Chapter 1 - Waltzing Opportunities

Welcome: Hello ALL! Welcome to my new story, which is all about learning to dance and finding love. I hope you enjoy this particular set. I look forward to entertaining you all. After all, this is only my first ever attempt at a full AU.

Disclaimer: I do not own OUaT or any of the characters. That honour goes to ABC and the show's producers. However, Mira is entirely mine (and WI borrows her) as well as this plot.

Schedule: I should be updating about once a week, usually on a Sunday. We will see how it goes. NOTE: Formating should be fixed. thanks for 4getfulimaginator for spotting it.

It was a Wednesday evening and Emma Swan stood outside the village hall, waiting for her friends, who were, as usual, late.

The two people Miss Swan was waiting for were her close friends from work - Ruby, a customer services specialist, and Belle, their very recently promoted team leader. It was probable that Belle, who lived on the town outskirts, had a vaguely realistic excuse - in all likelihood, either the bus or the train she planned to catch was delayed, not for the first, and certainly not for the last, time. Ruby, however, had probably either forgotten, chickened out, or she was on a date and would rush over at the last possible second.

As she waited on the pavement, Emma decided to look at the building which she was going to be entering in the next 15 minutes.

The sign read: "Arrow and Jones Dance Studio" over the old, painted-over and almost faded words "Storybrooke Village Hall".

The building it hung over was just that - an old, quite probably slightly refurbished town hall that was currently being let out to a dance school business. When Belle told them the previous week that she had to learn how to dance within only a few weeks, Ruby had immediately jumped on the chance to 'meet hot men' and found this place. Emma was surprised that she had not noticed that the place was no longer shut up - she did walk past it at least once a week, and drove past it at least three times, but then, she had no real interest in politics or dance. Of course, Ruby had decided that if Belle was dancing and she would be joining her, it would have been completely unfair to Emma to leave her behind - which was why Emma was standing outside the dance studio, instead of at home, with her three-year-old son watching some Disney movie.

The clicking of high heels behind her brought Emma out of her dream state: Belle, slightly out of breath and on incredible, purple four-inch heels, looking like she had just run from the bus stop around the corner, stopped next to her friend and bent over, trying to catch her breath.

Ruby, true to form, was nowhere in sight.

In the last few minutes, a lot of people had arrived, and it looked like there was a group of about twenty others waiting for the opening of the studio. Emma checked her watch. 18:54.

18:55.

As though by command, the light in the room behind the door came on, the large, ornate double doors were thrown open. There, at the top of the stairs, stood a woman, quite short, with blonde-brown hair braided and thrown over her shoulder, beaming at the people below her.

"Welcome to Arrow and Jones, everyone! My name is Cam. If you would like to follow me, I will show you to your class."

With that she turned and disappeared within the building, and the people waiting below followed her.

Emma had to admit that she liked what the new business had done to the old town hall. The assembly room had been cleared of the chairs, and the dais had been expanded and turned into a proper stage. Part of the room had had the wall knocked through into one of the ante-chambers, which a set of sliding divider walls replacing it. The ante-chamber had a cushioned floor and a mirrored wall. Emma though that it looked rather a lot like a ballet studio.

The main hall had been re-floored with polished wood and the whole space was well-lit. Emma looked as Belle pointed out the moving spot-lights to her.

Whoever had designed the studio had obviously a very good sense of space and knew how to best use it for dancing purposes.

In the middle of the massive room stood a couple, waiting for the students.

The woman was the one that drew attention first. She was quite tall, not as tall as her partner, but she easily matched Ruby in height, and was slim but athletic. She, unlike every woman in the room (with the exception of Emma, who had come in comfortable slacks, a t-shirt and flat shoes) was dressed simply - leggings, blue leg warmers, a loose skirt that could have just been a large piece of cloth tied at the waist, blouse and no shoes. Emma could see that some of the women in the room were pointing at the woman's attire and giggling. She did look slightly out of place, surrounded by females in sparkly, showy dresses.

The man, however, was anything but. He was dressed to how one would imagine a professional dancer to dress as - there was the fitting black trousers, loose, slightly open shirt, immaculate shoes and looked like he was wearing eyeliner.

"My oh my. That man looks good enough to eat."

True to form, Ruby had appeared at the last possible second and was now staring at the man who would probably be their instructor with a wolfish expression in her eyes.

It was true. The man, despite his questionable interest in make up (seriously, was that eyeliner AND mascara?), was absolutely gorgeous, and the other women in the room felt it too. There was more than one suggestive look flying in his direction.

A clock, probably the one on top of the tower of the church opposite struck 7.

