(no subject)

[wordslinging]

Title:

From the Soul

Fandom:

Tin Man (miniseries)

Characters/Pairing:

Slight DG/Glitch, but basically gen.

Rating:

PG

Summary:

"Tell me about something good?" she asks eventually. "Something from before all this started, some time when we were happy?"

Notes:

First foray into Tin Man fic. Apparently I decided to go for some fluff before diving into the angst.


They rest briefly once they've made it across the gorge--Cain and Tutor are both against it, but DG and Glitch convince Raw to cast the deciding vote on their side. There's not enough time to sleep, but it's good to simply get off their feet for a while.

It's little surprise when Glitch moves off on his own, or when DG follows him a few moments later.

"Hey," she says, dropping down next to him. "You doing okay?"

"I'm remembering things," he replies, which could be a yes or a no, DG supposes. "Not all of it, but...things keep coming back, now, in flashes."

DG smiles faintly. "That's the same way it's been happening with me. Do you get that thing where someone else mentions something, and you couldn't remember it at all before--"

"--and then all of a sudden, you remember it clear as day," Glitch finishes, with his own wry smile. "We're a fine pair, aren't we? One and a half brains and a magical memory block."

His smile drops away a moment later as he says, "I couldn't remember that Azkadellia used to be different. Until you did."

DG hunches her shoulders a little, wrapping her arms around herself. "What

happened

to her, Glitch?"

He shakes his head. "I don't know. I think maybe I never understood the whole of it. But when she was--eleven annuals, I think, or maybe twelve, she

changed

so horribly...your mother tried to save her, I remember that. But even she couldn't undo whatever happened."

DG sits in silence for a moment or two, eyes downcast.

"Tell me about something good?" she asks eventually. "Something from before all this started, some time when we were happy?"

Glitch thinks for a moment, then smiles. "Do you remember the ball?"

"...I don't think so," DG says, brow furrowed. "I went to a ball?"

"Oh, you didn't attend," he tells her. "It was the first ball your sister was allowed to go to. But you snuck out of bed to watch. Remember?"

DG closes her eyes, focusing on his words, trying to match them in her mind to sights, sounds, feelings.

"...I think," she says. "I think I might--"

---

In the time of Queen Lavender Eyes, the northern regions of the Outer Zone had not yet been the barren wasteland they would become after Azkadellia's conquest. Between the Queen's magic and the inventiveness of her advisor, the palace had always remained a place of warmth and light In spite of the snow and ice surrounding it. Times of celebration were no exception, and that night the ballroom had been ablaze with light and color, with the eldest of the two young princesses in the center of it all--and, unnoticed by most, the younger princess watching with wistful envy.

Ambrose had been the only one to spot her, peering out from behind the slightly open door of a small antechamber--and then, when he excused himself and moved toward the door, ducking back with wide eyes and a startled squeak.

When he stepped into the antechamber, she'd squeezed into a cranny between a statue and the wall, one slippered foot still poking out from her hiding place. Ambrose leaned one elbow against the statue, looking down at her with a small, fond smile.

"You're supposed to be in bed," he pointed out, but he didn't sound like a grown-up scolding her. He thought, DG decided after a moment's consideration, like a friend talking about a shared secret.

"I

wish

I could go to the ball, 'Brose," she said, encouraged.

"I know." Unlike Toto--

Tutor

, she corrected herself, again--Ambrose had never tried to get her to stop using the nickname she'd labeled him with when first learning to talk.

"Az gets to go," she went on. "It's not

fair

."

He dropped down to sit cross-legged on the floor beside her--for all the dignity he could summon when he had to, Ambrose wasn't one to place undue importance on formality, and said, "No one means it to be unfair, if that helps at all. And you'll have your share of balls to dance at when you're old enough, I promise."

"But Az'll get to go to all

those

balls, too, so she gets

more

than me just because she's older," DG pointed out, sulking over the injustice as only a young child with an older sibling could do.

