Well, I believe I've tortured you all long enough. This is the chapter you've all been waiting for! That's right! Da, da-da DAAA! It's time for part 1 of…THE PROM CHAPTER! I know y'all are gonna LOVE THIS! Please enjoy and leave lots of reviews!
"God bless Mother Nature; she's a single woman, too."—The Pointer Sisters, Raining Men
Chapter 26: Prom Night Part 1 (At Last!)
The morning of the Junior Prom found Ame sitting on the bleachers of the football field air-drying her hair after some super-early swim time. She was bending a huge selection of water with concentration while the football team played for fun. A few seats to her right was a guy her age watching them. He had blonde hair, tan skin, big muscles, and a charming smile. He soon noticed Ame with her water shape.
"How do you do that?" he asked with interest.
"I'm a waterbender," she answered without looking at him and concentrating, "I was born that way."
"Oh," he said, "Cool. So, uh…what are you doing?"
Her face scrunched up as she kept trying to concentrate.
"I'm trying to make a horse," she said, "I can get the general shape, but I want to detail it—if I can just…"
She held her right hand out with her palm out and the fingers spread, keeping her left one cupped upwards in front of her. Looking at the water horse's bottom, she waved her right fingers like a jellyfish swimming, trying for a tail.
It worked; a beautiful, flowing tail swept down to its legs—wispy, fine, and perfectly detailed.
"Yes!" she grinned brightly.
"All right, way to go," said the guy. Ame nodded, satisfied.
"I think that's enough for now," she said as she stood and sent the horse running back to the pool it came from (which was right behind the stadium). She sat back down.
"Wow, you're good," he said, "I mean, not that I've seen other people do that, but you're really good."
"Well, I have," she beamed, "so thanks."
"By the way, I'm Tidus," he introduced himself, "Tidus Henley." (FF10 fans, I don't know what his last name really is. Just please go with it)
"Selphie's friend?" she clicked, "The football captain?"
"Oh, you know Selphie?" he said.
"Yeah," she answered, "She's told me a lot about you."
"Oops," he chuckled.
"I'm Ame," she said, "Ame Megami."
"Megami?" Tidus asked, wide-eyed, "Granda's granddaughter?"
"The one and only!" she chimed, "So, are you the one whose dad owns the Henley Garage?"
"That's me!" he said, "The heir to the Grease Throne." Ame laughed.
"Riku's gonna be working for your dad this summer," she said, "He says he's looking forward to it."
"Yeah, Riku's a fun guy," Tidus agreed, "We've known each other since preschool. It'll be fun working wit him.
"I've noticed a change in him, though. He seems happier lately, particularly around you."
Ame blushed hard at this. He laughed.
"It's all right," he waved off, "I know how he feels. Look down there." She looked where he pointed.
"See that flag twirler down there with the short brown hair and the green and blue eyes?" Ame's eyes nearly popped out of her head.
"Yeah," she said normally.
'That's one of the Gullwings!' she thought, remembering her from the crystal Sora showed her, 'How in the world…?'
"That's Yuna Gullwing," he smiled sheepishly, "She's my girlfriend. She used to be a fairy."
"Congratulations," she said, still awestruck, "How long have you been dating?"
"About a month and a half," he shrugged.
'Holy crap, she looks amazing!' she mentally gawked, 'Wait till Sora sees her; he'll flip his lid when he sees her as a full-fledged human!'
And he did, once he and Kairi showed up to get her for pre-class hanging out.
"Hey, Kairi!" Tidus greeted.
"Morning, Tidus!" she smiled, "How come you're not playing?"
"Oh, I got a huge knot in my shoulder," he said, "It kinda hurts."
"Well, why didn't you say so?" said Ame. She took a white handkerchief out of her bag and dipped it in her thermos while her eyes glowed. She folded the cloth into a square and draped it over his shoulder, placing her hand on it. The cloth glowed blue and yellow; then she whipped the hanky off his shoulder and wrung it out.
"All better," she said lightly. Tidus flexed his shoulder.
"Wow," he said, "You are good! Thanks, Ame!"
"You're welcome," she said, "but don't go shoutin' it out to the world, please."
"Promise," he thumbed up and jumped down the bleachers.
"That was nice of you," Kairi commented.
"He's a nice guy," Ame shrugged, "why not?" Kairi chuckled.
"Are you ready for tonight?" she asked with sparkling eyes. Ame met them with rain puddle ripples in her own eyes.
"More than anything," she grinned breathlessly. They both giggled and squeezed each other's arms.
Sora, Riku, and Roxas waited nervously near the ride bottom of the stairs at Granda's house while their ride waited for them outside.
They each held a plastic-packaged corsage for their dates: Sora's was a pink rose with red on the edges of the petals. Roxas' was a yellow tiger lily. Riku's was a beautiful snow-white rose, one of Ame's favorite flowers. He couldn't wait for her to see it, nor could he wait to see her and give her another gift he'd picked up.
Upstairs in Ame's room, Dharma was just putting the sapphire tiara on Ame. She was wearing a watery-blue dress with medium-sized shoulder straps and flimsy, soft, white veil-like sleeves attached to them with wavy stitched ends. On her left hip was a circular piece of fabric folded like a rose; descending from it at a diagonal slope was an outer fold with a wave to it. The skirt just brushed the tops of her feet, which were wearing sparkly silvery shoes.
