~Chapter Twenty-Seven: Preparation~

"So, I have to go around and ask people if they're going to the ball. And if they are, check yes beside their name; if not, then check no. That's simple enough," I said.

Ash nodded, and said, "Exactly. Ask around and find out. Kairi, you'll be staying with me and helping with decorations in the ball room."

"Okay! I can do that," she said, smiling. Ash chuckled at her exuberance and turned to me. I nodded, and left before he could say anything else; I knew he was going to tell me to get started.

Yami's Point of View

I walked down the hallway from my room. Mizu was going to the Gardens again to see if she could run into Tai. As for me, I was going to find Nightmare. Ash had told me that I didn't have to worry about helping him today, and that I was free to do whatever I wanted.

After roaming the whole floor that our rooms were on, including the West Wing, I went into the Garden Courtyard, and looked around for him. With no luck, I wandered around the Gardens for him, stopping at the section that would be open for the ball. When I was about to give up, I saw him helping with decorations.

He was alone, and wrapping lights around a Christmas tree. I walked up to him, and put a hand on my hip. He glanced down at me from the stool he was standing on, and smiled.

"Hey there," he said.

"Hello, how are you?" I asked. He shrugged and climbed down from the stool. Once down, he hugged me lightly, and pulled back to see my face.

"So you've returned? I guess that means yesterday wasn't a dream after all," he smirked.

I rolled my eyes and leaned closer. "How could it have been? It was too good to be a dream."

"Very true," he murmured before kissing me again. This time I automatically kissed him back, and got wrapped in the kiss. Everything after that was a blur of nothing but his soft lips on mine, and the taste of his tongue.

The next thing I felt was a sensation of spinning. When the sensation stopped, I opened my eyes and pulled back to breathe. Nightmare was under me, and we were lying on a grassy spot beside a hill. I shook my head, a bit confused, but went back to kissing him.

"…and Ash needs to know if you're coming to the…" I heard Yomi's voice saying from a distance. I gasped, and jumped up. Nightmare looked up lazily at me, and glanced to Yomi who had froze in place not so far away.

My cheeks began burning brightly. Yomi began laughing, and said, "Ash wants to know if you're going to the ball."

"Yep. Together," Nightmare said standing, and taking my hand. I smiled awkwardly, and hid my cheeks in his chest.

"That's good. I'll add you to the list," Yomi said. "Oh and one more thing, Twin…" She paused for a few moments. "Don't forget; no sex before marriage!" My cheeks blushed worse.

"Yomi!" I called after her. She laughed, and waved as she disappeared into the castle door that led to the ballroom. Nightmare laughed, and hugged me.

"Well, I think Lady Kiyomi likes me," he chuckled. I shook my head in embarrassment, and looked up at him.

"Yea. I think so, too," I said sarcastically.

Mizu's Point of View

I stopped at the large fountain, looking up at it in wonder. Water sprayed from the top, and fell gracefully back into the main pool of water. I sat on the edge, watching the fish like I had yesterday. Maybe Tai would come back today and look for me to be here.

The thought put a smile on my face, and I continued to play with the one fish that liked me. It floated around my hand, and brushed against my skin playfully. I waited for what seemed like hours and hours.

I groaned, and put my cold hand back in my pocket. "Hey, it's the water girl again," I heard his voice from behind. I gasped, and turned quickly. He was standing right near me, his hands in his pockets and a scarf around his neck.

"Hi," I said stupidly. I mentally slapped myself, and said, "What brings you here?"

"I came to see if you would be here again today," Tai said, touching my cheeks. He smiled when they blushed. "You know, that's really cute. When you blush, I mean."

"Really?" I asked. He nodded, and held his hand out for mine. I smiled, and gave him my cold one. He held in tightly, and closed his eyes. His hand warmed even more, and warmed mine with it.

He opened his eyes, and smiled gently at me. "Better?" I nodded sheepishly. "Good. I like it when I can help you."

"I like it when you help me. And I like being around you. You make me feel special, and secure…" I whispered. He lifted my chin gently.

"You are special," he said. "You can be my little water drop." I smiled, and hugged him.

"I like the sound of that," I breathed. He hugged me back, and pulled back.

