Hi everyone! I am pround to present chapter 21. I'm really happy with how this chapter turned out and I hope you all agree! There is some fan service ahead, but nothing real major, I tried to keep things as tasteful as possible. Thanks to Yellow 14, BlackRoseFire, The half moon arises, XV-Dragon, antlan87, SeekerOfShadows, and drakensis for your reviews for chapter 20. I have a couple of notes after the chapter so please read those!
And now on with the show!
Chapter 21: Birthday Bash
The final bell of the school rang and the halls of Sheffield Academy were quickly filled with cheering students. However Becky and her friends found it hard to join in with their fellow students celebrations. What they had learned about the object Logrim was after and the danger it posed to Eldrin was weighing heavily on their minds. The stakes had been seriously raised with millions of lives on the line. As the six friends left school they resumed the discussion they had been having for the last few days.
"I still think we should just clear everyone off of Eldrin." Amy said. "I mean, that seems to me to be the best option."
"Yeah, but where would we take them Amy?" Sarah asked. "Meridian can't hold that many extra people."
"What about finding an uninhabited planet to send them to? Or spreading them out over several other worlds?" Jenny suggested.
"Those ideas have merits, but the question is still the same. Where?" Lisa said. "Let's say we send them to a planet where no one lives, what are they supposed to do for food? Shelter? What if there are dangerous monsters there? And say we spread them out. That's almost as bad. I mean Meridian's people have certainly been willing to take in the refugees, but I can't see every world's population as welcoming. Especially if they show up unannounced. And trying to negotiate something like that would just take up time we don't have."
"And can you imagine what a nightmare it would be to try and organize something like that?" Trista said. "There's no way we could be sure we got everybody and there's bound to be holdouts that refuse to leave."
"Plus Logrim would know something was up." Becky said with a shake of her head. "There's no way he wouldn't notice everyone on Eldrin just up and vanishing. Yeah, we've been taking people off of Eldrin for months now, but so far it's only been people he's taken prisoner or have been threatened directly by him. If we start making entire towns of people disappear for no reason he's going to know something is up, and we don't want to tip our hand. The less he thinks we know the better."
"What I want to know is how Logrim knew it was on Eldrin on the first place." Sarah said.
"Remember what Nella told us? How she heard from Marna that wizard guy Pelth had tracked its path to Eldrin. Obviously he knew what signs to look for. I'm sure the Oracle could do the same thing, and find where it is, the problem is they have a head start and we have no idea where to begin. For all we know it took them years to figure it out." Jenny said.
"We're just going around in circles here." Becky shook her head in exasperation. "We're no closer to solution then we were a few days ago. I think all we can do for now is keep doing what we've been doing. Fighting Logrim and his men. If we can beat them then that buys us time to find it. And in the meantime we hope the Oracle can find a way to track down the Heart of Exellis if we can't. It's not a great plan, but I just don't see any other options at the moment." Trying to lighten the mood they turned the discussion to their plans for summer break.
"We have to go the beach for sure." Amy said. "Catch some rays, hit the surf, it'll be great!"
"I don't care what we do. I'm just glad to be out of school for the summer. No more Knickerbocker getting her panties in a twist over every little thing. No more having to listen that stuck up bitch Stacey every day. Pure heaven!" Trista said with a wistful sigh.
"Yeah, and you get to spend more time with your BOYFRIEND." Amy said with a giggle. "We'll need to take him to the beach with us so he can stare at you in your bikini."
"Yeah, yeah. Get it out of your system Evans. You're just jealous you don't have anyone." Trista said. Amy rolled her eyes and suppressed a frown. She was admittedly feeling a little jealous of her friends all having someone special in their lives. It was hard not to, seeing her friends smiling and happy with their significant others, especially Becky and Lisa. She wanted that same happiness for herself as well, who didn't? It was just something she hadn't found for herself yet. For the time being she pushed it to the side and moved on to something else she had been thinking about.
Becky's birthday was coming up and Amy had wanted to put together a surprise party for her best friend. The good part (and bad when you thought about her past) was that Becky wouldn't even see it coming because she had never had a birthday party before. Amy had already mentioned it to Will who thought it was a great idea, but she hadn't gotten any farther then that because they had been so busy with their Guardian duties. But now Becky's birthday was only a week away and she was no closer to having it planned then she did a month ago. It was time get it in gear, as her mother liked to say. The real trick was going to be keeping it secret from Becky, who was incredibly sharp. First things first, she had to get the other girls in on plan.
