It had been about a month since Reyn and Sharla's kiss. Things once again, had settled back down within the colony. Reyn and Sharla still talked daily and hung out about once a week, but they didn't go on anymore "dates." Reyn was unsure if Sharla would ever even want to go on another date with him, but he was willing to wait as long as he had to.

Sharla on the other hand, had spent the last month working extremely hard on recovering. Grieving was an extremely difficult process, but she felt much better in this past month than all the other 6 combined. Now, this didn't mean she had forgotten about Gadolt. Sharla just knew it was at the point where it wasn't healthy to be this upset, and she had to stop letting it eat her alive.

Dunban's big birthday party was coming up this weekend. Everyone was talking about it. Fiora had spent weeks planning for it, and was working overtime trying to get all the decorations perfect.

Not many people knew this, but Dunban knew how to throw a PARTY. Reyn knew it was going to get crazy. He was excited for a chance for everyone to let loose and have a good time. They all needed it.

Shulk spent hours everyday working with weapons, Riki was busy teaching his youngest littlepon how to walk and talk, Dunban was always stressing over the rebuilding of the colony, and Melia had recently gotten a job at the colony defense force hospital with Sharla, teaching young interns how to properly use ether. And speaking of Sharla, it seemed as though she was in a better mood lately, and that made Reyn happy.

Anything could happen this weekend.

"Sharla, we must get together before Dunban's party so we can get ready together!" Melia insisted as they were walking home from work that Friday afternoon.

"Of course, Melia. Go ahead and invite Fiora too, you know how excited she gets." Sharla smiled.

"Yes, I will. We will be over tomorrow around 6." Melia nodded, then walked into her house.

Sharla continued to walk home by herself, when she ran into Shulk.

"Hey Shulk. How's it going?"

Shulk seemed in high spirits. "It's going well, Sharla, thanks for asking. Are you coming to Dunban's party tomorrow night?"

"Wouldn't miss it." Sharla assured him.

"Great. You know Fiora would be crushed if you didn't show up." Shulk thought it was so adorable how much Fiora cared for her older brother.

"I wish Fiora was my sister. Juju's never thrown me a party." Sharla laughed.

"Don't tell Fiora that. She will plan you a party twice as big." Shulk smiled, shaking his head at the thought.

"I'll be seeing her tomorrow afternoon. All of us girls are going to get ready together." Sharla said.

"Melia's coming too? That's great to hear! She needs to get out more. Who knows, maybe she's the biggest party animal of us all." Shulk laughed.

"I guess we will find out!" Sharla said, as she and Shulk kept walking.

It was 6 o clock the next day. Saturday. It was time to get ready. Fiora and Melia showed up together, arm in arm, giddy with excitement.

"Operation hotness begins now." Fiora stated, as the dumped her makeup bag all over Sharla's table.

Sharla laughed. "We rarely have a reason to dress up, so lets make the most of it."

Meanwhile, Reyn was getting dressed himself. He put on a tight white shirt, highlighting not only his dark tan, but his abs as well. He slicked back his hair, and sprayed his best cologne. He wouldn't have put in much effort tonight, but Fiora had stopped by earlier and begged him to look presentable at this party, so he had no choice.

Shulk was with Dunban and Riki, buying the alcohol at the local market that would be needed for tonight. And they needed A LOT. As stated before, Dunban knew how to have a good time. While Shulk wasn't much of a drinker himself, he would occasionally indulge in a drink or two. Riki had begged Oka to let him out to go to this party, and finally, she gave in, though Riki did end up having a curfew.

"Melia, you look…..hot!" Fiora yelled with excitement upon seeing Melia in her party dress. A short, baby blue dress, which was tight, but not too tight, paired with some silver high heels and accessories.

Fiora was dressed in a short red skirt, cream-colored blouse, and cream high heels.

It took Sharla forever to get dressed, especially for an occasion such as this. When she was finally dressed, the girls were in awe.

Sharla stepped out in a short skin-tight black dress, paired with black high heels and emerald green earrings.

"Sharla, I've never seen you in a dress before." Melia stated, still shocked.

"It is definitely a rare sight." Sharla admitted.

