OK, first Kaleido Star fic, it's rather dull...just a two shot, but if you really hate it, I'll just erase it. Oh, whatever, just read.

Oh, and I don't own the show. It's just some drabbles about Sora and Leon.

Dance of the fire bird

Leon Oswald….tall, strong, extremely handsome…no, those were just looks. Athletic, skilled, an amazing acrobat…no, those epithets didn't suit him either. There were times when you looked at a person and wondered about the one word that described him. Sure, there were plenty ways you could call him-there were plenty epithets that applied to him. But THE WORD, the one word that described him perfectly….well, in this case was missing.

It was probably associated with ice. Only a selected few knew his kind nature, whereas everybody else saw nothing but selfishness. Those who didn't know him thought he was a bad person-cold and cruel, just like ice.

Sora didn't know what to make of him. She wanted to be friends with everybody, and there was no wrong in that-Sora was just Sora, she wanted everybody to be good. But Leon…he let her in and then pushed her away. One minute he was nice, the next one cold again. Maybe the word she was looking for was…afraid.

So it was the diabolo challenge again. It started with nothing but a simple argument between Rosetta and Leon in the cafeteria. And by noon, it had grown into a war.

"You don't have the smallest idea what is the true beauty of this sport." Rosetta screamed at Leon, who tried ignoring her.

"I say it's easy to learn." He snapped "And I can prove it."

"You wouldn't make it alone." May cut in, trying to calm them both down.

"No, May." Rosetta said "If Leon's learning diabolo, he'll do it with a teacher."

"I don't need instructions from you." Leon said in his usual cold voice.

"Fine. Sora will teach you." Rosetta smirked triumphantly "If SHE can't teach you, you are admitting it's hard."

Sora felt she would faint as Leon looked at her for the first time for the day, raising an eyebrow suspiciously. She expected him to grunt something like "You've gotta be kidding me.". But he just shrugged and said.

"Fine. I'll see you in three days."

So Sora got herself dragged in an argument without being so much as asked for her opinion. What was worst, she had to train Leon, and she had forgotten all about diabolo-all her energy was focused on learning the Angel's act. But still….she had to do it. It was her dream of uniting the stage and the audience, but how was that to happen if the actors weren't united first?

Later that day, she met Leon at the gym. He didn't seem very anxious of learning-he was leaning back on the wall, studying the diabolo rope with a mixture of boredom and surprise.

"Why hello, Leon-san." Sora smiled "I never expected you to show up so early."

"Not really, I spend a little more time in the fitness." He said casually, his cold eyes barely noticing her. Sora bit her lip-again with that stupid noble's behaviour. As if she was inferior to him.

"Well, how about we get started then?" she suggested, a trace of barely noticeable anger in her voice. However, it didn't slip him. He looked at her more carefully as she was picking up some diabolos and measuring them. Her eyebrow was hardly furrowed, but still…

Leon had had enough girlfriends to tell a women's moods just from watching. She was angry indeed, but in times like this it was best to keep quiet.

Sora began explaining to him the basics, but the slightly annoyed look on his face told her to just get on with demonstrating instead of babbling. "The better." Thought Sora "I'll show him that he can't look down on me."

She threw the diabolos in the air and stretched the rope, preparing to juggle. Unfortunately, she had picked the longest rope, longer than she needed, so even though she caught the first two, the others fell on her head or a few meters away from her. In a desperate attempt to catch them, Sora made some unbalanced steps and twisted in some sort of a funny-solo-waltz, causing the rope to tangle with her feet and finally-to fall.

She held back a whimper as the diabolos she had caught fell on her feel, leaving painful bruises. Sora looked up, expecting to meet his disapproving gaze, a cruel laugh or the usual "you're-so-pathetic" face.

But no, he remained indifferent, picking up the diabolos from the floor and trying to juggle them. His first attempt was far from perfect, but still surpassed Sora's. The latter didn't stay on the floor, watching, but picked herself up and started juggling herself.

It came back to her at the same time he started getting the hang of it. It was simple indeed to him, but after their training session was over he still didn't understand what did Rosetta find so fascinating about diabolo.

