Author's Note: Ok, being that I started this story BEFORE Breaking Dawn came out, there are a few mistakes that I made with my story. For example, Kathrin's eyes already being gold and her current level of self control. I went with my best guesses at the time and it's too late to change anything now, so I'm just gunna go ahead I keep on with things as they currently are. ( Besides, it's a fanfic, right? That gives me a little more leeway. XD; ) Anyway, on with the next chapter!

Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer's owns Twilight, not me. I'm just borrowing a few of her ideas. XD

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Kathrin's POV

Joyce was seriously a miracle worker. It didn't take very long for us to decide who we were all going to go as (she and I went ahead and took the liberty of deciding for Jacques), and now only two days later she had all three costumes ready. "Ok, even taking into account that we don't sleep and that you probably worked in vampire speed I still have no idea how you managed this," I remarked in awe as I looked over my new costume. Real leather and everything! I don't think I've ever seen cosplay look THIS authentic…

Joyce was amused by my awe. "It's a gift I suppose. Once I set my mind to something there's no stopping me. Besides, what fun would it be to go to a new year's cosplay party without any cosplay?"

Ah yes, new years. In my time since becoming a vampire I hadn't really been paying much attention to the date. After all, it no longer made much of a difference to me as I had been on my own up until just recently. "True. So, how exactly do you plan on getting Jacques into his costume?" Mr. Frenchie still wasn't exactly thrilled with our plan for this evening. Though he didn't voice his disagreement much I could still hear his worried thoughts (along with his lack of enthusiasm for dressing up).

"You don't have to worry about that," Joyce replied, a mischievous grin planted on her face. "He knows better than to refuse. Besides, I know his weak points."

This captured my interest. "Oh? Do tell." I didn't bother to hide the eagerness behind my words.

"Ah, now it's not fair for the two of you to gang up on me like that," Jacques interjected, leaning casually against the door frame. "After all, I'm the only guy in the house right now. How am I supposed to properly defend myself?"

I knew Jacques had been listening in on our conversation from his thoughts, but I hadn't realized that he was so close to our room. "Easy, just sweep us off our feet with your boyish charm."

"Ah, but now that wouldn't be fair to you ladies."

I laughed and Joyce simply rolled her eyes. "Please Jacques. 'Boyish charm'? I'd like to see you try to pull that off."

Before either of us could blink Jacques appeared directly in front of the red head, their bodies extremely close. Eyes smoldering, he gently tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear while softly muttering something in French, which managed to elicit a shocked gasp from Joyce. She quickly pulled away and muttered "show off" under her breath while Jacques grinned in victory. I couldn't help but laugh.

"So what are you up here for anyway? I'm guessing it's not to try on your costume."

"You guessed correctly. I'm here to take Kathrin out hunting before tonight's events." If we're going to be in such close proximity with a large group of humans we have to at least take some precautions…

"Alright, just don't stay out too long! It shouldn't be too hard to straighten Kathrin's hair, but we've got a LOT of work to do on yours." I hope I bought enough hair gel…

Jacques groaned and I giggled quietly to myself as I followed him out of the room. I almost felt sorry for the guy… Almost.

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"Is it possible for a vampire to get sick from too much blood?" I asked Jacques as we ran back to the house. I honestly couldn't ever remember drinking so much in one hunt during my entire vampiric life thus far.

Jacques responding laugh made my dead heart feel alive at the sound. "I'm not sure. I've never tried personally. On a side note I must say that your eyes are the most brilliant shade of gold that I've ever seen."

I turned my face away and murmured back a thank you, the ghost of a blush rising to my cheeks. Hey, I had more than enough blood in me now for a full one anyway, so this didn't exactly surprise me. Jacques said something sweetly to me in French, to which I responded by looking at him questioningly.

"Ah, don't pretend that you didn't understand that," he said with a small smile.

"But, I didn't. I don't know any French."

"None?"

"Maybe like three words, but that's about it."

"If that's true, then how is it that you can understand my thoughts?"

I stopped in my tracks at his question and he had to double back to where I was. "What do you mean by that?" I asked slowly, thoroughly confused.

