Sheez, do you really want me to stop with the "Still To Come" things? Or else you can ignore them. But then again, you know what'll happen (sorta… I don't tell all…) but you don't know how it's gonna happen. Or when. Heheheee…
Okay, here's the next chapter. I'm sitting here in front of a computer after my two-hour chem exam, eating peanuts. (Dammit, they're addictive and we're almost out!) Enjoy the chapter, luvs. (Damn you Leblanc! I've been saying that longer than you have! That and "babe.")
I own the peanuts in front of me, a collection of ponies, a car (which I don't drive), my clothes, my school stuff, and my ps2. Everything that is used here, however, belongs to Square. Damn them.
~*~
Chapter 6
Cinder-Yuna
"So Yunie's got a date," Rikku kept saying, over and over again. "You have a date. And I don't. A hot guy asked you to the Homecoming dance, and no one asked me. Rumo cred, this sounds like a subject for an Alfred Hitchcock movie."
"Thanks a lot," Yuna rolled her eyes, and was beginning to wonder if anyone else in the lunchroom knew what they were talking about. She shrugged, concentrating once again on her sketchbook. She was trying to draw people as cartoons, now, just to see if she could. She had seen this cute, exaggerated style of drawing in comics before but had never given any thought to trying it. It was keeping her busy, at least. She found herself jittery and fluttery lately and she didn't know whether she liked it or not, but she did know that Tidus had caused it.
"She does have a legitimate point, though," Lulu put in, setting her gray bag on the floor next to her. The Moogle inside was jolted awake, but Lulu took no notice. "You rarely go anywhere, you do your best not to be seen or noticed, you hide or look away when someone addresses you, and yet you were noticed and asked out by the one guy that has three girls leaning over his back."
"What? Where?" Yuna looked around, wanting to see what Lulu meant.
"I was kidding. But you seem… interested in him. I though you were only doing this to be nice." A smile crept across her lips. Yuna scowled.
"That was a dirty trick." She sighed and glanced over in Tidus' direction, sighing slightly.
"He's a good catch, you know," the mage pointed out.
"If even Lulu admits it, you know he's a keeper!" Rikku giggled, enjoying her moment of glory over Lulu. Instead, she just tossed her head, making her long black braids and their glass beads clink.
"I suppose it's true. Then again, he could turn a straight man gay."
"Lulu!" Yuna's mouth popped open.
"Think he ever actually has?" Rikku asked, point-blank. "Seems like he might've…"
Lulu shook her head and reached for her bag, lifting it up and noticing how light it was. Then she panicked when she saw a flash of little purple wings out of the corner of her eye. Her Moogle had escaped and was headed right towards the table where the Blitzball team was sitting.
"Oh, no…" her eyes were wide and she felt helpless. The little creature was quick on its' feet and would be at the jock table within a minute or two, and Lulu was nowhere near quick enough to get it from where she was. She figured that she'd have to let fate run its' course and let the Moogle get what it wanted. To her dismay, however, she realized that her doll was headed right for Le Carrotte—Wakka.
"Lu, what's wrong?" Yuna asked. She looked where her friend was looking, and she, too, winced.
"What? What's new, pussycat?" She leaned so far over the table that she was standing on the bench.
"Lulu's Moogle," Yuna pointed. "It got out. And Moogles love colorful things."
"I guess I should tell Wakka to watch his head, huh?" Rikku said jokingly. She took a deep breath to yell, "Heads up!" but Yuna clamped her hand over her cousins' mouth.
"No!" She whispered harshly, digging her fingers into her flesh. "You can't! Only BlackMages use dolls like that, and if he knows what's coming after him he'll have a hell of a heart attack. A real doozy."
"Anuvver one uv dos Cafflik tings?" Rikku asked after she managed to pry Yunas' hand halfway off of her mouth but her speech was still slurred.
"Yes. Just wait. My Moogle likes me so it'll come back but not before he gets a chunk of that hair…" Lulu winced as the Moogle got really close to Wakka and stopped, wondering how it would climb this monstrous thing. A girl leaned back and saw the Moogle, and reached to pick it up, thinking it was a purse or a backpack in the shape of a teddy bear.
