#odile would be like “i'm not doing that” then without hesitation do it

[thebirthofvenusfly]

very special and important to me that bonnie's love language is food and their first reaction to someone being upset is to offer a snack or piece of candy as the bridge between them and discussing their feelings. :( I love that kid... someone should peel an orange for them and tell them everything's gonna be okay

[sixpossumsinatrenchcoat]

Natural Satellite [ch 11]

An In Stars and Time AU. In ch 11, Sif & Isa talk to the rest of the party. Loop gets dragged into their mess. You can start from ch 1 here.

“Okay, so." Isabeau clears his throat. "We, uh. We… have something to tell you.” Sif turns to him, aghast. “You didn’t already tell them?” “W-Well!! I’m new to this!! So it didn’t really feel like my place? And, and—and isn’t that what Loop is for?” “Oh, is that what you thought?” Loop lets out a tinkling little laugh. “Oh, Fighter. That’s adorable. But I’m afraid you were mistaken. I’m here for my stardust. Exclusively. Angry mobs are way above my paygrade.” “I wouldn’t say that I'm angry,” Mira says uncertainly. “More… confused?” “I’m vexed, at worst,” M’dame Odile weighs in. “Though I wouldn’t take ‘angry’ off the table.”

Isa gets to Bonnie just a few minutes after you do.

You’d expected him to be noisier than you. Messier. It’s Isa, after all. He’s not an actor or a liar. But he watches you stammer excuses at (a very disoriented) Bonnie without saying a word. His face is pale, his eyes rimmed with red. He must have cried the whole way here. But now that he’s here, he’s gone utterly silent.

* * *

“Sif,” he says hoarsely, when you’re finally strong enough to walk away.

You look at him.

“We can’t keep this a secret anymore.”

“But—”

“Sif,” he says again. He’s pale as a corpse, but there's no hesitation in his voice. “If we couldn’t stop that, then we—we can’t be responsible for this. Not alone. Not if there’s any chance we could do better by telling the others.”

“But they’ll—”

Isa shakes his head. “I-I’m sorry, Sif, but I’m not asking.”

Huh. You’re not sure you’ve ever seen Isa put his foot down like this. It’s… disconcerting.

“Okay,” you mumble. Okay, okay, okay, this is—yeah. Yeah. Yes. You can definitely see where he’s coming from. If you can’t even protect Bonnie, then what are you good for? “Okay, I—”

You hesitate. You know it’s what you deserve, but… you don’t want them to hate you.

“…You really want to tell them everything?”

“I mean, yeah? Yes.”

Like it’s that simple.

For Isabeau, it probably is. He just got here. He’s not the one who’s been lying to his famil— to his allies for months and months and months of the same miserable day. Taking their trust and forging it into a blade to swing at them.

You clear your throat. “How?”

“We don’t really need a game-plan, do we? Surely we can just… talk? To our friends? Like normal people?”

Ha ha. Of course. Like normal people.

Isabeau’s head tilts. “How would you go about it?”

Well. You already know how you’d go about it, because it literally just happened, like, three loops ago. You’d just foist it off on Loop.

“Ohhh,” Isa realizes. “You’d make Loop do it.”

“...Maybe I wouldn’t.”

“You’re right, though,” he says seriously. “They’re part of this too.”

Ah. Well. The only problem with that is, if you show up at Loop’s tree with your entire party in tow, you’re pretty sure that they might actually kill you. To get out of the conversation, if not just to be petty. “Um. I think I maybe have to warn them first.”

“Okay! Yeah, that makes sense! So you’ll go warn Loop, and I’ll talk to the others.”

Hm. That doesn’t sound so bad. It gets you out of talking to the others. And there’s no one easier to talk to than Loop. “…Okay.”

“Okay?”

You nod. “Okay.”

“Okay!!!” Isa musters the briefest flicker of a smile. “Then I’ll— Or, I guess, we’ll see you at the Favor Tree.”

* * *

When you get to their Tree, Loop is nowhere to be found. But you traveled alone for years before you fell in with the best chef cooker in Vaugarde. You know how to track prey.

They didn’t have time to go far. Just a short stretch down the hillside, across a stream and behind a thicket of… blackberries, you think, though it’s hard to tell out of season.

You find Loop sitting on a tree stump, drumming their heels against the trunk.

“There you are.”

You’d expected a reaction. A flicker of surprise, at least. But when Loop looks up, their face is utterly resigned. They hold their stare for just long enough to spike your anxiety before turning away. “Haha. Yes, well. Here I am.”

“Um. We were… Or, I mean.” You scuff your feet in the dirt. “I… wanted to introduce you to my friends?”

“Oh, did you???” Loop asks brightly. “Fascinating!!! Because—and do forgive my ignorance—from where I’m sitting, it looks like you wanted to keep me to yourself until you had an ugly job you didn’t want to deal with.”

