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You comfort Sevika after she wakes up in pain...

Fandom: Arcane (League of Legends)

Pairing: Sevika x Fem!Reader

Warnings: Fluff with some angst, hurt/comfort, bit of swearing, mentions of scars, trauma, partial nudity

Word Count: 3,000~

Notes: I really wanted to write something for Sevika again and had an idea that I couldn't get out of my head of her waking up in pain from her missing arm, having some trauma and phantom pain associated with losing it after the explosion and just needing a bit of comfort and affection 🥺 Hope you enjoy this ❤️

My Arcane masterlist

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Strange sounds slowly stirred you awake, the squeak from the old mattress being the final noise to make you blink eyes open, squinting at the little light coming from the corner of the room, the faint pink from tubes of Shimmer kept on a shelf.

It took you a bit to realize what was making those odd noises, assuming it had just been part of the dream you forgot about the moment you woke up but after a couple of seconds of listening to what sounded like heavy breathing and soft grunting, you rolled over to take a look at Sevika who was at your side -- looking asleep but far from having a peaceful rest from the way her face contorted.

Narrowing eyes to try and focus on her features under the glow of the drug, you placed a hand on her cheek, the one with a big scar with bright lines of blue that seemed to pulsate to the rhythm of her heart-beat, erratic and constant. It worried you just how sweaty her skin was and how much every bit of it seemed to be twitching under your palm...but above all, it worried you how she whimpered…

It sounded like she was hurting…

Your heart ached, heavy with concern and sympathy for what you thought was her fighting against a nightmare, unable to help her besides caressing her cheek and hoping she would calm down.

Something seemed wrong, however -- the way her body jerked didn't seem normal and she suddenly shot up with a choked gasp, hunching over and touching at the where her arm used to be, the left one that got blown-up in the same explosion that scarred all the side of her body and left her with those ominous azure scars…

Sevika panted heavily, like she couldn't breathe...and it hurt you seeing her like that, clutching the stub of a lost arm, trying to reach and touch something that wasn't there anymore…

"Sev--", you barely got time to finish calling her when she stood up from the bed, turning back on you and stumbling across the room, almost falling on the way to the shelves glowing strong pink.

You pushed yourself up and quickly chased after her, watching the woman slump over against the wall, hand searching for Shimmer, trembling and dropping a tube, spilling it all over the floor with a bright glow and a loud sizzle.

"Fuck!", she groaned, banging fist on the wall.

"Sevika! What's wrong?", you moved closer, avoiding the puddle on the floor, finding the pink helped you see where you were going a bit better.

"Don't touch me!", she barked, making you stop in your tracks for a second but you knew something was wrong and she was trying to hide it from you.

"Sev...it's okay…", you reached out, touching her bare shoulder, her skin incredibly hot and damp.

She tensed up incredibly bad at your touch, letting out a sharp exhale, feeling far too aware of how sensitive her body was. You saw her shaky hand search for the left arm again and then fingers dig into the blue on her ribs, scratching furiously at the scars that seemed to itch. Quickly you wrapped your hands around a wrist and made her stop with a pull of the arm before she broke through skin.

"Stop, you're going to hurt yourself…", you scolded, feeling her pull the arm from you but let it drop to the side, clenching and stretching fingers to hold back the urge to touch her scars. "Sevika, what's wrong, baby?", you softened your tone and took a step closer, looking at the glowing stub.

You vaguely remember a conversation she had with Silco about finding a solution for the lost arm, something about a person named Smeech that would come visit them to make an offer. Until then she was given tube after tube of Shimmer to keep the fresh wounds from deteriorating and losing all sensation in the nerves but you hated seeing her use that shit -- she always jerked and sounded to be in pain and even though she always told you to go somewhere else, you stuck around and heard her through the walls, trying to muffle screams.

"Nothing...go back to bed…", she hated being seen as weak and being given pity and you knew it wasn't easy for her to get rid of old habits but you were hoping being together with her for a bit now would have shown her you could be trusted.

