So if you didn't read Rapid Fire 7, Fireworks, you probably won't want to read this story if your picky about spoilers. I mean, there's not that many, but still. Anyway, I woke up early this morning to read the story, all excited and hoping that Ian would kiss Amy at midnight ((me being the Amian fan that I am)). To my disappointment, the author didn't even INCLUDE midnight in the story, much less anyone kissing anyone else. The best the Amian fans got was Ian's jaw dropping slightly when he saw Amy in her dress.
So after I finished reading, I immediately got on my iPod and began writing. And this is what came of it. Even I admit that it's not realistic, because if Ian ever kissed Amy, do you think she would be dating Evan now? Nah. This is just a little fantasy for the Amian fans who didn't get enough out of Fireworks.
KTRose does not own the 39 Clues ((although she would like to own Ian...SO SHE CAN BEAT HIM UP FOR BEING SUCH A STUCK-UP, SELF-CONSCIOUS IDIOT!))
The party was going great.
Amy looked around the wrap-around balcony of the Eiffel Tower. The place looked spectacular, better than she had imagined. She had been afraid that the others would think the whole thing was lame, just like the rest of her ideas, but as she looked around, she knew that it had worked. Hamilton and Dan were chasing each other around with super-soakers, Natalie and Nellie were going around sampling every item of food that was brought around by the waiters, Jonah was still in his own little world, spinning music to his heart's delight, and Ian had even somehow convinced Sinead to try to dance to the groove Jonah was making.
Amy was laughing at the look on Sinead's face as Ian tried to ballroom dance to Jonah's hip-hop music, when a blast of water suddenly shot over her head, misting water on her hair.
She whirled around.
"Sorry!" Dan said, holding his super-soaker to his chest. He waited for his sister to scold him, to yell at him for messing up the party, or even just hold out her hand and take the super-soaker away.
Instead, she smiled. "Oh, you will be." She grabbed another super-soaker from the table and shot it at Dan.
A huge grin split Dan's face. "WAR!"
Amy chased after him, blasting water at the back of his tux t-shirt.
"Hamilton! Help me out here!" Dan hollered, diving behind his older cousin.
Hamilton grinned. "Sorry, bro," he said. "I don't super-soak girls."
Amy aimed carefully and shot a stream of water directly in Hamilton's face.
Hamilton spluttered for a moment, then grinned. "Unless they super-soak me first!" He and Dan charged at Amy, who just laughed and dashed in the other direction.
"Sinead!" she yelped as she got sprayed from behind. "I need backup here!"
Sinead laughed from where she was dancing with Ian. "I'd love to, but this British bonehead won't let me go until I perfect my box step."
Amy grinned. "I'll fix that." She aimed, a fired a blast of water at Ian's back.
Jonah cut the music.
The balcony was silent as Ian slowly turned around. His tux was drenched. He looked up at Amy, his amber eyes burning.
"Oh," he said menacingly, "you're going to pay for that." He sprinted to the super-soaker table and began blasting water at Amy.
Sinead got herself her own super-soaker, then ran to help Amy. It was the two of them against Dan, Hamilton, and Ian.
"No fair!" Amy yelped. "Three against two!"
"Perhaps we can help even the odds," Natalie piped up sweetly from behind the boys.
Hamilton, Ian, and Dan whirled around. Natalie and Nellie had super-soakers aimed right at them.
"ATTACK!" Nellie yelled.
"AHHHHHH!" The boys yelled, turning to run. But Amy and Sinead had them cut off on the other side.
"Jonah! Help us out, man!" Hamilton yelled at the music booth. But Jonah just grinned, then tapped his ear and shook his head like he couldn't hear him.
All the waiters had disappeared, most likely deciding to take cover until their employers had ceased in their water battle.
It was a stand-off. Ian, Dan, and Hamilton had their backs to each other, pointing their super-soakers at the girls. Nellie and Natalie had them trapped on one side, Amy and Sinead on the other.