"As do I," Tai whispered. "You seem to like this fountain a lot. Is there a reason?" he asked motioning to the one beside us.

"It's the biggest one, and it has fish," I said, smiling. He chuckled.

"Would you like to know about this fountain?" he asked, pulling back from the hug more and looking at me.

"Yes please," I said. He nodded, and began telling me about the fountain. The name of the fountain was The Fountain of Peace. Its water was purified, and it was made in honor of Lord Ash's peaceful reign. The fish were special, and could only live in purified water.

I listened to him, completely interested. When he was finished, we talked about random things like living in the Human World, my family, and life there.

"Can I ask you a question?" he asked.

"Another one?" I asked, exasperated. I laughed when he nodded slowly. "Okay, fine. Shoot."

"Will you come to the ball with me?" He seemed to stop breathing as soon as he asked.

"Like, you mean together?" I asked, excited. He nodded, and chuckled, releasing his breath. "Yes, please!" I said, feeling bubbly inside.

"Of course, that's why I asked," Tai said. He kissed my cheek. "I want to go with you."

"I want to go with you too!" I said excited. He hugged me and held me for a little while; I enjoyed every second of it. He then proposed he had to leave and help with the ball, and we had to part ways.

Yomi's Point of View

After a long day of going around and asking people if they were going, I reported back to Ash. He gave me some praise, and told me to get ready for the dinner rehearsal (which Kairi didn't even know about until I had told her.)

We both walked back to our rooms together, and separated to get dressed. I chose a long blue dress, nothing special, but pretty. I put on some small heels, and the cross necklace Negative had given me when we still lived in the Human World.

When I came out of my room to meet Kairi, I found her in a short pink dress with flats. Always pink with her. Yoru and Kiyo were also there. Kiyo was in an elegant grey dress, and Yoru was wearing a sleek black one. Mizu and Yami come from their room in red and blue dresses.

"Shall we go?" Kiyo asked, formally.

"Let us," Yoru said, smiling. Kairi and I walked beside each other, and I slowly began to panic.

"Kairi, what if Negative is still acting really weird?" I whispered to her. She put a hand on my shoulder comfortingly.

"Hun, it'll be okay. He has to escort you, right?" she questioned. I nodded, and took a deep breath.

"What do I do if he ignores me? What should I do if he isn't there? What if he's mean Kairi?" I whispered frantically.

"Yomi calm down! It'll be okay. I'm here if you need back up," Kairi promised. I nodded slowly, and tried to swallow the knot that was forming in my throat as we approached the large oak doors (that were usually open for all) where Ash, Negative, Tai, Nightmare, Fear, Clover, Night Rider and Rath were standing at.

Kairi gave me an encouraging look and gave me a small tap on my back towards Negative. I nodded to her and walked towards him. I watched him carefully as I approached him. He glanced at me, and then looked to Ashu-Niisama as he began talking.

"This is just a rehearsal for the real thing that will happen on Sunday evening. Kairi and Yoru, you both will escort Kiyo and me. Nightmare, I'm guessing you'll be escorting Yami, and Tai, Mizu?" Ash asked, raising his eyebrows. Both nodded before going to Yami and Mizu's sides.

"Night Rider, Fear, Clover, and Rath all know what to do. Negative is escorting Yomi. Is everything clear?" Ash asked. Everyone nodded, and took our positions. Yoru and Kairi high fived just before the doors opened, leading us into the large dining hall. For the dining rehearsal, they had replaced the smaller tables with the really big one that everyone could sit at. The stole floor and walls gave the room a medieval look, but the candles and chandeliers gave off a warm glowing light. Yoru and Kairi walked in unison as cheers erupted from the table they were leading us to. Their cheers brought me out of my observing state.

Ash and Kiyo followed, arm in arm. When they reached the table, Yoru and Kairi pulled the chairs out for them, and moved to the side. Kairi and Yoru sat on opposite sides of them, Kairi on Ash's side and Yoru on Kiyo's. Negative and I sat on Kairi's other side, and the other couples filed into the room, and sat around Lord Ash.

Ash gave a short speech about how things would work on Sunday evening while I watched Negative from the corner of my eye. He was still, and was being very quiet. I turned to him, and looked at him full on. He noticed, and looked at me. He only stared, and never said anything.

