Charlotte Charles had always loved dancing more than anything else. When she was a little girl, she would spend endless hours in her bedroom, spinning slow lazy circles with her arms in the air, pretending she was waltzing with her Prince Charming.
Perhaps that was why she loved life with the piemaker. She and Ned were constanly dancing; dancing around each other, dancing on the edge of destruction, dancing around the sad truth that they could never truly be together.
She bit her lip as that nagging truth crossed her mind, for the third time that day. She shook her head, attempting to dislodge the unpleasant thought.
She resumed kneading the dough for the pie she was making. Pie always made things better. She smiled to herself, and reached across the counter to turn on the radio. She fiddled with the dial for a moment before finding her favorite station. She immediately recognized the song that was playing, it had been one of her father's favorites. She closed her eyes and rocked back and forth on her heels, humming the melody to herself. It was slow and sweet, and it made her ache to dance.
She gave up on the pie dough, and slowly began to twirl around the kitchen on her tiptoes. She spun around over and over again until her knees became weak. Right when she felt as if she was going to fall, a strong pair of arms wrapped around her and joined her in her dance.
Charlotte gasped, her eyes flew open. Ned, clad in his beekeeping suit, smiled down at her. She smiled back, and placed her head gently on his chest. As they swayed to the music, she allowed herself to become lost in his embrace, even if there was a layer of canvas between them. There would always be a layer of canvas between them, she thought as she inhaled the gentle scent of sugar that always seemed to follow Ned around.
They continued to dance like this long after the song was finished. Charlotte had been dancing with death just a hair's breadth away for as long as she could remember, but she didn't mind. She had always loved dancing more than anything else.