“Have you remembered anything else
about what happened before or during the time when you were away?”
“No, not really. It's all still very
fuzzy.”
Sister had been spending more time with
Lapse the past few nights, and she was gradually warming up to her.
She didn't hide from her anymore, and they'd spoken about a number of
things. She was very timid, and about as different from Lay and
Michelle as anyone could be, but Sister could tell there was a kind
heart underneath her tender exterior.
“What about 'dreams'? Do you know
anything more about that?”
“I don't think I even know that
much.” she said, looking out over the ocean. “I can't recall
anything that might have made me say that. It just came from
somewhere, and then it was gone.”
“Maybe that was part of your lost
memories?”
“Could be. I don't like not being
able to remember. Every time a fragment of something comes back to
me, I feel like I've lost something important.”
“It's okay, we'll figure things out
when the time comes.” She had hoped for more information about
what had happened to Corsair, but it seemed that Lapse's problem had
to be solved first. Maybe if she and Pack could be reunited then she
could remember more about what had happened.
In the hopes that it might jog her
memory, Sister had told her a bit about her own situation. When she
mentioned dancing, she was surprised to learn that Lapse already knew
about it and was excited to talk about it, but she quickly realized
that dancing meant something different to her as she pranced and spun
around on her own. Lapse could leap from one foot to the other and
even flip over onto her paws with surprising grace. One time she
even walked on the railing of her ship and Sister was afraid she
would fall off into the water, but she gracefully dropped down to the
deck on one toe and bowed. It was very impressive, but Sister
couldn't help but feel sad for her as she watched it: To her,
dancing was something to be shared with someone, but for Lapse it was
something she did alone. Most of her life was spent alone, she
realized, and it left its mark on everything she did.
“Doesn't it make you sad to dance by
yourself?' Sister asked after she had finished.
“No,” she said, smiling, “it's
fun. I like to practice and it's fun to share it with others. As
long as they enjoy it that's enough reason for me.”
“I never thought of it that way”,
she admitted. “If someone else didn't want to join me, I'd worry
that they didn't like it.”
“There's no need to worry about that.
If you just watch carefully, you can tell how other people are
feeling. Their eyes tell you everything. Nothing made me happier
than to see his eyes on me and know he couldn't look away even if he
wanted to. It made me feel like I was really special...” She
gazed up, wistfully.
“So why did-” She started to say,
but stopped herself. She really wanted to know more about how things
had been between her and Pack, but she knew something had happened,
and she didn't want to risk bringing it up in case Lapse would become
withdrawn again. Lapse looked at her strangely for a moment,
expecting her to finish, but after a few moments of silence she
looked away, across the ocean. She did that fairly often. Sister
wondered if she expected to see something out there.
---
Elsewhere, another pair of eyes were
staring out over that same ocean.
It had been a number of nights now
since they had set out. It did not surprise him that there had been
no sign of Corsair yet, he had mostly agreed to look just to humour
poor Sister. She didn't realize just how hard he had looked for
Lapse, fruitlessly. Once lost, people did not easily return.
“But she HAS returned”, a voice
inside his head reminded him.
He knew it was true. He could tell
from the hope that shone in Sister's eyes that her story was genuine.
Part of him wanted to go to her, but he could still see the pain and
the hurt on her face that his words had wrought. She had disappeared
because of him, how could he face her after that? What kind of
apology could he possibly give her?
He wandered over to the table that held
star charts. In truth, there wasn't much to do these nights. The
ship was running so smoothly that his crew had little need for his
oversight, leaving him with a lot of free time and little to do with
it. Was this the way it was before he met her? He didn't believe
so, but he couldn't say for certain, it had been too long ago. He
ruffled through the charts, but it only took a few moments to confirm
that they were still on the right course. He paced up and down the
deck restlessly.
“I wonder if you found what you were
looking for, old friend?” he mused idly. He hadn't understood why
Corsair had left, but he knew he had been searching for something.
He had mentioned wanting to know more about the strangers and other
such nonsense, much as Lapse had done on the night she disappeared.
Sister seemed to think it was her fault.
“I wonder if you know how much you
hurt her?” he thought, sombrely. He did. When he saw Lapse's
face the night she left, he knew he had done something terrible.
Perhaps Corsair knew that as well.
He shook his head and gazed out towards
the horizon. “I've moved on. It's for the best that she does too.
I'd only hurt her again, and the next time she might not come back.
I only want for her to be happy...”
Only the rising sun knew if those words
were genuine.
---
It was happening again.
Lapse crossed her arms to her chest and
listened carefully to her surroundings for a moment. It was
strangely quiet, usually she could hear people talking or moving
about, but this morning she could hear nothing apart from the sound
of her own breath. She slowly opened her eyes, nervous of what might
lie before her, and as her vision adjusted to the light she found
herself in some kind of large room. There was a ceiling very far
above, but only a few lights were turned on so the area was only
dimly lit. On the floor in front of her were a lot of chairs, but
they were all empty, while she herself was standing on a raised
wooden platform flanked by tall red curtains on either side. She
looked to the side, to the darkened area behind the curtains, but it
too seemed to be empty.
