Hi there everyone!

Yes I posed this up later than normal. At least you all are going to get this chapter.

Thank you to Evie Warner, Schoollie and Creative Writer 2000. The only people who reviewed. Come on guys, please review. It makes me very happy to get feedback even the anonymous people get love from me. Please people…

Disclaimer: I own the Halloween Costume that I'm going to be wearing tonight. Does that count? No? Okay…

ENJOY!


Ten Minutes Ago & Stepsisters' Lament

Shigeru yawned for the umpteenth time that night as he danced with some cute boy. The boy was smiling at him and talking about something. He wasn't listening instead, he signaled to Kenji to bring him a new person to dance with and the change was made. While dancing with a random girl, he got bored once more and changed partners to another boy. Everything was as he imagined it, all of these people just wanted him for his good looks and his title. If he didn't have that, everything would have been different.

Among the group of teens wanting to dance with the prince were Musashi and Kojiro. They both had annoyed looks on their faces.

"I WANNA CHANCE AT HIM!" Musashi yelled.

The prince winced as he heard someone yelling. He just wanted to find Ash as soon as possible and end this whole thing. On the elaborate throne were Namami and her grandfather, the king. The two simply smiled as they were staring at the many guests around.

Nanami sat up, "That's smile right?"

"It's a wince," Yukinari said.

She turned to him, "A little smile?"

"Wishful thinking," He said as he waved her off.

She slumped in her chair, "Oy…"

Elsewhere, Sakaki was talking to one of the people in charge named Junsar. She was wearing a blue dress and her hair was a greenish blue colour. She was also accompanied by a Growlithe. The young woman sighed in annoyance as Sakaki kept talking.

"Sir for the last time, the prince will dance with all of the hopefuls in due time," She said, "Now please exercise some patience."

The man grumbled off not knowing that Takeshi and Vulpix stayed behind to stare at the woman a bit more.

She crossed her arms, "Let me guess you want to try to win the Prince?"

"I don't care who he dances with," Takeshi said.

She lifted an eyebrow, "Really?"

"What I want to know is whose going to have the privilege to dance with you," Takeshi smiled huskily.

She took step back, "Excuse me?"

"Surely you can feel that certain something between us," He said as he took her hands in his.

She pulled away, "I really do wish there was something between us…a planet."

At yet another spot in the palace, Kasumi and Shu were talking nicely to each other for once. Her Psyduck and his Roselia were ignoring each other as they normally did while the pair was around each other.

"There are a lot of lovely people here. The Prince is sure to find someone here," She said.

Shu turned to her, "And if he doesn't?"

"Then Nanami is never going to let this ball end," Kasumi said.

He shook his head, "We didn't order enough food…"

Back with the prince, he motioned Kenji to speed up the tempo so he could go though the group of teens faster. Soon he was face to face with Musashi and he noticed there something off about her.

"You have an itch?" He asked.

She shook her head, "No."

"I saw you scratching," He said.

She scratched herself once more before saying, "No I didn't."

"You did it again," He said as he was staring at her suspiciously.

"No," She stopped scratching and then stared at him intently, "Ships that pass in the night on the ocean of life!"

He lifted an eyebrow as he signaled the guards, "Excuse me?"

"Ships that pass in the night, that's you and me," She explained, "On the ocean of life! Don't you get it?!"

As the guards were taking her away he replied, "Yeah I got it."

The next person he was dancing with was Kojiro. As soon as they started to dance the purple haired teen was laughing his ass off. Shigeru wondered what the hell was wrong with this guy and yet he also had the urge to laugh.

"Did I miss something?" He asked his partner.

Kojiro simply shook his head, "No! It's just you are so great and funny."

"I've never been told I was funny before," He said as he was signaling the guards.

The guards appeared out of nowhere yet again and were dragging Kojiro away as he claimed they were getting along so very well. After that ordeal was over, Shigeru signaled for the tempo to be sped up once more. Now he was breezing through the group of people. Kenji was running around like crazy trying to get the prince a new partner. The prince wasn't even paying attention to who he was grabbing and soon began to dance with Kenji. Naturally it looked funny as hell and we all know that Shu was laughing while Kasumi was telling him to shut the hell up. Then at a random time Shigeru looked up at the top of the staircase and saw someone there.

