Magic Knight Rayearth 3 Chapter 5
Yunari froze with....well, an indescribable feeling she had. It was like that voice had something in it; something special that only she was allowed access to. She slowly lifted her head and her eyes finally rested on the eyes of another person. This person was an extremely hot/cute/handsome guy.
"H.Hh..Hi," she just managed to breathe out. She tried to say more but, all else she could say was, "My name is..er, Yunari Hie-sine. Um.....what's your name?" She smiled weakly. She couldn't believe herself; it was so abrupt, but though she didn't know this guy, she already liked him. He seemed nice, anyway.
"My name's Kaoru," he introduced himself politely, but his face was devoid of any emotions. She practically died. Lord he was HOT! "Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to talk and dance for a while?"
"D-d-dance? I don't really.." She blushed before continuing. "I don't really know how to dance." Her face turned a hot red as he just smiled even more.
"Then this must be your lucky day. I happen to be pretty good dancing, so I \can teach you how, huh? So," he finished, taking her hand. "Let's go."
He was right; he WAS good at dancing. He knew how to dance to all styles of music. He could dance to techno, western, country, pop, hip-hop, jazz, romantic, classical, renaissance, Celtic, dance, party, rap, soft rock, rock, modern. He could dance to Japanese music, French music, Korean, Ukrainian, Chinese, Swedish, Flemish, German, Spanish, Mexican, American, African music, and much more. He could dance to slow, fast, and medium speed music. He could do funny dances, weird and wacky dances, stylish dances, and other types. So, as stated before, he was a very good dancer. EXTREMELY good. So good he even managed to turn Yunari from a non-dancer to a pro-dancer during about 40 minutes of dance music. He got her to dance to almost every type of music, in fact, even slow-dance music. By that time, she had to bury her face in his chest for fear people would see her scarlet face. Of course, that didn't help with her emotions; it just made her more nervous that people would know she liked him. She had talked with him as she learned to dance, and she found out that he was a really sweet guy. But she didn't want anyone to know she liked him, or that he told her he liked her. She figured that it was just to make her feel better.
Anyway, it took quite a lot of convincing on Kaoru's part to get Yunari to slow dance with him. She didn't want anyone to know she liked him....ESPECIALLY *COUGH COUGH* Umi Ryuuzaki, because she was not one to keep good gossip material to herself. Yunari thought she was safe from prying eyes as she and Kaoru danced among the dark areas in the crowds. However, she was wrong; Hikaru and Lantis had caught a glimpse of them dancing together. They went to sit and spy on them from a balcony. There they could look upon the main dance floors inside, or look upon the gardens outside. Hikaru walked over to the balcony rail inside, and she leaned over the balcony a little as she looked down at Kaoru and Yunari. She smiled as she watched them, and then, still smiling, she turned to Lantis.
"Aawwwwwww. Yunari looks embarrased. Even though I don't know that cute guy's personality, I think the two of them look really kawaii dancing together," Hikaru said. Then, she quickly elbowed Lantis as she saw a peculiar look of worry cross his face. "What's the matter, Lantis? Is something wrong?" Lantis sighed. 'She's as innocent as ever. I guess she didn't mean she liked him though.' "Nothing. Nothing is wrong at all." She giggled softly as she watched relief wash over his face. "You looked really funny the way your face was a second ago." He looked at her for a minute, and then he smiled. He was about to lean down and kiss her (though she didn't know that), but he was interrupted when he heard someone giggle behind them. Then, as Lantis and Hikaru turned to see who it was, someone else mockingly said, "AWWWW. Isn't that just PRECIOUS. What a roman-tic at- mos-phere!"
Hikaru and Lantis finished turning around just in time to see Fuu and Ferio crack up. Lantis groaned inwardly, but Hikaru blushed furiously instead. Meanwhile, she gave Fuu and Ferio an evil yet sarcastic glare as she asked, "So what are YOU two up to then?
"Just lookin' for OUR share of romance," Ferio replied, smirking as Fuu's cheeks turned a deep crimson red. This time Hikaru and Lantis laughed. Then, as they quieted down, they pulled up four chairs at the inside balcony rail. Fuu, Ferio, Hikaru and Lantis all took a seat. "What were you two looking at from up here?" Fuu asked curiously.
"Oh, well...". Hikaru smiled again as she let her eyes travel to Kaoru and Yunari.
Fuu followed her gaze and dropped her jaw when she saw the two dancing. "Is that Yunari? I though she said earlier that she couldn't dance and hated it anyway." she questioned as Hikaru laughed. "You bet it is. And she did say and mean what she said. But I think that guy there gave her an inspiration." Hikaru's laughter was soon replaced with a look of deep thought.
"What is it, Hikaru?" Ferio asked her quietly, not wanting to disturb her too much.
"I feel like we've met him before..." she replied, referring to Yunari's partner-in-dancing.
Fuu then added her thoughts to the conversation. "Hikaru, you're right; he IS familiar!"
There was a long pause before anyone spoke, but the next person who did was Ferio.
"Come on, Fuu, let's go swimming before we open the pools up for the party animals."
"O.K..See you later tonight, all right, Hikaru?" Fuu yelped as she was dragged towards the pools by Ferio.
"All right!" Hikaru waved. As soon as Fuu and Ferio slipped out of sight, Lantis sighed with relief. 'At least Ferio can't bother or tease us anymore. Maybe now..' he thought to himself. He turned to *stare* at Hikaru, who had walked to the outside balcony. He had waited so long to see her again, and now that she was here, he wanted to see how she'd changed.
Her hair was still the same length, but it looked smoother and silkier than ever. For the party, she had un-braided it, but she kept it in a ponytail. Her dress was phenomenal looking on her, and it added to her looks. As Lantis admired her profound beauty, he noticed that there was something else different; she had grown, and in many different ways. Not only had her body matured, but also, Lantis realized, she was TALLER. 'About as tall as Fuu,' he noted.
