Hearts Reunited - Chapter 5: A Fancy Ball Purin-chan: Ohohoho! How is my (possibly going to be long) series so far? That title is just too plain. One day if I ever come up with a better one than "A Ball", I'll change it. Well on to the chappie :D. Disclaimer: ....................... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "You really shouldn't be spying on your brother like that," a deep voice said. "Oh really? And this coming from the person who was spying on HIS brother just yesterday?" a girl with long, wavy blond hair and bright blue eyes replied. "I wasn't SPYing on him, I was CHECKing on him," he said, looking up at the clouds. "Yeah, sure, right," she said as she went back to looking through a cloud portal. "I would like to propose a toast," Ferio said standing up. "Would you like butter on that?" Hikaru asked. Everyone else at the table sweatdropped. Ferio cleared his throat, "For the return of the magic knights." Everyone else lifted their cups. Hikaru realized what everyone was doing and lifted her cup in the same fashion a few seconds after everyone else. Ferio sat back down and continued his dinner. As did everyone else. Hikaru was a few seconds late again. "There will be a ball tomorrow evening. I hope everyone will be able to attend." Ferio said. "A ball? But I don't have anything to wear!" Umi whined. "I have nothing to wear either." Fuu said. "Neither do I. Hey I have an idea! Let's go shopping tomorrow!" Hikaru said happily. "Good idea! But, where do they sell dresses here in Cephiro?" Umi asked. "And besides, we do not own any of Cephiro's money." Fuu said. "Oh...yeah..." Hikaru said as her hopes disappeared. Umi saw Hikaru's sad expression, "Hey, why don't we go ask Caldina where to get dresses for the ball." Hikaru and Fuu nodded. "Your will." "Our will?" "Have you forgotten? Will is everything here in Cephiro," Caldina said to the three girls standing in front of her, "If you wish for a dress with all your heart, you will get one." "We didn't forget...we just didn't remember right away." Umi said sweatdropping. "Yeah? Well, try it out now. Wish for whatever dress ya like." Caldina said. "Do you have a dress, Caldina-san?" Fuu asked. "Do I have a dress? Of course I do! I've got many dresses!" Caldina said laughing. She walked off towards her room. "So we use our will to create dresses for the ball?" Hikaru asked. "That's what Caldina said." Umi said. "We should try it now." Fuu said. All three girls closed their eyes and concentrated on images of their dresses. The next day... Lantis was out sleeping against a tree. Lafarga came up to him. "Do you plan on sleeping out here until the ball tonight?" Lafarga asked him. Lantis didn't reply. "I take that as a yes," Lafarga walked off. "I'll just keep this here until tonight," Hikaru said as she put her dress on her bed. She left her room in search of Lantis. She found him leaning against the tree outside the castle. Lantis seemed to be asleep. Hikaru walked over and sat down beside him. She leaned her head on his shoulder. "Hikaru..." Lantis whispered in his sleep. Hikaru giggled and lay her head down in his lap. She fell asleep in this position. Umi sat down on her bed with her dress in her arms. "I don't have anyone to dance with tonight," she thought, "well, maybe Ascot will dance with me." Umi giggled at the thought. She then realized what she had just thought of. "Is that possible? Is it possible that I am starting to...like Ascot?" she wondered. Sierra finished creating her dress for the ball. "I hope Clef likes this one," she said smiling. "Should I wear this one? Nah, that's what I wore last time. How 'bout this one?" Caldina said to herself as she was going through her wardrobe with all the dresses she had made for the past balls. "I think this one is nice." "I think so too...huh?" Caldina turned around, "Lafarga!!! You're not supposed to see what I'm wearing until the ball tonight!" she said smiling. "I was just checking up on you. I'm going to go see Clef now," he said. "Hold on a minute!" Caldina threw her arms around his neck and pecked him on the lips. "Ok, you can go now." Clef was doing his daily inspection of Cephiro from his room. He was using the ceiling as the screen of course. The door opened. "What is it, Lafarga?" "I just came to check on you, doshi." "I'm fine." "Ok then, I shall be leaving now." Lafarga walked off towards Ferio's room. Fuu sat down on her bed. "I wonder what Ferio will be wearing..." she thought. "Oh, of course he'll be wearing his