Another Dance Lesson

I was training hard. Every day, I was studying something when I wasn’t helping out Seppe, and now in the evenings, Nela joined me for the dance lessons with Sören. I couldn't do those alone, after all.

Right now, we were in the ballroom again, the orange-red sunlight lighting up the room. The smell of wood and saltwater mixed with the soft breeze traveled into the room. Outside, a few birds were singing, and the low rumble of the waves was ever-present. It was peaceful.

The music had a slow, nice rhythm, something that I could finally identify.

"And again," Sören said.

With a tired smile, I took Nela's hand and gently lead her to the middle of the room. She smiled back at me. The touch connecting us was natural, something I was growing to expect rather than something I was afraid of. Her hand in mine was right where it was supposed to be.

We stood in the middle of the room, and I listened for the next cue for us to start dancing. There. I stepped to the side, gently moving Nela with me, who followed immediately. We started with a few sways from side to side, stepping in a slow circle, just to get into the rhythm. It was nice. It was good. It was something I finally felt comfortable with.

Sören and Meike were standing at the side, watching us. I was sure that Meike had something better to do—and yet, here she was, supporting Nela. And me, even though that surely was just an afterthought. Sören whispered something into her ear with a smile, but she didn't react. No, wrong. Her glare only intensified, as if she was going to snap at him. But she didn't. Really, it was surprising just how much she tolerated him, when she always looked the most annoyed in his presence.

I focused back on our dance as Nela stepped to the side once again. Now, I had to lift our hands so we could do a figure that Sören had shown us. The boat. We made an arch and turned, twisting away from each other only to get close to one another again. It was a nice move. And we finally managed to pull it off successfully more often, even though it was only the third or fourth time we actually succeeded. I grinned at Nela, and was met with an equally happy smile from her.

"Focus!" Sören reminded us with his ever-cheerful voice.

Right. This was only the beginning, after all. Another turn, another boat, and then we had to try and attempt the next figure. This one involved a complex number of steps, with us letting go of each other's hands and stepping close by, while also not bumping into each other. It was the last figure Sören had introduced to us, and I had never gotten it fully right. At least Nela had been quick enough each time to step out of my way. And with her laugh, failing didn't seem so bad.

But time was ticking away. We could still afford to make mistakes, but there were only so many days left until the engagement party that I was starting to get anxious. Would I meet Queen Malevke’s standards? Or would I embarrass myself? I also hadn't thought of the way I wanted to surprise Nela with the engagement ring yet. Well, it wasn't like I had a role model for a good, stable relationship, and there was no one here from my world that I could go to for advice. I just had to think about a way that would be nice for her, for me, for us. I wanted this moment to be special.

Our shoulders brushed, and I forced my attention back to the dance.

"Stop! Stop that!"

Sören rushed towards us, separating Nela and me.

"Leo!" He shook his head, but still in a playful manner. "You know you have to turn right here, not left. You almost had it."

"Almost..."

Right. I couldn't afford to get distracted, not now. Nela was using her precious free time to practice with me.

"Meike, care to help me demonstrate it again?" Sören turned around and gave her a big smile.

"Fine." Meike didn't sound fine, but she came over nonetheless.

The music started from the beginning, and I focused once more on Sören's legs.

"You have to feel the music," he said.

Great. I didn't know what that meant, and every time I had tried to ask about that, Sören had only become avoidant. He probably also didn't quite know what it meant.

But he could dance, no question. He started the same way we did, but quickly, his "lesson" devolved into doing impressive figures and turns he hadn't shown us yet. He twirled with Meike as if they were both weightless, gliding over the wooden floor as if that was their natural state. But while Sören was putting on his most handsome smile, Meike looked just like she always did. Glaring. At him.

Or was there something different in her face? It was hard to tell, with the both of them moving so quickly. I had already given up on watching his feet. Once he did the figure we were struggling with, I might refocus, but I had the growing suspicion that Sören had already forgotten why he was dancing. He was just showing off now, and not for Nela or myself.

In the end, as the music neared its finale, he even lifted Meike from the ground, twirling her in the air as if she was a feather. Yes, it was impressive—but I was sure that I couldn't replicate that with Nela. Maybe not ever, but certainly not in the tight time frame we had.

The music stopped, and Sören grinned at us.

"Did that make it more clear?" he asked.

"You didn't show us the figure in question."

"Hm?"

"You did a lot of other things," I explained, "But the one thing you wanted to show me was missing."

"Oh. Whoops." He shrugged, and turned to Meike. "Care for another dance?"

Annoyance grew within me. It was moments like this where I really wondered if Sören was doing this to help, or just to show off.

"Is this just a game for you?" I asked.

He stopped. "What do you mean?"

Even Meike looked at me with surprise. I got up.

"I'm doing this to get to a basic level of understanding," I said. "I'm not talented. I'm lucky I understand the language as good as I can now—but I'm forced to! I want to do this for fun, but I can't. So please, either take this seriously, or don't bother."

My voice gradually strengthened. I was getting sick of this. And apparently, Sören got the message. For a moment, his face was serious.

"I am sorry," he finally said. "Then, let's do the figure again."

"Thank you."

With a sigh, I sat down. Nela was next to me, and her hand rubbed my back. I leaned into the touch for a moment, before I looked back at Sören.

"Here, you have to step to the left first, and then, with the same foot back..."

As I listened to his instructions, the steps became more and more clear. I nodded along, and in my head, tried to trace the steps. Finally, I got up and offered Nela my hand.

"Shall we try again?"

"I'd love to," she answered.

She took my hand, and we started our dance. This time, it went over surprisingly well. I was focused, and when I let go of her hand, I managed to find my footing. We circled each other, getting closer and pulling apart again, without bumping once into each other. And every time our gazes met, my heart fluttered at her smile.

I could almost enjoy myself.

Finally, the music stopped, and it was over.

"We did it!" Nela jumped at me with a hug that I answered.

And with a look into each others eyes, we celebrated with a kiss. We really, finally made it!