Chapter 10
All the girls were barely sitting down, letting Utau's maids get their hair ready. Nadeshiko, Amu, Yaya, and Utau were all jittery and giddy with excitement. Their dresses and masks were already on. Nadeshiko's hair was put into a high bun, Utau's hair was put into a side braid, Yaya's hair was put into two twin buns, and Amu's hair was left down. They observed themselves in the mirror, happy with their outfits.
"Alright! Let's go to that ball!" Amu shouted in excitement, raising her fist in the air. The other girls followed suit. They all went across the castle, and they stopped a little way away from the stairs.
"Ok, girls, you ready to make an entrance?" Utau asked. The other girls nodded, they realized they were late, that was the plan. They started to walk gracefully down the steps. As soon as they did, everybody stopped what they were doing and turned to look at them. Amu blushed under the mask. The other girls seemed unfazed.
When they reached the floor, Amu looked around her. She was completely overwhelmed. The dancing had started again, and almost everyone was dancing, the music was loud, and the colors were everywhere. She turned to her friends"
"Hey girls, I don't think I can do this." Amu was nervous, her heart was starting to beat faster, and she didn't know what to do. "I mean, I don't even know how to dance." Utau pinched Amu without even looking at her:
"Smile and you'll be fine. Most of the people here can't dance either so you won't stand out."
"Thanks Utau, that really helps," Amu responded sarcastically, although it really did help a little. She wasn't as nervous as before.
"Besides, we're wearing masks, so just relax and have fun," Nadeshiko told the rosette kindly. Amu smiled at the girl. Yaya needed her share too:
"Yeah! Yaya thinks that you will be beautiful anyways! Just have fun like Yaya does!" Amu smiled at them all, in their own ways they all helped her.
"Thanks guys, you're right." Then with a determined look on her face, "Ok, let's go dominate the dance floor!" The other girls smiled and nodded with Yaya shouting:
"Yeah!" They all started to chat leisurely, but they had a plan. They were really appearing that way so men would ask them to dance. Sure enough, it worked. A man in dark green and silver clothes, his mask was made of ivory and emeralds. He walked up to Utau and bowed to her:
"May I have this dance my fine maiden?" Utau smiled and curtsied towards the man"
"You may." She took his arm and walked away. Her friends giggled, happy for their friend. It hadn't even been a full minute that Utau had to wait. Amu looked around, a big smile on her face. Now that she wasn't as nervous, she could clearly see the details of the room. The wood floors which were usually finely polished were ten times more. Hung between the marble pillars were silk banners with an emblem on them. It was a clover shape, each leaf was a different color, there was pink, blue, green, and orange. There were very large tables at the other side of the room, laden with food and drink. She was still observing the room when she spotted him. Yes him. She couldn't see his face very well, but he looked so handsome. By the way he was treating all of the girls surrounding him, he was a gentleman. His clothes were black lined with gold and handsomely outlined his muscular body and complimented it. (You couldn't see the muscles but you definitely knew they were there) His mask was black with gold claw marks slashing across his left eye. It seemed like no one knew who he was, as she could hear that all the girls were asking his name. She giggled, then she noticed someone ask for her hand in the next dance that was coming up soon.
The man was taller than her by a few inches, but not as tall as Prince Ikuto. 'Wait, why did that come into my head?!' She brushed that thought aside as she accepted. It wasn't until they were walking to the dance floor did she get a good look at who asked her to dance looked like. His outfit was gold and white with ruffles. His mask was white with a gold crown at right corner. She didn't get much else of an examination of him, as the music started.
The music pulled her in, it had a Celtic sound (think of Kingdom Dance from Tangled but with a darker beginning) and started out a little slower. Amu and her partner were circling each other. One of his hands on her waist, and one of her hands on his waist. While she was totally into the music, she wasn't totally into the guy. That's when the music turned fast and almost uncontrolled. She heard of this music before, her mother told her about it. The other guests didn't really know what to do, they were not used to it. Amu just grabbed her all of her friend's hands, whose hands also grabbed their partners. She then showed them how to do it. Soon they were all dancing with the same passion and ease as Amu was. Eventually others started to get into it. Amu just encouraged them, then the music turned totally epic and Amu totally melted into it. She was completely absorbed by the thrilling music that surrounded her. A smile was on her face, and her pink hair flowed around her. While she was dancing, she didn't seem to notice the man who was following her around the dancefloor.
Just at the last bar though, a girl 'accidently' stuck out her foot and tripped Amu. Amu's eyes shut tight, embracing herself for the fall.