Ah. Well. Yes. That is technically also true. “But—”

“No!!!” Their face flares so bright that you can’t even see their glare. Then they let out their breath and the brilliance recedes, leaving you blinking the spots out of your eyes. “No. I don’t care. I’m not here to clean up your messes! I’m not interested and I’m not going, so don’t bother asking.”

You don’t bother asking. You’ll carry them the whole way if you have to. If you’re really going to tell your family about how you’ve been manipulating them this entire time, you are absolutely not going to do it alone.

“No,” they breathe, eyes widening, as you drop into a fighting stance. “No, come on, be reasonable—”

A half-second later, you collide with their chest like something launched out of a trebuchet.

“Excuse me!!!!” Loop sputters, clawing at your arms. “Are you a wild animal?? Did no one ever teach you how to argue like a normal blinding person??”

“You said not to ask.”

They try to twist free but you’ve got them backed against a tree, so there’s nowhere to go.

“We don’t have to fight about this,” you inform them. “Just come with me.” In your honest opinion, they’re being a little ridiculous. It’s not like it’s Loop that everyone’s going to hate. The only villain in this story is you.

You dig your elbow a little deeper into their throat, just to drive the point home.

Loop gives you a saccharine smile. “Aww. Did you really think I had to breathe?”

They hoist themself off the ground with both hands and slam their heels into your chest, knocking you back into the leaf litter. Before you can scramble out of reach, they’re already on you.

“You’re being sooooo~ stupid about this,” they purr. “You think dragging me into your mess will help you? No. No. You’re a joke to me. Your logic is a joke. And, stardust~~? If you bring those puppets here, I swear on all the Stars, I will kill them. Oh, they’ll come back!” they add, with a tinkling little giggle. “But you’ll remember. You’ll know what you did.”

“Why???”

“None of your business!!!”

When they shift their weight to get a better angle, you slip a foot around their ankle and hook your knee around their hip and flip them on their back. Loop takes the time to wink at you before spitting sparks in your eyes, taking advantage of your momentary blindness to slam their elbow into your nose. You hear something crr-rnch. The impact rings in your ears, floods your mouth with copper. When they twist around to gain the advantage, you're too dizzy to stop them.

You’re still tussling blind when you hear your name.

“Sif?” It’s Isa’s voice, muffled by the trees. “Loop? Are you guys there?”

You open your mouth to answer but before you can get a word out, Loop stuffs their whole hand in your mouth. You bite down, hard. Viscous fluid spills down your chin, fizzes on your tongue.

“Ow!!! Are you a rabid dog???”

You bare your teeth at them. “I don’t understand why you’re being so difficult!!”

“Aaaahhhahahahhhha! Of course you don’t!! How could you!?”

“You could tell me!!”

They lean in even closer, slamming their forehead against yours. “Learn to read between the lines!!!”

You try to flip them over but it’s like they know all the same tricks, only better. You’re still scrabbling for purchase when they slide your knife out of its sheath and press the blade to the side of your throat, right where you always make the cut. You take care of your tools. It barely takes any force at all to slice through cartilage and bone.

“Do it,” you taunt. “I'll be back in five minutes.” You could do this for days. Weeks. It’s a nice change of pace. And it’s exhilarating.

“You think I won't?” Tracing your jugular with the point of your blade.

“Then do it.”

Loop presses down harder, till you feel the characteristic sting of breaking skin. Warmth trickles down your neck. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you.”

“Would you?”

Loop digs the knife in deeper. “I can think of nothing I’d like more.”

Maybe you shouldn’t understand that, but you do. You don’t like getting killed by the King. You don’t like getting crushed by the rock-trap or carved open by a Sadness, but you don’t think you’d mind getting killed by Loop. Loop knows you. They’d know what it meant. It wouldn’t feel any different than dying by your own hand.

“Loop,” you breathe, as they lean in closer.

“Stardust~~?”

“Are we gonna kiss?”

Loop jerks back like they’ve been burned.

“What is wrong with you???” They give you a revolted glare before flitting to their feet and brushing themself off, still shuddering. “Stars above, you are such a little narcissist!!”

“Like you’re one to talk,” you snort, reaching up to pluck the last few leaves still lodged in the miasma of their surface.

Loop huffs a bitter laugh. “What do you need me for, anyway? They’re not going to trust a—” Their face tightens. “A total stranger. Not everyone’s as stupid as you, teehee!”

“But you’re better at explaining.”

“That’s why?” Loop tries and fails to hold back a startled little giggle. “There’s not even anything to explain!! ‘We’re stuck in a time loop.’ There, I wrote the whole script for you.”

“But you’re…” You don’t know how to say it. What did Isa say, again? “You’re… part of this? You’re here, too.”