When Lantis realized he'd been blabbing to himself again, he snapped himself out of it. Then, slowly but surely, he walked over to Hikaru. He stopped right behind her, and placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and smiled brightly at him. It was then that Lantis realized she was holding the pendant-necklace he gave her. Hikaru looked back out at the garden, and then she closed her eyes, listening to the sound of the fountain. She was beginning to space out, but she suddenly snapped back, surprised, when two strong arms wrapped around her waist. She lifted her head to find herself looking into the mesmerizing, sharp blue eyes of Lantis.
"Lantis...?" she breathed questioningly as she turned in his arms to face him.
Lantis didn't reply. Instead, he looked out at the moon and the neighboring planets. "You're safe now," he finally said.
Hikaru inwardly cracked a smile, and happily and gently, she buried her face in his chest. Even though he only had on his soft armor and he was weapon-less, she felt like nothing in the world could ever harm her when she was with him. On that note, Hikaru sighed and closed her eyes as she stood on the balcony, wrapped in the arms of the one she loved.
~*~
"Ferio, why are we going swimming before we open the pool?" Fuu asked.
"Because it's ro-man-tic," Ferio replied, grinning as, once again, he caused Fuu's cheeks to boil. "And," he added, "because it's better to get in an early swim before the crowds come and clog the pool up."
"Oh." Fuu looked at the floor.
"All right then, be right back; I gotta change," Ferio cried as he sprinted to the men's locker rooms. Fuu shook her head, smiling, as she slipped off her to reveal her bathing suit underneath.
When Ferio dashed back out to Fuu, he found her sitting in the by-pool garden. 'She looks beautiful...no; GORGEOUS,' he thought to himself. He then looked around to see how the construction had changed the pools.
There were nine huge pools the size of Dorney Park's wave pool, all different sizes, shapes and depths, and all with a few tropical fish in them. Surrounding the pools were gardens, small winding rivers, and themed areas. The themes were a bamboo forest, a mountain spring, a waterfall, a cove, a beach, and a beautiful field. Anywhere else, the floor was covered in a soft Japanese moss. The pool room was huge, had no wall-windows, and had an all-window ceiling. Ferio was impressed.
"Damn, they make things look so GOOD!" he murmured, and Fuu walked up to him as he spoke. Then Ferio turned to her. He gazed into her beautiful green eyes one moment before continuing to talk. "Did they work on you, too, Fuu?" he asked slyly. As she blushed and looked away, he lightly shoved her, sending her into one of the pool's deep ends. He laughed, but as soon as Fuu came back to the surface, she grabbed him by the ankles, pulling him into the water as well.
"Huh?" Ferio smiled at her. "Well, I can't say I saw that coming."
Fuu laughed lightly. Anyone who heard her would have pondered the beautiful voice. Then, Fuu hugged Ferio gently. She rested her head on his shoulder and breathed in his scent. He smelled like a fresh mint from the mint plants he took care of. Fuu didn't lose her head, but she could not deny that when Ferio hugged her back with his muscular arms, kissing her forehead and ruffling her hair, Fuu could barely contain herself. Finally, she kissed him back, gently at first, but then more passionately. Ferio was taken back at first, but then he too was more passionate. They parted and took a brief breath before brushing mouths again. This time, Ferio plucked up his courage and gently kissed her more and more.
This bold move greatly surprised Fuu, but she didn't mind, and she followed suit. After a few more minutes of this, the young lovers crawled onto the mossy floor of the bamboo garden.
"I love you, Ferio," Fuu whispered. Ferio turned and replied, "And I do too, and I always will; remember that." Fuu reddened, but not as much as she usually did. She snuggled closer to Ferio, who hugged her tight and nibbled gently on her ear.
"Ferio, that tickles," Fuu giggled, before relaxing in his strong grip. She was about to fall asleep when Ferio suddenly got up and walked towards the doors. "What are you doing?"
"I'm opening the pool, Fuu!"
Fuu sweatdropped and fell over as he let the people in, and then jumped in the pool as he joined her once again.
~*~
Diamond felt a feeling of love. It was so abrupt. She knew that Shira had it more seriously. Diamond had seen the looks on Shira and Zazu's faces. It was love at first sight third-degree-burn style. Nonetheless, Diamond knew she liked Eagle. A LOT. She felt like they were destined to be together. 'Either that, or I'm crazy,' she concluded. She snapped out of her thoughts, however, when Eagle suddenly pressed his body extremely close to hers. She gasped and squeaked, and Eagle looked at her. Kindly, yet worriedly, he asked, "What's wrong? Are you O.K.? Did I hurt you? Did I go over-board? Did I..."
He was silenced by one of Diamond's fingers pressed to his mouth. "You're going overboard now," Diamond laughed softly. "You had just surprised me, that's all."
"Oh." 'If that's all I did, then I guess she won't mind if I hug her. Dang, I'm cheesy,' Eagle thought to himself as he gave her a quick hug. He didn't expect anything in return, but to his surprise, Diamond returned the favor.
Eagle sighed in relief. "You know, you're a good dancer," he complimented.
"You are too," Diamond replied, nodding thoughtfully.
Eagle sighed again and hugged her even closer as they continued dancing throughout the night.
~*~
Shira and Zazu were hitting it off. As soon as they had reached the dance floor they had introduced themselves. Then, Zazu had politely kissed Shira's forehead, and Shira had politely kissed his cheek. After some vivid dancing, the couple caught the attention of the crowd. They all clapped and cheered as Umi and Clef suddenly appeared seemingly out of nowhere and danced with Shira and Zazu. They spun, tapped, twisted, and twirled until the end of the song. It was Dirty Vegas' "Days go By", which really surprised Umi and Shira; since when was there Earth stuff on Cephiro? Clef quickly calmed them, however, and explained that lots of Mah-tayians traveled to Earth, and lots of Earth inhabitants traveled to Cephiro. Not too many, but enough.
"Gee, that's new," Umi said, blinking rapidly.
"Yeah," Shira agreed, nodding her head.
"Hey is that Princess Diamond?" Clef asked Umi curiously.
