McGarden Levy rushed toward the stage as fast as she could, considering the fact that she had to elbow her way through the thick crowd. Everyone was muttering about the ceremony and some were smiling to each other.
"I hope my daughter has practiced enough," a woman with medium-length blonde hair and soft brown eyes said, her expression a mix of worry and sadness. Levy felt a stab of sympathy for her. If her daughter won a man's hato; his heart, they would be married and she would move in with her new husband and his parents.
"Don't worry. She'll do fine," her companion told her. She quickly braided her long green hair as a last-minute preparation for the event. Then she picked up her child, resting her on her hip. She smiled at her husband, who was staring intently at his wife.
He's probably remembering when they got married, Levy thought. She often wondered what it would be like to have her own husband. Would he like her personality? Would he be more outgoing? Would he listen to her opinions? The questions running through her mind were endo resu; they were endless.
In this woman's case, she and her husband made one of the most harmonic couples the bluenette has ever seen. They always seem to be thinking of the same thing. They always look... Happy. Levy sighed. She hoped she would marry a man who was just right for her, one who made her happy, too.
"You don't know that," the blonde woman pointed out. "You don't know how stressful it is, either. Your daughter isn't old enough for her ceremony, Connell Bisca."
"True, my daughter is still too young. But you and I - as well as every other woman - went through this shiki; this ceremony. So-" she started, before being shushed by her friend.
"Shh! It's about to start!" she whispered fiercely.
Bisca just rolled her eyes and giggled silently to herself. Then, in a quiet whisper of her own, she added, "Lucy will be fine."
Levy blinked. She had zoned out, listening to the two women's conversation. Her eyes widened, realizing that she hasn't made it to the stage yet. She squeezed past grumbling people and, finally, she reached her destination. She sighed in relief when the other girls were still waiting behind the stage for the announcements to end. Most of them were talking; some were helping the other girls get the finishing touches on their outfit or hair done.
"Hey, Levy-chan!" a blonde girl greeted happily, her chocolate eyes meeting with Levy's hazel ones. Her hair was put up in a high bun, similar to Levy's. The only difference in the style was that two golden-blonde bangs were pulled out of the bun and were resting on either side of the girl's collarbone. She was wearing a light pink kimono with twelve golden key-shaped designs near the bottom, each with a koyu ki; a unique key.
"Hi, Lu-chan! How are you doing today?" Levy greeted back, equally as excited to see her shin'yu; her best friend.
"I'm okay. A little worried and stressed out, but I can handle it. Besides, it will be worth it later," Lucy answered, hugging the bluenette as she walked up to her. "Oh! You're missing something."
"What?!" Levy panicked. What did she forget this time? Did she leave her fan at home? She quickly checked, feeling it tucked inside her left sleeve. She looked up at the blonde with furrowed brows. What could she be missing?
Lucy giggled. "I meant that you forgot to put on your pretty heddo bando; your headband. You told me that you were planning to wear it for the ceremony, right?"
Levy face-palmed. She forgot all about that. Wait, she thought. She didn't have her headband with her, and there wasn't enough time to run home and grab it.
Seeing her friend's expression, the blonde smiled and pulled an elaborate orange ribbon out of her right sleeve and held it out to the bluenette. It had beautiful pink and white flowers on the sides of it, the size of a child's palm. Levy covered her mouth with her hands, her hazel eyes going wide.
"Lu-chan... Did you make that... for me?" she asked, staring at her friend. "It's beautiful!"
The girl blushed, still smiling. "I figured you'd forget your headband, and I know how much you love wearing them. So I picked some flowers from my garden and found some orange ribbon to sew them onto. I hope this heddo bando looks at least half as good as your original one."
"Are you kidding, Lu-chan? This headband is ten times as good as the one I was going to wear!" Levy took the headband and put it in her hair at the top of her head. She pulled her friend into a tight hug. "Thank you so much! You have no idea how much this means to me."
"You made it." A girl with scarlet hair in another high bun walked up to them. She was dressed in a royal purple kimono with white-and-silver sword designs near the bottom. She glared menacingly at Levy as the small girl turned to her, her brown eyes glinting with anger. To the bluenette, it seemed as if the swords at the bottom of the redhead's kimono were about to detach themselves and swing their blades at her head. The scarlet-haired girl narrowed her eyes and looked Levy up and down. "Mind telling me why you were almost late to the most important shiki in the Yosei Village?"
Levy shivered. She reminds me of my grandmother... Scary! She gulped, smiling as best as she could. "S-sorry! I got distracted on my way here."
That answer didn't seem to please the redhead. "You know how important this day is for all of us. If you're late, it doesn't just make you look like a fool. It reflects on all of us, including our jokyoshi; our teacher. If one of us goes down, we all go down with her. That's why it's imperative that you arrive on time and do your best during the performance. We've practiced so hard to learn this dance and how to do it absolutely right. Do you want to throw all that away? All that time, all the strict punishments we've gotten if we failed to do certain steps correctly, all that thrown into the river and washed downstream to who knows where?" She crossed her arms and stared down at the short bluenette.
Levy looked down at her feet. She didn't know what to say. She knew it was really important for all of them; she's been told that ever since she was three. But what she didn't realize was that if she messed up, it looked bad on all of them, especially their teacher. It gave the impression that the lessons were not given strict enough, and the jokyoshi would be considered incompetent because she couldn't teach the dance to the girls well enough. She would be punished if a girl so much as puts her foot down two inches from where she was supposed to. Everybody took this ceremony very seriously; it was no joking matter.
"Juvia thinks you should calm down a bit, Belserion Erza," a girl with ocean-colored hair said, somewhat shyly. She had a navy blue kimono on. Near the bottom of it was small, baby blue bubbles above an aqua-colored river, which was hugging the very bottom of the kimono. Small bumps on the top of the river reminded Levy of waves. This girl was still fairly new to the village, moving in only two weeks before. To learn the traditional Kyou-no-Shiki dance in time, Juvia had to work extra hard and practice every day for twelve hours. It took a lot of effort on her part, but she finally learned to perfect her dancing, just like the rest of the young ladies.
"You're right, I suppose." Erza sighed, uncrossing her arms. "If I want to look exceptional for the performance, I shouldn't get my blood pressure up right before we go on stage. I wouldn't want to look like a red-faced vulcan," she added, chuckling and nodding to Levy.
Levy guessed that the nod was meant as an apology, but didn't stop to ask Erza about it. She'd look like a fool if she did that, and she didn't want anyone to think that she couldn't figure it out for herself. They already think I'm too short, she thought with a huff.
Suddenly, their teacher came up to them. "Get ready. You are about to go onstage. Good luck, and may our ancestors guide us to success!" she whispered quickly.
This was it. The moment all the girls have been waiting for. This was the day that they would catch the eye of a man and be married in a few days' time. They couldn't mess up now. The young redisu lined up and took a deep breath, straightening their backs and trying to look as professional as possible.
"Please welcome this year's josei no yosei; the female fairies!" the announcer said, loud enough for everyone to hear.
That was their cue. The girls slowly walked onstage, their footsteps matching each others'. The crowd greeted them by clapping loudly. Levy thought it sounded almost like thunder. And wherever there's thunder, there's a storm coming.