Loop turns away. “Haha. Well. I guess I am.”

* * *

When you stagger back to your Tree, you’re both worse for the wear. Your surface is cracked and pockmarked, void-fluid and starlight seeping through the seams. Your stardust, of course, is leaking much more conventional blood. It’s drying in the corners of his mouth, in the creases of his eyes. You can see it dripping from a deep gash in their forehead. (You don’t feel sorry. You don’t.)

The Fighter takes one look and does a ridiculous, cartoonish double-take. “W-Woah!!! What the crab happened to you guys??”

“Just a friendly conversation,” you say sunnily.

To your surprise, your stardust nods. “That’s right.”

You can read the rest of ch 11 here: ao3.org/works/53412649/chapters/138439021 Or start from the beginning here: ao3.org/works/53412649/chapters/135189547

[isatswap]

(full game in stars and time spoilers)

(also this text has discussions of death and abandonment)

Family Quest

TTOS version of Tutorial Quest (Bonnie's friendquest) from ISAT

(Odile is standing here, seemingly consumed by her book.)

Loop: "Odile."

Odile: .... Odile: Oh, heyfrin. Odile: .... Odile: What do you want.

Loop: (...)

"Clocktower, sleepover"

"Worrying about tomorrow?"

"Anything weird happening lately?"

"Can I help you with anything?"

"Nothing!"

Odile: ...

(Odile seems to be contemplating you question.)

Odile: Don't you have anything better to do? Odile: ...No?

(Odile sighs heavily.)

Odile: Fine. I do need help with something. Odile: It might take a while, though...

Loop:

"I have time!"

"Maybe a bit later..."

Odile: Okay. Follow me, then.

(Odile brought you outside of Dormont.)

(There are some weak Sadnesses roaming in the distance.)

Odile: Loop. Odile: The reason I decided to let you help me is that you're less responsible than other adults.

Loop: (???) "What does that supposed to mean???"

Odile: Well, I think the others would be a bit against this. Odile: ...I need you to help me learn to fight.

(Oh!)

Odile: I know Boniface said I will be helping you tomorrow but... Odile: I want to fight. I don't want just just be on the sideline and shout mean things like I usully do. Odile: I mean, I know how to fight, just....

Loop: "What, too scared to face a Sadness on your own?~"

(Odile looks at you like she is going you use you as the first target for her training.)

Odile: No. Odile: ...Just.... To be safe, I need someone else here.

(That is fair. Would be kinda bad if Odile got hurt alone in this forest.)

(One of the Sadnesses approaches you.)

Odile: Look, I can show you!

(She immediately engages. You are forced to join.)

<BATTLE START!>

Odile: Scissors type. Well that's not good.

(Odile looks through her book...)

(TRISTESSE attacks!)

Odile: O-OW..!!!

(ODILE...!!!)

(Without hesitation, you strike)

<TRISTESSE is defeated.>

(You breathe in, and out.)

Odile: Nghhh....

Loop: (You can't help but yell.) "ODILE, BE MORE CAREFUL!!!"

Odile: Shut up, I am fine....

(You inspect Odile.)

(Miraculously, she doesn't seem hurt.)

(She is clutching her book too hard.)

Loop: "...I shouldn't have yelled." Loop: "Breathe with me?"

Odile: ....Okay....

(You breathe in and out, slowly, making sure Odile breathes with you.)

(You need to calm down, too.)

(Slowly, she relaxes her clutch.)

Odile: Hah..... Odile: .... Odile: Thanks.

(She gets up.)

Odile: Well, that didn't go super well.

Loop: "It did not, no."

Odile: ....I shouldn't have rushed into battle like that. Sorry, I guess.

Loop: "Wow, Odile apologising? That is a rare sight."

Odile: Shut up. Odile: ..... Odile: We should fight another one.

(You nod, and point to the nearest Sadness.)

(Odile nods in agreement.)

(You jump in.)

<BATTLE START!>

Odile: Okay, so...

(Odile looks at the hand of the Sadness.)

Odile: Oh, Rock type. Odile: Weak to Paper, which is my specialty, we are in luck.

(Odile smirks a little, preparing her book in advance this time.)

(You smile with your eyes, and take an attacking stance.)

<Exchanging blows with the Sadness, until it gives in.>

Odile: Heh. I'm pretty good at this, actually.

(You clap, trying to not do it sarcastically.)

(You breathe in, and out.)

Odile: That was fun, Loop. Thanks for assisting me.

(You've never heard Odile thanking you, either.)

(You decide to not mention it.)

Odile: ...

(Odile is looking up at you.)

(You look back.)

Odile: ....Why do you hide your face?

Loop: (HUH???) "Why are you asking?"

