Leanna's eyes snapped open. A suspended moment, and then awareness swooped in like a bird. She no longer fell. It took her mind an added second to realize this, that she was not dead and could in fact fully feel her body, however numb it proved to be. Shocked, she looked down. The sawdusted ground was still a distance away... where Ellie stood with sparkling eyes, Kioyo beside her with a matching grin. Leanna gasped. It occurred to her then that only one person could have caught her.

Drawled by shock, Leanna turned to the black vest her fingers clutched. Lifting her eyes, she met the midnight eyes of her savior. A smile curved the Raven's full lips, the softness of his eyes similar to the smooth planes of his face. Leanna's mouth took to an agitated twisting for words that simply would not come. Jin chuckled, and on the ripple of his laugh waved luminous black wings once, twice to the beat of Leanna's heart—or rather, to the memory of her heart as she could no longer feel it. The tips of each feather glittered, slicing a streak of light in the blackness of the tent.

The cool breeze of their ascent nipped at Leanna, and she curled closer to the bare chest of this man-bird who nestled her as a young. When Jin's talons tapped a hollow tune on the wooden platform suddenly, Leanna held on still. What if it were all a dream? What if she were to open her eyes and find that she still fell? She shuddered, and against all proprieties dug her nails deeper into the soft leather.

Jin knelt down and released Leanna gently onto the stand, whispering melodic words of comfort above her head. It was the kind of sound that soothed, a crackling fire on a cold winter's day. A small gust fanned then, and a soft hand brushed Leanna's hair from her cheek. Hesitantly, Leanna unearthed her head from the crook of Jin's neck to see Ellie kneel beside them. With a smile, Ellie offered her hand for Leanna's taking and nodded once. Leanna swallowed and hesitantly took hold.

"That a girl," Ellie whispered, rising evenly with Leanna, never letting go of her hands. For this Leanna was grateful, as her heart was no longer the only untrustworthy part of her being. Her legs wobbled uncontrollably.

Leanna tried desperately to clear the fog of her mind, to at least find the words to say thank you. Only tears unfolded. After her frustrations ran dry, she apologized for her crying.

"You've made me a very wealthy man, Miss Weston. There is no need to apologize," Jin said kindly. He gestured down, to where performers filed into the gallery seats and explained, "They all thought you wouldn't have the nerve to cross. I knew better."

"We both did," said Ellie, her quiet voice like that of a timid child. If Finvarra's voice was the moon, Ellie's was the faithful star at its side. She pressed a cold palm to Leanna's cheek. "You, my dear, did a brave thing and have nothing to apologize for, much less cry about."

"I hardly call falling while screaming like a baby, brave." Leanna lowered her head away from Ellie's touch, ashamed. She scrubbed a hand over her face, futilely wiping away any tears as they would only keep falling. "I suppose Finvarra has changed his mind in seeing how hopeless I am, hasn't he? And now you won't get to leave—not that I was prying, but I know you wanted to go back home. Now I've ruined that. Please believe me, I never meant for this! All I wanted was to see the circus, never to be a part of it! I explained to Kioyo that I couldn't do this, but he just wouldn't listen... and Finvarra, he thinks I'm a troll, and a liar, and the lions—and the wire, and I can't—" Leanna broke her nervous ramble, burying her face in her hands with an angry, frustrated sob as Ellie rubbed her back in small circles. She coiled into herself wishing in earnest for magic to make her smaller. She'd only just arrived, and had ruined everything!

"Calm yourself, child. We hadn't left yet," Ellie said calmly, lowering Leanna's hands from her face. Big eyes beamed against her pale skin like two blue moons on the horizon of a snowy field. "We are still set to go. It was just when Kioyo said Finvarra had found a replacement so fast, I was curious and wanted to see you for myself."

At this Leanna just wished she could disappear. She shrugged helplessly and lowered damp lashes to her wrinkled skirts. "Not much to be seen now, is there?"

"Well, you were quite the shooting star," Ellie giggled merrily, her curls bobbing with each hobble. The cadence of her laughter bounced in the air like raindrops falling onto a piano, favoring the highest c-note. "But you have a brave heart and are meant for this. I can feel it. I dare say any other girl would have frozen to death before braving the rope."

A brave heart? The words hurt. Leanna extended a blink, shaking her head in disagreement.

"Why are you so certain you can't do this, Miss Weston?" Ellie leaned back onto Jin as they waited for her answer. Leanna stared at their polar beauties, at Ellie's porcelain skin against Jin's onyx complexion. She took in their silent devotion to one another as they stood side by side, at how every touch garnered a smile, a secret glance. It drew the words from her mouth.

"I can't do this because where you can fly, I can't," she said pained. "Because most of all, if your wings ever fail you, he will catch you..."

