A/N: Sorry, guys, for not updating until today. I have a fairly reasonable explanation for it, though. I went to the dentist on Wednesday to get a little work done on my gumline. So, I have suffered pain the past two days, and I finally got to updating for you, my readers! You're welcome. XP But, anyway, since I didn't receive any comments rejecting it, I went with the prom chapter. I hope you guys like it. I'm kinda unsure about it myself.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts.

Chapter 12: Dance of a Lifetime

It was inevitable that prom tickets would start being sold at Lenera's school. However, it could not have come at a more opportune moment. To the student council's surprise, she walked up to them with a smile and promptly bought two tickets for her and Lariaum. These popular kids didn't even see that coming, for Lenera was supposed to be the resident bad girl. Everyone in her class considered her the one who bullied and tormented her peers. But, since Lariaum had declared his love for her, things had changed. She had officially retired as a bully and decided to become somewhat nicer. Still, she refused to make her change in personality too drastic. After all, she could snap at people any time she wanted, though it just didn't happen as much as it used to. Love could make people do funny things.

When she gave Lariaum his ticket, he grinned and kissed her right in front of Sylvia and Riana. However, the latter two saw this almost every day now and treated it like it was the most normal occurrence in the world. Both were happy that Lenera had found her happiness after these several years. Sylvia suggested that she, her older sister, and her mother walk to Fairweatherton to shop for dresses. Despite the rather sparse size of the town, it did manage to have a shop that contained clothes for every occasion.

"Get this orange one, it looks good on you!" Sylvia entreated, practically shoving the dress in Lenera's face.

"I don't look good in orange...or yellow...or green...or re—"

"I'm sure you will look perfectly fine in anything, Lenera. You have my figure, after all," Riana half-bragged, though smiled jokingly.

The blonde smiled back as she carefully scanned all the evening gowns, trying to find the perfect one that could impress Lariaum. She merely wished to see the amazed expression on his face. But, which one would he...?

It came in the form of a strapless pearl-white dress that seemed to stand out to her. Fate seemed to have intervened in order to make this an easy decision for her. Before she could stop herself, Lenera felt her jaw dropping at the sight of this simple yet elegant dress. She had rarely seen anything as beautiful as that. Then again, she had never worn a dress before in her life, except maybe once in kindergarten for picture day. Sylvia breezily strode over to where Lenera stood to give her spoken seal of approval. The younger sister loved to play the part of critic.

"Wow, that dress might be the one, Lenera," she stated, almost as breathless as Lenera was.

Without hesitation, the older girl resolved to take it off the clothing rack in order to try it on. She hoped that it would fit her well, considering it was the only one that interested her. It absolutely had to fit, or else why even bother looking at the other gowns? To her relief, the white gown accentuated every curve in her body, and, when she glanced at herself in the mirror, her skin seemed to have glowed. Her decision was set when it came to dresses—the white one was undoubtedly for her. In fact, it might as well have been made for her, since its elegance struck her as impeccable. Wearing it made her feel like a beautiful white lily on a floating lily pad. Lenera proudly exited the changing room to let her mother and sister see her in this perfect fashion creation. She managed to stun both of them with her presence.

"You look like a young woman. It suits you very well...," Riana said rather slowly as tears welled up in her eyes. "You're all grown up, Lenera."

"Told you it was the one," Sylvia boasted, punching her sister in the arm to show her approval.

Two weeks later, prom night had arrived, much more quickly than Lenera had anticipated. She sat on her bed, staring at her image reflected in her mirror. For some reason unknown to her, she felt like a princess in her white gown and matching high heels. She never even thought she would wear high heels in her life! All week she had spent practicing to walk in them, which paid off after stubbing her toes quite a few times. In her graceful hand, she held a red carnation for Lariaum's corsage. The prom at his school wouldn't be held until the weekend after this one. However, he only planned on going to one prom, and that was hers. He had said to her that he wouldn't even bother preparing for his simply due to the fact that he "looked forward to going to one prom, but not to two." She smiled at the memory, for he had stated it so firmly, almost as if he hated the prospect. That made sense, considering the high school event wasn't such a big deal to her. She could care less who wore the respective crowns of king and queen.

A knock on the door signaled Lariaum's arrival, much to Lenera's great joy; she could hardly wait for him to see her in such a different way than usual. Leaning toward her mirror, she anxiously patted her already neatly combed hair once more to ensure that she would look beautiful in his eyes. Normally, she would disregard such a feat, but tonight was obviously special. After that glance in the mirror, she proceeded to put on slightly more mascara in the bathroom. There, now she had fully prepared, she thought with a huge sigh of relief as she slowly descended down the stairs.

Lariaum stood very stiffly upon watching her, his sapphire eyes filled with an adoration she knew meant his approval. He held a lovely bouquet of crimson roses just for her. She felt admittedly flattered that he went so far as to get one for her. And he looked so handsome and dapper in his traditional black tuxedo. Lenera swore she practically blushed at the mere sight of him in his formal attire.

Once she walked toward him, he whispered in her ear, "You look beautiful, Lenera," before he kissed her lips briefly.

She grinned. "And you're very handsome...more so than usual."

Chuckling, he handed her the bouquet while she in turn placed the corsage in his lapel. "You have such a way with words."

