Elephant? the Pinkette's eyes sparkled as she imagined an adorable plush grey elephant. It reminded her of the gigantic Totoro that sat on her bed at this very moment. It was a fond memory, how they had won the stuffed animal at the Halloween Party together. Rin was glad to have the reminder of Ubu and Margeaux who had been so determined that night to help win the prize.

"I want to meet him sometime," She said, reffering to Ubu's elephant, "I bet he's really huggable isn't he?" She smiled, it was almost a laugh, her heart was soaring.

She noticed a few couples had taken to the floor, dancing. There was an open spot on the floor.

"Ano," she began, "Aki-chan asked me to dance, maybe we could dance next Ubu-chan?" Innocently, she didn't want Ubu to feel left out. So of course she offered the next dance to her. She was absolutely glowing as she looked between them. "Aki-chan, we could dance now, if Ubu-chan doesn't mind waiting. After that we can check the snack table. I hope they have chocolate covered strawberries, I didn't see them over there."

There was just no good way of dealing with this sort of nervous energy. Sitting certainly wasn't getting the job done. Maybe she should just go and find one of her friends to talk to and get her head straight.

Before she could figure out what to do next, a nearby voice got her attention. She turned to see a girl holding on to a stuffed animal and paying a compliment to her dress. At first, she thought she was speaking for the stuffed critter. But, then Coyote noted how the girl was pointing one of it's fluffy appendages towards herself. And then the rabbit was identified as "Ryuu".

She smiled, feeling a bit relieved at the chance to get out of her head. Coyote even blushed a little at the compliment. With an absent minded scratch at the scar on her cheek, she said, "Thank you! You have a very pretty dress, yourself."

She reached a hand out to offer an introductory shake to the blond. "My name's Coyote. It's nice to meet you!"

She didn't feel uncomfortable, in fact, she was glad of the company, so she allowed herself to be led to the dance floor and took the same appropriate dancing pasture with her partner. So, her name was Naga. Chibi got the feeling that wasn't really her name, still, her love of fantasy brought her attention away from searching the crowd to looking at her companion.

"Naga?" she parroted, "Like the mythical creature that has the torso of a human and the body of a snake? I have read about them. It's an interesting name, and a really cool monster." She blushed and her gaze floundered. "Ah, but if you aren't into that sort of thing it seems weird, I hope you aren't insulted."

She let the girl take the gentleman's lead in the dance, and moved to answer her other question. "Well, I used to go to Spica, and I met a friend named Hiruko*. I moved away because my parents got me into this really good equestrian academy, but after my horse maimed an instructor it was either move back here or let them kill Tsuyoshi. So of course I moved back. I was really hoping to see her tonight, but she doesn't know I'm here, she might not even remember me."

She wasn;t sure how she felt about that, a real friend. She sort of felt like her own memory had been wiped. She remembered her incident with Minigawa-sensei, being mistaken for a ghost of her lost love. She rememebreed meeting Nayuki ,back when she was Spica's student council president, and her first girlxgirl crush was on Aika, who she also didn't see here. But her first real friend Kagami was the main person on her mind. Though it could have been partly due to a dream she had about meeting the girl in the ruins of Miator and finding a dead body. her mind quickly steered away from that though as the memory of the body made her want to gag. One more glance out into the crowd she spotted Minigawa sensei, chaperoning the dance from a corner looking really mature and regal, but at the same time isolated, frozen like stone; maybe even a bit sad, but then, she always looked that way...didn't she? Chibiru felt bad for her, and decided she would try to cheer her up later on.

She blinked slowly and returned her attention to her dancing partner. "Sorry for blabbering, but..uh...thank you. I chose the princess outfit because I've never worn one before. I thought, what better way to return to Astraea Hill than to be Cinderella at the ball? Right?" She smiled a bit, eyes vibrant. Maybe, even if Kagami wasn't here. she could still have fun. Who knew if she was even attending Spica anymore? Maybe she was gone, moved away and Chibiru decided that while that was sad, it was okay, some things were just beyond her control.