The music stopped when everyone began to notice the stranger (Satoshi) standing at the top of the stairs. He looked at Pikachu who nodded and soon they were making their way down the steps. Around that time, Eevee jumped onto Shigeru's shoulder as he almost ran to meet the stranger at the stairs. By the time Satoshi was at the foot of the stairs, so was Shigeru. The two simply stared at each other for a moment. That was when it hit Satoshi that the mysterious stranger he met at the village was the prince. Feeling relieved, he bowed to the royal.

"How do you do Your Highness?" The ebony haired boy asked quietly.

The brunette got the other out of his bow and the two stared at each other once again. They seemed to be lost in each other's eyes. Pikachu and Eevee seemed to recognize each other and one look at their friends, the two decided to leave the ballroom and head to the garden. Anyway, the teen boys were staring at each other and smiling when Shigeru to Satoshi's hand in his and lead him on the dance floor. While on their way to the dance floor they passed the Sakaki and his kids.

"Where did he come from?" Musashi asked disappointed.

Kojiro sighed, "I think The Prince likes him…"

"He looks…familiar," Sakaki said as he stared at the boy.

Namami on the other hand smiled brightly as she looked over at her grandfather. All she wanted was for her brother to find someone and by the looks of it he did. Kasumi and Kenji on the other hand were talking among themselves wondering who the guy was. Shu had a feeling that a certain brown haired girl was behind this and went to go look for her. Unlike everyone else, Takeshi knew that the boy was Satoshi. He smiled as he let go of Vulpix to go play.

"Way to go Satoshi," He said to no one in particular.

Back to Shigeru and Satoshi the pair had begun dancing to a beautiful ballad. The prince knew that he had seen this person before but he couldn't place it anywhere.

"I know I've met you before," He said, "Was it last summer at the lake?"

Satoshi chuckled softly as he shook his head, "I don't know how to swim…"

"Then it was this past winter at the lodge," Shigeru said.

He tilted his head to one side, "Up in the mountains?"

"Yeah. You go there often?" The prince asked.

The teen shook his head, "I've never been there but I like to look at them. They are so breathtaking."

"You're breathtaking," Shigeru said.

Satoshi blushed, "Um…everyone is staring at us."

"Really? I forgot that everyone was around," He said, "I was seeing was you."

The ebony haired teen knew at that moment that this was the same guy from the village and now he was wondering what the other was going to next. Time to bring in the music!

"Ten minutes ago I saw you, I looked up as you walked through the door. My head started reeling, you gave me the feeling the room had no ceiling or floor," Shigeru sang, "Ten minutes ago I met you and we murmured our how-do-you-do's. I wanted to ring out the bells and fling out my arms and sing out the news!"

For never dancing in his life, Satoshi was doing a good job at dancing. He was praying that he wasn't going to trip and didn't want to break his shoes since they were glass.

"I have found him! He's an angel with the dust of the stars in his eyes," The prince sang, "We are dancing we are flying and he's taking me back to the skies!"

Satoshi was now being turned by the prince. For a moment, he closed his eyes and was hoping he wasn't going to fall.

"In the arms of my love I'm flying, over mountain and meadow and glen," The brunette sang, "And I like it so well that for all I can tell I may never come down again. I may never come down to Earth again!"

"Ten minutes ago I met you and we murmured our how-do-you-do's." Satoshi sang, "I wanted to ring out the bells and fling out my arms and sing out the news!"

Shigeru pulled the other closer, "I have found him…"

"I have found him…" The other teen smiled brightly.

As if that was a queue for something, as Shigeru and Satoshi danced their way out of the ballroom and into the garden, everyone went to the dance floor. When I say everyone, I really do mean everyone in the palace was all up on that dance floor. There was even some dance battles between two rivaling dance groups—but those don't matter. What matters is while this was all going on, our two main characters were still in their little worlds…and they were still singing.

"In the arms of my love I'm flying, over mountain and meadow and glen," Satoshi and Shigeru sand in unison, "And I like it so well that for all I can tell I may never come down again. I may never come down to Earth again!"

