Story 4; The Ball
"I'm not sure to be filled with excitement or filled with dread." Naveen said, holding his golden-bordered invitation. He and Tiana sat on their bed; his wife tucked under one arm.
"Aren't you the one who is always trying to get to me dances?" She asked. Prince Adam had invited them to the Disney Princess and Prince annual ball held at his castle. Some of the princesses, like Cinderella and Belle, were quite excited about it. Others, like Mulan, were less so.
"I'm still not used to these European style parties." Jasmine sighed when the princesses received their own invitations at the last meeting. She was lying sideways on the couch, her black hair tucked over her shoulder.
"Me neither. The dancing is so different from mine." Pocahontas agreed.
"I don't dance at all," Mulan groaned. "Usually my kind of body movement involves physically harming people."
"I don't think we need to see any of that." Tiana said, patting her shoulder.
"Oh come on, girls!" Belle chimed, "It'll be so much fun! There will be dancing and food, plus everyone will finally be seen in their best dresses! Tiana, we haven't seen yours!"
Tiana glanced down at her short green dress. It's true; unlike most of the Western princesses, she didn't wear her ballroom dress to meetings. She didn't like wearing it too much; the shorter one was much easier to move around in. Plus, she thought the luster was lost a little if they always saw it. The poofy, fancy dresses the other girls wore no longer meant anything to her, and she doubted they would at the ball.
"Oh, Belle," Cinderella squealed, "I have to thank you so much for hosting this year! Charming was quite hesitant after the mess that happened in our ballroom last year."
Jasmine had told Tiana the story. The dogs had followed Snow White's animal-charming singing into the ballroom and wreaked havoc on the food tables, sending food everywhere. It took an especially enchanting tune to get them to calm down again, and by then the damage was already done. Tiana actually kind of wished she had been there.
"No problem!" Belle grinned, showing off a set of perfect white teeth. "The pleasure is all mine."
Belle and Cinderella walked off, giggling and whispering about music and decorations and all sorts of other things.
"I have to say," Pocahontas, "I've never seen Belle so much like the older princesses like when she talks about balls. Common passion, I presume."
"I know you guys are going to want me do wear my white-faced pretty girl look to the ball again," Mulan snapped, "But I'm not doing it."
"But you look so gorgeous." Jasmine said, "And Tiana has never seen it! At least wear it this year so she can!"
"I bet you'd also force Poca to wear a European dress and face powder." Mulan snarked.
"They've never done that to me," Pocahontas said, "But I have heard rumors that I've worn that before. Strange."
"I would like to see it…" Tiana smiled, making Mulan roll her eyes.
"Fine. But only this last year."
"I'm going to wear my wedding outfit again." Jasmine grinned, petting her silky black locks. "You know, the purple one?"
"That sounds quite nice." Tiana said.
"Well girls," Cinderella said above the crowd, Belle at her side, "I believe our time is up."
"I am not wearing the lily pad suit," Naveen moaned, "It makes me look ridiculous."
Tiana shifted her weight on the bed to face him, "Aw, you don't want to match me?"
"I will wear the uniform I wore to our wedding," He continued, "But not the lily pad suit."
"Lottie says we look so cute in them."
"Excuse me, not to offend Charlotte, but I really do not care if she thinks I am cute or not." He said, raising an eyebrow, "And I am surprised you do."
"I don't." Tiana rubbed her husband's chest, grinning. "I'm just messing with you."
"Good. Because I am not wearing it." He gave a firm nod, sending a few off his curls in his face.
Tiana giggled, sweeping them away.
"I'll take what I can get." she said, kissing him as he turned off the lights.
The night of the ball, Tiana put on her lily pad dress and put up her hair in a loose bun. As she did her makeup, Naveen walked in behind her, putting his arms around her waist.
"You look amazing, my wife." He said, kissing her cheek.
"Thank you, Naveen." She said. "We have to leave in a few minutes. And you do, too."
They left in their best car (Naveen wanted to show the men what a car really means) and started towards the castle, Tiana praying that tonight would go well.
Belle greeted them at the door, a huge smile on her face. Though she wore her gold dress, as always, her hair had been done with a little more care and her cheeks and eyes were just so slightly painted.
"I'm so excited you could come, Tia! Your dress is absolutely stunning! " Belle took her arm, leading her into the ballroom. Tiana gasped upon entering it. She had never seen Belle's ballroom before, and it was gorgeous.
"Tiana!" sang Cinderella, running up to her, blue gown swishing. "Finally, now we have everyone!"
Tiana scanned the room for the other princesses. She saw Jasmine, who looked quite pretty in her violet outfit and tied back hair. She stood next to a young Middle Eastern boy, whom Tiana assumed to be Aladdin. Mulan was off to the side, looking beautiful in a silk dress and a painted face. Extremely unhappy, but beautiful. The man who must have been Shang stood next to her, seemingly trying to comfort her. Aurora was there, too, and her dress didn't have any difference besides being blue.
Snow White and her Prince were the first ones to dance. It disturbed Tiana a bit, because while Snow looked about fourteen, her prince looked quite a bit older. Times were different then, she supposed. Naveen took her hand, leading her onto the dance floor. She blushed a little bit as the others clapped, smiling shyly as she took dancing position. The music was classical, not something Naveen would usually dance to, but he seemed to be enjoying himself well enough. One by one, each of the couples joined the dance. Except, of course, for Mulan and Shang.