As the girl spoke, and for all intents imaginable, Jill's ears never ceased their extreme devotion to the topic. All of this, every last bit of it, was great information. So, the girl was looking for a friend. Her outfit was circumstantial. Her demeanor seemed that of someone who was shy- potentially easily led into uncomfortable situations. More than that, the girl spoke very highly of her horse. Her schooling changed to match the animal, even- And private schooling is not cheap. That was a level of devotion that should be respected- And noted, indeed. She also began talking about the Naga creatures of legend, which was to be expected. All of this information, buzzing about, fueling her desire to learn more. And to learn more, she had to ask more- To become more trustworthy. All in the name of knowledge.

And in that moment, the dance would slow. Not at a pace one could consider a traditional 'slow dance' but slower than previous.

"Darling, why ever would I be insulted?" she let the words fall on top of each other- Not quite a slur, and not quite elegant. More of a suave tone. "To be compared to a beast of legend, why, it's as if I were considered one. Such a thing would be of the greatest compliments."

Now, the true meat of the topic as indeed the horse, however Jill had very little knowledge of the species as a whole, or the care they needed. This would also be information she wanted- Imagine, a girl so full of gossip and useful life skills that she could teach an entirely new topic! Such a find!

"Dear me, I'm afraid I know so very little of horses," she shook her head,"But, I would love to learn, if you don't mind~"

Not a mention of the friend. Jill's topic of choice was the one she could learn more about, and so the mystery friend and all related information would be brought up at a later date.

Jojo smiled, pleased that her girlfriend absolutely loved the gift, and yet when she started to notice how Sara was saddened with how she forgot a gift Jojo could only giggle more as she took the girls hand after aiding to put the necklace on her, “Your appreciation and acceptance is more than enough for me Sara-chan. I don’t care if you get me anything or not, I just want you to remember that I love you. Gifts should not define a person after all.” Such words were said between her parents and yet like her father, Jojo gave gifts at a heartbeat without any warning necessary to begin with. She then had a marvelous idea come to mind, an idea to utilize for the feeling of guilt her girlfriend was feeling.

The kiss itself came in, she only smiled when she kissed back and once broken she was blushing with a giggle to her own lips, “How about you pay me back with a dance. I dare say a dance is absolutely what you need right now and as we are at a ball the dance itself should be perfect for us.” She giggled more, wondering just how good of a dancer her girlfriend is. Taking her hand yet again, Jojo led her out to the dance floor, refusing to hear excuses of why they shouldn't.

[OOC: sorry for the long wait sara, I've been far too busy RL to do much of anything online.]

After having left their feelings out in the wintry mix of snow and wind, there was but one thing left for them to do. To express their love to the school, to the whole world. She was convinced as she held her sweet and beloved Eriko's hand. She dashed towards the hall in the fierce blizzard winds. Her hair flowing freely and gently, the silky white mixed in with her pure black hair. For a moment, she looked over her shoulders her green-haze eyes sparkling beautifully at her beloved Eriko.

"Gomen, should I slow down?" She asked Eriko as they were nearing the hall. Neither of them were dressed for the theme, which was oceanic. But then, the same could probably be said for mostly anyone else. I mean, it is oceanic after all. However, she tried her best.

For starters, she wore a newly brought gothic dress for the event. The black adorned the shoulders and waist of the dress, supplementing the new color choice. A rose-oriented red which made for true celestial beauty. The beautiful two piece corset described Yuwa in a nutshell, her pain and her inner beauty.



She also wore something else, something she thought would both symbolize the night and her newly found love. A frilly white necklace adorned her neck, the white served as a contrast of purity to the darkness in her heart. And the gem located in the middle of the necklace was a gorgeous blue, as deep as the sea itself.



Wearing her emotions on her sleeves, normally this is something Yuwa wouldn't do. Yuwa would be calculating, power hungry and even a bit seductive. She'd shown those sides to Eriko but now.....now, she wanted to show Eriko just how happy she'd made her in her life. That's why she wanted to take her to the ball, that's why she wanted everyone to see what she knew was the greatest relationship ever.

