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“I love you.”
It’s random, spontaneous, and for a moment, Mauro is sure he is dreaming. It is only there, in the depths of sleep, has he heard these words, spoken by the person he treasures most. Only there, in the safety of his unconscious world, where words and actions have no consequence, is he freely able to accept their feelings. In those blurry fantasies, the Earth Dancer finally, finally says yes to his repeated offers for them to become his traveling partner. He sweeps them off their feet, and they take off together into the vast blue sky to find a treasure like no other.
Sometimes his brain conjures Woolby’s presence, the three of them laughing over meals, cheering when they spot land in the distance, and other times he’s absent. Secretly, the times where it’s just the two of them are Mauro’s favorites. No longer do the nights get long and cold, never again does he need to fear the solitude and loneliness that eventually finds every solo wanderer. Together they step off his, no, their airship, onto unknown lands that vary so vastly in scenery, culture, and cuisine that they feel like different worlds. Mauro breaks into tears every time, overwhelmed by the beauty of it all, and the Earth Dancer always rolls their eyes with a fond smile before wrapping him up in their arms and drying his tears.
This just makes him cry harder, for the only thing better than new experiences is sharing them with the ones you love.
He always wakes from these dreams with a slightly hollow heart, and it’s on these days that he lies in bed for a little bit longer, eyes closed, trying to hold onto the fading feeling of their arms around him. He swears that Summer Village is the slightest bit colder on those mornings.
But the Earth Dancer standing before him now is real, flesh and blood, voice clear and lovely as a bell, and he knows in his aching heart that it won’t go how it does in his dreams.
They’re looking at him with blushing hope, wearing a smile that is so blinding that Mauro has to resist the urge to look away. Then again, he wouldn’t mind going blind, so long as that image was the one burned into his eyelids for the rest of eternity. Mauro, dumbfounded, asks if they’re being serious. He’s half hoping they’ll say no, but another louder, more vulnerable part of him is desperately hoping for a yes. To hear the words they’ve avoided saying to each other for so long, for them to be true, and Mauro's heart soars when they say it again.
They love him. They love him. They love him. The one he admires most, his heart’s greatest desire, is confessing their love for him. It’s finally happened. His biggest hope and fear has come true. They love him!
But then an alternative hits him, with all the delicacy of a freight train. Perhaps they mean as a friend?
The possibility both crushes him and is his last life-line. If they really mean it the way he dreads and craves, there’s no way he can say no. He adores them too much, and if this door has actually opened, he’s not sure he can shut it. Whether they know it or not, Mauro’s heart is already in the Earth Dancer’s wondrous, dextrous, oh-so-skilled hands. So he asks them one last time, just to be sure, but deep down in his heart he knows their reply before they even say it. Their confirmation overwhelms him in all ways. Is he on cloud nine? To think, he truly is the one the Earth Dancer loves!
He needs to think of a proper response, it’s what they deserve! They’ve been honest, vulnerable, and he should respond in kind. Mauro’s usually excellent with words but right now he’s so surprised that he finds himself oddly tongue-tied, unable to string together a reply that does them justice. He asks for some time, and the slightly saddened and guilty look on the Earth Dancer’s face makes his heart twist- happiness suits them so much more. With a comforting smile, he promises that tomorrow he’ll reveal all.
After he bids them farewell, later, when he boards his airship for the night, it all comes crashing down.
The night air is cool against his cheeks, and the thumps of his boots against the wooden deck of his beloved airship are louder than they’ve ever been. Mauro comes to a halt at the edge, resting his forearms on the slightly worn polish of the banister. He can see the shining vermillion of the Summer Dragon Shrine’s torii gate across the village, leading to where the Earth Dancer dwells. Against the sound of crashing waves, he considers what is to come.
The Earth Dancer keeps asking him to stay, throwing him hints and poorly hid pleading looks. Every time they do he gets closer to giving in. Their voice is a siren song that tempts him to veer off course and abandon the life he has known, capsizing him into their waters. They push and pull like the tides, threatening to drag him under, and it makes him ever so slightly uneasy when he realizes how much he could see himself welcoming that fate.
I wonder, he muses, what they’re doing now. What are they thinking about? Are they as nervous as he is? As restless and unable to sleep as he?
Usually the repetitive melody of waves breaking over sand is enough to soothe his worries, but today he finds them persisting nevertheless. The things they’ll need to talk about tomorrow are enough to make him slightly nauseous with nervousness. The last thing Mauro ever wants to do is cause the Earth Dancer pain, but in the coming conversation, it seems inevitable. What if he made them cry? Eyes wide, lips trembling, face full of unadulterated hurt…
The image looms over him like a terrible dark cloud, making his stomach twist. Maybe they won’t show up, and they can avoid the conversation altogether. Somehow that idea is just as distressing, if not worse. It’s also just about as likely as the sky falling. One of the millions of things he admires about the Earth Dancer is their diligence. There’s no way they wouldn’t show.
