I'm sorry for all who liked this story, but I have to say… I just can't get up the enthusiasm to write it anymore. If anyone wants to take up writing it from here, then be my guest— all I ask is that you tell me so I can read it, and that you don't just take the whole story and claim it as yours. I'll know if you do, believe me, so I wouldn't try it.
But I really am sorry about this… it's mostly because I don't know what I want to do from here, and because I don't really ever feel like trying to think of anything. So I hope you enjoy the last (incomplete) chapter of this… and again, I really am sorry for those of you who enjoyed reading this… maybe in a while (as in a year or more) I'll feel like adding a chapter or something, but don't get your hopes us.
Three different grunts of discomfort similar to 'ugh' sounded off from the pile of tangled limbs on the floor. Just a few seconds previously, the prince had been concentrating on keeping his balance and was doing a good job at it, but then he was distracted by Dayu squealing something on Sen's shoulder and then…
Then, he and the other two novices had been brought down in the consequences.
But luckily, they had been practicing in an empty cell, so the fallen skaters weren't in anyone's way. However, even though they just took a rather spiteful fall, the three of them had only just started to learn how to skate, and they were catching on very quickly.
"You know, you're not very graceful for someone of such a high class," Naomi teased to the prince.
"And you are exceptionally graceful for whatever class that ladies from old women's prophecies fall under. We just live in a mixed up world," he replied, earning a laugh from her and the others, but especially Sen. It really was true what he said… it could be *very* mixed up at times.
Things after that went smoothly, seeing as after that one fall, they didn't have any more trouble.
After another hour or two (actually, more like four), a voice boomed throughout the dungeons and announced, "Okay folks, now it's time for a dance contest! Anyone who isn't interested, please clear out of the rink for those who are." The voice for a minute or two while people made up their minds over if they would participate or not. As for Sen and Naomi, they definitely were going to, but the boys decided to just watch.
When everyone was where they were supposed to be, the voice was heard again. "Alrighty then, here are the rules: when the music starts to play, you all just need to start dancing. Some judges will be goin' around an' if they tap your shoulder, you're out! If that happens, please step off of the rink for the rest of the contest to continue. The judges will continue to eliminate people, and the last one on the rink will be the winner. So now that you know the rules, get ready to do some dancin'!"
A few seconds went by when all that was heard was the buzz of people talking, but then the music started. Sen and Naomi had no trouble at all with moving to the music, and found themselves having even more fun than they would normally have dancing since they were wearing skates.
Five minutes passed, and half of the people who were originally out there had been eliminated. Haku, Prince Miruto, Boh and Dayu were all leaning over the edge of the rink and cheering on Sen and Naomi.
A few years back, Naomi and Sen had taken dance lessons together, and the next song that played had the same beat and a similar tune to the song that they had learned a routine for. They glanced smugly at each other; they had this contest won. They both started to dance out their old routine, but made sure to stay on opposite sides of the skating rink so that it was less obvious that they were doing the exact same thing.
After a while, they were two of the last four people left. They decided to start doing their own dance moves again when a new song started, and it wasn't long after that that another person was eliminated, leaving only them and one other girl.
By now, the people watching had split into very distinguishable groups and were all cheering for a different person. The judges were all watching the three remaining contestants with severe scrutiny, trying to pick one to eliminate. After maybe ten minutes of not one more person being eliminated, the announcer, who had took a spot in an empty part of the rink threw his arms up into the air and dubbed it hopeless.
"Well folks, it looks like the judges can't make up their mind who is better or worse with these three, so they all win!" He then got all of their names, and then finished with, "Let's hear it for Naomi, Sen and Kitty!" Everyone applauded. "The prize was originally going to be one of those dance cages, but since we can only afford to give one away, we'll have to think of something different…" The announcer switched off his megaphone and turned to the three winners. "Any thoughts on what you might want?"
Nobody said anything; they just had fun dancing. They weren't even thinking of winning a prize.
"Well I guess I could let you have my private pool for the day… sound good? It's not far from the training field," he offered.
"Really?" Naomi and Sen asked in unison.
"Sure. You won it, after all. You deserve a prize."
"You two girls can have it to yourself," the girl called Kitty said to them with a smile. "Sadly, I have some things to do today, so I don't think I'll have time to use the pool." Then she turned to the announcer guy and said, "Thank you for the offer though, and congratulations, you two!" Then she left.
"So do you two want me to show you where it is right now, or are you going to be in here for a while longer?" The guy asked as people started to flood the rink again.
Sen looked at Naomi, who shrugged to show that it didn't really matter to her. Just then, the boys found their way to the two as Sen answered, "I guess were all done here. We've been here for kind of a long time."
"Okay, just go return your skates and then meet me at the entrance." And with that, he too left them.
After telling the rest of them what was going on, they returned their skates and met the announcer to fallow him to his pool.
Once they got to the pool and the announcer guy had told them all the stuff he didn't want them to do to his precious baby, they had to make a quick stop to actually buy some swimsuits. Once that was done, they all went back to the pool, and Boh went off with Dayu to a kiddy pool.
