This idea totally just popped into my head when I saw an awesome screenshot online. It wasn't a very GOOD 5x7 screenshot, but being a total 5x7 fan I saw it as one. The shot is at the library scene in the movie after the cathedral is burnt down and 5 repairs 7's leg from the Winged Beast's harpoon. 3 and 4 are dragging 9 off and 6 and 1 are following, leaving 5 and 7 behind as 5 finishes 7's leg. I don't know why this came to mind, but it did practically as soon as I pulled the screenshot up on my computer screen.

So I hope you like the story, and no it isn't based during the movie or the library scene or anything. It's just a little, random oneshot that came into my mind. I suppose it's based before the movie, but is kinda AU, as 9 is alive and living with the others in the cathedral. And 7 and the twins are still living there as well so…so please enjoy and review! Thanks!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Stay and Dance With Me

The sun was setting, casting its last rays of light across the vast, barren landscape of the ruined world. The various colors of the evening sky ranged from a light pink to a soft orange, the fluffy clouds looking like cotton candy. The beautiful twilight lights shone through the large, circular stain glass window in the cathedral, casting brilliant rays of light across the Sanctuary that nine little creatures called home. Everything inside the Sanctuary was silent, except for the very faint scratching noise of the artist's pen-nib fingers running smoothly across a piece of paper. 6 finished his latest drawing of 'The Source' and hung it up with all of the others that he had in his little, secluded corner of the Sanctuary. 1 was sitting in his throne at the head of the room, his servant 8 sharpening his kitchen cleaver next to him. 3 and 4 were reading through a book in another corner of the room and 9 was also trying to read with them, though he found it hard with their incredible pace of reading. 5 and 2 were up in the tall watchtower working on a new project of theirs, and 7 was nowhere to be found. After an earlier argument between her and 1 she had decided to send herself out on a scouting trip, and she hadn't been seen in the cathedral for several hours.

Up in the watchtower 5 took sudden notice of the dimming sunlight and a slight wave of panic washed over him as he realized that the female warrior still had not returned. He turned to his mentor and saw that he was trying to twist in a screw to the invention they were currently working on together. 5 quickly began to help him.

"Thank you, my boy," 2 said gratefully, giving his younger apprentice a warm grin. 5 couldn't bring himself to return the smile as he looked back out at the darkening sky. 2 instantly knew what was occupying 5's mind and he placed his hand gently on his pupil's shoulder.

"She'll be back," 2 stated quietly. 5 turned his head to look at his mentor, surprise and confusion in his optics. 2 smiled again. "She knows how to take care of herself, and she knows to never stay out past dark. She'll be back, don't worry."

"How did you-" 2 stopped his student's talking by placing his finger over 5's mouth. Without saying a word and only giving 5 yet another grin his answer to the unspoken question was transferred into 5's mind. 2 turned back to the project lying on the table in front of him and began to toy with it to make sure that it wouldn't crumble into pieces. When he was satisfied he carefully placed the object in a cardboard box on the floor beside the small table.

"I believe we've done enough for today," 2 sighed, closing the box and sealing the project away from the world for the night. "We'll continue our work tomorrow; it's getting dark." 2 moved towards the bucket elevator while 5 merely stared out at the sky. 2 climbed into the bucket and turned around to see that 5 hadn't moved an inch. "Come on now," he told him gently. 5 turned to look at him, glanced back at the sky, and then walked over to get into the elevator with his teacher. 5 grabbed the rope and began lowering the bucket slowly towards the Sanctuary. 2 could tell that his student was still worried about 7, even though 5 was trying his best to hide his concern. One glance at 2 and 5 knew that he wasn't fooling his teacher one bit.

"I know," he sighed quietly. "I'm being irrational." 2 smiled and chuckled.

"It's ok to be irrational sometimes," he stated, watching 5's hands move up and down the rope that functioned the movement of the bucket. "But you know as well as all of us that 7 will be fine and back any time now." 5 stared at the floor of the bucket as he continued to lower them, not willing to give 2 a response.

They felt the slight, familiar jolt as the bucket came to a stop at the Sanctuary. 2 pushed open the makeshift door in the side of the bucket and walked into the large, silent room. 5 slowly followed after him.