prince costume," she thought to herself giggling. "I hope he likes this dress, I focused all my will on him to create it." Lafarga entered Ferio's room. "Hey, you think this crown looks crappy on me?" Ferio asked him. "No, it looks fine." "Well of course you'd say that. I want an honest opinion now," Ferio said as he spun around to look at Lafarga. "Seriously, it looks fine." "Whatever." Ferio took the crown off. "You should be getting ready for the ball too. It starts in less than two hours." "I probably won't wear anything different." Ferio sighed. "Fuu, can you help me get this zipper up?" Umi asked her while trying to fumble with her zipper. Fuu came over and zipped it up for her. "Arigatou." Umi said as she picked up the hair brush. "Your welcome, Umi-san." Fuu continued to get ready for the ball. Lantis woke up. He was about to stand up, but saw Hikaru sleeping with her head in his lap. Instead, he picked her up and carried her to the castle. "Does this necklace make me look weird?" Umi asked Fuu. "It looks beautiful, Umi-san." "Why thank you, Fuu. Hey where's Hikaru?" Umi asked. "I don't know, I haven't seen her since we made our dresses," Fuu replied. That was when Umi noticed the necklace Fuu was wearing. "Fuu! Where did you get that?! It's gorgeous!" Umi said gawking over the jade necklace. Fuu smiled, "Ferio gave it to me." "Oh, I see. No wonder it's so pretty." Umi winked at Fuu. There was a knock at the door. "Come in, it's unlocked." Umi said while fastening a sapphire earring on. Lantis walked through the door carrying a sleeping Hikaru. He stared at the two girls. "Will Hikaru be as beautiful as you two are when she's done?" he asked. "She'll be prettier than us if we help her out." Umi replied. "Then I'll leave her to you." Lantis set her down on a chair where she woke up. Lantis left the room. Hikaru stretched. "Is it morning yet?" she muttered. Umi had Hikaru's dress in her arms. "I bet she focused her will on Lantis when she made this," Umi thought to herself. "Hikaru-san, there's only an hour left until the ball. We need to get you fixed up." Fuu said smiling. "Huh? Did I sleep that long???" Hikaru asked with a hint of worry in her voice. "Don't worry, we'll help you get ready." Umi said. "Geez, I wonder what's taking those girls so long." Ferio said waiting at the side of the ballroom. "Girls are girls, they always take forever trying to get ready for something," Ascot said. "Well the wait had better be worth it," Ferio muttered. Lantis walked up to the two. "How long have you been waiting here?" he asked. Both Ascot and Ferio looked up at him. "Ten minutes." "And they still haven't showed up." Ferio added. He said the word "still" as if he despised it with all his heart. "It'll be worth it," Lantis said looking over at the dancing couples. Ferio blinked at him. "How do you know?" Lantis shrugged. "Just a hunch." "Well it had better be, because if it's not..." Ferio was cut off by Ascot who was gawking in the direction of the doorway. "What's the matter?" Ferio looked over to the doorway to see the trio of beautiful girls. His jaw dropped. Lantis looked over too. He stared as if he had never seen such a magnificent sight ever before in his life. (Like he has ^^;) "They're gawking at us. Just like I said they would." Umi said trying to muffle a giggle. Fuu walked over to Ferio. "Try not to drool on me when we're dancing," she whispered in his ear. "Huh? Oh, oops." Ferio bowed. Fuu was wearing a long silky green dress, which stopped just short of her ankles, and hugged her in all the right places. Her sleeves were short, and she had small white gloves on. She had her hair in a loose green ribbon, which had a soft pink flower on it. The shade of pink went perfectly with the light shade of green of her outfit. She wore a golden tiara with a green jewel in front. Hikaru was about to run over to Lantis, but remembered what Umi had told her. [Flashback] "I've never worn a dress before..." Hikaru said as Umi and Fuu were helping her into her outfit. "Don't worry, there are just a few simple rules." Umi said. "Rules?" "First off, you can't run in a dress." Umi said as she tied Hikaru's hair up. "Second of all, you need to know how to curtsie." Umi said as she put a clip in Hikaru's hair. "Lastly, remember to act a bit more mature when you're in a formal dress." Umi said as she doused Hikaru in perfume. Hikaru coughed. "I think that's enough perfume Umi..." [End Flashback] Hikaru walked gracefully towards Lantis and curtsied. Lantis had