Backing down wasn't something you would do, however -- you knew it would take some effort and pushing her a bit to get her to open up to you.

She'd done that before.

You needed to be patient and give her time while showing you would be there for her, comforting in a less vocal way because she wasn't the type to be overly vocal about any of her personal stuff…

Hating the idea of her shoving Shimmer into her body in such a state, you refused to take another tube and merely took her hand, caressing over a set of busted knuckles, trying to get her to look at you. She avoided your gaze but that was ok, you would wait and keep doting on her warm hand.

"I'm not going anywhere, you know that.", you spoke softly but firmly enough for her to snort.

"Yeah, you're stubborn as fuck sometimes…,", her voice sounded pained and you could feel her hand squeezing yours. It made you wonder if it was her way of fighting the urge to touch her wounds or if it was her body's way of begging for the pink drug.

That shit was addictive and you knew how it could mess someone up if used too often. You didn't like the thought of her becoming like those beggars in the sketchiest part of town you'd seen while out on errands for Silco. She never seemed bothered by their presence but you remembered how hard she tried to avoid Shimmer after coming back, only to succumb a few hours later due to intense pain.

You couldn't judge her or any of those addicts for what they were going through because you knew in similar situations you would have been there too but you just happened to be lucky to have Sevika keep you away from it, her overly protective nature something that kept you closer since childhood.

Of course...when it came to her being protected then that was a different story. She would never admit needing help, never accepting it unless it was absolutely necessary and even then wanted to do everything herself and be independent…

That was why you had to keep trying…

Eventually she would let you help her…

"Sounds like projecting to me…", you chuckled softly, feeling her hand relax a bit and body turn a bit for you to see a bit of her face, gray eyes looking towards the shelves. Quieting your voice, you spoke;"How about we sit down for now and if you really need it, I'll give you a boost?", raising her hand to give those knuckles a few kisses.

Sevika chewed on her lip for a couple of seconds, studying the bright color in the tubes before giving you a short nod, letting you lead her back to bed so she could sit down while you crawled closer to press yourself up against her back. Bare and hot, sweaty and sticky, you wrapped your arms around her neck and urged her to rest against your chest.

"Do you want to tell me what's up?", you asked, kissing the back of her neck where the loose hair couldn't reach. It was getting long enough for her to put it in a bun. You thought she looked better like this -- with her nice, dark hair hanging freely.

Sevika groaned as an answer which was better than being completely silent. You chuckled and pressed your cheek to her shoulder, lowering an arm to caress hers, massaging the muscle softly, rubbing at her collarbones, stopping on her chest.

For a moment you looked at the scarred stub, wondering if she would be upset if you tried to touch it. You never tried before and you knew she hated when you looked at it for too long, though you weren't sure why. Something told you she thought you were pitying her… But you never felt pity because you respected her decision to fight for her ideals even if that meant sacrificing herself to save Silco...or you if you had been the one in that spot when the explosion went off… Even that bit of sadness turned to pride at seeing how well she managed to do her usual things with just one arm because you always knew she was capable of doing anything she wanted… You knew she'd never respect you enough to allow you to be this close if you saw her as someone lesser…

It didn't take away the fact you wanted to touch it just like any other part of her body because you didn't see it any differently but were afraid it would make her uncomfortable, like an invasion of personal space and she'd go back into her bubble you tried so hard to pull her out of all your life...

Slowly you squirmed a bit closer, kissing one shoulder and then the back of her neck, tracing lips to the other, kissing where the flesh neared its end, watching how Sevika would respond. You felt her tense and inhale audibly but not pull away. It made you smile softly, kissing the scarred skin.

"Why...are you doing that…?", it was mumbled in a bit of incoherent manner but you understood it enough to raise your head and hug her chest.

"Because I love you…", you spoke, the honesty in your voice making the woman slouch a bit as if to protect herself from the comfort you offered. She often did that on her bad days...willingly deprive herself of affection. It happened before the factory incident and you were sure it would be a constant until your relationship was a bit more developed.