"Yeah, that's prit'y princess numero two!" yelled a voice with a southern accent..
"Umi, it has been awhile since we last saw you," a deeper voice stated. Umi then looked up to find herself face to face with Lafarga. She hugged him for a moment, but suddenly she was shoved away. As Umi fell and gained her own Chibi form, Caldina ran over and hugged her.
"Caldina?! Shish. Now I know how Hikaru always felt, especially in the bath incident!" Umi exclaimed.
"Oops. Heh, sorry 'bout that, Umi. Oh, by the way, have you met Mitaro yet?"
Umi blinked and took a deep breath and Caldina refrained from hugging her. "Huh? Who's Mitaro? And have you met my friends? This is Shira Waytye," she continued. "Oh, I met Diamond, and I...did you say...S..Sh...SHIRA WA.WAY- TYE?!!!!!?" Caldina suddenly took off, practically knocking over Ascot, who was approaching with a small baby in his arms. "Be back in a sec, missies!" Caldina shouted as she sped off.
Ascot carefully stepped forward and carefully held the baby out. It had short, spiky blond hair and soft blue eyes.
"THIS is Mitaro; He's Caldina and Lafarga's son," Ascot explained as he gently handed Mitaro to Umi.
She carefully cradled him and rocked him to sleep when he woke up. (She put him back to sleep in a second flat).
"You know, you'd make a good mother if you and Clef ever got married when you were older," Ascot sighed/whispered.
"Ascot?" Umi handed Mitaro to Shira. "Are you okay? I heard rumors that you liked someone but couldn't tell the person that you liked them. Are you all right?"
"Oh, yeah," Ascot blushed. "I have to admit you still enthrall me Umi, beautiful Water Goddess and Dragon Tamer." This time it was Umi's turn to blush. "Arigato," she said. "Gomen if this hurts you, but I've fallen in love with Tatra." He then blushed as Umi giggled, "Well, speak of the lover!" For walking, or more correctly, running towards them were Caldina, Tatra and Tarta.
"Umi!" Tarta exclaimed as she and her sister ran forward and high-fived Umi. "How have you been? Are you nicer yet, or are you still a brat?!" Umi asked as she laughed when Tarta reddened a bit. "Yeah, I'm BETTER now, I don't have "spazz outs" nearly as much as I used to," she admitted. "Hey, Ascot? After I talk with Shira can we dance?" Tatra asked, and Ascot nodded. "Gomen nasai, but I MUST talk to Shira first." She turned to Shira and Caldina walked over. "Hasn't she grown so much?" she asked Tatra. "Yes, I must admit, I can see she had grown, though I only last saw her when I was little, and when she was a little, cute, cuddly baby!" Tatra added. Then, she scared the daylights out of Shira when she suddenly hugged her and exclaimed, "I'm glad to see you little sister!"
"WHAT? YOU TWO ARE MY...MY SISTERS???!!!!" Shira shouted. "I knew my parents were hiding SOMETHING from me, but this?!!! Though, I do have memories of you..good, happy memories," Shira cried, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Same for you," soothed Tarta, as the three sisters hugged in a happy reunion.
"You know that you're a Chizetan princess, then?" Tatra asked.
"I am?" Shira managed to choke out.
"Yes. So be careful no mobs run you over," Tarta smirked and walked towards the gaming room.
Suddenly Presea walked in, motioning for the remaining group to follow.
"Hey, why are you in your bathing suit, Presea?" Umi asked curiously, amazed at Presea's ever-staying beauty.
"Because we're all hitting the pool, missy!" Caldina exclaimed.
"Cool! Shira yelled. She had accidentally yelled loud enough to make people clear out of their way, but that was good, because they could move faster.
~*~
Meanwhile, Yunari and Kaoru had unknowingly gone onto the same balcony that was occupied by Hikaru and Lantis, who were sitting inside on the chairs at the rail. Neither couples had noted each others presence for the time being as Yunari led Kaoru to the outside balcony.
"It's nice out, huh?" Kaoru asked Yunari. "Yeah," she replied, nervously edging closer to him. She wanted to talk with him more, but she felt like she couldn't. 'GREAT,' she thought to herself. 'I've become a little wussy- wuss.'
Meanwhile, Kaoru was struggling with different emotions. Yunari noticed that he seemed dazed, and then, suddenly, his eyes snapped open with a fierce look in them. It scared Yunari a bit. Kaoru remembered in a flash what had happened. "Damn them. Stupid bastards." Kaoru swore quietly. "What?" Yunari asked, surprised at his sudden change of heart. These guys..they gave me a drink and told me it was a type of new soda they were testing..so I tried it, and it turned out it made me act weird.like I was so nice to you..I normally avoid girls...technically, it made me DRUNK! DAMNIT! THOSE STUPID BASTARDS ARE GONNA PAY!" Kaoru yelled suddenly, scaring Lantis, Hikaru, and Yunari half to death. But he also had angered someone, who quickly and quietly leapt onto the balcony, stepping into the moonlight before baring his razor-sharp, glinting-white teeth.
It was Karaka.
And his eyes were glowing an angry red.
"Oh, hey, Karaka! Come here; I'll got a treat for..you?" Yunari whimpered as he approached her, fangs still bared. Everyone just stared and thought about what was going to happen next. Was he just cranky? Or was he..not Karaka?
Suddenly the rest of the gang appeared out of nowhere, and the creature rudely jolted everyone out of their thoughts as he leapt forward, raking his top canines along Shira's leg, and biting Yunari's left side and arm. He then turned and roughly picked the fallen Yunari up in his mouth, leaving more small puncture wounds from his teeth, jumping away from the people. Hikaru gasped in fear for her friends, and wished to the heavens that she had her sword with her. Lantis tried to stop her from doing anything stupid, and to shield her from what she was to see. But it was too late; Karaka landed on the other side of the balcony, dropping the limp form of Yunari, letting at least a quart of fresh blood drip from his jaws.
