The focus and corresponding tempest may have ended quite some time ago, but we seem to be experiencing a lull in Book 3 updates due to back-to-back Christmas and New Years paralogues, so here's another Adrift prompt from me in the meantime. Read, review, and enjoy, thanks.

Word Count: 978 words.

Dance With Me

"May I have this dance?"

"Always."

Corrin bows and offers his hand. Azura takes it and hums as he places a lingering kiss on the back of hers. A prompt spin and a twirl join the two together, with a hand upon her hip, another on his shoulder, and their fingers laced together in budding harmony.

Even in the midst of their opening movements, the water maiden can tell that something's changed. There's a spring in his step when there wasn't before, and a bold, daring air that leaves her both enchanted and in a rush. A faint blush takes her as he takes the lead—his loving eyes never leaving her—under the frame of the glistening moonlight.

"Did you do something with your hair?" he asks.

"Ah, no," she answers. "It's the same as it's always been."

"It must be the moonlight then," he grins. "You look really pretty tonight!"

Her cheeks redden, a flustered shade of scarlet he cannot help but tease. Azura wonders what's gotten into him—whether he's hit his head ten times over or fallen victim to an impostor with a sense of rhythm, yet nothing about him suggests anything but a deep-seated desire to sweep his queen off her feet.

"You aren't stepping on me this time," she notes, practically spellbound.

"I had some help," Corrin claims as he dips her. "I can see why you wear these kind of clothes. Gods, they're so lightweight and cozy!"

"Cozier than armor clinging to your skin?" she asks, heart fluttering.

A swift kiss ignites her fleeting spirits and reels her back to him. They dance upon the forest floor so elegantly that one could swear they were wisps drifting on the night's cool breeze.

"Definitely! I feel like I'm walking on air! I could twirl for hours—twirl with you for ages! Maybe I should consider wearing this more often—beyond these little get-togethers. It is technically my culture after all!"

"Our culture," she clarifies. "And I agree, it suits you. You're quite handsome in it, dreamy even, though I fear I may be a bit biased."

He leans in, as does she. "I'd be a little devastated if you weren't, to be honest."

The pair laugh as they ease into simple swaying. A moment of calm passes before Azura speaks again.

"You really have improved. I'm impressed, dear," she smiles, only for her wandering thoughts to betray her. "As well as a little curious... Forgive me if I sound envious, but who did you seek for help if not myself? I can't imagine you confessing your rhythmic faults to the others. Then again, this is the Order of Heroes... Perhaps I shouldn't be so surprised that a more capable teacher than myself exists within our ranks."

"Actually," Corrin halts her, smiting her fears before they have a chance to fester. "You're not wrong. I could never tell the other dancers about my two left feet, just think of how embarrassing that would be! They all hail from so many different worlds—which is great—but they have zero understanding of ours! Or me! Not to mention they lack the connection you and I share. Read my lips—you're the only dance partner for me, Zuzu. No matter how many performers join our forces!"

"But then," Azura falters. "How did you learn—"

"The same way you taught me how to sing," Corrin chuckles, the tips of his ears coyly twitching at her confusion. "A daily regimen of rigorous training and arduous exercise without mercy! Haha, it was pretty brutal, actually! I suppose the joke's on me for expecting a child to have gone easy on me, but maybe that was for the best for a big klutz like me, huh?"

At last, it clicks, and Azura chides herself for not having realized it sooner.

"Goodness," she sighs, from both her heart and mind, for only her prince could do something so sweet and yet so sly. "Please tell me you didn't force her hand."

"She insisted when I brought it up to her," Corrin assures with a shake of his head. "It was actually kind of relieving to see her so lively and full of determination! She really is coming out of her shell!"

"Coming out of her shell? I see," Azura breathes, and takes that moment to break away from her prince. "In that case, would you be so kind as to tell her to come down from that tree as well? It's quite dangerous."

"Huh?"

The snap of a twig burdened by weight clues him in—one second too late.

"Uwah!"

"Aagh!"

Ever astute and ahead of the curve, Azura narrowly avoids a headfirst collision with her own time displaced counterpart. Corrin, not so.

"Augh..." the prince groans, clutching his head. "Ow.. My head... Oh! Smallzura! How nice of you to literally drop b—!"

"It's too late," the younger songstress quips quietly. "She already knows."

Azura offers to help them up, but only Corrin accepts. The smaller songstress gets up on her own and recedes behind Corrin's leg after neatly dusting off her dress.

"I wasn't helping," she immediately claims to her older self, defensively mumbling from the safety of her pupil. "And I wasn't spying. I only wanted to make sure he didn't make any mistakes. If he did, I was going to tell him what to do, but he didn't. All of those steps were his own."

Without hesitation, Azura kneels down to the girl's eye level and Corrin steps aside, relieved to have his name cleared.

"Even so, it isn't nice to eavesdrop on others," she smiles. "Unless you want to join us. Perhaps I could learn something from the expert as well."

Both Corrin and Azura offer their hands this time, and try as she might to conceal it, the little songstress is more than happy to be included.

Only Corrin would go out of his way to seek sagely rhythmic wisdom from an alt of his dance partner just so he could impress her. Of course, if you wanted to master dancing with a specific person, taking notes from an alt of theirs sounds good on paper, doesn't it? I wanted to try a dancing analogue to Corrin's canonical singing tribulations from Hoshidan Festival of Bonds. Of course, it wasn't enough for me to just alter the subject, I had to set it in Zenith, mix the idea with Adrift, have Smallzura be the instructor instead, and have the results of her teachings be the focus (whereas in Festival of Bonds, Corrin's big damn performance is only alluded to, so we never see if his practicing with Azura paid off). Smallzura is more than just some alt however, and I thought someone so precious and in need of protecting deserved to join in on the fun, hence the ending.

Have a merry Christmas since it's that time of the year again. Nate Time(TM) willing, I'll try to have a holiday-centric Adrift piece up soon. 017Bluefield, if you're reading this, it's essentially your idea with a bit of Winter's Envoy thrown in, hint. Thanks for your support this year, and in the years to come.