Alice and Flora

"Well my love, may I have this dance?"

In perfect timing, the festival band had just ended their current song and were beginning a new one. Flora was hesitant but Alice remained insistent, extending her hand out towards her like a gentleman would to a fair lady.

She wouldn't consider herself a fair lady anymore but...

"Well, you may."

A soft smile crept up on her face as she took Allison's hand and was no sooner swung into the crowd of dancers much to her surprise and amusement. As the sound of violen began, both ladies moved their feet and held hands, moving back and forth finding a good rhythm to settle on. It was a soft tone, one of beauty and a touch of melancholy added to it, a good song for romance one would say.

"You seem to know your moves, not bad." Alice commented. "Am I seeing a smile?"

Flora blushed and admittedly giggled with Alice at being caught. "I suppose so, m-my apologies. Dancing was something I enjoyed since at a young age. Mother loved music and would have it play often at home, and I was her tender little girl wailing my arms and legs around so nonsensically that dad found it amusing. But the humor fell off and soon father decided to teach me how to dance appropriately and with a bit of class."

"I see that, and I can say it has paid off. You dance much more gracefully then I do."

Both women smiled as the song switched into another one.

"The singing, the people, the enjoyment of it all, does it remind you of home?" Alice questioned. Flora nodded, a slight bit of sorrow coursing through her.

"They may remind me of my favorite memories yes, of a life I cannot..." She held her breath, unwilling to cry in front of so many people when she should be laughing and enjoying her time instead.

Alice squeezed her hands slightly. "Please, be happy tonight Flora. Know that you are not alone even if it seems so. I too had a family."

Flora's eyes raised and widened much to Alisson's amusenent. "Oh yes, we all have our own separate lives after all. I had a family once, a beautiful baby girl with fair skin and a bright future. She was the light of my life, always keeping a smile on my face. And my dear husband, he was a man like no other, honest, noble, full of life and always looking at the silver lining in life. My sweet definitely resembled her father in behavior."

Alice sighed, feeling herself drift slightly in thought as the painful memories of decades ago caught up with her as if they were last week.

"We were a happy family, but life has an odd way of changing such things. Perhaps the gods above were not in their brightest mood then. A war broke out between two neighboring kingdoms, my town was caught in one if its many crossfires. The day my beloved was drafted became the second worst day in my life. Only when I thought it could not get any worse..."

Alice closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath and feeling Flora hold her in a soft embrace.

"Where are they now?" She asked.

"In the heavens I pray, where I no longer belong. I was ready to be at ****'s door, awaiting my inevitable fate to arrive, the truth all life seek upon conception, but it wasn't to be. I would come to in the arms of a beautiful woman, in an empty graveyard where life once flourished. I would be **** to accept the cruel joke destiny has played me in, and that was that."

"But, how did you manage to move forward?"

"I suppose I haven't, not entirely yet anyhow. But like my love said, the worst of days contains a blessing in disguise. Gus always had a way of making me smile when I was down." Alice smiled slightly. "I suppose all that Mary has provided me is a new life, a new opportunity to forge my own happy ending. When the world turns its back on you, you turn your back on the world."

Flora stopped moving her feet, taking in those words to heart.

"But I wasn't given a second chance Alice, I was stripped of my old life and taken by ****. For you, Mother Mary birthed you a new life but for me, she is the Bloody Mary who robbed me of mine."

Alice's expression turned to one of sadness and regret, holding the elf's warm hands and brushing their skin with her thumbs. "She isn't perfect, no one is. Her manner of bringing others in has become questionable as of late, and I will be forever saddened at how she brought you without consent. It isn't her usual way of bringing in new vampires, but please understand. It may be impossible to ask of you, but try and understand what is Mary's perspective. For you, she is a monster who changed you into something else and now you fear you will be rejected by your old life. For her, she is a mother losing her children and becoming worried and fearful that all of her achievements are for nothing."

She pulled Flora with her away from the dancing crowd and against a wooden fence for a bit of privacy so that they do not disturb the others. Flora sighed, feeling that heavy deep seated pain inside her throb once more. Alice rubbed her cheek, sensing her vampiress sister's depressing thoughts and they both embraced each other for comfort.

"I'm sorry for what Mother did to you, but I can help you control it. We can help you keep your hunger in check. It'll take some time, but I can promise you if you help us and be patient with us, I will help you revisit your old life. Perhaps, even gain it back."

Her arms squeezed tighter around Alice, making her smile knowing that promise brought faith and relief to her newest sister. She brushed her back, pulling away and lifting Flora's chin up before wiping away any tears.

"I certainly hope these are tears of joy." She teased making Flora laugh shortly.

"You.. you really think I can get my old life back?"

"As far as I'm aware, you are a vampiress forever now. But that does not mean your old life is forgotten, only hindered until you can readjust. You just need to learn control, can you do that?"

Flora nodded with a bit of renewed enthusiasm. "Of course, what do I need to know?"

Alice chuckled. "Well, tonight we shouldn't since it is our festival to enjoy ourselves in. But I can sneak in one lesson since there are so many people here. The first lesson is-"

Both women were interrupted as a shy young teen approached them, being pushed forward by another man of similar age presumably his friend. "Uh, excuse me miss. Would you care to have a dance?" He seemed nervous but genuien, with soft brown hair and a clean face. One thing she noted was his ears, they were pointed elf ears like hers. She blushed upon noticing he was asking her over Alice, with Alice smiling and answering for her.

"She would love to."

Alice pushed Flora forward towards the shy elf, whispering into her ear. "Remember, have fun and enjoy yourself. First lesson is to control your hunger, entertainment or feeding. I will support either decision."

Flora grew slighlty nervous upon reaching for this mans hand once her stomach grumbled. Learning to control, learning to control...

This would not be easy for the young elf.