The couple, who up until that point had been almost completely immobile and smiling looked at each other. The woman stepped forward.

"Welcome to our Dance Studio. I am Mira Arrow..."

"...and I am Killian Jones, and together we own this humble little place." At this point, he made a little bow. Ruby swooned.

"We are here to help you to learn to dance. Today's session is free and offered as a taster to anyone who wants to try this out." Mira paused for effect. "Please understand that we are very dedicated to what we do. If you are here to enjoy yourself we are more than happy to have you among us. If you wish to learn for professional purposes or for a special occasion, we are more than happy to accommodate you. If you are here to support someone, we appreciate your presence and interest. However, we do not want anyone who is here to show off, or to make others feel uncomfortable, or someone who is not really interested in keeping up with classes. There are advanced classes available during the week, and we can always discuss schedules to accommodate some individuals, but let's be clear: this is a place of learning."

A few people looked annoyed at this point, though Emma could not fault the lady. She had a business to run and needed to know that people would commit. After all, it was likely that after the first few sessions, Emma herself would not come, and it would be better to tell them up front than to not show up with no warning.

The man had in this interval turned on the lights and moved to stand in the spotlight. "Now, if you would all pair off, we are going to show you the steps to a simple waltz. Find a partner and move to a place anywhere in the room where you can see our feet." Belle turned to the blonde and grabbed her hand, looking at her intently with eyes that said please, please don't leave me. The room did contain quite a few more women then men, and Emma had already accepted that this was going to be inevitable.

Ruby on the other hand had somehow managed to end up holding the arm of a lovely man, who looked like he had been the only one who had come without a partner, while a number of other single women looked on, obviously annoyed. They were even more annoyed by the fact that Mr Jones ignored any number of begging looks cast in his direction and remained impassively in the middle of the room.

Once everyone had managed to pair off, he spoke again. "The most important part to remember about the waltz is that you always use the feet in turn. The movements are usually the same for both parties, except they start on the other foot. Please watch."

The man started moving and talking at the same time. "The leading partner starts off on the right foot. It goes forward, turns 90 degrees clockwise before it hits the floor. Now bring the other foot round, also at 90 degrees, some distance to the left. Bring the right foot so that they rest together. Voilà, the first steps." He paused for everyone to see. He then returned to his original position and showed it again, slighty faster.

"Now, if you would?"

Ruby and Belle were amongst the first to respond - Emma's boss glided in the movement with a natural grace that few people would ever hope to have. Ruby stumbled a bit, but she too was graceful. Their movements set off the rest of the group, who all tried the steps while attempting to not fall over anyone else.

Once every one had come to a rest, Killian Jones directed them to repeat a set of similar steps - left foot back, turn it at ninety degrees, right foot step back as well, left brought sideways to re-join it. A few minutes later, he had them repeat the procedure doing those movements repeatedly, until the majority stopped stumbling about and tripping over each other.

"Now comes the easy part." Jones grinned and motioned his partner over. The woman, Mira, walked over, and leaned into the instructor's arms. "I appreciate not everyone will find this appropriate, but typically, the woman holds her right arm out and puts her left hand on the man's shoulder. The man would typically hold the outstretched arm in his left, while the right goes around the waist - if anyone feels uncomfortable, feel free to just place that hand on your partner's shoulder. "

Belle turned to her friend and in that moment Emma knew - she was being quietly manipulated into playing the part of the man. She signed and held out her left hand. Belle carefully stepped up, placing her hand on her friend's shoulder, and Emma did admit that her leading it made more sense - even in her heels Belle French barely made it to Emma's nose, and Emma was not wearing anything with even a hint of a heel.

All the couples had turned to the centre again, and watched as the instructors continued with the demonstration: "Ladies, you start with the backwards step with your left foot; gentlemen and ladies leading, you step forward with your right. Like this." The two floated around the spotlight slowly, taking great care to exaggerate the steps they were making. After a few circles, they stopped and Mira walked over to a sound system in the corner of the room. "If everyone gets some space, and tries to have a few steps on their own, we'll go around and collect some information about you and your interests, just so we can know more about why you've decided to learn to dance. We'll also be correcting your posture and of course available for help." She pressed a button and the room filled with a slow classical melody. "Now, no need to rush, feel free to take your time - we want you to be confident in your steps, not rush into it."

Belle and Emma moved to the edges of the room that now felt suddenly crowded, putting at least a couple of meters between themselves and those closest to them, and Emma allowed herself to be swept up by her friend.

It only took them about five minutes to get a slow steady rhythm up, swinging in circles around their area, steadily getting more and more comfortable with the steps. After the first thirty rounds or so, they both stopped stumbling, and they looked vaguely passable, though Emma did suspect that it may have been the due to Belle's natural grace.