Romance for her was...a challenge…

Sevika groaned as a response, something you had gotten used to hearing when it came to you openly showing her affection. It used to bother you at first, feeling as if you were unwanted...but then you realized it had nothing to do with you. It was just how she protected herself from getting hurt and though you never once thought about taking advantage of her in any way, understood life had shaped her differently from how it shaped you…

But slowly you saw her open up to you...saw her lean a bit more into your touches, stay longer in bed with you in the morning, touch you casually when others were around, always a bit timidly…

You only noticed her trying to close herself off to you a bit more after the incident and you were sure you knew the reason why -- losing a limb, a part of herself, must be incredibly hard. She might not show it around others, not even you, feeling like she needed to appear strong and unbothered, hating the thought of others pitying her...but you knew it hurt. Not just the loss of an arm, the loss of power, control and agency, the sensitive nerves on that scarred chunk of flesh that she was still trying to remind herself was not a full arm anymore...but feeling unwhole and not knowing how to cope…

It hurt seeing her like that, so defeated...but you knew your pain was nothing compared to how she was feeling and so, all you could do was try to offer some affection, support and kindness…

"I mean it, Sev…", you insisted, pressing a kiss to where blue scars began, making sure to avoid the more sensitive part where the wound was worse.

Sevika huffed and tensed up a little, feeling your fingers lightly massage her shoulders, one hand applying gentle pressure to the scars, something you found could help her relax. You didn't know why but it must have had something to do with the nerves on the left side of her body. Always careful not to touch too hard or too much, you tended to her shoulder and then switched attention to ribs, side of her body and then back up again, watching her form slouch a bit and torso start to loosen up.

"Are you just saying that because of what happened? I don't need you to feel sorry for me. I don't need sympathy.", her tone wasn't venomous but there was a certain roughness to her words that made your hands stop with a little sigh.

"Do you think that poorly of me, Sev?", you kissed the back of her neck and crawled onto her lap to take a proper look at her face. She looked tired.

"...no.", Sevika lowered her gaze to you, the blue of her scars and the pink from the Shimmer made her look intimidating. More than usual...but you still wrapped your arms around her neck and gave that marred side of her face a few loving kisses.

She never really pushed you away whenever you got close like this...not physically, at least. You could tell she wanted to be touched even if her often sour-looking face said otherwise. She used to be a more joyful person as a child...you missed that part of her sometimes...but deep down, you knew it was still there, waiting for the right person, something you were still trying to figure out if you were because despite being friends for years, it felt like a relationship was something new to her.

A meaningful relationship, that is…

"I…", she started, blinking down at you, the warmth of her hand touching your side, keeping you secure in her lap. "I never wanted this for you.", her words caught you by surprise, pulling a confused little hum from you as your lips left her cheek so you could meet with her grey eyes.

"I always wanted more for you. For us. More than this. This rotten city…", Sevika sighed, her eyes on the pink drug for a few seconds. "You deserve better than this. Good food. Nice clothes. A pretty house with a garden. Not this old room...having to run errands for dangerous people…", her words were filled with melancholy and disappointment.

Did she feel like she had failed you?

You remembered how as a child you thought Piltover was the place of your dreams and how she promised to take you there so you wouldn't have to fight to survive in the undercity...but that was an idealistic thought in the mind of a kid who never knew better...it really didn't matter now.

You were happy with what you had.

"I was supposed to take care of you…", she lowered her gaze and the touch on your side felt weaker. You pushed closer and took her cheeks into your palms, caressing over them with your thumbs, pressing your forehead against hers.

Don't pull away, please -- you thought.

"Do you remember that time you took those cans of dried peaches from that guy with the snake tattoo on his face? The guy who fell on his ass when slipped on mud trying to chase you?", you smiled, feeling her relax a bit under your body.

"You ate so much that night you couldn't sleep because you kept whining that your 'tummy hurt'.", she chuckled lightly, a soft sound that made you press a kiss to her forehead, down to her nose.

