Hey everyone, here's the eagerly awaited chapter, I don't have anything else to say so here are my review responses:
Paige Moonsword: I'm glad you liked the first chapter ^_^
Snow blossoms: I'm glad you liked the cliff hanger, although I didn't think it was that good, cliff hanger's aren't my strong point :p And yeh, Allen's a major arse in this, you'll have to wait and see what happens to him, he gets his come upance eventually. And once I've posted chapter 10 I'm gonna take some time to review what I've done so far and look at what people have said about improvements so I'll do my best to try and put in a summary. ^_^
Honeypot: *blushes* thank you so much I'm glad you like it and that there's someone who likes action in esca fics.
Esca-lover: Yeah I was a bit unsure of how to do that line, I'll fix it once I've posted chapter 10 when I'm going to review everything I've done based on what you guys have said. Thanks so much for reading ^_^
Freelancer47: Thank you so much for all your wonderful compliments, I'm so happy that you like this story and my writing so much. Oh and I know about the Quezac thing, I just don't like the otyl bit at the end, I think it sounds weird. Thankyou for reading and reviewing every chapter so far! ^_^
Love Witch: Yep here she is, she is finally going to be making her entrance. What kind of ff8 jewelery did you get? I know you can get the griever chain that Squall has but I don't know about anything else. Thanks for reviewing, and again, great job with Forbidden Romance ^_^ I love it!
Little fairy: that's ok, I forgive you. ^_^ and here it is the chapter you've been so eager to come out. And I done all that part in the game, but the first time you get on it in esthar you get kicked off don't you. After that the LP moves to tear's point and that's where I have to get on it now. The gameguide says to just fly into it but that doesn't work :s oh well. Here it is, enjoy!
SabineballZ: Here is the next chapter and the answer to all your questions, enjoy! ^_^
Previously on Esca Fantasy:
"Squad B captain, I have new orders!" Millerna announced. Allen looked at her questioningly, so she continued, "All SeeD members and SeeD candidates are to withdraw at 1900 hours and are to assemble at the shore." She reported.
"1900 hours……we only have thirty minutes!" he thought to himself in alarm, he looked up at the other students and dashed to the lift, "You got thirty minutes to get down to the shore!" he informed them as the lift started to descend, "Better run!" and with that last bit of unhelpful advise, he disappeared into the floor.
~*~*~*~
When they got outside they hadn't run but a few metres when a loud banging above them made them stop in their tracks. They all twirled round and tilted their heads to look up at the roof of the tower.
There, they saw and heard a large machine, clatter its way to the edge of the roof and jump off, landing a few metres in front of them. They all braced themselves for the heavy impact and shielded their eyes to protect themselves from the dust that billowed up around it. When the dust receded, they looked up to see a large crab shaped machine in front of them. It was black with red and silver designs on it and had four pointy legs, one at each corner of its square body. And in Dilandau's opinion, it was a cool looking machine.
"I think maybe now would be a good time to get the hell out of here!" Dilandau suggested as they all ducked from a metal limb that came swinging out at them and they turned and ran towards the shore.
~*~*~*~
Van, who was at the back of the group, spun round on his heel and hastily used another lightning attack against it, but he knew it wouldn't have as strong an effect as earlier as he was attacking it by himself now. The machine froze and Van took this opportunity to carry on running. It may not have been beaten, but at least there would be some distance between them now. As he rounded a corner he lost sight of the machine and could see that he was a couple of dozen metres behind Dilandau and Millerna, who were still running as if their lives depended on it.
~*~*~*~
As he reached the stairs that lead down to the beach the machine was upon him and smashed into the floor, to avoid the hit Van had to forget the steps and dove over the wall, landing in a heap on the sand. The machine too crashed into the sand a few feet behind him. Van groggily pushed himself up and continued running, he could see the vessel, it was so close but still so far and he could hear the machine thundering behind him.
