Alex and Odette practiced and prepared right up until two days before the ball. Alex had easily gotten the hang of everything from properly curtsying to waltzing, though the latter had more to do with Matthew, whose love for Alex had grown exponentially, than Odette.
All there was left to do was find a dress.
Odette knocked on Alex's bedroom door. "Alex? Are you ready?"
"Uh, just a sec…" Alex took a quick look at herself in the mirror, not recognizing herself in the least. "Okay, I'm ready.
Odette slipped inside Alex's room, not wanting anyone to sneak a peak at Alex's dress before she was ready. It was going to be a surprise. When Odette saw her daughter in the gown, she gasped, her eyes filling with tears of pride, which she promptly wiped away.
"Well, what do you think?" Alex asked.
"Perfect."
XxX
Alex met up with Odette, Derek, Eli, and Joan outside the ballroom. They were all dressed impeccably, looking their finest for their guests. Everyone, save for Odette, stared at Alex when she walked up.
"What?" Alex asked, not understanding why all eyes were on her.
"We didn't recognize you for a second, sis," Eli said.
"Oh come on," Alex muttered. "It's the same old me."
"More like new and improved," Joan countered.
"They're right," Odette chimed in. "You look great."
Derek smiled as he changed the subject to save Alex from more embarrassment. "Well, shall we?"
The doors open and Odette and Derek linked arms. Eli and Joan followed, walking side by side, and Alex came in last.
And it seemed the moment Alex stepped into the ballroom, every eye in the room flew to her. It was amazing to see her again. Imagine, the lost princess, gone for twelve long and lonely years and now back again, looking so much like her mother that it hurt.
Alex only met one pair of awaiting eyes – Matthew's. He was always mesmerized when she stepped into the room, never mind who she was. At that moment, he decided she would never be more beautiful that she was at that moment as she strode into the room in a gorgeous red gown with a gold lacing up the torso and gold belt and trim.
He felt his heart beat a little faster as she walked directly over to him, smiling in the most dazzling way. He felt like he was falling, and falling hard. Somehow, his legs did what his mind forgot to do. He walked over to meet Alex. They took each other's hands as they stared into each other's eyes, so happy to be together.
From somewhere in the distance, they heard Derek snap his fingers, a signal to Roger's to play something slow. In response, Alex and Matthew's feet started to move. One, two, three. One, two, three. Just like they had practiced.
And it felt amazing.
Oh, how they loved each other at that moment, and oh, how they knew it would last forever.
Alex felt a tear, a single, lonely tear, roll down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away in surprise.
"Is something wrong?" Matthew asked, knowing that it was only a tear of happiness.
"Why'd you have to come and happen to me?" she laughed. "Just when I thought my life couldn't get any more complicated…"
"You mean I made it worse?"
"You made it go away."
He chuckled. "I think love does that; it chases away all those bad things that hold us down."
They danced for a few more moments, moving closer and closer, until the song ended. Matthew smiled and kissed her lightly on the cheek and then bowed to her as she curtsied to him.
When they had separated enough to allow other people to speak to them, Alex recognized someone, not from memory, but from Matthew's description. It was her grandmother, Queen Uberta. She was excitedly walking over to Alex, wondering if, like the rest of the kingdom, the girl was real.
It didn't take but a mere millisecond for Uberta to decide Alex was, indeed, the long lost princess. Upon deciding this, she threw her arms around Alex, squeezing her tight.
Alex, too surprised to do anything but lightly pat her grandmother on the back, stared at Matthew with a 'help me' look on her face.
Matthew carefully captured Uberta's attention by tapping her on the back. Uberta, of course, responded by releasing Alex and embracing Matthew. When she finally let go of him, she turned her attention to Alex, whose body language had made it clear that she was, at the moment, uncomfortable.
"Well, how are you, dear?" Uberta asked animatedly. "It's been so long, hasn't it."
"It has," Alex replied soberly. "And I'm well, thank you."
"I'm so glad to hear it. Oh, it's just been too long, and when you were… well, kidnapped, I thought I'd never see you again, and it's just so wonderful to see you again."