his mouth open at this point. "Konbanwa! Lantis!" Hikaru said smiling. She was wearing a bright red velvet dress that went all the way down to her ankles. It had a beautiful design in diamonds on the front. Her sleeves were partly see-through, and hooked around her middle finger, princess-style. Umi had tied her hair up in a high ponytail, which was different than how she usually wore it. It was held up by a single pale pink ribbon. She also had a clip in her hair, which had a ruby rose on it. She wore a tiara similar to Fuu's, except it had a red jewel in the front. Lantis finally snapped out of it. He followed Ferio's example and bowed. Umi walked over to Ascot giggling. She was wearing a tight blue dress which too went down to her ankles. It was sleeveless, and seemed to shine everywhere. Her hair was tied up in a tight bun, which was held together by two sapphire sticks. She had tight white gloves, which stopped just short of her shoulders. She also wore a similar tiara with a blue jewel in front. (This is what happens when I watch too much Sailor Moon X_x;) Ascot started drooling. (But hey, who can blame him? Ohohoho!) "Ascot, you're drooling." She said to him. "Err..." Ascot bowed quickly and came up blushing. He was the only one of the three guys who was dressed differently. It was similar to a white tuxedo, except the back of his shirt went all the way down and stopped short of his ankles. He was not wearing a hat. Ferio was the first to say something. "Fuu, would you give me the pleasure of dancing with you?" he asked her holding his hand out and bowing yet again. "The pleasure's all mine." Fuu placed her hand in his and followed him out to the dance floor. Lantis was next. "Hikaru, would you like to dance?" Lantis said bowing and holding his hand out in the same fashion Ferio did. "Ummm...ok," Hikaru followed Fuu's example and Lantis led her out to the dance floor. Ascot was a little shy... "Umm...Umi?" "Yes, Ascot?" "Would you...uhh...like to...to dance?" Ascot stuttered. Umi smiled. "I'd be glad to." She followed Ascot out to the dance floor too. "Aren't those three couples just the most adorable you've ever seen?" Sierra asked Clef. Clef nodded. "I just hope the magic knights never have to go back. The boys are so dull without them." "I hope so too..." Clef said. "You're a great leader, Ferio," Fuu said smiling. "And a great leader needs a great partner to dance with. The music was a medium paced waltz. (Put on that Waltz of the Moon music FF8 fans *-*) "Um Lantis?" "Yes, Hikaru?" "I don't know how to waltz..." Hikaru was staring at Fuu and Ferio who were dancing together gracefully. "Don't worry, all you have to do is follow me. It's a three step dance so keep that in mind." Hikaru looked puzzled. "Just follow along the best you can." "Ok!" Umi and Ascot were dancing, not as gracefully as Fuu and Ferio, but very well indeed. "You're a great leader Ascot!" Umi said smiling. Her smile made Ascot blush harder. "Uhh...err..." Umi giggled. She saw Sierra and Clef watching them from the side. "Ascot, can you excuse me for a moment?" she asked him. "Uhh...sure..." Ascot said still blushing. Umi walked off towards them. Ascot took this chance to get his face back to its normal color. "Why aren't you two dancing?" she asked placing her hands on her hips. "Uhh...why would we be?" Sierra asked slightly blushing. "Aww, come on." Umi shoved them both out to the dance floor. "Hey wait!" Clef started. "Geez, you two act like you've never danced together." "Well err...we haven't..." Sierra said sweatdropping. "Oh...well this will be your first time then! Get out there!" Umi shoved them both out. Clef hesitated. "You know how to waltz right?" Sierra asked. "Of course I do." "Well I guess we have to. Umi will never go away if we don't." Umi was standing aside waiting for them to do something. Clef sighed. He put one hand on Sierra's hip and the other out to grasp her hand. He led her around the waltz floor. Umi smiled. "Well I did my good deed for the day." She walked back over to Ascot to continue the dance. Lantis was leading Hikaru around the dance floor. Hikaru wasn't doing so well. "Three steps, remember?" Lantis asked her. "Oh yeah." Hikaru sweatdropped. "1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3," Hikaru thought in her mind. "I never knew Hikaru-san could dance," Fuu said to Ferio. "If she couldn't, then her will is allowing her to right now," he said to her. "She is the pillar after all. She's got the strongest will in all of