At the ship, Dilandau was hovering in the doorway, and Millerna was standing on the beach, both urging Van to go faster and praying that he would make it. Millerna ran onto the vessel to stand next to Dilandau and shouted out to Van as the machine got closer and closer to him.
"Van! Come on! Hurry!"
Now, but a few metres away from the vessel, Van could practically feel the machine breathing down his neck and just as it was about to attack, he made a last desperate leap for the vessel, hoping against hope that he would reach the it, but at the same time realizing that he would not be able to avoid the large metal claw that was headed straight for him.
Chapter 6
A Close Call and A Mysterious Girl
Van dived towards the ship and just as the claw was about to strike, the loud, drilling sound of a machine gun resounded through the air and the robots attack was cut short. Van landed on the edge of the vessels' floor, his lower half in the water. He looked up to the top of the vessel and saw Merle, who was firing the large machine gun weapon that the ship was equipped with, sending a shower of bullets into the robot to prevent its attack on Van. The robot, however was not going to give up that easy, it struggled to get back up and crawl it's way to the vessel, trying in vain to lift it's claws and attack the ship. But Merle just blasted through its mechanical limbs, disabling its movements. When the machine could take no more it fell to the ground, the diminishing red light on its face plate indicating that it had finally been defeated.
Van pulled himself into the vessel and took a last look at the battlefield as the doors slid shut and the vessel pulled away from the shore. He sat back against the wall to try and catch his breath and calm his racing heart, the adrenaline still pumping through his veins.
"Are you ok?" asked Millerna, kneeling down next to him.
"Yes." he answered, still breathing heavily.
"That was a close one!" remarked Dilandau, "That thing nearly got you, good thing instructor Merle was here." They then heard the sound of footsteps hastily coming toward them and they all turned their heads in the direction of the sound as Merle appeared from round the corner. She paused when she reached the small group and a look of relief crossed her face when she saw Van was ok, but she quickly covered it up.
"Well it's good to see you're not hurt," she said impassively, folding her arms across her chest, "that one was a little too close for comfort."
"No, I'm fine." Van reassured.
"Excuse me instructor, but is there some way I could contact my squad instructor and captain?" Millerna inquired.
"Don't worry about that," Merle replied, waving a hand, "we've already informed the squad A captain of your where abouts and you are to meet back up with them when you return to Garden." She told the blond haired student. Millerna nodded in reply.
"Hey instructor, where is Allen?" asked Dilandau, remembering their group leader.
"Oh, he's in the passenger area, he arrived a few minutes before you three." She informed them.
"Well it's nice to know he's been taking it easy while we were risking our necks." Millerna said bitterly.
"He's crazy!" commented Dilandau, "he goes charging into the battlefield like a maniac, makes us leave our post and then abandons us at the end leaving us to do all the hard work!"
"Yeah, I've heard all about Allen's actions and behavior and it will be dealt with when we return to Garden." Merle assured them, "For now, we should go to the passenger area." Both Van and Millerna stood up from their positions on the floor. "Van, why don't you go dry yourself off." She added, noticing Van's wet clothes. Van nodded and they all left the room.
***
When they reached Balamb Port, the sun was almost touching the horizon. The vessel pulled up to the harbour where a small group of SeeD members were waiting for them. As the SeeD candidates exited the vessel, grateful to be stepping onto safe ground, they heard a call from near by.
"Allen!" It was Gaddes and Keo, Allen's lackeys. They walked up to the blond haired soldier who turned to face them.
"How'd it go?" asked Keo in his deep booming voice. Allen rested his hands on his hips and gave a tired smile.
"...All they did was get in my way, being a leader isn't easy."
"It's good to see you back safely boss." Said Gaddes as they walked to the Garden vehicle. Merle emerged from the vessel and walked over to Van, Dilandau and Millerna.
"Good job!" she commended them. She then noticed that they were one student short. "Where's Allen?" she turned her head to follow the direction of Van's pointing arm and saw Allen by the vehicle. She sighed and then brought her attention back to the three. "Oh well, it doesn't matter. Make sure you three are back at Garden by sundown, you're free till then, Ok dismissed!" She instructed.