"SHIRA!" Zazu screamed, realizing that Shira was lying in front of him, her left leg dripping blood. He ran forward and broke free of the grasp Lafarga had on his wrist, grabbed Shira, held her close, comforting her, all the while crying.
Suddenly time was frozen; standing still. Everyone wanted to know why the terror had to start then, on such a happy night at a happy occasion. They wondered why it had to be like this, and why they had to put up a sound barrier to prevent other people from coming up or suspecting anything. No one knew what to do, but they all knew they had to do SOMETHING. No one made a move for at least one minute. One grueling minute of thought, planning, and listening to the sickening sounds of dripping blood and Karaka growling.
Finally, though, the minute was up, and someone broke the silence. Everyone turned and stared when they heard and saw a glint of metal as the blond guy suddenly drew a beautifully crafted sword. Yunari couldn't think straight; she had lost a lot of blood at one time; she didn't know why her beloved dog-gone-wolf was now a dog-gone-wolf-gone- EVIL. The stress was just too much for her to take, and due to the loss of blood, she fainted. Kaoru saw this from the corner of his eyes. "Damn you," Kaoru muttered under his breath.
Umi noticed that his eyes narrowed slightly and he seemed to rise in power a bit. 'What...' she thought. 'What is his problem?'.
"Damn you," he began again, but this time his voice picked up a bit and his sword seemed to shine brightly. "You dare hurt any of these innocent people?!?! You...you're probably possessed by one of those Bastard's creatures..YOU DAMNED ANIMAL!!!!!!" he exploded, rushing at Karaka with his silver sword. "Don't!" Ascot shouted, but Kaoru didn't listen. Karaka turned just in time to see him jump four feet in the air, bringing his shining weapon down upon him. It cut Karaka's ear, badly injuring the beast, but not bad enough; it had put up a shield that made Kaoru miss his mark.
Karaka was about to take up Yunari, but he suddenly turned and slashed at Hikaru, picking her up in his jaws, as she writhed and screamed in pain. Just before he could crunch down on her, however, Diamond walked out to Karaka. He paused as she walked up to him until they were only eight feet apart. Karaka's anger rose, and he was readying to strike down Diamond when she suddenly shouted a chanting-spell, much to everyone's surprise.
"GUARDIAN FORCES! GRANT ME POWER...." She closed her eyes, and suddenly her hair flew around her as it was twirled by a magic breeze. "....ICE SPEARS, ATTACK!"
Karaka fell to his four knees, whimpering in agony and anger, as he was assaulted by spears of rock-hard ice, sharp as a knife.
"Nice hit! But it's my fight! You take those girls and run, NOW!" Kaoru demanded. She automatically obeyed; she could sense he was no joke. And she knew he was very smart despite his dark attitude. So, as he charged full speed at Karaka, distracting him, she took possession of her three friends. Kaoru brought his silver blade upon the wolf. It cut deep into the wolf's side, letting green blood spill. As the wolf howled in pain, it suddenly fell limp, as a black monster, barely visible, phased out of his body.
"Yunari? Hikaru? ...What are you doing..no....DON'T! UMI! HELP!" Diamond called frantically as she realized her friends were trying to attack.
"Lightning...."
"Ruby...."
The monster opened his eyes and darted them in the direction of the voices.
"ATTACK!"
"LIGHTNING!"
Karaka watched as two rounds of lightning came ripping down upon the beast that had taken him under his control. It roared in pain and was almost torn to shreds, but with his final shred of energy he saved himself enough to run. But before he could, he was faced with his final foe...
"Water......DRAGON!" Umi shouted, and as the wave came crashing down upon the creature, it called its final cry of life, and was shredded in an instant.
Everyone stared for a few minutes, making sure it was really over. Then, they all shakily congratulated each other.
"Good job Hikaru! And you two Umi! OUCH!"
"Thanks Umi, you helped Yunari and I."
"Same back at you, Yunari..be careful; you too, Hikaru! You guys are still weak. You shouldn't hurt yourselves anymore!"
"On that note, let me heal you through a chant....Guardian Forces.Grant me power....WINDS OF HEALING!" Diamond copied Fuu's attack, and when she finished to gaping stares of fully healed companions, she laughed and shook her head. "It's a mix of magic I can use through Cephiro until I learn to use my own," she explained brightly.
"Oh." They all wondered why they hadn't thought of that.
"THAT'S IT!" Umi snapped. "Hikaru, remember that village we entered where Ferio told us of Padero?" Umi's eyes flashed to Ascot's as she mentioned his friend, but he didn't seem affected too much, so she didn't worry.
"Yeah," Hikaru replied. "Why?"
"Because, remember that blond guard who laughed and smiled as he let us into the village? THAT was KAORU!"
"YOU'RE RIGHT! Hikaru yelped. "It's been awhile, eh, Kaoru?" she asked, smiling at him.
"You knew him before?" Yunari asked.
"Apparently so," Kaoru smiled. "But I still think you girls are all fools. Especially you, Yunari, and her," he said, pointing to Hikaru. "You really shouldn't attack in a condition like that. If that worked the last time you were here, I'm surprised," he added to Hikaru. "Oh well. Here, let me help you up...you little wench," he said walking over to Yunari, helping her up and causing her to blush when he called her a 'wench'. 'Good LORD!' Yunari thought, noticing what a strong grip he had on her.
"Are you O.K., wench?" he asked her, face devoid of any emotions. "Yeah, I'll be fine! Don't worry about it, I'm just still a little scared."
"All right then, if you say so...but never do something stupid like that again, you stupid bitch," he said, smirking as he pinched her ear hard. She blushed a furious tan-red from all of his name calling. Everyone else just kind of stared and laughed at her, then shut up as Kaoru helped her up and then walked off towards the stairs.
"I don't know about you people, but I'm going swimming. If you come, I'll see you there. But just call me if you need any more help. Especially you, Blondy," Kaoru said, pointing at Yunari. He then turned and walked off down the stairs towards the pools. Yunari followed his every movement with her eyes, still blushing from her embarrassment. Then, she went and joined the others as they all went back to the party and pools areas.
