A/N: For reasons unknown to me, I am experiencing some pretty strong writer's block (but then again, don't I pretty much always have writer's block?) so I'm basically forcing myself to update now. Yay! And I'm starting to believe that I am EXTREMELY paranoid (accurate self-diagnosis), I'm horrified at the thought of graduation because I'll be all alone in a new, unfamiliar school, plus I'm going to have to wear a DRESS to grad, school has me bored to death and I need to make an MLP plushie of Rainbow Dash for my secret santa gift, while spending only five dollars on supplies and making it look good in spite of my total lack of sewing skills. AND I'm freezing to death - damn these Canadian winters.

My December's going great so far! What about you guys?

CHRONO

Aion was leaning against the balcony railing casually, dressed in a slightly cleaner-than-average white suit, surrounded by all his gang. In front of him was Azmaria, dressed in a white-and-pink gown that looked to be at least ten times as frilly and lacey as mine, smiling and gesturing with her hands as she chatted with my brother.

I darted to the side just as Aion turned in my direction. He scanned the crowd as I cowered behind a potted plant, praying that he wouldn't see me. If he noticed me, he didn't show it; he just turned back to Azmaria and smiled at something that she'd said. I shivered. His smile... Have you ever seen a snake smile? That was a bit like how he looked.

"Psst! Azmaria, come over here!"

She didn't hear me; she just continued to avidly talk to Aion. She turned toward Shader - who was carrying a few of her kittens with her, just like always - and they laughed together, looking every inch like they'd been best friends since childhood.

"Psst! Azmaria! Aaazzy!"

Her eyes widened and she quickly jerked her head in my direction. I poked my head out from behind the tree a bit more and waved at her frantically. Here, here, here!

She blinked at me, then quickly mouthed, Wait a sec.

I watched on helplessly as she continued to chat with Shader. The cat-girl was almost a full head taller than poor Azzy, but the albino girl didn't show it. She waved goodbye and left in spite of all of Aion's protests - that's what I guessed they were, anyway - and then, after looking back to make sure she wasn't being watched, walked over and joined me behind the fern.

"You should've just come over, Chrona," she scolded gently. "I don't mind if you interrupt me when I'm talking to other people - you're a friend!"

I laughed nervously and scratched my head, thanking the gods for giving me such a good excuse. "Uh... Yeah, sorry about that..."

I sure as heck wasn't about to tell her that Aion was my brother, and, friends or not, I was definitely not planning on telling her that I was really a boy.

"I... I guess that I'm still not really comfortable in big crowds like this..."

She gave me a funny look. "Come on, Chrona." She grabbed my hand and dragged me, flustered and protesting, to a balcony that was all but hidden by miniature palms and thick ferns. For such a small, fragile-looking girl, she was surprisingly strong, and I made a mental note not to underestimate her ever again.

"Azmaria! What are you..."

She grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me in close. "Listen," she said softly. "I know you're really a boy."

I froze.

She continued, seemingly oblivious to my horror. "I won't ask you about your motives, out of respect for personal privacy, but you can tell me if you want. Personally, I don't really mind, since everyone has their quirks..." She paused and blushed. "Well, everyone has something weird about them, myself included."

"H..How'd you find out?"

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that," she quickly reassured me. "I'm pretty sure that I'm the only one who found out about it. Ros- The twins are too blind to these types of things, although..."

Again, she paused, and this time a little smirk came onto her face. "Oh, the irony!" she said aloud to herself with a little chuckle. "I couldn't have planned this better myself!"

I wasn't really listening to what she was saying. "Promise not to tell anyone!" I said anxiously. "Especially..."

I fell silent, but she understood what I was saying anyway.

"I won't say anything to Joshua. And, Chrona..."

"What?"

She gave me a mischievous smile. "Don't worry about the whole 'he's-a-guy-too' thing. If you like him, then go for it."

ROSETTE

Finally! I was done with those girls! I dashed into the dining hall and fervently searched for the tell-tale flash of purple hair. Not here - she wasn't in the ballroom dancing, either, although I wasn't too surprised by that. I started searching the balconies, occasionally looking back at poor Joshua, who was still being flirted with by hopeful men - I'm not joking when I say some of them had gray hair - and snickering at him. Eventually, I poked my head around a potted fern and spotted Chrona.