The three students left the harbour and headed in the direction of the car park and were met with a loud horn beep as Allen and his lackeys drove past in the vehicle.
"H-HEY!" Dilandau shouted, running a few feet after it. "Not again! There goes Mr. Ego..." He moaned as the car disappeared from view.
"Looks like we'll have to walk it." Said Van and they headed through the town towards Garden.
Balamb was a country that was settled on a large Island in the Northern Hemisphere of the world. Balamb Garden was built in the center of the Island while the town was a short walk away, built next to the ocean. The rest of the Island was made up of dense forests and open country. The north of the Island was bordered with high mountains while the southern side, where the town was situated was made up of long shores and beaches. Balamb town was home to the majority of the country's population while the rest would reside in the country. The town had one main train station that allowed travel to the Western Continent through an underground tunnel. Aside from houses and the station Balamb had one or two hotels, and some nice little shops where people could buy simple things and necessities.
"Hey Van," Dilandau called after a few minutes of walking. Van turned around and looked at him inquiringly, "mind if we go into the weapons store," he asked, nodding his head in the direction of a side road, "I want to upgrade my fighting gloves, and as we're here I might as well do it now." He said. Van looked up at the sky; they still had a little while till sundown.
"Ok." he replied. And they walked down the side road till they came to a small store with a red door set into an arch shaped doorway. They walked in and were greeted by the store owner.
"Hello there, what can I do for you?" he asked. Dilandau walked up to the counter to do his business while Van and Millerna wandered around the store. The rays of light that shone into the store through the gaps in the blinds shone and reflected off of many glass cabinets and cupboards that lined that walls and shelves. And within the glass containers were weapons of all different shapes and sizes for all types of combat, from cross bows to swords and whips to daggers.
"Hey, look at this!" Millerna cried out joyfully, gazing excitedly at something on the shelf, Van walked over and stood next to her then looked in the direction she was pointing. "That's the Crescent Wish" she informed him, "it's the second upgrade for my weapon, look at the gold moon and star on the end of the staffs," she said, marveling at it, "and the strong metal chain, as soon as I can get two inferno fangs I'm going to have my nunchaku's upgraded to this level." She exclaimed excitedly. Van observed the weapon for a while but his attention was soon stolen as something near by caught his eye, he walked over to it and his eyes widened in awe. It was the Lion Heart, the highest upgrade of his weapon. His eyes roamed over its hilt, taking in the trigger, the elegant silver metal wing shape that was grafted to a sleek black leather handle, and the powerful, glowing blue blade, cut to perfect precision.
"Wow, that's nice." Millerna commented as she stood next to him and looked at the gunblade.
"How cool are these?" Dilandau said, as he walked over to them, they both turned around to face him and watched as he pulled on the gloves, clenching his fist to test the feel of them.
"Very nice," said Millerna in approval, "but what exactly do they do?" she asked.
"They help me to fight better of course." Dilandau said, throwing a few practice punches in the air.
"A pair of gloves helps you fight better?" She asked incredulously.
"Hey, these aren't just gloves! They're Gauntlets, see the black leather helps to protect my hands and support my wrists while the metal plates on top make sure I deliver a hard punch that'll knock the enemy out."
"Oh right, silly me." she said in exasperation.
"We better get going," Van interjected, "We haven't got long now till sundown, it'll be another fifteen minutes till we reach Garden. The other two agreed and they left the shop, following the pretty streets of the town till they came to its main entrance, from there they followed a path through the open country. Millerna talked quite a bit about various things from weapons to other countries Garden's and she explained what life at Trabia Garden was like. Dilandau would often contribute his own part to the conversation but Van remained silent and just listened. Soon enough, they came to Balamb Garden's front gate, just as the first faint stars were starting to appear in the sky. When they reached the steps, Dilandau stopped and stretched, reaching his arms high above his head.
"Huuuwahaah!" he yawned, "Finally made it back..."