Kairi, he's making this really awkward! Make him stop! I screamed in Kairi's head. Kairi glanced over at us, but made it to where it looked like she was looking at the other side of the room instead of us.

I'm on the case, Yomi-Chan! She thought sounding confident. She turned completely around, and faced the both of us.

"Hey, Negative, Yomi," she said, smiling. "How are you, Negative?" I looked to Negative. He glared at Kairi, and she fell silent. She laughed awkwardly. "Well, I can see that you're doing well, so I'm going to get some food. See you around."

Kairi! I complained in my head as she turned the other way. I laughed awkwardly, and put something on my plate, despite my knotted stomach that complained about it.

The rest of the dinner was very awkward and filled with silence. Negative didn't talk to me, and I just tried talking to Kairi to keep my mind from assaulting me. After dinner, I went straight to my room, and closed the door right behind me. I collapsed on my bed, and began sobbing, long and hard. What had I done wrong?

Kairi's Point of View

I awoke in my room, stretched, and stood. I yawned and looked around. Lancer was lying on the other side of my bed. I smiled, and crawled over to him. "Lancer…" I whispered in his ear. He fidgeted when my breath tickled it. "Good morning…" I breathed.

He turned over on his right side to face me, and opened his eyes. He smiled when he saw me looking at him. "Hello, my lady," he murmured.

"Kairi," I said, automatically. "Stop calling me 'my lady.' It's alright."

Lancer shrugged and said, "It's a habit." I rolled my eyes, and ran my fingers through his hair. He smiled.

"I've got to get my bandages changed at the infirmary, and then we're going out for a girl's day out," I said, smiling. "We're getting our dresses today."

"Have fun, dear. And don't get into anymore trouble," he said, touching my cheek.

"No worries, I'll be fine," I said, smiling. A tinge of guilt tainted my mind as I remembered Lightning. He nodded before I stood again, and went to change, not really caring that he was watching. Did it really matter? He was my servant and it wasn't anything he hadn't seen before.

Yomi's Point of View

The next morning came and I woke up feeling groggy and slow. I sat up, and felt the dried tears on my face. I was still in the blue dress from the night before because I had cried myself to sleep. I even had my heels on from the night before.

I stood, and changed into some skinny jeans and a long sleeved shirt that had the word love written across the front. I pulled the heels off of my feet, and slipped some socks and converse on instead. I didn't bother with my hair before leaving for the ball room; I knew Lord Ash would need help today because it was the day before the ball.

I started up the stair case and noticed immediately that Negative was coming down them. We passed, and I held my breath, hoping he'd say something. When he didn't, I felt something in me snap.

I turned the other way, and yelled, "Why won't you talk to me?" He gasped, and I lost my footing. I fell forward on top of him, and we both went tumbling down the staircase. When we stopped at the bottom, I was on top of him. He rolled, and flipped us both so he was on top of me.

Rath came around the corner at that time with his hand in Clover's. He snickered, and said, "Nice!" while dragging the 'I' in 'nice.'

"It isn't like that Rath!" Negative said through gritted teeth despite the slight pink in his cheeks. Rath laughed as he walked off with Clover as she scolded him playfully.

Negative's eyes looked at me intently. They examined me slowly, and I saw a flash of pain in his eyes, but nowhere else. He only stared.

Before I could breathe the words that were tumbling in my mind, he stood, and walked away, as if nothing had happened. Tears of anger and frustration filled my eyes as Grace-Lilly walked up. She gave me a confused look before holding her hand out to help me up.

I took it, and stood.

Negative's Point of View

I walked away quickly, taking a sharp right, and circling back. I crouched down behind the corner so I could watch My Yomi. "You look down. Are you okay, Yomi?" Grace-Lilly asked her. She shrugged, and looked back to where I had disappeared. "Are you going to the ball?" she asked, smiling. Yomi glanced longingly at the place I had left.

"No, I'm not," Yomi whispered. Grace-Lilly looked at her a bit concerned before stifling a yawn.

"Excuse me, I'm quite sorry. You seem to be in need of my comfort, but I can't help you because I have to rest. I'm up incredibly late, and I'm getting quite light headed from all this sun. Is there anything I can do?"