Ambrose smiled. "I suppose. But if you want to think of it in terms of having an equal number of balls to go to...well, Azkadellia being older means she'll get old and stiff before you will, and won't want to dance anymore. So I know it seems a long way away, but you can catch up then."

DG couldn't help but giggle, her sulk broken. "I guess."

Ambrose got to his feet, holding a hand out to her with exaggerated courtliness. "In which case, milady, would you allow me to escort you back to bed?"

DG took his hand, but stayed where she was. "I still wish I got to dance, tonight."

Ambrose gave a mock sigh. "You drive a hard bargain, princess...but," he held up his free hand, "but, I think I could be talked into meeting you halfway. Have you ever waltzed before?"

DG shook her head, looking up at him with wide, curious eyes.

"Well, we can't have that--all princesses should know how to waltz. I think it's in an official royal rule book somewhere."

He had to bend over a bit to put his hand on her shoulder, and her hand wouldn't reach higher than his elbow, but Ambrose figured it shouldn't hurt the footwork too much.

"Now," he said, taking on the tone he used whenever he taught her or Azkedellia anything--for all that he wasn't their official tutor, he could always be counted on to explain things they were curious about--"the secret to dancing, any kind of dancing, is rhythm. All you need to do is find the beat of the song and move with it, and the beat of a waltz goes just like this...one, two, three..."

---

"--You taught me how to waltz?" DG asks, leaning her head against her drawn-up knees as she looks across at him.

Glitch nods, smiling. "You were a natural, too."

"But I don't know how--I've never been much of a dancer," she says, a bit sadly. "I guess I lost that along with everything else I forgot about the O.Z."

He eyes her for a moment, then says, "Bet you still could, if you gave it a try. I mean, I can still dance with half my brain missing. Rhythm's not that easy to lose."

"You think?" DG considers. "I guess it can't be any harder than remembering how to do magic."

Glitch gets to his feet, holding a hand out to her. "I'm game if you are, princess."

It's awkward waltzing for the first time in fifteen years, on uneven forest ground, in the dark, and both of them stumble over rocks or fallen branches or each other's feet a few times, but they keep at it. And, DG thinks as she trips again and ends up with her cheek mashed against Glitch's shoulder, his arm around her waist to steady her and both of them laughing, awkward as it is, it's also definitely a waltz.

"--What are you two doing?"

The look on Cain's face as he stands a few feet away--a little incredulous, a little bemused, a little 'I have to try and save the O.Z. with these two?'--is the icing on the cake, and DG collapses against Glitch and laughs harder than she has in days.

Glitch just beams, too pleased with himself to be at all sheepish. "Cain, look! DG remembers how to waltz!"

"Oh, great," Cain says, folding his arms. "Now if the Emerald of the Eclipse can only be found by

dancing

, we're all set."

DG straightens, finally regaining her composure. "We're, um. Done now. If it's time to go."

"Are you sure?" Cain asks, already turning to stalk back towards where Raw and Tutor are waiting. "Because I wouldn't want our journey through dangerous territory to save the O.Z. with only a few days left to do it in to cut into your dance practice."

"Hey!" Glitch protests. "I thought you would've learned to be more appreciative of my skills in the arts of movement!"

"Not waltzing," Cain tosses over his shoulder. "Take out some Long Coats with a waltz, and I'll appreciate it."

"Your soul is

sadly lacking in poetry

, my friend!" Glitch calls after him, then turns to DG, offering his arm. "Well, shall we?"

DG slips her hand into the crook of his arm, still smiling.

"You know," she says as they set out again, "if I remember right, I got you to give me a piggy-back ride when I finally went back to bed that night."

"Don't push your luck, princess. My back isn't quite what it used to be."

Comments

[cytheriafalas.livejournal.com]

Awwww that's so cute! I am a huge fan of the "Take out some Long Coats with a waltz, and I'll appreciate it." If I am not mistaken, Glitch's rhythm did just that.