Reborn

3: Moon And Sun (Rewritten!)

Yet as I caught my breath, my eyes couldn't help but find a lone figure, who didn't look like they were having much fun. Yugo stood near the edges of the crowd, seemingly hidden within one of the few spots of shadow. His shoulders were hunched and his hat hid his eyes from the angle that I was watching from, but the stoic face he had on was impossible to miss.

The other Eliatropes seemed to skirt around him, giving him just enough room to not be trampled, as though they were weary of his approach. It was a stark contrast to when we were younger- when people seemed to gravitate towards Yugo almost naturally, as though they were bees who had found a patch of blooming flowers.

To hide my frown, I took a long sip of my drink. The fruity smell of the liquid tickled my nose with it's sweetness as I swallowed.

All night, I had been silently waiting for Yugo to come join the dance. Ever since I came back, the man seemed eager to avoid me. Every time that I tried to get close, despite how he had promised to spend some time with me (to catch up) after the meeting of my return, he dodged me. My plan was that with a dance- which had you pair up with virtually everyone present at some point- he wouldn't be able to run away. But as the night lengthened, and he continued to remain a bystander, I became weary of my waiting. Silently, I began to contemplate my chances of reaching Yugo before he could run away again.

A hand brushed against my arm and I looked to my right. Qilby stood there, in all white, with a small smile on his face.

"Elena, how has your evening been so far?" he queried. I turned just enough to face Qilby, and at the same time, keep watch of Yugo out of the corner of my eye.

My fingers rubbed against the edges of my glass softly as I gave Qilby a smile. "It's been great, thanks! I've been dancing so much, I just needed a quick break. How about you, Qilby?"

"Ah well, I've been keeping myself busy trying to not get stepped on..." he replied casually.

My cheeks instantly went red from embarrassment. It was Qilby who danced with me the majority of the time. He had been cutting and switching with my partner every three or so turns throughout the night. It was unusual, but I had found it entertaining at the time. "Wh- what? I'm not that bad... and it was when I was younger that I couldn't dance!" I complained.

'Besides, why dance with me so often, if you're worried about being trampled?' I wondered silently, mortified at how bad of a dance partner I apparently was. Then I internally cringed. 'Oh man, the others probably think so bad of me now...' I thought as I remembered the other Eliatropes I had been randomly paired with.

"And I'm sure you put a lot of effort into learning while you were away..." Qilby added with a sagely nod.

Meekly, I looked away. He'd caught me there. I had in no way focused on my dancing when I was away. And that truth made me wonder briefly if that was the reason why Yugo had been reluctant to dance...

Without really thinking on it, my eyes traveled in the general direction of where Yugo was standing. Only to see he wasn't there.

The sounds of laughter and the tunes of the music seemed to drain out of the world as I felt like a bucket of ice water was suddenly dumped over my head. Frantically, my eyes searched the crowd. Panic was slowly trying to take over as I combed the edges of the square with my eyes, until finally, I spotted him.

A shade of blue, shadowed by the village buildings, was slinking away into the night. Before I could fully think on it, I had already moved. The need to chase after him and finally get answers for his behavior was almost maddening.