Yomi looked back at her, and put on a fake smile despite her eyes being watered. She shook her head, and said, "No, I'll be fine. It's okay Lilly."

"And you're sure?" Grace-Lilly questioned, not buying Kiyomi's performance.

"Yea of course. You should go rest. Get some sleep so you can be well rested," Yomi said. Grace-Lilly hugged her tightly.

"I'll be in my room if you ever need me," she offered. Yomi nodded, and they pulled apart. "Good-bye, Kiyomi."

"See you later, Grace-Lilly," Yomi said before sighing and watching her leave the way I had. She turned to go up the stairs, but froze in her place as Ren and some of his friends came down them. I glared.

"Hey, Kiyomi," Ren said, cockily. So he had gotten his confidence back. Great.

"Hi," she said bitterly. I smiled on the inside, but decided to not show it.

"These are my friends," Ren said motioning behind him. "Rai, Viktor, and Dane." He pointed to each of them as he said their names.

"You have friends?" Yomi asked aloud, and I almost laughed because I realized she hadn't meant to say it out loud.

"What?" he asked.

"What?" she asked trying to cover up her mistake. "I didn't say anything." Ren looked at her before slowly nodding. She was getting annoyed by this time, and said, "Look, I have to help Lord Ash with the ball. Bye." Yomi's voice held annoyance, and anger.

She stormed past them, without another glance back. Ren looked around dumfounded. His friends shrugged and they left. I grinded my teeth together, and heard footsteps approaching from behind.

I stood quickly, and turned around to find Grace-Lilly standing there. "I knew you were listening in. What are you doing?" she asked, sounding humored. I shrugged, returning to my emotionless self.

"Nothing," I said. "Just don't tell Kiyomi." She smiled as if she had just discovered something.

"Fine. I won't," she slowly, a smile growing across her face as she held her hand out. I shook it, and turned to leave.

Kairi's Point of View

"My queen, would you like this color or this color for the table cloths?" a servant was asking Kiyo as I helped her with carrying some decorations. She held to different fabrics, one dark blue and one dark green.

"Blue," she muttered as another servant came up, and asked another question.

"Would you like the normal candle colors for the dinner?" he asked. Just as he had asked, another two came and asked other questions. Soon we were swarmed by servants asking questions. Kiyo did her best answering the ones she could hear.

I was beginning to get annoyed and a bit claustrophobic. We had things to do today. "Break it up, guys. Give my love some space," I heard Ashu-Niisama say. We looked to where his voice was and saw him walking towards us.

The servants dispersed, and Kiyo seemed to relax a little more. "My love," he said, putting an arm around her waist. "You and the rest of your friends can go now. You've done a good bit of work. We can handle the rest, dear."

"Really? Are you sure you can get it all by yourself?" Kiyo asked.

"Yes, dear. We'll be fine. You and your friends can go and do what you want," Ash said, kissing her cheek. He moved over to me, and took the decorations from my hands.

"Can we go into town?" I asked, sounding hopeful. He raised his eyebrows, and seemed to be contemplating.

"I'm guessing you'd like to go shopping for your dresses, right?" Ash asked. I nodded, and smiled sheepishly. "That's fine. Who would be going if you do go?"

"Kiyo, Yoru, Mizu, Yami, Yomi, and me," I said, pursing my lips. He nodded slowly.

"Fine. You can go. I trust that you and Yoru, as Guardians-in-Training, will take care of the group and protect them if something is to go wrong?" Ash asked.

"Of course My Lord!" I said, bowing. Ash laughed and used his free hand to ruffle my hair. "Hey!" I said.

He chuckled, and kissed Kiyo on the cheek again before saying, "Be careful, and have fun." We nodded, quickly and began gushing as we rushed off to find Yoru, Yami, Mizu, and Yomi. Luckily, we found everyone except Yomi helping out with the ball.

We explained what Ash had said, and agreed to hurry and find Yomi so we could go get our dresses. After searching the castle for her, thinking she was off asking for last minute invites. Lastly, we went to check her room.

When we arrived at her room, everyone looked at each other, because we felt a presence inside. "She's upset. It's because of Negative," I whispered. My friends turned to me for further explanation. "He's been ignoring her, and she's been really upset about it. She told me the other day that she wasn't going to the ball because of it."