Of course, whatever happened she supported Eriko 100%. She didn't want her lover feeling nervous or out of her comfort zone.

She was late! How could she be late? It wasn't like the Winter Ball was a small event that didn't have any advertising to it's location (the auditorium where it had been held since long before she started attending the school) or the time (which was the same time it was in all those years prior). Still, Margeaux managed to be late. Maybe she should have put her guitar down, earlier.

As she was getting ready, Margeaux was feeling good about herself. Her dress was nice. After all, black clothing went well with a black eye patch. And it even came with a nice head band that had black cloth draping over her obscured eye. She fixed her hair up in a simple, long braid. And after she got herself ready, she sat down to play out a quick tune to pass by the time until the Ball started.

But, one song turned into a few. And before she knew it, she was running towards the auditorium through the snow. Which was probably ill advised. A fact that only popped into her head as she tried to slow down when she approached the entrance. Her feet slid along the ground and her momentum carried her right along.

---

Margeaux rubbed her arm as she walked through the crowd. But, she was still in one piece and now she had made it to the Winter Ball. So, everything wasn't all THAT bad. Margeaux would just have to act like her arm wasn't bothering her at all. Ubu and Rin were probably already here. She would have to find time in the crowd. After that...Margeaux didn't really know what else to do. Dancing seemed like the sensible answer. She wished they allowed students to perform, that way she could have brought her guitar and play a few songs...if it would have been THAT open of an event. But, these things seemed to be more planned than open ended.

Excitement struck the girl in the host's arms as she mentioned wanting to learn about horses. "I know everything about horses!" She said with a little too much joy. Her eyes sparkled with her favorite subject, "There's so much to tell, anatomy, care, grooming, sports, colors, breeds. Tsuyo-chan, he's an Arabian breed, dapple gray color very smart. He's a jumper, most horses are trained in a certain sport, he does straight racing and jumping. I tried western barrel racing, but it's really hard, Tsuyo thinks the curves are too tight and he slips or falls. But he loves to jump. Acutally I really like it too, when he jumps and I'm on his back, it's like soaring through the air. Sometimes, it feels like he has wings. I think he actually believes he does too, maybe thats why he likes it so much."

She got so caught up in thinking of her horse, she almost wished she was spending the winter ball with him, actually, a midnight ride across the Hill sounded really fun, if it weren't so cold. After a moment, she decided on it, after the dance, a run with Tsuyo would be really fun. She did love him so.

"Ah, sorry, Tsuyo and I are good friends. He's like a person or family. I get excited when I talk about him..." she blushed. The way this person spoke reminded her of her books, like a fairy tale Prince. "You are very articulate," she added, "Even with your accent you speak very well. It's very..um...nice." She said, unsure how she should compliment her suitor.

"You bet! He's the most reliable buddy a girl could hope for, and he makes me feel really safe even when something should be scary. His name's Surus, and he's a North African elephant.. you can meet him sometime if you visit my room!" Ubu exclaimed in her typically perky way as she responded to Rin's remarks about her elephant.  Then she noticed the dance floor was still open and grinned when the pinkenette mentioned going out for a first dance with her roommate.  They'd probably made plans before anyway so it was perfectly fine for them to go first.  After all she still had ceiling tiles to count and clues to find.

"Go ahead, Rinko-chan and Aki-chan!  I'll be here when you're done.. and I have clues and mysteries to unearth while you're dancing.  Have fun!" she added as she encouraged them to go dance.  Once they were off she returned to staring at the ceiling and wondering if her calculations had been wrong.  625?  Did that year have some kind of significance?

As she tried to think of what had happened in the year 625 and what that had to do with the ceiling tiles, she began meandering through the crowd of girls.  All the while her attention was on the ceiling.  Ubu as a result nearly missed running into several couples as she milled about and pondered the Etoile Curse.  All she could remember reading was that the Assyrians had lost control of Babylon at that point.  Maybe the answer wasn't the tiles but something that had been buried at Astraea somewhere.  Evidence of some mysterious object or event that now cursed loving couples who dared to ascend to a position of such prominence as that of Etoile.  Just as this occurred to her she stopped dead in her tracks and just short of running smack into a redhead in a pretty black dress.  Ubu blinked as she was made more aware of her surroundings and then broke into a huge smile when she saw who it was.