Her jewelry consisted of a pearl bracelet, emerald earrings, and her family crest necklace: A coral blue oval with gold outlining, the Megami name symbol etched in sky blue, and a glittering gold chain holding it all up. As for her make-up, Kairi had decorated her with lavender eye shadow, pink lipstick, and waterproof mascara. Especially for prom, the scent of roses graced her hair, which was up in a bun with two braids looping downward, woven into the sides of her head.
Kairi looked amazing; her dress was the palest pink imaginable and sleeveless with spaghetti straps. In the back, the bow was huge and rose up near the back of her head attractively. The top ends were pointed and the bottoms were smaller, directed downward, and also pointed (if you're a Sailor Moon fan, it looks like Super Sailor Moon's bow). They looked like butterfly wings. The sash parts of it were ribbon-cut at the ends and reached the bottom of her skirt, which brushed her ankles. She had on pink eye shadow and lipstick, earrings that looked like Sora's crown necklace, and her gold locket lying on her chest. Her hair was in a perfect French braid with pink ribbons in it and she had elbow-length fingerless gloves and pink shoes.
Naminé's dress was like Kairi's, only white and without the gloves. She left her hair down with baby's breath expertly placed by Dharma. Her earrings, borrowed from Kairi, were little paopu fruit studs and she wore a yellow topaz ring on her right-hand ring finger. Kairi had also let her borrow her tiara, which had a diamond in it. She wore nice white sandals that elevated her feet by about an inch and a half.
Dharma looked at each of them wistfully.
"You all look like angels," she sighed, "I'll go tell them you're ready."
Ame was really nervous. Despite the fact that she and Riku had been a couple for the past 4 weeks, she felt like there was still something missing from their relationship, and she still felt shy around him sometimes.
She'd think about that later, though; her main focus tonight was to go to the prom with Riku and her friends, have the most magical night of her life…and tell Riku that she loved him!
"Look alive, gentlemen!" Dharma called from the first landing on the stairs, "Your ladies are ready!"
The boys snapped to attention in their nice black tuxedos with the cuff links and cumberbunds, which were the colors of their dates' dresses (which meant Sora's was pink!).
The girls came downstairs in a line with Naminé in front, Ame in the middle, and Kairi in the back.
The servants applauded as Granda smiled proudly. The boys turned red and stared at them, each lost in his own thoughts. The girls, in turn, blushed bright pink and giggled.
Ichi-san took pictures of all the girls, each girl, all the boys, each boy, the whole group, and then each couple.
Once that was done and Granda shooed everyone away, Riku finally spoke up.
"Um," he blushed, "can you guys wait for us outside? There's something I'd like to give Ame…privately."
"Right…" Sora grinned mischievously, remembering what Riku had told him, "We'll see you two out there."
"Don't take too long!" Roxas winked before whisking Naminé away to worship her beauty. Granda left the room, too.
"What is it, Riku?" Ame asked, a little nervous.
"I, uh," he said, "I have something for you." Her face flushed.
"For me?" she asked, surprised.
"Of course for you!" he chuckled, "But you have to take off your necklace for it."
"Oh," she said, "Okay." She took it off and put it in her matching pocketbook. There was a mirror on the wall behind her.
"Now close your eyes," said Riku. When she did with a slight chuckle, he turned her around to face the mirror.
Ame felt something cold slip across her neck, looping just under her collarbone. Her heart beat faster.
"Okay," Riku smiled, excited as a puppy, "Open them."
Her eyes flew wide and she gasped; she was wearing a shining silver, leaf-patterned necklace like a vine with small paopu-shaped topaz studs along it and two tiny green emeralds flanking each one as its leaves.
"Riku!" she exhaled, "It's beautiful!" Riku sighed inwardly with relief and held her gently from behind.
"Then it matches you perfectly," he murmured, kissing her head.
"Where did you get this?" she marveled, red-faced.
"From Elfa's Jewelers," he answered, "I helped him stop a robber once and he said he owed me one. So I went over to call it in and he had it all ready, hand-crafted, waiting just for me to pick it up. He always knows why you're there, and he makes every piece himself. He called this one the Paopu Vine."
Ame turned around in his arms and hugged him.
"I love it, Riku," she smiled, "Thank you so much." He blushed and hugged her back. After kissing her forehead, he escorted her out to the front porch, where there stood not a limo, but a white and gold coach with four silvery-white horses, Jorgen their stable hand at the reins, and Ichi-san standing by the door.
Granda walked out to them.
"You like?" she smiled.
"Granda, it's amazing!" said Ame with her jaw dropped.
"Come on, guys!" called Kairi from inside, "We're burning twilight over here!"
"Yeah!" said Sora, "We've gotta hit the rest of our houses next!"
"Thank you, grandma!" Ame hugged Granda, "You're the best times infinity!" Granda waved and stared wistfully after them with a soft smile.
'Oh, to be young and in love,' she thought with a soft pink blush to her cheeks. She held up her left hand, where her white gold wedding ring rested on her finger in glorious luster with tiny Japanese letters engraved on it. The old woman kissed it gently and held her hand to herself, staring into the stars with wavering eyes.
"Oh, my love," she whispered as a breeze stirred, "would that you were here to see this!"
Author's Review:
Yay, they're on their way to prom! I'm so excited! Are you excited? 'Cause I'm excited! (slaps self) Okay, enough of that. I hope you enjoyed the fluff and the dresses and everything, especially that little bit with Granda at the very end. I wanted to give y'all more of a little taste of the mystery surrounding the wise old immortal. You may want to remember that little splurge, too for the future. ;)
Please leave reviews and cookies and buckle up for PART 2!