"What?" Kiyo and Mizu said in unison.

"She has to come!" Kiyo said. "It wouldn't be fun without her. We can't go to the ball without Yomi!"

"I know. Let's invite her to come with us instead," I said. I knocked on the door. A few moments later it swung open, and revealed an upset looking Yomi. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were red. It was obvious that she had been crying.

"What do you want! Can't you see I'm busy!" she yelled before slamming the door in my face. I blinked in surprise, unable to register that Yomi had just yelled at me. She had yelled at me! Yomi, practically my little sister, had yelled at me.

"Kairi, let me handle this," Yoru said, putting a hand on my shoulder. I stepped back and let her knock instead. The door opened, and revealed Yomi again. Yoru put her hand on Yomi's shoulder and said, "I'm sure it's nothing you did."

Yomi's stance relaxed and tears filled her eyes as a smile spread across her face. "Thanks, Yoru," she whispered. "You always know what to say." She then hugged Yoru tightly. Feeling a bit stupid, and unworthy, I broke in.

"Now, you should come with us to get our dresses. We need a little time to just relax for awhile, anyways, especially after the attack on us," I said, cheerfully. Yomi smiled weakly, and nodded.

"Fine, I'll go with you, but only to buy your dresses. I'm not getting one, though," Yomi said. I felt my face fall. "I'm not going because of Negative…He doesn't want to go."

Yoru, Kiyo, and I exchanged long, worried looks before Yoru put her arm on Yomi's shoulders, and began trying to cheer her up. As she did, we all began to walk towards the front grounds where we could leave and go into the town.

After arriving at the grounds, we left through the east gate. The guards didn't give us anymore question than who was allowing us to leave. When we said Ash, they opened the gate automatically, and we left for the closest gown shop.

I was surprised when we came into the east side of town. Everything seemed much more…modern than the other side that I had actually been in. The buildings were taller, and sturdier-looking. They looked like things you would find back in the Human World.

I looked into shop windows, and saw electronics and modern day stuff, which completely threw me off. So there was a modern part of the town around the castle. It kept everyone's attention as we continued through the town that reminded us of our old home.

We finally reached the dress store.

While there, I tried on every pink dress my eyes fell upon. Yoru laughed at me as I came out in each one, and looked at myself in the mirror. She looked through the darker colored dresses like black, brown, and dark gray. Kiyo was all over the place when it came to color. Mizu refused any color except for blue, and said she had to 'find the perfect one.' Yami wasn't sticking to a single color either.

Yomi watched and gave pointers on which ones she really liked and which ones complimented our hair and eyes. After we had all decided on dresses, and bought them, we tried to convince Yomi of getting one so she could come to the ball with us anyways.

Sadly, she refused, so we could only follow her out of the door of the store with our dresses that we had bought. On the way back to the castle, we made plans to go out again tomorrow to get our nails and hair done. Hopefully, by then, we could have her convinced of coming with us.

We arrived back at the castle, and put our dresses away. Yomi went straight for her room, and stayed there. Of course we were all worried. We stayed in my room, and talked about how we could convince her to come, secretly hoping she would come into my room. After a long epic failure of a plan to convince Yomi, we decided to go and check on her.

As we approached the door for the second time that day, we heard small sobs coming from inside. "No…" Yomi's voice moaned from the other side. Yoru and I looked at each other, and I swung the door open as quickly as possible, thinking that she was in trouble.

"No! Daniel, no! Don't leave her, she needs you!" Yomi screamed as we all came into the room. My eyes took in the scene in front of me. Yomi had her hair pulled back into a messy pony tail. Her face was puffy and red with tears running down her cheeks. Her eyes were bloodshot and she was staring down at something in her hand; a book.

Confusion clouded my mind, and I looked closer to realize the book was Heart Wrenching Sorrow; one of my books from my bookshelf. And as I made that realization, questions began popping up in my head.

First of all, how the hell had she gotten my book? Second of all, who was Daniel leaving? I had never finished reading it!

"What did Daniel do?" I demanded. Yoru glanced over to Kiyo who was looking as confused as her.

"Um…who is Daniel?" they asked.

