melodiesoflife | Event || The New Year

Event || The New Year

Characters: Anyone!
Where: The Enterprise.
When: The Night from December 31st to January 1st.
Summary: A Ball aboard the Enterprise, for well-dressed (mostly) Heroes of Light and their friends who want to dance and (especially) eat for free.
Warning: Nothing.

While the passing from a year to another isn't as big of an event as the Starlight Celebration, it is no reason to pass up an ocasion to celebrate and have fun. There are fireworks in all major cities and various activities to enjoy. Noticeably, there are gatherings of people in Aqures Ixen and Trano Golsaucia in particular, if only to conclude what is one of the most celebrated week in the year, and wish to each other the best possible year to come-- Though most people are worried about what's to come soon. After all, the end might be nigh with the Calamity about to take over the planet...

To celebrate this, the Heroes of Light have all been invited to stay aboard the Enterprise for a particularly prestigious and animated Ball. Indeed, the Enterprise will from Aqures Ixen and go all the way to Mysidia at midnight-- This way, New Year is going to last even longer than normal thanks to the magic of timezones.

There are tables with foods for everyone to eat and of course, music for people to dance together if they so wish. There is also a consequent number of chairs lined up, for all those who refuse to dance or are too awkward to do so.

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Terra's beautiful white dress seemed like a shining beacon within the dimmer lighting of the room. If she didn't already turn all of the heads present, then certainly as they walked out onto the edge of the dance floor and he stopped to turn back to face her there could be no disguising anymore. Their kiss, before, had been fleeting and this would last a lot longer than that.

Sephiroth made a point to only sweep the room with his gaze once, not to focus on any of the head-shapes he could make out, before naturally resting one hand lightly against the stiff material of her corseted dress and giving her a once over -albeit looking a little unsure.

He wasn't comfortable and certainly not anywhere near confident with the choice he'd made.

"Right. Here goes."

Sephiroth stepped, planting his foot forwards and to their side a little and let go into the momentum as she stepped afterwards; he squeezed her hand a little as if it might help his nerve. The slow, swaying motions came easily enough thereafter; it wasn't incredibly complex, barely what might be considered your average slow-dance, but it was something.

Terra was right, he wasn't that bad but it was probably expected to a certain extent; fighting, dancing: it's all about control over movements of your body.

"I never thought I'd be doing this." He breathed between them on the latest pass when their forms became closer again. Finally raising his eyes from watching where his feet were going --he didn't want to stand on her dress, or worse, trip her-- and meeting Terra's.

Terra nodded and noticing his uncertainty quickly gathered a few layers of her white skirt into her hand before resting it in his once more. This lifted the fabric from the floor reveling glimmering white high heels that clicked along the ground as she stepped.

Her eyes stayed on him as they danced, their bodies moving together in a graceful sort of movement that wasn't completely unlike fighting. It was obvious that Terra was now a skilled dancer. She moved with the ease and grace she showed when walking but this was more fluid and timed.

He was close and the warmth of his breath tickled against her cheek as he spoke. Her smiled widened slightly, her eyes shining from the lights of the party. "You aren't bad at it." Her voice was softer as if she was sharing a personal secret that would only stay between them.

Terra let the song surround them, focusing on the invisible tune and the strength of Sephiroth's arms as he guided her across the polished floor. Her heart leaped in her chest though it wasn't an uncomfortable feeling.

It was both so personal, and yet not so much at the same time, this dancing. On the steps that brought them closer Sephiroth often wondered if he were stepping too closely, but it were followed each time with movements that drew them a little further apart. As Terra were confident within what they were doing though, the insecurity as well soon dropped away. If he wasn't sure, he could follow her last step and before long they became impressively synchronized.

"I'm glad-" He stepped, holding his comment for that moment. "-that you think so."

As the song continued and their steps flowed more into each others, Terra might be able to actually feel Sephiroth relax a little more; a tension, present just beneath where her hand rested on his shoulder, crept itself away. Keeping her gaze more often than daring to look away or even behind her, a warm feeling settled somewhere in his chest as he came to realize that Terra's request -that he had denied her before- wasn't actually all that impossible.

