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It was fair to say that the last few days have been insane after everything that had happened. So much had happened that Brylee didn’t feel she could put it into words just yet.
But she knew the key points: they got their victory, the bad guys are behind bars (or otherwise defeated), and her older brother was an idiot.
She says it with love, of course, but the fact still remained. As far as she was concerned, her older brother was an idiot. Ace was clearly in love with Lexi – had been since the team first formed – but he still will not make a move. And the way Lexi embraced him after finding out he actually survived Zadavia’s ship being destroyed (Brylee didn’t actually see it, since she was a bit busy being held captive alongside Duck, but Rev was very eager to fill her in once the dust had settled) told anyone with eyes that the romantic feelings were most certainly not one-sided.
Speaking of the female bunny, Brylee decided that Lexi – as much as she loved her older sister figure – was also an idiot. Just as much as Brylee knew how much Ace loves Lexi, she knew how much Lexi loves Ace. And she also knew Lexi was a smart, confidant woman who wasn’t afraid to go after what she wants and would certainly have no problem being the one to make the first move. So, why won’t she make the first move with Ace? After all, if looks could kill, Ace would’ve been six-feet under when he made those comments about Black Velvet all those months ago.
So needless to say, Brylee has decided that enough was enough. Ace and Lexi needed to pull their heads out of their asses. And what kind of sister/teammate would she be if she didn’t help out?
**
Ace was certainly having a hard time of his own, making sense of the revelations of the last few days. His boss had an evil brother who was inadvertently responsible for creating the very team that defeated him? Twisted irony aside, it was a hard thing to wrap his head around. Especially since Zadavia actually started spending more time with the team. Recent events had made her reconsider the distance she had created between herself and her team, and she saw fit to rectify that.
Especially in light of… nah, Ace wasn’t going to put it into words. He was going to let Brylee take the lead on that one when she was ready.
Besides, Ace had enough issues of his own to deal with. Like making sense of his feelings for Lexi.
It was all he could think about. The way she hugged him after thinking he was dead. Why did he have to make a stupid quip about wrinkling the spacesuit? It was clear even to him that he had ruined the moment the second those words left his mouth. He didn’t need Brylee making her remarks about him having foot in mouth disease to drive home what he already knew.
Now, Ace would never deny that he cared for Lexi. He cared for all of his teammates. He saw the Loonatics as a family unit, however dysfunctional it may be at times. But one thing he could never wrap his head around was just how much he cared for Lexi. It was different to the care and affection he felt for the others on his team. The brotherly affection he felt for his male teammates (yeah, even Duck). The paternal affection he felt for Brylee (the fact that he practically raised her made him feel more like her father than her older brother).
The others didn’t make Ace feel like his heart was skipping a few beats. Or his skin tingle whenever they touched him. Or feel everything a man in love is meant to feel.
Shit. He is in love with her.
“Hey, bro?”
So lost in the weight of his own self-realization, Ace didn’t notice the shit-eating grin on Brylee’s face she was failing to conceal.
**
Lexi was certainly having a hard time of her own, making sense of the revelations of the last few days. She may have made a sarcastic quip when Zadavia identified their main antagonist (calling Optimatus their newest supervillain-of-the-week felt so wrong, considering his massive presence) as her brother, but it was her way to cope with it. She was just as shocked as her teammates. Especially with everything else that came out in the immediate aftermath.
But Lexi wasn’t going to dwell on that. She was leaving it up to the youngest Loonatic, who had quickly become a younger sister figure to the female bunny, to decide how far thoughts and discussion went on that particularly topic.
Besides, Lexi had enough issues of her own to deal with. Like making sense of her feelings for Ace.
It was all she could think about. She ran into his arms, and he held her. But then, she grew self-conscious. She pulled back and slapped his arm, rebuking Ace for scaring them like that. She was so lost in those feelings that she forgot Rev had also been on the ship until he started talking. (Or, rather, started rambling, because Rev was the type of person to say fifty words when ten would more than suffice.)