As the others enjoyed themselves, Tiana gently led Naveen off the dance floor and over to the couple.
"Is something wrong?" She asked. "You look great, by the way."
"Its fine…" Mulan said, "It's just that I don't dance. And thank you."
"Ah, it is not that difficult." Naveen said. Tiana smiled at him.
"No, I really don't dance. Especially not this European style dancing."
"I don't either." Shang said.
"Well, I did not expect you to." Naveen mumbled. Glancing up at the man's raised eyebrow, he smiled weakly, "T-that came out wrong."
"Please, Tiana, don't try to make me dance." Mulan sighed, turning away. She looked at Shang, who, with a look of sympathy, led her to the outside deck. Tiana looked at her husband, shrugging. Together, they walked back to the others.
They chatted and danced for a few minutes longer, Mulan and Shang left in the back of their minds. As the moon rose higher and higher, the night got just more lively. Eventually, Naveen was teaching the princes how to pop a champagne bottle (And, for the older ones, the fact that they actually can drink it), and Tiana was telling the girls about being a frog.
Then, suddenly, an echoing crash sounded outside the ballroom door. Some of the princesses yelped in fear (And Naveen was pretty sure he heard some of the princes cry out, too). Dead silence came about the ballroom. Tiana glanced towards the other princesses, seeing that they were becoming quite white in the face. Cautiously, they all moved to the hallway, some of the girls trying to hide their terrified faces. The sight they found was horrifying.
Tiana wasn't sure what the creatures lumbering across the hallway floor were. They were large, black, and had long, spindly legs that moved in a particularly unnerving way, hunched over like they were going to grab you and pull you down into their dark depths. They lumbered towards them, as if taking their time to attack to get the maximum amount of fear.
She stepped back towards the crowd, bunched together away from the approaching monsters.
"Why? Why tonight?" Cinderella cried, holding a terrified Snow White in her arms.
"What are they?" Tiana whispered, hugging to her husband's chest. Naveen's nervous breaths brushed against her, her hands shaking as he gripped her waist.
"When you're a Disney Princess, you get involved in a lot of things." Belle muttered to her. "The place these came from, that's one of them."
"Mulan and Shang!" Tiana yelped, "They're outside!" Her eyes opening wide, she broke away from Naveen.
"We need to warn them!" Ariel said.
"I will!" Tiana raced back into the ballroom as fast as her ball gown and heels could allow. Mulan was surprised to see her, with her breaths puffing and legs weak.
"Is something wrong?" Shang asked, glancing at Mulan.
"There's these…things in the…hallway!" Tiana gasped, her voice breaking as she pointed towards the door. "You need…to stay…outside!"
Mulan, glanced at Shang, and without another word, they rushed past her towards the hallway.
Tiana's jaw dropped. "I...!" Sighing, she took after them, doing her best to drag along her dress.
She found them pushing past the others in the hallway. Upon seeing the creatures, they stopped.
Mulan scanned the room quickly as the Heartless—she recognized them as Neoshadows— slinked towards them. She needed a weapon, but where could she find one? Looking towards the walls, she saw the suits of armor lining the dark stone; swords resting in their hands.
Quick as a flash, she swung a kick, knocking one off the statue. It was meant for decoration, not practical use, but it would have to do. Shang imitated her, finding his own blade. As the first Neoshadow lunged at her, she swung the sword up, meeting right in the middle where it disappeared with a poof of black dust. Not resting, she slashed at the next closest one, just missing it as it dropped down into a dark portal. One more leaped at her, but she fell to the ground under it and kicked it over. Raising her sword, she stabbed down on it before it could get away.
Shang blazed through the crowd of heartless, whacking the creatures with all his strength. His brow was laced with sweat, his muscles tiring. However, he plunged on, taking down as many as he possibly could. They fought on like this, doing their best to keep going. Finally, with one last well-timed swing, Mulan destroyed the last one.
She dropped to the ground, using the sword to support herself. Shang leaned against the walls, huffing breaths though dry lungs.
When Mulan was finally able to shakily stand up, she straitened her spine, staring at the other princesses. Her hair had fallen out of its bun and was now tangled around her face, bits of it falling in front of her eyes. Her dress was covered in rips and sweat, no longer the elegant silk it was before. Scratches sprinkled across her face.
"That," she said, holding up her head, "Is what it means to be the feminist Disney Princess."
I know what you're thinking. "Rachel, you're being a big hypocrite! You just spent the entire last chapter saying the cheap-quels didn't happen, and now you're including the Heartless from Kingdom Hearts?" Well, sir, I have an answer for that. 1. Kingdom Hearts doesn't suck, 2. I never said that the cheap-quels didn't happen in any form, just that the princesses didn't do them (: and 3. the stories in Kingdom Hearts didn't necessarily happen, but KH, being part of non-live action, non-Disney Channel Disney, will exist in this world.
I needed an enemy for this chapter that wasn't one of the main villains, but was still strong enough to put up a challenge, so the Heartless seemed to make sense. Plus, Tiana needed an introduction to Kingdom Hearts.
After this, I'm going to do another Prince chapter, since they haven't had a big focus in the last two. Our guys need some lovin' :D