"Ah, there you are," 1 said coldly when the two came into view. "Working on something completely ridiculous again?"

"Say what you want, 1," 2 responded quietly. Then he began moving towards the small area of the Sanctuary that his little bed and various items of his were located, all guarded from view by some tall pieces of cardboard and a piece of light blue cloth hanging over the doorway. 5 looked all around the room, desperately searching the female warrior but not spotting her anywhere. He saw 9 wrestling softly with the twins over in a corner, 8 playing with his magnet beside 1's throne, and though he couldn't see it he knew that 6 was drawing in his dark little corner. But 7's area was vacant, and she was nowhere to be seen anywhere else in the room. 5 hurriedly rushed after 2 and followed him into his 'room'.

"I don't see her," 5 told him worriedly when they were past the cloth and inside the area. 2 picked up a match off of the floor, set it aflame by striking it against the bottom of his foot, and used it light the candle sitting on a small desk in the corner of the room.

"She'll be back, 5," 2 sighed, and 5 got the impression that with all of his unneeded worrying he was annoying his mentor. He took the match from 2 and dipped it in a little cup of water in the corner to extinguish the flame.

"I'm sorry," he said, placing the wet match on the floor with some others that had been used before. "I'm annoying you."

"No, not exactly," 2 replied, slowly sitting down on the end of his makeshift bed. He groaned lightly as he lowered himself and then looked at 5. "You're…confusing me." 5 was surprised to hear that. In one swift movement he moved to the bed and sat down beside his teacher, looking straight into 2's optics with his one.

"I'm confusing you? How so?" 5 asked.

"5, you've never been this paranoid – excuse me – worried about 7's time away," 2 explained. "You know she'll be fine, I know she'll be fine, everybody knows she'll be fine. Do you see anybody else worried over her?" 5 looked sheepishly to the floor.

"No," he answered quietly. "I…I just-" 2 silenced him with a hand on his shoulder and gentle smile.

"I'm not saying that it's a bad thing to be worried," 2 told him softly. "But out of us all 7 is the one that we need to worry about the least." 5 kept his eye locked on the floor, debating in his thoughts whether he should tell 2 about what was really going on inside his head.

"2…there's a reason that I'm acting so strange about 7," 5 began hesitantly, ultimately deciding that he could tell 2 anything. 2's optics suddenly filled with interest.

"Do share, my boy, please," he said kindly. Though he had spoken up about it, 5 still had not the courage to look into 2's optics when he was going to tell him the biggest secret of his life.

"Well…for just a little while now I've…I've been having this strange feeling about…7…" 5 could hear how much his voice was shaking, and he could feel how much his body was shaking and how fast his gears were whirring. 2 sat still, waiting patiently for 5 to continue. "2…I-I think I…"

Out of nowhere a loud sound echoed throughout the entire Sanctuary that 5 and 2 both recognized as the large door at the end of the room opening. Both stitchpunks were confused as the door was almost never used. 2 pushed himself to his feet and 5 followed suit slowly.

"We'll continue our talk later," 2 said quietly, moving towards the cloth. 5 walked over to the desk as 2 exited the room. The one-eyed stitchpunk sighed and blew out the candle before walking back out into the Sanctuary. The very first thing he saw was everyone besides 1 and 8 crowded around something crumpled on the floor by the large open door. Right as 5 was about to walk over to see what was happening a metallic hand clamped down on his shoulder and spun him around.

"It's pointless," 1 told him, an aggravated expression on his face. "Don't waste your time." 5's stitched eyebrows rose.

"What you call pointless and what I call pointless are two incredibly different things," 5 spat, shaking 1's hand off of his shoulder. 1's optics widened in shock at 5's newly found confidence to speak to him like that. Without another word from either of them the one-eyed stitchpunk turned and rushed over to the huddled group of his kind. When he arrived he placed his hand on 2's shoulder and tried to see what it was that they were all crowded around. At the feeling of 5's hand on his shoulder 2 turned his head up and gave his apprentice a look of worry and despair. 5's eyebrows rose again and 2 slowly moved to the side, revealing what was lying on the floor. 5's eyes widened to extent and he felt sudden horror wash over him.