And then, she had to focus on why they were on that planetoid to begin with. They had to rescue Brylee and Duck and defeat the bad guy. The rest could wait until later.
Well, now it’s later.
Now, Lexi would never deny that she cared for Ace. She cared for all of her teammates. She saw the Loonatics as a family unit, however dysfunctional it may be at times. But one thing she had a hard time wrapping her head around was just how much she cared for Ace. The sisterly affection she felt for her other five teammates (yeah, even Duck; and she wasn’t afraid to admit her sisterly affection was stronger for Brylee, who needed the older sister figure in her life) was not something she felt for Ace.
The others didn’t make her hear her own heartbeat roaring in her ears when they touched her. Or her heart flutter like it did whenever Ace call her ‘Lex’. (He wasn’t the only one to call her Lex, but he definitely used it the most often.) And the time they spent alone, whether it be for official business or just hanging out, always left her with a spring in her step. Basically, everything a woman in love is meant to feel.
Shit. She is in love with him.
“Hey, Lex?”
So lost in the weight of her own self-realization, Lexi didn’t notice the shit-eating grin on Brylee’s face she was failing to conceal.
**
Ace was confused when Brylee told him to meet her in the virtual arena. She certainly played it off innocently enough. She wanted a training session to take her mind off recent events, and she was not allowed to train alone because of the concern for her diabetes (the close call they had with her slipping into a diabetic coma was still fresh in their minds; especially with their recent unexpected adventure in space that nearly made her endocrinologist faint when he heard about it). So, Ace was more than happy to supervise her training and even take part himself.
It was only too late that he recalled the shit-eating grin on his younger sister’s face. When he walked into the virtual arena and saw Lexi standing in Brylee’s place.
“Hey. What are you doing here?” Ace asked, hoping his tone came off as casual.
“Brylee asked me to train with her,” Lexi answered.
“She asked me to train with her,” Ace revealed.
“Oh good, you’re both here.”
Speaking of the cheeky teenager…
“Brylee Avery Bunny, what are you doing?” Ace may have been smirking, and his tone playful, but he was also wondering what the hell she was doing.
“Well, you clearly need help pulling ya heads outta ya asses, so…” Brylee shrugged as though it was obvious. “Ace, Lexi loves you. Lexi, Ace loves you. So, fess up.”
“You set us up?” Lexi’s tone was a weird mixture of astonishment and amazement (she didn’t think Brylee had it in her). Ace was too busy gaping like a goldfish to say anything in response.
“The controls have been set up to set the mood if you wanna go for the cliché romantic confession. But beyond that… adios,” Brylee winked at the duo.
Then, the door slid shut behind her and the two bunnies were quick to register the sound of a lock clicking.
“Remind me to have Tech get rid of that lock,” Ace grumbled. “And to ground my sister.”
Lexi giggled at Ace’s remarks. Now that it was happening, she wondered how she missed the signs. Brylee had clearly planned this.
“Do you think she’s right?” Lexi asked before she could stop herself. “I mean, that we…”
If Ace was put off by the question, he didn’t show it. Instead, he shrugged and chuckled, “I dunno. But Brylee is not gonna let us out until she gets satisfaction.” He certainly knew his sister well enough to know that much.
Lexi had been trying so hard to ignore the feelings that were blossoming since she saw Ace walk into the virtual arena, but now that they were being confronted with the situation, she couldn’t anymore.
But she played it off with a, “Well, let’s see what type of romantic settings Brylee had programmed for us.”
Ace snorted. He could imagine his sister went for every cliché in the book. But he couldn’t deny. He was curious. So, he followed Lexi to the controls. She was already pressing the button for the first setting.
Ace winced at the accordion music that started playing as the virtual arena began transforming into the streets of Paris. Complete with the Eiffel Tower in the background.
“God, this is bad!” Ace chortled.
He was quick to step forward and press the button for another setting. This setting was only slightly better than the first. This one resembled Hawaii. Waikiki Beach, to be specific. Complete with a sunset (even though it was actually mid-to-late morning in Acmetropolis). But this one still didn’t feel right.