"Yeah, that was tough." said Millerna as she checked her clothes, brushing off any dirt that was on them.
"Well, I guess all we have to do now is wait till tomorrow for the results," said Dilandau, "till then I'm going to rest up. See you guys later." he said, and waved as he walked off.
"Yeah see you later Van." Millerna echoed as she too left. With everyone going their separate ways, Van walked up the stairs and down the long walkway to Garden's entrance. He went through the barriers and into the Garden's main hall where he noticed Merle, Celena and Headmaster Cid conversing by the directory. He had hoped to go straight to his dormitory but the headmaster spotted him and waved him over, not wanting to ignore the headmasters' request he walked over to the small group.
"Mission complete!" exclaimed Celena. "I think we did a pretty good job. The candidates are all back safely, right!?" she asked, seeking assurance. Merle placed her hand on her hip and shifted her weight from one foot to the other.
"Yes, everyone's back fine and the mission was a great success. Although we didn't realize the G-Army was after the abandoned communication tower."
"We've just received word from the Dollet Dukedom. The Galbadian Army has agreed to withdraw as long as the communication tower is repaired and the uplink remains operational." said Cid.
Merle put her hand to her chin in thought, "What on Earth could they want with the communication tower? Why is it so important to them that it remains active?"
"Who knows," replied Celena, "in any case, Galbadia is gone and Dollet is safe. Although we could have made more money if they had stayed and caused more aggravation."
"How did it feel out there on the battle field?" Cid asked, finally addressing Van. Van thought for a moment, reliving the battle in his mind.
"To actually fight for real......it was a good feeling." he replied honestly.
"That's the spirit, but don't let it get to your head!" Cid warned.
"I heard you did pretty well out there." Celena remarked.
"Of course! He's my best student.," said Merle proudly placing her hands back on her hips, "He's not very sociable though."
Van didn't like the way the discussion was going, he hated it when people talked about him, be it in a good or bad way. Noticing Van's agitated look she quickly changed the subject.
"The results for the exam should be announced around midday tomorrow, listen out for the announcement." She informed him. Van nodded and walked off around the marble walkway, but he didn't get far when he bumped into Allen.
"I suppose you heard about the communication tower in Dollet?" he said, "I guess it's a good thing I decided to take us there. We would have been heroes if it wasn't for that withdraw order"
Van didn't reply, instead, a feminine voice from behind him did, Merle had heard Allen's words from the directory and didn't like them.
"Allen, you were only looking for a fight." she exclaimed with annoyance.
"He's acting as if he done such a good job figuring out the enemies plans, but really it was sheer fluke that he saw the soldiers going up there and only followed to satisfy his desire for a battle." she thought to herself.
"My dear instructor," he replied calmly, "I'm hurt, those are rather cruel words for you to say to an aspiring student. A mediocre student like you will never understand."
Celena who had also heard Allen's words stood next to a fuming Merle.
"Allen, don't be so stuck up yourself!" she snapped, "You are going to take full responsibility for disobeying the order and leaving your designated area."
"Isn't it the captain's duty to take the best possible action?" he tested.
"Allen, you'll never be a SeeD! Calling yourself a captain is a joke." and she stormed off, infuriated with Allen's attitude, with Merle following shortly after.
Headmaster Cid had witnessed the heated exchange of words and took this opportunity to add his own.
"Allen. You will be disciplined for your irresponsible behavior. You must follow orders exactly during combat……But I'm not completely with out sympathy for you. I don't want you all to become mindless machines. I want you to be able to think and act for yourselves....but when it is appropriate. I am..." but his words were cut short as a faculty member walked up to them.
"Headmaster Cid, you have some business in your office." it informed him. Cid sighed wearily.
"There are so many issues at hand here." and he followed the faculty member to the lift. Van took this opportunity to continue his journey to his dorm, and to his relief, he didn't run into anybody else.
