Second Party, First Dance

He fidgeted uncomfortably in his suit; it certainly wasn't what he wanted to be wearing, but, his brother wouldn't stop nagging him about how this was a "formal" event and only those in "black tie" could enter the room. But…He had considered that as an invitation to not dress up and miss out on the whole party in general. Unfortunately, word gets around in Figaro and his plan reached the ears of his brother, who swiftly put a stop to it.

In his version of a pout, he stomped over to a mirror hanging on the wall and looked at himself. Everything from his neck down looked like a noble while he left his wavy, somewhat messy, blonde hair alone, letting it be the last piece of him to remain rebellious against his brother. Looking behind him in the mirror to his bed, he saw a deep red bowtie laying in a shallow box, untouched by anyone but the man who put the darn thing in the box in the first place.

He debated to himself as to whether or not he should wear it, telling himself that it would only be for one night, but he quickly shook that idea away, deciding that he could go with his original plan of not going if he didn't wear the bow. His brother did say it was "black tie".

There was a quick knock at the door of his room to which he gave no reply, fearing it to be his brother.

"Sabin, open up!" Came an impatient, demanding female voice on the other side.

"Celes?" He asked, confused as to why the ex-general was standing outside his door.

"And Locke." Said the voice of the familiar treasure hunter.

Sabin walked to the door and opened it for the two. The couple responded by walking into the middle of the room together, hands holding and fingers intertwined. "Did Edgar send you?" Sabin asked annoyed.

"No." Answered Locke, "The ball is about to start in ten minutes and you were no where in sight so we came to check on you."

Sabin examined the couple as Celes began to talk about how Sabin needed to grow up, how wearing a suit for a night wouldn't kill him, almost repeating his earlier thought about the bowtie. Locke was wearing a midnight black tuxedo with a white shirt underneath, a Kelly-green bowtie, and, of course, a bandana but instead of his normal jean colored one, he wore a black one with a Kelly-green accent one underneath to match his bowtie. At first, Sabin questioned the color choice of the tie and second bandana…Sabin was no expert on fashion or what Locke thought to be fashion, but even he knew that Kelly-green was an odd color choice for a tie and bandana, especially for the treasure hunter. But, then Sabin looked over at Celes and knew why Locke had picked the color, or, more than likely, why Celes had made him wear the color. Her dress was a matching shade of green to Locke's tie and secondary bandana; the dress came down to her knees in the front then gradually flowed down to the ground in the back. It was a halter that was form fitting until it reached her hips then loosened up into the flowy bottom half of the dress. Her hair was pinned up in a high bun with a black feather ornament in attempt to match Locke's black tux. Overall, the two complimented each other, making Sabin somewhat jealous deep down that he had no one to match and compliment, but he ignored the feeling.

"Did you hear a word I said?" Celes asked after her lecture.

"Yeah, yeah, grow up and wear the tux like a big boy." Sabin shook his head in frustration.

Locke, feeling Celes tense up at the tone in which Sabin answered her question, intervened on the marital artist's behalf, "Well, now that we have that said, let's put it into action and actually show up at the party. Don't want Edgar beating us over the heads if we're late."

Sabin was tempted to say that he'd rather take Edgar's wrath and disappointment rather than go to his party, but he bit his lip and nodded in "agreement" with Locke.

The trio walked down the stone halls until they reached grand wood doors with elaborate decorations meaning that they had found Sabin's torture room. He remembered the first ball Edgar threw and how he had stood in a corner awkwardly the whole time, not really enjoying himself like his other friends.

Setzer had managed to start a card game with some ignorant guests of Edgar's, Cyan had brought Lola and the two danced together happily most of the time, Strago, Shadow, and Gogo sat at a table and talked among themselves the whole night through, Relm, Gau, Mog and Umaro hung around the food tables and laughed loudly at the little jokes they made up with each other, Edgar had found several ladies to dance the night away with while Locke and Celes mingled with some other guests casually. Everyone was enjoying themselves but him…And of course Terra, who wasn't able to come due to the process of having the youngest kids at Mobliz being adopted off to couples who had lost their own children when Kefka turned the world upside down.

This brought him back to present time, "Is Terra coming this time?" He asked as they walked through the doors and onto a stone balcony with two staircases on its sides.

"Don't know." Locke said frowning, "No one heard an answer from her… We sent Setzer over to her new house in Tzen to offer her a ride a day ago."

"Oh." Was all Sabin could mention to say. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he missed the petite mage. Over the course of their adventure, he had grown fond of her in many ways, from the way she looked right down to the magic she could cast. He knew in a deep part of him that he was far more than fond of her and he also knew that she was more than fond of him, or at least, he thought she was…hoped she was.

"Nice to see you could make it." Edgar greeted the three as they reached the bottom of the staircase. Locke and Celes greeted the king then walked away to talk with the others of their group. Edgar looked up and down at Sabin then frowned, "You're not wearing the bowtie I picked out for you. That's a problem."