Fortunately, both Ace and Lexi agreed that the third virtual setting was the best one. Brylee had set this one up to be as though they were standing on the Rialto Bridge in Venice. Walking away from the controls, they set themselves up in the middle of the bridge.
“Well, gotta give her one thing. She has good taste,” Ace shrugged. “I always wanted to go to Venice.”
“Me too,” Lexi admitted. “In fact, standing on this bridge…”
“Yeah,” Ace nodded. “It’s… fairly romantic, isn’t it?”
Lexi nodded. She would have noted with some amusement how shy Ace suddenly looked if it weren’t for the fact she was feeling the same.
“Lex, I…” Ace trailed off. “I’ve never been good with woids. I’ve never been good at saying how I feel. But this feels right.”
“This coming from the guy who’s always able to pull a Bugs Bunny with a bad guy,” Lexi chuckled.
“Well, what can I say? Confronting bad guys is less scary than telling the girl ya love that ya love her.”
Ace’s face froze when he realized what he had just blurted out. Did he really just say what he had been so afraid to say? And have it come out so naturally? This must be the worst instance of foot in mouth disease he had ever experienced.
But the look on Lexi’s face didn’t fuel those fears. In fact, it filled him with hope. The hope that Brylee was right in her earlier declaration before locking them in the virtual arena.
“You love me?” Lexi hated how small she sounded, but she needed to know. “You’re not just saying it to…”
Ace felt his heart break at seeing Lexi – someone who is usually so confident and sure of herself – feel so uncertain. Now that he had it out in the open, he never wanted her to doubt his love for her.
So, he closed the gap between them and gripped her hands in his. Even through their uniforms, they could feel the electricity coursing through their veins at the touch. He then looked her straight in the eye, his blue eyes meeting her green eyes, as he said the five words that eliminated any doubt she may have held:
“I love you, Lexi Bunny.”
For someone who supposedly wasn’t that good with words, Ace was certainly saying all the right ones. It made Lexi smile as she responded,
“I love you, Ace Bunny.”
It made Ace’s heart sing to hear those words. His own fears had been erased. If there was something that scared him more than facing bad guys or telling a girl he loved her, it was that love being one-sided. He feared unreciprocated love.
It was the surge of emotions flowing through him that made Ace do what he did next. Lexi offered no resistance – in fact, she encouraged his actions as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. She wrapped one arm around his neck and shoulders while her free hand cupped his cheek, feeling the texture of his fur under her palm. He wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her close as he kissed her tenderly. He thought it was all a cliché, feeling sparks fly and seeing fireworks when you kissed the person you love. But he felt all of that and more. And he never wanted those feelings to stop. He never wanted this moment to end.
There was no telling how long they stood in the middle of the virtual arena, pretending they were standing in the middle of the Rialta Bridge in Venice kissing after declaring their love for each other. But when they broke apart and just stood there in each other’s arms, foreheads resting against one another’s, they decided time did not matter.
“So, should we see if we can bribe my sister into letting us outta here?” Ace asked with a smirk.
“I’m not in any hurry,” Lexi responded coyly.
“Me neither.” The smirk never left Ace’s face. Leaning forward to press a gentle kiss to Lexi’s lips, he said, “I’ll promise ya one thing. One day, we’ll be standing on the real thing.”
And that was a promise he kept one year later. Before they moved away from Acmetropolis, they took the time to go to Venice, stand on the real Rialta Bridge and declare their love for each other once more. This time, there was no teenager cheering about the two people she cared about finally ‘pulling their heads outta their asses’. No teammates teasing them and making kissing faces whenever they walked past (the latter was attributed specifically to Duck). It was just them, basking in the glow of a love that continued to blossom every day.
Turns out being told to pull their heads out of the sand (Ace decided he preferred that to ‘out of his ass’, as Brylee so aptly put it) was the best thing to ever happen to him.