Wings
Leon walked down the corridor, cursing himself under his breath. It was still early and the others were still waking up. He knew Sora would come back to the dorm soon, so he hid himself in the training room and locked the door. He got on the trapeze and started practicing, trying to get his mind off the beautiful Japanese girl. But it was impossible.
Relationships were bad, truly bad. He knew it from all he suffered after Sophie's death. He had several partners, he bore with some of them as girlfriends, but on the stage they were all insufferable. Indeed, his sister was a true star, and after her refined and heavenly performances every other acrobat seemed pathetic and clumsy. He had lost hope of finding a true partner when fate bumped him into Sora.
At first he thought her nothing. There was no determination, no competitiveness. He wondered what she was doing in a place like that. It was a predator's world, if you didn't struggle, you'd be torn apart. Not only did she not struggle, she actually allowed herself to be trampled on. He had turned towards May, who like all the rest seek a romantic relationship with him. She was competitive, but she was obnoxious and let her jealousy take her over. In short, just like anyone else and all Leon could do was to wait for her to give up.
He didn't know when, or how, he came to notice Sora again. He didn't know what made HIM GO TO HER, and actually to beg her to be his partner. He couldn't explain it, with his usual cold and rational look at things, to him she was like a bird with a broken wing-a wing he had broken himself. He wanted to fix it, to heal her, to help her fly. And when with all her stubbornness she kept on pulling back, making her wounds worse, he just dragged her out on the stage, impulsively, and made her remember her dream, which was her own wings.
And with all his rational thought and precision, he still couldn't understand it.
Never enter a relationship with your partner. That was his principle. Otherwise he would just cause himself pain. He would hurt somebody too. He couldn't have Sora hurt. She was an angel, and it didn't suit angels to cry.
Right now things were complicated. He had let his guard down and she had definitely seen the emotions in his soul. Sora had such piercing eyes. She definitely saw into the soul…everything into the soul. The thought that she might now how he felt was terrifying and relieving at the same time-but Leon still didn't know whether he had to avoid her like wildfire or that he was finally free to express his feelings.
For now avoiding her was best-and if Leon didn't come across her it would have been wonderful. But there was a dance party coming up for all the performers of Kaleido Stage…as a reward for their outstanding performance…and Leon of course had to be there. So was Sora.
"Maybe if I stay out of the spotlight she won't notice me." Leon thought, trying to shrink to his minimum in the shadows…but with little success.
"LEON!!!!" May appeared right behind him, starting him to death as she screamed his name for everyone to hear. Sora turned to see Leon, who was dying with embarrassment as May was making it impossible to stay hidden. Finally he gave up and decided not to pay her any attention, simply by ignoring her gaze. But Sora didn't come near him-it was too much.
He showed…so much affection and care on the beach and then got so cold again. But she didn't have enough courage to go there and ask him straight forward.
Leon watched her with the corner of his eye. She sat on a chair away from the dance floor, dressed in a plain red gown-it was knee high with very little decoration and tulle ribbons on the shoulders. She tried to be cheerful, talking to Mia and Ana, but her eyes turned toward him with sadness. Why, why couldn't he just be brave?
At the end he couldn't take it and walked towards her. Sora almost jumped at her seat as she saw him moving in her direction (almost immediately), and sat still like a statue, pondering whether he was going to talk to her or not, her cheeks red and her complexion brilliant.
He stood there, in front of the little group, without saying a word, looking stupid.
"Dance with me." It wasn't a request, just for the record. The intonation of his voice, the way he looked at her suggested that it was an order, and that it was supposed to be followed without questions. Sora got up mechanically and followed him to the dance floor.
Sora and Leon stood against each other, their nerves taut like guitar strings, both too worried to do anything. At last some music played, a waltz, so Leon offered his hand slowly to her. Sora hesitated before touching it, then nodded (more to herself than to him), and they started dancing.
The moment his palm rested on her petite shoulder, the second she felt her hand into his, the tension vaporized and the two started dancing freely, effortlessly, in a carefree way. Since it was summer, there was still bright outside. The set was showering the room with gold, Sora and Leon seemed like two spots of sunlight gliding through a shadowy wall. Their movements were so natural, so perfect they seemed like one.
Leon didn't dare to slow or quicken the pace, afraid to ruin the moment with any move out of the necessary. She felt so right there, in his arms, so confident and perfect.