It was not until about ten minutes later, as they got more and more proficient (and dizzy) that the owner came up with a clipboard. Amazingly, the woman fell into step alongside them and started asked Belle for her reasons for joining the class.

Emma zoned out and instead concentrated on the music.

"And you, madam?"

And she was back on earth after a long, delicate finger tapped her shoulder lightly.

"Sorry madam, I just need to take some details." Miss Arrow was moving next to her, pencil at the ready, hovering over the clipboard. "You might want to pause for a bit - almost fifteen minutes of swinging in circles can make you very dizzy." Emma did as instructed and slowed, Belle quickly excusing herself to go get a cup of water. "Now, may I have your name, please?"

"Emma. Emma Swan."

The look in the dance teacher's eyes appeared to be recognition, but it vanished so quickly that Emma was sure that she had imagined it. After all, where could she have possibly met this woman?

"Alright Emma. Could I please ask your age, where you work and how you came to find us."

"I'm 23, I can't really tell you anything about my job. And that girl over there found you - we are here to 'support' Belle, erm, the woman you just spoke to. She needed to learn for a wedding and, well, we tagged along."

"Ah, you are one of those. Good friend, unable to speak about work. It's ok, I just need an industry, so I'll just put what your friend said." Emma read the writing upside down - IT. That seemed accurate and ambiguous enough. "Now, I can tell that you are a little reluctant to be here. Is this because you are only supporting your friend? " The brown eyes seemed to be full of understanding and Emma had to admit that she was good - reading people and being very direct about it was a skill.

"Well. It's fun. And I think it might be good for me to do something outside of work."

"But?"

"I have a son. He's three and I can't really afford to leave him with friend or a baby-sitter every week."

"I see." The woman paused in her note taking and looked straight at Emma. "Tell you what, I'll see what I can do. We did say we would try to accommodate those who wanted to learn. Can I speak to you after the lesson for a few minutes?" Emma nodded. "Excellent! Oh, and very good posture, the both of you."

The woman ducked out and Emma was left to wonder what exactly made her want to say that she wanted to keep dancing.

"I'm so sorry for leaving you!" Belle had returned. "Want to continue?"

They continued with their dance.

Altogether, the rest of the lesson went well. Killian stopped them after another five minutes and introduced them to a strange little triangular step that he told them would keep them from being dizzy, and more than one person was grateful for it by the end of the lesson.

"Excuse me? Everyone? This is in regards to the next session, for those wishing to join." The woman was standing on a chair this time, so that everyone could hear her. "The next lesson will be on Wednesday, 7pm, held here. I would advise everyone who did not feel entirely stable on their heels to wear sensible, flat shoes. Bare feet are fine but we don't advise just socks, and we cannot accept liability for anyone who injures themselves because they are overly confident in their abilities to balance on the dance floor." She paused, probably for effect. "Now, regarding the payment. Please be aware that we can only accept cash, unless you are paying for a set of 10 weeks, in which we can take card. The prices are…" Emma zoned out - it was rather pointless, seeing as she was not coming anymore. She didn't come to until Belle gently tugged on her sleeve: "Come on, I'm sure Henry is ready for bed now. He'll want to see you."

Emma obediently followed her two friends, only to be interrupted by hearing someone calling her name: "Miss Swan?"

She turned around.

"Oh. Oh! I m so sorry, I forgot…"

"It's okay, Miss Swan, no need to apologise. Could I speak to you for a moment?" Mira lead her into an alcove outside the main studio room. "Miss Swan, I am going to teach a kids' class on Wednesdays, parallel to the adult one, one I think could suit your son. I used to do gymnastics, and I'm planning to work with kids on dance moves and general flexibility. Would you think your son would like that?"

Emma turned red. "That is very kind, but I really don't think I can afford that."

"Actually, the usual charge for the dance classes is eight quid. I could tell you weren't really paying attention during that part." Mira winked at her. "We normally do discounts for couples and kids, but I was wondering if, since there would be four of you, you'd like a special deal. You, your friend Miss French, Miss Lucas and your son, all for the price of twenty pounds?" Seeing that the woman before her gaping like a fish, she smiled. "You think over it, and give me a call, okay."

So Emma found herself walking home, holding a business card, bearing: 'Mira Enya Arrow, Dance instructor', and a hastily scribbled phone number. Maybe it would be worth it. It was a very reasonable price, after all.

And that Killian Jones did look good enough to eat, just like Ruby said.

AN: Hope you enjoyed part one. Feel free to PM me at any point - constructive criticism is welcome xx