She was talking to Azmaria.

I watched them chat for a few minutes. Azmaria was holding onto Chrona's shoulders and saying something while Chrona looked down with an adorable blush on her face. I wasn't even going to make myself stop thinking things like that anymore; after all, she was really pretty. What was the point of trying to deny that?

"Hey, guys!" I chirped, jumping out from behind the plant and smirking at Chrona's squeak of surprise. Her face had reddened even more, if that was even possible.

"Joshua! I was just leaving," Azmaria said, turning and winking at Chrona before brushing past me. As she walked by, she turned her head ever so slightly and whispered in my ear:

Go for it.

Huh? I stood there for a minute or two, dumbfounded. Go for what?

"H-Hey, Joshua," Chrona stammered. "Uh... Do you want to go get some food?"

I grinned. "Sure! Let's go together!"

I grabbed onto her arm and tugged her over to the dining hall. She kept looking around for some reason, with a half-panicked look on her face. What had her so frightened? I wondered. Maybe it was all the guys. Some of them were really scary-looking. There was even a guy in the corner with bleached, pure-white hair, a trench coat, and his own personal harem of girls and boys. One of the girls was even carrying a cat. Creepy.

"Here." I passed Chrona a plate and grabbed three for myself, then started to pile them up with food. Chrona barely looked at the food, instead just glancing around, still searching for something. I dumped a mountain of mashed potatoes onto my plate and looked over at her with concern. "Hey, you okay?"

"Huh?" She jumped and blushed again. "Oh... Yeah... Mostly. Yes. Totally. Completely. I mean-"

"You're fine as long as you're with me," I told her as I pried the legs off a turkey and dropped them on top of my potatoes. "No guys are going to try to hit on you as long as you're with me. I kind of, um..." I grinned evilly. "Frightened them away already."

"Oh. Okay." She sounded somewhat skeptical, but finally relaxed and began searching the dining table for appetizing food. "Have you guys got any quail eggs?"

I pointed down the hall. "Right that way."

She scampered off, and I took that opportunity to go put my plates down on a table and then fill up five more.

She returned with three quail eggs and a slice of chocolate cake. She put her plate down and sat next to me, with her eyes darting around, still checking for whatever horror she was expecting to find.

I'd just swallowed and opened my mouth to ask her what she was searching for when she bolted upright. "I-I've got to go to the bathroom!" she blurted. "See ya!"

She dashed off - in the opposite direction of the bathroom, I might add - and I sat there wondering whether I'd just been blown off or not.

Minutes later, she returned. "Sorry about that," she said with a nervous laugh. "I just-"

Her eyes widened and she grabbed my arm, hauling me upright. "Let's go dance!" she said with a nervous laugh, and before I could ask her just what the heck was going on, off we went again.

We did that for about three hours. She'd look around for something, then she'd suddenly suggest we go do something else and then drag me off before I could protest. In the span of those three hours, we went dancing four times - each time, she dashed off in the middle of the dance - to the dining hall seven times, over to talk to either Azmaria or Joshua - the real Joshua, that is - at least eleven times and she went off to the bathroom eight times, usually smack dab in the middle of a conversation.

Is she PMSing or something? I wondered when she dashed off for the sixth time. That would explain why she's acting so weird...

At eleven fifty-five, she dragged me to the same balcony where she'd been chatting with Azmaria and leaned on the railing, panting for breath. I couldn't blame her for that; I was feeling pretty out-of-breath too.

"What...the heck...was...that...for?" I panted, wiping sweat from my forehead and desperately trying to fill my lungs with air. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to talk when I felt like this, but I had to know. "Is...there...like, an axe...murderer...hiding in...here somewhere that...you know?"

She laughed breathlessly. "I wish," she muttered. "No. It's...my brother. I don't want him to see me like...well, like this." She gestured toward her gown, the ribbon tying her hair back, her necklace, her bracelet, and all the finery she was wearing. "It would be embarrassing."

