'Agreste Dance Troupe' glared from above the main doors she stood under. She stared at the elaborate sign, gulping as the worst sense of tension, more than any other previous entrance into the building, enveloped her. It had slowly risen the second she got up that morning, cresting wave upon wave until she was here and almost ready to drown. Breathing was difficult, her heart pounding with such a strength that she had never yet experienced. The adrenaline almost made her want to faint and it was hard to remain standing with as much as her legs were shaking.
The hand lightly holding onto the duffel over a shoulder tightened a little. This was it. She was here. HE...was here... She exhaled a shuddery breath, gave another harsh gulp, and forced her feet to take her inside.
She pushed past the doors and looked around the area. It had only been a few months since her last entrance exam, but it felt so strange to be here. So much had happened since the spring and she was in awe at it all when she thought back to having almost been smacked with the door Adrien accidentally swung in her face. Oddly enough, they were meeting in the same spot. A smirk tilted her lips as she slowly headed for the women's locker rooms near the stage.
It felt foreign to be back here. She was nervous, that was always going to happen, but it felt a little different. She wasn't anxious for her chances of success; she was going to dance with Adrien.
On that stage where his father's performances usually were.
In front of Gabriel Agreste...owner of the school she was in.
In front of the other judges, whomever they may be, and all the other applicants.
She could only imagine what they were all going to think the second he joined her up there in his slippers...
Suiting up in another homemade outfit of merely a black leotard, her princess t-shirt, and slippers, she stared hard at her bag before putting it the locker (1). This was it. No turning back now. She was about ready to go past the threshold of the biggest debacle she had hastily dove into.
In all honesty, she should have told Adrien that this was her audition and he couldn't, shouldn't, be a part of it. He wasn't applying for entrance; she was. Some part of her still figured he was hurting her chances, but...the dance they had made up...it WAS really good... Even thinking about the story it told, to what they had created together, made her blush at the memories she had. The music was perfect, his interpretations were genius, and their chemistry was there. She was a shoe-in...she just knew it. That part oddly didn't have her worried in the slightest.
It was impossible to get her heart and nerves to calm down and thus she stopped trying to take deep breaths and help them. She turned and exited the locker room, heading right for the location she needed to be in. It was almost time and she didn't want to be late.
She'd be lying to herself if the quickness in her step had nothing to do with seeing him again...somewhere deep down.
She got to 'the spot' and leaned against the wall. It wasn't hard to act nervous about the audition as she idly watched the other students loiter around the area near the same backstage door. Arms lightly crossed, a finger rapidly tapping an arm. She couldn't get herself to stop shaking and it was kind of driving her crazy. She wanted to go on that stage right now and perform! She didn't like waiting like this! It was making her stomach twist in knots and she almost wanted to run away. It was so hard to keep the doubts from creeping in, but she erected the wall by looking around for him, knowing he'd be here. He wouldn't let her down...he had said so himself.
"You seem nervous..."
She jumped with an 'eep', head whipping to the voice. Her eyes widened, relieved smile immediately coming to her at the warm vision a few feet away. He nodded and she nodded back, not moving from her spot on the wall.
God he was a sight for sore eyes! She didn't even get mad at herself for taking him in from head to toe, almost obviously so. He was dressed in professional wear and he looked very handsome...hair slicked back as it always had been. He was so different from what she had been living with mere weeks ago, had been dancing with overnight for months, and it was a pleasant change. He spiked her nerves in a different way and her heart fluttered a little, though she conveniently ignored it as he neared.
He jostled the stack of application papers in his hands and looked down at her. He drank her in, feeling all of the solitude and misery up until this moment evaporate and wash away. Warmth burst from his chest and his fingers tightened around the printouts to keep from pulling her to him. "It's good to see you again Marinette." His eyes quickly cast a look to those within earshot. "Applying again I see..."
She forced a smile and nodded, also looking around. "Yea...it's my last try, so I thought I'd see if I can finally make it in." She looked to him. "I'm hoping to impress your dad, really impress him, with this new thing I thought up. Nothing else seems to work so far, so I had to get creative."
His head tilted to the side, easily feigning innocence. "Oh? Care to tell me what it's about? I AM on the jury again you know."
Teeth bit her lip as she looked to the slipper she was rubbing against the hardwood. "Ah...well..." She exhaled a shuddery breath, still affected by the nerves she couldn't get away from. "I kind of...can't..." Hands rose and started waving around as she spoke, eyes discretely keeping an eye out for nosy applicants. It wasn't every day the son's owner stopped to talk to a possible new student after all. "It's...um..."
"What's the matter?" God this felt so lame, but they had to set up the back story in case anyone came snooping. They needed possible eyewitnesses to match up the story if his father asked questions later. Faking a conversation like this was just covering their bases.
