Irritated, Kioyo led straight to the Big Top and up the ladder with no preamble. Leanna followed with no argument, though once on the small platform, she wished she would have asked for perhaps one more go at the routine on the ring's edge. Uncertainty liquefied her joints and her legs wobbled terribly when ascending the ladder, while her pulse pounded each step in her ears. Now on the platform, they wanted to give out from beneath her as the ground zoomed out at an alarming speed.

Lightheaded, Leanna shot a hand blindly beside her, grasping the veranda tightly. Heavens, she wished this fear did not exist, but the platform—it seemed so much higher from the ground than days before. She too wondered if perhaps it grew magically like... like a beanstalk! Yes, she'd read a story recently of a growing beanstalk and the boy who dared climb it. That had been very magical, indeed. Maybe the tent grew, too. Taller with each day. Beads of cold sweat sprouted along Leanna's skin, and though the air was warmer up high, she trembled. Whereas the boy had giant leaves to catch him were he to fall from the beanstalk, what had she?

Unaware of her turmoil, Kioyo walked out onto the rope. Vertigo seized Leanna's empty stomach and squeezed bile into her throat. Dizzy, she leaned back against the veranda, pressing a clammy hand to her forehead.

Kioyo turned with a heavy sigh. "This is—" He was beside her in a flash, warm hands cradling her shoulders. "What's the matter? You're pale and sweating—goodness, how you shake. Is it your heart? Are you in pain?"

Leanna shook her head rapidly and regretted it instantly when the world wobbled before her eyes and swirled under her feet. She clutched Kioyo's shirt and closed her eyes. Taking a few calming breaths, she focused on Kioyo's hands on her shoulders, on her hands upon him. He was unmoving. Stable. He was there.

After a moment, she lifted her lashes. "I'm sorry. It appears I underestimated my fear. Being up here again, it's..." She let a long hollow breath speak for her.

Kioyo's hands dropped from her shoulders. "This is exactly the same as below, just the wire is a bit thinner than the ring's edge. That's all."

"And much higher," Leanna murmured.

With a heavy are we going to do this again sigh, Kioyo took a step back and folded his arms over his chest.

When he made to speak, Leanna pressed a hand to her heart. "Before you threaten to leave me up here by myself again, may I just say now that I do believe in magic. I do, with all of my heart. But the last time, I had Jin and Ellie to catch me. What if—just what if I should fall? Not that I don't trust you any, but it seems you have no wings... unless you do, only I haven't seen them." She realized then, "It may help my fear a little if you were to tell me what you are—you know, for my sanity's sake."

Kioyo stared at her a moment. "No, I do not have wings. But should you fall and I am unable to reach you in time," he pointed upwards with a grin, "They will."

Leanna looked up. There was nothing there but darkness and the fireflies that drifted along the tent peek. They floated aimlessly, marking the expanse with glittering streaks of gold. Others framed the pillars and crossbars like stringed lights flickering secret conversations. There were hundreds, if not thousands, but surely Kioyo did not mean them.

Answering her unasked question, Kioyo lifted an open hand into the air and whistled a strange, high pitch whirr. Within moments, one of the fireflies, a shade brighter than the others, detached from the crossbars of the tent. It floated down, creating loops of shimmering light that sprinkled away like the dying sparks of Bertrand's fireworks. The small orb landed in Kioyo's waiting hand.

The display of lights was lovely, but Leanna's brows still furrowed. "And how exactly is a bug supposed to keep me from falling?"

Leanna yelped as the small firefly rushed her, streaking the air around her with wild lashes of light as if a million stars falling from the sky in conflicting directions. Leanna crouched down, clutching onto the pillar while swatting away at the pestering insect that buzzed feverishly.

After torturous seconds at the tiny hands of the nipping light, a laughing Kioyo reached out and cupped the firefly in his hand. "There, there, Luna. Settle down. She doesn't know any better."

Brushing madly at her hair—that she'd managed pin back somewhat respectably, but now hung wild and untamed around her face, Leanna grunted. "I could have fallen!"

"Then you shouldn't call them bugs, or insects for that matter, unless, of course, you want to upset them." Kioyo smiled down into his cupped hands at the light seeping through his fingers. "I think you owe Luna an apology."

Leanna crossed her arms over her chest and scoffed. She'd nearly been sent off the edge of the platform and she had to apologize? "Well, what exactly am I apologizing to?"

