Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ The Girl With the Raven Hair ❯ Dance With Me ( Chapter 8 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

A/N: Yeah



A/N: Yeah! I finally got this up. Sorry for the delay but I was on vacation and then ff.net wasn't working. I hope you like the chapter. Please R&R.
P.S. The reason Nanaki says (thinks) "sensei" instead of "teacher", even though she's Canadian, in this chapter will be explained in the next.

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Chapter 8: Dance With Me

Nanaki quickly took in the ballroom as she walked through the door. It was about twice the size of the dinning hall and had some chairs and tables with some sort of punch on them for dancers (and wallflowers) to rest at one side of the room. She made her way over there.
At the other side of the room there was a small orchestra, if you can call any size orchestra "small". The said orchestra struck up a tune and couples began to file out onto the dance floor.
Nanaki's new friend, Keladry, was among those couples, having been asked to dance by a rather handsome young ambassador. Vallen and Alonda were also of those couples dancing; a sight which gave Nanaki another pang of which she could now admit, was jealousy.
This is what I get for letting my emotions show, isn't it? Thought Nanaki More of them to deal with. I should've listened to sensei.
She contented herself with talking to the blonde man sitting at the table next to her.
~***~
From his spot on the dance floor, Vallen noticed Nanaki talking to Arch (actually it's "Archibald", but who in his right mind would allow himself to be called that?). The sight made him feel… funny, so he excused himself as soon as the song was over.
"Cousin! I didn't realise you were here!"
"Vallen, it's good to see you." Nanaki could see that Vallen had purposefully interrupted their conversation. "Father sent me up about a week ago for a visit." Arch continued, "He would've come himself but he's been very busy."
"How come I didn't see you at the table?"
"Well, I requested to be put near the back because everyone nearly always looks at the front and I've gotten tired of being looked at all the time."
"Good point."
"Wait a second!" said Nanaki as a sort of delayed reaction "Cousin? If you're his cousin then you must be a…"
"Prince?" Arch finished her sentence for her "Yes, I am."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
He shrugged "I thought you knew."
"Oh, yes," she said sarcastically, "I know who everybody is and what everybody looks like 'cause I've been here for years and years. Wait a second! No I haven't! I just got to this stupid planet a couple days ago."
"Got to this planet?" he said shocked, "You mean you're the one from the Mystic Moon?"
"Yes"
"Why didn't you tell me?"
She shrugged, mimicking him "I thought you knew."
They all laughed, including Vallen.
"I mean," she said when she had stopped "I was introduced, yelled a whole lot, sat near the head of the table, made ice cream float, and had said ice cream drop on me. How could you not know who I was?"
"I wasn't paying attention?"
Nanaki laughed.
"Well," said Vallen after a pause "since the conversation seems to have ended…" he turned to Nanaki "May I have the pleasure of this dance?" he asked as the orchestra started up a waltz.
"I… I can't!" said Nanaki shocked
"Sure you can!" said Vallen a little hurt
"No, I mean, I can't, really. I don't know how to dance."
Vallen was taken aback, he hadn't thought of that. He had taken it for granted that she did. "Well then, I'll just have to teach you, won't I?" he said offering her his hand. She took it and they headed out to the dance floor.
"Okay," said Vallen, starting to explain, "You put your hand on my shoulder here," he placed her right hand on his shoulder "and I put my hand on your waist here," he put his left hand on her waist "and we hold hands on the other side, see?"
"Umm… yeah, I guess…" came Nanaki's reply.
"Now, this is a waltz," he said, referring to the music, "In a waltz there is an easy to follow pattern. Listen. There is a distinctive down beat, the louder one, and then two little 'catch up' beats. Do you hear it?" Nanaki shook her head "Well then, I'll say it along with the beat" after listening to the music for a little bit he started, "ONE, two, three, ONE, two, three, ONE, two, three. Do you hear it now?"
