"Sorry about that," Cliff frowned; he hadn't meant to frighten his friend. "I-I've been trying to get a dance with you all evening," he stammered.
Claire beamed, bubbling with excitement. "Well, here I am. You know, you've been pretty popular this evening yourself," she giggled. Throughout the course of the evening she had seen him dance with a few different women, and he was entertaining to watch. Manna had stolen a dance with the young man earlier that evening for a few minutes or so, and the winery owner was too worn out to tell to her husband, let alone anyone else, much about it. Duke had offered to buy the young man a drink next time he saw him at the inn. People in Mineral Town sure were friendly, he realized with a grin.
Cliff scrunched up his nose as he let out a carefree laugh, but she caught a hint of color dusted across his cheeks. "Popular? I don't know about all that." Another waltz started. As the music started and he took her hand, Claire was suddenly aware he stood much differently than Gray. He had the posture of a trained dancer, something which seemed out of character for such a shy personality. She hated to admit it, but a small part of her felt a bit intimidated. After all, she was hardly experienced, she reminded herself for what seemed like the millionth time this evening. The young man seemed to sense her unrest, and his smile put her at ease.
Cliff was very easy to dance with; he had a gentle patience about him. He seemed to be quite used to leading and the movements felt very natural, even for a novice like Claire. "Are you ready for a spin?" he asked gently, but she could hear the touch of excitement in his voice.
"I, uh… well…" Her voice trailed off as she took a deep breath. This was her good friend, after all, and there was no reason to be nervous about what she said to him. "I… don't want to step on your feet or collide with you," she admitted with embarrassment.
"You won't, it'll be fine," he gave her a reassuring smile as he held her out at arm's length.
She found her eyes instinctively drawn to her friend and was caught off guard when he gave her a gentle twirl. She giggled in surprise and when he pulled her back in, she softly bumped into him by mistake, thinking that they were going to take one more step together. "I warned you I was clumsy!" she laughed it off, but her cheeks burned with mortification.
He shook his head. "I didn't give you much warning. There's no need to be embarrassed; this is supposed to be fun," he gave her a hopeful smile, praying he hadn't pushed her out of her comfort zone already.
Claire remembered her stumbling with Saibara. The old man had been tolerant with her as well. "You're right. Can we try that again? I promise I'll do better this time!"
There was a blaze in her eyes that reminded Cliff of their rock skipping session. "Of course," his face lit up.
Claire wanted to practice the spins so much she started to feel dizzy. Her friend encouraged them to take a break from the twirling for a while. Once the young woman got more comfortable with the movements, Cliff started the conversation back up. "I saw Saibara showing you some traditional steps earlier. They're really similar to the ones we used in my hometown."
She was happy he still was in the mood for talking about his home. "I want to know more about Akiyama. I want to know more about you." She was holding his hand and gave it a playful squeeze.
"M-more about me?" Cliff turned pink once more.
She wasn't sure why he was suddenly so flustered. His comfortable dancing style made it easy for her to relax and she wondered why he didn't seem to be doing the same at the moment. "Well, sure! We've been friends for quite some time now," Claire pointed out, "and there is still so much I don't know about you."
A thoughtful look crossed his face. He seemed to be trying to find the right words to begin his description of home. "Alright… It was an amazing place, but I didn't know it at the time. If you were Karen, I guess you would call it a backwater village," he added with a soft chuckle.
Claire smiled; that was hardly a secret. Nearly everything about him had given that away a long time ago, from the folksy lilt in his voice to his clothing.
His eyes lit up as he reminisced, and Claire was relieved when she saw it didn't pain him to talk about it for the moment. "We lived off the land. We fished. We hunted. But most of all, we danced." He beamed and met his friend's gaze. "We played music. You see, my mother organized all of the village festivals. Practically everyone in the village could play an instrument. I played about…" He silently counted them off in his mind. "Eight," he laughed. "Me and Ivy always led off the traditional folk dancing, and Ma was the song leader. I was being trained to take my mother's place."
Claire smiled; she could easily picture a rowdy young Cliff enjoying the festivals. She realized once again that he had the air of someone who was at one point very confident and comfortable with himself, but obviously something had changed. Claire's heart dropped a little. He had heavily implied that his training had not been completed. Something must have happened…
"I've been to more music festivals and dances than I can count," Claire detected a note of wistfulness in his voice. An upbeat song began to play, and Cliff quickly taught her some new steps, again with a caring, gentle guidance. "As I traveled, I learned different dances so that I could try to fit in…" he gave her a sad smile.
Judging from his expression and the fact that he had moved so often, simply knowing a town's customs didn't make it home. She sincerely hoped that he felt differently about Mineral Town. "Well, you dance so well," she complimented him, and she was grateful that his face perked up a bit. "I'm actually kind of surprised," Claire admitted, hoping her comment didn't come off as rude.
The young man's brooding manner had dissipated. "What is that supposed to mean?" Cliff cocked an eyebrow, but his expression was playful.