Kioyo held his hands toward her and unfurled his fingers. In the crevice of his joined palms was, "A pixie," Kioyo clarified. "They are the harness should something ever go wrong."

A gasp caught in Leanna's throat. The orb of light was the size of a nail, but at the bright core she could make out the faint outline of a person—a very small person with wings akin to sheer, iridescent leaves. Though its light appeared yellow, at center it flicked through a kaleidoscope of colors. Leanna had difficulty making out her face, but could feel the unmistakable glare.

"Oh, my," Leanna breathed, drawing closer to Kioyo's outstretched hands. She exhaled slowly for fear of blowing Luna away. "I am so terribly sorry, little Pixie. I didn't know, but I do now. Indeed, you are no bug, or insect, and won't ever make the mistake again." Leanna opened a quavering hand. She wanted to hold it, but it was so small and looked so fragile. "Can you forgive me?"

A moment and a whirr, and the small light floated slowly into her palm. Leanna giggled at the prickling of its wings against her palm, still unable to believe her eyes. There was a real live pixie in her hands. This was more magical than she could have ever imagined!

"It appears you have been forgiven. Now that introductions have been sorted, we dance. Go on, Luna. Assemble the others." Nearing his face to the pixie, Kioyo blew a sharp breath, knocking Luna from Leanna's hands. With a high pitch squeak that tickled Leanna's eardrums, Luna zipped toward a laughing Kioyo who shielded himself from the buzzing attacks. After a few playful nips, Luna dashed away in glittering circles to her counterparts above.

Within seconds, the army of pixies detached from the pillars and abandoned the tent peak, their sound that of faint sleighbells. Assembling, some hovered a slight above the rope, others just below. The rest scattered about like stars in a night sky.

"We will start with a simple stroll across. Follow my lead, okay?" Kioyo stepped backwards onto the rope. "Keep your back arched and stomach in." Kioyo slid back further and with a dramatic display of hands, motioned to the rope. Leanna looked at the wire. It too seemed so much thinner than she remembered.

Kioyo arched a brow. "But most of all, remember—"

"No fear," Leanna whispered. Squeezing her hands together, her cheeks flushed. Though it had long seeped through her fingers, memory of the icy feather still marked her thoughts, while that of Finvarra branded her heart. She had to do this. For herself and for Finvarra who had listened to her and cast aside his pride in apologizing to Krinard. The least she could do was heed his reminder and cast aside her fear.

Leanna stepped forward and looked down to the faraway ground, comforted that at least—somehow—the pixies would save her was she to fall. Her ease faded to a hollow ache. Just as the boy in the story had large leaves to catch him, and she the pixies to catch her, Leanna could not help but wonder: did Finvarra have someone to catch him were he to fall? Would someone be there to save him from death... or worse, from Machina?

Oh, but she couldn't think that way—wouldn't. Leanna swallowed down the thought. Whether fear for her own life or fear for another's, it was all the same crippling poison. She would have none of it. Hauling in a deep breath, she slipped her hand into Kioyo's and her foot onto the rope. All negative thoughts coalesced with the shadows she abandoned on the platform behind her.

Kioyo's hand was warm, very warm, especially compared to Finvarra's. Leanna's eyes melted from his, and slid along this man she called friend. Under the gilded shade of the pixies, she parceled him, partly out of curiosity and part to busy her mind from the thin wire beneath her feet, from the distance between her body and the ground.

Instead she mused on what animal lay just beneath Kioyo's honeyed skin and chocolate brown eyes. Something exotic and beautiful, certainly. She looked to his arms, lean and sculpted. And strong...

Leanna chewed at the inside of her lip, contemplating the right way to question him. Surely she'd have to abandon all tact to get some answers as to what he was. Sarah always enquired openly about the private matters of others and no one thought her nosey, but rather an interested young lady. Whether or not such was said behind her back was an entirely different matter.

Nevertheless, Leanna followed Kioyo's lead and stepped forward. "A wolf—no, no—a lion?"

Kioyo stepped back. "Pardon me?"

"You're a lion. You are warm, and fast, and strong. You have great sense of hearing and balance, and you're quite graceful. I say you're a lion."

The corners of Kioyo's lips curled upward as he shifted back. "Flattered as I am that you think so highly of me, there is only one lion in this circus, and that is Kia."

Leanna frowned. "I wish you would just tell me something—anything about yourself. We are friends, no?"