Suddenly, Ian dropped his gun. "I surrender!" he called.
"IAN!" Hamilton and Dan cried.
"Come join us!" Sinead called cheerfully.
Ian picked up his super-soaker and went to Amy and Sinead's side, standing between them.
"TRAITOR!" Dan accused, but Ian just smirked.
Suddenly, Hamilton dropped his super-soaker, too.
"Ham!" Dan yelped.
"I surrender," said the older boy.
"Over here!" Natalie said, gesturing for him to join them.
Hamilton picked up his super-soaker and joined Natalie and Nellie on their side.
Now it was just Dan, alone in the center. "Hey, guys," he said nervously, "I'm crippled. You wouldn't shoot at a crippled guy, right?"
In response, Natalie yelled, "ATTACK!" Everyone shot water at Dan, who began laughing hysterically, having the time of his life. He blindly shot around in hopeless defense, laughing so hard he nearly choked on the water.
Eventually, it stopped being Dan vs Everyone Else, and the water battle became "every man for himself," as Ian put it.
Or, "Every woman for herself," as Natalie added, before soaking her brother for his insensitivity towards her gender.
After awhile, the super-soakers ran out of water, and they all collapsed to the floor, exhausted and soaked. The heat lamps that were hanging above slowly dried them off. Jonah had started up the music again, and the waiters had emerged from their hiding spots with plates of dessert.
It was eleven o'clock. One hour before midnight in Paris.
Everyone started on dessert, then just roamed around the balcony, too tired to do anything but talk. But, eventually, Natalie managed to drag Dan onto the dance floor when Jonah put on a song that was slightly easier to dance to than the tunes he had been playing before.
"You need to learn to dance," she insisted.
Dan groaned as she pulled him to the dance floor. "Why?" he protested as she forced him to put one hand on her waist. "It's not like it'd help me in any dangerous situation."
Natalie cocked an eyebrow and took his hand. "You never know."
"Come on, Tomas." On the other side of the balcony, Sinead was having less success with getting Hamilton to dance.
"I don't like dancing," he said stubbornly, not moving an inch.
"And you think I do?" Sinead shot back. "But Natalie's right, for once."
"I heard that!"
"It's good practice," Sinead continued. "You'll never know when you'll need to know how to dance."
Hamilton groaned. "Fine." He let Sinead lead him to the dance floor.
Amy was sitting at a table, watching her family dance, when she heard a voice say at her shoulder, "Everyone else is dancing."
Amy looked up at Ian. "N-not everyone," she stammered, her face heating up at the idea of dancing with Ian. "N-Nellie's not."
Actually, Nellie looked fairly content with siting where she was, sampling the different desserts. Nevertheless, Ian shrugged.
"Suit yourself," he said, then went over to Nellie.
Amy couldn't hear what was said, but somehow Ian was able to pull Nellie away from her dessert and lead her to the dance floor.
Amy let out a sigh—partly of relief, partly of disappointment. She tried to make herself think about Evan Tolliver, who had asked her to the movies last week and was close to approaching the title of Steady Boyfriend.
"Penny for your thoughts?"
Amy jumped a foot out of her seat. "Jonah! I didn't see you leave the booth!"
Jonah flashed her his famous smile and pulled up a chair next to her. "I put on a disc so I could come out here and try the dessert." He grabbed a plate of cake from a passing waiter and began digging into it hungrily.
After a minute, he looked up at Amy again. "So, what were you thinking about?" he asked. "You had an intense look on your face."
Amy shrugged. "Just thinking about tomorrow," she lied. "We need to get you back in time for your filming in the morning, then we have to take Ian and Natalie back to London, then we need to take Hamilton back home, then—"
"Yo, yo, yo!" Jonah interrupted, laughing. "Why are you thinking about leaving so soon? You trying to get rid of us or something?"