Ah there was love in the air and everyone could feel it. It was very exciting for the two teens. While all of that love and such was going on, there were other groups of people that weren't feeling the love tonight.

Masato smiled as he was staring at the couple from inside the ballroom. He felt a tap on his shoulder but when instead of his sister he saw Shu. He smiled brightly.

"Hey Shu!" The boy said.

The Greenette smiled back, "Hey there. Is that guy dancing with the person I'm helping the one that Haruka is helping?"

"Of course it is!" Masato said happily, "We helped him get to the ball. Haruka said she had a feeling that he needed to be here. I guess this is why…"

Shu nodded, "I see. Where is your sister if I may ask?"

"I dunno. She said she was going to keep an eye on Satoshi from a safe distance…"The boy trailed off.

The green haired boy nodded. He had a feeling where the brown haired girl was going to be. After he thanked the young boy, he walked off in search of the girl.

With Kasumi and Kenji, they were looking for Shu when Nanami called them over and asked them something.

Kasumi sighed, "I wish I knew anything about that boy but I don't…"

"There was a guy that Shigeru had met in the village…I forgot the name he said…" Kenji said.

Nanami leaned in, "Do you think this boy is the same one from the village?"

"Nope," Kenji said, "That other boy didn't dress like that."

Kasumi shook her head, "Well this is a party. Not all of us dress like this…"

"That is true but still I doubt it…" Kenji replied.

Unknown from all of them, Sakaki had been listening in. So Prince Shigeru met a boy in the village? He had an idea who that boy was as he also had a feeling who exactly is the boy dancing with the prince. He wasn't too sure yet but the moment he was positive, he was going to do something about it.

Takeshi and Junsar had been near that area when they saw Sakaki listening in.

"Oh crap…" Takeshi said.

Junsar looked at him, "What's going on?"

"Let me tell you a story about someone I know but you have to promise to never speak of this to anyone," He said as he pulled her into a secluded area.

She nodded, "Lay it on me."

Now while all of this was happening, Satoshi and Shigeru were talking about well…

"Are you sure we've never met?" Shigeru asked.

Satoshi chuckled, "I think I would remember if I ever met a prince."

"True but I know I've seen you somewhere before. Who are your parents?" The Prince asked.

The teen looked away briefly, "Well…um…that's a little complicated."

"Okay then I won't ask you about them," He said.

The other sighed a breath of relief, "Thank you so much Your Highness."

"Please call me Shigeru," He said, "I don't like the whole title thing…"

The ebony haired boy nodded, "Okay…Shigeru. You can call me Satoshi."

"Satoshi? That's a pretty…normal name you have…" The Prince mused.

He lifted an eyebrow, "Is that a problem?"

"Oh no! I like that name actually it's just I met someone once with an odd name but I liked it," Shigeru explained, "I wanted to see him here. Not that being with you isn't bad. I like being with you! You're not like everyone else."

Satoshi nodded. He desperately wanted to say that he was Ash but for some reason, the words didn't want to come out. It was as if they were caught in his throat. It was times like this that he wished he gave that 'Handsome Stranger' his real name. Of course, if he knew that the person he was speaking to was the prince, he would have been too star stuck to even speak. Like right now, he was star stuck and it was killing him.

Meanwhile, while Satoshi and Shigeru were talking, they were being watched by none other than Musashi and Kojiro. They were very jealous of that mysterious boy. It was their night to shine. Their night to get the prince all to themselves, life just wasn't fair now was it?

"Why would a fellow want a guy like him? A frail and fluffy beauty?" Musashi sang, "Why can't I fellow ever once prefer a solid girl like me?"

Her brother nodded as they were getting closer to the couple and were now behind a statue.

"He's a frothy little bubble," Kojiro explained, "With a flimsy kind of charm and with very little trouble I can break his little arm!"

His sister was impressed that he was being violent but of course when it comes to love things are never what they seem.

"Oh! Oh! Why would a fellow want a guy like him so obviously unusual?" They sang in unison, "Why can't a fellow ever once prefer a usual thing like me?!"