Amy sent a telepathic message to Trista, telling her to get the others together later, but not tell Becky. Trista asked why, but said she'd explain later. Amy figured she could have just called everyone later, but this was faster, and it ensured everyone got the message. Plus she didn't know if Lisa would be with Becky later (they usually were) and for Lisa to suddenly leave if they were could raise suspicions. A couple of hours after they split up everyone arrived at Amy's house.
"Okay Amy, what's this all about? And why weren't we supposed to tell Becky?" Jenny asked.
"Yeah, this was all very cloak and dagger." Trista added.
"Yeah, I know. I had kept wanting to bring this up sooner, but well, things happen." Amy said with a shrug. "Anyways, I don't know if any of you know, but Becky's birthday is coming up."
"What? Really?" Lisa said in shock. The others were all surprised as well. "How come she hasn't said anything?"
"Well, remember this is Becky we're talking about. I'm sure her asshole parents never celebrated her birthday. She doesn't always have an idea what normal things like that mean to the rest of us." Sarah said.
"Right, so I was thinking that for her first real birthday we throw her a surprise party!" Amy said excitedly. "It's real short notice, I know, but now that school is out we should have all the time we need to put it together."
"Well I'm in." Lisa said. The others agreed as well. "One question. How'd you find out when her birthday is?" Amy explained she had approached Will awhile back out of curiosity. Will had done some digging shortly after adopting Becky to get necessary records for enrolling her in school. She had found some personal records on her new daughter which included her date of birth.
"Where should we have it?" Trista asked. "One of our places? I doubt we could do it at her apartment. It wouldn't be much of a surprise if we're caught putting up a bunch of balloons."
"I don't know if that's going to big enough." Amy said. "There's probably going to be more than just the six of us. Will, for one will want to be there, and if she comes so will Irma. And was I thinking of inviting Chase, Kaz and Nella."
"Don't forget Cornelia, Caleb, Taranee and Hay Lin. Maybe even Elyon." Sarah said, ticking her fingers off as she spoke.
"Okay, so a large venue. Where are we going to find that on such short notice?" Jenny said.
"How about the 'Silver Dragon'?" Lisa said suddenly. "It's large enough. It has a kitchen, and we know the owner who would end up being a guest anyways."
"Perfect!" Amy said. Glad that things were starting to come together so quickly. "I'll swing by the restaurant tomorrow and talk to Hay Lin. We'll have to keep her away from Becky though, you know how excitable she is, she'd blab the minute she saw Becky." The girls had a good laugh at that one. "Lisa, I need you to talk to Will tomorrow, let her know what's what. She can get ahold of Cornelia and the others."
"What about Chase, Kaz and Nella?"
"Leave that to me." Said Jenny. "I have a lesson with the Oracle tomorrow. One of them should be there."
"Awesome. Okay, what about decorations?" Amy asked.
"Leave that to Jenny and me." Sarah said.
"That just leaves a cake."
"I got it covered." Trista said.
"You aren't going to bake it yourself, are you?" Amy said hesitantly. "You remember what happened with that pie."
"Oh shut up! That was two years ago! And no, I'm going to bake it myself. But I do know a bakery that is good at rush jobs." Trista said angrily. Sarah explained to Jenny in a whisper how a couple of years ago Trista experimented with baking. She had attempted to make an apple pie from scratch, only she didn't have all the right ingredients. Instead of letting that stop her she decided to substitute what was missing for what was on hand. Which included dried apples instead of fresh ones. She then used the others as test subjects for the resulting mess. The girls reactions were… unpleasant to say the least. At the time there had been talk of calling poison control.
"Well that takes care of everything I can think of." Amy said.
"Wait, what about presents?" Jenny asked.
"That will be up to you as what to get her." Amy said. "So with that 'Operation Happy Birthday Becky' is officially under way!" Amy pumped her fist, but instead of getting the cheers she was expecting everyone just kind of looked at her a little funny.
"Dude, Amy, seriously?" Trista said.
