Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN GUNDAM WING! (Wish I did) Sniffle. I don't own any characters or anything! Ok, I don't really own much but I do own Cindi Yuy. If you don't like the stories please keep it to your self I don't want to read anything like that. I hope you like it though so there won't be any need for flaming. I'll accept any comments though. Thank you! Bye Bye Now!

A Cinderella Story

Chapter 9

By

Dark Angel

Everyone suddenly began to get excited and jittery but at the same time a respectful silence fell upon the crowd as the Winner Family passed through the crowd.

The great hall where everyone was gathered was decorated to resemble a Renaissance ballroom. On the other end of the room were four thrones, set there for the ball only. Long lengths of burgundy, deep green, and dark blue material was draped around the room, and there was a sweet aroma floating in the air giving the room a homey feeling. The roof was high, so even the smallest whisper would echo. There were three gigantic windows in the ballroom that were from floor to the ceiling. The middle window opened up into a beautiful balcony that over looked the gorgeous man-made pond on the Winner estate.

My stomach began tying in knots as I could begin to see the two crowns of the King and Queen. The room was long enough that everyone had a place to stand on the side. Only few of the men were standing behind the women. Since we can't bend over to try and look at the royal family, we just had to wait until they came up in front of us. Their footsteps started getting closer and closer, and then there he was. Quatre Reberba Winner, King of Arabia. And standing next to him was his lovely wife. I believe her name was Dorothy Winner. Something puzzled me about her face though... What's with her eyebrows? I thought awkwardly as the couple passed. Then...there they were. The Prince and Princess, stars of the evening. The prince was now wearing a handsome blue dress shirt that played with the color is his gorgeous turquoise eyes. The princess was wearing a beautiful white pearl dress that brought out her turquoise eyes, and wavy blonde hair...wait...turquoise eyes? Wavy blonde hair? THATS LILY! Oh my god...Lily...Princess Lily? DUH!!!! I'm SO DENSE!!! I thought all this dreadfully as Lily looked directly at me and waved cheerfully, making prince Aden stare in my direction. He waved too... much to my surprise. My stomach jumped up into my throat and all I could do was smile back, and wave at the two most important people I've ever waved to.

"Cindi? Cindi?" I heard a voice come from the side of me and I looked up at Eric.

"Yes?" I felt almost tried from all the excitement I just felt.

"Cindi let go of my arm." He whispered, and I realized that I had been squeezing his arm with my death grip. I quickly released him and sweat dropped.

"Oh, sorry." By now the entire royal family had taken their seats on their makeshift thrones and Mr. Winner was talking to man, I recognized as the man who opened the door for us when we arrived at the mansion. Everyone now began walking towards the thrown and formed a half circle in front of them. However, before the isles broke up, I glanced across the isle, and spotted Kahea. She was glaring at me with eyes like a devil. It sent a chill down my back as I turned away, and caught up to the guys.

"Hey Cindi, That was that Lily girl from earlier! Why didn't you tell me she was the princess?" David asked in a low whisper.

"I didn't know! She didn't tell me!" I whispered back. A few people began to talk to their new acquaintances as they waited for Mr. Winner to begin speaking. I suddenly got a curious thought in my head and turned to face Tai, Eric and David.

"Guys, I have a question." I whispered. They brought their heads closer, to listen.

"What if, you guys weren't going out with someone? Would you try your hardest to capture Lily's attention?" Though they admitted it'd be hard to imagine not going out with their girl friends, they said yes.

"Why do you ask?" Tai questioned.

"Oh...no reason. I'm just curious, that's all" I answered.

"Ladies and Gentle men!" we heard Mr. Winners voice ring through the hall and turned our direction forward. Since we were close to the end of the line, we had managed to find a place in the front row of the semi-circle. I caught another glance from Lily and grinned at her. Luckily no one noticed but my heart felt like it was swelling from all of the excitement. "Thank you all for coming. My children are very excited about the next four days. As am I. I'm very sure all of you understand the schedule that we are on, so there's no need to put you asleep by saying it again. Right after dinner, my Son and Daughter will choose two occupants to dance with. From there, I suppose you ladies and Gents may form a line... if you wish. But hopefully by the end of the evening, they will have danced with most of you. You're parents or guardians who have escorted you here, are in the other room, waiting for dinner to be served. So I won't make you or them wait any longer. Lets go eat." He waved his towards the gigantic set of doors that everyone walked through to enter the ballroom, and they opened once again and on the other side was the same man I had seen talking to Mr. Winner ...the man who opened the door for us. Rashid, as I later learned to call him, led our party of about 150 guests to a beautiful dinning area.

I was actually surprised that there were only 150 people, but then again if there were more, the prince and princess would probably faint from exhaustion and the ball would last as month.