7's limp self was lying on the floor, optics shuttered closed. A huge gash in her cloth skin was easily seen right below her left eye. Another gash in her fabric was seen in her right arm, right below her shoulder, and 5 easily could see past her skin and into the inner working of her arm. A sharp piece of rock or metal was jammed into her left leg which was twitching every now and again, and her bleached white fabric was stained with dirt in some areas. The bird's skull that she used as a helmet was strangely untouched. 5 could tell that she was obvious pain, and he knew that the others could tell that she was as well.

"Oh my…" 5 whispered, observing her frail, unconscious body. 9 and the twins were merely staring at her, not even daring to reach out towards her. 6 was standing back a little, observing the scene from a distance. 5 reached out towards the object stuck in her leg but 2 grabbed his wrist and stopped him.

"Not here, 5," he spoke quietly, his voice shaking a bit. "Take her into my room. 9, could you help me go get some things from the Workshop?" When 9 and 2 had stepped away and the twins had given enough room 5 slipped his arms underneath 7's body and carefully picked her up. He did his best not to hurt her even more as he walked her over to the cloth that covered the entrance to 2's room, where 1 still stood.

"This is not even close to pointless," 5 hissed at the eldest stitchpunk before slipping past the cloth and walking into 2's room. He carefully walked the short distance over to 2's bed where he gently placed 7. He then walked over to the desk, picked up one of the many matches on the floor, and struck it against the floor to light it and use it to also light the candle. He then dipped the match in the cup of water and threw it on top of the pile of other wet matches. He walked back over to 2's bed and sat down on the edge, looking at 7's soft, pained face. He hesitantly reached out and stroked her cheek with his metallic hand, desperately hoping that she wouldn't wake up at that second.

He couldn't believe that 1 had said that it was pointless. He truly was a bitter old man that cared only for himself. And even having the nerve to tell 5 not to waste his time with something this urgent…5's eyebrows stitched together in anger and he shuddered at the thought of what he wanted to do to that self-loving stitchpunk. 5 even doubted if 1 really cared about 8, or just used him because he was the only one that didn't disagree with everything that 1 was all about.

2 and 9 stepped into the room then, snapping 5 out of his angry thoughts. 5 instantly jumped off of the bed, stumbled a bit on his feet, and walked over to the other two once he regained his balance again. 2 and 9 poured some thread, needles, and other utensils onto the desk and 9 took the pair of scissors off of his arm to lean up against the side of the desk.

"Thank you, 9," 2 said softly, moving over to 7's unconscious form. "You'll probably want to leave now. 5 and I are going to begin on 7." 9 was at a loss for words, so he merely gave one stern nod before pushing the cloth to the side and exiting the room. 2 sighed and looked past the cut beneath 7's left optic and into her complicated innards. 5 walked slowly over to stand next to the older stitchpunk.

"Will it be an easy fix?" he asked tentatively, turning his gaze down to 7's shut optics. 2 sighed again and answered quietly, refusing to look up into 5's eye.

"I'm afraid not, my boy," he said. "That sharp object jammed into her leg probably messed with her joints and such. Realigned them, maybe. Perhaps, even, broke right through. That's the worse case scenario, though, so we should probably not be concerned about that until we get the thing out of her leg and can actually see…"

5 placed his hand on 2's shoulder, kindly silencing the old stitchpunk. 2 finally turned his gaze from 7 to 5, honest concern and exhaustion in his optics. 5 gave him a warm smile.

"You're tired, 2, you need rest," he told him softly. "I had a late night last night and slept into the afternoon today, so I'm not nearly as tired as you. I know how to do this stuff nearly as good as you do. You need rest; I'll work on 7." 2 stared into 5's single optic.

"Are you sure, my boy?" 2 asked. "It'll be a lot of work by yourself." 5 chuckled quietly.

"I'm sure I can handle it," he responded kindly. "Go on, you can have my bed." 2 continued to stare at his apprentice for a few short moments before giving him a gratified smile.

"Thank you 5," he said, raising his hand to place it on top of 5's. "Do your best, and I'll see how you're doing in the morning."

