It was strange for Morgiana to see all these people—these women huddled together as they changed in a particular room of the palace. Despite having lived half a year in Sindria while awaiting Sinbad's return, she hadn't bothered exploring the luxurious place. Most of the places she'd known were only because Aladdin and Alibaba would drag her around to explore themselves.
But now, in the midst of the Mahrajan, Pisti whisked her away as preparations were being made only to bring her to this exact room. The women here were undressed for the most part and were trying on all kinds of clothes if one could call the bare minimum of fabric they were wearing clothes. But none of that bothered her until Pisti called up one of the girls there.
"Would you girls have a size for her?"
"For me?" Morgiana asked perplexed.
Pisti turned to her with a grand smile before nodding. "That way you can go around with them and enjoy. Not only that but you can also dance along with them."
"Dance?"
Pisti nodded but at seeing the aloof expression on Morgiana's face, her lips turned down into a frown. "You don't know what that is?" When Morgiana shook her head, Pisti threw a small fit trying to understand just how she didn't know about something so simple.
"It wasn't necessary," Morgiana replied stoically. "There wasn't ever a need for me to know."
"But it's not really a need," the general countered, "it's just something you do for fun!"
That was a word Morgiana recognized. Aladdin and Alibaba constantly spoke about that and how she should relax and try to have more fun doing things. But she didn't understand that concept quite well yet. And if dancing consisted of that then she suspected that she wouldn't be able to grasp it as easily as Pisti was hoping.
"Well, if you don't know then it's only a matter of teaching you then! Girls!"
Morgiana panicked a bit at seeing the horde of women surround her out of the blue. They were all talking at the same time while others tended to her hair and changed her. It was very odd and unpleasant to have so many eyes on her, but with Pisti assuring her enough times that nothing was wrong, Morgiana gave in and let the women do their work. Once done, she opted to look at herself in a mirror only to notice that the fabric fell loosely around her torso but stayed in place around her chest and hips. The flower on her hair accentuated the style they made it into and it matched her eyes too.
"Well, you're a wonderful sight, darling." One of the dancers, a tall and lean brunette stepped forward and patted her head adoringly. "Here, let me teach you the basics then."
Morgiana didn't feel like refusing her that so she stayed and watched how the brunette first showed her a few moves. They were smooth and small—Morgiana couldn't find another way to describe them, really—and the way she moved about almost made it seem like she was floating on clouds. It was strange but also mesmerizing. Once done, the brunette approached her again and this time guided her through the steps herself.
Awkward. Stiff. Slouchy.
Many other words surfaced in Morgiana's mind when unconsciously comparing her own movements to those of the woman guiding her. She didn't know what dancing was but she was sure that what she was doing wasn't it. More like an odd walk if anything. But the woman didn't give up either. She assured Morgiana that it was only a matter of taking a sweet and loving moment she felt the most happy about and letting that move her. Honestly, the fixed steps were easier to follow than that explanation.
But she tried thinking of something that made her feel that way. Morgiana had to admit that moments such as those weren't something she was that familiar with. Freedom was something knew to her, and being free just shy of a year didn't give her many happy memories to go by. But she could recall a few: fighting the Desert Hyenas with her full strength, the prospect of getting her Household Vessel, and even what Aladdin and Alibaba said about her being their wings. Those and other little moments unknowingly brought a smile to her and as she continued to follow the steps to the dance, she found herself feeling lighter.
"That's a bit more like it!" The sudden outburst by the brunette stunned her out of her rhythm and made her trip a bit on her own feet. Both scrambled to keep her on her feet and they breathed a sigh of relief at having Morgiana standing steadily again. "Sorry, I didn't mean to throw you off. But you were getting it a little!"
"I...was?" she asked incredulous still.
The brunette dancer nodded and smiled. "It was still a tad tense, but I could tell that you were making progress. Must've been some nice moments you were thinking of, huh?"
Eyes askance, Morgiana nodded, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "Mm, I think so."
"Good, good! Well, we still have sometime to teach you more things before the festival starts. Let's keep going, shall we?"
Nodding again, Morgiana went along with what she and the rest of the dancers told her. This festival would certainly be something she'd remember like all those other little moments.
A/N
Well, this was a little request that I was asked to do. The prompt was about Morgiana experience in learning how to dance. It may be short but it was fun to write, nonetheless. To the one who requested this, I hope that it was to you liking!