Odile: Because I'm curious and have never had a chance to ask you directly. Odile: Mirabelle, Isabeau and Boniface also don't know, so.... Odile: I mean, I have a myriad of questions about you, actually, but the face bugs me the most.

(Hm. Others have tried to ask you this in the past, but you never gave a clear answer.)

Loop: (And you're not gonna give one now.) "You'd be blinded by my beauty, teehee!~"

Odile: ...ew.

(She does smile a small bit, though.)

Odile: I don't believe you one bit, but I will get off your back, for now at least.

(....)

Loop: (Actually, you have a question yourself.) "What is that book you're carrying?"

(You always assumed it was a spellbook, but she seems to be writing in it as well. Also, it is way too big.)

Odile: Hah, as if I would just tell you.

(Well, was worth a shot.)

Odile: But you did help me, so maybe you deserve an answer.

(Oh!)

Odile: This is a familytale. You probably never heard of it, because you're not from Vaugarde. Odile: It's a book passed down in a family, and each generation writes their own stories in it.

(Oh! Interesting. So that is why she is writing in it.)

Loop: (But also...) "Wait, arent you from Ka Bue? Why do you have one?"

Odile: Oh, it's from.... my mother....

(Odile suddenly becomes sad.)

(No, no, no, you know why, she is an orphan, why did you--)

Loop: "Odile, I'm so sorry--"

Odile: No, it's fine. Odile: You couldn't have known. I haven't told this to anyone yet.

(Odile closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.)

Odile: It's okay. I promise. Odile: ... Odile: Actually, I have one more thing to ask of you. Odile: Always wanted to do it. Odile: High-five?

Loop: (?) "What?"

Odile: I defeated a Sadness just now. I think it's pretty appropriate.

(Oh.)

(You guess she is right.)

(You both take out your hands and do a high-five.)

Odile: Crab yeah!!!

Loop: "Crab yeah indeed!"

Odile: ....Should we fight another one, for good measure?

(You nod. Why not, right?)

(You spot the next Sadness and attack)

<BATTLE START!>

(You and the Sadness exchange blows.)

(This is different from usual.... You are not used to fighting outside anymore.)

(The ground is uneven, and there are stones and sticks everywhere.)

(Oop--)

(...You tripped on a branch.)

Odile: !!!

Odile: LOOP!!!

(The Sadness saw you fall, and is running towards you to attack!!!)

Odile: Oh no you don't!!!

(Odile strikes the Sadness with her book!)

<TRISTESSE is defeated.>

Odile: Ahh...Ah....

(You breathe in, and out.)

Odile: LOOP! LOOP, ARE YOU OK?!?

(Odile is breathing heavily.)

Loop: "I'm fine, Dile! I just tripped."

Odile: Are you sure?...

(You nod.)

Odile: ...You haven't called me Dile in forever....

Loop: (Whoops.) "Odile."

Odile: I didn't say I dont like it! Odile: ....Are you sure youre okay?

(You nod, again.)

Odile: ...Sorry. I just got scared. Odile: It reminded me of the.... last time.

Loop: (Last time?) "Last time?"

Odile: Yeah. Have you forgotten?... Odile: It was a while back. Odile: When you protected me against a Sadness, you know.

(Huh?)

(What Sadness does she mean? You don't remember...)

Loop: "Which one?"

Odile: Which one?!--

Odile: The one which got your crabbing eye, you--

(Oh!!!)

Odile: I knew it!! You did forget!! You crabbing-- augh!!!

(Odile seems to run out of insults.)

Odile: You think it doesn't matter that you got hurt! And you keep getting hurt because of it!! Because of me!!

(Right.)

(You remember, now.)

(It was after you all met Odile. Before she stopped talking to you almost at all.)

(She wasn't careful, and a Sadness was about to hurt her.)

(She is so frail. No one was close enough to do anything.)

(You are the fastest.)

(So you ran, and got in front of her, and...)

Odile: Why did you do it, Loop?!? Why did you protect me?! I don't understand!!! Odile: You could've just stayed put!! I could've taken care of it myself!! I would have been fine!!! Odile: But noooo, Loop thinks that I'm still a child!!! That needs to be protected from everything!!! Odile: And now you can't see from one eye!!! You bump into things and trip all the time!!! Because of me!!!-- Odile: You're such a crabbing idiot for thinking it doesn't matter!!!--

(Odile kicks a rock in frustration.)

(She seems very angry at you.)

(But--)

Loop: "It doesn't matter that much, though?"

Odile: It does, though!!! Odile: You got hurt because of me, and I don't like it!! Odile: And I don't want it to have happened!! You should've just stood there and let me take it!!!

Loop: "But you would have died."

Odile: Wha-- No I wouldn't!!! Odile: See, this is what I mean!! You treat me like I'm useless and can't do anything by myself!!