"Margeaux-chan!  You look great!" she exclaimed, then reached out and glomped the American.  After a tiny hesitation she let go and stepped back, "I'm glad you're here!  I see you're a lot better dressed for a Ball than I am.. so do you have any plans, are you meeting someone?"

Kagami always felt so safe, so secure on Maikos arms, like nothing in the world could harm her. She never felt any fear or doubt when they were together. She smiled widely, just enjoying the feeling of being with her truest love, the girl that meant more to her then anything.

She blushed as Maiki spoke to her, exclaiming they were both beautiful. While Kagami definatly thought that, of the two, Maiko was the one who was beautiful, she nodded. "H-Hai, Maiko- chan!"

Kagami just considered herself blessed to have encountered Maiko. What if she hadn't decided to venture to the memory tree that day last year? Where would she be if she hadn't shared that magical dance with her last year? She didn't even want to think about it; because the answer was, no where good.

Kagami smiled sheepishly as Maiko handed her her own parcel.
"M-Maiko- chan... If it's from you, then of course I'll love it!"

She blushed as Maiko mentioned the dance they had shared last year, stating how special it was to her. Kagami couldn't help but go back to that night, thinking about what it had felt like when she finally decided to not be afraid, to allow Maiko into her heart. She remembered how amazing she had felt, like the world had been taken off of her shoulders.

"M-Maiko- chan... I... Of course I remember. I will... Never, ever forget. You... You saved me that night."

She wasn't exaggerating. Gently touched the pendant around her throat as she spoke. "So... Happy anniversary, Maiko- chan. I love you!" and with that, she stood up on her very too toes and kissed her princess, love pulsing out of her. She felt so happy, so joyous here.

Like nothing could go wrong.

Margeaux had managed to settle down after realizing that she hadn't raised too much of a commotion. She had been worried her little run in with the door had been too loud. But, inside, it was hard to tell what was going outside. There was music and conversation and dancing. She avoided the dance floor. Without a partner, there seemed to be little reason for it. The last time she went dancing it was with Rin and Ubu at the Halloween Festival.

And, as if on cue, she was bumped up into by a certain silver haired girl. Almost as if the very act of thinking of the Miator had summoned her into her path. Margeaux rebounded off the other girl and resisted the urge grab her arm. Even if it wasn't all that serious, it was still sore.

There was no time to recover, as the silvernette quickly glomped the American and nearly sent the two of them tumbling down to the ground. Whatever sliver of luck remained with the redhead kept her on her two feet. She still smiled as Ubu complimented her, a hint of a blush she could still attribute from coming in from outside lingered.

"Ah, thanks!" she said, "You're outfit is...interesting."

Ubu proved, once more, that the only thing you could predict about her choices were that they would be unpredictable. Her get-up looked more at place back at the Halloween Festival. But, that didn't mean it was bad.

After all, she could have sworn she saw a pirate walking around.

"No plans for me! I was just hoping to meet up with you and Rinko-chan!" she said, feeling the excitement wash away her previous worries, "Is she here, yet?"

She hadn't seen the familiar head of cotton candy colored hair around and in the cacophony of voices and music, honing in on one person's voice could be tricky. There already so many shapes and colors surrounding her, it was enough just to keep it all straight. For now, she could just concentrate on Ubu's minty tones and see where the night would take her.

All this information, topic after topic, branch after savory branch of knowledge to chase! So much there was to the horse, more than ever expected. How silly Jill had been to not factor in such basic things as proper care and diet when thinking of the animals. These new branches would also require further study, and that meant further time with this girl. It was enough that she gained a small smile, though the timing would probably make it seem as though her smile was about the compliment. Well, when in Rome.

