The Black Swan Behind (Beauty of Fire)

113 The Warm Side Of Levi Wargos

Emma chuckled with a gasp, made white steam continue to billow in front of her mouth, “In my hometown, the winter isn’t this bad that it freezes water. So, I’ve never been ice skating.” she explained. Well.. actually, that was not the only reason Emma never tried this sport. She felt it was better to just say that reason than to say that she had a trauma that would make her look weaker in Levi’s eyes.

“I think I’ve heard you say that you’re a ballet dancer. You should be able to quickly adapt to ice skating since they both rely on balance.” Levi said by pulling Emma’s hands, “Straighten your legs,”

“Hmm,” Emma nodded. Now, she would obey what Levi ordered her just like when she always obeyed all the instructions from her martial arts and ballet teachers.

Levi pulled Emma’s hands in the position they were both facing each other. The man sped backwards so the girl in front of him could learn to move forward on the ice.

“Good. Looks like you’re getting used to it,” Levi nodded then loosened his grip on Emma’s hand.

“Hey! Hey! What are you doing?! Don’t let me go!” Emma gasped when she felt like he was about to let go of his grip. This made her tighten her grip on Levi’s arms even more.

“I won’t let you go. Don’t worry. Don’t get panic,” Levi replied by moving his grip from Emma’s arms to her palms. Now, they were holding hands like two people dancing.

Subconsciously, Levi smiled at Emma. He knew that she should be quite proficient now. But for some reason, the fierce lion he used to see had now become a little kitten with two big sparkling eyes. He pulled her, and slid across the cold, slightly bumpy ice with the blade-based shoes. It was as if they were dancing under the moonlight that lit up the night.

“Look.. You can now control it, can’t you?” Levi asked, occasionally glancing at Emma’s feet that already knew how to move on ice.

.....

Emma nodded happily, “Yes! This seems pretty easy,”

“Then, I’ll let you go. Okay?” Levi asked.

Emma nodded with a face turned tense.

Levi smiled again, “Don’t be tense. You have to relax. I’ll let it go now. One, two, three...” he let go of the two small gloved hands.

“Huaaa.. I did it, Levi! This is awesome!” Emma exclaimed with sparkling eyes. She was amazed at her own progress. Indeed, even though she had trauma, as long as there was an intention to try, anything could be possible to do.

“Don’t be afraid. I’ll stay by your side if you’re going to fall.” Levi said by sliding himself nimbly.

Emma kept moving forward and twisting to unleash her abilities. On the other hand, Levi kept gliding around Emma like a swimming fish. As if he was a planet orbiting around the sun. Levi was very agile and good at ice skating. Even, Emma judged Levi’s movements to look like ice-skating athletes that she had watched several times on the TV.

“Whoa!!” Emma suddenly lost her balance and her feet slipped forward. That was the thing she was really afraid of doing this kind of sport. She was afraid of falling backwards to hit her back head like before.

But like what Levi promised, he swiftly caught Emma’s body whose head was almost hit the hard ice surface, “I’m holding you,”

Emma wrapped her arms around Levi’s neck which felt very warm. Then easily, the man lifted Emma up as if her body was only as light as pixy’s, her mother’s cat. Even on those two slick shoes, he did it so effortlessly.

“Thank you,” Emma said when she had stood up properly.

“If you feel like you’re going to fall, immediately steady yourself. It would be dangerous if you hit your head like that.” Levi suggested.

“Yeah.. I know. That was.. I really didn’t expect the ice to suddenly ripple in that part.” Emma pointed to the bulge of ice that had made her slip.

“This is frozen river water. Not a man-made ice skating training ground. It’s a bit more difficult. But it’s better if you learn directly on rough terrain so you’ll quickly become strong.” Levi replied by twirling behind Emma’s body. Then, he held both of Emma’s hands from behind, so that each of their hands was a pair.

“What else is this?” Emma asked confused.

“I’ll teach you to glide faster. You have to move your feet wider than before. With me behind you, you won’t fall backwards.” He explained.

“Oh, okay, then,” Emma replied before they started sliding together in the man’s direction.

“I didn’t know you were this good at ice skating,” Emma asked with a cold wind blowing against the smooth skin of her face. Her flowing hair waved back.