Excitable as she was, Alex knew that Uberta was a good person. Again, her lack of memory seemed to be stopping her from enjoying this reunion. "I… wish I could say the same."
"Ah, yes, your memory. Well, don't worry. That'll come back soon enough. Well, I'd better get going and let you enjoy the ball."
Alex danced off and on all night. Sometimes she would find herself dancing with a prince or lord she had only gotten the name of. To be honest, it was driving her crazy. She couldn't pretend to be interested in these other boys when Matthew was in the room.
But Matthew had his own problems. With all the princes in the room concerned with Alex, all the princesses had nothing to do but chat and dance with him. He stuck it out for about an hour or so before he was finally sick of acting like he wanted to be a pawn in these immature girls' relationships – or lack thereof.
When he got the chance, Matthew broke away. When he found Alex, she was dancing with yet another overbearing prince. Seeing the discomfort on her face, he walked over.
He tapped the pretty boy prince on the back. "May I cut in?"
There was a certain edge in the question that made the only possible response a 'yes.' The prince backed away to find some other girl that would swoon over him, as Alex certainly didn't.
Gladly, they joined together, waltzing for only a moment or two before Matthew leaned down so that he could whisper in Alex's ear. "Come away with me."
He led her with one hand out the ballroom, through the corridor, and away from the castle. They walked together, lost in each other's eyes, to the Shore of Swan Lake, to the place where they had practiced dancing.
"It's so much quieter here," Alex noted, thankful for the only sounds being the conversations of croaking frogs and the music of chirping crickets.
Matthew smiled warmly at her, love in his brown eyes. "Yes, it is… It's so peaceful out here. I just can't get over it. I can't get over being here with you."
Placing his finger under her slender neck, he tilted her head up and kissed her. Their lips stayed together as long as their lungs could stand it.
"I don't think you know how much you've changed me," Alex said when they had pulled apart.
"And you've changed me, my love. I've never, ever felt like this before. Being this romantic, this happy, all the time… well, it's just not like me."
"And do you think I'm the kind of girl who would ever think she would belong in a family? Before I met you, before you stopped me that day when I was about to leave it all behind, I would have thrown it all away and not looked back."
"Do you believe it now?"
"There are still a lot of missing links, but yes. I do believe I am as much a part of this family as Joan or Eli. It just amazes me sometimes…"
"What's that?" he asked, a little puzzled.
"How scared I was. I've been through a lot of changes in my life, some of them really scary, but when I had to make the decision on whether or not I would stay, well, I'd never been so terrified in my life. And I was going to take the easy way out and forget about all this but you, you stopped me. And I owe you my life for that, Matthew."
He smiled. "To be honest, if it hadn't been you, if I wasn't in danger of never seeing you again, I don't know if I would have been able to say what I did. If it had been anyone else, I don't know if I would have chased after them like I did with you. You're just that worth it, I suppose.
They kissed again, this time wrapping their arms around each other, being as close as they could be.
This time, when they finally pulled apart, something had changed…
"The light," Alex whispered.
Indeed, everything was cast in a green glow. Looking across the lake, Matthew and Alex could see its source.
On the horizon was a green flame, like a sunset, only much more menacing. Worse, it was coming closer.
"Oh no," Alex muttered, remembering the strange green light from somewhere in a memory she had tucked away a long time ago.
"What could it be?" Matthew asked no one in particular. He had never seen such a strange glow before, and now it gave him a bad feeling.
"I don't know, but a green light in the sky like that… well, that's generally not a good sign."
Like a green comet, it shot over their heads, leaving a trail of light behind it.
"It's headed for the castle!" Matthew exclaimed.
"We have to get back. Come on!"
They took off, running as fast as they could. From somewhere ahead, they heard a window shattering. Picking up the pace, they made it into the ballroom as the intruder was entering through the broken window.
Alex suddenly felt a wave of hate flow over her, stronger than anything she had ever felt, save for her love for Matthew, as she laid eyes on the woman who had disturbed not only the ball, but the sanctity of her childhood.
"You…" Alex said, her voice barely above a whisper. "Zelda."