"Leon-san, you should try to understand people's feelings." Sora thought, and her eyes were probably expressing her thoughts, because he frowned and said:

"I'll stay here and practice another hour-you go to bed."

Sora tried protesting, but he made it clear that he wasn't going to repeat himself. Unhappy, frustrated and maybe even a little embarrassed, Sora headed to the dormitory. It felt as if she had been scolded by a teacher. Leon sunk her down to the level of a junior student with his bare gaze. Why was it so difficult to stand up to him and tell him they're equal? Maybe because he always proved her wrong.

The next day, Rosetta got hurt-she sprained her ankle on the trapeze. So Leon and Sora were to perform the Diabolo battle scheduled for the night's show. It was a little too fast, thought Sora. A Diabolo battle meant flames and uncomfortable platforms. It also meant a lot of trust, and Sora wasn't sure if she could trust Leon. She, of course, would give her best, but he…

The night of the performance came, they waited in the shadows. Lights, the sound of passionate Spanish flamenco, and they were off. They made a few steps to get comfortable with the shaking platforms, and then swung the diabolos in the air. Some time later eight orbs of fire were dancing in the air as Sora and Leon began their battle.

Indeed, he had practiced. Both their moves were far from perfect, but it was good enough. Sora did her best to calm down, tense muscles always resulted in something bad. But it was just a little too much, having to worry about both the diabolos and Leon. She just wished it would be a little easier, but it wasn't.

A flicker came too close and Sora thought he had missed one. Panicking, she tried swinging her cord so she might catch it, but noticed his own string in the last moment. A diabolo fell on her hand and burnt it, but it was tossed away by Leon, who had gotten really close to her in a flash.

Sora felt his hand around her waist as he pulled her close, helping her regain her balance and control over the diabolos. They broke apart, then came back, swinging the fire orbs in incredible speed. Soon enough, the audience couldn't see anything but two figures, wrapped in flames, like firebirds dancing in the air.

Sora looked for Leon. Right after the performance he had vaporized from the stage, without receiving the applause. The audience was in awe, everybody was screaming, clapping their hands, throwing flowers. But Leon, who took attention with great pride in himself, was missing.

Sora checked the costume room, the training room, the changing room, even took a peek in the showers. Her mind wasn't exactly wondering about what was proper, she wanted to make sure he was OK.

She found him sitting on the beach, the diabolos next to him. It was early in the morning, the sun was about to rise. His glorious white hair was dropped all around him, his shirt was unbuttoned and he was tasting the salty air with closed eyes.

Still, he probably felt her, because he said, without even bothering to look at her:

"What do you want?"

"I…" Sora was surprised by his cold harshness. Back there, on the stage, he had danced with her, had helped her fulfill her performance perfectly. Back there, he seemed absolutely different-and now he was giving her the cold shoulder again. "I wandered if you were OK. You left the stage so quickly I thought you might have been sick." she turned away to leave.

"What are you doing?" he asked hesitatingly.

"I…I'm going back in. You probably want to be left alone." Sora said.

"No…" he seemed insecure "You can stay."

Again high and mighty. Sora was getting tired from this.

"Leon, I can understand if you're upset. I guess I wasn't such a good partner."

"I'm not upset." He snapped, before realizing his tone wasn't suitable for the situation. "Stay…I mean…please."

Sora went back and sat down a few meters away from him and some steps back. His posture was still, his face was focused on the horizon, as if he was begging the sun to come up. It seemed like some kind of ritual, and the Japanese girl didn't want to disturb it. A thought crossed her mind, nevertheless-for how long had he been doing this? She had been jogging on the beach ever since her arrival and never saw him before. Maybe the day was special.

Leon, even though he didn't move, paid Sora a lot more attention than she thought. He was irritated by the way she sat far from his sight, but at least he knew she was there. Over his stay in Kaleido Stage, he had learnt to know her presence….and suffer it's absence. Sora was like a cool breeze that cooled off the horrible Hell his life was. Without his sister his career on stage seemed pointless, being one with the audience was nothing more than a long lost dream. The endless competition, the way everybody blamed everybody for their failure, the tenseness and pressure…sometimes he wondered why he kept on.