“I used to have a dream of becoming an ice-skating athlete,” Levi replied, still focused on looking ahead and alternately at the girl’s feet in front of him. Now and then he warned Emma to move her legs even harder.

“You were? That’s great! Then, how is it going?” Emma asked with a smile on her face.

But Levi shook his head lightly, “I already took it off. It’s.. not something important.”

Emma turned to the side, though she failed to see Levi’s face which was quite far above her head, “From the tone of your voice, it hears like it’s something important. Why don’t you try to achieve it?”

“Not everything you want can be achieved. And everyone has to accept reality.” Levi replied.

Emma returned her gaze to the front. It turned out that they had slid far enough from the crowd. It seemed that Levi deliberately took Emma to a pretty quiet place, because she had been disturbed by many people skating around her so she had difficulty learning.

“I happen to have self-principles that will do anything to achieve my goals. Well.. Even though people’s nature is different that I don’t have the right to force, but still I’d like to encourage people.” Emma mumbled.

“So you’re encouraging me on now?” Levi asked by slowly releasing one of Emma’s hands. He slid beside her until they were only holding on to one hand. “Keep moving your feet like before. Your balance has improved,”

Emma nodded once, then, her face looked thoughtful, “I am also a girl with dreams. Of course, I understand the feelings of people who also have dreams to achieve.”

Then Levi smiled faintly, “But not everyone is born as lucky as you. You better know that.”

Levi’s words again made Emma speechless. Ah.. That’s right. She forgot another reality which was something that happened a lot in the real world. If she thought about it, all children must have a dream. But not a few of them have grown up by throwing away those unfulfilled dreams.

As Levi said, not all children were as lucky as Emma. She did not deny that she was born with a golden spoon in her mouth. Besides being pretty, she had a rich and powerful father. Because of that, Emma could have everything she wanted that money could buy. Even, when she decided to leave her father’s house and fight against her own father, in reality, she still depended on the money sent by him.

“I think I’m too naive..” Emma muttered subconsciously.

“It’s good you noticed.” Levi laughed by hearing the murmur.

Emma couldn’t help but frown. Even though she didn’t like being teased like that, she couldn’t argue with Levi’s words.

“I’m going to take a break. My legs are a little tired.” Emma said.

Then, Levi slowed his moves, followed by the girl who was still in his arm. Finally, he led Emma to sit by the side of the frozen river, on fairly thick snow.

“Aren’t you tired?” asked Emma, who was already sitting with her legs stretched out.

Levi shook his head, “I’m not like you.” he said with a mocking smile and dashed swiftly into the middle of the river.

“Just try to practice ballet! You’ll give up in five minutes! You’ll feel your bones crushing!” Emma exclaimed annoyed.

But Levi just smiled lopsidedly by continuing to move his feet until he was sliding very fast. Then, he easily twisted his body like a spring and lifted one of his legs. After that, he seeded up again and then jumped while spinning in the air.

Insane! Emma didn’t think that Levi could be that good at ice skating. She didn’t know what caused him to give up his dream. But Emma could guess that he had received special training in this field, just like Emma who was currently taking ballet classes.

Unknowingly, Emma kept watching Levi who was dancing alone. She could see that the man really loved ice skating. He moved and danced beautifully on the ice. Maybe for people who just knew him, they would not expect, with such a grim appearance, he had such a graceful hobby.

Levi Wargos, a man who had an unfriendly nature and looked cold, became a different person when he was skating on a layer of ice. Amid the frost, the warmth radiated from him who was enjoying the time. The face that usually looked gloomy, now beat up the bright shining moon. His eyes seemed to reflect the sparkling stars that somehow could decorate the night sky. Levi looked like a carefree child who was playing, enjoying the world.

Unknowingly, Emma smiled to herself by seeing the man. Emma felt as if she was looking at herself from Levi’s figure. How she could be pleased when she was dancing ballet. How she felt as if the world was a wonderful place without any crime. How she enjoyed the moments when she forgot all the problems that surrounded her.

“What?” Levi asked by sliding closer to Emma who was still sitting with a warm smile on her face.

Emma shook her head, “Nothing. I just didn’t know your face could look like that.”