The next few days were a whirlwind of activity for the girls, all made harder by the fact that they needed to keep it secret from Becky. Hay Lin was more than willing to use the 'Silver Dragon' for the party. And Will agreed to get the word out to the rest of W.I.T.C.H. and would tell Cornelia to have Caleb to invite Elyon. The night before the party Amy and Lisa were on the phone discussing how to get Becky to the party. Lisa assured her that she had a simple but effective plan to accomplish that goal.
"Good." Amy said on her end. "So what are you getting her?" There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone. For a moment Amy thought they had been disconnected.
"Well… that's kind of private Amy." Lisa said slowly. "I have a gift for her for the party, but my real present is just for the two of us when we're alone."
"Ohhh… okay, don't say any more. I think I get the idea, maybe, whatever. So see you tomorrow night at seven." Amy quickly hung up the phone in embarrassment. She had a pretty good idea what Lisa was getting at. Well, it was best not to dwell on something like that. She did her best to shrug it off and went back to making sure everything was in place for tomorrow night.
Becky sat on her bed with a book, though she wasn't really paying attention to what she was reading. She mind was spinning, trying to figure out what was going on with everyone. For the past several days they had all been acting very strangely. Like they knew something she didn't. But what that was she couldn't figure out, if that was the case. For all she knew it was all in her imagination, even though she knew it wasn't. Just as she was thinking of calling Lisa she came bursting through her bedroom door.
"Becky! We've got to get to the 'Silver Dragon'! It's an emergency!" She said in a rush. Becky was on her feet in an instant.
"What's going on Lisa!?"
"No time to explain! Just get dressed!" Becky was wearing the shorts and t-shirt she wore when relaxing at home. Lisa ran to the closet and pulled out one of Becky's nicer dresses and a pair of dress shoes. "C'mon, hurry up!" She said, shoving the articles of clothing into her girlfriend's hands. Becky quickly dressed, every time she tried to ask what the situation was or question why Lisa had grabbed a party dress he blonde would just tell her there was no time to talk and that Will was waiting downstairs in the car. Once Becky was dressed they hurried out of the apartment and rode down the elevator. On the ride down she noticed that Lisa was in her best party dress and had heels on. She was about to ask Lisa why was so dressed up when they arrived at the bottom floor. Lisa rushed out to the waiting car, again giving Becky no chance to ask questions. She tried asking what was so important on the brief car ride, but was told everything would be explained at the 'Silver Dragon'. Her first thought, and fear, was that Logrim had found the Heart of Exellis before they could.
When they reached the restaurant Will hastily parked the car and ran inside followed by Lisa before Becky could even get out of the car. She quickly followed after them, not even registering that the lights were all off inside the building. Her heart was racing in fear as she ran through the front door.
"Surprise! Happy Birthday Becky!" The birthday girl froze in place as everyone cheered at the top of their lungs and the lights snapped on. A camera caught her shocked expression. The interior of the restaurant had been decorated with colorful balloons and streamers. A huge banner had been tacked to the wall that said happy birthday. Becky was completely lost for words as Lisa came forward and put a plastic tiara on her head with the words birthday girl on it. She took Becky by the hand and led her to a chair sitting in front of a giant cake in the shape of the Heart of Kandrakar, it even had pick and silver icing. A lit candle in the shape of the number fifteen sat on the top.
"Hunh, wah, uh…" Was all she could get out of her mouth.
"I take it that you were surprised then?" Lisa said as she sat down next to her girlfriend. Becky just stared dumbfound at Lisa and nodded her head. "Good, you can thank Amy for that. She's the one who put this whole thing together."
"Amy? Really?" Becky asked, finally able to speak again. Amy just blushed and nodded. "Thank you."
"C'mon birthday girl! Make a wish and blow out your candle already!" Trista called out. Kaz stood next to her, his arm around her waist. Becky giggled, took a deep breath and blew out the candle, to which everyone applauded.
"The cake is amazing! Where did you get it!?" Becky asked as Will began to slice it.
"This bakery I know. I just told them what I wanted it to look like and when I needed it and they whipped it right up." Trista said. "They did look at me a little funny when I described how the cake was supposed to look, but whatever." After the cake was passed out they all sang happy birthday to Becky. After they were done eating Lisa announced it was time for presents. That's when Becky saw the nearby table loaded down with packages.
"Presents? Really?" She said.