Cephiro." "Was the pillar. I guess you're right though." Fuu smiled as she put her head down on his shoulder. "I never knew Hikaru could dance," Umi said looking in Hikaru and Lantis's direction. (eek! *changes the song back to Waltz of the Moon on her Winamp player* no I don't want to listen to Eyes on Me just now...I'm saving that for later *wink wink*) Ascot was still blushing. "It must be her will. She was the pillar of Cephiro after all." Umi said as she looked back at Ascot, smiling. Ascot blushed harder. He dropped his head in order to hide his blush from Umi. He nodded in response. "I know you're blushing," she whispered in his ear. His ears turned red with embarassment. Umi giggled. "You're dancing," Lantis said to the now happy Hikaru. "I know! It's really easy after all!" Hikaru said smiling. Lantis smiled (one of his rare smiles) back. "Are you tired of dancing yet?" Ferio asked Fuu. "I don't mind. Are you?" Fuu asked smiling up at Ferio. "She's so beautiful..." Ferio thought to himself. "Are you thinking odd things about me again?" Fuu asked. "Errrrrr.....no, why would I be?" Ferio asked innocently. "You always do." Ferio sighed. "Alright, alright I give! I'm tired of dancing. Is there anything else you want to do?" Ferio asked her. "Whatever you want to do is fine." Fuu rested her head on his shoulder again. Hikaru looked around. "What's wrong?" Lantis asked her. "I'm a bit thirsty. Do they have any punch or something here?" Hikaru asked. Lantis nodded and led her towards the punch. Near the punch bowl... "My, this party is really awesome isn't it Geo?" Zazu said as he gulped down another shot of champagne. Geo looked around the dance floor. "Hey look! It's Hikaru and Lantis!" he said pointing at them. "Huh? What *hic* are you and *hic* ant is?" Zazu asked looking drunk. Geo sweatdropped. "You had too much alchohol again." "No I didn't." Zazu drank another shot, much to Geo's disgust. Hikaru walked over to the punch bowl and helped herself to a cup. "Hikaru! Lantis!" Geo waved at them. Hikaru looked up. "Geo! And Zazu too!" she said happily. Lantis followed her over to Geo and Zazu. "What are you doing here?" she asked them with a smile on her face. "It really is you! I hardly recognized you in a dress and your hair up like that!" Geo said. "*hic* huh? What's going on?" Zazu asked drunkily. Geo sweatdropped again. He cleared his throat. "We got an invitation to the ball from Ferio. You'll have to ask him why we were invited." "I don't know why we were invited, but I'm sure *hic* happy we did get invited!" Zazu said as he gulped down another shot of champagne. Hikaru and Geo sweatdropped. Umi noticed two very familiar people out of the corner of her eye. "Tarta! Tatra!" Umi said walking over to them. Ascot followed slowly. "Umi?" Tarta wondered. "I've missed you two!" Umi said hugging Tarta, then Tatra. "It is Umi! You look so different in that!" Tarta said. "You don't like it?" Umi asked a bit disappointed. "Of course I do! It makes you look prettier than you already are! Your partner here must be really glad!" Tarta said looking over at the now completely red Ascot. "So, how have you been Umi?" Tatra asked. "Fine, I came back to Cephiro not too long ago." "That's nice." Tatra clapped her hands together happily. "Why don't we have tea together sometime again?" Tarta and Umi sweatdropped. "Uh, sure Tatra!" Umi said smiling. As Ferio was leading Fuu out the doors, she saw two familiar figures. "Aska-san!" Fuu said stopping Ferio. Aska turned around. Sang Yung poured the punch into the cup and it overflowed as he looked over to where the voice had come from. "Fuu!" Aska ran over to her. Fuu bent down and hugged Aska. "I thought you would be here! That's why Sang Yung and I came," Aska said smiling. "Well, I sure am glad to see you here Aska-san," Fuu said smiling back. "Aska, here's your punch." Sang Yung said handing her a new cup. "Arigatou, Sang Yung," she said smiling at him. Fuu smiled again. "I see that he doesn't call you by 'Aska-sama' anymore." "No he doesn't. I insisted that he call me Aska. It took a while, but he finally got used to it." Ferio cleared his throat. "I'm sorry Aska-san but I have to leave now," Fuu said. "That's alright. We still will have tea together sometime won't we?" Aska asked her. Fuu smiled. "Of course we will!" "Then I'll look forward to that time." Aska said smiling back. "Well we have to be going. Lantis said that he wanted to show me something," Hikaru said smiling at Geo and Zazu, who was 100% drunk at this point. "Please take care of Zazu. I don't think he'll be standing for a while," Hikaru said sweatdropping at Zazu who was sitting on the ground with a deep pink face. "Of course I will. Have a nice night you two," Geo said bowing. Lantis took her hand and led her out the doorway. "Look at all the pretty birdies...