"When I tell you what I am, it will only lead to more questions whose answers, as a friend, I could not deny you." Kioyo turned his gaze to the distance behind her, as if looking to the shame of his past. "I'm not ready to have you think badly of me. Sadly, Krinard is right. I am a coward, but if you could think of me as otherwise for a while longer, I would be much obliged."

The weight of his regret clenched Leanna's heart. She squeezed his hands. "Nevermind I asked, okay?" Leanna smiled kindly, focusing on his eyes while taking a hesitant step forward. "I would be delighted to know anything about you like... dancing! Tell me instead how you ended up as part of this circus, how you learned all of Ellie's routines."

Kioyo met her eyes and stared at her a moment. He squeezed her hand back, a quiet thank you. He took one slow step back, and with it, ease found him again. "This wasn't always a circus—not an actual circus, at least." Kioyo paused, taking inventory of her posture. He lifted her arm a little higher, level with her shoulders and tipped her chin up a touch.

Pleased, he continued his story and walk. "In Forever, every solstice is a time of celebration. There are festivals all throughout the land in the days leading up to it, but the greatest celebration is on the night of the solstice, within the ice palace."

"You mean the one from the night Ellie and Jin were forgiven?"

A small smile touched his lips and he nodded. "It was all I heard of while growing up, tales of performers travelling from all over Forever and its neighboring lands just to perform for the King under the ever falling snows and light of the pixies. Only the best of the best were given audience. If you were indeed good enough, you were welcomed to stay and perform on behalf of the kingdom the night of the solstice. All palaces had similar celebrations and troupes, but no one topped Forever's, and well—"

Leanna stumbled forward. Feeling solid ground beneath her, she let out a breath, not having realized they'd reached the opposite platform. The fireflies whisked off with a pitched whirr and repositioned themselves. Kioyo too turned, and they set off on their promenade of the rope once more.

Finding her steps with more ease, Leanna listened intently as Kioyo went on. "I didn't stand a chance. Dancing wasn't even allowed in my village, just fighting and politics and war. Everyone else came with explosions in the sky and frightening mastery at the elements. I was just a dancer from a mountain village with no formal instruction. While they trained their entire lives under the greatest instructors, with musical arrangements composed just for them, I secretly practiced in an icy cave with only the droplets of melting icicles as song. But though not properly trained, and though I had no wings or fire, I had passion. I loved dancing. It had always been the only way I could let go of all the frustrations I built up from my people, the disappointment I was to them."

Leanna squealed as Kioyo spun effortlessly as if swirling on a sheet of ice. It caused her to wobble, but in an instant she felt warm pressure at her side. When she lowered her eyes, orbs of light gathered at her waist, stabalizing her.

When Kioyo came to a slow stop, the pixies whisked off. Leanna huffed, a complaint on the ready. But in looking at Kioyo, she forgot her words. The black strands of hair that fell into his eyes could not hide the sadness she saw there.

Kioyo's eyes unclouded and he cleared his throat. "You're stiff," he said as if remembering where he was. "Feel the rope. It is an extension of you. It moves when you move and you must move when it moves. This bond must be solidified."

Leanna sensed him trying to brush the memories back under this wall of indifference he'd erected over so many years. Understanding his pain, she let him. "How do I solidify this bond?"

"With a dance, of course." A small nod, and Kioyo took one step forward, one step back. "One, two, three. One, two, three..."

Feeling light pressure along her spine, Leanna glanced over her shoulder to see pixies lined up behind her. She smiled, and in turning back to Kioyo, followed his impromptu dance. In the waving melody of the rope, Leanna found her rhythm.

"I auditioned with a piece I choreographed, and gave it my all, but I was still rejected," Kioyo continued. "I gave up everything to go. My family, my name, and I failed like everyone told me I would. But then..."

A half smile twisted his lips, and in the light of the pixies his eyes glinted mischievously. Another yelp escaped Leanna when Kioyo then spun her under his arm. Instinctively, Leanna rose on pointe. Trusting wholly in the hand holding hers, she closed her eyes and focused on the grit of the rope against her slippers, on the subtle movements of the wire, on the warmth of the guardian pixies.

When she stopped turning, Kioyo gave her a moments rest before whirling her once more, never giving fright a chance to settle. After many series of pirrouettes, Leanna gained control. And turning and turning on the least stable ground she'd ever stood on, she found more freedom than she had all her life.

