Parade Prompt Submission

At the beginning, Lavender was actually quite excited. This was her first pride parade she’s ever been a part of, having just recently come out to her friends and family about her secret relationship with Rosehip.

Her family was supportive, of course, but her friends kind of drifted apart after that, feeling as if their views did not align with her own. Lavender had thought about it long and hard before coming to the conclusion that they were not healthy for her, anyway, and that she valued her true relationships more than them.

This was a huge growth for her, getting her out of her comfort zone and actually expressing herself without a care. That’s why when Rose had asked if she wanted to come, she was quite enthusiastic about it.

Although, now that she has been sitting outside with Rosehip, she remembered why she was afraid to join the parade many years ago. Lavender’s enormous fear of crowds came back fullforce. This time, though, she had Rose by her side to guide her through the crowd. To keep her stable while she experienced what she had longed to do her entire life, to let her enjoy the parade without fear of the unknown.

Rose had brought their flags with em, having stuffed one of eir small pride pins into eir chest fluff and fastened it alongside eir demigirl pin. She had given a small pride flag to Lavender before running off into the grassy circle near the parade, waving her own flag around wildly.

The shy sodacat followed her, too nervous to be alone. She had called after Rosehip, whom of which turned around and waved her over, smiling hard as Lavender tripped over Lavender’s own feet, heart fluttering from love.

Rosehip showed Lavender how to hold the flag comfortably and wave it without a care in the world. She quickly caught on, feeling the wind in her fur and spinning around with Rosehip. As she jumped up and ran in circles with her pride flag held high, she felt relief for the first time in her lifetime, the feeling of freedom and acceptance.

They spun and spun, falling backwards and laughing up at the sky. As the two calmed down, Lavender looked over at Rosehip, staring in admiration as Rose stared at the clouds, a soft expression on her face.

“Hey, Rose?” Lavender asked, a soft smile on her face.

Rose looked over and gave her a noise of questioning.

“I love you… Thank you.”