Jacques returned the confused look. "I mostly think in French. Since you seemed to understand me I simply figured that you knew the language and just didn't like to speak it. You never noticed?"

Now that he mentioned it, it did register somewhere in the back of my mind that Jacques' thoughts had always sounded a bit off to me, I just never really paid it much attention. Perhaps this explained why it was easier for me to block out Jacques' thoughts than to block out others. "So, basically my mind reading ability has a built in translator…" I concluded, turning this over in my mind thoughtfully. "In that case, perhaps it will be even easier for me to learn new languages than I thought."

Jacques laughed and shook his head. "Come on, let's get back to the house before Joyce can kill us for taking so long. After all, she knows we've stopped." I nodded in agreement before we both dashed off again. Tonight was definitely going to be interesting.

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Jacques' POV

As I had anticipated, Joyce wasn't too happy with how late we were. "What TOOK you guys so long?!" she exclaimed, dragging us into the house. The little red-head was already completely dressed, and she had died her hair black to match. (With temporary color I assumed.) "You know we only have an hour for the two of you to get ready?! Vampire speed can work miracles, yes, but Jacques' hair is going to take a LOT of work!"

She sure can be bossy when she wants to be. I saw Kathrin bite back a smirk at my thought.

"Kathrin! Go ahead and get dressed and I'll be over to help you straighten you hair in minute. Jacques, I left instructions in your room for what order to put on the layering of your outfit. I'll get to work on your hair after I finish with Kathrin. Now MOVE you two!" My jaw slackened slightly when she said that my outfit came with instructions, but I quickly recovered.

"Yes, Maam!" I cried in a mock salute, quickly dashing off to my room before my adopted sister could hit me. (She packed quite the punch for her size!)

Forty-five minutes later, the three of us stood in the front room, dressed and ready to go. I felt utterly ridiculous. "So, who exactly is it that we are dressed up as anyway?"

Before actually answering, Joyce grabbed Kathrin and I by the arm and turned us to face each other. "Cloud Strife, meet Tifa Lockhart! Your childhood friend and crush. And, after you finish saving the world, hopefully your girlfriend." Kathrin chuckled at this while I merely rolled my eyes.

"I guess that explains this giant sword. And you are?"

"I am the great ninja Yuffie!" she exclaimed, striking a pose with her over-sized shuriken.

"I see." In actuality, I didn't. It wasn't as if I had ever seen or heard of these people before. Kathrin seemed to be enjoying herself though, so I kept quiet for her sake. "Tifa, where's your oversized weapon?" I asked, an amused smile making its way onto my face.

Kathrin grinned. "Don't got one. Tifa fights with her hands and feet." She balled her gloved hands into fists before standing in an attack stance.

"Ok, enough talk! We have to put on the final touches!" Joyce interrupted, handing each of us a small box.

I looked the box over briefly. "Contacts?"

"Well yeah! Cloud has blue mako rimmed eyes, and Tifa and Yuffie both have dark eyes!"

"Mako?"

"Don't ask," Kathrin replied with a laugh.

By this point Joyce was practically pushing us out the door. "Ok, ok, let's go already! Talk along the way!"

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Kathrin's POV

Wow. There were a LOT of people here. Granted, I had already anticipated this in my head, but it was different to actually see it. Well, as well as I could see through these contacts anyway. The accelerated thrum of the hundreds of heartbeats around me ignited a rather painful burning sensation in the back of my throat. Even with all that I had earlier drank my thirst seemed to be rekindled. Yet, at the same time, I still felt that if I drank even another drop of blood that I would literally pop. Not a fun mix. However, at least the earlier hunt seemed to be doing its job, and that was a good thing.

To accompany the giant crowd of people was a barrage of thoughts thronging through my head. And, sure enough, I could understand them, even though there was no way in the world they were actually thinking in English. Next to me I could hear Joyce's excited thoughts as she scanned the crowd and admired the different cosplay. On my other side I could hear Jacques' thoughts filled with concern for me. I'm doing fine, I told him silently, turning to face him and smiling. This looks like it will be quite fun!