"I would do nothing less than my best," 5 replied, his smile widening. Especially for 7… he thought, refusing to say it out loud. 2 gave him a slight nod of appreciation before returning his hand to his side and letting 5's hand slip off of his shoulder. He turned and walked over to the cloth. Before leaving he turned back to 5 and smiled at him again. 5 gave his teacher a quick wave, which 2 returned, before the older stitchpunk exited the room and walked across the Sanctuary to 5's designated area. Once he was gone 5 turned and walked over to the desk where he grabbed all of the supplies that he thought that he would need and walked them over to the side of the bed. When he turned to look at 7 again he jumped backwards, feeling as though his soul would jump right out of his body.

"I'm s-sorry," 7 whispered painfully to him. "I didn't m-mean to frighten you." 5 was grabbing at his chest, trying to regain control of his breathing. His gears were whirring quickly inside of him, and he let out a large breath.

"It's fine," he breathed. "You didn't frighten me, you merely surprised me." 7 let out a dry chuckle.

"Still the same, I didn't mean to," she said. 5 just then realized how raspy and hoarse her voice sounded, and he moved closer to her.

"What exactly happened to you out there?" he asked her, concern obviously in his voice and his optic. 7 almost shuddered at the memory of what happened between her and the Cat Beast out in the Emptiness, but was able to control herself as she summed the whole thing up in one quick statement.

"Just a little run-in with the Cat Beast is all." 5's eyebrows rose in suspicion.

"A little run-in?" he responded, putting strong emphasis on the word "little". 7 chuckled again. "St-stop!" 5 almost yelled at her. "Stop laughing! 7, this little" – 5 raised his hands and did little air quotes around the word "little" – "left you with dirt-stained fabric, two large cuts, and an unidentifiable object stuck in your leg!" 7's optics were wide with surprise at how 5 was reacting to her summary, but she stayed quiet as they both stared at each other, 5's gaze full of concern and slight anger.

"Done?" 7 questioned very quietly after about fifteen seconds of utter silence and mere staring. 5 let out a large sigh before responding.

"I suppose," he said softly. "I'm sorry for yelling like that. It's not really the best way to treat someone with injuries such as yours."

"Are you going to fix me? Or just stand around and yell at me?" 5's eyebrows knit together and he stared at her in frustration.

"I'll repair you, 7, but you'll probably want to be unconscious," he hissed quietly. 7 glared back at him.

"Go ahead and knock me unconscious then, Dr. 5," she replied. 5 suddenly softened up and looked straight into her eyes.

"I'd rather not," he told her gently, not even being able to imagine himself knocking 7 unconscious on purpose. 7's face softened up as well as saw 5's sudden unwillingness. "I don't want to hurt you," 5 whispered so low that 7 almost couldn't even hear him.

"Won't you hurt me more consciously than unconsciously?" 7 asked him. 5 thought about this for a short moment before answering.

"Probably, but I don't want to be the reason that you fall unconscious. I mean, what if you never wake up again?" 7 smiled.

"I'm sure that you'll work everything out just fine," she assured him. "If you feel that I need to be unconscious for this then just knock me out. I won't hurt you or anything." 5 hesitantly walked over to 2's desk and grabbed a wooden plank that he kept there mainly for the purpose that 5 was about to use it for. He walked back over to the bed to stand over 7.

"You sure?" he asked her, looking at the piece of wood he held in his steely hands. 7 grinned at him.

"Positive," she answered. "Don't worry, we'll be together again soon." 5's optic widened when she said that, and so did 7's pair. 5 raised the wooden plank instantly, not wanting 7 to see into his eyes, into his soul, and see how he really felt about her. Right before 5 brought down that plank and everything went completely black 7 looked at him closely and felt something suddenly spark inside of her, and realized something that she hadn't ever even thought about before.

Alright, that'd be chapter one! I was actually intending this to be short little oneshot but then I got into it and decided to make it either two or three chapters long. Probably two, but I don't quite know yet. XD

The title of the story, I know, had absolutely nothing to do with this chapter. But it will have almost everything to do with chapter two. So please leave me a little review telling me what you think! Thanks!

~Taylor