Word count: ~1400 words

Alrighty! I don't ship these two that much tbh (most likely because idk anything about maruca), but there's a bianuca ship week going on in the Tumblr side of the fandom, and I felt pretty inspired looking at the prompt for day 2, dance (the dancing pretty minor though)

Warnings: mentions of homophobia (internalized and not)

Maruca looked at the mirror in front of her. In her reflection, she could see herself in a dress and mask, smiling and looking pretty. Yet, despite finding herself looking good, it didn't feel right. She didn't want to be standing here, waiting to be called down for her Winnowing Gala. She didn't want to dress up for all the boys, but there wasn't much she could do now.

(It was better than wallowing in her own feelings.)

As she finally tore her gaze away from the mirror, she was called down. With as much grace as she could muster, she elegantly left her room and began to walk down the stairs, lights focusing on her slow descent. Despite that all her suitors-she winced internally at the word-wore masks, she could tell that all eyes were on her.

(She could also tell that none were the eyes of the person she loved. It wasn't like that person wanted to be with her anyway.)

Her parents made some kind of introductory speech, but she could hardly hear them. Every sound went in one ear and out the next until suddenly she was asked to go mingle with the guests.

She didn't know if it was a blessing or a curse that all the suitors wore masks. On one hand, it made her not know who anyone was. On the other, not knowing who anyone was made it less personal, she could imagine a face behind the mask, with glittering teal eyes-

No. Now was not the time to be thinking of this.

Eventually, she picked the person who was nearest to her to socialize with. She only talked half-heartedly, mainly nodding and humming along to what he was saying.

"You're not interested, are you?" the boy that Maruca was with asked.

She smiled nervously. "Was it that obvious?"

"Yeah, it was. Is your crush not on your list?"

She could never be on my list, and even then, it's not like she wants me.

"No, unfortunately," she replied.

"Well, I wish you luck."

"Thank you."

I'd need more than luck to be with her now.

Maruca looked around, wondering who to talk to next. Her parents wouldn't really want her to stand around and do nothing, but she didn't really want to do anything. If only there was a friend here, but then again, this was a Winnowing Gala, the people here were interested in her. Romantically.

She suppressed a sigh and began looking around again, and someone caught her eye. He wore a regal suit and mask just like everyone else did, but there was something... more put together about the way he dressed? Teal accents made him stand out a little more than the rest.

Now, Maruca wasn't attracted to guys, but objectively, he looked nice. Or at the very least, he had a good sense of fashion. Each step he took was precise and controlled, his posture straight. He walked as if he owned the room.

Hope he's okay to talk to, she thought, then made her way towards him.

"Hey," she said, and he turned around quickly-too quickly, he nearly lost his balance but Maruca caught him before he could fall over.

"Thanks," he whispered, and that was when Maruca noticed the color of his eyes. Teal.

Biana? she nearly blurted, before remembering that this obviously couldn't be Biana. The person in front of her was obviously a guy, and there was more than one Vacker child with teal eyes. A guy who was actually on her match list.

"Fitz?" she asked. "What are you doing here?"

I didn't know you had a crush on me.

The Maruca of the past would have been ecstatic to know that, for she used to be a little obsessed with him.

(At least, until she realized that it was his sister who had taken her heart.)

Fitz looked at her, wide eyed and she could make out the barest hint of a flush in the area not covered by the mask.

"I'm uh- interested in you?" Fitz replied, his pitch rising.

"I thought you had a crush on someone else?"

The flush grew bigger. "I thought about it, listened to my heart. And well, my heart tells me that I want to be with you."

"Oh," Maruca replied lamely. With the intensity of those eyes on her, all she could think of was Biana, of Biana saying those words to her.

Maruca rested an arm on Biana's shoulder, immediately noticing when she stiffened.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Biana closed her eyes. "We can't be doing this anymore."

"Wha- What do you mean?"

"This, us," Biana said, her voice dull and resigned, "I don't want to be with you anymore. It's not worth it. I don't think I like you enough for this."

"Is that how you really feel?"

If this was just being said in a state of panic, Maruca understood. Their relationship was secret, so it would be easy to panic.

"Yes," Biana said, "I don't want this anymore."

For a moment, all Maruca could feel was rage. The next moment, all that rage faded and she was left feeling numb.

"If that's what you want," Maruca muttered, before leaving the room.

"Maruca?" Fitz called out. "Is everything okay?"

"I'm fine," Maruca replied. "I'm just... I'm just tired, that's all."

"We can go and sit if you want-"

"And now, it's time to draw for the first dance of the night!"

There were a few tense minutes as everyone waited for the naked of the card that was drawn to be announced.

"The first person to dance with Maruca Chebota will be... Fitz Vacker!"

"I guess we can't sit down now," he remarked.

He took her hand and began leading her to the dance floor, then froze. "Sorry, can I hold your hand?"

"Sure, I guess?" All she could think about though was that his hand in hers felt a lot like Biana's.

Look, you don't have to be interested in Fitz, but at least stop thinking of her! She! Doesn't! Want! You!

Fitz's other hand went around her waist as they started dancing. Maruca fell into the rhythm quickly, and instead noticed other details about Fitz.

Isn't Fitz supposed to be a little taller? And more broad-shouldered?

The soft smile on his face didn't look quite right either, if anything, it reminded her of-

Stop!

"Maruca? Are you sure you're okay?" Fitz asked, and now that she was listening, the pitch of his voice was a little off too. A little... too high?

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said.

The hold around her waist loosened slightly, and she relaxed. She did her best to calm herself down. Just enjoy the dance, and then reject Fitz after.

"I'm sorry," Fitz said abruptly, startling her to the point that when Fitz dipped her down, she nearly tripped over her feet.

He caught her, then pulled her close. They were really close.

"For-for what?"

"For breaking your heart. For being afraid of embracing my feelings."

Maruca stared at him. Fitz had never broken her heart...

"I'm sorry for coming back when you probably want nothing to do with me.

"And for what I'm about to do next."

And then he kissed her. Maruca froze, hands moving towards his chest to push him away instinctively. Just as she was about to make that shove, she realized something. That last part didn't sound like Fitz at all. Not a single word of that speech made sense with Fitz but... with Biana?

With Biana, who was now kissing her, whose kiss was achingly familiar, it made so much more sense. Maruca pulled Biana closer, kissed her more, until they were both breathless.

"What are you doing here?" Maruca whispered.

Biana smiled. "I told you, I'm interested in you."

"But here?"

"When I heard about your Winnowing Gala, I realized that I loved you. That no matter how much I tried denying it, I like girls-I like you. And I wouldn't be able to stand the thought of you being with someone else. So I told Fitz and took his place, and I had Keefe help me practice Fitz's voice."

"You told them?" That meant that their secret relationship was no longer a secret.

"If if meant that I could be here with you, I'm willing to do anything."

"Including kissing me in front of an entire crowd while pretending to be Fitz?" she asked dryly, pretending that her heart wasn't pounding.

"Oh... right..." Biana murmured, blushing. "Well, we'll deal with it.'

"We?"

"Yeah," Biana smiled even wider, "we. If you'll still have me, that is."

"Of course I will," Maruca said, then pulled her in for another kiss.