Music fluttered and drifted keeping their movements going as the song lingered in the air. Terra could feel them moving close together and as they're movement's began to perfectly meld they came closer and closer until they stepped together as if one entity. Her smile was fixed in place as she looked up at him trying to find the right word to describe the thoughts thundering through her head.

Her heart pounded heavily in her chest but with each step she felt like she was flying. There wasn't a single word that could describe the feeling.

Terra's lips parted but before she could sleep the song came to it's end. Their steps slowed following the music until they stopped looking into each others eyes. Terra felt the warmth on her cheeks but she didn't care anymore. "Do you want to keep dancing?" They didn't have too, they could see the ship and step outside away from the eyes that are no doubt staring at the pair.

He hadn't quite counted on the way that, when dancing, the melody itself could dictate so much with regard to ones movement. The way that he, and she, stepped; when and for how long before the next step was something he'd taken to as if it were more of a natural instinct to do so - and not something he'd actually had to put a lot of thought into to begin with.

All songs come to an end though; where in reality it had only been a couple of minutes, it seemed a lot longer than that. Sephiroth blinked and then looked around behind Terra as they came to a stop; frozen in place for a time. He urged a steady breath in, and then out as he tilted his head back down towards her. It could probably be his imagination, but there were mutiple pairs of eyes just behind the haze of the colored lights still flashing in their sequence even in the pause between that song and the next.

"We-" The tempo of the next song was much livelier - one of those merry ones hung over from the Starlight period and the tempo would call for a more jolly dance. "-we can try again a little later?"

Terra lightly nodded her head feeling as if her words might fail her. She kept Sephiroth's hand in hers and walked slowly over to her chair where her shaw rested. She dropped his hand to pick it up and pull it around her pale shoulders. She turned to look up at Sephiroth, her lips curled into a warm happy smile.

"Can I still ask for that tour?" It wouldn't be much of a tour but she didn't really care. They could walk and find their way out of the crowded hall; away from inquisitive gazes.

It was most likely to cold out but she wanted to see if there were fireworks and what they might look like from the sky. She always thought that they looked like flowers even if the sound often made her heart tremble.

Stepping next to Sephiroth made her realize that her heart was still shaking a little, it felt like each beat might be her last and she wasn't sure how to take it. It wasn't a feeling she was used to and she's only just begun to understand. Sephiroth was more than just her closest friend, he was someone that she thought very highly off and she wanted to tell him that. Even if it was an inopportune moment.

He kept in time with her, at a slower pace so that their hands remained joined right until she dropped it to retrieve her shawl from across the back of the chair. He'd tried his very best not to meet eye contact with anyone else for very long, that might be watching them as they moved from the dance floor. His mood might turn into something more self conscious otherwise and Sephiroth wasn't ready to lose that indescribable feeling just yet, especially as it was then reflected in Terra's warm smile up at him.

"If you'd like." It took an additional moment for his memory to catch up and recall exactly what he'd suggested in said 'tour' before they'd gone up to dance. The lighter smile across the lower part of his face, alongside the softness around his usually intimidating eyes, simply didn't want to slip away; as if it were permanent now.

Sephiroth offered his arm, as opposed to his hand as he didn't want the height difference between them to become awkward suddenly as he could imagine it might. Though once they were out of the pressing gaze of multiple eyes he seemed happy enough to drop his arm and hold hers again; but the gesture was open as ever and entirely optional.

"I think you caught the attention of everyone in that room, just then."

It wasn't a long stroll, through the quiet corridors of the Enterprise towards the small cabin that he'd had set aside for himself; as all those with a notable rank did so.

Terra's thin arm slipped through his as she pulled herself close to his side. She couldn't banish the smile from her lips or the frantic shudder of her heart. She didn't really pay attention to those around the room who saw fit to watch them leave and when Sephiroth commented on the eyes she felt a warmth rise to her cheeks.

