Arya's POV:

8:30 AM.

Oh god. It felt like every muscle in my body was sore, every bone cracked. I got up gingerly, and limped to the shower. The hot water helped sooth my wounds.

I cursed. I shouldn't have trained so hard yesterday…

That left me with the question of what I should do today.

Ditching my belt and cloak, I walked out of my room and headed up the hallway to Yukino's room. After reaching her room, I knocked on her door twice.

"Coming!"

I waited for a couple of seconds until she pried the door open. "Arya? Oh, I didn't know it was you, come on in!"

She grabbed my hand and pulled me in. I loved her room. Unlike my room which was mostly empty and barren, hers was beautiful. Posters dotted the walls. She had replaced the traditional Sabertooth red-and-gold colors with light blue and white throughout her room. I went to go and sit on the plush comforter, watching her get ready.

"So are you training today, Yukino?" I inquired.

"I don't know yet," she said, frowning. "Are you?"

"My wounds are bugging me again."

"Are you ok?" she looked at me, concerned. "Yup."

"Well, then I'll join you!"

"Are you sure?"

"I need to go pick up a dress!"

"Um, why?"

She dropped her pin and looked at me. "Well, for the ball of course!"

"What?"

She picked up her pin and slid it into her hair. I liked what she was wearing today – a simple white tank top and light pink shorts. I stared down at my black combat shirt and grimaced. My hair was growing out too. I tugged on my ponytail as she began to speak.

"The ball, Arya, it's in two days," she answered. "You dance. Well, you have to get a date first. All the Grand Magic Games Competitors are required to dance, so…"

I gulped. "I have to get a date…?"

"Well, yes. Judging from Sting's behavior lately, he's probably going to ask you."

"Um, no."

"You're sassy today," she said smiling. "You might still want to consider it, though…"

"I'll pass. Besides, he's probably doing it as a bet or something."

Now it was my turn to smile. "Who are you going with?"

She looked into the mirror and frowned. "I actually don't know."

"You should go with Sting!"

"I wouldn't mind," she said, laughing. "What about you and Rogue?"

I blushed again. She saw me this time and laughed again. I looked towards the window. "Er, I mean he doesn't seem like the type who would, you know… dance."

She pulled me off the bed and we headed into town.

After visiting numerous boutiques and trying out a lot of dresses, we finally decided on ours. Mine of course was difficult to find as compared to Yukino's. With her thin hips and large chest, she was able to fill out any gown. I mostly stood in the corner, moping while holding her stuff.

Finally we managed to find one that suited my wide hips and broad shoulders. "You have man shoulders," Yukino complained. I threw the gown at her.

After deciding, we went to eat lunch at a local café.

I had to admit, being with Yukino made me feel a lot better – I hadn't been shopping in a long time.

We headed towards the café until I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around. Oh for the love of god, it was Sting.

"Can I help you?" I answered defiantly. Jeez, he was tall. But I wasn't going to let him whisk me away from my perfect day with Yukino.

"Would you allow me to take you to lunch?" he asked flirtatiously.

"No, I'm going with Yukino," I answered, grabbing her arm and hurtling around the corner, losing him.

We had lunch at a quant cafe. After eating, she took me to get my hair done. "Jeez, Arya… haven't you ever had a haircut? Your hairs almost past your waist…"

After wrenching my hair out of its ponytail, she instructed the barber to cut it until it reached the middle of my back.

We headed home after that.