Yunari froze with....well, an indescribable feeling she had. It was like that voice had something in it; something special that only she was allowed access to. She slowly lifted her head and her eyes finally rested on the eyes of another person. This person was an extremely hot/cute/handsome guy.
"H.Hh..Hi," she just managed to breathe out. She tried to say more but, all else she could say was, "My name is..er, Yunari Hie-sine. Um.....what's your name?" She smiled weakly. She couldn't believe herself; it was so abrupt, but though she didn't know this guy, she already liked him. He seemed nice, anyway.
"My name's Kaoru," he introduced himself politely, but his face was devoid of any emotions. She practically died. Lord he was HOT! "Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to talk and dance for a while?"
"D-d-dance? I don't really.." She blushed before continuing. "I don't really know how to dance." Her face turned a hot red as he just smiled even more.
"Then this must be your lucky day. I happen to be pretty good dancing, so I \can teach you how, huh? So," he finished, taking her hand. "Let's go."
He was right; he WAS good at dancing. He knew how to dance to all styles of music. He could dance to techno, western, country, pop, hip-hop, jazz, romantic, classical, renaissance, Celtic, dance, party, rap, soft rock, rock, modern. He could dance to Japanese music, French music, Korean, Ukrainian, Chinese, Swedish, Flemish, German, Spanish, Mexican, American, African music, and much more. He could dance to slow, fast, and medium speed music. He could do funny dances, weird and wacky dances, stylish dances, and other types. So, as stated before, he was a very good dancer. EXTREMELY good. So good he even managed to turn Yunari from a non-dancer to a pro-dancer during about 40 minutes of dance music. He got her to dance to almost every type of music, in fact, even slow-dance music. By that time, she had to bury her face in his chest for fear people would see her scarlet face. Of course, that didn't help with her emotions; it just made her more nervous that people would know she liked him. She had talked with him as she learned to dance, and she found out that he was a really sweet guy. But she didn't want anyone to know she liked him, or that he told her he liked her. She figured that it was just to make her feel better.
Anyway, it took quite a lot of convincing on Kaoru's part to get Yunari to slow dance with him. She didn't want anyone to know she liked him....ESPECIALLY *COUGH COUGH* Umi Ryuuzaki, because she was not one to keep good gossip material to herself. Yunari thought she was safe from prying eyes as she and Kaoru danced among the dark areas in the crowds. However, she was wrong; Hikaru and Lantis had caught a glimpse of them dancing together. They went to sit and spy on them from a balcony. There they could look upon the main dance floors inside, or look upon the gardens outside. Hikaru walked over to the balcony rail inside, and she leaned over the balcony a little as she looked down at Kaoru and Yunari. She smiled as she watched them, and then, still smiling, she turned to Lantis.
"Aawwwwwww. Yunari looks embarrased. Even though I don't know that cute guy's personality, I think the two of them look really kawaii dancing together," Hikaru said. Then, she quickly elbowed Lantis as she saw a peculiar look of worry cross his face. "What's the matter, Lantis? Is something wrong?" Lantis sighed. 'She's as innocent as ever. I guess she didn't mean she liked him though.' "Nothing. Nothing is wrong at all." She giggled softly as she watched relief wash over his face. "You looked really funny the way your face was a second ago." He looked at her for a minute, and then he smiled. He was about to lean down and kiss her (though she didn't know that), but he was interrupted when he heard someone giggle behind them. Then, as Lantis and Hikaru turned to see who it was, someone else mockingly said, "AWWWW. Isn't that just PRECIOUS. What a roman-tic at- mos-phere!"
Hikaru and Lantis finished turning around just in time to see Fuu and Ferio crack up. Lantis groaned inwardly, but Hikaru blushed furiously instead. Meanwhile, she gave Fuu and Ferio an evil yet sarcastic glare as she asked, "So what are YOU two up to then?
"Just lookin' for OUR share of romance," Ferio replied, smirking as Fuu's cheeks turned a deep crimson red. This time Hikaru and Lantis laughed. Then, as they quieted down, they pulled up four chairs at the inside balcony rail. Fuu, Ferio, Hikaru and Lantis all took a seat. "What were you two looking at from up here?" Fuu asked curiously.
"Oh, well...". Hikaru smiled again as she let her eyes travel to Kaoru and Yunari.
Fuu followed her gaze and dropped her jaw when she saw the two dancing. "Is that Yunari? I though she said earlier that she couldn't dance and hated it anyway." she questioned as Hikaru laughed. "You bet it is. And she did say and mean what she said. But I think that guy there gave her an inspiration." Hikaru's laughter was soon replaced with a look of deep thought.
"What is it, Hikaru?" Ferio asked her quietly, not wanting to disturb her too much.
"I feel like we've met him before..." she replied, referring to Yunari's partner-in-dancing.
Fuu then added her thoughts to the conversation. "Hikaru, you're right; he IS familiar!"
There was a long pause before anyone spoke, but the next person who did was Ferio.
"Come on, Fuu, let's go swimming before we open the pools up for the party animals."
"O.K..See you later tonight, all right, Hikaru?" Fuu yelped as she was dragged towards the pools by Ferio.
"All right!" Hikaru waved. As soon as Fuu and Ferio slipped out of sight, Lantis sighed with relief. 'At least Ferio can't bother or tease us anymore. Maybe now..' he thought to himself. He turned to *stare* at Hikaru, who had walked to the outside balcony. He had waited so long to see her again, and now that she was here, he wanted to see how she'd changed.
Her hair was still the same length, but it looked smoother and silkier than ever. For the party, she had un-braided it, but she kept it in a ponytail. Her dress was phenomenal looking on her, and it added to her looks. As Lantis admired her profound beauty, he noticed that there was something else different; she had grown, and in many different ways. Not only had her body matured, but also, Lantis realized, she was TALLER. 'About as tall as Fuu,' he noted.