And then he had found Sora-with all her naïveté, her bright dreams and her indestructible hope in the good in people, in the stage, in the true star. The way she didn't give up, even though he tried to break her spirit countless times.

And now he wanted to apologize. To let her know how much he appreciated her efforts and hard work. To tell her he was really sorry for being too severe on her.

Easier said then done.

"Leon…" Sora said "Isn't it a little cold here?"

"Hm? No. Not really."

"Well….I'm really glad you did so well with the diabolos. I hope you understand better how important they are."

"No….I still consider them nothing but a tool." Ok, now she was getting angry. After all they did he still didn't get it.

"Leon, sometimes I think you're just…heartless." Sora snapped at him, getting up. Leon turned to look at her, surprised. "You consider yourself better than everyone and you treat them just like those diabolos-just like tools. But people have feelings, Leon, and they don't appreciate it if you hurt them. It's the same with these daibolos-they have their own feelings and if you don't look after them they'll just turne their backs on you in the most inappropriate time."

"It isn't like I don't know the technique." Leon stood up, but paused. Now how was he supposed to put that….

"Then what is it?" Sora looked at him impatiently. "Tell you what, let's have a real diabolo battle. And then we'll see if you don't understand."

Leon was about to protest, but seeing the determination in Sora's eyes, he decided to do it. She tied her hair up, shook her shoes off and took off her jacket. Leon tossed his shirt aside and positioned himself in a comfortable distance from her. The diabolos lit up, they tossed them in the air. A second later they were fighting.

The difference was noticeable. Now, that the surface was more solid they could focus on their opponent. The tools flew faster and harder as they moved closer and closer.

Sora started taking different steps, jumping and turning, thanking for the reflexes she gained through the angel's act. Leon quickly picked up her pace and followed, taking unexpected blows from time to time. They seemed like a crane and a tiger dancing. Yes, dancing, because their fight turned into something way different. They were close now, so close Sora could almost hear the beat of his heart, making music nobody heard, but sensed.

The rhythm took them over as they started moving into it. Indefinable, the music was passionate, powerful, rough on the edges but sensual. Small drops of sweat sparkled on their skin, as their dance became faster, more powerful and desperate. Each of them wanted to win this one, each of them needed to win. The fire orbs turned into an endless whirl around them, and it seemed as if their skin had caught fire.

Leon forgot all about what he was being taught-all he could do was gaze into Sora's eyes, anticipating her next move, trying to find a weak spot but allowing himself to be swallowed by their depths in the same time. She seemed like a real phoenix there, shining, like the star she was.

But she was on the brick of her forces. She needed to finish this now. She made a quick step forward the same time Leon did the same….the diabolos fell on the sand, going off as quickly as they lit up. Sora and Leon crashed onto each-other, the strings tying around them. Sora wrapped her hands around his neck, his coughed her waist. They looked deep into each other's eyes.

So that was it? The power released when you express yourself, the way you find there's much more than it seemed. Sora looked with amazement Leon's face, who was right now betraying his usual cold façade. And Leon….well, right now he was facing serious difficulties.

She was so close it was driving him crazy. He never felt so…attracted to anyone in his life. And still there was something that raised his concern.

Her face was blank, her lips were pale, her eyes feverish and thirsty. Yeah, she hadn't eaten, hadn't she? And that little fight they had must've drained her out.

Sora almost exclaimed with surprise as Leon untied them both and picked her up in one lightly movement, putting her on the sand. Her fetched her some fresh water. Soon enough, Sora was better.

"Thank you, Leon-san." She mumbled and looked at him. He seemed about to say something.

But he didn't –he bit his lip and then turned to leave. As he left a wondering Sora behind him, all he could think about was "You went too far, Leon Oswald."

A/N-well, didn't that take some time...anyway, thanks for keeping up to here, it's probably been a torture.