Dance in the Corner

Dance in the Corner

"Millianna! MILLIANNA! Damn...she must've gone back to the guild," fellow Mermaid Heel guild member Risley Law said to herself after about ten minutes of looking around the nearby streets and buildings for Millianna. Her fellow guildmate suddenly left the guild after looking unusually miserable and unenergetic for all the time she was at the Grand Banquet. Risley sighed, deciding that it would be better for Millianna to be by herself for the time being, and decided to go back to the Grand Banquet.

However, that changed when Risley heard someone crying close to the King's castle. Risley assumed that this was Millianna, probably crying about her long-distance kind of boyfriend Sho not answering her. When Risley walked to the sources of crying, instead of seeing a brown haired girl with cat-like features, she saw a girl with long red hair and plenty of bags underneath her eyes.

"Flare? Flare Corona right? From the Grand Magic Games?" Risley asked putting a hand on Flare's shoulders. Flare briefly stopped crying and looked up at Risley, slightly jumping back in fear, putting his arms in front of her to defend herself from what she thought was an upcoming attack.

"Please...please don't hurt me. I'm sorry, I'll...I'll leave right away," Flare mumbled, not even able to look at Risley while shaking like a rattle. Risley patted her on the back and sat next to her with a warm, comforting smile on her face.

"Hey, hey, easy, I'm not here to hurt you or anything. I just wanted to know why you were crying," Risley explained. Flare looked up at Risley and started blushing as she saw the chubby black-haired woman in front of her. Flare then immediately went back to looking at the ground as tears threatened to spill out of her eyes again.

"Raven Tail was forced to disband." That was all Flare said before tears started streaming down her face again. Risley remembered when Flare came to the coliseum covered in loads of bruises, and that her guild master had apparently done a lot of terrible things to people in the past.

"Well, wasn't your guild master a bad guy? He didn't really seem to treat you like a guild member," Risley said, immediately regretting what she said as she expected a loud and defiant defense at the villainous son of Master Makarov. However, what Risley got instead was a sigh and a shake of the head.

"He was, but I just...assumed that was normal. I was never in a guild before so I thought that Ivan was teaching me how to survive in the real world," Flare mumbled, still not even able to look at Risley. Risley sighed and put an arm around the back of Flare's neck, causing her to blush even more before as Risley patted on a little bit of her red hair that she could reach.

"Flare, I can tell you right now that a guild master treating you like that is not normal. Mermaid Heel's guild master uses the guild to help people like me and everyone else I've met find a home and people they can trust. I would trust any single one of my guildmates with my life. They're my friends. Don't you have any friends Flare?" Risley asked after her soliloquy. Flare looked at Risley with a sadness that was only accentuated by the light revealing the shine on her cheeks caused by drying tears before shaking her head slowly.

"Flare...do you want a friend?" Flare looked shocked at Risley's question but quickly went back to looking down.

"You wouldn't want me as a friend," Flare mumbled as Risley looked at her in shock.

"Why would you say that?"

"Because I'm bad."

"No, you're not Flare."

"Yes, I am! I almost killed some innocent kid because I was too much of a coward to stand up to Master Ivan! I hate myself so much for doing that because it just goes to show how much he got to me!" Flare exclaimed as tears threatened to spill out of her eyes again. Risley responded by standing up from the bench and marching right in front of Flare's face with her hands on her hips.

"Flare, you just proved that you're not a bad person," Risley stated, much to Flare's confusion.

"How?"

"If you really were like your master, you wouldn't have felt bad about what you did. That shows me you are fully capable of being rehabilitated, and I want to help you," Risley explained as Flare looked up at her with wonder in her eyes. Flare stood up and continued gawking at Risley, causing her to blush slightly as Flare took a deep breath.

"Do you...really mean that?" Flare asked, her quiet and shaking voice betraying the fact that she did not 100% believe what Risley was telling her.

"Of course I mean that. I believe that if someone is really up to it, then they can change," Risley explained as the pocket lacrima in her dress started ringing, and Risley answered it.

"Hello...hey Arana, what's up?... Yeah...I was looking for Millianna and I took a walk outside. Yeah, I'm coming back. I'll be there in a minute...OK...Yeah, bye," Flare looked on in interest as Risley hung up and looked back at her.

"My guildmates are wondering where I am. I should get back to the palace," Risley said as she was about to turn and leave, but noticed that Flare looked sad at the thought of her leaving. Risley gave her a warm smile before walking back to her and holding her hand.

"Do you want to come with me?"

"...yes." That was all the confirmation Risley needed as she walked Flare back to the palace. However, once they got through the door, Flare stopped and wouldn't move. Risley turned around with an eyebrow raised in curiosity before Flare looked around and leaned in to whisper in her ears.

"Can we...stay here? I'm still scared to go near the other participants of the Games." Risley, hearing that the orchestra was playing a slow, romantic-sounding song, grabbed both of Flare's hands, put one of them on her hip and the other on her shoulder.

"OK, as long as we can have a little dance," Risley responded. Flare started blushing again as she nodded. The two slow danced in the corner of the castle by the door, where it was only the two of them, looking into each other's eyes. As they continued dancing, Flare's anguish and sadness were replaced with a warmth that she had not felt since she lived in the Sun Village. Risley, meanwhile, felt a similar warmth, which turned into a blush on her face as she looked up at a smiling Flare.

"Thank you, Risley," Flare whispered into Risley's ear as she and Risley continued to dance.

"Anytime Flare, I'm just glad to see you happy," Risley responded before they heard that the slow song had stopped. The two looked at each other, smiled, and let go of each other before Risley heard more ringing from her pocket Lacrima.

"It looks like Arana is really worried about where I am, so I should head back," Risley explained as Flare nodded while making her way to the door.

"That's OK, I have to leave too. There's something I have to take care of before I come back," Flare responded as she and Risley shared one last longing look at each other before walking away from each other. As Flare walked the lit streets of Crocus, she smiled at the words Risley told her, causing her heart to beat faster.

"Mermaid Heel...," Flare whispered as she continued walking. Still feeling the warmth from her interactions with Risley, Flare wanted to make sure she memorized the name of Risley's guild so that she could find her when she came back from the Sun Village. Flare continually whispered the name of Risley's beloved guild as she continued to make her way out of Crocus.