When Lantis realized he'd been blabbing to himself again, he snapped himself out of it. Then, slowly but surely, he walked over to Hikaru. He stopped right behind her, and placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and smiled brightly at him. It was then that Lantis realized she was holding the pendant-necklace he gave her. Hikaru looked back out at the garden, and then she closed her eyes, listening to the sound of the fountain. She was beginning to space out, but she suddenly snapped back, surprised, when two strong arms wrapped around her waist. She lifted her head to find herself looking into the mesmerizing, sharp blue eyes of Lantis.
"Lantis...?" she breathed questioningly as she turned in his arms to face him.
Lantis didn't reply. Instead, he looked out at the moon and the neighboring planets. "You're safe now," he finally said.
Hikaru inwardly cracked a smile, and happily and gently, she buried her face in his chest. Even though he only had on his soft armor and he was weapon-less, she felt like nothing in the world could ever harm her when she was with him. On that note, Hikaru sighed and closed her eyes as she stood on the balcony, wrapped in the arms of the one she loved.
~*~
"Ferio, why are we going swimming before we open the pool?" Fuu asked.
"Because it's ro-man-tic," Ferio replied, grinning as, once again, he caused Fuu's cheeks to boil. "And," he added, "because it's better to get in an early swim before the crowds come and clog the pool up."
"Oh." Fuu looked at the floor.
"All right then, be right back; I gotta change," Ferio cried as he sprinted to the men's locker rooms. Fuu shook her head, smiling, as she slipped off her to reveal her bathing suit underneath.
When Ferio dashed back out to Fuu, he found her sitting in the by-pool garden. 'She looks beautiful...no; GORGEOUS,' he thought to himself. He then looked around to see how the construction had changed the pools.
There were nine huge pools the size of Dorney Park's wave pool, all different sizes, shapes and depths, and all with a few tropical fish in them. Surrounding the pools were gardens, small winding rivers, and themed areas. The themes were a bamboo forest, a mountain spring, a waterfall, a cove, a beach, and a beautiful field. Anywhere else, the floor was covered in a soft Japanese moss. The pool room was huge, had no wall-windows, and had an all-window ceiling. Ferio was impressed.
"Damn, they make things look so GOOD!" he murmured, and Fuu walked up to him as he spoke. Then Ferio turned to her. He gazed into her beautiful green eyes one moment before continuing to talk. "Did they work on you, too, Fuu?" he asked slyly. As she blushed and looked away, he lightly shoved her, sending her into one of the pool's deep ends. He laughed, but as soon as Fuu came back to the surface, she grabbed him by the ankles, pulling him into the water as well.
"Huh?" Ferio smiled at her. "Well, I can't say I saw that coming."
Fuu laughed lightly. Anyone who heard her would have pondered the beautiful voice. Then, Fuu hugged Ferio gently. She rested her head on his shoulder and breathed in his scent. He smelled like a fresh mint from the mint plants he took care of. Fuu didn't lose her head, but she could not deny that when Ferio hugged her back with his muscular arms, kissing her forehead and ruffling her hair, Fuu could barely contain herself. Finally, she kissed him back, gently at first, but then more passionately. Ferio was taken back at first, but then he too was more passionate. They parted and took a brief breath before brushing mouths again. This time, Ferio plucked up his courage and gently kissed her more and more.
This bold move greatly surprised Fuu, but she didn't mind, and she followed suit. After a few more minutes of this, the young lovers crawled onto the mossy floor of the bamboo garden.
"I love you, Ferio," Fuu whispered. Ferio turned and replied, "And I do too, and I always will; remember that." Fuu reddened, but not as much as she usually did. She snuggled closer to Ferio, who hugged her tight and nibbled gently on her ear.
"Ferio, that tickles," Fuu giggled, before relaxing in his strong grip. She was about to fall asleep when Ferio suddenly got up and walked towards the doors. "What are you doing?"
"I'm opening the pool, Fuu!"
Fuu sweatdropped and fell over as he let the people in, and then jumped in the pool as he joined her once again.
~*~
Diamond felt a feeling of love. It was so abrupt. She knew that Shira had it more seriously. Diamond had seen the looks on Shira and Zazu's faces. It was love at first sight third-degree-burn style. Nonetheless, Diamond knew she liked Eagle. A LOT. She felt like they were destined to be together. 'Either that, or I'm crazy,' she concluded. She snapped out of her thoughts, however, when Eagle suddenly pressed his body extremely close to hers. She gasped and squeaked, and Eagle looked at her. Kindly, yet worriedly, he asked, "What's wrong? Are you O.K.? Did I hurt you? Did I go over-board? Did I..."
He was silenced by one of Diamond's fingers pressed to his mouth. "You're going overboard now," Diamond laughed softly. "You had just surprised me, that's all."
"Oh." 'If that's all I did, then I guess she won't mind if I hug her. Dang, I'm cheesy,' Eagle thought to himself as he gave her a quick hug. He didn't expect anything in return, but to his surprise, Diamond returned the favor.
Eagle sighed in relief. "You know, you're a good dancer," he complimented.
"You are too," Diamond replied, nodding thoughtfully.
Eagle sighed again and hugged her even closer as they continued dancing throughout the night.
~*~
Shira and Zazu were hitting it off. As soon as they had reached the dance floor they had introduced themselves. Then, Zazu had politely kissed Shira's forehead, and Shira had politely kissed his cheek. After some vivid dancing, the couple caught the attention of the crowd. They all clapped and cheered as Umi and Clef suddenly appeared seemingly out of nowhere and danced with Shira and Zazu. They spun, tapped, twisted, and twirled until the end of the song. It was Dirty Vegas' "Days go By", which really surprised Umi and Shira; since when was there Earth stuff on Cephiro? Clef quickly calmed them, however, and explained that lots of Mah-tayians traveled to Earth, and lots of Earth inhabitants traveled to Cephiro. Not too many, but enough.
"Gee, that's new," Umi said, blinking rapidly.
"Yeah," Shira agreed, nodding her head.
"Hey is that Princess Diamond?" Clef asked Umi curiously.