The words came out before she could stop them. "You just seem so… shy around people you don't know well. When I think of dancing, I think of people who are more… " Claire stopped speaking, looking at her friend in surprise; she hadn't meant to be so blunt with him.
"Outgoing?" he finished her sentence for her as his lips curled up into a smile. To her relief, he looked more amused than anything else.
She shook her head. Surely he was going to take her comment the wrong way. "Th-that's not what-!" Claire blushed violently. That wasn't what she intended, and yet it was exactly what she had meant all at the same time.
Cliff laughed good-naturedly. He had danced with more strangers than he could count despite his quiet nature. Claire wasn't the first person this evening to make a similar comment to him. It didn't offend him at all, but rather, it made him desire to get to know the other villagers better. "It's alright, Claire. When you have been raised your whole life doing something, it eventually feels natural to you, even if it's not something you would have picked yourself."
"Oh…!" She recalled their conversation at the Goddess Spring. The young woman sensed there was more to this story, but she decided not to pry. She was already thrilled with all of the information she had been getting from him tonight.
They moved to the music for a few minutes without speaking. Claire found that she enjoyed his air of experience – the soft hand on her waist was reassuring and she felt like she was becoming more graceful just from their time together. She found that her hand didn't sweat in his the way it had with Gray's.
"I really do enjoy dancing," her friend smiled at her, "even though I was more interested in other things growing up," he admitted with a meaningful glance.
Young boys probably didn't rank dancing with girls high on their list of favorite things to do, especially in a village that was known for hunting and fishing. "I see."
"You're pretty good yourself; you pick up the steps very quickly," he commented as they moved together.
She was having fun, but she didn't consider herself good, as her friend put it. "Well, I have a good teacher," Claire stammered, her face warming.
Each time a new genre of music played, the young woman begged Cliff to show her some new steps. It was like a game – he would introduce a new move to her each song and she would try to incorporate it before the next song played. The excited young woman didn't realize she was capable of moving so smoothly, and she burst into excited fits of delighted giggles more than once. She was having so much fun that she forgot to keep looking for Karen.
Cliff looked like he wanted to say something for a while, but he kept looking away nervously. Claire was about to ask him what was wrong when he finally looked at her with large earnest eyes. "I-I want to know more about you, too, Claire."
A grin crept across the young woman's face. She didn't understand why her friend was so flustered to ask her, but at the same time, she often feared she was prying when she asked about Cliff's past. She paused as she realized this was one of the first times he openly asked her about her background. It may not have initially seemed like a huge step to her, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized how important it was to him and to her as well.
If she was going to tell her story, she wanted to be in a good mood for it. After all, no one wanted to listen to someone whine about how hard their life had been. "Well, you may not have noticed, but I'm not from around this area either," Claire began very matter-of-factly, bringing the playful mood back to their conversation.
He responded well to her tone. "Oh really? I never noticed your big city accent," Cliff's eyes were mischievous and his brows were raised.
She loved how open he was with her tonight; she moved in a little closer. There was that cute, endearing, energetic boy she never knew as a child. "Ha, ha, very funny!" the farmer pretended to pout as he held her out at arm's length. "… but yes, I did grow up in a large city. I am a middle child who lived in an overcrowded house and went to an overcrowded school, then upgraded for a job in an overcrowded store for a while, then an overcrowded restaurant, and finally an overcrowded office."
Cliff spun her, and she clung on to him, laughing heartily. The music and the energy in the room were thrilling. Enthralled that she was more comfortable with the steps, Claire's confidence soared as she continued her story.
"I would wake up, go to work, go home, eat, and then go to bed in my tiny apartment. No variety. No fun," she bobbed her head to the music absentmindedly.
"No fun?" The young man beamed and spun her again. He needed to hear that laugh and see that smile again; they were intoxicating. He longed to give her that fun and variety she craved.
"Nope. No fun!" She couldn't stop giggling despite the conversation topic and the young man's entire face was smiling. A slower song began to play, and the young woman calmed down a bit, collecting her thoughts. When she spoke again, her voice was level. "As I sat at my lonely table eating my precooked meal, I looked at the newspaper. There was an ad for the farm in it. I had never grown much more than a meager herb garden on my windowsill, but I immediately fell in love with the concept of a farm – the whole idea of doing what you want when you want and being able to provide for yourself." She knew that the whole thing sounded rather naïve and silly when she looked back on it…
His words surprised her. "I know exactly what you mean." Cliff turned very serious as his eyes locked on to hers and he hugged her tightly. He smelled like the wild herbs that grew on the mountain and fresh summer breeze. For that brief moment, there was no one else in the room. There was no music. There was no party. There were two people, so very different, yet so similar, reaching an understanding. Cliff wasn't sure how long he held her like that, and he didn't care if anyone else had noticed. He had always found a kindred spirit in Claire, and this latest bit of proof made his heart swell. He wasn't alone, and neither was she.
