Sailor With a Heart of Fire || A DuckTales Story

Fancy Footed

A few years had passed, now Elliot was five, and Delilah was four. Elliot had found himself to be very good at dancing, and Daisy even signed him up for monthly dance classes with a private instructor. Elliot would often clear some space in his bedroom to dance alone, and that was just what he was going to do today. He was planning to choreograph his own dance that he would show his mother and sister later. Little did he know that these dance sessions were not entirely a secret; Daisy had noticed him doing this, and peeked into his room to see him do it today. He freed up the space, and looked around. Before he turned the music on, however, Daisy found him talking to himself.

"Come on Elliot," he said to himself. "You shouldn't be nervous, this is your family...but they might give you a tiny bit of criticism — no stop! You'll have to show them eventually."

He sighed, then turned on some music. From there he moved to the middle of the room, and started moving as the music played.

He's amazing! Daisy thought.

She watched as Elliot started slowly, then as the music changed its tune, he moved faster. He chasséd, he ballchanged, he pirouetted, and all absolutely flawless. Daisy was very impressed, and Elliot was rather out of breath when he'd finished. Daisy quietly snuck away from his room.

"He shouldn't be as nervous as he is about showing this to others," she whispered to herself. "He's an amazing dancer! Hmmm..."

That evening, as the family had their dinner, Elliot looked rather pleased with himself.

"Hey Elliot," Delilah piped up. "I heard music coming from your room, were you dancing again?" she asked eagerly.

"Yep," Elliot said proudly. "Now I've got choreography for my dance set in stone!"

"Well," Daisy began with a smile, "I'd personally like to see it sometime soon."

"Oooh yeah!" Delilah agreed.

"Uh..." Elliot looked rather nervous being put on the spot like that. "I dunno..." he said finally. "I'm really nervous when it comes to dancing for an audience."

"You shouldn't be," Daisy said. "You're an amazing dancer!"

"Yeah!" Delilah agreed once more.

"Well — it's just —" Elliot was struggling to find words. "Oh...maybe."

"Well, I heard there's a dance competition at the Duckburg Fine Arts Center next week," said Daisy. "And it's specifically for young dancers."

"Ooooh!" Delilah gasped. "Do it! Do it! Do it!" she chanted to Elliot.

"Oh — well...alright," Elliot sighed with a grin.

Daisy chuckled a little as Delilah stopped chanting. "I'll sign you up with a spot, okay?"

"Okay."

One week and a half later, the day had finally arrived. Elliot waited backstage for his number to come, his heart pounding furiously against his ribs. He had been rehearsing this dance all week, and it had built up to this. Soon, the number that was onstage came to an end, and he was next.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen," said the announcer over the stage speakers, "we present to you a self-choreographed combination of ballet and jazz by Elliot Duck!"

Elliot tried to swallow his nervousness as he walked to the center of the stage, waiting for his music to start, and it did. At once, he went through with his moves, trying to imagine he was doing this in his bedroom rather than on stage, and it sort of helped. He did it just as he did before, he started slow with his pliés, then his poses as the music came to its beats, then his chassés, ballchanges and pirouettes, and before he knew it, his dance was done and he was in his final pose. The audience exploded with applause as the lights blacked out. With that, Elliot quickly ran backstage and sat on a chair, breathing heavily.

"How did I do that?" he breathed.

After the final two numbers, the awards ceremony was starting. The young dancers flooded back onto the stage, the announcers in front of them next to tables of small, but still valuable looking, trophies. The other awards went by rather quickly, then it was time for the top three. Elliot waited nervously, his heart practically bouncing back and forth against his ribs. Third place was announced, then second, who would be first?

"And taking home first place," the announcer said, "with his truly incredible combination of jazz and ballet, Mr. Elliot Duck!"

The many young dancers and audience went wild as Elliot put his hands over his beak. He stood up and walked up to the announcer, who held the small trophy that was waiting for him. He took it, and saw his blushing face reflected on it. He smiled and turned to the audience. Looking hard enough, he saw his mom and little sister in the eighth row, and they were cheering for him more than anyone, and that's saying a lot, because the audience seemed to love him! Elliot's eyes sparkled with humble pride, as did his feelings.

"Thanks for doing this for me mom," Elliot said gratefully as he and his family ate at a restaurant for lunch.

"Well, I thought it would be a nice reward —" Daisy began, but Elliot cut her off.

"No, not this," he said. "Thank you...for signing me up for that competition. I think it really worked to boost my confidence a little."

Daisy smiled. "I'm glad," she said gently. "You're such a great dancer. I'm so proud of you."

Elliot blushed once more.

"Me too," Delilah added. "It was amazing!"

"Thanks guys," said Elliot, almost about to cry.