Now they were hiding under a bush and they kept watching Satoshi with envious eyes.

"His face is exquisite I suppose," She rolled her eyes, "But no more exquisite than a rose is."

"His skin maybe delicate and soft," He pouted, "But not any softer than a doe's is!"

They were walking closer now, hiding behind anything they could. As if the couple they were watching, couldn't see them.

"His neck is no longer than a swan's," She shrugged.

He nodded, "He's only as dainty as a daisy."

"He's only as graceful as a bird," She pointed out.

"So why is the fellow going crazy?!" They sang together, "Oh why would a fellow want a guy like him, a guyl who's merely lovely? Why can't a fellow ever once prefer someone who's merely me?"

Currently, they were sitting on next to the fountain.

"He's a frothy little bubble," She sang bluntly, "With a frilly sort of air and with very little trouble I can pull out all his hair! Ha ha ha ha!"

Kojiro was now scared of his sister. Like he wasn't before but still he knew for a fact that if provoked Musashi would do something crazy like pulling out someone's hair. The thought of his sister doing that anyone or him was a scary thought in itself.

"Oh why would a fellow want a guy like him, a guy who's merely lovely? Why can't a fellow ever once prefer someone who's merely me?" They sang, "What's the matter with the man? What's the matter with the man? What's the matter with the man?!"

They saw some bushes moving so they ran for it. Naturally, they didn't realize that it was only Pikachu Eevee and Vulpix playing around.

Now back with our main couple, they were getting into some fun conversation when they were interrupted.

"We are so very sorry to do this," Kasumi said.

Kenji nodded, "But Princess Nanami wants to meet this young man your with my Prince."

"I guess it can't be help," Shigeru said and then laughed at the look Satoshi had, "Don't worry. Everything is going to be fine! She probably wants to make sure you're real."

He nodded, "Okay then!"

So hand in hand they left together.

Returning to where Takeshi was he had just finished speaking. Junsar gasped lightly, her hands were at her face.

"You have to tell someone!" She said.

He shook his head, "We tried that once but it didn't work…He's just too powerful."

"So the boy with the Prince is—" She said.

He sighed, "His name is Satoshi but they call him Ash."

"That's an odd nickname," She said.

He chuckled, "It is but it grows on you I guess."

For the moment they watched in the distance, wondering how the rest of the ball was going to end. Takeshi looked at the clock, it was 20 minutes to twelve. What could happen in twenty minutes?

Unbeknown to him, a lot of things could happen in a twenty minutes.

Haruka was on a balcony watching the party below. She could tell that Satoshi was having a great time and she was happy for that. She was so distracted with keeping an eye on the boy that when a hand touched her shoulder she jumped five feet in the air. When she turned around she made a face, it was Shu. The last person she wanted to see tonight.

"What do you want?" She asked.

He shrugged, "I wanted to know what your plan was…"

"Why?" She asked defensively.

He looked straight in her eyes, "Once upon a time, Shigeru went to the village and met a boy. The boy told him his name was Ash. Sound familiar."

"Yes. But his real name is Satoshi. Ash is a nickname his stepfamily gave him after his mother died," She said.

He nodded, "I see…"

"Anyway, Satoshi did tell me about some 'Handsome Stranger' he met one day in the village. He was hoping to meet him tonight but I guess he has," She said.

He leaned on the balcony, "Really now?"

"So you wanted to hear about my plan? If you do, then sit down. Maybe we can work together," She said as she patted a spot next to her.

He smiled as he sat down next to her, "You were saying?"

She smiled back as she began to explain the plan she had to insure Satoshi and possibly Shigeru happiness. Shu sat back and nodded ever so often. At the moment, he busy with thinking about how pretty her voice was. He was about tell her that when he heard her say something that made him sit up.

"Did you just say glass shoes?" He asked.


So any thoughts you have? TELL ME~!

I wish all of you a Happy Halloween since I plan the next update to be November 1st or 2nd. I like the historical value of Halloween a lot but I really love the costume parties that this holiday brings. I'm going to dress up like Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's. I hope it looks good.

Reviews=Love

With Love,

SanguisRubeus