A/N: Just a small bit that takes place during the dance (which is, by the way, one of my favorite scenes.) Enjoy!

The music swirled around him. It filled and pulsed inside him. He had never known he enjoyed dancing until now. Maybe it was that he had never enjoyed dancing until he met her.

He could see her from where he was. She was dancing with an unknown man, just as he was dancing with an unknown woman. She smiled at her partner, who, in all likelihood, was probably so overjoyed by such a gift that his happiness would not abate for an entire week. He was struck with how kind she was, with how she always seemed to make people comfortable around her. Maybe it was her naïveté. Maybe it was that no matter what you did, she wouldn't judge you. She accepted anyone and everyone just the way they were. He didn't deserve her, he knew, but who minds having something they don't deserve?

The danced progressed. They grew nearer and his anticipation grew. She was so close now, so near to him. He imagined how smooth her hand would feel in his, how soft and gentle the touch would be. Their hands would mesh like two pieces of a puzzle, fitting perfectly. It would prove, more than anything, that, no matter how strange it was (the orphaned thief and the girl who'd never left her home) they were meant to be. Maybe there would be a zap, like static electricity. Except this time, it would be different. Maybe she'd feel it too.

They were closer. They were almost there. They reached out to join hands and were cut off by two other dancers. But he felt it. He felt the slightest touch of her fingertips against his. He was right – it had shocked him, thrilled him. He desperately wanted to feel it again, to feel her fingers slip between his and intertwine with them. When it happened, he would never let go. He would never let go of her.

The music sped up. The dance moved faster. His feet began to hurt and he wondered how she could do it, how she could dance in bare feet and never get tired or feel any pain. He knew that she wasn't hurt because he could see her smiling and laughing as she twirled and spun, her dress leaping and dancing with her. He smiled because it was contagious – whenever she smiled, he couldn't help but smile too.

They came closer. And closer. So close he imagined he could see the freckles dotting her nose. And then she was in his arms and it was so much better than he'd ever imagined. The zap was gone, instead it was a low warmth, rising in his stomach and filling all of him until touching her almost burned him, but he couldn't bring himself to let go. He felt his hand at her waist and their fingers intertwined and then they weren't puzzle pieces, they were magnets. He wanted to pull her into his arms and cradle her there, begging her not to go back home because he couldn't live without her anymore, telling her that he loved her and that she'd changed him, so quickly that it bemused him and he didn't feel like he would ever be the same.

And then he noticed not only the feeling of her hand, but her. Her. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, a large smile lighting up her face. Her eyes glowed so brightly it blinded him. Her mouth was slightly open and his eyes fell to look at her lips. Her lips.

The urge to kiss her filled him so quickly his reaction was actually delayed because of shock. Thoughts ran through his mind rapidly as he thought about how wonderful it would be to kiss her, to be the first man to kiss her (the only man, he added to himself), to teach her and show her what it was like, to see her blush when they finally broke apart and then, to pull her back in all over again –

The music stopped.

They stepped away from each other awkwardly, smiling embarrassedly. He swallowed heavily as he released her, hoping, praying that someday, he'd be able to tell her everything that had been running through his mind. That maybe, just maybe, he'd one day be lucky enough to have her love him too.

A/N: Just in case this confused anybody, all of Eugene's thoughts at the end were taking place extremely quickly, during that one moment right at the end of the dance when they (finally) were in each other's arms.