Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda series or the Characters.

Chapter 17: Reception…Continued

So…here I am…sitting down and watching everyone else dance…that's a good thing; trust me! I am hoping that I don't get asked to dance! When it comes to that, I have 2 left feet! Rose is dancing in a group with a three of her friends, Marie is dancing with Midna, and Tyler is dancing with his wife. I went over to grab some punch. Marie and Midna came up behind me.

"Hello! Why aren't you dancing?" Marie asked.

"Why don't you ask Rose to dance?" Midna cackled.

"How romantic!" Marie giggled.

"No!" I said sternly, my face getting flustered from discomfiture. "Besides…I can't dance."

"It's easy!" Midna said.

"Yeah!" Marie agreed. "Please ask her! It'd be sooooooo cute!"

"No…that's my final answer." I said. (Speaker's note: Marie tells the story.)

So…Link was being a butthead…which is too bad…I would have liked to see he and Rose dance together! Midna and I walked away from him.

"I really wanted to see them dance! It's not fair..." I complained, stamping my feet.

"I have a plan…" Midna beamed wickedly. (It's the classic Midna smile! :) "We'll see them dance!"

"Yay!" I said jovially.

Midna whispered in my ear. "Tell Rose that Link really wants to dance with her, but he's too shy to ask!"

"Okay!" I said with excitement. I ran over to Rose. "Rose! Rose! I have something to tell you!" I shouted.

"Yeah?" She stopped dancing and looked at me.

I whispered in her ear. "Link wants to dance with you, but he's too shy to ask you! You should dance with him!"

"Really?" Rose asked, blushing slightly. "Wait…did Midna tell you to do this?"

"No…" I lied, trying to seem above suspicion.

"You sure?" Rose said.

"Yep…just ask him!" I gleamed.

"Okay…" She said in consensus, but with some hesitation. (Speaker's note: Link tells the story again.)

I was just minding my own business…sitting down and looking around at everyone dancing. I'm sure glad that's not me! Then Rose came towards me. WHAT! WHY?

"Hi, Rose." I said to her.

"Hi, Link." She answered. "I was just wondering if you...wanted to dance…"

I turned red again and looked away, taking a deep breath. "No thanks."

"I think it would be fun…why aren't you dancing with anyone?" She inquired.

"I can't dance." I said.

"I'll teach you." She said while smiling. "That way we can all have some fun."

"Okay…but only because I don't want to be a jerk…I hate dancing!" I said tensely.

"You can come and dance with my friends and me." She said.

"Alright." I said. That suggestion made me feel a little more comfortable…So Rose and I went over to her friends and the five of us started to dance. I still wasn't very good at dancing, but we had fun. I looked behind me to see Midna and Marie over by the orchestra…what is up with this?

Midna talked to the conductor. "Play a slow song…like a waltz or something…"

"We can't change songs right now…we're in the middle of one." He told her.

Midna took out a purple rupee. (Worth 50 rupees) "Maybe this'll change your mind." He took it and switched the song. Midna saw that I was looking confusingly at her and she gave me thumbs up while smiling devilishly.

A waltz started to play. The other three girls ran off and found partners…I looked at Rose, who was also confused. Damn it, Midna! If I have to dance a waltz with Rose, I swear that I'll kill myself!

"Well…this is awkward…it's a waltz…Do you want to dance, Link?" She asked shyly.

"Oh, shit!" I said distressingly.

"I guess…not…?" Rose said, looking disturbed.

"I-I didn't mean it like that!" I said. "I am mad because I know that Midna set me up!"

"Oh, so Marie lied to me…" She said aloud.

"HUH! She got Marie into this, too! Why?" I said with confusion.

"I don't know…" She replied. "If we're not going to dance, then we'd better get off the dance floor." She started to walk off.

I have to be courageous…because I don't want Midna to make fun of me…but also because I like Rose. "W-would you l-like to d-dance?" I swear my legs were jiggling like jello!

"Okay." She said as she turned around. She and I headed further out on the dance floor. I was blushing with great intensity as she held my hand. She showed me how to waltz. Unfortunately it still wasn't done…I didn't pay much attention, but Midna had the conductor play three or four more slow songs. The slow songs were still playing when I started to get the hang of waltzing. I soon didn't have to look at my feet. I looked at Rose…which made me redder. I noticed that she was red in the face though, too. That surprised me! Why was she red, too? I looked over my shoulder to see Midna and Marie beaming? This is really frustrating! She and I finally stopped dancing. "That was fun!" She said.

"Yeah!" I said back. It was embarrassing, but it was fun.

"I'd like to talk to you for a minute." She said.

"Uh…sure." I said, still blushing. She took me upstairs and we went to the outside balcony at the end of the hall.

"I think that you're a really nice person, and a great friend." She smiled and I looked at her with puzzlement. "And I have to admit it…I think you're handsome, too." She really thinks I'm handsome! "I was wondering if you wanted to…uh…go on a date sometime?"

My eyes widened in surprise. "I…I…I…don't k-know…" I stuttered.

"You don't have to if you don't want to…" She looked a little disappointed.

I swallowed. I knew I really wanted to date her…but would I be brave enough to do it? "I'd honestly like to date you." I told her. "But if you haven't noticed…I'm not the most outgoing guy when it comes to this kind of stuff."

"That's okay…I don't care about how outgoing you are. You have a good heart. Don't be hard on yourself." She said considerately.

I smiled a little. "Thank you." I said to her.

She nodded. "You bet."

"Then I guess it's settled." I said, reddening again. She and I grinned.

"Since we're going out, we really have to keep it a secret from my father." She said, looking a little worried. She then had a look of reassurance. "I think we can do that, though." I nodded. She then continued to speak. "When do you want to go on a date?"

"I'm not sure when…" I said to her.

"How about we go on a date when Marie and I visit you and Midna in Hyrule?" She suggested.

"Okay." I answered. We didn't really bring up the subject anymore; wanting to keep it a secret. She walked downstairs, but I stayed at the balcony…I was a little scared to go back down and face everyone. I looked outside for a while. That's when I noticed that the sun was almost finished setting…and the stars were starting to come into view. And then Midna came up to me…again!

"So Romeo…how are you and Juliet doing?" She said maliciously.

I clenched my fists at my side and turned around to face her. "DON'T MAKE ME KILL YOU!" I yelled with my face bright red. She just giggled. The party continued on without any other interesting incidents.