"You stayed up all night trying to comfort me even though you were tired...", you caressed Sevika's cheeks again, moving back to look into her eyes, finding they sparkled a little, full of...something.

"You were crying…", she murmured.

"I think that's when I started to like you…", you whispered, watching her eyes widen a bit before she closed them with a sigh, holding you again.

"Are you going to say you're happy with how things are now? That you don't want more?", she asked, her calloused fingers caressing your skin.

"I'm happy that I can be with you.", you smiled.

Sevika frowned, "That's not what I asked."

"It's the only thing that matters.", you shrugged, your hand caressing down the side of her neck to the scarred shoulder, starting another session of careful massages to soothe the aching nerves.

Sevika went silent, taken aback by your answer.

"You're the only thing that matters.", you added, your lips pressing against blue scars, again and again before your tender eyes so full of affection and certainty glued to hers. "I love you, Sevika. Nothing will ever change that. Nothing.", you kissed her left shoulder and hugged her closer to your body, feeling her form give a little tremble.

She held onto your waist and pressed her face into the side of your neck, her breathing becoming a bit shallow, muscles twitching against you, the softness of her mouth trembling into your skin.

The rest of your long night was mostly silent -- just the sound of her soft whimpering against your neck and lips as you massaged her, trying to help soothe the pain and your gentle whispers of praise and adoration filled the warm, thick air in that small room. She never managed to go back to sleep. Neither did you, staying awake all night to focus on Sevika, giving kisses, holding her tight, taking care of her aching flesh and aching heart.

At some point after what felt like hours of giving gentle attention to her scarred side, she asked you, softly -- 'if you would do this every night'.

You only smiled and kissed her lips, giving your answer...that you 'would do everything for her'.

She hugged you a bit tighter then and you felt that something had changed between you two that night...

Protector

You had realized over the course of your relationship with Luisa that she had a terrible time saying no. ‘Luisa move the church’ ‘okay’. ‘Luisa re route the river’ ‘okay’. ‘Luisa I want my house more to the left.’ ‘Okay.’

“Why not tell them it’s a stupid task?” You had asked one afternoon as she took a brief break to eat the lunch you’d brought her.

“They mean well, and it’s not really hurting anything.” She argued.

“It’s misusing your gift for trivial nonsense!” She kissed your cheek.

“I appreciate that you’re trying to look out for me, but it’s okay, really.” You huffed but made a promise to yourself that you would accompany her as much as possible for the next little while. The next day you walked with her as the priest approached.

“Luisa, I was thinking, could you move the church just a little more to the right, the morning light isn’t…” he faltered under the force of your glare. “Isn’t hitting the door any… on second thought. It’s fine.” He backed away slowly, putting his hands up.

“Amor. Did you just non verbally threaten the priest?” Luisa asked, doing a very poor job of hiding the amusement in her voice.

“Is it a threat if no words are said?” You asked lightly.

“Yeah, yeah it is.”

As the days went by, you heard rumblings that you had been given the moniker of ‘guard dog’. Luisa had been a little unhappy about it until you started barking at random times to make her laugh.

“Could you hand me that vase?” She held out a hand for it.

“Woof!” You agreed, giving her the vase. She rolled her eyes trying not to laugh.

Your system encountered a serious test about a month in. One of the villagers had been getting increasingly annoyed that Luisa wouldn’t carry his house to the top of a hill opposite Casita. Typically, you had been able to stare him down, and even Luisa had outright told him that it was excessive, but neither were working today.

“Why not? What are you, useless?” He demanded.

“How dare you speak to her like thaaaa!” You lunged at him, but Luisa grabbed your waist and pinned you against her hip, your feet off the ground.

“You should put a leash on that perro callejero!” He snapped.

“Oh no. My grip. It’s slipping.” Luisa said. She put you on your feet gently. You didn’t need any more prompting. You pounced on him, wrestling him to the ground. You might have been smaller, but you were a hell of a lot meaner.

