Final Fantasy XIII: The Costume Drabble

A/N: This is a little something I threw together after I read a few others drabbles. This might be a One Shot/Parody for Hope and Vanille. It's just something random I did. I hope you like it. (Note: This drabble has nothing to do with the actual game plot. It's just what my idea of a costume Halloween party would be like.)

(Vanille's POV)

The Halloween party was supposed to be absolutely stunning, but there was a single problem.

It was a costume party, and costumes and I didn't get along.

I shuttered, remembering the time when I was five and I was going to a little costume party before the whole episode on Cocoon started. I was rummaging through my moms closet and she had this savage belly dancer costume hidden in the back of her closet and it fell down on me when I knocked something over. That was not something you want to deal with every day, or any day.

Not only was that a problem, but even though I hated costumes, I was willing to dress up as the chocobo i was supposed to, but Lightning was being stubborn as anything about wearing the outfit we picked out for her.

"I refuse!"

"But…"

"No!"

"But…"

"No!"

"But…"

"……No!"

"Oh, C'mon!"

"How's this? Hell No!"

I pouted at her, crossing my arms over my chest, narrowing my eyes at her. She glared back, but i wasn't going to give up. I would stand my ground, and she WOULD dress up.

"Lightning, if I am wearing one, you sure as heck can, too." I argued with her.

"I sure as hell cannot!" She tensed, glaring daggers at me.

It went back and forth like that for another solid hour, with each of us arguing the issue, and things didn't change at all.

Guess what.

Lightning still refused to wear a costume.

Her excuse?

"I don't want to look stupid!"

I was sick of her arguing, so I exited the room for a moment and I found Fang. I struck a deal with her, and we put our heads together and came up with a plan.

If your wondering what Fang was gonna do about the party, she had agreed to dress up on one condition: There would be alcohol afterwords.

So Fang and I approached Lightning so stealthily, she didn't even know what was coming.

"What are you two doing?" She asked, eying us warily.

"Trying to sneak up on you." I replied.

She snorted.

"If you were trying to sneak up on me, why were you loudly humming the 'Mission Impossible' theme?" She asked.

I paused, blinking. "I…I really don't know."

Fang looked at me quizzically.

"Secret weapon?" She asked.

"Secret weapon." I nodded.

"Serah!" We both shrieked.

The pinkish-blond haired girl ran into the room in half her costume, freaking out.

"What! What is it?!" She asked frantically.

I pointed towards Lightning and sniffed, pretending to be sad. "Lightning wont dress up for the party!"

Serah turned to Lightning, narrowing her eyes.

"Oh no! Oh, no, no, no! Uh-Uh! No way!" Lightning held her hands up in protest.

Serah leaped forward and tackled Lightning to the ground.

"Wear it!"

"No!"

"Wear it!"

"No!"

"Wear it!"

"……NO!'

Serah sighed, getting off her sister.

She looked at me and I nodded.

She turned back towards Lightning.

"C'mon, Light! Don't make me call you your real name!" She told her.

Lightning stared at her.

Then stared some more.

Then realization hit her.

"No! No! Anything but calling me my real name!" She shouted frantically.

"I won't."

"Good. And I'm still not wearing that costume." Lightning stated.

I smiled at her devilishly.

"Oh Lightning!" I bribed. "I'll get tickets for Nickelback if you wear it."

She stared at me longingly as I pulled out enough money from my pocket for three tickets to go see her favorite rock band.

"Nickel….Back….refund…." She reached out to the imaginary tickets.

"Will you wear the costume?" I asked, waving the money around.

"Costume…Wear…Party…"

Serah handed her the costume and scooted her behind the curtain to change while we giggled at Lightning's reaction.

***

We had another half hour before we had to get to the party, so while everyone was preparing for the party, Hope and I toke a little walk down the street.

"Hey, do you know what's wrong with Lightning? I walked past her earlier and said hi, and she called me Chad Kroger." He told me.

I looked at him for a second, and then busted out laughing.

He gave me a sideways glance.

"You see, we bribed Lightning into wearing the costume we picked out for her by saying we would buy her Nickelback tickets." I explained.

"That explains so much." He told me.

We laughed.

"Yeah…" I trailed.

"Hey, Vanille?" He asked.

I turned to him.

"Yeah?" I glanced at his face. He looked more tired than usual. His silver-blond hair swayed in the wind, framing his sweet face.

"I was wondering, if, maybe, possibly, you would want to go to the party with me, like, a couple." He looked over at me, and for a second, I saw someone different. The Hope standing in front of me was a lot more brave and caring.

I nodded.

"I would love to!" I smiled at him and jumped forward, catching him in surprise when i hugged him.

He smiled and hugged me back.

"Great!" He exclaimed.

***

The costume party was nothing special at first, but we managed.

Hope and I danced to so many high energy songs, that the earlier sugar rushed energy i had when Hope had ask me to go with him was almost depleted.

A slow song came on, and we both blushed. He held a hand out. I smiled and nodded at him, taking his hand in mine.

We began to twirl across the floor, timing the music just a little off while we held up a conversation.

"So…what did Lightning dress up as, anyways?" He asked, looking over at the pink haired girl in the corner as we twirled around.

"Funny thing? We made her dress up as a girly-girl." I told him, resting my head on his chest. He laughed, and i could feel the sound rumble in his chest. This was nice. Just being away from the world like this was comforting.

"That's why she refused to wear the outfit!" He said, and I nodded sleepily.

"Yup."

The song ended, and we past several more hours together, joking around as we moved in pace to the music that played.

The party was over all too soon.

Hope smiled at me one last time.

"You going home?" He asked.

"Not yet. First, I have to take Fang to the bar and order her a few drinks." I told him. "I promised her that to get her to dress up for the party."

"Okay." Then he toke what was probably the biggest chance of his life.

He leaned down and kissed me.

It was a sweet kiss, a friendly one. He gave me every chance to pull away, but i didn't. I hadn't realized how much i had wanted him to kiss me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and tilted my head slightly, deepening the kiss. When it felt like i was about to suffocate from low oxygen intake and light headedness, i pulled away and smiled at him.

"See you later." He told me as he ran to meet up with Snow on the other side of the room, who was busy conversing with the girly looking Lightning and the over ecstatic Serah.

"Well?" Fang, who appeared out of nowhere, said.

I jumped, surprised.

"O-Oh yeah! C'mon, Fang! To the bar!" And we marched out, laughing and joking.

***Several bottles later***

"I can't feel my head." I mumbled.

"Your head? I can't feel my feet." Fang replied.

I looked down at the ground.

"Hey…Wait a second *hic*. When did the sky fall?" I asked.

"It didn't. Were just upside down!" Fang said as we walked, or…staggered might be a better description.

"Huh. You don't say…" We made it home, and neither of us bothered to change as we both chose a couch and fell on it.

***

The next morning, Lightning charged after me.

"I wore the stupid costume, now where's my tickets!" She growled.

I stared at her, giggling.

"Um…Lighty? Can I take a rain check?" I asked. My head hurt like crazy. Never again was I going to get drunk like that. Never!

"A what?" Lightning growled.

"A...Rain….Check?" I croaked miserably.

Two seconds later, I tore through the house at top speed, Lightning following me close behind.

"HELP me! She's gonna eat me!" I shouted as we ran down the street.

I mainly wrote this because I got bored. Im completely aware that it needs more description, but it doesn't matter. Its just a fluff. I will be coming out with an actual story soon, and it's a HopeXOC if you want to, and if you have any ideas, PM me. Thanx. (It has been officially tweeked up, with a little more detail in some places, so i hope its better now.) Review please!