"Whose bag is this?" She asked. It saw a handful of sharp acrylic nails headed its' way, and squealed, batting at her hand and charging under the table. The girl screamed and stood up, knocking into someone who was walking behind her with a tray. The tray, its' contents, and both people fell onto the floor in a heap.
The Moogle saw its' window of opportunity and ran under the length of the table, tripping over everyone's feet and legs as it went. It got out from under the table by sneaking underneath a girl in a short skirt. The girls' eyes widened and she slapped the guy sitting next to her, thinking she had just been groped. The Moogle took no notice of the chaos and chaos it was creating and made a beeline for Wakka again, determined to grab some of his hair.
Someone finally looked at the floor and saw the little creature running around, yelling out that there was a possessed toy running about. This stirred everyone up more, and a few brave guys decided that they would try to catch it. Yuna, Lulu, and Rikku sat back with a bag of popcorn, watching the mayhem created by one little enchanted doll.
For a blitzball team, they seemed horribly uncoordinated. Guys ran into and over one another in an attempt to tackle the Moogle, only to have it run a random turn and instead they would smash into some poor sap on the floor. Wakka moved away, not wanting anything to do with the so-called "possessed toy" but he wasn't watching what was going on, either. He didn't realize that it was headed—
"Hey, Wakka! Look out!"
Wakka turned and was immediately attacked by the Moogle. At this point, Lulu was tired of watching her doll create mass panic in the school cafeteria. And she knew what kind of damage her dolls could do, as well. She got up and called silently to the Moogle for it to come to her, but it was too busy with Wakka's hair to want to pay any attention. Wakka himself was the one who finally detached the Moogle. He held it out in front of him by the wings while it flailed and tossed. A few people stayed to look at it, but eventually it played dead, and everyone except for Wakka lost interest in it.
Lulu cautiously walked over and beckoned her doll once again. It sprang to life in Wakka's hand and jumped to the floor, running to her. She knelt and picked it up, cradling it in her arms and scolding it quietly. She looked up to see Wakka, looking a bit tousled but no worse for the wear. Even so, she decided that she would go and make sure he was okay.
"Are you all right?" She asked, keeping a firm grip on the Moogle, lest it decide that it wanted his hair again. "I… I'm sorry. It's my fault it got out."
Wakka looked at her, blinking cautiously. Was Lulu talking civilly to him? He furrowed his brow and ran a hand through his hair. "Ya… but… what was that?"
"A doll."
"A doll attacked my head?" He asked, puzzled.
"It liked bright colors and your hair is bright orange," she explained. "Are you sure you're all right?"
"As long as it doesn't attack me again—" he began, but the Moogle chose this moment to jump at him. Luckily, he caught it and held onto it so it couldn't crawl up to his hair again.
"Damned Moogle…" Lulu growled. "I'll take it back now," she offered. He handed it to her. "I really am sorry."
Wakka suddenly though of something. "Well… you could make it up to me," he said. Garnet eyes narrowed as she stared at him.
"I beg your pardon?"
"Will you come with me to Homecoming?" He asked again, more confidently this time.
"I'll think about it," she replied, beginning to turn away.
"Hey, dat's not an answer, ya!"
"Well, then…" she paused, looking for a way to answer without giving a definite answer. "How about this, then: if I agree, look for me outside the school. I'll be wearing a gold sash."
"I guess dat's better than nothin'," Wakka murmured, watching Lulu walk away.
The evening of Homecoming rolled around a little too soon for both Yuna and Lulu. Yuna had managed to convince her friend that she should go to Homecoming with Wakka. The poor boy was probably desperate if he had asked an assumed witch to the dance. Lulu agreed somewhat reluctantly, and all three of them were crammed inside her little house to get ready.
"You know, I still can't believe that Yunie's got a date and Lulu's got a date, but I still don't have one!" Rikku complained, heading for her dress and beginning to strip her clothes off.
"Rikku, do that in the bathroom, for goodness sake."
