Dance Lessons

One day when I went out of our room, there was Sören waiting for me—waiting for us. He flipped his long, golden hair out of the way and then smiled at me and Nela.

“It is time," he proclaimed.

I tilted my head. "For what?"

"For you to learn to dance, obviously!" He reached a hand out. "I managed to secure your beautiful maid's blessing, and with her help, I will teach you how to move!"

I blinked. This was a lot. Meike agreed to do that? But next to me, Nela seemed delighted.

"Thank you so much for your help!" She looked at me happily.

"Uh, yeah. Thank you."

"It is settled, then." He grinned at us, and then made a dramatic twirl. "Follow me."

He lead us to a big, sunflooded hall, where Meike was already waiting. She didn't look like she had agreed to anything at all. If anything, she looked more mad at me than usual. I blinked at her. Just what was I doing to enrage her this much?

"We start with a simple waltz," he said. "Meike, if you would."

He extended a hand out to her, and from somewhere, I could hear music coming. But there was no music player—so was this magic? I tried not to think about it more, because what was more important was seeing the steps. He twirled around with Meike, round and round again, and it looked like they were gliding over the floor. Maybe this was magical as well? At the end, they parted and bowed to each other. Then, Sören looked back at us.

"Now you two."

I looked at Nela, and slowly took her hand. I still had no idea what exactly I was doing. The music got louder again, and I stepped to the right. Nela stepped to the left, and we almost got separated.

"Ah!"

"Stop!"

Suddenly, Sören was beside me, shaking his head. "You need to go to the other side."

"I understand." I said through gritted teeth.

Why was he annoying me? I didn't understand where that feeling came from. He was trying to help—for some reason. After all, wasn't he here to marry Nela? But he seemed wholly disinterested in her. Still, that didn't explain why he helped us. So I asked him directly, now that I knew the words for that.

"Why are you helping us?"

He shrugged. "Why not?"

I stared at him. "Do you... not have a reason for this?"

"No." He laughed. "I just want to spend my time as good as I can."

I shook my head. Unbelievable. He really just lived into the day, and for some reason, we had to follow his whims. Now I understood a bit better why Meike was so annoyed with him, but it didn't explain why she would agree to help. After all, she had plenty of other things to do, even if our dinner practice had been slowed down to just refresher lessons once a week.

"Care to show them again, o glittering wave?"

He turned around to Meike, and reached his hand out. Surprisingly enough, she came over and took it. The expression on her face was different from usual, as well—she still glared at him, but it had a hint of confusion to it. Or maybe something else. But whatever it was, my attempt at understanding it was shut down with her next glare.

Once more, the two of them danced, looking elegant and dignified. While it was nice to watch them, I couldn't help but tense up inside. How was I supposed to match that? I tried to watch their steps and make out the patterns, but then I watched their posture, the way they held their heads, or tried to match the different figures they danced to the music. It was overwhelming. Just like every other thing I was currently learning, it was overwhelming to look at, to try and discover for myself. I got a headache.

"Are you alright?" Nela whispered.

I nodded. "It's... a lot."

That much was true.

"He's not the best teacher, but he's trying."

"But for us? Or to show off?"

She laughed quietly. "I don't know that."

The music quieted down again, and the two dancers came over.

"Any more questions?" Sören asked.

I nodded. "What are the basic steps?"

He blinked. "I just showed you."

"No. You just danced."

"I did not! I wasn't doing it just to dance with Miss Meike!"

I held up my hands. "I didn't mean that. But..." I sighed. "Think of it as teaching... a child how to dance for the first time. I don't know anything."

"Oh, you poor thing. Didn't you learn how to dance in your world?"

"No." I gritted my teeth. "I didn't have the time for that."

He wouldn't understand, and I really didn't want to go into details with him. He seemed to get the hint, and nodded.

"That makes it all the more difficult," he said.

"Please. Otherwise, I doubt I'll get anywhere. Just the very basic steps for today, okay?"

"Alright, alright." Disappointed, he let go of Meike's hand. "Then, mirror me."

I got next to him, watching his steps and tried to match them. It wasn't easy, but it was better than trying to figure them out from watching him dance. Still, it didn't feel like he was doing it for me. He didn't repeat the steps until I really could follow them, and he did have trouble answering my questions about them. At least he corrected me when I mixed up my steps. But I did catch him looking at Meike and Nela more times than not while we were doing this.

I bumped into him.

"Close! But please try and follow."

"I'm trying," I said. "I think this is all my head can handle for the day."

My head was pounding, and I doubted I could do anything more. I glanced at Nela, who still looked like she was supporting me. Meike, on the other hand, looked like she was only here to spend time with Nela. I could understand that.

"I think I'm done with this for the day," I declared, louder this time.

Nela nodded, and Meike got ready to leave.

"Then we will continue tomorrow," Sören added hastily. "We will meet here again, ne?"

I nodded. Whatever. I was exhausted, and yet I knew I still sucked at dancing. Really, what didn't I suck at? I stretched.

I was trying, but it didn't feel like it was enough. Nela supported me, of course. And as much as I wanted to show her and her mother that I wanted to stay here, to stay with Nela, I couldn't help but feel this lacked a certain 'me' factor. Sure, I was doing this to prove to her mother I cared for and supported Nela. But was this the only way? Or was there some way, personalized to me, to show her my affection? She liked me for being me, after all. Even if that was still pretty unbelievable to me.

I turned that question over and over in my head, but didn't come to a conclusion.