Haku and the prince, being typical guys and not caring that the water was cold, jumped right into it. Sen went in, but she went on the steps and took an immensely long time to get used to the temperature of the water. Or at least it seemed like a long time to Haku, who had been lurking in one of the darker corners of the pool, just waiting for Sen to get in so he could splash her— which he did, and that started a splashing fight with the two of them.
Naomi, on the other hand, had stuck out a single toe and as soon as it made contact with the surface of the water, quickly retracted it as her entire body shivered and she stepped away from the pool, declaring that the water was much too cold.
Prince Miruto, slightly crestfallen that Naomi didn't want to come in at the moment, waited until Haku and Sen were finished splashing each other before he was about to suggest that they play some sort of game, but Sen beat him to it.
"Hey, you two want to play Marco Polo?" she asked.
Obviously, there was never an explorer named Marco Polo in the Spirit World to have named a game after him, so Sen had to explain the rules, which she did. They decided that it sounded like fun, and agreed to play. Sen was it, since it was the first time that Haku and the Prince were playing.
"Marco!"
"Polo! (Polo!)"
"Marco!"
"Polo! (Polo!)"
"Marco!"
"Polo! (Polo!)"
"You know, that game is very irritating when you're not one of the people playing it," Naomi said, getting up from her chair and strolling over to the edge of the pool. She decided that since she was being an absolute wimp before (and boy did she know it), she could at least stick her legs in up to her knees or something.
The three of them pondered that thought while nodding. Then they all noticed that Sen had opened her eyes when Naomi came over, so that round was finished. But then they didn't really feel like playing anymore.
Meanwhile, since the sun was setting at that point in time, Naomi decided to just suck it up and jump into the water, so that she'd be in there for at least a few minutes while there was still a little bit of warmth from the sun.
Then, since there were enough people for it when Naomi joined them, Prince Miruto decided to try suggesting the game again.
"Have any of you ever jousted in the pool before?" he asked as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
The girls looked at him with strange looks, but Haku chuckled warmly, as if reminiscing over the good ol' days when they jousted 24/7, which he very well could have been remembering at that moment.
"Why would we ever do that?" Sen asked.
"Well it's not really like real jousting, it's just a game like that Marco Polo thing we just played," the prince explained.
"Yeah," Haku piped up. "You need four people to play it; there are two teams that each have one person on the other's shoulders, and the goal is to knock the other team over. Rin and I used to play it with some of the other workers when we were a LOT younger and didn't have to do so much work at the bath house."
So they played joust. In the first round, Haku and the prince were paired up by the girls because they wanted to be on the same team. On the boys' team, the Price was on the top, and on the girls' team, Sen was on top. That way they didn't have any issues with knocking each other down.
At first, neither team made much progress, and Sen and the prince were just up there with their hands locked and they were leaning forward so that they didn't fall backwards and they could push the other at the same time. So, Naomi took it upon herself to kick Haku's legs out from underneath him, and he landed on his butt with his head underwater.
But they weren't technically knocked over, so they were still in the game! Sen and Naomi got a little too cocky over the fact that they pulled off that maneuver, and so the prince caught them off-guard when he grabbed Sen's feet and flipped her backwards off of Naomi's shoulders. The round was over! Score one for the boys!
However, they decided not to keep track, since Naomi and Sen wanted to change the teams so that they were against each other. They both wanted revenge on the other for having made their team lose that round… yeah, they were sore losers, but so what? It was fun that way.
So the next teams were Sen and Haku against Naomi and Prince Miruto, and the girls were both on top so that they would be able to do all the grappling.
And boy, did they grapple! They had absolutely ZERO qualms over giving it all they had. They were best friends, but when it came to competition, they fought like cats.
Now don't get me wrong— it's not like they were so competitive that they resorted to foul play, but they were very tactful. They started off the same way as Sen and the prince did in the first round, their hands locked and putting all their weight into shoving over the other team.
Then Sen got the idea to duck her head down and let the force of Naomi's weight against her hands carry her to her doom. With Sen's head down, Naomi ended up falling over her shoulder, and thus, didn't go down like Sen thought she would.
But hope was not lost! Sen took the opportunity of their positions to grab Naomi around the waist and pluck her off of the prince's shoulders. Then she straightened herself and dropped her friend over her own back, into the water. She and Haku won!
They played a few more games with the same teams (because certain people had their favorite teammates), and then it started to get dark. They all decided to go get changed into dry clothes and thank the person for letting them use their pool (all after finding Boh and Dayu again, of course), and when they all were outside again, the fireworks were almost ready.
But while they waited, they took a seat on the edge of that lake that was previously too crowded.
A few minutes later, they saw the King get up with a Spirit World version of a megaphone not too far away from them. "Attention, everyone! I hope you have all had a wonderful Liberation Day— I know I did!" There was a round of affirmative applause. "Well as one last treat for today, we'll be having some fireworks, so sit back and enjoy!" Then he turned the thing off and took his seat next to the queen.
The fireworks started going off, and Sen and Haku cuddled up to watch them. The prince pretended to yawn and stretch, and then just happened to let his arm land around Naomi.