"Yes" said Nanaki, and added in her mind I think so.
"The steps are pretty easy once you find the beat. You take a big step at the "one" and two little catch up steps at the "two" and "three". Got it?"
"Uh huh" she said nervously
"Now when we turn," he continued, "we turn towards our hands that our being held, but you don't really have to worry about that too much because all you have to do is follow my lead. Are you ready to try it? I'll say the beat out loud for you until you get the hang of it, if you want."
"That'd be nice" and they started dancing.
They were doing pretty good, except, of course, for the fact that every few steps, Nanaki would step on Vallen's toes, which would cause him to bump into somebody. Nanaki was so embarrassed by this that she couldn't concentrate, which made her make even more mistakes.
After a while Nanaki got so fed up that she was about to yell, "Screw this!" and go sit down. But then, she had an idea.
~***~
At first Vallen didn't realise what was happening. He was to intent on counting, and encouraging Nanaki that he didn't realise what she had done. But then he looked down.
They were flying! Well, actually, it was more like floating. They were about half way between the heads of the people bellow, and the ceiling. The ceiling was pretty high, so they were about 7 or 8 feet above them.
Vallen looked at Nanaki surprised. She laughed and said "I was getting tired of bumping into people so I moved us to a place where we wouldn't."
He smiled, nodded and said "That's fine, but there's only one problem."
"Oh? And what might that be?" she smiled
He laughed "Everyone bellow can see up your dress!"
She blushed "I hadn't thought of that. Oh well, it can be fixed." She concentrated hard. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to keep them from falling, learn to dance, and do what she was about to do, all at the same time. She had hardly ever used her powers before, and she wasn't sure how much she could do at a time. Oh well, she thought, I might as well find out.
She concentrated hard on every drop of moisture in the room. She took all she could find, in every place she could think of, and formed it into a cloud beneath their feet.
"There" she said "That fixes that problem. So, where were we?"
"Oh yeah. ONE two three ONE two three…"
Nanaki caught on quickly without having to worry about bumping into people, and soon they were going on to more difficult things. Okay, so it wasn't exactly that difficult, just a few twirls and things like that, but she was having fun. Nanaki found after a while that she didn't have to concentrate on the cloud or the floating, she did it subconsciously, so she enjoyed herself more not having to worry about it.
As the song slowed down Nanaki subconsciously brought them towards the ground and they landed just as the song ended. The crowd erupted into cheers and Nanaki turned to see they had had an audience. She blushed. She hadn't even thought about people watching her when she was dancing, though in the back of her mind, she knew they must have. She gave a little curtsy and walked back to the chairs.
She had just sat down when Ben walked over to her. "Nanaki," he said, "Will you dance with me?"
She smiled down at him "Sure, how can I refuse an offer to dance with a prince?"
Arch happened to overhear "Well then, will you give me the pleasure of the next dance?"
She blushed "Ok" and headed out to the dance floor with Ben. "You can't expect what I did before," she told him "I'm a bit to tired for that."
"That's ok" he replied and they started to dance.
Dancing was awkward because of the fact that Ben was so much shorter than she was, but somehow they made it work.
"You dance really well for someone as young as you are. I just learned how a few minutes ago."
"Really? You looked as if you'd been doing it for years to me. And I had to learn how to dance because of all these balls we throw for guests."
"You didn't see me on the ground, I was bumping into people right and left. I had to get into the air so I wouldn't do that."
Ben giggled.
"So, what's it like to be part of a 'Royal Family'?"
"Well, I don't really know the difference because I've never lived any other way. If you want to know that, ask my mom."
"That sounds good, I'll do that."
"That's a pretty necklace."
"Thank you, I've had it ever since I can remember."
"It looks familiar. I think I've seen it before, but I'm not sure where exactly."