***
After a good night's rest Van woke up to bright sunshine beaming through the gaps in his drapes. After getting up and getting ready he headed to the training centre where he spent the morning fighting monsters and practicing battle techniques. Around midday, just as Merle had said, an announcement was made, instructing that "All students who participated in yesterday's field exam, report to the second floor hallway." Obeying the announcer's command, Van sheathed his gunblade and left the training area, using the lift he made his way to the second floor. There were already a dozen students waiting, some standing around while others leaned against walls, all were filled with anticipation, impatience and dread. Among them he spotted Dilandau, who was pacing up and down the hall with his hands stuffed in his pockets and his gaze fixed on the floor. He looked up when he noticed Van arrive.
"Oh hey, they said they're going to call out names one at a time." he informed Van in an unusually quiet tone. Van just nodded in reply and Dilandau went back to pacing. After a few minutes of waiting a faculty member appeared, in his hand he was carrying a rolled up piece of paper. He unrolled it and held it up, calling out the names on it, two of which were Van and Dilandau's. Dilandau jumped and threw a punch in the air with joy.
"Yeessss!" he exclaimed and he strutted off down the corridor, with Van following behind. They got in the elevator and climbed to the third floor where headmaster Cid's office was. When they left the elevator they came out to a large reception room, it was decorated lavishly with a desk in the corner and a red carpet that lead from the elevator to the large wooden doors of Cid's office. When they entered his office it was even grander than the reception. The wall opposite the doors was made completely out of glass, and the large room had a high ceiling, allowing lots of bright sunshine to light it up. The walls on the right and left were lined with tables and book shelves that were made of polished wood. And from the ceiling hung large, ivory coloured pieces of material, almost looking like he had the sails of a ship strung up.
Van and Dilandau joined the four other students that were in a presentational line, all standing up straight and proper. Van took a quick look down the line and noticed that Millerna was there, as well as a guy he remembered seeing in squad C. Then he turned his head to face forwards. Cid sat in his chair in the middle of the room like a king on his throne. From the side of the room a faculty member approached him.
"These are the few students that passed today's exam." it informed him. He stood up from his chair and smiled at them warmly.
"First of all congratulations are in order, you have all passed the SeeD exam, and are now officially members of SeeD. However....from now on, as a member of SeeD, you will be dispatched all over the world. We are proud to have you as a part of SeeD, Balamb Garden mercenary soldiers, SeeD soldiers combat specialists. BUT....there is much more to being a SeeD. When the time comes-"
"-Headmaster..." the faculty member cut in again, "It's almost time for the meeting." it then turned to face the students, "SeeD is a valuable asset to Garden, its reputation is solely dependent on each of you. Handle your missions with care." It spoke the words monotonously. "Is that what you wanted to say sir?" The faculty member asked, turning back to the headmaster, Cid nodded and the faculty member handed him a few papers.
"Here are your SeeD rank reports." he said handing them each their own report, "well done everybody." He finished.
"This ends the SeeD inauguration," said the faculty member, "dismissed." Everyone then broke away from the line and left the office. Dilandau spoke to Van when they were back in the second floor corridor.
"Hey Van! Let's get back to class." he said.
"Why?" asked Van.
"What do you mean why? Don't you remember what the new SeeD members do? They give a speech in front of the entire class!" he said. Van's face dropped and Dilandau couldn't help but laugh. "Hey, I'm only joking, but there is going to be that cool inauguration party tonight!" he said excitedly as he entered the classroom. Van followed with the rest of the new Seeds behind him and when they entered they were met with Allen and a group of students behind him who were all looking at them. Van watched Allen uneasily. Then Allen did something very unexpected, he started to clap, and soon everyone else was following suit to create a small applause. Van just stood in shock while Dilandau scratched the back of his head, grinning from ear to ear.
***
After the class had ended he went straight to his dormitory where Millerna was waiting for him. "There you are," she said, standing up from the chair she had been sitting on.
"How did you get in here?" he asked her.
"Oh, Jayce let me in, he said I could wait in here for you."
"Who's Jayce?"