Gradually reaching center one last time, Leanna's eyes remained closed as this new, fearless world righted itself around her. Opening them slowly, warm brown eyes came into focus first. Then an approving grin. A girlish giggle rippled from her lips. She'd done it! She'd danced on the rope, and could have jumped from joy! Instead, concentrating on the rope, and regaining form, they fell back into the dance and conversation.

"But then, just as I turned to leave thinking I'd never dance on that icy floor again," Kioyo said, "a snow angel floated down from the ever falling snows."

"Ellie," Leanna whispered.

Kioyo nodded slowly. His eyes glinted the way a rippling pond reflects the light of the moon "She was so beautiful. Much more beautiful than the tales I'd been told as a child. She put a hand on my shoulder and told me that just as my dream was dancing in Forever, her dream had forever been to dance as beautifully as I just had. Though she and Jin were already an act, I was offered to join the troupe and choreograph some routines for them. Eventually, after curses and forgiveness, a clown was needed and I took on the role."

Stepping back onto the platform they'd then reached, Kioyo saw Leanna off and smiled. It was a sad smile that never reached his eyes. "That is my story, dear girl. I got to dance for Finvarra's troupe, and Ellie got to dance as beautifully as she'd always wished. We made each other's dreams come true... and here I am." The last of his words faded to a broken whisper.

Kioyo leaned back onto the veranda and was silent a moment. "It's hard not having her around," he said as quietly and glum as the shadows they stood in. "I miss her and Jin. And as much as I don't like to think of it, I miss my home... whatever is left of it."

Never did Leanna want to be the Leanan Sidhe more than she did at that moment. The weight of Kioyo's memories was painful, and helplessness made her heart hurt a little more. A tear trailed down her cheek, and she was certain Kioyo shed one too but with the pixies lingering along the rope, the platform was shrouded in darkness and Leanna could not be sure. Her heart, however, told her it was so.

She reached out and took hold of his hand. "It may not mean much and may sound selfish, but believe me it is not. I know you want to go home, but I am glad you're still here. I don't know what this may have all been like without you, and I never want to find out." She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. Kioyo exhaled and returned the gesture.

With this mutual appreciation between them, they remained quiet for a while before attempting the rope again.

Upon the third trip across, Leanna not only dared walk across alone, but attempted Ellie's dance on her own. Many times she wobbled, and pirouettes nearly sent her from the wire. But the pixies were quick to press on her arm and hip, and sometimes her back, drawing her back to center. In finding her balance, Leanna nodded them off. Still, they remained close by, making her performance a little brighter as a dark morning vanished to the light of the sun and pixies.

Rehearsals passed without any further interruption, yet with each finished cycle of Ellie's routine, Leanna grew more and more unsure as to whether no interruption was a good thing or not. In the end, Leanna mused, it was a good thing. The distraction made her movements more free as she did not worry so much as to what it looked like compared to whether Inara had been found or not, to whether Finvarra was safe or not. It was what she forced herself to believe. For the sake of her dancing and of her heart, she just had to.

As she danced to keep her mind from wandering, Kioyo spent a great portion of the time with his hands clasped behind his back, looking to the rope with a tense jaw. Leanna worried her dancing had yet to please him, and so with every finished turn she asked him how she had done.

His only reply each time was an absent, "Good, good. We'll try it one more time."

One more time carried them into late night, and Leanna knew he was worried as well.

Though the sun had risen and set, it felt like the clocks hadn't changed for hours. Time stretched indefinitely in this stilled universe of magic, dance and longing. There was definitely something afoot with this timelessness, Leanna realized. She hadn't grown hungry, or sleepy at all. But after a long day, such mechanics were not something her worried mind dared tackle.

Many acts had come and gone, but only Leanna and Kioyo remained now, and the tired pixies that lined the rope emitting a waning light. Luna curled on Leanna's shoulder, flickering slowly through her colors. A whirring sigh squeaked in her ear.

"Go on, darling," Leanna whispered. "I daresay we're done for the night. And even if we aren't, you most certainly are." Leanna gathered the fading light in her palm and held her hand in the air, giving Luna a head start. "Off you go now, little one. "

Leanna smiled warmly watching Luna whirl into the air and join the remaining pixies on the crossbars of the tent. At once, her light extinguished.

"Goodnight, dear. Dream with the stars." Leanna paused, quickly taken aback by the words. Her mother used to say the same. Leanna sighed wistfully. If only her mother could have ever seen such a sight.