"Oh my gosh, Kairi! I can't tell you! It's awful!" Yomi sobbed staring at the book intently, and trying to blink her tears away so she could finish reading it. "And Daniel is the main character. He's in a love triangle with Lilly and Rebecca…Oh no, you wouldn't believe what happened to Rebecca, Kairi…"

"No, not Rebecca! She's nice! But Lilly was my favorite!" I yelled. Yoru and Kiyo rolled their eyes.

"Wow, guys. That's all I'm saying," Kiyo said, turning to leave. Yoru followed and Mizu and Yami did as well.

"Go on, man…I have to finish this book…" Yomi whispered, motioning to the door.

"Tell me if it's bad...I have to finish reading that…" I whispered, remembering the twisted and confusing plot of the story. I shook my head, and left the room.

Yomi's Point of View

'My Daniel…my wonderful Daniel…Why did he leave me? Why has he not returned?' Lilly thought. She looked out over the ocean as the sun slowly began to sink below the horizon. Her heart wrenched and tears spilled over her cheeks. I guess this meant he wouldn't be coming…

"Lilly, my wonderful love!" Lilly heard from behind her. She gasped and turned quickly around to find her love, Daniel walking down the beach towards her. "I've decided I was wrong, and that I love you more than I love Rebecca."

I jumped up when I heard a knock on my door. I wiped my eyes, and called, "Who is it!" There was no answer, and I felt a tinge of anger fill me in the midst of my sorrow. I stood and I stormed over to the door with the book still in my hand.

I jerked the door open, and froze when I saw who it was. "It's Negative," he said without showing any emotion. I blinked, and slipped my bookmark into the place I had stopped reading. I quickly wiped my eyes more, and nodded.

"Come in," I said. He followed me to my nightstand where I placed the book. He looked at me for a few moments before speaking.

"This is my fault," he said motioning around my dimly lit room, and letting his hand stop on my tear streaked cheek. "You almost died because of me. And I refused to face you about it. If I had been here to protect you, I would have stopped Noel," he whispered, and I cut in before he could continue.

"That's what this is about? This isn't your fault, Negative. None of this is your fault. We didn't know what was going to happen, so you can't beat yourself up about this. Let's just forget about it all, and be happy, and go to the ball…" I whispered, leaning closer to him.

He shook his head, and stepped back. "No, I put you in too much danger. Noel knows I'm with you. She knows that I love you. And she would do anything to make me be with her instead of you. I can't be with you with her always being after me."

Tears filled my eyes again. "No! No, Negative, I want to be with you! I want nothing else but to be with you!" I said, hugging him. He automatically put his arms around me. I stood there, hugging him as tightly as I could, refusing to let go of him.

After minutes of nothing but an understanding silence between us, he nodded, and pulled back some. "I'll protect you. I'll never leave you. I will end her the next time she even tries to harm you," he whispered fiercely. I nodded, smiled through the few tears that had built in my eyes.

Negative then kissed me, and I kissed him back, feeling complete again. His arms wrapped around my waist, and pulled me closer as his lips softly kissed mine. His gentle kisses made me smile even more, and allowed the now tears of joy escape my eyes, and roll down my cheeks.

I moved backwards, and he followed as if we were one unit. He pushed me onto my bed, and followed. He continued kissing gently as we lay on the bed. Suddenly, my door swung open, and surprised us both.

I broke the kiss, and looked up as Negative did the same. Rath stood in the doorway, with a huge smirk on his face. "Even nicer!" he roared with laughter. "You're going to get lucky, Negative!" He continued laughing as he left the room. My face was miserably red and hot with the leftover blush of embarrassment.

"Let's go to the ball, dear," Negative whispered. "Together." I smiled, and nodded, happily. As if on cue, Kairi, Yoru, Kiyo, Mizu, and Yami came through my door as he got off of me.

"We're getting your dress. Come on. Let's go," Kiyo said, taking my hand, and pulling me up from the bed.

"Wait, what?" I asked, as I was dragged towards my other friends. "My dress? Oh, right the ball. Wait, right now?"

"There's no time to waste! Let's go! Tomorrow we're getting our nails, and hair done, and right now, we're getting your dress. See you later, Negative!" Kairi called, as we all left out of the door. Then it hit me; we were all going to the ball, and we were going to have a blast.