"Well yeah, it is your birthday after all." Will said. "Here, open mine first." Will handed Becky her present, wrapped in what else but a frog themed wrapping paper. The frogs were all wearing party hats and blowing noisemakers. Becky could only smile. She quickly unwrapped the package and pulled out a book.
"Cool! Book one of the Dragon Knights series! I heard about these books! They're supposed to be really good! Thanks mom!"
"You're welcome sweetie."
"Mine next!" Hay Lin said excitedly. She got her present off the table and practically shoved it in Becky's face. It was a small box wrapped in blue paper. Inside was a silver necklace with a Chinese character on it. "That's Chinese for courage. I thought it fit you pretty well."
"Thank you Hay Lin!" Becky said as she put the necklace on.
"Here ya go Becks!" Trista said.
"Cool! An I-Pod!" Becky said happily. There was a fifty dollar I-Tunes card in the box as well.
"Those are some neat presents Becky." Caleb said as he set a rather long unwrapped wooden box in front of Becky. "I hope you like mine." Becky lifted the lid and gasped. She reached in and gingerly lifted out a slim bladed style sword like what Cornelia used.
"Wow…" Becky said as she examined the blade. "Caleb, I don't know what to say, thank you."
"I'll start teaching you how to use that soon as I can." Caleb said.
"Well my present is more fun than my husband's. I mean really, a sword as a birthday present?" Cornelia said. Caleb just grinned at his wife. "Tomorrow I'm taking you on a clothes shopping spree. We're getting you all kinds of new stuff."
"Can you really afford that?" Becky asked.
"Pfff, don't worry about that. I'm really well off. I did a lot of modeling right after high school and it paid really well. The agency I worked for keeps wanting me to come back too."
"Heh, no surprise there. You always did look good in a bikini." Irma said. Will elbowed her and gave Irma an annoyed look. "What!? Can you blame me for looking? Cornelia is a hottie!" Everyone started laughing and while they were distracted Lisa went up to Cornelia and whispered something in her ear. Cornelia looked at the younger blonde in surprise, but quickly got over it, gave Lisa a knowing smile and nodded.
"Well, anyways." Irma said as the laughter died down. "Like Corny, I don't have anything with me. My gift is this Saturday night you get to be a guest DJ at my radio station."
"No way!" Becky cried out. "That is so cool!" This was quickly becoming one of the best nights of Becky's life. Sarah and Jenny were next with their present. They both got up and set it before Becky.
"This is from the both of us." Jenny explained.
"We had to go in together to get this for you." Sarah added. Becky ripped off the wrapping paper to find the home version of 'Dance Master'.
"Awesome!" She cried out happily. "Thanks guys! I love it!"
"Well I hope you're as enthusiastic about my present." Taranee said. "If figured since you're so good at that game you'd like dance lessons at my studio."
"Really!? Taranee thank you!" Becky was becoming a bit overwhelmed. "Wait, your studio?"
"I'm co-owner of a dance studio. It's the same one I learned at when I was your age. When I could afford to I bought into the business." Taranee explained.
"Okay! My turn!" Amy said excitedly. She grabbed her present and plopped it down in front of her best friend. Becky ripped it open, now really getting into the mood she was eager to see what other kinds of loot she was getting. Amy had gotten Becky several volumes of manga and the anime series based off of it. "I think you'll really like this series." Amy said enthusiastically. "It's really popular in Japan as well as here. Oh, look in the bottom of the box." Becky dug around a bit and pulled out a ticket to something called UltraCon.
"What's UltraCon?" She asked.
"It's the local anime convention. Believe me its lots of fun! Oh, before I forget I got tickets for the rest of you guys as well!" She pulled out some more tickets and handed them out to Lisa, Trista, Sarah, and Jenny. She also had tickets for Chase, Kaz and Nella as well. "This going to be so much fun! I already have a group cosplay in the works! I need to get some measurements from you guys, but still! I can't wait!" It was hard not to get caught up in her enthusiasm and Becky gave her a heartfelt thank you. Trista could be heard groaning in the background.
"Okay, let me get mine." Said Elyon. She went back into the kitchen and came back with a cardboard box with air holes cut into it. Becky was a little confused until she opened the box and gasped in delight. A small, very fluffy black and white kitten was meowing up at her.
"He's so cute!" She cried as picked the kitten up and snuggled it. The kitten instantly began to purr and when Becky held him out so everyone could look at him the kitten reached up and tried to paw at her face. "Elyon, thank you! I love cats! I always wanted one!" The girls all wanted to pet the kitten, even Nella who's normally gruff exterior was broken for a moment when she went to pet it.