(Odile throws her arms up in frustration--)

(...!)

(Several pages of the familytale fly out and get carried away with the breeze.)

Odile: !!!

(Odile manages to catch one of the pages.)

Loop: "Odile, I'm so sorry, let me--"

(You almost start chasing after the pages, but--)

Odile: ...No, it is fine.

(Odile lets go of the page, letting it fly away with the rest.)

Loop: "Wait, but your familytale--"

Odile: It doesn't matter, Loop. Odile: Those were my mother's pages.

(?)

Odile: ...You know, I've never actually told you all what happened to my parents. Odile: Well, with my dad, it's pretty simple. He died when I was a still preteen. You probably assumed that. Odile: But.... my mother.... Odile: She abandoned me even before that. She never wanted to have a child. Odile: .... Odile: When-- When my dad died, I... couldn't stay in Ka Bue anymore. Odile: That country... My home... It carried too many bad memories for me. Odile: And I thought-- Maybe, I could live here. In Vaugarde. Odile: Where my mother came from. Odile: ....But, alas, this place also didn't feel like home. Odile: Makes sense, I guess. My mother hasn't left me with anything. No pictures, no letters, no last words. Certainly didn't make me feel connected to Vaugarde when she was with me. Odile: But.... she did leave one thing. Odile: This familytale. Odile: Passed down to me from my mother, and to her from her parents, and so on. Odile: And I thought maybe this was it! This could help me connect to this place! Reading my family's tales, reading about how they lived, their adventures... Odile: ...But I was wrong, still. Odile: I did not feel like I was in this family. Odile: My mother severed that connection from me. Odile: The people who wrote this book are strangers to me. Odile: I've even tried writing my own journey in here, but it always felt so...wrong. Odile: .... Odile: And then, after The Scary Lady took over this country.... Odile: I met you all. And it felt... different? Odile: Like I actually belonged in this group? Like this was supposed to happen all along? Odile: ...Only now I realised what it was. Odile: You all are my family.

(!!!)

Odile: I don't need to cling to my roots like that, they were never there, basically. But you all are here. Odile: And I care about you all! About Isabeau, about Mirabelle, about Bonbo-- Boniface!!! Odile: And I care about you, Loop! And I don't want you to be hurt, you crab! So stop pretending like it's all fine!!!

Loop: "Dile....." Loop: "Yeah, it's not fine that I got hurt." Loop: "But it has already happened. We can't do anything about it." Loop: "...But I can promise to try to not get hurt like this again."

Odile: .... Odile: Heh. Odile: I almost believe you, actually. Odile: .... Odile: Just.... let me help more. Not just you. The whole group. So no one has to get hurt this much.

(....)

(Despite you saying what you said, you can't promise that.)

(You would get hurt again.)

(If it meant that Odile is okay.)

(If it meant that everyone is okay.)

(But she knows this already. She is not just a child.)

(And because of that....)

Loop: "You can help. If you also promise to try to not get hurt."

Odile: ... Odile: Shake on it?

(??? Huh???)

Odile: Shake on it. Like all the, haha, important adults do.

(...)

(You let out a snicker and outstretch your hand.)

(Odile firmly shakes it, visibly trying not to laugh.)

Odile: Can't believe you actually did it, Loop. Odile: ...But I do promise. And I actually believe you. Odile: We won't get hurt. And the rest of us won't. If we try together. Odile: .... Odile: Heh, all this feelings talk has tired me out. Let's get back to the village, before I call you a crab again.

(You laugh and lead the way back.)

[drwgonslayer]

JAMIE X CLAIRE, fanfic.

What if Claire Beauchamp was a ballet dancer and Jamie, a doctor?

The Ardent Dance Of Swans

 chapter 1: Hearts Of Swan

Prospero: “We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep.” 

– William Skakespeare.

ATO I – Pas De Deux 

Jamie Fraser could not say he was a fan of Classical Ballet. In fact, he was unable to understand even the smallest thing about it or the intricate and elegant movements of the dancers. But he was a fan of classical music since he was a child in Lallybroch, running away from his sister’s shoes and listening Ellen Fraser, his mother, playing the piano with undrilled passion and full heart. It was the sweetest parts of his childhood, seeing his mon safe and healthy before the gloomy claws of cancer came and took her away, far from him and his two brothers. Then, of course after that, the music stopped. Ellen was the shape of music, melody and happiness, the heart of the house, without her there was no reason to keep playing and living their best life. Until his middle sister kick their ass out of self-pity. 

“Mama would be ashamed of us.” – Jenny said in her firm voice but betrayed by her shaking hands. “We have to keep walking. Head up and keep walking. That’s what she always said. Head up and keep walking, William and Jamie.” – So did they. 