"Of course not. I was just—"
"So, why're you thinking about tomorrow?" Jonah interrupted. He gestured at the others. "Look at them."
Sinead was laughing as she tried avoiding getting stepped on by Hamilton's stumbling feet. Ian twirled Nellie, who's black and gold hair stuck out in all different directions. Even Dan looked like he was having a bit of a good time as he dipped Natalie, then pretended to drop her, making her shriek.
"This I'd probably the most fun they've had in months," Jonah said. "I know it has been for me."
"It has been for me, too," Amy said.
Jonah looked at her. "Ever heard of carpe dium, cuz? It means 'seize the day' in Latin. Seize the moment! Don't think about tomorrow! You have—" He glanced at the clock on the wall, which read 11:35, "—twenty-five minutes until then."
"We have the balcony until eight in the morning," Amy put in, a smile growing on her face.
Jonah spread out his arms. "Even better!"
Amy grinned. "Jonah, do you want to dance?"
Jonah stood up. "I thought you'd never ask." He held out his arm in a mock-formal manner, and Amy rested her hand on top of his. They walked to the dance floor as a new song started up, and began to dance.
The partners switched around a few times. Finally, when Nellie cut in and began dancing with Dan (much to Dan's dismay), Amy got up the courage to walk over to where Natalie and Ian were dancing.
"Carpe dium," she murmured to herself as she walked over to the siblings. "Seize the day, Amy."
She tapped on Natalie's shoulder and asked, "May I cut in?"
Natalie smiled and stepped back. Amy thought she heard the younger Kabra mutter, "About time," as she walked away.
Ian slipped his hand around Amy's waist, and she rested her hand on his shoulder.
"I thought you were avoiding me," Ian commented as a new song started up.
"I was," Amy admitted.
Ian raised an eyebrow.
"But someone told me that I should seize the moment," she said, glancing over to the music booth, where Jonah had returned and was spinning music again. He caught her eye and gave her a thumbs-up.
"I'm glad you did," Ian said, spinning her. "You look beautiful in that gown."
"You don't look too bad yourself," Amy teased. "How long has it been since you wore a tux?"
"Too long," Ian groaned, making her laugh.
"Well, how long has it been since you wore something like that?" he asked.
Amy pretended to think. "About fifteen years."
"You're fifteen years old."
"Exactly."
It was Ian's turn to chuckle. He spun Amy around again, who gracefully turned back to him.
"Your dancing's pretty impressive," Ian commented. "Not bad for a Cahill." His eyes were laughing as he stared at her, daring her to remember.
She looked solidly back at him. "You're...a Cahill too."
"Touché."
Their eyes were locked, as if they were frozen in place.
Suddenly:
"ONE MINUTE UNTIL MIDNIGHT!" Dan yelled. "FIFTY-NINE, FIFTY-EIGHT..."
Amy took a step back. "I-I'm going to go find Nellie."
Ian grabbed her wrist. "Don't pull the Cinderella trick on me," he said softly. "Don't disappear at midnight."
Amy looked back at him. Carpe dium, Amy. Carpe dium.
"...FORTY-TWO, FORTY-ONE..."
"Hamilton, you can stop dancing now," Sinead snickered. "It's almost midnight."
"Just when I was getting the hang of it!" Hamilton complained, throwing his hands into the air.
"THRITY-THREE, THIRTY-TWO..."
Nellie called all the waiters to her. "You can all leave now," she said. "I don't think we'll be needing any more service for the rest of the night."
"...TWENTY-ONE, TWENTY..."
Natalie clutched her purse. The coming of the new year was too much for her to think about. In years past, all the new year meant was a whole twelve months more of parties to attend, clothes to buy, fashions to follow.
This year meant so much more.
"...FOURTEEN...THIRTEEN..."
Jonah stepped out of the music booth. That night, he was supposed to have been at a fancy New Years Eve party. All the celebrities were to be there, press everywhere, and much better music playing than what was being spun by the sixteen-year-old deejay.
