Inspired by Romeo and Cinderella by Hatsune Miku. Let me know if I should continue. ^_^

Summary: Once upon a time, there was a beautiful maiden. This is not her story.

"Don't let my love be tragic like Juliet's. Take me away from here; that's how I'm feeling." –Hatsune Miku

The sound of the school's orchestra filled the small auditorium. I sat in the cold, hard metal seats. They were seriously hurting my butt while I tried to remember why we were called here. They had some sort of announcement to make, apparently for a fundraiser.

I sighed. I wasn't a big fan of orchestrated music, and didn't want to go to any fundraiser they had to offer. I had just wished they'd stop playing when the director cut them off.

"Today, we have a wonderful announcement to make!" he announced happily. "We will be holding a masquerade ball! Live music and dancing for all! Tickets are only $10, providing food and drink of course. Please come to support your school's wonderful orchestra!"

Everyone applauded and cheered. Of course everyone would love that. They were quite wise to choose that particular event. Unfortunately for them, I was not everyone. It would be a cold day in hell before I went to a ball anywhere.

Serah tugged my arm excitedly. "Light! You have to come with me and Snow! Maybe you could go with Fang!"

I raised an eyebrow at her. "Serah, firstly, I don't swing that way. Secondly, I do not want to go."

"Why not?" she complained, giving me her best pout. I looked at her and sighed.

"Okay, okay, just stop giving me that face. Seriously, you could bring a dog to tears with that face."

"Yay!" She hugged me tightly.

I wrapped one arm around her. "I will help you get ready and wait outside for you. But that is it."

"I guess it's better than nothing."

I stood up and stretched up, letting my back crack. I heard some boys laughing and screaming profanities. I was about to turn around to yell at them to shut the hell up when I felt something hard hit the back of my head. Not expecting it and being already slightly dizzy from the Maker awful headache I had, I fell forward, hitting my head on the top of the stage. There was a burst of white light, and then everything went black.

I guess I started having one of those "I'm passed out and having a vision" things. I was in a club, it looked like. It was really dark of course with those strobe lights that gave me headaches. I seemed to not mind it as much though, probably because I wasn't really there.

The music was that deep pulsing beat that always made people want to screw each other like crazy. Seriously, it was kind of gross to be surrounded by people practically humping each other on the dance floor.

I looked around at the various faces in the crowd, seeing if there was anyone who looked slightly intelligent. Nope, pretty much everyone was humping, getting drunk, or eating each other's faces.

I sighed and almost left the place before quickly catching sight of the most handsome man I had ever seen in my life. I could tell just by looking at him that he had such grace and charm. As if sensing my thoughts, he looked at me and smiled charmingly, his eyes sparkling like jewels.

Now, I had always thought of myself as a rather mature young woman. I didn't tolerate nonsense, all my teachers loved me, and I was an honor roll student. Most people pictured me as being a big public figure when I was older since I was so intelligent and had a cool head.

But when that man laid eyes on me, I didn't feel like the woman I thought I was anymore. I felt like the teenage girl I truly was: stupid, clumsy, and awkward. He slid through the crowd toward me, taking my hand and kissing it like an old time gentleman would have. I didn't really know what came over me, but I instantly started to relax. His kiss and touch had soothed me and made me feel at a strange sense of peace.

He looked in my eyes. We didn't say a word; we seemed to communicate with our eyes instead. I could tell he wanted to dance with me. I decided that since this wasn't real, I would do whatever I wanted. He smiled once more and led me to a place with more room for us to actually move.

I let an easy smile slide on my face as we began to dance. It was still very cramped, so we were basically grinding. Who cared though? This was a dream!

"Claire, right?" he asked suddenly, still smiling.

I nodded, letting my alias slide. "What's your name?"

"Noctis."

"Well, it's wonderful to meet you Noctis."

Strange as it was, I felt like I had known this man for all my life. It felt so right to be close to him. I knew in the back of my head somehow that he wouldn't let me down ever and that he would always make me feel absolutely beautiful.

I realized at that moment how much I missed just being Claire: fragile, sweet, and lovable, yet still somewhat of a badass. Well, around this Noctis, I would be no one but Claire.

"Maybe we could go someplace more private for us to talk," he suggested.

I nodded in agreement. He led me to an empty hallway near the bathrooms. We leaned against the wall and just talked. About school, about life, about anything and everything. I shared things with him I never would have shared with anyone else. As I finished my last story, he did something that shocked and confused me slightly.

Surprising me, he leaned over and cupped my cheek gently. I flushed at the unexpected contact. His hand felt warm and smooth. He leaned in so his mouth was right by my ear. His hot breath tickled the sensitive skin there as he whispered to me.

All too quickly the dream ended, and I was stuck with his strange words ringing in my head.

I woke up to the bright fluorescent lights of the nurse's office. I squinted against them; it was such a large difference from the lighting of my dream.

"Oh, you're okay!" I heard Serah exclaim. I looked up at her.

She looked like she had been extremely worried about me. Her brow was still slightly furrowed. Completely forgetting for a moment that I was back in reality, I smiled full-heartedly at her.

"I'm fine, Serah. Don't worry about me."

Her eyes were wide and a big grin was on her face. "You're smiling! You're actually smiling! Either you hit your head really hard or you just had a really good dream."

I chuckled and sat up slowly to keep myself from getting dizzy. I curiously felt my head. There was a bandage on my forehead, but that was about it. Not a serious injury.

I stood and stretched a little. Glancing around, I noticed that there was another person standing in the office, merely standing and smiling softly, looking painfully all too familiar. My mind was buzzing with confusion but one small voice in the back of my head repeated the words of my dream.

"I finally found you, my little Cinderella."

And there you have it! Continue?