((A/N: Well, this is it! Sorry for the delay, all 2 of you who are still following this. I feel like I rather overdid things at the end, but.... Okay, I have no excuse. Maybe I was just delirious with happiness because I'm seeing her again soon! And I still am, that's why I didn't rewrite it. Anyhow, enjoy the final chapter!))

"The sun is up/ The sky is blue/ It's beautiful/ And so are you/ Dear Prudence, won't you come out to play?"

-The Beatles

Thus the night was spent in a flurry of goodwill and Christmas cheer. Bodies whirled, instruments played, and laughter was heard. Couples went on and off the dance floor, but Prudence and I were determined to stay to the end. Somewhere off to the side, I could feel Thomas's burning gaze, but it was with a detached part of my brain. I no longer cared what he would do to me.

I was next to Prudence and that was all that mattered.

The clock struck eleven. I saw Eb, inconsolable, leaning against the table. I might have gone to him, miserable as he was, and helped him through his grief, but if I left Prudence's side, I felt she might vanish. I saw Dick, smiling, leading the green-eyed girl upstairs. I grinned at his back and spun Prudence, flashing him a thumbs up while my hand was unoccupied. He didn't see me, but I'm sure he felt the gesture of friendship. I saw old Mr. Fezziwig, dancing up a storm. He was one of several couples who had been on the dance floor as long as we had.

Half past eleven. How quickly time sped by. Thirty minutes remained before the party officially ended. Though people would invariably stay, the Fezziwig daughters would not be among them. I concentrated, losing myself in the dance. Around and around we whirled, in a spiral shape. Dancers streamed off the floor at a constant rate, leaving us more and more free. As we spiraled near the center of the circle, we grew closer and closer to the Fezziwig couple. Would we meet? It seemed like fate, and I knew this. When we met, that would be the end of the dance.

As if the band knew what was going on, they began to play what would be their last song- Magic Works.

"So dance... your final dance,"

I would dance. I would show the world how I danced. I would exist only in this moment. Now this moment. Now this one...

"This is... your final chance."

It wasn't my last chance. I would see Prudence again. But I realized, that I would never come as close to her as I had this night. I had to make my move. Had to.

"To hold... the one you love.

You know you've waited, long enough."

I held her close. This was the end. I had waited all my life for this. How could I be so weak? Saying it was so easy.

"And believe.... that magic works,

Don't be afraid, of being hurt.

And don't let... this magic die,

The answer's there, oh, just look in her eyes."

I glanced at Prudence's eyes, just for a second. To my surprise, she was staring right into them. The contact excited and frightened me at the same time. It was the perfect time for a kiss. But I couldn't do it. I was, as the song said, afraid of being hurt.

"And make.... your final move.

Don't be scared, she wants you to.

It's hard, you must be brave.

Don't let this moment slip away."

We were orbiting the edge of the center as the chorus repeated. My eyes flicked upwards and I saw what I'd known was there all along; the mistletoe. All it would take was one push...

Mr. Fezziwig, gentleman that he was, was waiting. We had to bridge the gap together. We had to step into the center at the same time, or not at all.

"No, no, no, this magic can't die!

No, no, no... this magic can't die...,

So dance... your final dance.

This is... your final... chance."

That was it. The end. Game over. I dipped Prudence with everything I had. It was the best dip I had ever done and it left her breathless. That didn't stop me from feeling like I had lost something I would never regain.

"I... that was really great...," I began, trying to sound happy. Apparently, I failed miserably.

"What's this? Somebody at my party less than content? Nay!" boomed a jolly voice behind us.

I turned around to see Mr. Fezziwig, who had somehow gotten behind me in the short time after the dance was over. He started speaking again before I was fully turned around.

"Come now, you two! Under the mistletoe!" he said mischievously, then shoved with his two great hands. I stumbled into Prudence, knocking both of us under the mistletoe.

At least I caught her before she fell.

She looked directly into my eyes. The slightest hint of a smile played about her face. Neither of us made a move. I realized, in that sort of frozen state, that I was still supporting her weight.

"It's... It's just mistletoe," I said lamely. That is what I consider to be the dumbest thing I have ever said.

"Yes," she said, slowly rocking forwards so she could stand up by herself, "It doesn't mean anything, right?"

Suddenly, she was much closer to me (Or was I much closer to her?). Our arms were wrapped around each other and I was kissing her with all the passion I could muster, and oh, God, she was kissing back. Our lips seemed just suited for each other, together in a union that seemed unbreakable.

Unfortunately, the unbreakable kiss was, well, broken by a mutual lack of oxygen. We drew apart and, as soon as we had regained our breath, started on round 2. I could feel Fezziwig watching, but I didn't know what he was feeling. He had to approve, didn't he?

"Shut up," the wiser part of my brain said, and dragged my other half back into the realization that I was kissing Prudence Fezziwig. It was the sweetest kiss that ever existed and I wished it could go on forever.

Once again, our kiss was interrupted but this time it was by the tolling of the clock. Midnight. Mr. Fezziwig, perhaps satisfied with his work for tonight, left the dance floor to say his farewells and herd some of the more unpleasant guests out.

"We did it," I said, looking at her. "We're the last ones on the dance floor. We even outlasted your father."

"Well, to be fair, we haven't exactly been dancing the past few minutes," she said, smiling.

"I like this a lot more than dancing," I said, kissing her again.

But however long time became when we kissed, it wasn't enough. Prudence was needed at the door to thank guests with Chastity and Constance, and I, though apprenticed, did not live at the shop.

"We should see each other tomorrow," Prudence was saying as she walked me down the path to the door.

"We should," I said. We reached the door and I turned to face her. "Listen, Prudence, I had a lovely time tonight."

She looked amused. "Yes, I know," she said mischievously, "Now cut to the chase and give me the goodbye kiss like I can see you're dying to do."

"I'm so predictable," I whispered, and leaned in for the last time that evening. Our lips met.

I was blocking the doorway, with about a third of the partygoers yet to leave. Some of the more uptight ones were saying something in an irritable tone, while the laid-back ones where giggling at the uptight ones. Or us. Probably us. Some of the drunk ones were cheering. I didn't care who was doing what.

Except that I was kissing the girl of my dreams and I wasn't moving any time soon.