***************ten minutes later***********

You walked with Luisa, the villager thrown over her shoulder, to the square where her mother set up her station. She was there by herself and looked rather alarmed when you got close. The villager, who’s face as a bit of a mess, was flopped into a chair.

“What happened?” She asked, examining your face.

“He called Luisa useless.” You said. She looked over at her daughter in surprise.

“He said y/n was a street dog.” She added in her defense. Julieta handed you and arepa con queso before going to examine the villager.

“I don’t think he’ll make either of those mistakes again. You two go find somewhere else to be, I’m going to find your Tia and Abuela and we’re going to have a little chat with him when he wakes up.” You swallowed your bite quickly.

“Yes ma’am!” You agreed. Luisa grabbed your hand and you hurried off in the opposite direction. “He bled on your dress.” You commented.

“Can’t say I’m surprised.” Luisa sighed.

“Woof!” You said.

I’m Here (Luisa Madrigal x Reader)

Summary: Even when her whole world falls apart, there you are. 

A/N: I’m very gay for her and I figured she deserved a hug. So there. 

Keep reading

SEVIKA │ ARCANE episode 9  “The Monster You Created”

BRAID LUISA’S HAIR💕💕

I’d love to!

“Amor, come here.” You instructed, pointing at the edge of the bed in front of you. Luisa gave you a tired look and walked over. “Sit down.” Her face took on a more confused look, but she did as she was told, well, sort of. She sat down on the floor. You crawled forward, dropping your legs over the edge to either side of her body. You pulled her ribbon loose, letting her wealth to brown curls fall into your lap. Your fingers reached into her hair on her scalp. You began to gently massage her head.

“Oh..” she sighed. The weight of her head pressed back into your hands as she relaxed. In the mirror across the room you watched her eyelids flutter and the tension drain from her body.

“Luisa! The burros got out again!” Abuela called from outside the door.

“Coming!” She yelled back.

“Wait.” She gave you a quizzical look. “Let me do your hair.” You said, offering her the hair ribbon back. She sighed and nodded.

“I guess they won’t get much further than they would if I did it.” She conceded, rubbing the fabric between her fingers.

“My thoughts exactly.” You said, beginning to run a comb through her hair to tame it. You took as much time as you could without making it seem like you were just stalling. Starting at the top of her head, you started to braid, careful to keep the sections of her French braid even and tidy. When she stood, she took a second to admire your handiwork.

“Would you do this again some time?” She asked, stroking the braid.

“Of course.” She nodded and hurried out the door to catch the burros.

Your date

Luisa x female reader

It has been at least a day since your meeting also you have a date today. Same place it was yesterday well at 12 o’clock. Right now it was eleven You wanted to get some flowers for Luisa.

But one thing you didn’t know was what was her favorite flower.

You walked up the hill, walking to Casita. You saw Isabela halfway there. “Ah. Y/n!” Isabela said. You turned and had an idea. “Isabela!” You said walking over to her.

Isabela gave you a hug as well you returned it. “So you have a date today?” Isabela said making your eyes widen. “How do you know?” You questioned. “Well, a little birdie told me,” Isabela said.

Dolores. Of course. “Well, I was wondering. Since you’re Luisa’s big sister, that you knew what flower Luisa likes.” You asked nervously fidgeting with your hands.

“Well a Poppy well do good. For starters.” Isbela said as she formed a flower for you to take. You spent at least 20 minutes here, so might as well start walking to your destination.

You thanked Isabela and walked your separate ways. You sighed as you walked, you saw Luisa already there. “Oh, sorry I’m late? Honestly I was checking the time on the way this way.” You said.

Luisa chuckled. “No you’re good. You came early then I expected. I got a brake earlier.”

You sat down with the flower behind your back. “Watcha hiding?” She asked as she looked at you. You nervously smiled at her. “Well, since this is a date. I wanted to bring a little something.” You said.

Luisa had a confused look causing you to giggle. “Here.” You said as you tucked the flower in Luisa’s hair. “A poppy” You said as she blushed.

“How do you know I liked poppys?” She asked you. “A certain someone talked me.” You said as you examined the part you tucked the flower.