"Who's Jayce?!" She repeated with incredulity, "you mean to tell me you don't even know the name of your room mate?" Van just shook his head impassively and she sighed, "well I suppose that should be expected of you."
Van shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and asked, "So what are you doing here?"
"I came to get you for the party, it starts soon and we don't want to be late." She answered, "it's going to be such fun!" Then she gave a little twirl, "So what do you think?" she asked him, "it's my new SeeD uniform," she said, straightening her jacket proudly. Van just looked at her.
"You should get changed too," she added, "I'll wait out here for you" and she sat back down on the chair as Van walked into his room. There was only half an hour to go till the party started, normally Van would avoid such events but as a new member of SeeD it was compulsory for him to go, so very begrudgingly he got cleaned up and changed into his new SeeD uniform. When he came out of his bedroom into the sitting room of his dormitory Millerna stood back up.
"Heeey! Looking good!" she said, complimenting him on his smart appearance, then she threw an excited punch in the air, "let's hit that PAAH-TAY!" she cried and dragged Van out the door.
***
Half an hour later, Van was leaning against one of the grand marble walls of the hall. So far the night had been as he had expected, extremely dull and boring. A few girls had approached him, asking for a dance but he had refused. A waitress in a blue waistcoat walked past him and offered him a glass of champagne from her tray. He took one and drank a sip of it. Then he heard a loud familiar voice.
"Hey Van, how's it going?" Dilandau asked as he approached the solitary student. He placed a hand on his hip and casually rested his weight on his right leg, crossing the left one over so that his foot was propped up on its toe. "I guess we're both SeeD's now huh?" and he stuck out his hand, "put it there man!" he said, but Van just ignored the gesture and took another sip from his glass. Dilandau retracted his hand and hung his head in exasperation, with a slight smirk across his face. "even as a SeeD you're still the same. Well that's typical of you. See you later Van." and he walked off again. Van then heard another familiar voice.
"Oh.....hey, Dilly! Want to join the Garden Festival committee-"
"Dilly?!" he repeated incredulously, "my name is Dilandau!"
"I know, but Dilly is so much cuter," she replied sweetly. "So anyway, we need someone who can-"
"Sorry. I...ahh...Just remembered something! G-Got to go. Seeya!" he said and hastily walked away. Millerna slumped her shoulders and pouted, then she looked around and noticed Van in the corner.
"Van! Hi!" she said, cheering up instantly, she walked up to him and held her hands up in a begging position. "Do you want to join the Garden Festival committee?" she asked with pleading amethyst eyes, "You can help out whenever you have the time," she added, "please?" and she tilted her head to the side angelically. But Van just sighed and took another sip from his glass. Realising she wasn't going to get anywhere she left him and moved on to her next poor victim.
***
Looking up into the night sky through the glass domed roof of the hall, Van could see the large moon shining brightly with a mysterious aura around it, and all around it little stars displayed their own little glows, twinkling happily. And he watched as the blue light of a shooting star streaked its way across the sky. Taking his eyes away from the view he looked back to the dance floor, and narrowed his eyes as something, rather, someone caught his attention. There, in the middle of the dance floor, also staring peacefully up at the night sky was a beautiful young girl. She had honey coloured hair streaked with blond that hung just past her shoulders, shorter around her face and was wearing an elegant and very flattering ivory coloured halter neck style dress that came to the middle of her thighs. Sensing that she was being watched she turned her head to Van and that's when he saw her dazzling emerald eyes, bright and sparkling with happiness and tranquillity as she smiled at him gently. He found himself unable to take his gaze away from this girl, she was unlike anyone else he had ever met, she enchanted and captivated him, drawing him in. With confidence in her steps she walked up to him., her ivory shoes tapping on the marble floor with every step.
"You're the best looking guy here" she said when she reached him. Then she put her hands on her hips and tilted her head to the side playfully, "dance with me?" she asked. Finally managing to break away he brought up his usual barriers and turned his head away, taking another sip from his glass.