"Yeah, that's prit'y princess numero two!" yelled a voice with a southern accent..
"Umi, it has been awhile since we last saw you," a deeper voice stated. Umi then looked up to find herself face to face with Lafarga. She hugged him for a moment, but suddenly she was shoved away. As Umi fell and gained her own Chibi form, Caldina ran over and hugged her.
"Caldina?! Shish. Now I know how Hikaru always felt, especially in the bath incident!" Umi exclaimed.
"Oops. Heh, sorry 'bout that, Umi. Oh, by the way, have you met Mitaro yet?"
Umi blinked and took a deep breath and Caldina refrained from hugging her. "Huh? Who's Mitaro? And have you met my friends? This is Shira Waytye," she continued. "Oh, I met Diamond, and I...did you say...S..Sh...SHIRA WA.WAY- TYE?!!!!!?" Caldina suddenly took off, practically knocking over Ascot, who was approaching with a small baby in his arms. "Be back in a sec, missies!" Caldina shouted as she sped off.
Ascot carefully stepped forward and carefully held the baby out. It had short, spiky blond hair and soft blue eyes.
"THIS is Mitaro; He's Caldina and Lafarga's son," Ascot explained as he gently handed Mitaro to Umi.
She carefully cradled him and rocked him to sleep when he woke up. (She put him back to sleep in a second flat).
"You know, you'd make a good mother if you and Clef ever got married when you were older," Ascot sighed/whispered.
"Ascot?" Umi handed Mitaro to Shira. "Are you okay? I heard rumors that you liked someone but couldn't tell the person that you liked them. Are you all right?"
"Oh, yeah," Ascot blushed. "I have to admit you still enthrall me Umi, beautiful Water Goddess and Dragon Tamer." This time it was Umi's turn to blush. "Arigato," she said. "Gomen if this hurts you, but I've fallen in love with Tatra." He then blushed as Umi giggled, "Well, speak of the lover!" For walking, or more correctly, running towards them were Caldina, Tatra and Tarta.
"Umi!" Tarta exclaimed as she and her sister ran forward and high-fived Umi. "How have you been? Are you nicer yet, or are you still a brat?!" Umi asked as she laughed when Tarta reddened a bit. "Yeah, I'm BETTER now, I don't have "spazz outs" nearly as much as I used to," she admitted. "Hey, Ascot? After I talk with Shira can we dance?" Tatra asked, and Ascot nodded. "Gomen nasai, but I MUST talk to Shira first." She turned to Shira and Caldina walked over. "Hasn't she grown so much?" she asked Tatra. "Yes, I must admit, I can see she had grown, though I only last saw her when I was little, and when she was a little, cute, cuddly baby!" Tatra added. Then, she scared the daylights out of Shira when she suddenly hugged her and exclaimed, "I'm glad to see you little sister!"
"WHAT? YOU TWO ARE MY...MY SISTERS???!!!!" Shira shouted. "I knew my parents were hiding SOMETHING from me, but this?!!! Though, I do have memories of you..good, happy memories," Shira cried, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Same for you," soothed Tarta, as the three sisters hugged in a happy reunion.
"You know that you're a Chizetan princess, then?" Tatra asked.
"I am?" Shira managed to choke out.
"Yes. So be careful no mobs run you over," Tarta smirked and walked towards the gaming room.
Suddenly Presea walked in, motioning for the remaining group to follow.
"Hey, why are you in your bathing suit, Presea?" Umi asked curiously, amazed at Presea's ever-staying beauty.
"Because we're all hitting the pool, missy!" Caldina exclaimed.
"Cool! Shira yelled. She had accidentally yelled loud enough to make people clear out of their way, but that was good, because they could move faster.
~*~
Meanwhile, Yunari and Kaoru had unknowingly gone onto the same balcony that was occupied by Hikaru and Lantis, who were sitting inside on the chairs at the rail. Neither couples had noted each others presence for the time being as Yunari led Kaoru to the outside balcony.
"It's nice out, huh?" Kaoru asked Yunari. "Yeah," she replied, nervously edging closer to him. She wanted to talk with him more, but she felt like she couldn't. 'GREAT,' she thought to herself. 'I've become a little wussy- wuss.'
Meanwhile, Kaoru was struggling with different emotions. Yunari noticed that he seemed dazed, and then, suddenly, his eyes snapped open with a fierce look in them. It scared Yunari a bit. Kaoru remembered in a flash what had happened. "Damn them. Stupid bastards." Kaoru swore quietly. "What?" Yunari asked, surprised at his sudden change of heart. These guys..they gave me a drink and told me it was a type of new soda they were testing..so I tried it, and it turned out it made me act weird.like I was so nice to you..I normally avoid girls...technically, it made me DRUNK! DAMNIT! THOSE STUPID BASTARDS ARE GONNA PAY!" Kaoru yelled suddenly, scaring Lantis, Hikaru, and Yunari half to death. But he also had angered someone, who quickly and quietly leapt onto the balcony, stepping into the moonlight before baring his razor-sharp, glinting-white teeth.
It was Karaka.
And his eyes were glowing an angry red.
"Oh, hey, Karaka! Come here; I'll got a treat for..you?" Yunari whimpered as he approached her, fangs still bared. Everyone just stared and thought about what was going to happen next. Was he just cranky? Or was he..not Karaka?
Suddenly the rest of the gang appeared out of nowhere, and the creature rudely jolted everyone out of their thoughts as he leapt forward, raking his top canines along Shira's leg, and biting Yunari's left side and arm. He then turned and roughly picked the fallen Yunari up in his mouth, leaving more small puncture wounds from his teeth, jumping away from the people. Hikaru gasped in fear for her friends, and wished to the heavens that she had her sword with her. Lantis tried to stop her from doing anything stupid, and to shield her from what she was to see. But it was too late; Karaka landed on the other side of the balcony, dropping the limp form of Yunari, letting at least a quart of fresh blood drip from his jaws.
