Selene was nervously dusting the seats of her stage, preoccupied by the stream of thoughts that was accumulating in her head.
The costumes watched her silently, amazed. She was mumbling incomprehensible phrases, although they thought they heard a few "Idiot!" or "What was I thinking?
Castafiore cleared her throat trying to make herself heard, but the ballerina continued to ruminate. Then the lady cleared her throat again, more loudly this time.
The girl looked up with her face crimson red and full of confusion.
"-Ah...sorry.
-Is everything okay, honey?" Castafiore worried.
The ballerina answered her by stammering and big incomprehensible hand movements and went towards her dressing room while continuing to mumble.
When the singer was about to join her, Plumy Pirouette stopped her:
" -Let alone, I'll take care of it."
And before the other costumes could react, Plumy took Maestro with her and leapt to their friend's dressing room. The composer was in a state, he did not wish to disturb Selene, who looked like she needed to calm down.
"-Listen Maestro, I know you prefer to stay away, but you can be a great help to me!"
The little Swan knocked three playful knocks on the door and entered without giving Selene time to answer.
She was sitting in front of a mirror with her head in her arms staring at herself, distraught.
In a small voice Maestro approached her:
"-Selene, are you sure you feel okay?
-I just have this weird feeling that I've been feeling for a while and I can't put my finger on why.
-Is that it?" Plumy inquired.
The young woman began to stamp her feet frantically, as if taken by a sudden stress.
" -If only that was all!"
The two costumes looked at each other, questioning, while Selene handed them a letter, now unsealed.
"-Please, read it and you will understand..."
"My dearest Selene,
I can't thank you enough for taking care of me, even today, just thinking about it makes me feel very emotional.
I hope I didn't worry you so much, I assure you that I am much better now.
You may not realize it, but you have done so much for me since you have been here, both directly and indirectly. So I would like to thank you in a worthy manner.
Tell me Princess, would you have the honor to give me your hand for a waltz?
I will wait for you at the entrance of your stage.
Of course you can refuse.
I am more than eager to see you shine again."
"-Selene it's a date!" exclaimed Plumy, handing the letter to Maestro, who also rushed to read it.
Selene thought she would choke.
"Plumy, I don't know if this is a good idea.
-I hope you're kidding! No resident has had the chance to have this little privilege with one of the Maestros. Especially since Lance is really charming, a real Prince..." She sighed dreamily.
"-It was not you who was totally against that I meet him...?
-Let's say that Castafiore and you... Well, you made us understand that we were wrong.
-Well, Nutcraker didn't change his mind. Added Maestro, handing the letter back to the young woman.
"But I agree with Plumy, you have to go to that rendezvous.
-But...
-You still haven't understood that you don't leave him indifferent?"
Maestro nodded as Selene threw lightning bolts at them.
"-Plumy, that's inappropriate!
-No you're just too stupid to see it that's all."
Selene shook her head. Her friend was talking nonsense.
In fact, she was lying to herself if she said she didn't want to dance a waltz with Lance. She let her thoughts overwhelm her and she imagined herself dancing with him again. That aroma of mint mixing with her melody, the Maestro's delicate arms embracing her and that look.
That look that made her lose all her means.
"-Very well it is agreed."
She was trying to behave in a neutral way despite everything, for sure Balan and Lance were used to being around humans who were crazy about them.
She thought she was being ridiculous. Diana was definitely a bad influence on her, she thought.
Plumy was jumping up and down with joy.
"Believe me, Selene, you will be a true queen, resplendent, sublime, to die for. Lance will lose all his senses!"
Selene laughed nervously, not used to all the attention she was being offered.
"Count on me to teach you the steps of the waltz.
-Oh yes, Maestro is really an excellent waltzer! Let's not waste any more time and get to work!"
Plumy hurried back to the stage, followed by Maestro, to warn the other three costumes.
Before following them, she looked at herself in the mirror again, smiling. She wanted to look great during this waltz.
*
**
"-Lance I'm proud of you!"
Balan, continued to clean from top to bottom the hall of the theater with the help of his colleague Maestro. Obviously Lance had not omitted to share with him the letter that he had sent to the pretty ballerina.
"-I hope she did not panic ... " murmured Lance.
"It's quite possible, but knowing her costumes, it's a safe bet that they're already preparing her for your date."
The silver-haired man almost choked. He stopped what he was doing and looked at his interlocutor with a distraught look.