"What? Are you going to kick me out or something?" Sabin asked dryly. "It's just a tie."

Edgar flashed a smile, "Oh no, that was no tie." Edgar reached into his pocket and pulled out a red silk that matched the color of the bowtie sitting on Sabin's bed still, "This is a tie." He held it up for Sabin to see, "What I originally gave you was a bowtie, brother…I had a feeling you wouldn't wear it, so I bought a matching tie to keep with me so that I could give it to you when you finally decided to grace us with your presence." With a fake frown, Edgar handed the tie to Sabin who angrily grabbed it from him, "It's not quite as formal as the bowtie, but it'll have to work, I suppose."

"You think you're clever, don't you?" Sabin asked, messily putting the tie around his neck then putting it in a typical "tie" knot.

"You don't realize how clever I am." Edgar smiled a mischievous smile at his brother who began to speak but a guard came and interrupted him.

"Mi'lord, the Falcon has landed outside of Figaro."

"Oh good! That means Setzer is here!" Edgar said, "Did you manage to see if he had anyone with him?"

"No sir." Answered the guard.

"I guess that means no Terra." Edgar frowned in disappointment. "Well, let him in and bring him here. I can't start the ball without him." The guard nodded and motioned to a guard standing on the stone balcony overlooking the ball room. Just as the guard on the balcony began to walk towards the doors, one flew open and a suited up Setzer strode in the room with a victorious smile.

"Good to see you back." Edgar greeted as Setzer reached the bottom of the staircase that Celes, Locke and Sabin had descended moments before. "I guess Terra couldn't come again?"

"Be patient, Edgar." Setzer remarked with his smile still intact, "Never doubt me, because I always have an ace up my sleeve."  He turned so that he was facing the door, "Besides, a lady in heels walks slower than a man in dress shoes."

Just as Sabin was about to question Setzer, the second door opened but this time by a guard on the other side. Edgar, Sabin and Setzer watched as a young woman walked onto the stone balcony. Her strapless dress was the same red as Sabin's silk tie and was form fitted until below her knees where it flowed out dramatically. Her green hair was in a braid-bun on the side of her head with a red rose in the middle of it to match her dress.

She gazed around the room and looked at all of the people as she stood on the stone balcony awkwardly. She had only been there a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity to her as people began to slowly look up at her. Quickly she looked down to hide her blushing face.

Sabin felt himself staring in disbelief at the mage. She looked far different than before when they were on their quest to save the world but still just as beautiful. Edgar nudged his brother's side, "Might want to close your gaping mouth, Sabin, before you catch flies." Edgar smirked as Sabin looked down at the floor in embarrassment.

"Terra." Setzer  said, gaining her attention. She smiled to see the familiar face then made her descent down the stairs.

"Good to see you again, Mi'lady." Edgar greeted, taking her hand and kissing the back of it, "I was beginning to think you weren't coming."

She smiled, "Well, I missed your first party so I felt bad missing another. Besides, I missed all of you… I never get visits in Tzen from any of you."

"And I don't get visits from you." Locke said, walking over to give the mage a hug.

"We don't get visits from you." Celes corrected as she came over also to hug the mage.

"I don't think anyone gets visits from anyone anymore." Edgar said, "That is the reason I hold these parties, to bring the group together again."

"Are you sure it's not to invite different women into your castle?" Locke asked, causing the group to laugh and Edgar to flare up.

Sabin tuned out his brother's flustered ranting, which he was quite good at by this point in his life, and examined the mage. Terra seemed happy, she was laughing with the rest of them, but there was an air of unease about her, as if she was uncomfortable, but, if she was, she hid it well.

Feeling eyes on her, Terra looked around the group as they bantered back and forth finally catching sight of Sabin's stare. With a quick blush, she turned her face away from his causing Sabin to blush in the embarrassment that he had been caught staring.

"Well, with all of us here, let's start the ball." Edgar said as he began to make his way to the front of the crowd. Once there, he gave a quick speech then music played at the end of it, signaling dancers to make their way to the middle of the room.

Hours ticked by as people continued to dance, eat, drink and enjoy themselves. All was the same as it was before: Edgar danced with women, Setzer gambled, Shadow, Gogo and Strago kept to themselves, Relm, Gau, Mog and Umaro stayed around food, Celes and Locke mingled while Sabin stood against the wall uncomfortably.  The only difference was that he wasn't alone against the wall. On the other side of the room, he could see Terra against the other wall just as uncomfortable as he was.

While watching, he noticed several men walk up to her and ask her to dance but she politely refused them all. He could also hear from lustful conversations of groups of men around him that she was the beauty of the party. But, he didn't need them to tell him that, it was obvious. She was asked to dance more than any girl, she was looked at enviously by other girls more than any other and it just seemed that, whether she could help it or not, her beauty continued to be found in the spotlight at all given times which is why she retreated to the shadow of the wall she now stood by.

