This story is for the first place winner of OTPA (OneTruePassionAwards):

Renires with their wonderful book Snips (I highly recommend reading it, it's got a really interesting twist to it)

It's not exactly the best thing ever but I still hope you like it!

 

~A/N: Since I wanted to keep things gender neutral, there is a lot of use of the words they/their to signify the other person (romantic interest); please just imagine it to be anyone you want, boy or girl. Same goes for yourself since I've used you as the pronoun for the main character.

 

You looked over the crowd of people dancing to the music the musicians were playing. It was a slow song and so everyone's movements were slow. You watched the men take the lead and spin their partners. You watched the women's dresses billow around them as they twirled, dainty smiles upon their faces as they moved to the beat. Every step calculated and every stance poise, everyone here knew the dance by heart, they knew how to move, when to move, and where to move. But why wouldn't they? They'd been trained in the art of ballroom dancing since birth after all.

The music came to an end and soon the dancing stopped. Quiet chatter filled the room as the musicians went on break. Once again the guests spread out around the room and made polite conversation with one another. The silver and gold masks adorning the people's faces lit up under the bright lights of the chandelier, making everyone stand out. Masks of every size, shape, and design could be seen throughout the room, each one hiding the identity of the person beneath it. Your mask was doing the same thankfully.

You could see the servants bringing out appetizers and setting them along the long tables for the guests to enjoy whenever they had a moment to spare from all their social interactions. A quiet rumble left your stomach as you contemplated if you should rise from your spot among the shadows in an effort to grab some food. As you weighed your options you noticed the musicians return and a slow sweet melody fill the room. It was more of a background noise then something for the people to dance to, yet some found their way to the center of the room and began to waltz along with the music.

Biting your lip, you continued to watch in quiet contemplation. You felt so out of place in this setting. You knew if anyone were to figure out who you are, you'd become the center of unwanted attention. As such, you'd stuck to the edges and avoided talking to anyone all night. Your stepmother did not mind this as she had no particular interest in you despite the fact you were the illegitimate child of her husband who'd just recently been brought to stay in your father's mansion.

"Excuse me, madam/sir, would you care to share a dance with me?" a voice suddenly asked from beside you.

You turned to look at who was speaking to you, eyes widening in surprise. The last thing you had expected was someone would come up to you and try and ask you to dance. Quickly you shook your head.

"I... I don't dance," you replied softly hoping the stranger would let you be.

The stranger hummed as if thinking about what you'd said before tilting their head to the side a little. Their eyes were glimmering even in the darkened corner of the room where you two stood quite a distance away from everyone else. Their mask while gold and silver like everyone else's, also contained bits of blue and red, making their features stand out. They were very handsome/pretty and you could see all the grace and maturity they executed in their stance. With a small smile, the stranger offered you their hand and said, "I'll take the lead, you don't have to worry about a thing. You'll be just fine."

You looked at the offered hand wanting to reject it, but something told you, they'd only be more persistent and maybe even cause a scene if you kept rejecting. That was the last thing you wanted. With one last hesitant look at the stranger's beautiful eyes, you took a hold of their outstretched palm and followed them to the dancefloor.

Pretty soon you found yourself almost chest to chest with the other, only a few centimeters of space separating the two of you. The stranger's hand slipped down and across your hip and their other hand took a hold of the right hand. You naturally let your unoccupied hand fall onto their shoulder. Again you felt uneasy, you really didn't know how to dance well and were afraid to make a fool of yourself. And if you made a fool of yourself simply because you didn't know how to waltz, they'd all know who you were. Then they would begin gossiping about you in greater amounts, after all, you'd been hearing curious whispers from prominent looking families asking where you might be all night. Your stepmother hadn't indulged anyone who'd asked, and your father wasn't here yet so no one could ask him. Thus leaving everyone still clueless as to where and who you were.

The stranger began to lead as promised, the two of you shifted across the floor with little effort. You managed to avoid stepping on the strangers shoes as well as bumping into others. It seemed the man/woman before you was keeping their promise as they were making sure you didn't make a fool of yourself with your mediocre dancing skills. As they said, you didn't have to worry.

Soon you found yourself swaying in the other's arms easily following along to the rhythm even when the song ended and a new song began. The stranger still kept you close and moved around the dance floor and it didn't seem like they had any intention of letting go anytime soon. But you were growing tired since you were not accustomed to dancing for so long. Your feet began to hurt a little and you are afraid you'd soon take a misstep and end up on the floor where everyone would see you. You could just imagine them all stop and stare at you with judging eyes, it was a terrifying image, to say the least.

However, after the third song ended the stranger led you away from the dance floor which you were grateful for. He/she pulled you along towards the tables full of food and picked up a small plate before handing it to you. You took it a bit confused on why they had suddenly pulled you along to eat.

"I believe you like these the best," the stranger said as they piled on a bunch of chocolate covered strawberries onto your plate.

"How did you know?" you asked puzzled as they began to pile on other appetizers that you adored onto your plate.

A sly smile made its way onto their face as they looked at you with this knowing glint in their eyes. "There's a great many things I know about you... Y/N."

You gasped suddenly feeling your heartbeat quicken as you broke out into a cold sweat. This stranger knew who you were! How? No one should know. How had they guessed? Were they bluffing?

"I-I do not know who you are talking about... My name is not Y/N... You must be confusing me with someone else," you said putting the plate down and getting ready to bolt away, but the stranger grabbed your wrist before you could.

"Do not run from me, Y/N," the stranger stated as they took one of the chocolate covered strawberries from the plate you'd set down and held it against your lips pushing a little to get you to open up and take a bite. After you bit the sweet fruit, they brought the fruit to their own lips and also took a bite all the while staring intently at you. You could feel your breath get caught in your throat as you tried to understand their actions and intentions. What did they want?