"I think they were looking at you." She paused looking up at him with the same gentle smile. "Or maybe us?"

Terra didn't know how he would take that so she waited before pressing forward. Us, as if commenting on them as a pair.

She followed his lead down the hallway making sure that her shaw stayed on her shoulder and that her skirt stayed gathered in her free hand. Her shoes lightly clicked against the ground as they made their way further towards Sephiroth's cabin.

It was a little odd, the way that his posture seemed to want to lean in closer towards her as Terra pulled herself closer in along his side as they started to walk. It took more effort than usual to avoid the other tables and chairs in case he might absentmindedly bash against them. Once they were clear into the corridor though, a certain edge had been taken off all of the tension.

"You know-" He looked to the side down at her for just a moment before lightly chuckling, the gesture vibrating through his upper body and hers as their arms were joined. "-I think you might be right...us. Together."

Technically he didn't really needed to add that additional word on the end, but the sentence had felt incomplete otherwise. It left a bit of an atmosphere behind it but while it was heavy to begin with it seemed to lighten as they continued to walk. No matter how Sephiroth was left idly wondering if it really was the first time he'd discussed them as a couple, as opposed to completely isolated people. He found himself nearly staring into her glistening eyes again before blinking and looking back in the direction they were walking again.

"This way-" The corridors towards the cabin area were dimmer than the illuminated nature of the party area but Sephiroth had been through them enough on his first trip to the new continent. They'd reached a junction, and the walkway he led her down was labeled 'Authorized Personnel Only'.

A few steps later, Sephiroth dug his opposite hand into the pocket of his slacks; after the small card that would open his cabin door, since they weren't that far from it now.

Hearing him talk about them together gave Terra a reaction that she wasn't at all familiar with. Her heart felt like it stopped while chills crawled up her spine. She looked up at him pulling herself close to his side. It was warm and inviting being close to him like this.

She wanted to wait until she was sure they were alone and after seeing the 'Authorized Personnel Only' sign she relaxed some. This would be a good place to talk to him though as they stepped down the hall, and Sephiroth pulled out his key, she became acutely aware she was going towards his room. They shared a room at home but this felt a little more personal than that. She couldn't explain why.

When Sephiroth stopped at the doorway Terra watched him enter the key card. "Can I tell you something?" The words slipped out before she had a chance to stop them and she felt herself dropping her grip on his arm. Her hands laced together in front of her as she spoke. "I mean... Sephiroth. I wanted to tell you..."

Each lingering second threatened to have her choke on her words. She looked up at him, her bright eyes shining. "I like you." She couldn't say love, not yet, but she knew she liked him more than a friend; more than a protector.

"More than anyone else." She added that part softly as if it added significance to her earlier comment.

They'd walked arm in arm before, but it already seemed a lifetime ago since their time at Flence; so much had happened since. Never mind that, in this instance, it seemed to feel as if they were tucked closer than they had been then. Sephiroth supposed that was probably down to events over the last week, or maybe down to how chilly it was away from the crowd; or perhaps he was just noticing things, regarding Terra, in a little more definition than before.

He wouldn't have pulled his arm from her but it did make it easier that she dropped it, for him to insert the card to the small reader on the wall next to the closed door, and key in the first two-digits of the passcode before fully catching up with the fact that Terra were trying to get his attention for something important. Sephiroth blinked his attention completely back in her direction and even turned minutely more to face her. They weren't in a rush, at all, he could always re-entry the code if it timed out.

'I like you..' He didn't need to hear the second part to have an instant feeling come over him, like someone were squeezing tightly at his insides. It was a little like pride in that it was warm, and he thought it was a nice feeling at first; but it also felt prickly, uncomfortable. Sephiroth tilted his head a little towards Terra and allowed a smile to creep up either side of his mouth. Naturally his thoughts pinged back to that Starlight celebration where he'd been altogether too-much...

Or had he? He remembered how his own heart had raced when he made that decision. To kiss her; even if it was the festive thing to do.

