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“Look at this one,” Chiaki says, pulling out a green, sleeveless, floor-length dress. ”I think you’d look good in this one, don’tcha think?”
Sonia smiles sheepishly, glancing at the dress, but only for a moment before turning back to her rack. “It’s a lovely dress, Chiaki,” she says, her eyes drifting to the floor.
“You should try it on,” Chiaki says, pushing the dress into Sonia’s hands. Sonia’s smile fades a bit as she holds the dress. She looks as if she wanted to say something, but the words don’t come out. Chiaki gives her an approving look, urging her to try on the dress.
“I,” Sonia began to say, continuing, “I couldn’t, really.” She pauses, “Oh, well…I, I, no, nevermind.”
“Why not? It’ll look great on you,” Chiaki says, matter-of-factly. ”Pretty much everything looks great on you, Sonia.”
For a moment, Sonia stands still, contemplating. On one hand, Chiaki does have a point—people always complimented her outfits when she went out—but on the other, there was a layer of doubt in her mind. Maybe Chiaki was just telling her she looked good so she would feel better about herself. Maybe the dress wouldn’t frame her body right; maybe she’d look bad. She wouldn’t tell her if she looked bad, would she? No, she would worry about hurting her feelings.
“Sonia?” Chaiki says softly, inching closer to her girlfriend. “You know, you really don’t have to try it on if you don’t want to.”
Sonia glances downward, feeling embarrassed at herself. “I do want to,” she says, trailing off. “It’s just…”
“…hard?”
“Yes.”
Sonia lets out a sigh that sounds as if it's been held in for a while. Chiaki glances towards the rack of dresses before turning back to her girlfriend. “Why don’t we…try on something together?”
“…Together?” Sonia questions, looking at Chiaki with a confused look on her face.
“I’ll pick a dress for you, and you can pick a dress for me,” Chiaki says, a wide smile forming on her face. Chiaki quickly turns around, shuffling through the rack faster than she could beat her high score in Tetris. When she finishes flipping through one rack, she moves to the next. Sonia stumbles to catch up, continuing to stand there for a moment before rushing off to find a dress.
She knows Chiaki doesn’t like anything too frilly. Despite her insistence that coquette style dresses would look absolutely lovely on her, Chiaki hated the way she felt in them. Sonia, however, loves frilly dresses. To be completely honest, she dabbles in a variety of styles. Sometimes, she even surprises herself with how much she likes what she wears. She loves dressing nicely. She was taught as a child that being well-dressed warranted others’ respect. More recently, however, she started dressing nicely, simply, for her own enjoyment. Why did it matter to everyone else how she looked? Only she should get to decide whether she is pretty or not.
That’s what she tells herself. But, deep down, there was still a part of herself—the younger Sonia—telling her that if she didn’t look pretty by the public’s standards, then she can never be a woman. If she really focuses on the idea, it came back sounding silly, but at the same time, it all made sense.
She runs her fingers along the pink dress resting in her hands. It is pink, sparkly and would be utterly too much for Chiaki if it weren’t as simple as it was. Despite the dress’s flamboyant style, Sonia found it beautiful. It is a vintage 60s style, sleeveless, swing dress in a shade of pink that was almost fuchsia, almost magenta. Sonia isn’t quite sure what color it was exactly, but she found it quite pretty.
“Sonia,” Chiaki yells from across several rows of dresses. “I think I found the perfect dress for you.”
“Did you?”
“Sonia,” Chiaki drags out, rolling her head to the side as she shifts out from between the racks. “You don’t understand. It’s perfect.”
Sonia looks down at the dress in her hands, grabbing it off the rack with vigor. She gathers herself as she begins to walk over to Chiaki. For a moment, she doubts her choice of dress for her girlfriend, but seeing Chiaki’s large smile puts her at ease. She wonders whether she’s ever seen Chiaki this happy before—she knows she has, internally, but it’s a nice thought in the moment.
Chiaki scrambles over to Sonia, holding up a long, mermaid style, teal and white dress. She has stars in her eyes. She’s positively glowing as she waves the dress in the air.
“Well,” Chiaki urges, “go try it on.”
Sonia takes a deep breath, holding Chiaki’s dress a little closer to her chest as she does. “You’ll try on yours as well, correct?” she inquires softly.
“Of course,” she says, taking Sonia’s choice into her hand.
Chiaki pauses as she starts to walk to the dressing room, hesitating to leave as she notices Sonia’s shaking hands.
“You don’t have to be nervous,” Chiaki says, resting her hand on Sonia’s shoulder.
“I know, it’s just,” Sonia starts to say. She pauses. “I’m afraid.”
“Why are you afraid?” Chiaki asks, switching her tone to a more comforting one, attempting to console her girlfriend.
“I haven’t done this since I was,” Sonia pauses, scrunching her eyebrows into an embarrassed expression. She looks away. “I haven’t done this since I was a little girl…and I’m scared.”