Too used to shielding her emotions behind the worn pages of books, Leanna looked down to her small, vacant hands. There was something to the raw emptiness there that resonated. Loneliness no longer had the same allure. It was once a formidable barrier, reinforced by leather bound books, meant to keep her misery behind pages of fantasy. Yet, before Jin and Ellie, had Leanna a book in her hands, for the first time ever, she would have stared unseeing at the pages, unable to hide the painful fact that—

"If you wouldn't have come, I would have fallen to my death because I have no one to catch me. I never will. You say I have the heart to do this, but this heart you speak of has failed me countless times before, has kept me a prisoner in my own home, a blemish to my family, a source of pity for others. It has excluded me from all that makes a life full and worth living... and rightfully so. It's broken, you see, and I should not be here. This is all a mistake. A terrible, terrible mistake."

Ellie tilted her head, her blond brows knit together. She moved before Leanna, unsmiling, and lifted her shoulders a breath. An exhale, and white wings bloomed like shimmering wisps of smoke, folding and unfolding into one another.

She said, "My wings are just that: wings. They can't fly on their own. I must believe in them, that they can move me. Only then can I fly. If I don't think they can carry me, then I too will fall. Your heart didn't fail you earlier, did it? Rather, it gave you the strength to cross. And though you fell, you were caught." She pressed a hand gently on Leanna's heart. "Trust in it. All else will fall into place."

Ellie withdrew her hand, and with a smile over Leanna's shoulder, stepped aside. She walked around Leanna while Jin circled in opposite rotation.

For a moment, watching Ellie's ghostly beauty vanish and Jin appear, more of midnight eclipsing the moon, Leanna wondered if she was dreaming. After all, she had just fallen from grave heights only to be caught by a man with wings. Reality, however, reasserted itself when Ellie's hands came onto Leanna's waist.

A small smile played then at Jin's mouth. He mocked a bow and said, "My lady, may I have this dance?"

Leanna's heart hitched. Jin's words singed her soul. The thought of nearing that rope again sprouted fears, yes. But this was more. In one night, under the Big Top, all of her dreams had somehow found their fruition—however twisted and sour the fruit may have been. She'd wanted adventure, and she'd found it in all its glory. And just as she'd always wanted to be asked to dance, her wish now rode in fulfilled on the wings of a dark angel.

In that instant, Leanna held herself very still. She feared moving lest her world of crystals and illusions shattered, and none of it was real.

Then she nodded.

The magical world remained.

From behind, Ellie giggled shyly and cupped Leanna's elbows. She lifted them parallel from the ground. "Keep your hands out at your sides like so. You will tip less," Ellie said. Meanwhile, Jin tilted her chin up while Ellie pressed Leanna's stomach in. "Always remember: arms out, chin up, and back straight. Then you step out. Jin is there to lead you, and I will hold you from behind."

Ellie released Leanna's arms and settled her hands back on Leanna's waist. Obediently, Leanna kept her arms out to either side though they shook horribly. She welcomed the warmer air that naturally rose as anxiety dampened her skin with a cold sweat. Fear-numbed, she could barely feel Ellie holding her, only the grit of the rope beneath her bare toes as she slid her foot forward.

Feeling the cool wire, Leanna froze. "I-I'm so terribly frightened," she breathed, her heartbeats rising steadily. Leanna shut her eyes and clenched her quavering fingers to a taut fist.

Ellie's hands cradled Leanna's fists and gently pried them open. "You say you have no one to catch you, but how do you know no one will catch you, if you are too scared to make the leap? It isn't your heart robbing you of life, Leanna. It is this fear within you that's infected you. You must cast it out. Only then will your heart be free to beat and bring you life."

Leanna wanted to believe, truly she did. But how could she cast out fear, Leanna wondered, when it was a part of her, when she was reminded of it by her father and sisters any time she dared run, or heaven forbid, dance?

As if hearing her thoughts, Ellie said, "Surround yourself with memories of the things you love most. And when you walk this wire, walk for those memories. Think of nothing else."

Ellie's words tore open a reality that hurt Leanna's soul. How long she'd allowed her family's fear to obscure her hearts desires. Somewhere along the way, Leanna realized, her heart's voice had withered, and she'd been dying a slow death.

Never again, Leanna told herself. She opened her eyes and refocused straight ahead. A breath, and Leanna slid her hind foot onto the rope.

Blindly, Jin stepped back.

Frightened, Leanna followed.

In the even beats of their breaths, they continued their promenade, slowly, carefully, until they stood suspended in the middle of the rope.

Ellie asked, "Tell me, did you love dancing?"

Arms out at her sides, Leanna barely nodded; afraid any action would cause the wire to wobble. "It was my life," she said over her shoulder. "The only thing that ever gave me true joy..."