Kioyo stopped his pacing. His brows snapped together as if roused from a deep thought, which he was. "Goodnight?" He glanced around. No longer seeing the pixies lingering about, he lifted his eyes to see they barely glowed. "Yes, yes, let them rest. You did well today. A bit distracted, but good."

"Me? Distracted?" Leanna huffed archly. "You barely saw one full performance. I even did a somersault once and you missed it."

Kioyo folded his arms over his chest. "I did not miss it. It was quite brave, and I commend you."

Narrowing her eyes, Leanna plucked his upper arm. "I never did a somersault! See, you were distracted this whole time—still are!"

"No, I'm not."

Leanna pinned him with a look, trailing it down to his clasped hands, where his thumbs plucked restlessly at one another, keeping beat of his thoughts. She lowered it further to his foot that tapped compulsively—as it had been for the entire rehearsal.

"Fine, yes. Maybe I am a little distracted, but leaving me behind was a mistake. I could have found her by now without the need to involve anyone else—without the need for the Ringmaster to set foot outside of these crystals." Kioyo raked a hand through his hair and tugged at the nape. "Our luck being what it is, you arrive at last and that's when Machina finally get her iron claws on him."

Kioyo let out a rueful breath and his hand slid from his hair. Falling at his sides with a pat, his shoulders slumped. "But that can't be remedied now, can it?" He shook his head and went straight to the ladder.

It was a wonder he didn't fall, Leanna thought, surprised he managed to climb down the ladder without falling by how unfocused he was. On the other hand, she nearly lost her footing when her mind caught onto his words.

You arrive at last...

Leanna smiled. Kioyo did, in fact, think her to be the Leanan Sidhe! If she doubted anything, it had been that. To know her presence in the circus gave him, of all people, some hope could have made her sprout wings and float down the rest of the way.

Down on solid ground, however, the rest of Kioyo's statement trounced on her smile. "Krinard said something similar about iron," she mused. "I don't understand. What does iron have to do with Finvarra?"

"Everyone knows that iron is a faerie's weakness, regardless of who they are," Kioyo replied simply as if she was supposed to know. "Machina is surrounded by much of it, if she hasn't stitched it into every ounce of her body by now," he added as a bitter afterthought.

Many thoughts rushed Leanna's brain. Naturally she'd wondered what power Machina held over Finvarra that he was so frightened of her, but...

"Finvarra, a faerie?" she breathed.

Kioyo, who paced before her, stopped, wholly unaware of her shock. "Well, of course. What else would he be? Only Faeries with their blasted glamour can glow so much and—" Kioyo turned to her and the corners of his mouth bowed. "You didn't know..."

Suddenly a bit lightheaded, Leanna lowered onto the nearest seat. Pale and cold, she let her silence answer.

Kioyo groaned. Leaning against the supporting frame of the gallery seats, he crossed his arms over his chest and exhaled weightily. "I thought he might have told you, or you might have figured it out. That's why when you didn't come that night—I thought he'd gotten to you too. Not that I don't think you're strong, but a Faerie's glamour, Leanna... it's inescapable, especially for a human. Especially his."

"He's yet to tell me anything aside from who I am supposed to be." Leanna shrugged weakly, feeling a little breathless. "All I know of him is what little you've told me, or the rumors I heard as a child. But I never imagined... a faerie?"

Leanna flipped through the many pages of books in her mind, recalling every fact she knew of the mythical creatures that though appearing human were, in fact, magical beings. There had been tales of their exceeding beauty, of their control over the elements, of their glamour. Other stories spoke of them appearing and disappearing at will, of their mischievousness—Leanna cupped her mouth, her pulse racing with each remembered fact. Oh, she should have known! The moment he threatened to toss her into Kia's cage, the moment he vanished after Ellie and Jin's forgiveness, The moment she heard the melody of his voice--the moment she saw him she should have known! Such ethereal beauty was most certainly inhuman.

Remembering the previous night, an unsettling thought descended upon her. Had Finvarra wanted to kiss her, he could have bewitched her, she. But he hadn't. Whether because he truly respected her or because he did not want her in that way, she didn't know. Leanna shook her head. She didn't know anything anymore.

Kioyo sighed ruefully. "I'm sorry you had to find out this way, but it is what it is, and as long as the Ringmaster is out there, he is in danger."