“I'm alone”, she realized. She
glanced around the area once again, just in case they were hiding
somewhere, waiting to jump out at her, but as far as she could tell
the place was totally deserted. “I'm really alone this morning.”
A soft sound slowly drifted to her
ears, some light, fast-paced music was flowing into the area from off
to the side of the stage. It wasn't forceful or oppressive, just a
gentle, pleasing melody. A smile slowly crept across her lips. “I'm
free”, she thought, scarcely daring to believe it. She stretched
her arms out before her, finding them covered in orange cloth with
white gloves on her hands. In her apprehension she hadn't even
bothered to look down at her own body yet, she found she was wearing
a thin but tight-fitting orange suit with a pink frill around the
middle that covered her body from neck to toe. Despite being tight,
it was very easy to move around in, she extended her leg, then leapt
from one foot, landing gracefully on her toes. She stretched out one
arm and spun around, leaping and spinning in time with the music.
“I'm free!” There was no one here to torment her tonight, and
she danced all over the stage to the airy music, so happy that she
could just be herself this morning.
“Bravo! Magnificient!” someone
said, clapping their hands, and her heart stopped cold. Had they
been waiting for her? Was she in trouble? Her first impulse was to
dive off the stage, but instead she merely froze and stared at the
man who stepped out from the shadows behind the curtain.
“Hey, don't stop on my account”, he
said, and she finally got a good look at him. He was dressed
somewhat similarly to her, in an equally tight-fitting suit, only his
was blue and didn't have the frills that her outfit had. He
stretched out his leg and hopped from one foot to the other, much the
same as she had. “We're supposed to be practising together”.
She merely took a few tiny steps back and continued to look at him as
he began to do a few simple steps and jumps.
She had never danced with anyone else
before, she had learned by watching a stranger dance and then trying
to imitate her movements when she got back to her ship, very clumsily
at first, but she had eventually learned how to do it without
falling. Still, despite whatever confidence she had in her dancing
ability, she was very hesitant to join in with the stranger. As he
spun around, she eventually managed to take a few little steps, then
a jump or two, and eventually she started to synchronize the timing
of her movements with his.
“That's it”, he said, smiling at
her, and she gradually felt her nervousness melting away. She leapt
back and forth past him in time with the music and he could only
watch, unable to match her nimbleness. She grinned and spun around
in front of him.
“Very good!” he assured her. “Now
come over to me and kick up your leg.”
She did as he asked and he caught her
leg in his hand, then put his other hand on her stomach and lifted
her over his head with a single, quick motion.
“Eek!” she exclaimed involuntarily,
and for a moment she was terrified that he was going to drop her or
toss her off the stage into the chairs, but he had strong arms and he
was holding her very steady.
“I won't drop you, I promise”, he
reassured her, as if sensing her fear. She glanced out over the room
as he held her body up to the sky, and a strange sensation came over
her. She raised her arms like she was flying and laughed happily at
how scared she had been. A moment later he set her down gently and
took one of her hands in his. She pulled away from him to arm's
length, then came back in close before stretching out to the other
side. They did that a few more times, and when she came back to him
he caught her in his arm and lowered toward the ground. Afterwards
she spun around him, still holding onto his fingers, before letting
go and spinning away. He quickly moved to take hold of her arm
again, and they danced all around the stage together with her loving
every moment of it.
The music finally started to die down
and the stranger let her out to arm's length a final time and raised
their hands as it came to an end. After holding that pose for a
moment, Lapse pulled him back towards her, scooped him up in her
arms, and kissed him passionately, slipping her tongue inside his
mouth and pressing his body tightly against hers.
“Hey, where did that come from?”,
he asked afterwards, looking totally bewildered.
“That's what this is about, isn't
it?” she said, intense desire burning in her lidded eyes.
He nervously rubbed the back of his
head with his free hand. “Well, in a way, but not like that.
We're just friends and dance partners, okay? The love we display on
stage is just a show for the audience.”
“Oh, all right”, she replied,
blushing a little as she released him. “I guess being friends is
okay too.”
“I had no idea you felt that way”,
he said, equally reddened in the face.
“It's all right, I just got caught up
in the moment.”
“I guess I should remember that
ballet has that effect on people”, he laughed.
“Shall we go again?” she asked,
hopefully, but before he could respond there was a ringing sound from
behind the stage.
“I've got to go”, the stranger
said, “but keep on practising, you've got real talent.”
She nodded, but she knew that if he
left, she had to leave too. Sure enough, no sooner had he left the
room when the lights started to dim. She sighed wistfully and
gracefully dropped down from the stage.
“I've got to find myself a dance
partner”, she thought happily. Her mind quickly turned to that
grey-furred man from her memories, and she smiled as she imagined him
trying to leap about with his chubby body or lift her up with his
stubby little arms, but then she remembered what he had said to her
the night she went away and her merriment faded instantly. He didn't
want to be her partner, no one did. Lapse hung her head and walked
out of the deserted auditorium, back to being alone.
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