"¿Tengo que ir?" Luna looked upset.

"Eres la princesa, cariño. Sé que no te gusta estar con desconocidos, pero estoy seguro de que te divertirás."

"Quiero decir, supongo. ¿Pero tiene que suceder en Halloween?" She really wanted to go trick-or-treating with Grandma and Grandpa Diaz. At fourteen, she was getting close to being too old. "¿Puedo entrar más tarde?"

"Lo siento, cariño, de verdad. Pero es su obligación como la princesa de Mewni."

Luna frowned and folded her arms. She really disliked the royal "parties" that she was forced to attend. She enjoyed watching everyone from the side, but all of the older people insisted on talking to her and telling her the same stories over and over again. The other princes and princesses just did not talk to her at all. It was the rumor that Mewni princesses just caused trouble.

Star sighed, "Le dirá qué; si puedes intentar divertirte te dejaré escoger cualquier disfraz que quieras."

"Incluso el viejo vestido de princesa de papá?" Luna brightened.

Star flinched. The older nobility was still sore about the princess uprising Marco had caused. But if it made her daughter happy, "Sí, incluso ese."

Luna's smile gave away her feelings. She had always wanted to dress up like the infamous Princess Marco, but until now her mother had not let her. Apparently the old fogies in other kingdoms were still mad at her father over that whole thing. She hugged her mom.

"Gracias, Mami."

"De nada, Luna."

Luna stood in line beside her parents and Butterfly grandparents as the guests filed in. She was dressed exactly like her father's old princess pictures with the addition of the traditional masquerade mask. The disgruntled looks she received made her feel a little better for having to attend. The evening was made better still by the attendance of her Diaz grandparents who stood out in the crowd with their bright sugar skull makeup and traditional Mexican clothing.

As soon as the introductions were finished Luna made a beeline for her Abuelo. Grandma Moon had not been too happy about her costume choice, so she had decided to avoid her tonight.

"¡Abuelo! ¡Abuela!" She hugged them, "Thanks for coming."

"No estábamos a punto de perder la oportunidad de fiesta con nuestros nieta," Angie smiled, "Usted sabe, es extraño, pero tú asemejan a su padre ahora mismo. Pero tú está en un vestido."

Luna giggled, "Eso es porque yo soy de Princesa Marco de esta noche!"

Both of her grandparents laughed at that, "Sí, tú toma después de su madre, ciertamente."

They continued to talk and joke for a while. Luna was glad not to have to try and interact with other people. But when the music started, her grandparents excused themselves to dance.

"Oh, gran," Luna slid off to the side before any ambitious princes could try their hand at asking her to dance.

Grabbing a plate of nachos, a snack now found at every palace party, she watched the dancers from the sidelines. As she leaned against the wall, she became aware of someone else standing beside her. She jumped a little, surprised.

"Oh! Lo sentimos, no me te veo allí."

"Eso es bien. Yo no quería ser visto; no me gusta mucho estas fiestas." The boy was dressed in a black suit with a carmine shirt. His mask shimmered like moonlight on water when he moved; making it hard to focus.

"Estabas en la línea antes? No me recuerda ver usted allí, ya sea."

"Lo sentimos, princesa. Yo estaba tarde. Me llamo Michael."

"Me llamo Luna," Luna curtsied, as she had been taught to do.

"Eres la princesa de Mewni. He oído historias sobre tus padres."

"¿Eso es algo bueno?" Luna suddenly felt defensive.

"No es bueno ni malo, pero es la verdad. Eran buenas historias," Michael shrugged.

Luna looked at him, unsure how she was supposed to respond to that, "¿De donde eres?"

Michael smiled, "¿Quieres saber?"

Luna nodded, "Sí, es por eso le pregunté."

He laughed, "Danza con mí y yo le dirá."

"Oh, bueno, no estoy que interesa," she rolled her eyes and returned to leaning on the wall.

"Ah, que duele, princesa," He feigned shock then laughed, "Se vale la pena intentarlo."

"Para alguien que no gusta fiestas, hablas mucho."

"Perdón, tengo problemas para saber cómo actuar en torno a lindo las niñas."

Luna just looked down at her nachos, trying to ignore the warmth in her cheeks, "Estoy usando una máscara. No sabes si soy lindo."

"Eso es justo. Pero qué puedo ver es lindo suficiente," Michael bowed, "Por favor, perdóname por hablar así que abiertamente."

Luna sighed. Even to her it was obvious what he was doing, "Mira, muchas gracias por tratando de danza conmigo. Agradezco la misma. Pero nunca he bailaba con alguien, además de mi papá y abuelos. No estoy muy bueno."

Michael thought for a moment, then nodded, "Bien, cómo sobre este de entonces; vamos a ir donde ellos no nos ven de baile."

"Eso es incluso creepier. Puntos de Halloween del espíritu, supongo que."

"¿Cuál es Halloween?"

"Una fiesta de Tierra. No se preocupe al respecto," Luna shook her head. Despite her feelings towards parties, she was engaged with Michael now. She did not have too many friends outside the castle, and a new one might be fun. "Está bien. Voy a dar una danza."

With a smile, Michael took her hand and led her out to the dance floor. Luna followed, looking down at the floor to avoid eye contact with anyone else. She put her hand on his shoulder and they started.

As they danced Luna tried to think about anything else to stop the blush rising in her face. What she focused on didn't help her much. As they moved, she realized she felt very little under her hands. There was pressure where their bodies met, but she felt no texture– odd considering they were hand-in-hand. Beyond that, though, she felt totally at ease. Watching the patterns of white ribbons move across his mask helped distract her from the other dancers.

"Estás mirar fijamente. ¿Está todo bien?"

Luna blinked, realizing that her watching his mask must have seemed like she was staring in his eyes. Her moons glowed in her embarrassment, "Lo siento. Estaba mirando tu máscara."

"Oh," he brought her through a small spin, "Eso está bien. Tus ojos son muy bonitos cuando estás relajado así."

Luna quickly looked down, "Oh, um, gracias."

They continued to dance slowly around the room. When the music stopped, they stood for a moment together. Michael led her to the side when the next song began to play.

"Gracias por bailar conmigo. No me he divertido tanto desde hace un tiempo."

Luna nodded, "De nada. Yo también lo disfruté."

"Me alegro. Ahora, dije que te diría de dónde vengo, ¿no? Podría ser más fácil para mí mostrarte. Cierra tus ojos."

Luna did as she was told, "No intentes nada raro."

Michael chuckled, "Fue divertido, princesa. Gracias. Tal vez nos veremos de nuevo algún día."

"¿Qué quieres decir?" Luna opened her eyes, but Michael was gone. In her hand, where his fingers had been a second ago, was a single cempasúchil blossom – a flower of the dead.