*hic*" Zazu muttered. "Hey look! There go Lantis and Hikaru! I wonder what they're up to," Umi said as a sly grin crossed her face. "Um...Umi?" "Yes, Ascot?" "You're not going to spy on them are you?" he asked her. "Who said I was spying them? I'm simply going to same direction." Umi grabbed his hand and walked after Lantis and Hikaru. "Hey wait a minute! I don't want to get involved in this!" Ascot said trying to release his hand from Umi's. Umi turned around and placed a soft kiss on Ascot's cheek. "Please???" she asked with pleading eyes. Ascot was a deeper shade of red now. "Uhh...err...ok..." "Arigatou, Ascot." Fuu and Ferio arrived at the garden. They sat down on the edge of the fountain. (Ok, NOW it's time for Eyes on Me...*puts that music on* Hey let's turn this into a songfic! not) "This place is a lot prettier at night," Fuu said looking up at the stars through the glass ceiling. Ferio wrapped his arms around her. "Ferio..." "Shh..." Ferio said burying his face in her hair. Lantis led Hikaru into the garden. "Do you remember?" Lantis asked her. Hikaru nodded. He led her over to the fountain and took a seat on the opposite side of Fuu and Ferio. The fountain started to glow faintly. Fuu looked down into the water. She saw small spheres of light in it. Fuu smiled. Ferio moved his face to Fuu's neck. "Ferio, don't," she pushed him away gently. Ferio looked disappointed. "I'm sor..." Ferio was cut off by Fuu's kiss. He was shocked at first, but quickly returned the kiss. "Is this what you wanted to show me?" Hikaru asked looking into the fountain. Lantis hesitated before gently lifting her chin up to him. "Lantis..." He lowered his face to hers... "This is just TOO good," Umi said snickering from one of the other doorways, "I came here expecting just one couple, but got TWO instead!" Ascot wrapped his arms around her from behind. Umi was shocked. "Ascot..." "Don't say anything, just let me hold you for a little while..." The fountain glowed brightly. *** Whenever sang my songs On this stage, on my own Whenever said my words Wishing they would be heard I saw you smiling at me Was it real or just my fantasy You'd always be there in the corner Of this tiny little bar My last night here for you Same old songs, just once more My last night here with you Maybe yes, maybe no I kind of liked it your way How you shyly placed your eyes on me Did you ever know That I had mine on you... Darling so there you are With that look on your face As if you're never hurt As if you're never down Shall I be the one for you Who pinches you softly, but sure If frown is shown then I will know that you are no dreamer So let me come to you Close as I wanna be Close enough for me To feel your heart beating fast And stay there as I whisper How I love your peaceful eyes on me Did you ever know That I had mine on you Darling so share with me Your love if you have enough Your tears if you're holding back Or pain if that's what it is How can I let you know I'm more than the dress and the voice Just reach me out then You will know that you are not dreaming Darling so there you are With that look on your face As if you're never hurt As if you're never down Shall I be the one for you Who pinches you softly, but sure If frown is shown then I will know that you are no dreamer ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Purin-chan: So I put the song in there after all X_x;. I did NOT I repeat did NOT copy those lyrics from somewhere! I actually had to listen to the song and type it all out! Of course I had heard it millions of times before and probably could have typed it without listening but that's a whole different story! Hoped you liked this chapter! This is just the beginning of all the mush MUAHAHAHAHA! By the way, I did NOT make up that song (I'd be a millionaire if I could come up with songs like that). That honor belongs to the company that made Final Fantasy 8, Squaresoft. I did NOT sing that song either X_x;. That pleasure belongs to Faye Wong. It's a good song, so if you haven't heard it yet download it off Napster or something. By the way, I changed the title! Like it? X_x;. Anyway... REVIEW PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!