Angels of the Trapeze: Sora and Layla
Chapter 1: The Amazing Invitation
One day, the sun was just beginning to rise over the bay and the light soon reached Kaleido Stage. In her room, Sora was still fast asleep. The clock by her bed read 7:10 a.m. and Fool was already awake. He looked at Sora and then at the clock. He descended down to Sora's ear.
"Sora. Time to wake up now." Fool whispered. Sora didn't know it was Fool and lightly waved her hand mumbling "Not now mommy. It's...too early..." in her sleep.
"But Sora. Surely you don't want to oversleep." Fool whispered. This time, Sora grabbed Fool and threw him away. He hit the wall and slowly slid down it groaning.
"Fine. Be that way. Don't blame me for not waking you up." Fool said. Just then, Sora's door opened and in came Rosetta. She turned the lights on and entered Sora's bedroom.
"Sora! I'm here! Are you ready?" Rosetta said. Sora's eyes slowly opened and she looked at Rosetta.
"Oh. R...Rosetta? Why are...you here?" Sora said. She yawned.
"Sora. You said we could do some jogging this morning. I even made sure to wake up bright and early." Rosetta said. Sora gasped and looked outside.
"That's right! I almost forgot! Sorry Rosetta! Give me a minute to get ready." Sora said. Fool was completely stunned.
"Oh sure. Rosetta can wake you up, but when I try to, you swat me away like a fly." Fool muttered. After Sora changed into her jogging outfit, she and Rosetta went for a jog down by the beach. The sun was still rising and it lit up the beach. By the time the sun was completely shining, Sora and Rosetta laid down on the beach looking up at the sky.
"You doing all right Rosetta?" Sora asked. Rosetta looked at her and nodded. Both of them were catching their breath.
"Thanks again for agreeing to this Sora." Rosetta said. Sora smiled.
"It's my pleasure Rosetta. After all, that's what friends do for one another." Sora said. Rosetta looked up at the sky and saw a star shaped cloud. When Rosetta pointed it out, Sora could spot it too.
"That star? That's you Sora. You're a true Kaleido Star." Rosetta said. Sora looked at Rosetta.
"So are you...Rosetta. We both are." Sora said. Soon, the two started snickering and then it turned to laughing. Their laughing was heard all the way back to Kalos' office. He was watching them from his window. Just then, his phone rang.
"Hello? Oh. Hello Leon. Still training in France?" Kalos said. Kalos turned his gaze towards his phone.
"I see. So you want Sora? Well, don't worry. She's here. I'll make sure that Sora meets with you Leon. Where are you now?" Kalos asked. Later that day, Sora and Rosetta came back inside Kaleido Stage laughing still. Rosetta wiped the sweat from her forehead.
"That was a good run." Rosetta said.
"Yeah. I think I need a drink now." Sora said. Just then, Ken came by.
"Oh. There you are Sora. The boss wanted to see you as soon as possible." Ken said.
"Really? He wants to see me?" Sora said. When Sora went to Kalos' office, she was in for a big surprise.
"What?! Mr. Leon...wants ME to go to the Circus Festival in his place?!" Sora shouted. Leon was in Kalos' office with him.
"That's right. Just seeing you perform the Angel's Maneuver made me believe that you could truly win the Circus Festival." Leon said. He showed Sora the envelope containing the Phoenix Tickets that were for him and May.
"B...But Leon. I..." Sora said. She took the envelope and peeked inside.
"How did you get two tickets?" Sora asked.
"May and I found out that we both had gotten our tickets. So, when I told her that I wasn't interested in going to it, she decided to give the other to me." Leon said. Sora wondered what she would do with two tickets. But as she thought back at to what happened at the last festival, Sora's eyes began to fill with tears. She still felt ashamed that she dropped out during her performance.
"Sora? If you don't want to, I can find someone else to give the tickets to." Kalos said. Sora sniffled and wiped the tears from her eyes.
"I might...need a little time to...think about it boss. Is it OK if I can hang onto them for the time being?" Sora asked.
"It is all right with me." Leon said. Outside, Anna, Mia, Marion and Rosetta heard everything. After their meeting was over, Sora's friends went to see Sarah.
"So Leon wants Sora to take his place at the festival?" Sarah said "Hmm."
"I really don't think Sora should go. Don't you guys remember what happened last time?" Anna said. Mia could still remember seeing Sora crying.
"If she goes back, she might end up crying again." Mia said. Just then, they heard a knock at the door and there was May.
"May?" Marion said.
"Hey. I heard from Leon that he gave the tickets to Sora. So, what did she decide? I can't find her to ask her." May said.
"Last I saw of Sora, she was heading for her room." Mia said. Meanwhile, in Sora's bedroom, Sora was looking at the envelope in her hand and sighed. Fool was watching her.
"What will you do...Sora?" Fool said. Sora groaned as she remembered what happened last time. Just then, May came in her room.
"Sora? Look. I know this might sound weird coming from me, but I think you really should give the festival one more try. Good thing that Leon and I decided to skip this year. Otherwise, you wouldn't be holding those tickets." May said. Sora sighed and she extended the arm with the envelope to May.
"Here May. Maybe you should go. Find someone who can be your partner and win again." Sora said. May chuckled.