"What do you mean?" she inquired before adding, "You're the one who uses some words I haven't even heard of."

Riana and Sylvia decided to intrude upon this moment, cameras in hand. After all, Lenera could only go to her high school prom once.

"Smile, you two!" Sylvia smirked as she focused her camera on the pair. "This is what you're going to have to get used to all night long."

"I'm sure they don't take pictures that often, Sylvia. I know when I went to prom—"

Lenera interrupted her mother, "Sorry, Mom, but now isn't the time to get nostalgic."

So, Lenera and Lariaum posed for their pictures before leaving the cabin, walking hand in hand. During their walk, they talked about a variety of topics, pointedly their future graduations.

"I managed to get by on grades to graduate, I think," Lenera told her boyfriend, smirking at the thought of all those times she acted out during class. Despite the numerous detentions, she still did adequately in all of her classes. True, she wasn't the smartest in her grade, but she wasn't the stupidest either.

"I have to make the valedictorian speech at my graduation," Lariaum said calmly, "but I'm not too worried about it. As long as Lae or Monique don't sabotage the whole event, I'm fine."

"As I'm sure you will be," Lenera assured just as they reached the entrance to the one fancy bit of architecture that Fairweatherton had to offer: the hotel.

The rest of the night seemed to fly by once the two of them had arrived at the hotel. They enjoyed the beverages and the endless dancing. However, Lenera warned Lariaum beforehand that she was an awkward dancer and sat out for most of the festivities. She didn't know why, unless it was self-consciousness, which she hoped hadn't come back to haunt her tonight. Sure, she feasted on the snacks as she watched Lariaum occasionally have a drink of punch. When he wasn't doing that, he danced by himself. A weird occurrence, but nonetheless one that made Lenera feel extremely guilty. She gulped down her regret concerning the whole thing and definitely seemed like a hypocrite in this dress. It was at this moment that Willow came up to her with her date Damon Ocean on her arm.

"Hey, Len, what's up? Why aren't you dancing?" her best friend asked while performing a twirl.

"I'm just...awkward at it."

"Oh, I see. You're not used to going to high school social parties. I'm not either, and I'm having a heck of a time. Right, Damon?"

"Right, and besides, the slow dance is about to start after they announce who the king and queen are."

"Well, I'll consider it then. Thanks, guys." Lenera smiled wryly, observing the two of them walk away.

One of the student council members walked over to what served as a stage at that very moment to announce the prom king and queen. Suspense filled the room until the member said one name that Lenera had barely heard of before. The second one turned out to be Fawn Woodsworth, the girl who she and Willow practically trashed every day.

"I knew those things were fixed," Lenera muttered under her breath as the king and queen headed to the middle of the room to share the traditional dance. Everyone else slowly danced with their dates, though it looked as though they barely moved. She sighed, playing with a stray lock of her blond hair. Out of all times to admit to herself she couldn't dance, it had to be at her high school prom, of all places. Lariaum made his way toward her sitting form, a concerned expression on his face.

"Why won't you dance?" he whispered softly, surprising her from his lack of anger toward her.

"I kind of suck," she admitted. She nervously tapped one of her high heeled feet out of anxiety for this five minute song. It had barely been two since it started, and part of her screamed to dance with him. Another worry she had was if Lariaum would leave her now and tell her what a horrible time he had. She didn't want that to happen.

But, he stretched a hand for her to grab hold, offering her for this slow dance. "Then I'm just going to have to show you, aren't I? Seriously, Lenera, I think tonight is a rather ill-fitting time to have any insecurity regarding dancing."

Stifling her laughter, she smirked at him. "I think so, too."

"Come with me," he entreated tenderly.

With a nod, Lenera gave her consent and grabbed his hand. The pair of them strode over to the dance floor to share this magical moment. Lariaum held her waist, drawing her intimately close to him. This proximity brought some heat to Lenera's cheeks, though she disregarded it. Deliberately, she wrapped her arms around his neck, which she nuzzled gently. In the very instant she did this, she realized she had nothing to fear about this. It was just prom, and, compared to what both of them had gone through this year, nothing. The rhythm of the slow music seemed to take hold of her as she swayed back and forth against Lariaum.

Of course, dancing was easy. So, why didn't she think that way before? Maybe nerves had impelled her to refuse being closer than she had ever dared to be with her boyfriend. He understood her; furthermore, he loved her with a strong, heavy passion. At this point in their relationship, nothing could tear them apart.

He titled her chin upward with one finger. "See? This isn't so bad, is it?"

"No, I guess not."

"Like I said before, nothing could make me stop loving you. Even if it means you're an inexperienced dancer."

Chuckling under her breath, she waited until he ceased tickling her lips with his breath and closed the limited space between them with a kiss. This dance was one of a lifetime. She could see herself telling this to her children, her grandchildren, and, if she lived long enough, her great-grandchildren. Everything about this night, though she had told Willow herself prom was no big deal, was magic.

A/N: Sadly, now I have to set to updating my other KH story back a couple days. Oh, well. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. And, please, PLEASE review. I haven't received any reviews for the past two chapters, and every little bit helps. XD

This should be updated on Thursday or so. Bye for now!