Sighing, Mauro looks up at the sky. Stars glitter like far off gems, and in this moment the horizon he so adores almost seems to be mocking him. Mauro knows the Earth Dancer knows how important his dream is to him. Giving it up would be the same as giving up on himself- if he didn’t obtain that long sought after treasure, what was it all for? All the trials he overcame, not returning to his home and family in Adonea no matter how much he wished to- wouldn’t it all be in vain if he didn’t find it?
They also know how passionate he is about traveling. There is no Mauro without it. He can’t live without it, not forever. It would be the same as clipping a bird’s wings- though it may learn to live on the earth, it will spend the rest of its days yearning for the sky. It would kill him inside. He’d always planned to leave Azuma after he found the place in that photo that had beguiled him all those years ago- after he was satisfied.
Still, being without the Earth Dancer…
The idea makes his insides churn. That feels just as devastating a fate. If they hadn’t confessed maybe he could have fled without ever telling them of his feelings, taken off into the vast blue yonder, nursing his broken heart in the enthrallment of exploring new lands.
Mauro’s never fallen so hard for anyone in his entire life. They’re the most important person in the world to him. How could he go back to how things were before, now that he’s met them? Nothing would ever be the same, now that he’s experienced what it’s like to know them. Picturing them in someone else’s arms is enough to make him want to scream and tear his hair out. Never mind imagining them confessing to another- would he ever be able to recover witnessing such a sight? In that alternate reality, in the darkest parts of his heart, he could almost see himself stealing them away, using his airship to take them far, far, away. He wants all of them but can only give them part of himself.
How cruel of me, he thinks with a rueful smile.
Mauro tears his eyes away from the Dragon Shrine, and sighs. He cannot choose. It’s hopeless. All he can do is leave the choice up to them. Come what may, all he can do is be honest, and pray he doesn’t break their heart. That whatever comes, he’ll at least be able to pick up the pieces.
The long night eventually turns to day, and the world is cruel because Mauro cannot stop time, no matter how much he longs to. And eventually there they are: walking toward him with a sort of nervousness he rarely sees on their heart-wrenching visage, clothes fluttering in the breeze.
Dio mio. They look every bit as beautiful as his dreams.
Their relationship will never be the same again.
The dance is over, the spell broken, the clock has struck twelve and everything will change, for better or worse.
So he spills his heart before the Earth Dancer. Perhaps it was a mistake to tell them he planned to leave, for their face twists in a way he’s never seen before. Their voice is tinged with a sort of angry hurt, the kind that makes him want to get on his knees and beg for their forgiveness. Please don’t look at me like that. He resents himself for being this way. He knows it’s not fair.
Mauro feels the words more than he hears them. When the Earth Dancer tells him to at least just dump them to their face, and let them give up on this dream, he flinches. He cannot even give them that.
Dump them? Tell them that traveling means more to him, that they would only drag him down? It’s like they’ve slapped him across the face. He could never utter such ugly words to them. The very idea makes him sick to his stomach. There is no universe where he rejects the Earth Dancer. It’s inconceivable. Just as there's no world where he leaves them, leaves Azuma, without leaving parts of himself behind. Not when they take up his every thought, and every part of him longs for every part of them. He loves them, deeply and truly, but he cannot do it. He cannot set them free in this way. Such words would be lies, poison on his tongue, carving him inside out.
No. It just isn’t possible.
The Earth Dancer is a mighty force indeed. In the face of such demands, all Mauro can do is surrender, and in a trembling voice, make a request he knows is cowardly:
For as long as he was in Azuma, would they be his?
The Earth Dancer observes him, and as much as he has stared and memorized their every feature and expression, this time their face is unreadable. He’s prepared for the worst, he knows it’s unreasonable, that it’s irresponsibly unfair-
But they say yes, they say yes, and Mauro de Saint-Coquille feels like he’s taking flight for the first time all over again.
A weight that’s been pressing down on him for much longer than he ever realized has lifted. He could probably run laps around Summer Village, nay, all of Azuma, for days. He lunges for the Earth Dancer and, with a wild laugh, lifts them up and spins them around and around. His heart is singing, bursting with happiness, and he’s never felt more alive.
He’s smiling so hard his cheeks hurt, and Mauro knows that for as long as he lives he won’t forget this moment. Every single one of his memories with the Earth Dancer is precious, but this one will always hold an extra extra special place in his heart. Is there any greater joy than to lay yourself bare, flaws and all, yet still be accepted? A sense of relief greater than that of breaching the clouds and finally reaching a sunny azure sky after navigating a perilous storm?
He finally sets them back down on the ground, starting to get dizzy. Whether from the spinning or his pure elation, it frankly doesn’t matter. Splendiferous! Incredible! The radiant Earth Dancer is finally his sweetheart!
Ah, he’s definitely tearing up.
Yes, for as long as he’s in Azuma, for as long as they’ll have him (hopefully forever, until the sun dies out and the universe ends), Mauro will belong to the Earth Dancer, and they to him. Mauro takes the Earth Dancer’s hand, eyes sparkling, voice full of relief and pure, unfiltered joy.
“Well, when shall we go on our first date?! How about now? After all, there’s no time like the present!”
They roll their eyes with a fond smile.
It’s a dream come true.