Author's note: My 2012 Yuletide fic.
No matter how much time had passed, she still had some remnants of the bear in her. When a drunkard man had tried to get closer to Merida, she had growled. The man had blanched and backed off immediately, neither Fergus nor Merida had noticed a thing. If they had, there would've been nothing left of the man when Merida was done with filling him with arrows and Fergus with hacking off his body parts.
She still half-expected to find fur when rubbing her face, but being able to scratch herself without drawing blood was a welcome change. It felt odd to have such flimsy nails again, though.
She searched the crowd from her chair to find Merida. Her daughter seemed to be talking excitedly to the MacGuffin and his son, probably about archery if Elinor was interpreting her hand gestures correctly. Merida's face was joyful and she was smiling in a way she hadn't seen in a long time. Their eyes locked and her daughter smiled even more brightly.
The guests would be leaving tomorrow, and honestly, she could hardly wait. She wanted to spend much more time with Merida, now that they were actually close again. Seeing her now, so full of joy and drunk from her freedom and the feeling of being stifled was a revelation. She couldn't even remember when they had stopped seeing eye-to-eye, but she was determined that it wouldn't happen again.
Elinor saw something red - several somethings actually - moving on the sides of the hall. She sharpened her gaze and verified that it was the triplets. Hamish seemed to be carrying a plate full of cakes while Hubert looked to be a lookout and Harris carried a mace bigger than his head. She decided to let them go. This was a time of celebration and she didn't feel like being a disciplinarian. As long as they wouldn't break anything beyond the point of being fixable.
Fergus was gazing at her, with an impish look on his face. He always looked like that when he had a surprise he was very proud of. Elinor kept giving him a raised eyebrow but that just made him smile wider. Suddenly he rose and bellowed: "Now, dancing!"
So this was his surprise. Elinor blushed with delight. She did love dancing, but Fergus hated it (and also feared looking like a fool so she hadn't pushed it) so she hadn't had a chance to do it for a long time.
The bagpipe players were readying their instruments and people were clearing the center of the hall. Some people were starting the first set, when Fergus grasped her and Merida's hands and pulled them to the new dance area.
Men and women were facing each other in long lines and Fergus and Elinor were at the top end. Music began and Elinor moved, making Fergus follow her. Her movements were stiff, but she quickly relaxed and began to enjoy it again. Poor Fergus kept stumbling, showing none of the dangerous grace he had while fighting with an axe or a sword. There was some laughter coming from the crowds, but none of it was mean-spirited. Even Fergus was laughing. They switched pairs and Merida grabbed Elinor. It wasn't rare for a woman to take another woman as a dance partner, as even now there were more women dancing than men. Elinor did notice to her amusement that Merida took the man's place and refused to switch.
The dance was fast-paced, with her pushing it even faster. Fergus had dropped out after literally falling down, but Merida was working hard to match her. She missed some steps and wasn't very smooth, but Elinor still kept smiling in delight at her.
She could have continued for hours, but eventually the music did stop. She just now registered that she was rather disgustingly sweaty, and Merida's hair was even more of a mess than it usually did. It seemed to literally stand up in every direction, forcing people to keep a safe distance so they wouldn't get her hair in their mouth or eyes.
"And now, our lady queen will show us how a proper sword dance is done!" shouted the king suddenly. Elinor stumbled in shock. She hadn't done a sword dance for years! She had been very good at it, but after the queenship and children she hadn't had truly time to practice. She tried to say no, but people started chanting for her to dance until she had to say yes. She managed to say that she would change to better clothes over the answering shouting, and sped to her room.
She stripped off her dress and used a wet rag to wash off most of the sweat. She still had some kilts left to wear that still fitted, and she managed to find a white shirt too.
When she walked down the stairs in her get-up, she could hear some cat-calls that were silenced with punches. She gave them a flat stare, which made the men look embarrassed and shuffle like small children caught with their hand in the cookie jar. Fergus was glaring furiously at the crowd, right eye twitching.
She took two swords from the stand, laid them on the ground, took her stance and signaled the pipers. And let go.
Afterwards she was even sweatier than before, and the crowd was silent. Then they started yelling, stomping their feet and clapping. Merida was staring at her with a look full of awe and she grinned back. It did seem that the old mother-bear still had some tricks on her sleeve.
Fergus took Elinor from the waist and lifted her, twirling as he did so. She just kept laughing breathlessly. The dance had been taxing and she could feel the pleasant burn of the muscles. It made her feel even more alive and real. She kept poking him until he let her down, but even so he kept her close and kissed her.
She could hear the gagging sounds of Merida and triplets in the distance, even above the roar cheering them on.