You felt her arms around your torso. You looked down at her to notice she was looking up at you. “You’re beautiful” Luisa said making you blush. “I know” You giggled making her smile.

“And so are you.” You told Luisa as you cupped her face. “I-I brought some food” Luisa said breaking eye contact.

“Oh you did?” You asked. Luisa nodded and you felt her arms leave your hips. She grabbed a nearby picnic basket. “I made some of the food in there before everyone started calling me.” Luisa said.

You stared in awe as she took out some of the picnic basket, they looked delicious. “You made this?” You asked. Luisa smiled, “Yeah.” Luisa held up a Arepas De Queso.

You took a bite. You moaned at the taste. It was good! “That was good.” You said with your mouth full. Luisa chuckled.

“Thank you for the food Luisa.” You said. Luisa nodded. “I’m sorry I didn’t get anything for you Y/n” She said as she looked at you. “Oh it’s alright.”

You moved closer to her. “How was your day?” You asked Luisa. “It was good.” Luisa said as she ate another arepas de queso.

“How about you?” She asked you. “It was great. But I didn’t really do anything though.” You chuckled.

Luisa smiled as she looked at you. You stared into her hazel eyes. “Hey love-birds!” Someone yelled from behind a house. “Just kiss already!” A kid voice sounded most likely Antonio.

You both looked that way to notice a few heads popping out from behind the house they were hiding behind.

You blushed, as you looked at the kids. “C’mon!” One yelled.

Luisa looked at you. “Gotta give the kids what they want.” She said as she cupped your face and leaned in close. Her breath was soft against your lips.

A kiss on the first date?!

Her lips pressed against yours. Your eyes widen with shock but soon after you closed them. You took this opportunity to take over the kiss. You bit her lips making her moan lightly.

You shoved your tongue inside her mouth making her shocked. You could barely hear the children cheering until it was interrupted by someone saying “leave them alone” Most likely Luisa’s father.

Does the whole town know you both are on a date?

As you broke the kiss, you heard someone whistle. Making you both blush as you saw who it was. Luisa’s father had taken a picture of you both and had walked off.

Quietly you groaned as you felt Luisa’s grip tighten on your hips.

“Luisa can you loosen your grip on my hips.” You asked. Luisa let go quickly and started apologizing to you.

“Sometimes I forget how strong I am” She said sheepishly rubbing the back of her neck.

“It’s okay, mi amor” You said to her pulling her into another kiss.

“Oh, crap. I gotta go.” You said as you broke the kiss again making Luisa whine.

You giggled as got up from Luisa’s lap. “I had fun, maybe we can do this some other time again?” You asked. “Yeah, of course amor” She said. “Maybe in two days. Tomorrow I’m going to be loaded with a lot of chores.” You said.

Luisa nodded as she looked at you. “Okay. I’ll come by to pick you up, bye Y/n” Luisa said. You chuckled as you ran off back to your house.

Your father giving you a deadpan look. “Did you do your chores?” He asked. You nodded. “Of course, I did. I always do them before I leave.” His deadpan look softed.

“Oh, Antonio told me that you guys kissed.” Your mama yelled from the kitchen. You blushed and whined.

“Hey, it natural.” You father said laughing as he pulled your mother in for a kiss.

“Your going to burn the food!” You yelled as you stirred the food from them.

At least you didn’t run into Victornia today.

A knock came on your door, you walked over to open it. “Y/n l/n?” the person said.

“Yes, that’s me” You said.

“Here, this is for you.” The man said giving you the note and rushed off.

“What does it say?” Your parents asked.

You gasped and covered your mouth. Tears welled in the corner of you eyes. “n-no. This can’t be” You said as you rushed to your room. “Mija!?” Both of your parents said. On the way to your room. You dropped the letter which also had a picture in it.

The Dance

@bwall-7204 the wedding suggestion

You stood for a moment, preparing yourself for what ever was going to happen as you knocked on Tia Peppa and Tio Felix’s door. You gathered your courage rapped sharply twice.