"Well," He stopped to clear his throat, averting his gaze a little so it didn't look like he was expectantly staring at her in any way; that'd be rude and he wasn't a lovesick puppy like that. "That's just as well, because-"

Friend just didn't seem to cut it, with Terra, either. It wasn't friendship like he remembered it being with Genesis and Angeal. No, he was starting to dare to imagine that it might indeed be something more than just a normal affinity; the fact that he knew he cared a lot about her told him that much. It was foreign enough to be both scary and exciting at the same time; yet he still was quite unsure how much of it came from his sense of duty, of the promise to protect her. It didn't quite explain the hole that often filled itself with the urgency to get back to her side soon, whenever he was away for a time.

"-I think that I like you, more, too." How incredibly adolescent he felt, saying that. His eyebrows flick a little closer for an instant, and Sephiroth briefly looked away back to the keypad to try and find better words before returning to look over the small green-haired girl stood before him. "I mean I- your company is....important...to me."

Terra didn't think that Sephiroth was rude however each second of uncertain silence that passed felt like torture. Her heart thudded painfully in her chest and all she could do was stare up at him while her words lingered in the air between them.

Her throat dried and her hands felt clammy as they tightened against each other. She didn't know what she would do if he turned away from her so she tried not to think about it. Instead she thought about their time together, the moments they've shared both happy and sad. It wasn't perfect but she can't deny how she felt and keeping it a secret felt like lying.

They were too close for things like that.

At his response Terra's lips threatened to curl into a wide bright smile. She released her breath, only realizing then that she had been holding it. Her eyes shined and she felt tears dot the corner of her eyes. She was happy, more happy that she had ever felt before.

"And that's okay?" She confirmed softly knowing that Sephiroth wouldn't say it if he didn't mean it. Only, Terra was worried and nervous and she didn't know what else to say. She didn't know what you were supposed to do after this sort of thing considering it's the first time she's ever confessed to anyone.

If there was one thing that the last week or so had proven to him, since Starlight, it was the growing realization that they had indeed become very close; closer than he'd ever thought to intend to become when he took it upon himself to be her guardian. Even that term wasn't all too accurate anymore considering the days, seldom stretched into a week at a time, that he spent away from her. Still Sephiroth felt almost beholden to her to the point where he wasn't sure how he'd managed beforehand.

The most concerning part was that it had developed that way, without any conscious thought on his side.

It was most enthralling, though, to watch her reaction to his -almost embarrassingly- broken words and Sephiroth's smile stretched a little further under the pressure from her own. Meeting eye contact with her almost made his own eyes shine from the raw sense of happiness present there; how it was possible for him to inspire such a feeling? He tilted his head a little down towards her as he spotted wetness at the corners of her eyes.

"There is no reason for it not to be okay?" The only thing he could think of would be if one of Terra's friends either didn't want them to be the way that they were falling together, or were jealous or something. He raised a hand and rested it on the top of Terra's shoulder, offering a squeeze of a reassurance. "This isn't something I'm used to, but I'm trying not to think about it too much."

Terra wasn't used to it either which was why she asked. For the longest time she hadn't thought herself able to feel anything at all and now she felt as if the world had been handed to her. She couldn't stop smiling at him and his words only made her more sure of her feelings.

"No, I was just... really worried." Worried was the best word she could come up with. She knew how she felt for a few months now and she only thought to bring it to his attention after he had kissed her. "I didn't know if you..." Her cheeks blushed a bright rosy pink. "..felt the same." She awkwardly admitted her nervousness before shaking her head.

"I'm really happy." She smiled. "Whenever I'm around you." Terra wasn't sure why she was saying all this now. Perhaps because she had gone to long without saying anything at all.

At the very least, Sephiroth knew Terra well enough to appreciate that she knew even less of figuring out emotions and feelings than he did. Where he'd been suppressing his own - as he had always been so good at- at least he had enough experience to know that he did feel them.