It was truly amazing how even in a crowd this thick our appearances managed to draw attention to us. Then again, there were probably two really good reasons for this to happen more here than usual: 1) We were foreigners, which drew attention to us in of itself. 2) We really DID look just like the characters we were dressed as, only much more attractive. A large group of boys started to gather around Joyce and I while Jacques was flocked by the girls. I simply kept repeating the phrase "Wakarimasen (I don't understand)," to everyone who addressed me. Each breath felt I took only served to stoke the fire that raged in my throat, so I ended up just giving up on talking altogether and letting Joyce dispel the boys for both of us. Meanwhile I listened in both mild awe and annoyance and Jacques futilely tried to get rid of the large group of girls around him in perfect Japanese. (It seemed that the women in this crowd were much more persistent. That or Joyce was just better at getting rid of people.) So, remind me again why you don't put that much effort into articulation for English again?

I've never really cared for English much as a language, so I tend to be lazy when speaking it.

Ah, I see.

How are you holding up?

I've been better. Though, if you don't get rid of that gaggle of girls around you soon then I might accidentally "slip up".

Jacques chuckled at my jealousy and managed to force his way back over to my side, much to the disappointment of his followers. His arm snaked its way across my shoulders as he leaned in close to me. "Is this better?" he breathed seductively in my ear.

I nearly let out a gasp as I felt a strong wave of lust pass through my body. I was confused for less than half a second before I put together that Jacques had his hand on me along with a devilish grin on his face. I smacked his arm lightly in response (for any harder would have been too loud). "Hey, don't mess with my emotions!"

He laughed. "You know you liked it."

"Did not!" Ok, so maybe I did like it a little, but I wasn't about to admit that to him.

He smirked, knowing better. Stupid empath. "You're lying." I shrugged his arm off at this point, mock indignant.

Joyce pushed her way back through the crowd to where we were. (When had she even left?) "Hey, guys! Come over this way! They have a stand selling vampire stuff."

I snickered and Jacques arched an eyebrow. "And this should interest us because…?"

"Oh come on, you know that they come up with some pretty funny stuff. We can buy ourselves some plastic fangs, just for kicks."

Now he was rolling his eyes. "Won't that clash with these outfits you've put us in?"

"Didn't say we had to wear them now. We can save them for later." She grabbed both of us by the wrist and pulled us along. "Stop being such a party pooper, Jacques! I mean I know you're technically old enough to fart dust, but still!"

I completely lost it at this point. Peals of laughter erupted from my chest and venom pooled in my eyes, threatening to spill over. Many people were thinking that I was slightly off-balanced at this point, but I didn't really care. "Fart- dust!" I rasped, gasping for unnecessary air. Jacques rolled his eyes again while Joyce giggled along, more amused by my reaction than her own joke.

The night continued on much in this same manner, with Joyce dragging us here and there while we continued on with random banter. My throat was still hurting like hell, but I was having too much fun to really care much at this point. Besides, it was also quite fun taking in all of the different costumes. I think I saw people from just about every series and game that I knew plus a whole lot more. As alive as things were throughout the evening however, things really started to pick up as midnight drew near.

"Hey, you guys, I'll be back shortly, ok?" Joyce said before skipping off gracefully through the crowd. I knew what she was really up to though, even if she had tried not to think about it. Alone time for midnight, eh? Well, I can't say that I don't appreciate it. I momentarily reflected on the past two times that Jacques and I had tried to kiss. We had come so close both times. It almost hurt to think about it.

Jacques gently placed a hand on my shoulder again after Joyce was out of sight, pulling me out of my train of thought. "Tifa, do you mind coming with me for a moment?"

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Well, I had to cut it off SOMEWHERE, right? Lol. Once again I would like to recommend eclecticLibra's story The Complication to everyone. She is a truly gifted writer, and it is a beyond awesome story. (Mine pales in comparison.)

On another note, PLEASE review! I know people are reading this! Just give me SOME kind of feedback. It makes it a lot easier to continue the story when you do. (Thanks again to Katie for her awesome reviewing faithfulness.)