"I doubt you've seen this one exactly, I've had since before you were born and this is the first time I've been here. You might have seen one like it though."
"Yeah, that's probably it."
The song ended and Nanaki walked back to where Arch was talking to Vallen. She sat down next to them and had a glass of punch.
"So how's your sister?" asked Arch
"She's fine." Said Vallen, "She has started her studies just recently and her tutors say she's doing well."
"That's good. And your mother?"
"Well…. Ahh…she…" Nanaki could see he didn't want to talk about it just yet.
"I thought you said you were going to dance with me Arch." She interrupted
"Oh yes, shall we?"
As they headed back out onto the dance floor Nanaki called back to Vallen "Thanks for teaching me to dance, Vallen!" and then she was lost in the crowd.
~***~
As Arch and Nanaki were dancing Keladry sat by a dismal Vallen.
"What's wrong, 'Len?"
"It's nothing Kel, nothing at all."
"Then why such the long face."
"No reason."
"There's always a reason."
"Yeah, I guess, but I'd rather not talk about it." He stared off in the direction of the dance floor.
"Ok, fine. So, how's the punch?" she said referring to the drink in his hand. When he didn't answer she waved her hand in front of his face. "Hello! Gaea to Vallen. Come in Vallen."
"Huh? What? Oh, yeah, the punch is ok." He went back to staring.
"Hmmmm…" Keladry said and followed his gaze to a couple on the dance floor.
~***~
"So, how are you liking it here on Gaea?" asked Arch
"It's nice," Replied Nanaki "A whole lot different than it is on the Mystic Moon, but I'm not sure that's a bad thing."
"Really? How so?"
"Well, there isn't as much pollution and junk, and I'm liking the people more."
"Weren't there any good people on the Mystic Moon?"
"I'm sure there are, I just didn't have the luck of meeting much of them."
"Who were the good people that you did happen to meet?"
"Well, there's my mom for one, and my best friend Natalie, and of course sensei and Mr. Robertson."
"Well, my mom's really nice and she spends every minute she can with me. Of course, that isn't much 'cause she has that business of hers. She's the creator of Sunshine Inc." seeing his puzzled look she said "Don't ask. Natalie was there for me from the start. She's defended me when the others pick on me and has always been there when I needed her the most. Sensei's strict when it comes too…" but she never got to finish her sentence.
~***~
Vallen noticed that Nanaki had suddenly blanked out and was staring out into space with a horrified expression on her face. He quickly got up and ran to her side. "Nanaki! What's wrong!?!"
~***~
Nanaki saw flashes of things she didn't quite understand:
A younger Van flying on what seemed to be a metallic dragon.
Another figure flying on that same dragon, yet shrouded in mist.
Another flash of Van on the dragon, but this time with Hitomi in his arms.
Two figures on the dragon, yet again shrouded in mist.
A war going on between millions of people and machines.
Another similar war yet decades later.
Van, flying with his wings.
The shrouded figure with wings exactly like his.
A boy with silver hair and a scar on his right cheek.
The maniacal laughter of the boy played constantly through it all.
~***~
Nanaki had subconsciously walked up to Van, Hitomi, and Ben during her vision. Vallen, Arch, and Keladry had followed, anxious to see what would happen.
"There will be another battle." She said to Hitomi, still in her trance. She turned to Van "There will be another war." She turned to Ben "The heir of the dragon will take his place." She turned to her rapidly growing audience. "Will history repeat?"
Nanaki snapped out of her reverie. She let out a gasp and crumpled to the floor.

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A/N: So, do you like? Oh yeah, just so you know, this whole story is basically a rough draft. When I'm done I'm going to go back and revise it, unless of course, something comes up. Anywho, REVIEW! Ok? Please? I'd love to hear what you think. Constructive criticism is always welcome.
P.S. This chapter was posted as a birthday present to… ME! I'm now officially 14! ::Sings:: Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday to me. Happy birth… ::Gets stopped by a rotten tomato landing in her face:: Ok, so you don't like my singing. Oh well. Anyways, I'll hopefully get the next chapter out soon.