“Come in!” Tia Peppa called.

“I’m sorry to disturb you, but I need your help.” Tio Felix and Tia Peppa fixed their attention on you, from where they sat on the bed. “Please teach me to lead.” You requested. The cloud above Tia Peppa’s head malfunctioned and Tio Felix looked horribly confused. “For the purposes of dancing.” You clarified quickly.

“Oh!” They said simultaneously, sharing a look for relief.

“You’ve come to the right Madrigals then.” Felix said.

“Right, for the other, you should probably talk to Abuela.” Peppa agreed.

“How much do you know?” Felix said getting to his feet.

“Uhh, nothing.” You said.

“You want to learn by the wedding, right?” Peppa asked, looking over at her husband.

“Is that too much of an ask? I understand if it is!” You said quickly, starting to back out.

“Of course not!” Felix announced, “Why do you want to lead though?”

“Wellll, I’ve noticed that when Luisa is dancing with her sisters or her cousin, she tends to lead, and I thought it would be nice if she could follow for once.” You said, rubbing the back of your neck. Soft rain drops began to fall as Peppa started to cry.

“That’s so cute!” She walked over to you, taking both of your hands in hers. “Of course we’ll teach you!”

Wedding planning was starting to make everyone in Casita Madrigal a bit crazy. You had been placed on Agustin duty, ensuring that, however he helped didn’t result in serious injuries. Often, Augstin duty overlapped with mother of the bride duty as you tried to help keep Peppa from unleashing a hurricane at any minor inconvenience. Thankfully, dance lessons seemed to distract her enough that you could keep her calm, and Augstin was surprisingly helpful.

“You don’t have to tense that much. Your follow will know to hold themselves up a little bit.” He said, safely seated in a fort of pillows.

“And smile!” Peppa added. “This is supposed to be fun.” You nodded, only to get zapped with mini lightning when Peppa saw one of Tio Bruno’s rats absconding with a decoration. You really did try not to drop her, but the sharp pain in your hand had caused you to jerk away.

“I’m so sorry!” You said, helping her up.

“You’re fine, dear. I shouldn’t have shocked you.” Peppa soothed before stalking off to go get the rat.

“I’m going to go see Julietta, please don’t leave the pillow fort.” You said to Agustin. He gave a thumbs up and you walked into the kitchen, guarding your injured hand.

“Just me.” You called into the kitchen before pushing open the door.

“Angel! What happened?” Luisa’s joy turned to concern at the way you were holding your hand.

“Tia Peppa shocked me on accident.” You said.

“Let me see.” Julietta, bustled past her daughter to look at the scorch mark on your hand. She nodded slowly. “Do you have any discomfort or numbness anywhere else?”

“No.” You said, smiling a little as Luisa slipped behind you to put her arms around you.

“Here.” Julietta said, handing you an Arepa. “Let me know if that hasn’t resolved everything.”

“Yes ma’am.” You promised before eating. In an instant your hand felt good as new. “I should get back to keeping an eye on your dad.” You turned in Luisa’s arms to face her. She nodded and stole a kiss as a voice from outside called for her.

“Coming!” She gave an exasperated look skyward before leaving you.

You walked back to where you had left Augstin. He and Abuela were having a conversation which abruptly stopped as you approached.

“Inventive solution.” Abuela commented, gesturing at the pillow tower.

“Thank you.”

“It seems you have many such interesting solutions. Keeping Peppa calm with dance lessons was an excellent idea.”

“Thank you, Abuela.”

“Is there a particular reason you want to lead?” She asked, raising a single eyebrow.

“I wanted to surprise Luisa.” You said, wondering faintly if you had done something wrong. Abuela only smiled and inclined her head before walking off. You looked at Agustin.

“What was that about?” He looked like he didn’t want to answer, but couldn’t hold out under the force of your stare.

“She just worries about her grandchildren. And that maybe you learning to lead, could upset Luisa inadvertently by taking her role.”

“Oh.”