It’s true. She hadn’t done this sort of thing since she had first come out to her parents. They’d taken her dress shopping. They’d been supportive, of course, but…being a part of the Novoselic royal family had its downsides. She’d loved being a princess—she always had—but her people, as much as she loved them, didn’t always agree with her choices as a person rather than a royal.
‘You’re a princess, Sonia. How can you be afraid of something like this?’ Her mind fills in the blanks. How could she be afraid of something so silly?
Everyone was afraid of something, she thinks. This was just her fear. She would get over it. But Chiaki notices her stumble before she could, raising her hand to her girlfriend’s shoulder in an act of comfort.
“Is everything alright?” she asks, her eyebrows softening.
“Yes,” Sonia bites her lip nervously. “Yes, everything is fine. I’ll go try on the dress just…give me a minute.” Sonia wipes the tears off of her cheeks with her sweater-covered hand. Tear stains linger as she pulls it away.
She drags the dress into the dressing room, settling herself before the mirror. She sets the dress down on the stool in front of her, staring at her reflection as she does. She pushes her bangs out of her face, tucking them behind her ears.
“Sonia,” she says to herself, trying to inspire some confidence within herself. “You are beautiful.”
She pauses, hesitating as she picks up the dress. “And you…you are going to look absolutely lovely in this dress.”
After a moment of attempting to psych herself up, Sonia begins to slip on the dress. Surprisingly, it is quite difficult to put on. But, by god, is it gorgeous on her. Despite the zipper not being zipped, Sonia can prematurely tell that the dress flatters her form perfectly.
“Chiaki?” Sonia calls through the curtains, sticking her hand out to wave for her girlfriend’s assistance. “Would you mind helping me zip this dress? I can’t quite seem to reach.”
Chiaki swiftly makes her way over to help. She slips the zipper up from outside the curtain, only waiting for another moment before fully pushing the curtain aside to get a good look at Sonia’s dress.
“It’s beautiful.”
“I’m quite glad you think so, it would be a disappointment if you didn’t.”
Sonia smiles to herself, glancing down at the bodice of her dress. She thinks about twirling around in it, but stops herself before she can start.
“I think you should get it.”
“I think I shall.”
Sonia shuffles herself back into the dressing room, slipping off the dress just as she does. Soon after, she swiftly sends for Chiaki to retrieve it from her in preparation for payment.
˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚
“How are you feeling?”
“Good,” Sonia says, biting her lips. “Well, actually, I’m quite nervous.”
“Don’t be nervous,” Chiaki says, kissing her girlfriend’s cheek. “Everyone will love it.”
Sonia smiles softly, unbuckling herself from Chiaki’s car. In the past, she would have been pulled up in a limousine, but right now, she can’t seem to care about her girlfriend’s state of automobile.
“I love you,” she says, stepping out towards the entrance.
“Ibuki loves Sonia’s dress!” Ibuki says as she spots Sonia walking in. “She thinks she looks very pretty in it!”
“Awh,” Sonia coos, blushing. “Thank you, Ibuki!”
“See?” Chiaki says, leaning into her girlfriend’s shoulder. “I told you everyone would love the dress.”
“That is a relief.”
Chiaki takes Sonia’s hand softly as music begins to play in the background. The music surrounds the two, wrapping them in warm melody. She beckons for a dance, and others follow. Class 77-B has erupted into the first prance of the night.
“Will you take this dance with me?” Chiaki pauses. ”M’lady?”
Sonia smiles unto herself, taking a small step forward towards her girlfriend. Her hand closes around the other. Slowly, the drift out onto the dance floor.
“I’ll always dance with you,” Sonia says, a wide smile breaching her face as she begins to laugh.
The pair twirls into the pale darkness. Other couples vanish with them, but the music remains ever-present. And never for a moment does Sonia seem unhappy. She is positively glowing, even despite the darkness. And Chiaki never removes her gaze from Sonia’s.
For the second time in her life, Sonia feels like a true princess. This time was second only to the first dance she shared with her father after she came out publicly. But this is equally as wonderful, if not even more. Her dress glitters under the light; her eyes shutting lightly as she twirls into the darkness. She dances like she was having her first father-daughter dance, and nothing matters more to her in this moment than to enjoy it to the fullest.
Sonia lets out a sigh of relief. Everything is perfect. She is here with the people she loves the most, doing the one thing she loves the most. She is dancing with Chiaki surrounded by dozens of their friends. If anything is perfection, this was it.
They are each other’s family. All of 77-B is, really. But Chiaki is above the rest, for Sonia, and Sonia for Chiaki. They have been there for each other since the beginning—well, truthfully, since they met freshman year, but that’s beside the point—and ever since. They have supported each other along every journey. It’s corny, yes, but it’s true.
Chaiki smiles, “Sonia, you look beautiful.”
And for once, Sonia feels it. There isn’t a doubt in her mind that she is, truly, beautiful. Not a single person can stop her from feeling beautiful, not even herself. She keeps dancing to the thought.