"This is from all three of us." Chase said as he handed over a tall oddly shaped item to Becky. She tore off the gold colored wrapping paper and once again gasped. It was a crystal, deep purple in color that radiated out from a central ball. The whole thing was set into a wooden base that was expertly carved and polished.
"This is called a thunder gem." Kaz explained. "It's one of the rarest crystals on our world. It's said to embody the spirit of the skies." Becky could see why. She could almost feel the energy coming from it. It was like a lighting storm had been frozen in place and trapped in crystal.
"It's our way of thanking you for everything you've done so far to help our people and our world." Nella said.
"Chase, Kaz, Nella. Thank you. It's beautiful."
"Well that just leaves me." Lisa said. She grabbed the last box off the table. It was small and wrapped in shiny purple paper. Becky tore the paper off and opened the small jewelry box that was underneath the paper. She opened the box. She involuntarily inhaled when she saw the gold earrings set with green gems inside.
"Lisa, they're beautiful. Thank you." Becky said.
"Are those real emeralds?" Sarah asked.
"No, unfortunately I couldn't afford the real thing. I hope you like them anyway."
"Are you kidding?! I love them!" Becky said as she quickly put them on to show them off. At that moment she became overwhelmed and was fighting to hold back tears. "Everyone, thank you! Thank you so much! You have no idea what this whole party means to me! Thank you, thank you!" Lisa wrapped her arms around her girlfriend and held her close.
"I think we do understand Becky." She whispered into Becky's ear. The party got into full swing after that. Music was played loudly from a boom box. Everyone mingled and talked and a generally good time. Becky named her new kitten Starburst after a white four point star shaped spot on his otherwise black forehead. Near the end of the evening Lisa pulled Will aside to speak to hear. She needed to arrange things for her true surprise gift to Becky.
"Will, is there any way possible me and Becky can have the apartment to ourselves tomorrow night?"
"I suppose, why?" Will asked.
"I have something special planned for Becky tomorrow night, and it requires privacy. I was planning it for tonight, but when Cornelia said she was taking Becky shopping tomorrow it gave me a chance to make this really special for the both of us. I've already spoken to her, now I just need some help from you."
"Uh huh…" Will said. She gave the young Air Guardian a knowing smile. "Well I think I can arrange to be gone tomorrow night. I think I'll just stay over at Irma's, so you two can be alone as long as you like."
"Thank you Will." Lisa said as she got up. "Don't tell Becky, I want it to be a surprise."
"Sure thing." Will said. "Oh, I'll be sure to knock on the door in the morning so I don't embarrass you two." Lisa blushed a bit and walked off. She bid everyone goodnight and left for home. She wanted to get to bed early. She had a lot to do to prepare for tomorrow night.
The next afternoon Cornelia arrived to take Becky to the mall for her birthday shopping spree. Cornelia promised to make her look like a million bucks. The first stop was one of the trendiest clothing stores in the mall. Cornelia spent a lot of time picking out clothes for Becky, she could tell Cornelia was in her element. She kept holding up various articles of clothing in front of Becky and scrutinizing how they looked on the younger girl. Cornelia then insisted on having her try them all on and modeling them for her. Shirts, pants, skirts and a new bikini. It took nearly an hour and a half before Cornelia was satisfied with everything. While Becky was exhausted, she had to admit the new additions to her wardrobe were really nice.
"Next, new underwear." Cornelia stated very matter-of-factly and headed straight for the Victoria's Secret store.
"Whoa, whoa, what?" Becky blurted out. "Cornelia, I appreciate this whole trip to mall, really I do. But I mean that really isn't my type of place. Besides I don't know that my mom would approve. I mean, all the stuff is, well, kind of naughty." Becky blushed, fumbling with her words. "Plus, I don't really have the… curves for that stuff."
"Becky you are more than curvy enough."
"But I doubt they have anything in my size." Becky said in further protest.
"They have a department that caters to teenagers Becky." Cornelia held up her hand to stop Becky from making any further arguments. "Believe me, it's fine. Your mom won't mind, I'm sure. Look, it's my belief that every young lady should have as least one pair of as you put it, 'naughty' undies. So quit stalling and let's go."