“I think it’s good for her, actually, and said as much. We find the people we need in this family, someone to take care of my daughter when she forgets to care for herself is exactly the remedy needed.” You took a step forward and hugged him.

“Thank you.”

“Of course. You make her happy, what more could a father ask?”

Tempers began to fray even more as the wedding grew closer. Dolores became increasingly overwhelmed as her soon to be mother-in-law kept trying to insinuate herself into every detail of planning, and dance lessons with Peppa was the perfect way to keep her from cycloning the poor woman. It was a blessing when Abuela finally sat Mariano down and instructed him to distract his mother.

The day of the wedding dawned with clear skies, and you were placed on, don’t let Tio Bruno say a single word about the weather duty. You hadn’t been sure if the same trick would work on him that had worked on Tia Peppa, but it was worth a shot.

“Yeah, sure, but we should switch back and forth.” You blinked at him. “She’s probably not going to want to follow the whole time. This’ll keep you from getting stuck in one mode.”

“Oh, that makes a lot of sense.”

The two of you spent the majority of the morning dancing as everyone in the wedding party prepared and double and triple checked that nothing was going to go wrong. You assembled at the church, taking a seat next to Bruno toward the back.

“This reminds me of last season of my telenovella where Bernard and Anglica were to be married.” He whispered to you about the convoluted plot as the other guests filtered in. Nod along getting more and more invested with each passing moment.

Soon the groom, groomsmen, and the bridesmaids came in, Camilo, Luisa, Mirabel, all waved as they walked past. Isa, who was the maid of honor, gave a cordial nod. Antonio, was the ring bearer, and walked before the flower girl, one of Mariano’s relatives. The jaguar escorted him before circling back and walking with the frightened flower girl.

“Should have had Isabella do that.”Tio Bruno murmured, you fought back a laugh, making a mental not to ask her to for your wedding.

Dolores floated down the aisle in her mother’s wedding gown, Tio Felix an inconsolable wreck next to her. As she reached the pew where her mother sat, a torrential rain hit the church and Tia Peppa sobbed into Abuela’s shawl. The ceremony was simple, sweet, and without a dry eye in the church, even the priest she’d a few tears.

Talking Tia Peppa down enough to make going outside safe took about a half hour. And the guests picked their way out of the church, being mindful of any fallen limbs or shingles. Luisa was tasked with clearing out the worst of the debris and you scurried away to help.

“I got it.” You said, waving her away from a smaller limb.

“You should go enjoy the party.”

“I’ll enjoy it far more with you there than I will without.” You said, grabbing a couple broken shingles. Luisa gave a resigned sigh, smiling at you affectionately. On the walk back, you held hands and swung them back and forth. She grinned and twirled you. You tripped, falling against her chest.

“Sorry!” Luisa said, steadying you.

“It’s fine!” You laughed, “being close to you hasn’t ever been a problem for me.”

You made it back to the reception just in time for the first dance. You grinned as you watched the wedded couple twirling around the floor. Soon the floor opened up to all couples and you held out your hand to Luisa.

“Dance with me?” She raised an eyebrow, but placed her hand in yours to be lead onto the floor. She moved to put her hand on your waist. “No no, I asked you to dance, let me lead.” That earned another eyebrow raise.

“If you’re sure.” She conceded, a small smile on her lips. That doubting smile turned to an expression of shock which turned to full, proper smile.

“When did you learn to dance?” She asked after a particularly complex move that you managed to lead pretty well.

“I may have begged some of your family for help.” You said. She laughed when she noticed the thumbs up from Tio Felix. “I’m going to dip you.” You warned.

“If you think you can.”

“If I think I can? I’ll have you know I only dropped Tia Peppa a couple of times, and one of them wasn’t entirely my fault.” She laughed, and as the song came to an end, you went into the dip. You help that pose for a moment, both breathless and smiling when a flash of a camera surprised you both. Agustin stood with the camera, grinning, before walking away to go photograph other people. You helped her back to standing and she stole a kiss.

The next song started and she grabbed your hip.

“My turn.”