AU for the Steadfast Tin Soldier
Mar. 14th, 2013 08:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
aviophobia
Once upon a time, during the war, an army doctor ran out into the lines of battle to try and heal a soldier who was grievously wounded. He was a very skilled healer, the best of the best, and he knew that if anyone could do it, it was him. But the enemy still fired as he ran into the thick of it, and the brave doctor became a patient that day, losing his leg from the knee down as he got to - as he soon discovered - what was already a corpse.
After the battle, the doctor became bitter and angry, resentful of the life that had been taken from him. He opened a small practice, but he was no longer able to travel and help people who could not come to him. He felt ungainly and awkward with his false wooden leg, and walking with a crutch was no better.
One night, a travelling ballet came to town, and the doctor passed by it on his way home. He normally decried such things as fripperies and foolishness, but the prima ballerina caught his eye. She carried herself with such poise, moved with such grace, balancing delicately on the toes of just one leg.
That night, the bitter doctor fell in love.
But as he watched her, the ballerina's most ardent admirer, a wealthy count, watched him. He watched as the doctor gave the ballerina a flower after the performance and told her how beautifully she had danced, and he watched as the ballerina smiled warmly - more warmly than she had ever smiled at anyone else - and thanked him. The doctor asked if he could see her again, and the ballerina agreed. Afterwards, the count cornered the doctor and invited him to the town tavern to discuss the ballet. He plied him with drink after drink, until the doctor was insensible, and then the count bribed the driver of a wagon going far, far away to take the doctor with him.
When the doctor awoke, he was miles and miles from home, and from the ballerina, on a boat headed to the kingdom across the sea. He cursed the count's name, and once they had arrived, began to plan his way back. He crossed the sea again, encountering storms and monsters, then fought his way through the inhospitable landscape around his town. He got there only to find that his ballerina was gone, and would soon be marrying the count, since the count had spread the word that the doctor had, tragically, died at sea.
The doctor considered giving up, but he did not. Instead, he found the wedding and burst into the church as the ballerina reached the altar, and called her name. Though the count's cronies grabbed him and tried to drag him out, it was too late. The ballerina told the count she did not love him, and ran for the one-legged bitter doctor she did.
After the battle, the doctor became bitter and angry, resentful of the life that had been taken from him. He opened a small practice, but he was no longer able to travel and help people who could not come to him. He felt ungainly and awkward with his false wooden leg, and walking with a crutch was no better.
One night, a travelling ballet came to town, and the doctor passed by it on his way home. He normally decried such things as fripperies and foolishness, but the prima ballerina caught his eye. She carried herself with such poise, moved with such grace, balancing delicately on the toes of just one leg.
That night, the bitter doctor fell in love.
But as he watched her, the ballerina's most ardent admirer, a wealthy count, watched him. He watched as the doctor gave the ballerina a flower after the performance and told her how beautifully she had danced, and he watched as the ballerina smiled warmly - more warmly than she had ever smiled at anyone else - and thanked him. The doctor asked if he could see her again, and the ballerina agreed. Afterwards, the count cornered the doctor and invited him to the town tavern to discuss the ballet. He plied him with drink after drink, until the doctor was insensible, and then the count bribed the driver of a wagon going far, far away to take the doctor with him.
When the doctor awoke, he was miles and miles from home, and from the ballerina, on a boat headed to the kingdom across the sea. He cursed the count's name, and once they had arrived, began to plan his way back. He crossed the sea again, encountering storms and monsters, then fought his way through the inhospitable landscape around his town. He got there only to find that his ballerina was gone, and would soon be marrying the count, since the count had spread the word that the doctor had, tragically, died at sea.
The doctor considered giving up, but he did not. Instead, he found the wedding and burst into the church as the ballerina reached the altar, and called her name. Though the count's cronies grabbed him and tried to drag him out, it was too late. The ballerina told the count she did not love him, and ran for the one-legged bitter doctor she did.