"You look amazing. Trust me." Fiora smiled. "It's time for us to head over, are you girls ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." Sharla said, grabbing her purse.

Music was blasting as the girls approached the house, and Fiora was gleaming as she saw all her decorations she had worked so hard on.

Inside, it was already crowded. It seemed like everyone in the colony was there. All of them dressed up, and ready to party.

Fiora ran off to find Shulk, leaving Melia and Sharla standing by one of the many giant bottles of liquor.

"Hello ladies. Care for a drink?" Dunban asked as he approached the girls. He was obviously tipsy, but still managed to be a complete gentleman.

"No thank you." Melia stated, waving her hand. She wasn't much of a drinker. Actually, she had never had a drink before, so she was a little bit nervous. Excited, but nervous.

"Yes. That is exactly what I need right now." Sharla said, grabbing a shot glass. She hadn't seen Reyn yet, but she knew that when she did, she was going to thankful she had this shot.

Sharla and Melia had been dancing with Riki for a short time when Reyn finally did show up.

Sharla had never seen Reyn looking so hot. Yeah, he looked really good on their date a while back, but he looked more mature now, and she liked it.

"Hey guys! Who's ready to party?" Reyn shouted, looking around for the alcohol.

"Reyn, feel free to help yourself." Dunban said, getting more and more drunk by the minute.

"Don't mind if I do. Happy Birthday Dunban!" Reyn smiled, looking over at Sharla. "Sharla… care to join me?"

"Sure. I could use another drink right about now." Sharla said, following behind him.

As Reyn was pouring her drink, he said, "You look so beautiful. And right when I thought I couldn't get any more attracted to you."

Sharla cracked a smile. "Reyn, you look very handsome."

"I better! I thought Fiora was going to have a heart attack the way she was freaking out at me telling me I had to dress up for this!" Reyn smirked.

"You know she takes her parties very seriously." Sharla laughed.

"Cheers. To a night we won't remember, with the people we will never forget." Reyn toasted, handing Sharla her drink.

"Cheers!" Sharla giggled.

The clock had just struck midnight, and the party was still going hard. Fiora and Shulk were both tipsy, but still in control of themselves. Just as predicted, Melia was going wild. She only had a few drinks, but was clearly very drunk. Sharla had never seen Melia having so much fun. She was playing beer pong with Dunban, who was wasted. Riki had to be home soon, and was eating at the buffet before having to call it quits for the night. Reyn was also very drunk, which meant he had to have drank a lot, because he was not an easy person to get drunk. Sharla was about on Melia's level, not completely blackout drunk, but definitely getting there.

As the night kept ticking away, everyone was dancing, having the time of their lives. Reyn was dancing with Sharla, closer than he ever would've imagined.

"Damn Sharla… you are so pretty. I don't understand… how can someone have the whole package?" Reyn laughed as they danced.

"Oh Reyn, I think it's just this dress that has you so mesmerized." Sharla said, turning to him.

Reyn grinned. "I won't lie, it is very distracting."

"I'm going to go outside and get some air. You coming?" Sharla eyed Reyn as she headed toward the door.

"Yeah….. I'll… come." Reyn said, stumbling behind her.

And so they sat outside, under the stars, for a good half hour, laughing at stupid drunk jokes, and enjoying each other's company. Both of them were still significantly drunk, but it didn't matter. Tonight was fun.

Around 3am, the party started to die down. Fiora had to help Dunban into bed, who was completely trashed. Melia was going to be sleeping over at Fiora's and Shulk left to walk both of them home. Melia had to lean on them both the whole way, barely able to walk.

Sharla and Reyn weren't ready for the night to end, and decided to go to Reyn's to have some coffee.

"Sharla, you looked absolutely fantastic tonight. I am still shocked." Reyn admitted as he handed Sharla her coffee.

Sharla laughed. "Oh Reyn. You are so kind." She took a few sips of her coffee, before saying she was tired.

"Want me to walk you home?" Reyn asked, a little bummed out.

"No. I'm done walking today. I'll just stay with you." Sharla said, smiling.

"Sharla… I only have one bed." Reyn stated.

Sharla got up, took her heels off, and got into his bed. "I don't mind." She said before passing out.

****TO BE CONTINUED****