I'm back my lovelies! Rejoice! *blows noisemaker*

If the chapter title is weird to you, I can explain. David Bowie has a nickname (well, rather a persona) "Ziggy Stardust." Also, the only Bowie song I now is "Let's Dance." So... make sense?

Blah blah blah, I don't own KI:U, blah blah blah, Tales of the Abyss is an awesome game, blah blah blah, E3 HAS STARTED!, blah blabbity blab, school is finally out.

Chapter 3

The Chapter Dedicated to David Bowie

I sigh. "So how long has it been?"

Viridi glances at the clock on the wall opposite her. "An hour?" she guesses.

I groan, "Man, are we ever gonna get out of here?" My girlfriend just exhales deeply.

For the past 60 minutes, the two of us have been waiting for our sentence to end. The entire time nothing but silence has filled the air. Right now, we're lying on the floor next to each other. Not holding hands or anything. I'm afraid that if I even look in her direction to admire her new form I might just get so turned on that I'll make out with her right here, right now, regardless of how much trouble I would get in to.

It's torture. Absolute torture.

I roll over onto my side so I can face her. "Hmm..." I think aloud.

"What?" she asks, turning to see me clearly.

"Isn't it true that people that are dating have nicknames for each other?"

"Yeah, but if you think you're calling me 'honeybunch' or something, you've got another think coming."

I shake my head. "No, nothing like that. Just something... I don't know, kinda nice. Nothing too mushy or anything."

Viridi bites her lip in thought. "So what do you have in mind?"

I search deep into my brain for an idea. "Vri," I say, pronouncing it so that it rhymes with that fancy cheese.

"Vri..." she repeats, mulling it over. "I like that. It's not too sappy, but still sweet."

"OK, then what about me?" I question.

"Um, the only name I can think of for you is 'Pitty.' And I'm pretty sure that brings up some bad memories."

Pitty. The silly name that Hades called me. I shudder.

"Sorry," Viridi tells me. But I grab her shoulder.

"No, I want you to call me 'Pitty.' It's different if you're the one saying it. It's not an insult, it's a title. A reward."

She smiles. "If you're sure..."

"I'm sure."

Suddenly the Goddess of Nature hops up. "C'mon, Pitty,"- she giggles when she says it- "let's do something."

"What? What can we possibly do in here? There's nothing besides the hot spring, and I'm not going in there with you. At least, not under these circumstances."

Viridi gestures towards the bookshelf. "We could read, for starters."

"Nuh- uh. All of these are trashy romance novels written by Fabio. Maybe if they were Hardy Boys mysteries, but those? I'd rather be turned into tempura."

She strides over to the music box. "Well then, we can dance!" she replies, pressing some buttons on the machine.

"But... but I... I don't know how to dance," I mumble.

"Well, then I'll teach you!" she laughs.

"Why do you want to teach me how to dance?" I cock my head.

"Think of it as us being equal," she explains. "You taught me how to shoot an arrow and drive a chariot, I showed you how to read. That's two from you and one from me. I do this, and we're even."

My shoulders fall. "Great. I'm nothing more than a student to you."

Apparently she doesn't hear my comment, as she grabs my hand. "Get over here!" she yells, sounding like Scorpion.

Sound pours out of the device. It's a slow song with plenty of strings. A waltz, I think it's called.

"Does this seem... familiar to you?"

"This is the song that I kept playing in my temple while you were staying there. I find it soothing."

"Ahh, that makes perfect sense. Thank you!" I exclaim.

Viridi places one of her palms on my waist and the other on my shoulder. "Go on, do the same thing with your hands." I comply. Her hips are curved to the exact same contours of my grip. An almost forgotten jolt of electricity runs through me. I keep myself from gasping out loud, but I feel my body shake at the same time as my girlfriend.

That feeling... oh no... I can't feel it now...

"Now, follow my lead," she says. Step to the side, back to center. Step to the other side, back to center. I struggle to keep my feet off of my girlfriend's toes.

"You're... not very good at this," she notes.

"You know my feet are weird! I have trouble walking normally! It's like I'm galloping!"

"True. How about we try a backwards step?" she suggests. She moves closer to me and I instinctively back up. "Good! Now come towards me."

This new style of movement works much smoother. Back and forth, back and forth. Nice and easy.

I grin. "Hey, I'm dancing!"

Viridi smiles back. "Keep going!" she chuckles.

The song ends but we keep dancing. A new tune comes on, one with a slightly faster beat. I move a little more quickly.

We laugh and smile and spin. And it's wonderful. Just us two and the music. It's the greatest feeling I've ever had, simply being here with Viridi, doing absolutely nothing of consequence. It's even better than flying. I'm so elated I attempt to dip her.

That's when I hit her head against the table. She plummets to the ground, with her fingers still holding onto me.

"Oof," she moans after impact. I open my eyes to see where we've fallen.

We're on the floor staring into each other's eyes, just like before. The difference is that this time our arms are wrapped around our bodies.

Oh, and we're about an inch and a half apart.

I blink. Viridi breaths slowly. The warm air coming out of her lungs blow into my face.

It's like being hit with Petrification. I know what I'm doing, I know I'm in danger, but I can't do anything about it.

"Vri..." I whisper.

"Pit?"

I hear myself breathe the words "My sweet, beautiful Vri."

I start to move forward. I can feel her doing the same. My nose brushes on hers...

"NO!" I yell, forcing myself away. "NO! YOU CAN'T DO THAT, PIT!"

I'm yelling at myself, says some still- reasonable part of my brain. Great. By the time Palutena lets us out of here I'll be sent to the loony bin.

"I'm sorry," I tell Viridi. "I got carried away."

"It's all right, Pit. We've both made mistakes tonight," she answers.

"Is your head OK?" I ask her. My voice is full of genuine worry.

She touches the bump. "I can't tell. Could you...?"

"Yeah," I say, pushing her blond hair out of the way so I can inspect the bruise. "I don't think you have a concussion or anything, but I still wouldn't do anymore dancing for a while if I was you. Especially not with me."

"Whew," she sighs as she relaxes. "Anyway, I suppose I at least learned one thing today."

"What's that?" I inquire.

"That the game designers created you with two left feet."

End Chapter 3

I LOVE YOU, DAVID BOWIE SAMA SENSEI- SEMPAI- SAN- SAMAAAAAAAAA! KUN!

... I honestly don't know anymore.