He was, Leanna admitted dreadfully. He was out there, upon her meddling, with a monster lying in wait for him. An iron monster. Iron, a faerie's poison. Cold coursed through her body in waves, and she gripped the seat edge feeling very sick. "How can I ever fix this?"

"You don't." Kioyo straightened. His jaw taut, he looked directly forward. Focused. Decided. "You go and see Minerva. Make sure to get some rest afterwards, then come and practice. You must be ready for opening. If I'm not here, go on alone. The pixies know their job. They'll keep you safe."

"Why would you not be here—" Leanna gasped and shot to her feet. "You mean to go out there after Inara, don't you?"

Kioyo looked away from her as if scared she'd see the truth in his eyes.

He was too late. She did.

Fear speared Leanna forward, toward him. Her hands met his shoulder and she forced him to look at her. "Tell me you don't mean to go past the crystals alone!"

Determined brown eyes met hers. "I have to do this."

"No." Breathless, her words failed her. He couldn't go. She couldn't lose him too.

"We need to find Inara," he spoke through Leanna's despair. "I won't be a coward. Not anymore."

"You don't need to prove anything to them." Leanna's fingers dug deeper into his shoulders. "Who cares what Krinard thinks—"

Kioyo cradled her elbows, gently, cutting her off. "I need to prove it to myself."

Fear didn't allow her to understand him. "But—but it's madness, and—oh," Leanna moaned and released Kioyo's shoulders, instead fisting her dress at her core the same way panic clutched her and refused to let go. "Finvarra shouldn't have gone! He should have told me to mind my own business, and—damn him! He said my meddling would only bring problems, and it has, and now Inara is gone, and Krinard, and now you're going, too, and—and this is a disaster!" Leanna released her dress and buried her face in her hands. "I've been here barely a week and I've ruined an entire circus!"

Kioyo's light laugh pierced the dark behind her fingers. His hands on her forearms then pulled her gently into a quiet embrace. "It isn't a disaster—actually it is," he chuckled. Leanna did not share in his mirth. She closed her eyes against his shoulder, hauling in the deep scent of pine.

He sighed, the gentle breath rustling her hair. "But it's what's supposed to happen. I may not have believed it before, but I daresay you've inspired us all to be a little better. You even got the Ringmaster to apologize!" Kioyo pulled her away a bit, enough to look down at her. "We are all following our hearts because of you. Without even knowing it, you've given us a bit of that freedom we so desperately seek. That's nothing to be ashamed of." Kioyo cupped her cheek, grazing away her girlish cries. "Now, no more tears."

Meeting his eyes made that an impossibility. The look there was dangerous, resolute, and it frightened her. He would do what he had to in order to find Inara, come Machina or come Death.

"Nothing I say can make you stay, will it?" Leanna asked, her voice small.

Kioyo shook his head solemnly. Before another breath, Leanna pulled him into an embrace, proprieties and rumors be damned. If anyone saw, she didn't care! "You be careful. You have to come back. That is an order," she said in her strongest tone, though her quavering lips belied her attempts.

Kioyo laughed lightly. "I know, Your Highness, I know. I must return so you can be magnificent."

"No, you must return because I need my friend back." Leanna had a sudden thought and pulled away, rushing toward her borrowed cloak. "Here, take this as a guarantee. It was my mothers and so you must come back and return it to me, as it was all I was able to bring with me from home." Leanna dug into the pockets to fetch her mother's brooch. Her pulse quickened. She searched the other pocket. No, no, no...

Turning the cloak inside out, where the pocket was, there was no hole, but still her mother's brooch was gone.

All air left her. Defeated, Leanna closed her eyes. Knees weak and soul weary, she sat down. One more blow. One more thing gone. "I wanted to give you my mother's brooch to take with you, for good luck, but it's missing. I put it in the pocket because I didn't want to upset you by pinning a frilly brooch on your cloak. It must have fallen and..." Leanna's voice broke. "I have no more words for this day."

Kioyo knelt before her, cradling her hands in his. "I promise to help you find it when I return. I'll even wear it opening day and suffer emasculation just this once for your sake. But I need to go now. My vision is better at night." At this, Leanna shook her head. He tipped her chin upwards. "Everything will be okay," he said, though Leanna felt he it was more to himself than her.

She held on to his hand for an added moment before nodding her head. She had to be strong for him, for all those outside of the crystals.