"SHIRA!" Zazu screamed, realizing that Shira was lying in front of him, her left leg dripping blood. He ran forward and broke free of the grasp Lafarga had on his wrist, grabbed Shira, held her close, comforting her, all the while crying.
Suddenly time was frozen; standing still. Everyone wanted to know why the terror had to start then, on such a happy night at a happy occasion. They wondered why it had to be like this, and why they had to put up a sound barrier to prevent other people from coming up or suspecting anything. No one knew what to do, but they all knew they had to do SOMETHING. No one made a move for at least one minute. One grueling minute of thought, planning, and listening to the sickening sounds of dripping blood and Karaka growling.
Finally, though, the minute was up, and someone broke the silence. Everyone turned and stared when they heard and saw a glint of metal as the blond guy suddenly drew a beautifully crafted sword. Yunari couldn't think straight; she had lost a lot of blood at one time; she didn't know why her beloved dog-gone-wolf was now a dog-gone-wolf-gone- EVIL. The stress was just too much for her to take, and due to the loss of blood, she fainted. Kaoru saw this from the corner of his eyes. "Damn you," Kaoru muttered under his breath.
Umi noticed that his eyes narrowed slightly and he seemed to rise in power a bit. 'What...' she thought. 'What is his problem?'.
"Damn you," he began again, but this time his voice picked up a bit and his sword seemed to shine brightly. "You dare hurt any of these innocent people?!?! You...you're probably possessed by one of those Bastard's creatures..YOU DAMNED ANIMAL!!!!!!" he exploded, rushing at Karaka with his silver sword. "Don't!" Ascot shouted, but Kaoru didn't listen. Karaka turned just in time to see him jump four feet in the air, bringing his shining weapon down upon him. It cut Karaka's ear, badly injuring the beast, but not bad enough; it had put up a shield that made Kaoru miss his mark.
Karaka was about to take up Yunari, but he suddenly turned and slashed at Hikaru, picking her up in his jaws, as she writhed and screamed in pain. Just before he could crunch down on her, however, Diamond walked out to Karaka. He paused as she walked up to him until they were only eight feet apart. Karaka's anger rose, and he was readying to strike down Diamond when she suddenly shouted a chanting-spell, much to everyone's surprise.
"GUARDIAN FORCES! GRANT ME POWER...." She closed her eyes, and suddenly her hair flew around her as it was twirled by a magic breeze. "....ICE SPEARS, ATTACK!"
Karaka fell to his four knees, whimpering in agony and anger, as he was assaulted by spears of rock-hard ice, sharp as a knife.
"Nice hit! But it's my fight! You take those girls and run, NOW!" Kaoru demanded. She automatically obeyed; she could sense he was no joke. And she knew he was very smart despite his dark attitude. So, as he charged full speed at Karaka, distracting him, she took possession of her three friends. Kaoru brought his silver blade upon the wolf. It cut deep into the wolf's side, letting green blood spill. As the wolf howled in pain, it suddenly fell limp, as a black monster, barely visible, phased out of his body.
"Yunari? Hikaru? ...What are you doing..no....DON'T! UMI! HELP!" Diamond called frantically as she realized her friends were trying to attack.
"Lightning...."
"Ruby...."
The monster opened his eyes and darted them in the direction of the voices.
"ATTACK!"
"LIGHTNING!"
Karaka watched as two rounds of lightning came ripping down upon the beast that had taken him under his control. It roared in pain and was almost torn to shreds, but with his final shred of energy he saved himself enough to run. But before he could, he was faced with his final foe...
"Water......DRAGON!" Umi shouted, and as the wave came crashing down upon the creature, it called its final cry of life, and was shredded in an instant.
Everyone stared for a few minutes, making sure it was really over. Then, they all shakily congratulated each other.
"Good job Hikaru! And you two Umi! OUCH!"
"Thanks Umi, you helped Yunari and I."
"Same back at you, Yunari..be careful; you too, Hikaru! You guys are still weak. You shouldn't hurt yourselves anymore!"
"On that note, let me heal you through a chant....Guardian Forces.Grant me power....WINDS OF HEALING!" Diamond copied Fuu's attack, and when she finished to gaping stares of fully healed companions, she laughed and shook her head. "It's a mix of magic I can use through Cephiro until I learn to use my own," she explained brightly.
"Oh." They all wondered why they hadn't thought of that.
"THAT'S IT!" Umi snapped. "Hikaru, remember that village we entered where Ferio told us of Padero?" Umi's eyes flashed to Ascot's as she mentioned his friend, but he didn't seem affected too much, so she didn't worry.
"Yeah," Hikaru replied. "Why?"
"Because, remember that blond guard who laughed and smiled as he let us into the village? THAT was KAORU!"
"YOU'RE RIGHT! Hikaru yelped. "It's been awhile, eh, Kaoru?" she asked, smiling at him.
"You knew him before?" Yunari asked.
"Apparently so," Kaoru smiled. "But I still think you girls are all fools. Especially you, Yunari, and her," he said, pointing to Hikaru. "You really shouldn't attack in a condition like that. If that worked the last time you were here, I'm surprised," he added to Hikaru. "Oh well. Here, let me help you up...you little wench," he said walking over to Yunari, helping her up and causing her to blush when he called her a 'wench'. 'Good LORD!' Yunari thought, noticing what a strong grip he had on her.
"Are you O.K., wench?" he asked her, face devoid of any emotions. "Yeah, I'll be fine! Don't worry about it, I'm just still a little scared."
"All right then, if you say so...but never do something stupid like that again, you stupid bitch," he said, smirking as he pinched her ear hard. She blushed a furious tan-red from all of his name calling. Everyone else just kind of stared and laughed at her, then shut up as Kaoru helped her up and then walked off towards the stairs.
"I don't know about you people, but I'm going swimming. If you come, I'll see you there. But just call me if you need any more help. Especially you, Blondy," Kaoru said, pointing at Yunari. He then turned and walked off down the stairs towards the pools. Yunari followed his every movement with her eyes, still blushing from her embarrassment. Then, she went and joined the others as they all went back to the party and pools areas.