that was her impression, and making him uncomfortable was the last thing she wanted to do.

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Word Count: 727

Summary: The Flamesgrace Cathedral is a marvel to behold, as is the Sacred Flame which its opulent halls house. But no flame has ever burned brighter in Nova’s eyes than the one that’s been overtly guiding her path from the moment she first encountered it.

*Author’s Note*: First off, tomorrow is my one year anniversary w/ Cyrus (and the anniversary of the game release), which is beyond exciting! When I was going through my drafts to pick fics to post for this month, though, I found this short little thing sitting around and still wanted to post it, but there should be a separate fic specifically for the anniversary posted tomorrow, too! Coming back to this fic, I know it’s so exaggerated and cheesy but that’s what Octopath and Cyrus both seem to do to me, I’m sorry. I’m definitely not one for advocating that your significant other is or can be the only or most important driving force in your life, because that kind of thinking is unhealthy. You’re whole on your own, you can make and find your own happiness without ever encountering this sort of thing…but for the sake of art, I went wild and gave Cyrus more credit than he ever deserves, but that I’m sure the misguided recesses of my vulnerable heart are more than happy to grant him without a second thought fhiselfjeslf moving on from that little speech, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy!

The first time Nova stepped foot in the cathedral, she was awestruck. It had the tallest ceiling she’d ever seen paired with majestic, sophisticated décor and dazzling stonework from every angle. The sight of the Sacred Flame steadfastly flickering behind the alter, a sign of Aelfric’s ever present will and protection over the land of Orsterra, was something she’d never realized she wanted to see until the moment it came into view. She’d heard rumors of a similar cathedral that existed in Goldshore, but she’d never really had the opportunity or motivation to venture to the seaside city to investigate said rumors herself. To be honest, she’d never realized places this beautiful actually inhabited the real world, and she certainly wasn’t disappointed to be proven wrong.

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Word Count: 1,472

Summary: The subject of marriage comes up between the chief and his retainer on one of their nightly patrols, and the twists and turns of the conversation end up leaving them both much more flustered than anticipated.

*Author’s Note*: Phew this is another older fic, which is obvious considering who the f/o is. I still consider Nishiki an important character I love, my focus has just been on a lot of other characters lately…but this fic is really cute, so I decided to post it! Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy!

“You know, despite the circumstances, I’m glad you ended up here.”

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Word Count: 1,281

Summary: Ever since discovering one of his greatest weaknesses, Nova can’t help but exploit it whenever the opportunity arises.

*Author’s Note*: My first fic with Des (this guy from a webcomic you should definitely check out)…and it features this sappy fluffy shit despite our tumultuous pre-relationship dynamic lmao. I guess I just can’t help myself and will most likely be jumping around between pre and post relationship garbage for when we’re in denial and when we’re SoftTM. Idk how my selfship even falls in with the canon plot, but I do know Des definitely had a grudge against Nova when they first met, and eventually he doesn’t, regardless of the events that transpire during or between any of that…anyway. I also reference some physical things about the nature of the type of species they are in this story that won’t make sense if you don’t know the series so…if you want to know just ask I guess lol. I hope you enjoy!
“Do you like it when I do this?”

“You know you don’t have to ask.”

“Well, I like to anyway.”

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Word Count: 895

Summary: Even when she finds herself cornered in a Palace, Witch can still rely on him without having to wonder or worry.

*Author’s Note*: A random short little thing, idk what’s up with me and getting myself in risky situations during Palace infiltrations lol. Good thing Ren’s always there to pick up my slack. I was inspired to write this after that one extremely short shot of Ren using a grappling hook to traverse a Palace in the P5R trailer. Of course my first thought was of him using it to save me…rip. I hope you enjoy!

Danger was staring her in the face, and there wasn’t much she could do to avoid it. Getting herself stuck in such an obvious, stupid position…sometimes she wondered if she had the right to claim she was above being a rookie. Other members of the team made bad decisions from time to time, sure, but when she was the one backed into a corner, she found her blunder impossible to excuse. They may have argued that she was just being too hard on herself, but who was she kidding, none of them made mistakes exactly this terrible. And she was sure that in this case any of them would have managed to find a way out by now, making the most of their experience and resourcefulness. Skills honed with years of execution and practice…just more evidence to support that she wasn’t cut out for this sort of thing.

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Word Count: 1,928

Summary: A predictable slew of flirty shenanigans ensues while Ren and Nova are out on an afternoon stroll.

*Author’s Note*: This turned out…quite differently than I anticipated, but I ended up not even following the plot I had planned. That’s alright though, because while I was editing this I realized…idk, it just sounded so. Genuine lol. So sweet. It’s the first piece in a while that’s actually made me feel good about one of my selfships, and just thinking about Ren’s smile only lifts my spirits more. We really are a mess when it comes to reassuring each other, though. I hope you enjoy!

The afternoon sun was bright and pleasant, but nothing could compare to the warmth in the hand she held. She knew it would have been more fitting to compare him to the moon or stars, the nighttime phenomena that reflected his mysterious, misleadingly reserved personality. But even when he was being coy and enigmatic, his eyes never failed to blaze with the blinding light of his conviction. Whether it be in the real world or the Metaverse, his expression often betrayed a hint of something fiercer, a chained beast kept subdued with the potential to wreak havoc at the slightest lapse of composure. It was an ambitious and driven and decisive flame, the confident air of a leader. Even if he hadn’t asked for such a role, that’s what he’d always been, suppressing a dormant desire that required just the right circumstances to be kindled. He’d managed to lead her into this new chapter of her life with ease, minus the road bumps she’d foolishly curated for herself, and she wasn’t sure if she’d ever be able to make things up to him in the way he deserved.

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