Claire was having a difficult time processing her emotions. All that she knew was that his hug was reassuring and that she didn't want either of them to let go. She had found someone that truly accepted her and would never see her as a bumbling city girl trying to make it on a rundown farm. She had Cliff, and he had her. As long as they had each other, they always would have someone to support them. Their friendship had reached a new bond of trust and understanding.
They danced in silence for a few minutes. There were so many more things she wanted to ask him about his past, but now didn't feel like the right time. They had made so much progress tonight. Claire rested her head on her friend's shoulder and looked around her for the first time in hours. She realized at once how much time had passed. Many couples were resting their feet, and quite a few had left already. Claire and Cliff were the only two on the dance floor, and she was suddenly aware that everyone may be staring at them.
Her first instinct was the fear of judgmental stares; surely the gossip crew would have something to say about the farmer dancing with a single partner for a majority of the evening. She didn't lift her head, but her eyes darted around the room wildly.
And to her amazement, no one seemed to care. Saibara and Duke were laughing much too loudly, Ann sat beside her father behind the bar, munching on some snacks. The redheaded waitress have them a friendly wave when she saw Claire's eyes focus on her. Karen, whose fingers were discreetly laced with Rick's, gave the farmer a loving smile. Mary and Gray were talking together at the bar and watching the dancing pair, smiling. Manna was waving goodbye to a yawning Elli. It occurred to Claire that Karen was right – they weren't children anymore, and people had better things to do than gossip and cause drama at a dance.
Claire yawned. She felt sleepy, but her mind was alert. Her feet moved automatically to the music. She didn't want the evening to end. Her heart was full to bursting with a deep joy.
"One last song!" The bandleader called out, turning off the record player as they grabbed their instruments.
Everyone shuffled out onto the dance floor.
A ballad – even Claire knew how to dance to this one. She looked up at her dance partner, who was grinning at Ann. The waitress whispered something into her friend's ear and he turned a violent shade of red. Ann patted Claire on the shoulder.
"Have a good evening, sweetie." She gave the blonde the same smile Karen had given her a minute ago. Her heart swelled.
"Thank you, you too, Ann!" she called out, but she didn't want to be saying her goodbyes just yet.
Claire looked up around the room. These people were her neighbors, but they were also her friends. She looked at Mr. and Mrs. Cava and smiled. Despite the squabbles between Manna and Duke, Claire could tell how much they loved each other. The young farmer looked out in the crowd and saw Kai and Popuri laughing together. Claire knew that although Kai's seasonal visit was already halfway over, she liked him a lot already. She was happy that Popuri got to spend time with him tonight without too much grief from her brother; it looked like things had cooled down for the moment with the poultry farmer. Claire didn't see Karen anywhere, but she was grateful that her friend had insisted she come to the dance. Karen was always helping Claire expand her comfort zone, the farmer realized. She would have to thank her when she got the chance.
Finally, she looked up at Cliff. Throughout the course of their friendship, Claire had seen him with fewer worry lines on his forehead and his stuttering was now rare. She had learned so much about him in just one evening, and she suddenly wanted to know everything about him.
She thought of Saibara's comment about Cliff needing a woman and knew that it would take a special person to fill that role. She looked back at Ann, a natural choice for him as her bubbly personality seemed to complement his well, but the waitress was busy clearing empty steins off of the bar. Claire remembered with embarrassment how long the two had been dancing together exclusively.
"Are you sure there's not someone else you'd rather be dancing with?" Claire asked shyly. If Ann really had a thing for her friend, why didn't it seem to bother her that she had only danced for a short while with the young man?
He looked genuinely confused. "What are you talking about?"
She understood she was just making things awkward and shook her head. "Never mind."
Cliff gave his friend a spin, and a smile returned to her face. "I've been having a wonderful time," his eyes locked onto hers.
"Me, too." She gave him a friendly grin. She couldn't remember ever having this much fun at a social event, let alone a dance. Her heart was bursting with joy as they moved together.
"Good. Then let's keep dancing together, and I'll walk you home." He pulled her a little closer.
He was giving her that look again that made her feel a little disoriented: a bright, kind, wide stare with friendly eyebrows and a glitter to his eyes that she had a hard time defining. Yes, that deep blue was a beautiful color, she realized once again. "A-alright!" Claire was stunned by the confidence in his voice and body language, and it gave her heart an unexpected jolt of excitement. What was with her emotions going haywire lately? She quickly shook it off. "But you'll have to get permission from my date first," she teased.
"Oh, I don't think Karen will be walking you home tonight; she seems a bit preoccupied," Cliff laughed. He turned her toward Karen and Rick, who were leaving the bar together hand in hand. Rick gave Karen a swift peck on the cheek, and she returned it with a big kiss planted on his mouth.
0o0o0o0
Author's Note: I'm imagining a sitcom-style cheering sound effect with Cliff's entrance in this chapter. I know a lot of you were hoping to see him, haha.
Hopefully this chapter didn't give you too many cavities; I really tried to focus on how far both of them have come with their friendship together.
A great big hearty thank you to all of my readers – you are all awesome people! Forty-one chapters and going strong! Drop me a line and let me know what you think! :D