DISCLAIMER: One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda.

A/N: I heavily borrowed from tumblr user offruitsanddresses's headcanons for Brûlée while I was writing this. (An additional note, added long after this was first posted: this was written before canon revealed how Brûlée got her scar, so the headcanon upon which this fic was based has now been invalidated by canon.)

~ In the Arms of Misery ~

Brûlée was not fond of weddings, nor was she overly fond of the sister who was currently getting married, but not attending the event wasn't an option.

After the way her own marriage had ended, she found it particularly difficult to endure the ceremonies. The 'tea parties' that came after the vows were slightly easier to handle as those tended to be more about making sure Mama was pleased than about celebrating the new couple's marriage.

As she only half-listened to Bege and Chiffon reciting their vows, Brûlée had to consciously fight to keep herself from reaching up to trace her fingers over the scar on her face. As much as she didn't like her sister, she could not help but hope that the promises they were making would not turn out to be lies, not like her own had been...

The officiant pronounced the couple husband and wife, the bride was kissed, the music started, and the first dance was shared.

As other couples began to filter out onto the dance floor, Brûlée lingered near the edge of the room, still brooding over her own failed marriage - which had ended in her husband's death at the hands of her brothers and left her with the scar on her face, not to mention a much deeper wound in her heart.

Brûlée was startled out of her thoughts by a light touch on her elbow. She looked down to see Diesel standing beside her.

"My lady, may I have this dance?" he asked.

"You may," she answered, adding silently, but why would you want to?

Between their height difference and the extra joints in his arms, the dance they shared was an intensely awkward experience. Brûlée was certain that others must be staring at the two of them, laughing at them.

Even though it made her uncomfortable, the dance did have effect that Diesel intended - it pulled her out of her thoughts and into the current moment.

~end~