"Let me guess," she said, "you'll only dance with someone you like," then with an inspirational expression on her face she said, "Ok then. Look into my eyes," and she leaned forward so that her face was close to his, staring into his deep brown eyes. Van had no where else to look but into her sparkling emerald orbs and once again found himself captivated by them. "You're going to like me…." She chanted in a hypnotizing voice, "you're going to like me…" then she straightened up, "did it work?" she asked brightly.
Despite himself, Van couldn't help but let a small smile creep into his face and shook his head in amusement.
"…I can't dance." He replied simply.
"You'll be fine." She reassured unabatedly. Taking his excuse for a yes she continued, "come on. I'm looking for someone, I can't be on the dance floor alone." And with that she dragged him by his arm and pulled him onto the dance floor, giving him barely any time to put his glass on the tray of a passing waitress.
With long confident strides she pulled him through the dancing couples to an empty spot in the middle of the hall. She twirled around and pulled him near her, grabbed his arms, arranging them so that one arm was around her waist and the other was holding her hand and then she started to move in steps to the music. Van tried to follow the steps, keeping his eyes on his feet, which he kept tripping over, and yet was still completely lost. But despite his ineptitude and obvious lack of knowledge of the routine, she kept moving swiftly to the sound of big bass drums and violins that were playing together to create a cheerful and upbeat tune, dragging him with her.
After much dizzy twirling and many clumsy paces along with a few trips and stumbles, Van started to get tired of the humiliation he was facing by making a fool of himself on the dance floor. He dropped his arms from her waist and started to walk away, but she wasn't going to let him get away that easily. She quickly slid an arm forward and grabbed his hand, swiftly pulling him back to her, and repeated the earlier steps, determined to get a good dance out of him.
As they both focused intently on trying to coordinate themselves and get the moves right they didn't notice where they were going and they bumped into another dancing couple who turned and gave Van and the girl dour and angry glares. Van looked at them apologetically but the girl simply scrunched up her nose and stuck her tongue out. Turning back to Van she smiled knowingly as a new tune struck up that Van recognized. Then as if they were mirror images of each other they began the steps to the routine.
With their hands joined in front of them they took steps forward and back, first to the left and then to the right of each other. On the third step they stepped right around each other, with the girl doing a small twirl so that they switched sides and then repeated the move. Now facing each other they took long, sliding glides to their right with their arms out stretched, they repeated this move so that their back were facing each other and again till they were standing side by side, each move was graceful and fluid.
Then, with their arms still outstretched they connected hands and she twirled in close to his body with his spare palm pressed against her back, supporting her movements. She twirled back out so that their arms were outstretched again, and as the music gradually came to an end the beat slowly died down. Slowing their pace with the music she stepped towards him, so that their bodies were close with their palms pressed together, signaling the end of their dance.
Everything around them faded away as they looked in each other's eyes, losing themselves in each other's presence and Van suddenly became aware of how close they were. He could feel her warm breath tickling his neck and noticed how well her slim body moulded against his, but his thoughts were distracted when fireworks were blasted into the night sky, creating a dazzling display with showers of sparkling colour and loud bangs and whooshes.
The girl watched Van contentedly as he gazed into the night sky, taking in all his features. The way his thick raven bangs hung over one eye, and his tanned complexion, setting off the depth and intensity in his brown eyes and at this close proximity she could clearly smell the scent of a field or meadow coming from him. His presence soothed and relaxed her and she enjoyed being in his arms. Then something over his shoulder caught her eye and her eyes lit up. Van turned back to face her and noticed that her gaze was directed behind him. She smiled at him brightly before breaking away from his hold and he watched as the mysterious girl left the dance floor. Van just stood there, quite overwhelmed and shocked at what just happened.
"who was that girl?" he thought to himself.
Ok this chapter was very hard to write, I don't know if anyone's ever written a dance scene before, but it isn't easy! So let me know how I got on with that and anything else in the chapter or the whole story.. Thanks everyone for reading.
Natalie xXx