"But…" Cornelia just walked in. Becky sighed and reluctantly followed her in. She could fell herself going red in the face just looking at some of the display mannequins.
"Over here Becky, I think I found something that'll suit you just fine." Cornelia held up a bra and panty set, causing Becky to groan. "C'mon already you need to try them on." Cornelia ushered Becky into a changing room and gave her the underwear, which was made from a shiny green fabric with black lace trim and in her mind at least, left little to the imagination. Once she had them on she did have to admit they made her feel a little more, 'womanly' was the word she came up with.
"Wow, those look great on you!" Becky jumped, she had been so focused on checking herself out in the mirror she hadn't noticed Cornelia sticking her head through the curtain to check on her.
"We doing alright in there?" A sales clerk said from behind Cornelia.
"Oh yes, thank you." Cornelia said. "Would you mind ringing this up for us?" Cornelia pulled the tag off the underwear and handed it to the clerk. "And these as well." Becky stuck her head out the curtain to see Cornelia hand the clerk another two sets of underwear. One all black and the other a light sky blue, as well as a blue and black nighty that was very short. "Charge it all to my account please."
"Of course ma'am." The clerk said before walking off.
"Cornelia! What are you doing!? I don't want to be a slut!" Cornelia actually started laughing at Becky's words.
"Becky you are not a slut. There is a huge difference in being slutty and being in charge of your sexuality. It all comes down to how you act. Believe me, you're fine."
"If you say so." Becky wasn't totally sure she believed Cornelia, but decided to trust her for the time being. "Here, just let me change out of these…"
"No, just wear them out. We're a little short on time and there are still a few other places I want to stop at." The next stop was a dress shop that specialized in evening wear. There Cornelia picked out a black cocktail dress with a slit up one side. It left Becky's arms bare and to her embarrassment featured a rather low neck line. She again hated to admit it, but Becky did find she looked good in the dress. When she got out of the dressing room to show Cornelia she found her talking on the phone.
"Don't worry, we're almost done. I just want to get her hair and makeup done then we'll be on our way. I'll call you to let you know when we've left the mall, should only take fifteen minutes to get there. Ok, bye." Cornelia turned around to check on Becky and found her standing there. "Oh, wow! You look great! That dress suits you!"
"Thanks. Who were you talking to?" Becky asked. Her suspicions were peaked at this point. This was more than just a shopping trip. Something was up.
"Oh, Caleb. He just wanted to know when I'll be home." Becky's bullshit alarm was going off.
"C'mon Cornelia, I know something is going on. Tell me." Cornelian just smiled and shook her head.
"Can't fault you for being such a smart cookie. Let's go, one more stop to make."
"You're not going to tell me anything are you?"
"Nope, that would ruin the surprise, wouldn't it? And don't bother changing out of the dress." Before they left Cornelia handed Becky a shoebox with a pair of strappy black high heeled shoes inside and told her to carry them for now. After leaving the dress shop they went to the hair salon where Cornelia had them give Becky's hair a light trim and made a bit wavy. After that they gave her some light makeup, lipstick and mascara mainly, and Cornelia announced she was ready. Ready for what Becky had no clue. Cornelia's call to whoever didn't shed any new light on the situation. She was still confused when they pulled up in front of her apartment building.
"Well here we are. Put on your heels and head on up. Don't worry about your stuff, I'll bring it by tomorrow, not to early mind you." Cornelia said. "Have a good time." Becky just shrugged and headed inside. Cornelia sat there a moment enjoying her handy work. "Damn I'm good. She looks like great. Lisa better thank me." She chuckled and drove off. Becky couldn't figure out what the heck was going on. It was obvious someone wanted her dressed up for something. But what and who was still a mystery. Her mom maybe? She got upstairs and walked through her front door.
"What?" It was the last thing she had been expecting to find. The lights were dimmed and the curtains closed. The table had been set for a romantic dinner for two, lit candles, flowers, the whole nine yards. Soft music played in the background and she could smell something really good from the kitchen.
"You like it?" Came Lisa's voice from behind her. Becky spun around as Lisa stepped out of the shadows. She wore a light blue gown that wrapped around her neck and left her back and shoulders bare. She had done her hair up in a twisty knot and had inserted a pair of black chopsticks into her hair.
