The seventh day of Christmas

Alice leant further forward in her seat as seven dancers made their way onto the stage. Each dressed in white feathered dresses, they twirled and stepped around Odette. Her eyes followed each girl, watching their footwork, their arms, their expressions. She wasn't just watching the beautiful dance, she was analysing it, memorizing it.

As an early Christmas present, Jasper had bought tickets to go and see the ballet Swan Lake. Alice had always been passionate about dance; Jasper had always been passionate about watching her. Now he knew she was watching the dancers so intently so she could copy their moves later that day.

The seven swan maidens danced their sad dance around Odette as the curse transformed her into a swan. Alice switched her attention to the heroine of the story now; Odette herself. Her prince soon appeared and took her in her arms, the couple dancing the most beautiful dance Alice had ever seen.

Alice was mesmerized through the whole performance; from Prince Derek and Odette falling in love, to the evil Rothbart tricking Derek into promising his love to Rothbart's daughter Odile, to Odette dying and Derek killing himself to be with her. The story brought venom tears to her eyes, the beauty of the dance adding to her crying.

She was still thinking about the dance as Jasper took her hand and led her outside. They'd planned to go home after the show, but Jasper knew where Alice really wanted to go.

It didn't take long to get to their clearing in the nearby forest. It was a large area where the trees had not grown for some reason. Through the middle ran a thin stream, no more than a metre wide. It was their place. It was Alice's private dance studio. As soon as they arrived, Alice let go of Jasper's hand and made her way to the middle of the clearing.

She began dancing, mimicking the seven swan maidens from the show. Jasper watched in awe as his wife turned simple steps into something magical. Suddenly she had switched her routine. She was no longer dancing the part of a swan maiden, but the part of Odette. Alice managed the role with far more beauty and grace than the dancer in the show - to Jasper, at least.

She twirled around, sending snow scattering around her now bare feet. She jumped over the river, skimming the icy cold water with her feet as she landed on demi-pointe. She'd seen Swan Lake countless times, and each performance had a slightly different routine. Now Alice made her own routine. She switched around some of the moves, adding in her own where they fit, cutting out the bits she couldn't or didn't want to do.

She sighed and stopped suddenly as she came to the part where Derek joined the dance. She loved Jasper, and wouldn't change a thing about him, but sometimes she longed for a dancing partner. She closed her eyes for a split second, imagining what it would be like to be spun and lifted and danced with in perfect harmony. When she opened her eyes, Jasper was standing in front of her.

"I may not know any ballet moves," He said softly, "But I sure know how to dance with my wife."

He took her waist and picked her up, gently twirling her around. He pulled her close to his chest before letting her spin out and back in again. Alice giggled and put her arms around Jasper's neck, swaying gently against him as she began humming the tune of a slow song.

"I'll always be your dance partner, Darlin'." He whispered in her ear, "This Christmas and next Christmas and a million Christmasses after that."

Alice smiled, because although Jasper was no ballerina, and his party moves could use some (a lot) of improvement, he sure knew how to dance like a Southern gentleman.

~On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Seven Swans-a-Swimming.~

A/N: So this didn't really have much to do with Christmas, and it was a bit short, but it took me AGES to think of something for this day!

So I was thinking of maybe doing a human one shot for one of the days, but I'm not sure whether it would work or not?! Thoughts?

See you tomorrow :)