Head up and keep walking, he made up his way on the med-school. He built a solid career as a Trauma Surgeon, after came back from the army, and a home in Edinburgh. William was an administrator,  married and almost a father and Jenny was an architect, with three little children and married with Ian, a good man, friend and lawyer. 

He, working as a doctor in full time, didn’t spend time looking for real bonds or marriages like his brothers did. As a man not adept to the casual sex, he only had short relationships in almost ten years. Leogharie, who scared the hell out of him at the end – she was a stalker and very jealous, toxic, if he could say – and Genebra, a doctor too, but immature and selfish.

None of them was the one that his mother always talked about, so he got over easily. But, anyway, he was not looking for it —the one—,  like his brothers did, because Jamie really knew it would be difficult find one love like his parents had and after all he went through, difficult was not so attractive anymore. 

So, now, he was on a theatre alone after he refused the company of a girl that Angus and Rupert, two orthopedists, invited for him, watching the First Act of Swans Lakes. 

Jamie, of course, knew that the libretto is based on a story by the German author, Johann Karl August Musäus, The Stolen Veil, that tells about Odette, a beautiful girl, that was cursed to spend her entire day as a swan, returning to the shape of a woman only at night. The curse  said that the spell can only be broken if one who has never loved before swears to love Odette forever. So, one day, at night, Prince Siegfried was hunting at a lakeside when he found her and fell in love.

But nothing would be so easily, even in the fairytales... On the other side from story, there was Von Rothbarth, an evil sorcerer, that disguised his daughter, Odile, to look exactly like Odette and deceive the Prince. 

He watched the acts without really paying attention, just absorbing the Tchaikovsky’s melodies played by the intrumentalists when the act changed again and a new character entered in scene.

She was... Breathtaking. And he was speechless. 

All dressed in black, stormy eyes and graceful intricate movements, she was the shape of hurricane and captvated Jamie completly... it was as if he was watching a whirlwind though the windows of his house, anxiously waiting for the moment when he would be dragged by her overpowering wind. 

But in the meantime, he watched she dances...

Her movements were passionate and full of emotion... it was like seeing fairys dancing, slow and softly as the melody went down a few tones and  chaotic as the melody rose. She never stopped, she never hesitated. She kept going and going, in ups and downs: passionate and enchanting. 

He felt her angry, her love, her ambition every time she stretched her body, raised her thin but strong arms above her head or just around her; every time she raised her long legs on a elaborate movement and every time she changed her facial expression. 

She was brilliant and ethereal, like something between the orphic and the magical. 

She stole the scene, and being mushy, he could say that she stole a part of his heart too, (without any protest). 

The Black Swan… She had already overwhelmed him. 

ATO II — Dance Of Swans 

Even when he left the stage, he kept in a chaotic silence inside himself. He tried, but he could not recognize the feelings he felt when he saw her leaving. He supposed to be watching the new act that was happening, but his mind was a mess.  

Jamie was not a man who believed in love at first sight. He was a romantic, but not so daring. However, it was  ironic that nothing could explain exactly what he felt  beyond the words “love at first sight.” 

He never had a experience like that in his life. 

Jamie sighed, feeling the need of took a deep breath far from the audience, where her energy still hovered in the atmosphere. He left his place, calmly, and walked through the halls of the theater when he heard some loud voices.

Approaching himself from where he heard the noise, he could not help but heard the conversation of some dancers. 

“I think she will not come back to the stage.” — then, the fiery hair woman sigh. — “She wants to be strong and she will not say that she’s tired, but if she keep dancing today, her feet...” — another sigh and a man near the woman took a deep breath too. 

“Do you think it’s broken or just...?” — he asks. 

“Not broken, yet.” — he heard the woman emphasizes the ‘yet’. — “But will be if she not leave someone take a look at it.” 

“She still has two acts, what we gonna do without the ‘Black Swan’?” — Jamie’s heart sank. She was hurt and he could not just be here, listening to this and not trying help.

Using his 20 seconds of courage, he left the shadows and scared the both dancers, who looked at him with doubt eyes. 

“Good-night, I-’’ — he cursed himself, what the hell was happening with him today? — “I could nae help, but I heard ye two sayin’ that someone is hurt. I’m a doctor. There is somethin’ I can help?” — he finished his introduction. The woman and the man took a moment to staring at him, looked over if he is confident, what apparently they decided he was. 

“We don't have time... He will fit.” — the man said to his company. — “Our friend hurt her feet. It looks like it will swell...” — Jamie nodded,  already in his doctor-mood while the dancers and him were walking through the hall to the backstage. 

Jamie was the last to enter the room and when he saw her, the unknown  feelings dragged him again. 

She was just sitting in a chair clenching her feet, but he felt like she was tap-dancing on his heart. 

“Claire, we found a doctor and he will look at your feet, so maybe you can come back and keep performing.” — the woman said. Then, Claire raised her face and looked at him. 