Sora felt a little light-headed, her body moving on its own, following something...it was weird. It wasn't something she learned, and it was too heavenly to be an instinct. Was it love? She couldn't tell. But she wished this could go on forever.
But the music stopped, as Leon carefully bent her back. Her incredible hair fell backwards in graceful waves, her skin seemed to be catching fire from the sun behind them, her eyes were half closed, filled with the golden light reflected from the sea of Cape Mary.
Leon realized he had caught his breath, gazing at her beautiful face. A goddess? No, love wasn't suppose to hit perfect creatures, and gods were perfect. No, Sora was…just Sora. And Leon realized that this made her more precious to him than anything else.
Sora pulled up looking Leon in the eyes. Her hands rested on his shoulders as she faced him. They were close now, maybe closer than that time on the beach. It felt so right, so why was he pulling back?
It was quiet, they both thought as they looked around. Everybody was staring at them. Leon quickly took off, the moment was ruined. He couldn't do it, he was a coward, he wasn't worthy of her eyes.
Sora looked at him as he was walking away confusingly, then decided to run after him. It was getting dark.
Leon sat in the big top, the hatch open so that it could get some fresh air. He looked at the stars questioningly…well, what was left of the stars. There were clouds, it was going to rain.
"Why?" he asked them "What is wrong with me?"
He got up and swung on the trapeze, ignoring the heavy drops of rain falling on his face. It wouldn't stop him.
"LEON-SAN!"
Leon looked startled at the opposite side, where Sora was already shaking off her shoes and swinging up to him.
"SORA! GET AWAY FROM THERE!" Leon tried to stop her, but Sora wasn't listening. The trapeze was wet from the rain, but she didn't even notice. He tried to reach her a few times, but every time their hands missed by bare inches. Sora almost fell when she slipped.
"Get off there!" he screamed.
"NO!" Sora yelled and threw herself at him. Leon gasped-at such a distance, it was impossible to make such a powerful jump. The wind was blowing rain in the race, but here eyes were wide open, looking at him. The skirts of her dress were flowing behind her like a pair of wings as her arms stretched out.
He lunged forward, gripping her wrist and pulling her at him. Maybe with too much force, because she practically crashed into him. They sat on the trapeze, holding each other tightly. Slowly, the rain stopped and they looked at each other. A pretty weird site, in their heavy wet clothes and messy hairs, holding onto the wet trapeze.
Sora looked at him questioningly as he tucked a wet strand of hair off her face.
"Sora.." he began, but she cut him off with a kiss.
For a second he stood speechless and tried to say something.
She cut him off with another kiss.
Leon was too perceptive to try talking again and returned the kiss instead. After a while he slid them both on the ground.
"Are you cold?" he asked, though he had no jacket…or any dry piece of clothing to offer her. Sora titled her head and told him she was fine, but he wasn't very satisfied with that answer, so he threw her up in his arms and carried her off the stage, away from the cold air current and wet ground.
Sora griped his shoulders, afraid to fall. It was ridiculous, seeing she swung on trapezes many meters away from the ground without any hesitation, but it was a question of perception. In this case though, it was unnecessary-Leon carried her with so much gentility and care as if she was a sugar statue that would melt from the water.
She looked at him, he looked her back. Loving, gentle gaze, that just said "Trust me."
At last they reached the dorm. Leon put Sora on the ground in front of her room and paused, unsure what to do? Kiss her? Oh, he really wanted to kiss her, but maybe she wanted to warm up, dry herself and get some sleep. Maybe he was rushing things too much….maybe she wasn't ready yet. But still, the way she ran to him-she wasn't ignorant of him and he couldn't just turn his back on her with only taking a leave.
"Leon…" Sora paused, not knowing how to address him "I…thank you…for not yelling at me."
"Yelling?" now he was surprised
"Well, yeah, for doing something so reckless even when you told me not to…" Sora babbled out, too confused and flushing red. Again, the tension wore off and Leon smiled. He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her again, more passionately, and pulled her close. She pressed herself to him, inhaling deeply. She felt so right there, in his arms…and they knew they would keep it this way. Forever.
A/N-Boy, that was short and hurried. I hope I didn't dissappoint all of you who were brave enough to read this. If anyone wants to review, I'm curious which part of this story was your favorite. So...Later and thanks for reading.