"W-who are you?" you asked.

"That's for me to know and you to figure out," the stranger replied with a sweet smile as they handed you your plate back and then bowed before walking away without another word.

You stood there watching them leave and still watching even long after you'd lost sight of them. You felt a shiver go up your spine as you looked down at the plate of food. Even there wasn't much conversation between the two of you, you got the feeling things would only get more intense and interesting as the night went on.

**************************

Not even thirty minutes later you saw the stranger again. This time they were talking with your father, who had most likely just arrived. You watched wondering what the stranger and your father could be talking about, you felt so uneasy about this whole thing. You didn't like that the stranger knew who you were, you liked it even less that they were talking with your father.

The stranger's eyes shifted and caught your own, as soon as you met each other's gaze, you looked away. You quickly walked the other way not wanting to get involved with the stranger again. But it seemed the other was keen on getting close to you, for what reason you had yet to figure out.

"My lady/sir, why are you leaving so quickly? Shouldn't you greet your father now that he's arrived?" the stranger asked once they'd caught up to you.

"Who are you?" you asked again instead of answering them.

"Someone close to you," they answered with a smile. "Someone who is very very close to you, care to guess?" They continued with a cryptic look in their eyes.

You huffed and pulled yourself away. "I don't care to play your games," you said and walked away, the stranger made no move to follow, but you could feel their gaze lingering on you.

**************************

Hours went by before the guests finally began leaving the mansion one by one. You sat in one of the chairs in the corner of the room, partially hidden from view by a huge potted plant. In the end, it seemed no one had learned who you were as your father hadn't known where you were. As such when asked, he'd simply replied with you was around. A few people had given you funny looks probably wondering who's daughter you were, but with the mask covering most of your face and leaving only your lips and chin exposed, they could make no accurate guesses.

As the crowd thinned out you wondered if it was safe to sneak upstairs and go to your room. If you disappeared soon, your father wouldn't be able to find you and you would remain a mystery to the public. Remaining a mystery meant you could continue avoiding unwanted attention from all these social elites, and that was appealing to you. So after surveying the few people left and determining when the coast was clear you made your way towards the back stairs and began climbing up being as sneaky as possible. When you reached the top step and entered the hallway, you let out a breath of relief, happy to have gotten away. At least you were until you hear the stranger's voice yet again.

"Isn't it customary for the host's family to stay until all the guests leave?" they asked from behind you. You whirled around and met their eyes with your own startled ones. You frowned as you looked at them, you had thought the stranger had already left as you hadn't seen them after that second encounter.

"What are you doing up here?" you asked.

"Looking for you," they answered playfully, an almost shy smile appearing on their face along with a light blush.

"Why? What do you want from me?"

"Want? If I told you, would you try to grant my wish?"

"If it gets you to leave me alone, I'd consider it."

"And if it doesn't?"

"What do you want? You said we're close, but that can't be. You know who I am, so you know I don't belong to this world. I don't know anyone who's a part of this world. So how could we possibly be close? Who are you to me and what do you want?" you asked not wanting to beat around the bush anymore.

"I am your past, present, and hopefully future," the stranger replied, the smile on their face widening and a soft laugh escaping their lips.

"What do you mean by that?! How are you my future?" you asked growing even more irritated.

"Let's say I'm your future wife/husband," they replied smugly.

"What?!" you screeched.

"I asked your father for your hand in marriage. He didn't seem to oppose."

"Well, I do! I don't want to marry a stranger!"

"I'm not a stranger. You know me very well. I don't think you'd be so opposed to marrying me if you knew who I was."

"But I don't know who you are!"

"You do," the stranger insisted.

"Even if I did, what makes you think I won't be opposed to marrying you?" you asked.

"We're a lot alike. I've understood you better than anyone else in the past, and I'm sure that still holds true now. You used to find me charming and sweet, and we'd even joke about marrying when we were little."

"Are those supposed to be clues to help me figure out who you are?"

"Maybe," the stranger replied.

You racked your brain trying to figure out who the stranger might be. But you were drawing blanks.

"Tell me your name," you requested but the stranger shook their head.

"You keep saying that we know each other but you won't even tell me your name!" you said loudly feeling anger course through your blood. "If we're so close and you're from my past then I should be able to recognize you. Take off your mask," you demanded.

"Why don't you take off your mask as well then," the stranger requested, not moving a muscle.

You frowned. "Why should I?" you asked.

"Because I want to see you."

"Well, I don't want you to see me. I don't believe you know me."

"Only one way to find out."

"Yes, so take off your mask."

"Should I?"

"Yes!" You huffed.

Another laugh escaped the other before they reached up and began undoing the strings that held the mask over their face. A few seconds passed, though to you, it felt like minutes. The mask soon fell away from the other's face and they looked up, eyes glimmering once again, this time with uncontained glee. A gasp escaped you as your eyes widened. You couldn't believe your eyes. Before you stood your childhood friend, someone who you'd grown up with. They had suddenly disappeared when you were twelve and you hadn't seen them for over five years now, and in that time you'd assumed the worst.

"C/N (childhood friend name)," you whispered afraid it was all some sort of illusion. After all, it made no sense. Why would they be here? But what did that matter anyway? If they were here, you should be happy.

"Yep, it's me," they replied softly smiling at you. You reached out and touched their face trying to confirm they were real. And indeed they were. You could once again feel your heartbeat pick up as a million questions ran through your head. Why were they here? Where have they been all this time? Did they miss you as much as you missed them? Wait... you were getting married to them?! Oddly enough, that last thought made you blush and you weren't opposed to it, just like they said you wouldn't be.

"It's good to see you again Y/N," they said before reaching up to rub their thumb against your cheek. "Now, won't you remove your mask for me?"