Her stormy eyes (between blue and green as an ocean) met his eyes (just grains of sand) and Jamie prayed to the heaven. 

Oh, Lord, if Ye are puttin' this rare woman in front of me... I hope she can be mine. 

He approached of her and kneeled by her side without his eyes leaves hers. 

“You do not need to do it, Sir.” — her english accent appeared and again, she choked his words. Furthermore, he already knew that the way she drawled the words, her hoarse and  melodic voice would chase him in his dreams. 

“Och, dinna fash, Sassenach.” — he tryed to wink, and saw her help a laugh. He helped frowned his head, confused. He already did something wrong? — “It’s a pleasure to help. ‘Dancers are the athletes of God’.” 

“Uuh, Einsten...” — She recognises and so frowned her forehead. — “Had I thought Sassenach was an insult?” 

Jamie wanted kill himself. Please, 5 minutes in her presence and he already had embarrassed himself.

“Och, lass, I dinna want tae insult you. It's just meaning ye are an English.” 

She giggles. 

“Yeah, somethings you can not change.” — he smiled and so, with a look, asked for her permission to touch her right feet. She smiled and with a Herculeos Effort, he helped himself to look at her with heart-stupid-eyes and  started to squeezing it. 

Realizing that the two dancers had left the room, Jamie felt the sweat run down his forehead and his hands freeze. Oh, please. Give me a chance, Lord. 

He started his analyse of her feet, and Claire started analyzing him. His eyes his jaw, his hands squeezing calmly her bones. He was a beautiful man, probably at the 28 age, married and with one or two beautiful redhead child. 

“My friends said you are a doctor.” — she starts a talk. Jamie nods. 

“Aye, I’m a Trauma Surgeon.” — she sigh. 

“Wow. This is amazing. They don't know, but I'm a doctor too, a neurosurgeon ...  if you can call ‘I have med-school certificate’ like that...”

Jamie stops for a moment and looks ate her. Amazed. Dragged by her, again. Claire keeps winning it. 

“Now, I have tae say ‘WOW’, Sassenach.” — he jokes and she smiles. 

“None questions about how fool I’m for spend my time dancing when I have a doctor certificate in my safe box?” — she mocks herself. 

“What ye feel when ye dance?” — he asks, instead. And she did not need time to think about it. 

“I’m feel free.”  — she says. 

“So, there is my answer.” — he wink again and she smile, pure and enchanted.

She, despite the fact that he was a stranger, feel safe to share her stuffs with him. By the way, they probably will not meet again. 

“I was tired. Tired to be a surgeon. I always loved to do my work,. it was what I always wanted to be. A doctor. A neurosurgeon. When I was in an O.R, I felt like I was on top of the the world. I felt I could do anything. But... with the love comes the responsabilities and the pressure, the oppression... I almost got depressed. So I stoped and came back to dance.” — she smiles. — “And I do not tell it to anyone, because... probably, I don't like the questions that came after.” — she slipped out with a sigh, at the the end. — “Do you can understand?” 

He had stoped his analyses to listen to her, squeezing her hand in his, trying to comfort Claire a little bit. And a bubble seemed to catch they two, leaving they stuck in their own atmosphere. 

“Aye, I get it. I was in the army.” — he tells. — “And when I came back, I thought I could not scrub in an O.R again. I loved surgery, bein’ a doctor, but it was like I was not in love anymore. I think it happens because we feel as a fraud. We supposed tae be healers, and we believe we are at the first moment, but then, we can not save all lives. Deaths are many than lifes saved and it destroys ye.” 

Claire squeezed his hands, smiling at him. “Yes, it is exactly it. That’s why I left my job and started in a Ballet Company, travelling around the world with them.” 

Jamie smiles. And, without realises, wrap his her hair around one of his ffingers stroking the black crows's curls.   

“Ye are a wee brave thing, aren’t you?”  — he asks, rhetorically, and the atmosphere changes completely. The friendly air turned out in a heated bubble. Just popped when Claire took her eyes off of him. Suddenly, very conscious that she did not even know his name yet. 

He seemed steady as he kept talking. 

“Well, Tchaikovisky did the same, ye ken. It’s incredible, aye, after all “a man who does not feed his dreams, grows old soon.” – he quotes Skakespeare, while kept analyzing her ballerina foot, squeezing in all the right places and, inevitably, pulling little noises from Claire, now. Jamie heard and almost interrupted his work, but with a Herculeous Effort, he kept doing his analysis. 

“Oh, a trauma surgeon and a Skakespeare reader... You really are a MacDreamy.” — she drawled her words exactly as he found the hurt bone, letting a really loud noise came out of her mouth. 