"Lisa… you look gorgeous." Becky said in awe. Lisa blushed and said a shy thank you. "You did all of this?"
"Yeah, this is my real birthday present to you. A romantic evening for just the two of us."
"Lisa, I don't know what to say." Becky said. Lisa came up to her and placed a finger on her lips.
"You don't have to say anything my love. You just have to enjoy yourself." Lisa took Becky by the hand and led her to her seat at the table. She went into the kitchen and came back with two plates of food. Roasted chicken with a pasta side dish.
"You made this? I didn't know you could cook."
"Well, I can't give away all my secrets, now can I? How else am I supposed to surprise and amaze you?" Lisa said as she sat down at the other end of the table.
"Oh I'm surprised alright." Some of the things that had gone on at the mall were starting to make more sense now. "I can't believe you put this altogether."
"Well, I wanted this evening to be as special and romantic as I could make it." Lisa said. She was blushing again. She raised her glass which was full of sparkling cider, Will had turned her down when she asked if they could have real champagne, and made a toast. "Here's to us Becky, all I can say is I'm happy beyond words that we found each other, I can't imagine how I lived before I had you in my life. I love you."
"Lisa, that was beautiful. I feel the same. I love you with all of my heart." They drank to Lisa's toast then dug into the meal, which was very delicious as far as Becky was concerned. She told Lisa about the days shopping trip who laughed at Becky's reluctance to go underwear shopping. When they finished the main course Lisa cleared the plates and came back with desert, chocolate cake with hot fudge and vanilla ice cream. Once that was done Lisa set the music to a slow, jazzy tune and held out her hand to Becky. She took it and the two girls entwined their arms around each other and started to dance together. How long they stayed like that they would never be able to tell, they became so lost in one another that time lost all meaning.
"Thank you for this night Lisa, it's been so wonderful."
"It's not over yet." Lisa whispered in Becky's ear.
"What more could you possibly do for me? It's all too much already."
"It can never be enough Becky, never. Besides, this is as much for me as it is for you. Let's go to your bedroom and I'll explain." Lisa gently pulled Becky towards her room. Becky felt a sudden surge of butterflies in her stomach. Was Lisa hinting at what she thought she was? Did she dare hope for what she thought was about to happen? She was incredibly nervous and just a little bit afraid. Lisa closed the door behind them and sat down on the bed. She took Becky's hands into her own and stared into her brown eyes with her own deep blue ones.
"Becky, I know we haven't really talked about… sex a whole lot before now." Lisa said shyly at first. Her cheeks were bright red. She grew more confidant as she spoke though. "But I've never been with anyone before and I know you haven't. Well, I want you to be the one I give my virginity to and I want yours. Here, tonight I want this to be the first time we make love together. That's why I did all of this, I wanted this night to be as special and as close to perfect as I could make it." Becky wasn't sure how to respond. Now she knew why Cornelia had insisted on taking her to Victoria's Secret. She looked at Lisa who was waiting for an answer and she knew. Her insecurities and fears vanished like smoke on the wind. She knew that it was what she wanted as well.
"It already is perfect Lisa." Becky leaned in and kissed Lisa with as much passion as she could put into it. Lisa reached up and pulled the chopsticks out of her hair, letting it fall free. It wasn't long before Becky was unzipping Lisa's dress and hers was coming undone in turn. They were down to their underwear, then nothing. Then two souls who were meant to be together. Two souls, who through blind luck or fate or whatever you chose to call it, had been lucky enough to have found one another. Two souls who had chosen to fight all the odds to be together, in that moment those two souls became one.
And scene! So there you have it, another chapter comes to a close! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as i did writing it. As I said I have a couple of things to mention. When I first came up with this chapter I was going to have the bad guys attack, but then I thought 'what kind of birthday would that be to have to fight off a bunch of lizard men?" So that part was cut out. Also I'm in the process of rethinking how the last few chapters are going to go so the story may be ending in fewer chapters then I originally thought as well as adding a new twist or two! And would any one want a chapter where the gang goes to the anime con that Amy got tickets to? I got a few ideas for the chapter that I think could be fun and I'm just curious to what you all think.
Preview of next chapter: The search for the Heart of Exellis continues and leads both sides to an ancient underground graveyard! What will they find there, will it be what they seek or something more manevolent then they expect? And is Amy really okay with being single or is it eating at her more then even she knows?