"Then welcome home," Ellie whispered, and on the wings of her words, hundreds of fireflies breathed to life above. Leanna gasped, forgetting all space and time as one by one they ignited, until the tent basked in their golden hue. Detaching from the canvas above, the fireflies whisked down around them like hundreds of shooting stars. Leanna choked back a sobbing laugh. There was no longer any doubt in her mind that this wasn't a dream. Never could she dream something so utterly beautiful.

Leanna followed their flight all around, and it was here that she caught sight of Kioyo on the opposite platform. Kioyo's black eyes were soft now, a grin replaced his previous frown. He wasn't angry. Not anymore. His quizzical smile, however, perplexed Leanna. Looking to Jin, he wore the same expression. Before she could ask what was so amusing, Leanna noticed Ellie float down beside Kioyo.

Leanna gasped. Who was holding her from behind?!

The rope jerked--

"Focus!" Ellie rallied, though her voice swelled with laughter. "Arms at your side! Remember, the memories! Walk toward them!"

You will definitely die here, her bitter half whispered. Foolish, foolish girl.

Against the chorus of voices, Leanna waved her arms and bent her knees. Her heart slammed wildly against her ribs, but still Leanna steeled her spine. Arms out, back straight, chin up, she repeated in prayer, drowning out the swelling hysteria. By and by, she managed to stabilize the rope beneath her until she stood perfectly still.

Leanna closed her eyes and centered herself in Ellie's words. A moment later, she blinked open.

Though Jin stood before her, Leanna no longer saw him. Instead, looking over Jin's shoulder, Leanna looked to the pearly image of her mother, just there behind Kioyo and Ellie. Leanna swallowed deeply. Her mother loved to see her dance, and Leanna could see that same devotion there, feel her warmth in the light of the fireflies. Oh, how she missed her.

Leanna held this image present in her mind as she looked to Jin. There was no hesitation in her eyes, just the quiet confirmation of a fearless soul. If only for a moment, it would have to be enough.

Jin nodded once in approval and shifted back. Leanna stroked the air, brushing her arms up to her sides. Chin up, back straight, and the wings of the fireflies fluttering about her, she took one step toward Jin—another, the longing to make her mother proud an invisible string reeling her closer.

Another step and one more—

The ground beneath Leanna solidified, and she stumbled forward. Leanna looked down to the wooden platform she now stood on. Trembling hands flew to her mouth, and a mournful cry burst from in between her fingers. She had done it.

Kioyo shook her shoulders with a gruff laugh. Jin too cheered reservedly, while Ellie squealed with delight. Leanna saw none of this, only the phantasm who smiled, vanishing into specks of light that floated away.

Leanna lowered her head and retracted her hand to her heart. "I did it. I found magic," she whispered to her mother's vanishing memory, and to all those who believed she couldn't... especially to herself.

Boisterous laughter and claps thundered from below, bringing Leanna back to the reality that she had just walked the tightrope and not perished. She clutched the veranda and braved a glance below. Her cheeks flushed profusely at seeing the stands full of performers—performers on their feet, clapping for her!

"Did they really all come to watch me fall?" she said meekly with a nervous laugh.

"They had," Kioyo replied. "Now they are here to support you, as we do each other."

With a confidence that only circumstance could birth, Leanna turned to Kioyo. "Support? You left me on a platform with no way down! I hardly call that support," she said short of a hiss.

Her statement was bold and surprise flashed across Kioyo's eyes. He smiled then and leaned against the wooden pillar. "I could have told you a million times over that there was no way you could fall, and you never would have believed me—I take that back. I told you a million times over that there was no way you could fall and you didn't believe a whit!"

Leanna's brows furrowed. "So you tricked me."

A rosey blush of guilt bloomed on Kioyo's golden skin. "You can say that, yes. But I am a clown. It's my job to fool you. Welcome to Finvarra's Circus!"

Leanna's anger dimmed, accepting that Kioyo was right. She never would have crossed otherwise—not that night anyway, and probably not the following. Recognizing his tactic, Leanna allowed herself a smile. But staring at the group in front of her: a clown, a dove and her raven, and a world of howling spectators below, it died to quavering lips.

"Now, then. What's this, tears?" Kioyo reached down into his breast pocket and fetched a handkerchief. Pulling it out, an endless stream of multi-colored fabric continued to flow until Kioyo handed Leanna a bundle of rainbow silk. "Was it really that bad, or are we that bad a company to be a part of?"

Everything vanished to speckles of light and shadow behind Leanna's tears as she shook her head, not feeling apart for the first time in her life.

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I really hope you've enjoyed it so far! Your comments and votes are greatly appreciated :)