It was for that reason that he just stood there and listened as Terra found her words, not taking his eyes from hers and -though it wasn't easy with his could-be stern expressions- attempting to seem encouraging, or at least attentive. Opening up so far wasn't something Sephiroth was sure if he were quite ready for, but it was as if his heart were starting to scream at his head; just for him to let go of all the apprehension finally. Terra had been there, had seen him at his lowest and she was still there...and if implications made sense, based on what she said, she wasn't about to leave his side.

"I guess I-" He only broke eye contact with her a moment, to double check that there weren't anyone else in the hallway or anywhere that he could heard them; before slowly dragging his gaze across the space between them and back to her face. Carefully choosing his words. "-I've been apprehensive too."

"Whether it be through wishful thinking, or my own opportunism. I didn't want to ruin-"

Sephiroth blew a forceful breath out between them, trying to gain a foothold as he struggled over how to just start to begin to express his own feelings on the close friendship he and Terra had cultivated to this point. A moment later, he finished, and it all came together in one small comment.

"-I'm terribly good at breaking things. Sometimes even just in trying to protect them."

Terra shook her head feeling her heart slowly lift and soar. She hadn't ever felt this way before and she began to question her ability to contain it. Like Sephiroth she's always kept a careful control over her emotions and actions. She didn't feel like she could do that now.

"I won't break." Her smile widened and a soft, yet strong, voice echoed from her lips. "I want to protect you too." In this case it might be in a metaphorical sense but she knew that he'd understand. She wasn't going to leave or abandon him and she didn't want to hurt him.

"So nothing is ruined." She confirmed the last comment softly as if to ease any trouble his heart might feel. It was a little repetitive which was against Terra's usual speak patterns but she didn't care. She wanted to state everything plainly.

Terra, for her part in all this, had no idea what to do next. She confessed how she felt and for the moment it felt like she could runs a thousand miles and never get tired. Her cheeks were flushed and a strange bubbly feeling rose in her chest. She want to hug him or kiss him or something; she couldn't figure out all the feelings that flooded against her.

Sephiroth had been even more careful with his control, where he had relaxed a little more around Terra recently, after the slip up of his at the Starlight Celebration. It wasn't a case of being able to contain how he felt, it was more a case of having to lest he drive even more of an awkward wedge between the two of them. Never mind how right that fleeting kiss had felt.

He brought his bandaged hand forwards and rubbed at the inside of his palm with the opposite thumb. It probably wasn't a bad idea to come back to his cabin and get the dressing changed, anyway, being as it was starting to look a little ragged at the edges. Typical Sephiroth in not laying off just because of a few cuts across his hand. His eyes were all for Terra though, in a moment which seemed to go on forever.

He wanted to believe her. A corner of his heart clenched in on itself at the idea that there would always be someone there for him, who's life he just couldn't wreck with his own mistakes. But he was much too mature to think that it was really possible.

"Please." Sephiroth took a step closer to Terra, stretching out his good hand to rest on the side of her shoulder while he searched her eyes. They seemed to glisten brightly with hope, but he didn't want to lead her on when life inevitably would dull it in one way or another. It was only a matter of time. "Don't say that."

"Even the best intentions, the most perfect of circumstances, can be destroyed with no warning at all...sometimes by complete accident. I-"

"-I care about you too much, for that."

While Terra realized the truth of his words they hurt. It felt like daggers digging into her chest and then twisting in a slow painful circle. She inhaled a breath of cool air letting the cold sting keep in thoughts in order. She didn’t want to lose herself to her emotions now. Her head bounced once in a nod to signal that she understood however her words continue in their hopeful tone.

“I care about you too.” Her tone was soft but no less true.

“I know that nothing can last forever, we don’t even know how long we’ll be here…” One day she might have to go home to the world that’s rejected her. “…but I want right now. I want to be happy.” Terra didn’t care if it was selfish. “With you.”

As she saw it, Sephiroth was the only one who could do this and she didn’t want to lose that: what they had or what they could be.

“Can I Have right now?”