He tried, really really tried, but he could not help the feelings grownt in his veins, driving him near to edge of madness. It’s not right, in many ways. He could not rocognize himself, jamie thinks, but he never felt like that way before. He never felt this “longing alive”, this fever that he feels when he touches her. It makes him wants to build bridges between his aorta and core, just to see her spend dancing with her soft ballet shoes. 

He took a deep breath, mentally. And play on doctor-mood again. 

“It's not broken as ye ken, but my advice is keep it quiet for a moment, letting it rest.” — she nodded. 

“But I have to go back to the stage soon...” 

“Look, Claire,” — her name slipped out of his mouth, subtlety in his hoarse voice and accent, as if he had did it many time before. 

He chokes her words, now. His voice saying her name was like a melodic song. Or a whisper in a silence night. 

“I ken ye have to do it, but I bet for The Cross Of My Lord Jesus Christ, that this foot is hurtin’ as hell. So, ye can stay here. Resting. Or tryin’ go back and have me in that stage huntin’ ye and catchin' ye.” — he said, firmly but still softly. — Ye does not seem so heavy...” — she stared at him, hiding her surprise. 

“Och, ye..” — she imitates, badly but reallly funny tentative, mooching. — “... will catch me?” — he nod, with a guttural noise from his throat and a wild look. She knew he was playing a character in that little scene she was building but she could not help the healed wave increasing in her core. “I would like to see you try it.” — she smiles, malicious, leaning foward in the chair to be closer to him. 

“Och, Sassenach, dae not test me...” — he leans his head to her while she decided to touch his face, stroking his facial redhair.

“Why not?” — she asks, closer to his face. Her nose touching his. Her eyes just few cents to his. 

“Ye ken what people say... play with fire and ye will get burned.” — he squeezed their noses a little bit until she leaned back, running, just to come closer again, back to the same position, giggling. 

“‘One fire burns out another’s burning.’”— she smiles, sassy, as he dragged his nose across her face. — “And I never give a damn for other’s people opinion.”  

“Good tae hear that.” — he says, looking at her in the eyes. So close that he could feel her breathing against his own mouth. He approached his lips of hers and she leaned back again. 

“Cheeky.” — he winks. 

She smiled and, holding his face between her two hands, looking at him in his blue eyes with undrilled  burning fire in her pupil. 

“I don’t even know your name, MacDreamy.” — he laughed. 

“Och, lass...” — he does a little reverence, still on his knees. — “James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser, at your service, ma’am.” — she nodded. 

“Claire Elizabeth Beauchamp.” — she introduces herself, properly now. 

“Fits well, mo chride... Claire Elizabeth.” — he touchs his lips in his chin. — “Now, ye will have me?”  — he whispers in Claire's lips. 

“Yeah, I will have you.” 

And then, without any word, they shocked their lips. 

And the world tumbled down. 

The overpowering wind he was waiting to dragged him at his windows finally came and was overwhelming. 

Her lips is his, her hands in his face...  but could be in his shoulders, arms,  chest or neck... he could not say rightly because she was in everywhere. He felt her in all the places of his body, like she had absorbed him, entirely, just to burn Jamie with her fiery waves.  

He was tightening up her neck to bring her closer to him, as if it was possible... and her hair... it already was a completely mess. But they kept kissing. Claire’s lips were meant to be his. And Jamie’s tongue was created to fit inside her mouth. They were puzzles, made for each other. 

They kissed like there was no tomorrow, because maybe, really would not have it. But they took their moment and took advantage of their time together. Kissing and kissing until the air is needed.

At the end, it was a kiss of swans. Elegant, but ardent. And the premise of an unknown “forever”.  

“Wow.” — she said, first. Her forehead in his, both nears to edge of the unexplored passion. 

“Yes, wow.” — he can say, between his hard breaths. 

“Just-” — she strokes his face. “Wow.” — Claire says again.  

“Shaoil ​​mi gum biodh mo chridhe a ’spreadhadh, mo nighean dhonn.”

She lay her head on his shoulders for a moment. 

“What did you say?” 

“I just though my heart was going to burst.” — he explains.  She giggles, stroking her nose against his chin and cheek. 

“Don’t you want to escape?” — she whispers in his ears. 

“And the ballet...?”  — he asks, dizzy. 

“My doctor said to rest my foot very well... and I have a surrogate.” — he laughed. 

“Now, I’m yeur doctor?” — Jamie provokes. 

“Yeaahh.” — she drawled it. — “And I’m going put this foot on the floor now...” — she provokes, her voice going down a few tones. — “And I will start running away from here. Will you join me or-“ — she bites his ear lobe. — “-will you stay here, all alone in this sad room?” 

He roared, softly. 

“You are such a vixen.” 

She gets up from the chair and starts to run to the exit door. 

“Come find me.” 

God knows he would go.