Dancing On Ice

Rebuilding Reality

"It's alright," Perry said softly, holding her tighter, tucking her in tight between the V of his legs as he knelt in the water behind her, one arm wrapped around her waist, the other seeking out her hand and gripping it, squeezing as he kiss her hair again. "It's alright," he repeated.

"Let go!" Aeralie cried, trying to shove away from him, horror at being seen in such a state making her heart thunder in her chest. "Let go of me!"

She tried to rip her hand free, her other flying up to cover her face but he held on tight, dragging her back, keeping hold of her hand, lacing his fingers through hers and pressing the pads of his fingertips into her palm.

"Stop!" Aeralie gasped, turning her face away, "Stop! I don't want you to see me!"

"Well it's too late for that," Perry said.

"So don't prolong it!"

"No reason not to."

"Perry!"

"Kazimir contacted me."

Aeralie froze.

"He said you might need someone to sit with you and felt he was no longer the right person for the job. He said he was probably part of the reason you'd be crying."

"I'm not crying for him!" Aeralie snarled.

Her elbow jammed back as she tried to break free and she caught him in the ribs. Perry released her instantly with a gasp of surprise and Aeralie scrambled away, stumbling and falling, spinning in the water and glaring at him.

"I'm not crying for him! It doesn't matter why I'm crying! It will pass! Go away!"

"Why are you crying?" Perry asked, grimacing as he rubbed his chest, looking at her as the moonlight highlighted her red eyes and silver tears that streamed down her face from a mixture of pain and anger.

"Can't I cry?!" she snarled.

"Of course. I just wanted to know why."

"Because!"

"Because?"

"Because my heart hurts!"

The second she admitted it, the tears doubled as her chest throbbed, aching enough to force her to curl in on herself, gripping her chest as she let out another sob.

"Because it hurts," she cried, closing her eyes, "I just had to face the reality that the last ten years were a complete waste of time!"

Perry's brow creased in pain at the sight of her pain. He automatically reached for her but she shook her head violently, her hair flaring around her.

"I knew it would never amount to anything!" she sobbed, "I know that! Trust me! I was more aware of the impossibility of it all than even Kazimir but it still hurts! It was a dream!"

Her head suddenly snapped up and the rage in her eyes was terrifying.

"Do you have any idea what it's like to see a dream shattered in a second?" she screamed, "Do you have any idea how painful that reality is?!"

Perry opened his mouth but stopped. The question was rhetorical and Aeralie was hurting too much to appreciate an honest reply.

"One second and it was all over!" Aeralie cried, "Ten years of dreaming of something and it was gone in a second because of that one smile! I never stood a chance in the human world! What have I been doing all this time?!"