Kioyo stood and put on his coat, then helped Leanna with her cloak. Bringing the hood over her disheveled hair, he pinched her cheek. "I expect you to be magnificent when I return."

Leanna forced a small smile, but could not help but wonder if he'd ever return at all.

They stood now side by side in the shadows beside the stables. Kia was due to pass at any moment while the two headed fire dragon above would cross its path in the opposite direction. Bertrand filled the gap between the two, circling the field while tossing flares into the air, feeding the dragon life against the cold. It was the dragon's front head that approached now.

Kioyo shifted them back further into the shadows. Curling up close beside him, Leanna shut her eyes tightly, the way she used to as a child when playing hide and seek with her sisters. Her young mind had earnestly believed that in closing them, she would not be found. Her sisters always found her anyway. But this was not child's play, and if uncovered, there would be no other turns, no giggles and do-overs. Only death for those on the other side of the crystals.

Leanna's heart pounded. Certain Kia would hear its sound; she filled her lungs with frigid air, hoping to freeze its frantic beatings. Remembering Finvarra's secret message and the coolness he twined around her heart, the beats gradually slowed. She opened her eyes. The fire dragon front head was gone, but just as she had calculated, Bertrand was approaching.

"How are you ever going to get across? Bertrand will see you, or the dragon's rear head will," Leanna whispered into his ear. She pulled back, and in the faint crimson light of the dragon, she saw he grinned.

"I told you I was fast, but I can only evade one. I will need your help. You must distract Bertrand, only a second so I can make it across." When Leanna hesitated, Kioyo cradled her upper shoulders. "Can you do this for me?"

The black of his eyes shone in the reddish hue of the fire like the wet surface of the ocean under a blood red moon. Just as intense, just as beautiful. Leanna nodded.

"Ask him how to get to Minerva's tent. Knowing Bertrand, he'll have some nonsense to add which will be more time than I need."

Again, stricken by fear, Leanna found herself with no words. In her last shred of bravery, she let Kioyo's hand go. She clutched hers to her chest, sheer will keeping her from taking his hands and pulling him back. Back toward the Big Top, back toward safety. She hadn't done it with Finvarra, but she could do it here, with Kioyo. She'd failed with Inara, and abysmally with Finvarra. Was this her second chance at keeping someone she cared about safe?

When she looked into Kioyo's eyes as he slid back into the shadows, all intentions vanished. It was not her second chance to make things right. It was his. Did Kioyo not do this, Leanna was certain the guilt of his past would magnify and slowly destroy him.

Kioyo took one step into the darkness. Leanna took one back into the open light.

"Leanna? What are you doing out here, child?" Bertrand called from behind. As he closed the distance between them, Kioyo gave Leanna an encouraging nod and vanished into the black.

"It's dangerous for you to be here. What are you—" Bertrand began, but when Leanna turned and he saw her teary stare, his green eyes widened. "Is something wrong? Are you hurt? Did someone hurt—"

Leanna shook her head. "No, no, I am not hurt. I'm... I'm cold, and it makes my eyes tear."

Bertrand arched an auburn brow incredulously. She was a lousy liar, but for Kioyo, she'd try her hardest. Leanna lowered her head into her hands and pretended to cry. "Kioyo was upset about being left behind and doesn't want to speak to anyone, and so he went to his tent and left me alone," she sobbed. "B-but I-I need to get to Minerva's tent, and I got lost a-and had you not found me, I would have kept going in circles! And I'm freezing, and tired, and this is all my fault!"

"Don't cry, little Sidhe. Kioyo is just a little hurt, but this isn't your fault. Look here, Minerva's tent is straight up this path, all the way past the Ringmaster's tent. It's the only black tent in the entire circus, and quite frightening. Take care not to nip your skin on any needles while there..."

As Bertrand went off in a tangent the way Kioyo told her he would, Leanna flitted a glance over his shoulder. His words fell to the attempts of a mime when from behind the speckled glitter of her tears, she noticed a white blur whisk across the ground and disappear into the mist. There was no doubt in her mind the white fog had been Kioyo, and now he was gone.

Leanna pressed shaking fingers to her mouth. Though a victorious smile twisted her lips, genuine tears trailed down her cheeks. She knew he had to do it, but she hated seeing him go. She hated the mist. She hated an enemy she didn't know. She hated feeling so helpless and guilty. And she hated losing things most of all.

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I hope you enjoyed this chapter. All votes and comments are greatly appreciated :)