Author’s Note: So I was going to torture someone else with these angsty lyrics, but I eventually chose to write something myself. I should admit that I do know who this is and what story it might belong to, but I’m leaving it, short as it is, as a standalone.

I think it’s almost a longer prompt than it is a fic, but here goes nothing:

But you go right, I go left
You go forward, I go back
And we’re dancing this waltz alone
You go up, I go down, lost our grip
And now we’ve found ourselves
Dancing this waltz alone

and

Hush now don’t cry
It’s just a lullaby
I’ll tell you sweet lies
I won’t leave your side

~”Hush Now,” Catherine Feeny

Forward, back, never miss a step, never falter. Do not waver.

A dance should be simple, a progression of memorized steps, one after another, a routine. Improvisation was unnecessary and distracting. The familiar held safety, and to depart from that was where error came in, where a misstep cost the dancer everything.

She was a solo dancer. She had never needed a partner, and she would not need one. Not ever. She would dance her own lullaby, exhausting herself if need be, until her mind would rest and she would forget it all.

The lies, made in earnest promises, pledges to remain at her side…

She took another step. She would not cry.