Chapter 21: Not so Happy Birthday

Leon fell asleep with Iris's head on his lap. He woke up to a tapping; he went out and saw Sora in the water.

"Sora, what are you doing here?" Leon asked as he rubbed his eyes.

"Aqua and Terra sent me here to get you guys down here." Sora said.

"Are you crazy?" Leon asked. "It's only 4:00am."

"Yug says he has a plan for getting the prince to kiss Iris."

Iris ran up and prepared to jump down.

"Oh, no you don't!" Leon said sternly. "I may have lost the majority of my magic and the ability to summon my sword, but I can still get us down without resorting to suicide."

Iris smiled and hugged Leon as he hopped from tree to tree down to the ground smoothly, and Sora just jumped down and landed on his knee.

"Ah!" Sora said, groaning.

"Quiet!" Leon whispered agitatedly.

At the beach, Aqua was fingering a very small package she just managed to wrap up. The others arrived quickly.

"Now what's your plan, Aqua?" Leon asked.

"Simple." Aqua said winking. "Iris has to win the contest."

"What?" Axel asked. "How is she supposed to do that without her voice?"

"Well…" Terra said, "It'll be tough, but we think if you at least show up and try to do something, you'll stand a pretty good chance, based on last night."

"It's the only plan we've got." Leon said. "Let's get to work, then."

"Right!" Aqua said as she took charge. "Iris, you need the best dress you can find and try to leave something, so the prince knows you care."

Iris nodded, and she and Leon quickly ran back to the palace and found a more formal version of what Iris wore last night. Iris looked around, and she touched her necklace. She took it off and set it on the bed where Ventus would be sure to find it. They then ran back as Aqua smiled and nodded.

"Alright." Aqua said. "Just one more thing." Terra handed Iris the package. "Give this to the prince and you're a shoo-in."

Iris smiled, and she quickly hid behind a rock to change.

Ventus came down stairs after waking up. He was fully refreshed, and his mind was perfectly clear. He saw his uncle and Vexen talking with Roxas and Rinoa when Ventus knocked on the wall to show he was there.

"Ah." Xehanort said smiling. "My prince. Ready for the contest?"

"Actually," Ventus said smiling. "I've decided to call the whole thing off."

"Why?" Vexen asked with a sly smile.

"Because I already know who I want to marry."

"That voice you're always going on about?" Xehanort asked agitatedly. He never had Father's patience.

"Actually," Ventus said, smiling. "I've decided to stop chasing a dream and let a dream catch me."

"Hey," Rinoa said. "Leon said that."

"How could you possibly know that?" Roxas asked.

"I was walking by, when I heard them." Rinoa responded.

"That's right, and I'm taking his advice." Ventus said as he smiled. "I'll go see Iris right now."

When Ventus reached the room, he noticed that it was unlocked. He saw that Iris wasn't there. He checked Leon's room and found that he was gone too. He wondered what was going on when he found something glittering on Iris's bed. He picked it up and saw that it was Iris's necklace. Iris showed that she'd gotten it from her mother when she died. She wouldn't just leave it. Then the horrible truth hit him like a ton of bricks. He'd waited too long, and Iris ran off earlier, so she wouldn't have to see him before the contest. He'd really screwed up now. He should have run straight up to Iris's room the moment Leon had finished talking to him. Now she was gone. Gone forever. He loved her, and now he could never tell her. Ventus pocketed the necklace and walked back down like he had the day his father died.

When he came back down, Roxas immediately knew what had happened. Iris had left.

"My prince." Roxas said. "We don't have to-"

"I made a promise." Ventus said in the dethatched voice he had right after Roxas's uncle, King Ansem passed on. "I'm going to keep it."

"Cousin." Roxas said as he looked at Ventus. "I'm so sorry."

"Thank you." Ventus said as he fiddled with something in his pocket.

Chaos: at least Ven now knows what Iris was feeling in the last chapter now.

Aqua: good point about that.

Iris: yeah, now he knows how it feels to lose someone, that loves you.

Chaos: hey! where are the boys? oh well! take it away Aqua!

Aqua: Alright! Chaos dose not own the little mermaid or kingdom hearts, but she owns Iris.