So we walked into the dining area, and most of our parents were already seated in various spots around the room. Eric, David, Tai and I scanned the room and found our dads sitting in a table right next to the Winners table. Mr. Winner was sitting on the end of his table and was leaning over talking to Mr. Maxwell. All five of them had happy smiles on their faces. The table our dads were sitting at was round. As was every other table in the room. The only table that was not round was the Winner's table. It was a long rectangle, and the Twins sat in between their parents. Our table was right next to theirs. Our dads were seated all around the table, with one seat dividing them each. I took my seat next to Daddy, and Mr. Barton.

I heard several angry growls from behind me, and when I turned to look, there were several girls and a few guys glaring in my direction! What did I do? But when I looked again, I saw Kahea in the middle of the group. Go figure. Josh, Jack, Zack and Kahea had been seated at a table two tables from ours. Only Kahea though was glaring daggers. Boy she can get annoying sometimes. I figured that she more than likely would try and make my time at the ball miserable; I should keep on my toes.

Dinner was absolutely wonderful. They served us a simple meal of mashed potatoes, with the best gravy I've ever tasted, Cordon Blue with stringy mozzarella cheese also with a yummy cheddar cheese sauce on top. On the side was delicious Italian favorite: Olive Oil, Feta cheese, Tomatoes, basil leaves and pepper. If you eat it all together it is very good. As another side there was some fruit, and sautéed onions served with sautéed zucchini. I could do with out the zucchini but I ate everything else.

The dinning hall was very noisy with talking and laughing especially by me because Mr. Maxwell and David were hilarious comedians. The royal table was even listening and cracked up a few times. I caught myself a few times where I just sat staring at Prince Aden. He really was cute. And the fact that he waved to me just made me think for a second that I might have a chance after all. Dinner lasted about and hour and a half before everyone was done. Then Mr. Winner announced that it was time for dancing and everyone departed heading for the ballroom. As I got up and turned to walk out, a hand grabbed mine, and I turned around to face Lily.

"Cindi hi!" she said excitedly

"Lily!" I grinned and gave her a hug. We started heading towards the doors, and I spotted Prince Aden talking to Eric, David and Tai.

"Your dress is so beautiful," Lily commented snapping me out of yet another trance.

"Thank you. I love yours too. Say, why didn't you tell me that you were the Princess?" I asked raising an eyebrow and putting a hand on my hip.

"I forgot?" she smiled and lied.

"Liar!" I laughed

"I thought you might get all goofy and stuff if you found out exactly who I was. That happens to lots of people. You didn't recognize me, so I wanted to keep it that way and surprise you."

"Oh, you surprised me all right."

We kept talking until we reached the ballroom. Everybody gathered in the middle of the room, where Mr. Winner and Mrs. Winner stood. Aden and Lily went to join their parents in the middle of the crowd.

"This is the first of some very fun nights in this hall. Lets let the music begin and start dancing." He smiled and lightly grabbed his wife around the waist and began dancing as the soothing sound of a violin filled the air.

Prince Aden and Princess Lily went to the nearest girl and boy next to them and began to dance. I felt someone tap on my shoulder and I looked up. It was Eric.

"Hey, before you dance with 'all time cute boy' Prince Aden, would you like to have this first dance with me?" he asked politely, extending his arm.

I looked back at the line that had already begun to form.

"Of course, it'd be your pleasure." I smiled and took his arm.

"Oh?" he raised an eyebrow and we got onto the dance floor. There were many people out dancing, and I realized that not EVERYONE was here just for the prize. We passed The King and Queen, on the dance floor. They were completely engulfed in each other's eyes and they looked so elegant. We also passed Prince Aden, and Princess Lily.

"So, will you be standing in the line for Lily?" I asked Eric

"I think so." He answered. I looked at him confused

"I thought you had a girlfriend."

"Had, being the key word there." There was a hint of hurt in his voice, "I wasn't going to say anything about it though."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"No, its ok. She broke up with me when I told her about going to ball. She got really jealous, and started yelling and crying. It was absolutely absurd but she insisted that there could be nothing if I was going to go to dances where the grant prize was a beautiful princess."

"Wow. I personally wouldn't know the pain of having a relationship. I've never really had a boyfriend. I've never even been kissed." I admitted blushing

"That's a good thing, Cindi. You're saving it for a special person."

"I always felt really pathetic about it."

"Don't be." We spun slowly in a circle, and I smiled at him happily.

"You're such a good friend Eric. I mean, David and Tai are great, and I know we like just met, but you're like my best friend. Thanks." The song ended, and I let him go.

"Now lets go get in line!" He smiled and walked off.

I headed towards the line that was near the back of the room. This is ridiculous I thought. I walked next to the girl who was next in line. I walked past her and I didn't look at her; I decided to turn around abruptly when a hand pushed me. Kahea stood there with her arms crossed.

"What is your problem?!" I hissed at her quietly.

"You. Now get to the back of the line where you belong."

"Speak for yourself... and I would have been on my way already if your dirty little hands didn't touch me." I growled and walked away, as Prince Aden came up and took Kahea out on the dance floor.

Whew! That's done... well there's more where that came from. What did you think? But PLEASE please review and let me know what you think cause depending on the amount of reviews will let me decide if I'll write chapter 10.