"Sorry Sora. But like I said, I'm out of the festival. So, you're the one stuck with them this time." May said. Sora groaned and looked at the envelope. May sighed and tried to think of something. Just then, she got an idea.
"Listen. If you go to the festival, I promise...that I'll be your partner. Deal?" May said. Sora looked at May's hand and then at May. Outside her door, the others were watching.
"Darn it May. Why is she bothering Sora about that festival?" Anna said "Sora should...huh?" They couldn't believe what they were seeing. Sora and May shook hands.
"All right then May. If you promise, I'll give the festival another try." Sora said. May smiled and put her hand on her shoulder.
"Then we better decide on a routine." May said. Anna and Mia were just speechless and so was Rosetta. But they figured if Sora decided to try out for the festival again, they would support her. For the next few days, Sora and May worked on the Demon Spiral that May used last year. Sora's only problem was trying to catch May during practice. Every time they tried it, Sora would miss and May would fall into the net.
"Sorry May! I missed!" Sora called. They trained for an hour before May finally decided to call a break. Sora and May looked over the video in the tape recorder that May set up earlier. Just then, Layla and Cathy came in.
"Hey you two. We heard the news." Cathy said. Layla looked at Sora and she looked at Layla.
"Don't worry Layla. This time...I really mean it when I say I'm going to win the festival. If May and I are partners, I don't need to worry." Sora said. May stood up.
"Sora? I'm just going out for a while. I remembered Kalos wanted me to do something for him in town." May said. Sora waited for May to come back. But later that day, Sora found out some horrible news from Mia and Anna. Apparently, May was at the Cape Mary Hospital!
"She...She's where?!" Sora shouted. Quick as a flash, Sora and her friends hurried out to see May at the hospital. When she arrived, she saw May in bed with her left leg in a cast. With her was Cathy, Sarah, Kalos, Layla and Leon.
"I guess you found out the news?" Kalos said. Sora nodded and looked at May.
"Sorry Sora. While I was out, there was a little accident and...I broke my leg." May said. Just then, the doctor came in with May's x-rays.
"This is not good May. I'm afraid you won't be using that leg for a while now. It might take a week or two to heal." the doctor said. This made Sora worry since the festival was going to be near the end of this week. Layla looked at Sora.
"What now Sora? You were going to participate in the festival with May." Sarah said. Sora's glance turned to Leon.
"Sorry Sora. But I have something else on my agenda." Leon said "I won't be able to be your partner." Sora sighed. Just then, she felt someone's hand on her shoulder. It was Layla.
"Sora. Maybe you should try asking your friends. Maybe Anna or Mia would..." Layla said. But just then, she stopped when she saw Sora holding her hand.
"Layla? Would...Would...Would you like to be my partner for the Circus Festival?" Sora said sounding jumpy. Layla gasped and the others looked at them.
"I know this sounds stupid. I should probably ask my friends first." Sora said. Just then, Anna and Mia came into the room.
"Anna? Mia?" Sora said.
"It's OK Sora. We're all right with you asking Layla. Besides, out of the three of us, you're the best performer." Mia said.
"Yeah. But don't worry Sora. We'll be rooting for you." Anna said. Rosetta nodded.
"Then..." Sora said. She turned back to Layla and she kneeled down.
"Please Miss Layla. Please. Can we be partners again for the Circus Festival? I'll work hard. I promise. I'll treat the festival just like we did during the Legendary Great Maneuver." Sora said. Layla looked away. She thought back to the Great Maneuver and how it effected her shoulder and her reaction to what happened with Sora last time.
"I...I don't know Sora. Let me...think about this first." Layla said. She then left the room without a word. Later that night, Layla was in her room looking up at the roof. The memories just seemed to echo in her head going as far back as Sora and Layla's performance on Arabian Nights up to Sora asking her to be her partner for the festival.
"What do I do?" Layla thought. Just then, she could see something over her. It was Fool.
"Fool?" Layla said. Suddenly, Fool's crystal ball appeared in his hand showing Sagittarius within.
"Sagittarius is searching for something in the darkness. Unless Sagittarius can find what it is looking for, it will wander helplessly in the darkness. But it would seem that there is someone that can help Sagittarius out of the darkness." Fool said. Layla looked at a picture by her bed. It was a picture Mia took of the two of them in their costumes from Arabian Nights.
"Sora..." Layla said softly. Before he vanished, Fool said "Layla, it would appear...that you could help Sagittarius escape from the darkness..." Layla laid there in bed wondering what to do. When the next day came, Sora was getting ready to train when someone came in. It was Layla in her training uniform.
"Layla?" Sora said. Layla looked at Sora with a serious face.
"Sora. Let's get to work. We've got a while until the festival starts." Layla said. Sora could tell Layla wanted to perform with her again and she smiled. Layla smiled as well.
"Thank you...Layla..." Sora said. Meanwhile, Fool was looking at his crystal ball again.
"It looks as if Leo has shown Sagittarius the way out of the darkness. So long as these two are a team, anything...is possible. But with worries haunting Sagittarius from the past, how will it effect their teamwork? And...I can sense two other stars approaching them. But...who are these stars?" Fool said.
TO BE CONTINUED...