"It's just that...I'm worried it's not going to be good enough. I found the perfect song, but the lyrics aren't really fitting just one person. I kind of got carried away with it though and I made it into a duet...but I don't have a partner. I thought there might be someone here that could help me, but all I'm seeing are female applicants and I need a male co-dancer on this one."
He thoughtfully hummed, shifting the papers and fingering his chin. "That is tough. Usually you just audition by yourself. It's kind of impressive though, if you thought up all that. I'm sure father has never seen such a thing, so it may be interesting to watch." He suddenly smiled, one more genuine than what he had to paste on so far. "I have to admit, you're pretty impressive to have applied so many times over the years. Even when you get rejected, you always come back and keep trying. That kind of tenacity is pretty rare nowadays. I wish there was some way I could reward you for that after all the times father has told you 'no'."
She whipped to him, her face heating a little in embarrassment. This was kind of hokey, but it had to be done. "Really? D – do you think that...YOU could help me with this? I know that you're the owner's son and that it's probably wrong and unfair of me to ask this... I need another dancer for my audition or it's all wasted and then I can't apply anymore! This is my last time, and then I need to give up on this like I told my parents and do something else. I know I should have worked on a regular ballet song, but I thought this would be something that your father has never seen before and I could finally get accepted with it!"
He took a small step back and looked around, seeing they had the curiosity of a few snoopers. It was normal; they'd been chatting for a few minutes now and he needed to get to the stage soon because they were going to start.
That was good; they had people to answer for them later.
"Ah...well..." He shuffled the papers and looked to them. "I don't know if that's a good idea... I AM on the jury and I don't want to affect your chances." His face scrunched up as he pretended to think and finally smiled. "But it IS father's decision in the end as to who he lets into the school...so I suppose I could just give up my right to judge you on this one. I could just tell him so he's aware if we have time to do so."
He quickly glanced at the backstage door. "I should probably get going though. We've got to get starting soon." He looked back, face softening more than he wanted it to. "I'll join you on stage when you get called up. Don't worry...I'm sure that whatever you have for your piece will work. You can help me figure it out and I'll try not to burden you too much."
"Don't worry; you'll be a huge help...I just know it."
She meant that more than she had originally intended and he could tell. He took a small step forward before actually restraining himself from getting any closer with people around. Her eyes widened slightly at the movement when his hand paused in midair before quickly going around the papers.
He nodded, eyes downcast to the stack. "I hope I can be of help you Marinette. I'll...I'll see you on the stage, okay?"
He gave her a final, almost fake smile before whipping around and heading inside the backstage door. She let up the pent-up breath at that final look he gave, heart pounding for an entirely new reason. The audition had been erased and her previous nerves were twisted with his nearness.
The last time she saw him ran through her mind and she could easily recall his goodbye. It made her face heat up before she hurried into the backstage door to stretch and relieve some of the tension. Thinking of such a thing probably wouldn't do her any good right now. Maybe during the dance it might...but not now.
The setup was the same. She was near the beginning of the list and thus the wait was short. She did as many stretches as she knew the names to, not bothering to practice the dance as she waited. She didn't have to; it had been so engraved into her head that she could dance it with Adrien's face in her mind and her eyes closed.
"Marinette Dupain-Cheng."
She jumped and grabbed the cd case she had resting nearby. She hurried to the front and instructed the worker to play the first track as loudly as they could go and hurried into the lights. She tried to go slow, to be more professional, but it was hard.
This was it; this was her last chance. Everything was riding on this scheme of his and she had every possible finger and toe crossed that they would succeed. Oddly enough, the second she faced the crowd, her nerves were gone and she merely waited his entrance.
She looked so small from where he was sitting. The second she stopped in the required spot, he stood and turned to the remainder of his crew as they suddenly looked his way. "Father...Natalie, Marinette Dupain-Cheng approached me in the hallway moments ago concerning her audition. She needs an assistant for the piece she is doing; a male dancer. She assumed we had one, but hadn't seen one yet, so I hesitantly agreed to do so after all her hard work in applying. I apologize for not letting you know, but there wasn't much time from when the conversation took place before the auditions started. I gave her my word that I'd help her and so for this audition, I rescind my spot on the jury. Please let Natalie help you with this audition."
"Such a thing should have been brought to my attention long before this, Adrien. You should have found the time to mention it to me in between auditions. This is no small matter. You're my son and a duet audition is usually unheard of."
"Again, my apologies. She told me a little about it and it was too fascinating to let her fail on. From what I got of it, I think she may finally catch your interest on this father."
Without letting his father say another word, he turned from the audience seating and headed for the stage. He had already put his slippers on subtly under the seats without his father noticing and hoped that little thing didn't get read too much into. He didn't need his father asking questions about why he had pointedly put his ballet slippers, hidden in the seats long before her audition.