"-That's not..."
Balan did the same and threw him one of his airs full of innuendo, which Lance had difficulty to bear.
"-Lancy dear, I know what is and what is not." He paused and tapped his temple with his fingertips.
"-You should dig a little deeper into feelings you know, we must have a few hundred books that must deal with the subject.
-I'll...I'll look into it."
Balan wasn't fooled. Lance was older than he was, had a lot more experience than he did. However, it was quite likely that he really didn't know that a Maestro could feel this way. Wasn't this the first time it had happened to him after all?
He continued to observe him in silence. His friend's face was troubled, concerned. Moreover, coincidence or not, the damned one had confided to him that for some time he felt less sick, as if his curse seemed to go away more and more.
He knew that it was not a coincidence, but he was all the more worried that if he had indeed seen right, Selene was his last chance to survive this.
As for Lance, he was in his bubble, while continuing to tidy up. He could feel his cheeks warming up as he thought about this resident. Actually, thinking about her was very pleasant. It had been ages since he had felt this good, so much so that he found it strange. Had he ever felt so happy once in his life?
Also, did he have the right to feel this way about a Wonderworld guest?
"-You know what Balan? For once you're right and the Wonderworld knows that I don't often think so."
*
**
"-You waltz like a pro Selene..." said Maestro in a light and cheerful voice.
They had been practicing for a long time, but after a few broken feet and about thirty falls, Selene was dancing the waltz to perfection.
"-That's nice...I hope I'm up to it."
" -Ho ho darling you'll be up to it believe me. " Castafiore added.
"You could almost match Lance...And yet if there is a Master of the waltz, it is him! Continued Milky-Way.
The ballerina laughed, but she wasn't really surprised. It was a good match for Lance.
The costumes immediately drew her out of her sweet thoughts. They took her to the dressing rooms and sat her in a chair.
"-We're going to pamper you, you're going to be the most beautiful to go dancing!"
Nutcracker was content to stand guard, as faithful as ever to his post.
Plumy covered the mirror with a sheet which had for effect to question Selene.
"-Trust us, you'll see the final result in the end!
-Okay, if you say so..."
She inhaled and exhaled a good blow and let herself do it.
Make-up, hairstyle and dressing everything went. She did not flinch on any choice except for the shoes.
"Everything you want but no transparent shoes and I want them to cover my toes.
-A complex...?
-Let's just say you wouldn't like to see a ballerina's feet, Maestro."
They looked no further and handed her the pair. She got out of the way of curious looks and put on the shoes as quickly as possible.
A few final touches and they brought a standing mirror so she could observe herself in full.
Selene signaled that she was ready and then they turned the mirror over. She opened her mouth wide.
Her friends had indeed done their best:
Selene's hair was in a straight bun, with two wavy strands around her ears. They had added a small tiara set with holographic drops. Concerning the make-up it was rather discreet. In globality it was around the pink and golden tints, which was little but which had rather its effect.
The dress as for her was absolutely sublime. Mainly in tulle, this one stopped at her knees and was of an incredible lightness. It began at the neck, the back of the girl was thus naked. The particularity of the garment was the numerous butterflies sewn to it. Selene loved butterflies.
The color as for her was always blue sky, her favorite color.
To finish her shoes were closed toe pumps, as Selene had asked, blue too. She had kept her pearl bracelet and her moon-shaped earrings.
"-Is it me...? Is it really me?"
They all nodded in chorus:
"-A true Princess, you are beautiful!"
Yes, she was. She couldn't find the right words, so much she had to say.
"-Thank you so much...It's sublime...!"
They continued to shower her with praise for a few minutes, then went to camp at the entrance, waiting for Lance to come.
The dancer sat down again and took out her precious music box. This box was a gift from her parents and despite its age, it was still in excellent condition and the mechanism was flawless.
She put her head in her arms and opened the lid. The tune of Swan Lake played and inside, a dancer and her Prince were twirling.
This object was very precious to her.
As she did so, she could feel the anxiety rising inside her. How would Lance find her? Pretty? Maybe it was an outfit that was too much?
She gently rubbed her forehead and concentrated more on her music box. For a moment she couldn't help but imagine herself with Lance in the place of the little dancer and her beloved. She turned red.
She was startled when Nutcracker knocked on the door and announced with an almost desperate air.
"-He's waiting for you."