Welcome to Gaia! ::

"You can open your eyes, Momma," said Cybele.

Although, it was getting to the point where it didn't take eyesight to tell that they were no longer in the city, and also that they were somewhere alive. Right now, the delicate scent of a forest after rain was in the air. Petrichor, the internet called it, and s he could see why people wanted a special word for something like that. There was also a dusky floral scent that set this place apart from Earth, one that came from the purple blooms that grew on every shady surface they could find, and were poking up through fallen leaves throughout the forest floor.

Insects chirped, and birds chirped, too, which was a newer development. Looking up, Cybele caught a flash of blue wings for the first time.

When Claire did look, she would see that they were in the deep woods. On a clear day, the sky was lilac, although at the moment it was looking gray. The bark of the trees ranged from white to silver, and the leaves from familiar shades of green to more teals and blues.

It was getting to the point where it felt familiar to Cybele, and she didn't have to fake a smile. "Welcome," she said, opening a hand like she was presenting something. "This is it. My world."

It really was beautiful, she thought.

"I've been up here more recently, since it's really the only safe place to find out what's going on with this magic."

Perhaps she wasn't supposed to be relying on other people to be proud of her, and yet those words had her glancing down and to the side with a small smile, cheeks going a hint pink. Her chest swelled with emotions that she was getting better at naming, like gratitude, and happiness, and love.

"I couldn't have done it without you," she said. "Without all of you."

Although Claire in particular had helped her to appreciate the smaller parts of life. She'd been the first one to show her things outside of war worth enjoying at all, and those lessons had bled into her very slowly coming to appreciated this place, and the way that it, too, was finding its life again.

She returned the hand squeeze, not wanting to be the one to stop the back and forth, but then, after a moment, she darted in for a quick hug.

"All right," she said when she was in her own space again. "And here's the dress."

Her wings unfurled. Her outfit shimmered and shifted. She was almost getting used to this, she realized. It didn't take so much thought now.

Most importantly, she smiled.

Momma's reaction was priceless. It was always sweet when she got excited about things, and seeing her excited about Cybele's wings, and clothes, and power?

The tension dropped out of Cybele's shoulders, and she twirled in whirlwind of fabric and flower petals and feathers, even kicking up a few fallen leaves from the ground nearby. It had sunk in mostly that she was a Princess Senshi, but that had meant that she was a warrior with extra power and responsibility.

Here, in the enchanted forest with her mother giving her compliments, she truly felt like a princess.

She was happy, too, to stop with the twirling so she could take a look at Paradise's new fashion. It was easy to be excited about that, too, clasping her hands under her chin while she looked everything over.

"Don't downplay yourself. This is beautiful!" There were flowers, and soft rainbows, which suited her with how she was able to brighten the stomiest of days. "And you should have magic now, too, shouldn't you?"

That was always something that struck Cybele as fascinating.

"You can touch the wings if you'd like. I don't mind."

She even took a step closer.

It was more than being careful, and Cybele was glad that Paradise was able to say that. At the same time, it was the small moments like these, the human connection, she supposed, was the technical term, that made her not quite so quick to rush headlong into certain death.

She hugged back.

"I'll be as careful as I can, given the circumstances," she said, and although her smile was weary as she looked behind her mother, and it might not have been much of a promise, "And I appreciate everything, so much. I can't think of a time when you haven't been there for me."

Even back when she'd been wearing black. "So, thank you," she murmured, and then pulled away a bit.

Her wings were still on display, and everything about her power, but she stopped spinning for the moment, or striking poses, and instead nodded towards the world beyond. "Since we're up here," she said, "Did you want to look around?"