They locked eyes the moment he started climbing the stairs and heading over. He looked calm and poised, not nervous in the slightest bit. None of his arms were shaking and his legs were strong when he walked. This didn't affect him in the slightest, but the fact that it didn't seem to do so gave her some tranquility that she latched onto.
His nearing her and standing at her side, as he had done so many times in practice, threw her back to when they had finalized all the moves and were merely getting it down. When they spent hours upon hours having fun going over various moves and discussing them. Back when it was just her small dance studio and not hundreds of seats in front of them.
He stood before her and nodded with a smile. "You're supposed to make it look like you're giving me instructions. Hand gestures are great to make father seem like you're really getting into it. Don't worry, they can't hear us that well if we just speak quietly."
She jumped to and flushed. All that calm spiraled right out of reach at the gravity of the situation. She looked around the stage as if needing to familiarize herself with it all over again. "God this is so nerve-wracking!" She murmured, hands coming up and fingers tapping against each other.
His smile widened, hand resting against her shoulder. "You'll do fine Marinette. We spent long days on this and we have it down."
She heaved a sigh and nodded. She looked down at her hands and then him. "I suddenly don't think we should do the roll thing." She muttered, twirling her fingers around themselves as if to tell him what was going on. "I mean," Her hands angled to one side, "it seems silly now to roll the Fish... What if he doesn't like it?"
His hand removed itself from her and pointed to a spot near them. "I'll stand right over there and do exactly what I need to. I haven't forgotten it for a second." He looked back to her, confidence in his gaze. "And I know you haven't either. We're good."
She nodded and looked across to the other side of the stage. A hand waved over idly as if to give more directions. "At least this time we have enough running room."
He smirked and nodded, looking over her shoulder for the seats. "Okay...I think that's enough stalling for authenticity."
She turned to the audience and took a deep breath. "Monsieur Agreste and company, the song lyrics are in Korean. Please familiarize yourselves with them before the audition starts. Extra sheets should be in the printouts that I gave Adrien Agreste upon seeing him in the hallway. A copy should also be included in with my application."
She watched the pair shuffle through papers, their heads down. She waited and watched their reactions, a thread of unease running through her as they looked to each other, the stage, and back to each other, then the paper. She harshly swallowed, brow furrowing upward a tad. "M – maybe...this wasn't such a good idea..."
"Okay Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng. You may begin."
He took his spot behind her, voice soft and warm. "You'll do fine my lady...just like we rehearsed."
Her reflexes and instincts took over at the pet name. His nearness threw her into their chemistry and capabilities together and wiped everything out...replacing it with the first pose she needed.
The piano started, slow, but loud. Just like she wanted it. It filled the room and the first chords snagged her. The tempo and melody were to match in Adiago and to provide the introduction. Her feet matched the piano key strokes in a Bourrée flutter. She slowly turned to him, soft smile on her face, arms coming up from her in fluid, yet slightly choppy movements. They needed to resemble the sudden flapping of a butterfly before it decided to take off. With the falling and rising of the notes, her body arched down and gracefully arched back as if it were moving water and she slowly circled around him as if taking him in.
Then she turned away on a Bourrée as if heading elsewhere without a care to who was nearby.
Like a butterfly...free to go wherever on the wind...
Watching her easily captivated him and the second the words were on, his arm reached out the second she was out of his reach. Having been away from her as he was forced to made him feel the sting as she left him, even during the audition.
His legs strode him to her En Pointe in time with the music. He twirled around a few times until he faced her and she smiled at him sweetly, just like the lyrics asked of her. His hand extended palm up and lightly touched hers, taking her hand barely past her fingers. He spun her around only until the English lyrics popped up and then let she leaned to him in a Peché. It ended almost as soon as it began and then she was in a few Entrechats to get away from him in order to proceed into a few Fouettés. The English cued her again and her turning stopped as quickly as it revolved. She went back to a Bourrée, arms fluttering her away from him to some random point that she didn't care what was.
The lyrics were engraved in his brain and he knew exactly what they were, even if he still couldn't understand the language itself. Seeing her cross the stage, having already forgotten where they were and who was watching, heart swelling to the melody, he needed her again.
He quickly strode and twirled after her, catching her hand and spinning her around. He looked to her with love in his eyes, actual feelings unlike what they were supposed to portray to the others. She read his emotions, acted on them as they had practiced, but even more so.
When the chorus was done, he watched her slowly Bourrée around him, face soft and full of emotion for him. His hands drifted out and brushed along her arms lightly to mimic the lyrics. She moved away from him, performing a few Ballon jumps that took her far away from him again. He followed past, the lyrics coming to haunt him every time she got too far. She twirled around him and jumped past him again.
When the guitar part started up, she faced him and performed the move she had been nervous to do: she performed a Grand Jeté, landed on the front toe, and then he had her in a horizontal Fish Dive.