Since he had seen the first man walk over and ask her to dance, Sabin had wanted to go and ask  her the same, thinking she would say yes to him therefore sending all the other men away thinking she had made her decision on her man of the night and she was taken. But he couldn't make himself walk over to her. The normal confident Sabin was doubting, the normal courageous marital artist was fearful that Terra might reject his request just like she had with all the other men.

He leaned against his wall, warring thoughts and feelings in his head for what seemed like an eternity.

"Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen." Edgar stood in front of the crowd again but this time on the stone balcony, "I'm afraid, like all things, this party is coming to its end. The band will play one final song before the fun night's conclusion. If you wish to dance, now is your final opportunity." Sabin swore he saw Edgar look right at him after he had finished as if Edgar was talking specifically to him.

"Edgar's right…" Sabin said after a few seconds into the final song. "Here goes nothing…" He pushed himself off of the wall and began to push his way through the crowd over to the opposite wall, muttering several "excuse me"'s .

Finally, he made it over to the other wall and began to looking down both sides of it for Terra.

"Sabin!" He heard her call out to his right. Upon hearing her call his name, his confidence boosted up a bit inside of him and he walked quickly over to her.  "Some party, huh?" She asked when he made it over to her. Sabin could now see how tired Terra looked. Her smile was weak and her eyes droopy causing the confidence in him to fall again thinking she wouldn't want to dance while tired.

"Yeah…" He mumbled out.

"Is something wrong?" She asked concerned by his attitude.

"No, nothing's wrong." He lied which she saw through quickly.

"You can tell me, Sabin." She smiled reassuringly.

He took a deep breath to steady himself, "I can't tell you, I have to ask you."

"Alright, ask away." She continued to smile.

He sighed. In his mind he figured that the song was a quarter of the way through and time was ticking, "I was wondering if…Well, if you would care to have this dance with me?"

Terra was taken aback, not expecting the question. "Oh…well, I…." She stared at him for a few seconds. She could practically feel how nervous he was, but, what he didn't know was that she was nervous to answer. She had wanted to dance with him all night but she didn't want to make a fool of herself so she was afraid to ask, and now she was afraid to say yes. "I would love to…" She finally said, "But…Can we do it outside?" She asked bashfully.

Now Sabin was taken aback for he thought she was going to say no, "Su-sure…Anything you want."

The two made their way to a wood door on the opposite side of the stone balcony. Once outside, they found themselves on a small terrace overlooking the desert night. Terra walked to the railing then shuddered when a cool breeze blew as Sabin made sure the door was cracked so they could still hear the music but not be seen.

Quietly, Sabin walked over and grabbed her hand then bowed to which she curtsied then they pulled together, two hands still together while he moved his other to her waist and she moved her other to his shoulder.

Their dance was nothing  fancy, just simply swaying and stepping to the sides with an occasional spin for they were more absorbed looking at each other than they were on dancing.

Neither said a word yet neither was uncomfortable like they were when they were standing against their own separate walls in the ball room.

"Are stars in the desert always this pretty?" Terra finally asked, breaking the silence that had set.

"Hm?" Sabin took his gaze off of her and looked up at the sky, "I don't know, maybe." He continued to examine them for a minute, "My father used to say that stars only shine like this when an important moment in history is happening, as if the stars were living beings and they knew the significance of the moment that is occurring." Sabin shrugged then looked back down at Terra who was staring up at him. "Or, at least that's what he said…I don't know if I believe it."

"If you don't believe that then why do you believe the stars shine brighter on certain nights?" She asked curiously.

"Maybe they shine brighter certain nights because they want to. Or, maybe only some of them are shinning brighter because they know it's their last opportunity." He smiled, "Of course, that's if they're living. If they're not living, which they more than likely aren't, then maybe they always shine this bright but we just don't notice them until we really stand under them."

"I think I have to agree with your belief more than your father's." She smiled then removed her hand from his shoulder to cover her mouth and catch a yawn in her hand. Afterwards, she moved her hand back to its original position and leaned her head against his chest in weariness.

"I think you should go to bed…I'm sure Edgar has a guest bedroom for you or something." Sabin said looking down at her.

"The song's not over yet." She said sleepily. He smiled and put his chin on the top of her head and closed his eyes while continuing to sway the two by himself since Terra wasn't really doing much out of tiredness anymore.

Locke spotted Edgar standing by a wooden door peaking through its small opening from being cracked open. "What are you doing?" He asked, Celes behind him showing her own signs of tiredness.

"Watching two stars shine." He said more to himself than to Locke.

"What does that mean?" Locke asked as he walked over and looked out the door at the couple swaying back and forth on the terrace. "Don't you think the band finished the ending song a few minutes ago?"

"The music is still playing." Edgar answered but this time to the treasure hunter instead of to himself.

"The music playing is just a record you put on to listen to while we clean up." Locke said, confused by the king. "The actual dancing music that the band was playing is over."

"True, but they don't know that. It's all the same to them." Edgar smiled, patting Locke on the back as he walked back to the main part of the room to help the others pick up a bit in the ball room.