World's End Paradise
Disclaimer: I do not own Vocaloid.
Summary: Something more than a fabulous dance routine forms between sixteen year old Miku and her young dance instructor when they decide to spend one last night in the old dancehall.
In the monochrome slums of Newark City, there lay an avenue more decrepit than all the others. The ghosts of theatres and cinemas haunted the street, but none of them were quite as impressive as the grand old hotel that looked upon the rustic older parts of the city from the front and over the edge of a rather steep cliff to see the sprawl of the newer, industrial city from the back. And at the very top of the hotel, where one could get the best view of either half of the city there was a dancehall. It took up the entire top floor and had an outdoor balcony overlooking the cliff where you could see that magnificent bustling city twinkle like starlight for miles in the night time. It was on that balcony that we first met.
She was only fourteen at the time and I was seventeen. She had been dragged here by the red string of fate. Or perhaps it was merely her party-loving mother. Whatever the reason, be it destiny or mothers, we wound up on that balcony together. I had left my dance at the same time as I always would- ten minutes before sunset so that I could see those few precious moments when the impressive city skyline became a silhouette against a background of flame. She came out because she hated listening to the music. She didn't appreciate jazz at the time, but that was about to be rectified.
The balcony was so pleasant that time just before twilight. Most everyone was inside dancing, which I could hear as nothing more than an ambient murmur accompanied by the quiet gossip of the city animals and the crickets living in the small garden kept in the centre of the patio. I heard the murmur briefly become a roar as the door opened. I turned to see who had come out and was momentarily stunned by the radiance of the delicate creature that walked out. She had eyes the same colour as the twilight sky that threatened to drown me as I stared into them. And for a moment, I wanted to do just that. However, I had to abandon the wish- staring is rude after all.
"Hey. What is a pretty thing like you doing out here?"
I winced inwardly at my forward speaking. I didn't want to sound like a pervert. Thankfully, she didn't take it that way.
"Oh, me?" she laughed a bit, blushing. "I don't like the music much is all."
"Well the music is for DANCING, silly! You don't just listen to it- you have to FEEL it! Otherwise you may as well not be here at all!"
"Oh..." she looked as though she had just been chastised and I immediately regretted my rash language. "Well, I didn't really want to come. I just got dragged along. A lot of boys asked me to dance, but I don't want to embarrass myself..."
Her porcelain features were now flushed with a pale rose blush and those miraculous eyes were downcast. I was seeing everything through an exaggerated lens- the kind that one sees through when they are enamoured. 'But how', I despaired, 'Could I fall in love with another girl? And such an age difference! A relationship would be entirely inappropriate!'
It didn't matter. I wanted to feel her soft blue hair in my hands. I wanted to be able to look into her eyes for as long as I wanted. To tell her all my secrets. But as I looked into those eyes and saw only innocence, I realised that was not to be. Perhaps I could settle for just being her friend.
"Nonsense! So long as you can feel the music, you can dance! I could show you how, if you'd like."
Those eyes lit up.
"Are you sure?"
"Of course I am! My name is Luka, by the way. What is yours?"
"Miku," she replied shyly, taking my hand. Adrenaline was already rushing to my head, and I pulled her into a dance, letting the beat guide my movements. I will never know what she meant by saying she couldn't dance. Her body and mine moved together in perfect symbiosis. The puppet string melody of smooth jazz pulling us along the floor of the balcony as the sun set. Had anyone in the dancehall looked out the clear doors, they would have seen our dancing silhouettes against a fire red sky and the neon sprawl of the city~
When Miku's mother announced herself, I did my best to appear proper. I wanted to be with Miku as often as possible, and that would mean impressing her mother. I didn't even have to try, in the end. She wanted me to tutor Miku in dance and I agreed on the spot, not believing my luck. For a year I taught the beloved girl all I knew about the art of dancing. One night she told me that all she had ever needed was the right dance teacher. I searched those eyes for any feeling other than gratitude, but there were none. I smiled and told her I was glad to be of assistance, but my words were empty and my heart longed for more.
By the second year we were entering competitions with our dance routines and bringing home first prize more often than not. Once a month on Friday, we would meet at the dancehall where we met. She called it the dancehall at the end of the world- World's End Dancehall- for the steep cliff it resided on and the name stuck. When we danced, the waves of other dancers would part and pause for a moment to admire us before continuing their own dances. We became minor celebrities, but even we couldn't save the blessed place.
Three months ago the hotel and the dancehall on top of it were damaged in a fire and condemned for infrastructure that no longer met the standard. It would be impossible to rebuild and the hotel's owner could not pay for it regardless of if it were. They shut down and left, leaving the once magnificent building to wait it's demise. Tomorrow, the building comes down. I stand by Miku, hand in hand and we admire the shrine of our meeting for one last time. Miku looks at me with the glimmer of adventure in her eyes.
"Luka, why don't we go and dance in the hall one last time? Forget these barriers and tape, we won't be caught! There's no on here tonight."
I don't want to bring her into a dangerous situation. I am about to decline, but... This is our last time to dance there. After tomorrow there will be no more World's End Dancehall. I look at Miku again. She isn't the little girl she was before. She is almost seventeen now, and as tall as I am. She can choose to take some risks. Besides, what is childhood without taking risks? I am nineteen, old enough to decide as well.
"Let's do it."
We climb over the yellow tape and race each other up the almost never-ending staircase to the top of the building. The dancehall looks the same as it always has, I note sadly. Perhaps just a little charred. Miku folds out her laptop and puts our favourite song to dance to on. The song we have our best routine to. The one we met by. She takes my hand and the adrenaline takes over.
"Luka," she says, and I swear that for the first time in our years together, there is a hint of that emotion I so desperately seek, "I want to tell you something. Remember that time when I said that I had only ever needed the right dance instructor?"
My heart starts pounding even harder and I can see her cheeks are redder than they should be.
"I don't think that was entirely true. I don't think I needed a teacher at all. I... What I needed was the right partner... And..."
I can't believe it, but no! There is no mistaking that look in her eyes! She has been hiding it so well for so long, I realise, but our feelings have been mutual all along! I don't need her to finish her sentence. I embrace her, and I can't hold back a few tears of bliss. She embraces me back and then, without even having to talk to each other we start dancing again, moving as one. We dance harder and with more feeling than we ever have before. This is, undoubtedly, our finest dance. No one else in the world sees it, but no one else needs to. Part of my mind knows that eventually the sun will rise and we will have to leave, and yet part of me knows this can never stop- the moment will live on forever in our memories. We swing out onto the balcony, breathing heavily and laughing.
"This is our finest hour! And no one in the world to see it!" Miku voiced our thoughts.
"I want to dance like this forever with you."
"Let this night never end."
And like an answer to our prayer, we feel the ground give way beneath us. The balcony collapses around us, dropping us of the side of the cliff. I am terrified! I cannot see my dear Miku through the rubble falling around us. How can such a beautiful night end like this?
Oh my Luka, my Luka where are you? Can't you hear me calling? And then I see her, screaming my name. I hold my hand out to her and smile. So long as I have you, everything will be okay. I pull her into a hug and I feel her trembling slow to a halt as she hugs back. So long as I have Luka, everything is fine.
It's like an out of body experience. It's like watching ourselves fall from the dancehall, and we aren't sure whether we are really in the building and imagining ourselves falling together or if we are falling and imagining ourselves watching from the dancehall. Nothing is clear and everything is confusing, but for now that's just alright.
I hope that wasn't too terrible! I just had this story in my head and it wasn't leaving me alone. Please tell me if you like it!
Your Red Goddess,
Madame Grell