"Aha~ but I am the one in awe, malady." her gaze locked then, right into the eyes of her company. She had briefly made eye contact prior, but this was eye contact with intent. "Your knowledge is profound and your passion is without question. I had no idea I would be sharing dance with one so..." she paused, not for lack of knowing, but for dramatic effect. "Flavored."

An odd word choice, but as it would be hopefully taken in the proper context, with any luck the woman would continue telling her things.

"Might the princess favor me with her company, just a little longer? I fear one dance has left me quite intrigued, and I would enjoy your company."

All of Eriko's emotions had been released in one dramatic moment back in the forest amongst the snow whirling in the wind.  The last door to her true inner heart had been smashed down and she wasn't really sure how to act now. She had decided to completely trust this older girl who had refused to let her drift away into the same old isolation. Whom she had fought tooth and nail to keep from floating away into her own personal seclusion as well. It was a bizarre feeling to let anyone in and it left her very uncertain about a lot of things. So much so that she was in a bit of a daze as they finally arrived at the Winter Ball later than planned but probably much better off emotionally.

"No, this is fine Lily-oneesama," she responded oddly quietly when the older girl asked if the pace was too fast.

Really she preferred to just keep pace with Yuwa since the older girl was more sure of what she was doing. This was incredibly new territory for Eriko, which left her in a position where someone else taking the lead was best.  Her own dress had been partly Yuwa's idea, so its style was similar enough to the older girl's.  Eriko had let her hair down too since the girl she had just confessed to really seemed to like it that way.  Arguably she'd be fine regardless of which way Eriko wore her hair but this was all intended to impress the dark haired girl as much as she could.  Even the floral hair decoration was back, making Eriko look far more feminine than she would have been on a normal day.  She was also fairly quiet and wide-eyed as they stepped inside, hand in hand, just waiting for the older girl to decide what they'd do next.

"Ne, Lily-oneesama?" she asked sheepishly before going deadpan, "Lily-oneesama is Eriko's wife.  The end."

Despite Jojo's reassurances, Sara still felt bad for not having anything to give to her beloved in return for the gift she'd received. The hand not claimed by her girlfriend was absentmindedly fingering the dolphin necklace as she tried to think up some way to repay Jojo. Of course, this was all as she was being led out onto the dance floor as her girlfriend suggested.

Sara looked around uncertainly, her lack of expertise, or really any skill at dancing rushing back to the forefront of her mind. "Uhm… Jojo? I… I, uh, don't really know how to dance," she said, turning red and looking away, rather embarrassed and unsure of herself. "I'm sorry, I know this is a ball and all, but… I just really wanted to be with you here…" she continued, trying to explain herself. She suddenly wished there were more people dancing at the moment, so that she wouldn't stick out as much, and so she'd be less obviously very bad at dancing.

(Sorry it's short, had some trouble with this one =/)

Chibiru delayed her answer with a bit of a dance-etiquette spin. "Of course.." she blushed, unsure of what she should do.

"Maybe...maybe you would want to meet Tsuyo-chan? I mean, the person I'm looking for probably isn't here, we could go to the stables and go for a ride maybe?" They weren't really supposed to, and Chibi wanted to outiright ride out around campus and circle all of astraea hill, even if it was cold, it didn't matter. Kagami wasn't here, or if she was, she was having fun and Chibiru could wait until she wasn't busy. This Prince however was very interested in her. Or at least she seemed to be.

The look in her eyes made Chibiru want to keep talking, "I also do fencing. My old room mate made me a sword once, I still have it, though I haven't gotten the chance to use it in class. Thing is it's the real thing, not just for practice."

She looked up again toward Minigawa Sensei, maybe she'd give the sword to the teacher, though somehow she knew it wouldn't make her happy. She did feel really bad for the sensei, never getting her happy ending...But possibly Chibiru would have a chance at hers.

( I was hoping to hear back from kagami before we exit the thread, but I havent gotten any messages soooo....up to you we can either stay or go on a forbidden horse ride. xD)