He used the residual momentum and spun her around, her leg curling the the way he was going as if her wings and tails were following his movement like in the wind. The second he stopped twirling with the guitar ending, she used the movement and twirled out on one foot briefly until she stopped En Pointe. Her hands seemed to flap as if trying to land on something and his palm came out. He took her fingers again, slowly twirling her before sidling up to her and sliding his arm down to the small of her back. He ended with the move they had originally done when he dipped over her and her back gracefully arched, hands following as if her wings closed and she had decided to land for good this time.
The piano played the last few high notes and let the final chord drag out till it was done.
Signaling the end of her audition and leaving the rest in their hands.
They remained that way for precious seconds after the music ended. He tried to take in this moment and tell her how with his eyes much he had missed this, had missed her, and to tell her of the feelings that he so wished to express.
His butterfly, his gorgeous Marinette, had flown away from him and he hoped that now, at long last, she was back in his arms where she belonged. He wished for nothing more than to be able to dance with her in any style they knew. He stared at her eyes, softer than he had seen, and drank in anything she was giving him in this second.
Then he was righting her to stand and letting go as if such a thing had never occurred between them.
He turned to the audience, as did she, and looked to the waves of seats. Her gaze focused on the pair of occupied spaces, watching them watching her for a moment. Then they turned to each other and started talking quietly. She wanted to start sweating, but a subtle noise next to her had her casting her view sideways.
"That's a good thing." He whispered. "Father usually knows what he likes immediately and is quick to cast judgment."
She harshly swallowed, feeling a flare of hope light up and explode in her chest. It stole the ability to breathe as she watched Gabriel stand and grab her application in his hands. He looked at it for a second before letting it flutter down where it was resting before him.
"That was quite the interesting display, Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng." Hands clasped behind Gabriel's back. "I would like to know where you learned such a piece which, I must admit, I have never been privy to in all my years of ballet. Every other piece you've ever performed has been some famous play, all of them done on the same stage you're currently standing on. The song itself certainly has nothing to do with ballet."
She mentally snapped to attention. His voice wasn't harsh and cold like the last audition, merely interested, and that explosion brightened a little.
Her shoulders straightened as she met his eyes across the way. "I apologize if I have used music which is not of pure ballet, since I remember that's what your business is and that is what you care most about Monsieur. However, all of those previous pieces did me no good, so I choreographed my own moves, which you just saw, to the song you just heard. It's easy for me to create moves going by the melody of the music and to synchronize myself with my partner."
She smiled and cast Adrien a look. "I must admit that Adrien Agreste was a great partner due to his many years of experience as a dancer. He knew what to do with only a little coaching from me and some explanation of what I intended on doing. I believe that his abilities helped me immensely."
Gabriel was silent after her speech. She avidly watched as he sat back down and started talking to Natalie again. She wanted to wring her hands at the attack of nerves, trying to hear Adrien's supportive whispers that she was doing really well over the pounding of her heart in her ears. She stiffly nodded her acknowledgment, but kept her eyes ahead. It was hard to keep her hands unclenched and loose at her sides.
After painfully long seconds, Gabriel faced her again in his seat. "I must admit Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng that the spectacle I saw today was definitely different, despite it not being pure ballet. I can easily recall your previous attempts through the years, but this was by far the best one I've seen from you. I commend you on taking pure ballet moves and making your own dance with it, which no applicant has ever done as far as I've been a judge in this audience. My son was right in that you have caught my interest this time. If you can do such a good job choreographing a dance, you may be an asset to my crew in the future. You have passed your audition."
Passed your audition...
You passed.
Passed...
His final words echoed in her ears. She stared at him with a total look of shock, mouth wide open and eyes wide. She was stone, even if she was screaming on the inside.
"Congratulations my lady. I knew you could do it." He murmured, putting a hand on her shoulder.
She whipped to him with the most glowing look she could ever wear in her entire life. The brightest smile split her face, arms going around his neck before she could think to her surroundings and company. She laughed and squealed, hugging him to her tightly. "I did it! I finally did it! It worked! Oh god...thank you Adrien...thank you for everything! Thank you for your help! I passed!"
He remained more composed than her, even if he wanted to pick her up and twirl her in his happiness for her.
They did it; she was going to be with him from here on out and he couldn't be more pleased! A hand patted her back a few times, smile on his face. "YOU did it." He clarified. "You have some real talent Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng."
The formal use of her name had her snapping to. She jolted back, face beet red, and stuttering apologies for her embrace. She tried to play it off in present company, fumbling with excuses for presentation, but also feeling them as well. She really hadn't meant to hug him like she did, let alone so enthusiastically. But it made no matter now; she was in...after two years, she finally made it!
(1) Marinette outfit inspiration: stainedglasssky tumblr com/post/141413535936/ballet-cuties-and-breakdance-hotties-obvs-from
Ballet moves: en wikipedia org/wiki/Glossary_of_ballet