I nodded in partial understanding. "You're a tomboy, and you don't want him to see you wearing all this girly clothing because he'll tease you?" I guessed.

She laughed shortly. "Something like that."

I nodded and walked over to join her on the railing. We spent a minute or two together in silence.

"Chrona-"

"Joshua-"

We stopped and laughed together.

"Okay, you first," she said when she managed to catch her breath again.

"Well..." I scratched my head and smiled, slightly embarrassed. "I just wanted to say... You're a good friend, and... Well, could we meet up together, after this? Or something?"

Then again, if we met up, I'd have to pretend to be a boy again, but if it was to see her again...

I didn't really mind.

"That's just what I wanted to say," she said, laughing again. "Great minds think alike, huh?"

We grinned together. Then we fell silent again.

What should I say? I screamed in my mind. God, this is so awkward!

Suddenly, out of nowhere, I saw Azmaria in her mind, leaning down over me with a frown and a finger raised, waving back and forth, clearly reprimanding me.

What did I say? she scolded me. Go for it!

Suddenly, I realized what she'd meant and blushed. Instinctively, I turned to Chrona.

She was looking at me, too.

Behind us, the orchestra was playing a slow love ballad. I dimly noted the notes as I slowly leaned in closer to her, and as she lifted her chin, with the slightest hint of redness on her cheeks, either from the cold or from embarrassment...

I leaned in a bit closer.

Our lips met.

A small corner of my mind kept nagging me:

You're a girl! Chrona is a girl! You're both GIRLS! Doesn't this bother you in the slightest?

Oh, shut up, I thought back to it. I couldn't care less.

CHRONO

I watched Joshua as he stared over the railing, clearly in deep thought. For a brief moment, I thought I saw him blush, but then the thought of that vanished from my mind altogether when he turned to me.

I subconsciously lifted my face to him - curse my shortness! - and, in response, he lowered his head. And then, before I knew it, he was kissing me.

Without even thinking about it, I kissed him back.

It was...nice. Considering that I'd never kissed anyone before, it was hard to decide whether this was a "good" kiss or a "bad" one, but all things considered, I liked it. A lot.

When he finally pulled away, my face was on fire and the tips of my ears were burning. We stood there are stared at each other, not speaking, not even needing to, for a long time.

All I could think was: I just kissed a boy.

And I liked it.

What's wrong with me?

Before I could ponder it, my thoughts were interrupted by a loud, obnoxious clanging sound.

One.

Two.

Three.

Slowly, it dawned on me.

It's midnight.

Four.

I turned around, picked up my skirts, and ran.

I could hear Joshua calling out my name in confusion. I ignored him and ran.

Five.

Six.

I pushed past Azmaria and Rosette chatting together. Azmaria reached out and grabbed my sleeve; I shook her off and continued, wincing as a few strands of hair and my sleeve ripped off in her grasp. Mary was not going to be happy about that.

Seven.

Eight.

Nine.

I dashed up the stairs, pushing aside everyone in my way - I heard more than one person mutter "crazy little bitch" as I ran past - and dashed down the steps outside.

Ten.

Eleven.

"Get in!" the cab driver called, and I clambered into the carriage, once again wondering at its uncanny resemblance to a pumpkin.

Twelve.

Thank God.

As the carriage driver whipped the reins and the horses began to whinny and gallop, I collapsed in my seat and pressed my hand hard against my lips.

I could still feel myself blushing.

A/N: Okay, that was pretty short - or, well, it wasn't nearly as detailed as it could've been - but I've gotten impatient to finish this. I've got SOOO many other stories that I want to hurry up and finish already, but I've already decided that I'm going to go through them one by one so as to avoid making any enthusiastic readers unhappy. (Not that I've got many stories up yet, anyway - or all too many enthusiastic readers. Still...)

I'm pretty sure the kiss scene sucked. Did the kiss scene suck? Because I think that the kiss scene sucked. If any of you agree with me, feel free to tell me so, because I seriously think I need to work on my kiss scenes - not that I'll have many more in any of my fanfictions, I don't think. Still, just in case...

So, yeah. One or two more chapters, tops! And then I'm AA-ALL DONE!