But as he looked at his family, jumping about as they anticipated the new year, he knew there was nowhere else he'd rather be.
"...NINE...EIGHT...SEVEN..."
Dan was jumping up and down on the table, his face full of excitement. Everyone gathered around, watching the clock on the wall tick down.
"...FOUR, THREE, TWO, ONE!"
Somewhere in the distance, a clock tower began chiming, but it was nearly drowned out by Dan's cries of, "HAPPY NEW YEAR! HAPPY NEW YEAR!"
Amy and Ian were still staring at one another, wondering what the other was going to do.
Maybe people in England don't kiss on New Years...Amy thought.
At the same time, Ian was thinking, Perhaps it's not an American custom to kiss on New Years...
Around them, their relatives were wishing one another a happy New Year, throwing confetti that had been sitting in little bags on a nearby table and blowing on little party horns that Dan was handing out.
"Happy New Year," Amy finally said, unable to take the silence between them any longer.
"Same to you," Ian replied.
Amy turned and went to hug her brother, despite his protests of, "Ew, Amy, I don't want cooties!"
Ian went to wish his sister a happy New Year, his shoulders slightly slumped, wishing he could "seize the moment" like Amy had said.
Jonah had turned on the music again, and everyone continued throwing confetti around, laughing and celebrating the new year.
London was the closest, so they went there first. The helicopter landed on the front lawn of the Kabra estate, causing the butler to come running out in a panic.
Inside the copter, Ian's cell phone rang. He answered and listened for a moment, then said, "Yes, Bickerduff, I am aware that there is a helicopter on the front lawn...yes, Bickerduff, I am in it...see you soon, Bickerduff."
Everyone piled out of the helicopter to stretch out their legs and say goodbye to Ian and Natalie, the latter already occupying herself with the task of picking confetti out of her hair.
Eventually, everyone but the Kabras headed back to the helicopter, and Natalie started towards the mansion, saying that she was in desperate need of a shower.
Ian and Amy lagged behind.
Amy gave Ian a small smile. "See you soon, I guess," she said.
Ian nodded. "You did a great job, Amy," he said. "We all needed last night.
"Thanks."
They stood in silence for a moment.
"Well, goodbye."
"So long."
They turned to head off in their opposite directions.
In the helicopter, Jonah tapped on the window. Seize the moment,he mouthed.
On the steps of the mansion, Natalie was standing with her arms crossed. You practiced enough in front of the mirror, her eyes seemed to say. You'll regret it if you walk away now.
"Amy!"
"Ian!"
They both turned at the same time, then laughed awkwardly.
"You first," they said at the same time. They laughed again.
Jonah facepalmed. What did he have to do, start singing, "Kiss the Girl"?
Ian spoke first. "Just, er, hypothetically...do people kiss on New Years in America?"
Amy nodded. "Um, also hypothetically, do they in England?"
"They do."
"Well, then."
They both moved at the same time.
It was probably the best post-New Years kiss in Cahill history.
There you go. What I was hoping for, but what never happened. Instead, that warm fuzzy moment I had after reading Amy's little speech was ruined by some stupid Vesper making his own stupid New Years resolutions. I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU, STUPID VESPER! GO DIE IN A HOLE!
Anyway.
Sorry if anyone seems OOC, but, hey, it's New Years. Everyone deserves a break once in awhile. So if Natalie spraying someone with a super-soaker annoys you, take it up with her.
Also, as some of you may know, I'm not a Natan fan, so that little moment with Natalie and Dan dancing was for your enjoyment only. Same thing with Hamilton and Sinead ((although I am beginning to become more of a Sinilton fan...))
Well, I guess that's it. Oh, and everyone make sure to do the Chicken Dance at some point today in honor of Jonah Wizard, who is truly dedicated to his work.
Happy New Year!
-KT