Sephiroth would have to go a long way to adjust his lifetime attitude when it came to being a realist. Months ago he'd have dismissed the notion of even having such intense feelings for another person develop in him, out of the simple fact that he just didn't really believe in them. His mind had forever been closed to even allowing himself to forge friendships, never mind something altogether more precious as he was now starting to appreciate this particular relationship being.

There was so much emotion, so many words left unspoken but they blazed behind his sharp light-green gaze, nevertheless, in which the slits had shrunk to their smallest.

Sephiroth was left blinking down at Terra in the wake of her words, trying to control a renewed rush of something that wanted to come swelling up and out of his chest; it should have been sickening, but it was altogether too warm for that. He flexed his grip around her shoulder eventually and discreetly bit at the inside corner of his mouth.

It was a gesture not many people picked up on, but likely something Terra had seen a thousand times when he were lost for words, or even thoughts. She was right; their time here on Crystallis was finite. They had no idea how long they'd remain here, or what might happen at the end of it all. Sephiroth found himself reminded of an attitude that others had encouraged him to adopt; but the question was, if he was really willing to scale his vision of the world down in such a way. A shorter-term focus, an infinitely more personable one, rather than having a goal in the end-game all the time and steaming on towards it.

"You already have my..." The edges of stern, almond shaped eyes softened. It was almost as if tears might well up, if he'd only let them. "...right now."

The grip on her shoulder shuddered a little, and then Sephiroth took that tiny step forwards to draw Terra into a hug.

Terra felt a mixture of surprise and warmth as Sephiroth pulled her close. Her arms wrapped around his waist and she pressed her head against his chest inhaling the scent that she's come to associate with Sephiroth. She felt herself smiling against his chest, the beads of water at her eyes falling down her cheeks in two silent streaks as a completely foreign feeling rose in her chest.

She wasn't just happy, it was more than that and it wasn't something she could explain in words. Her arms tightened around Sephiroth and she could feel their heart beats, both racing frantically in their chests.

"Thank you." She whispered softly against his chest.

The words didn't seem like enough but it was the only thing she thought to say. She was no longer aware of where they were standing, her long white dress rustled and shifted as she let herself rest against him.

Not that she could have resisted much if he'd really pulled at her, but Sephiroth was relieved that Terra hadn't hesitated as he'd stepped closer just...to hold her. A defiant, rushed thudding in the top of his chest was forever on tenterhooks and apprehensively expecting her to do just that.

But she didn't and it seemed, as she settled the side of her face against the dark fabric of the freshly-pressed shirt, that Sephiroth too just seemed to settle around her. His arms drew themselves carefully around her shoulders, a few strands of longer silver hair within his bangs just coming to rest against her bare skin as he dipped his head down; pressing the side of his chin against the side of her head a little and taking a deep scent in of the already-familiar way her clean hair smelled. Except this time it wasn't just to be appreciated in passing and it seemed to cling to his racing heartbeat and make it keep up the pace.

Sephiroth was careful in the way he breathed while they remained locked in that long moment. He didn't want to startle Terra, nor wake up if this was in fact a dream. Eventually he held her a little tighter, once he was certain she wasn't about to step away.

"I should be thanking you." The words, reverberated through his chords at closer proximity sounded deeper than they might usually. "For still being there, and putting up with all of it."

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Event || The New Year

Dancing? Yes yes yes! :D

Dancing? Yes yes yes! :D

Dancing? Yes yes yes! :D

Dancing? Yes yes yes! :D

Dancing? Yes yes yes! :D

Dancing? Yes yes yes! :D

Dancing? Yes yes yes! :D

Dancing? Yes yes yes! :D

Dancing? Yes yes yes! :D

Confessing? Yes?

Confessing? Yes, no....almost? /facepalm

Confessing? Yes, no....almost? /facepalm

Confessing? Yes, no....almost? /facepalm

Confessing? Yes, no....almost? /facepalm

Confessing? Yes, no....almost? /facepalm

Confessing? Yes!

Confessing? Yes!

Confessing? Yes!

'Can I have right now?' - this should be their motto, or something! ;__;

Yes! All they have is now. >.<

That's gotta be a song, somewhere!!