"Oh, come on," she said. "It's not like we're any different! I've got nothing you guys haven't seen before!" She slipped her shirt off.
"Rikku," Yuna growled. "Bathroom. Now." She pointed her cousin to the bathroom door. The blonde meekly obeyed, not wanting to peeve her cousin, especially when she was in such a good mood already. Even Rikku didn't want to kick this puppy.
"You seem awfully excited, Yuna," Lulu observed, stepping behind the screen in her room and putting on her own dress. On top of everything, the tied a gold sash about her waist. It had small brass discs attached to it, so when she moved she sounded like bells chiming.
"I can't help it. I've never been to a dance before. And I've never had a date before, either. It's two birds with one stone!" She exclaimed happily. She sighed and leaned back in her chair. A shelf full of magical mages' dolls watched her every move. "What're you staring at?" She demanded. They looked away.
"And you aren't worried about… You-Know-Who?" Lulu asked cautiously. She didn't want to alarm her friend too badly and put her out of her jovial mood.
"Nope!" She exclaimed. "He doesn't know I'll be there. If he wanted to find me, he'd go to my house, not the dance. Remember what I said? That I never go anywhere, so where would he get reasons enough to believe that I was going to the dance?"
"Good point… still, I can never be sure…" she trailed off, looking at her shelf full of dolls. "I'm taking one." She said.
"Taking one of what?" They heard Rikku bump about in the bathroom, gracelessly putting her dress on.
"Careful in there, Rikku. Don't break anything," Lulu said sternly.
"I won't!"
"Lulu, don't bring a doll," Yuna said.
"I want to. I never know when I may need it."
"But nothing will be there."
"I can never be sure. Besides, my dolls are like a security blanket—"
"Which you still have…" Yuna said jokingly.
"Yuna, let me do what I do best. I'm a mage. I would feel better if I had my Moomba with me."
"Why a Moomba?"
"It holds still for long stretches of time," she said, beckoning the Moomba with her hand. It leaped across the room and into her arms. A quick re-adjustment of clothes found the Moomba safely clinging to the inside of her skirt.
"Next!" Rikku walked out of the bathroom with her clothes under one arm, and her shoes in the other hand.
"Rikku, how do you plan on walking in those things?" Yuna asked, referring to her cousins' high-heeled sandals.
"You just don't have the talent!" Rikku said, tossing her head back. She let her hair stay down for the night, instead of the usual multitude of braids and the headband. Yuna picked up her own dress and headed for the bathroom to get dressed.
"So," Rikku whispered to Lulu. "Any word on You-Know-Who?" It was amazing to know that the blonde Al Bhed girl could whisper. She was usually very loud.
"Yuna isn't worried, but I am," Lulu said quietly. "I don't want to ruin her mood, and she does have a legitimate point about Seymour not thinking to look for her at a Homecoming dance, but something feels wrong. I can't explain it, but something feels like it might happen. I don't know what or when, though. I'm armed just in case."
"You brought—" Rikku started off yelling but quickly quieted herself. "You brought a Moogle?"
"Moomba."
"Same difference! What if it gets out? And attacks your date?" The blonde sounded uncharacteristically sensible.
"Moomba sits still for a long time. It won't make a move until I tell it to."
"Lulu…" Yuna's distressed call came from inside the bathroom. "I need a hand…"
Lulu got up and went to see what the problem was. It turned out that the "problem" was that Yuna couldn't reach back to tie the corset laces. She wasn't used to wearing clothes like this, so Lulu tied it for her.
"Lulu!" Yuna gasped. "It's tight!"
"That would be the point, Yuna." She gave another tug at the laces and tied it in a good knot. "There… now take a look." She turned Yuna about so she could see herself reflected in the mirror.
"Hey… wow…" she murmured. Rikku also came to have a look.
"Yunie! Oh my God, you have a bust!"
"I noticed," Yuna said dryly. The upper half of her dress, like Lulu's dresses, was a corset. And the purpose of the corset was…
"So that's how you do it, isn't it, Lulu?" Rikku said.
"Do what?"
"Don't play dumb. You're bigger than both of us," the blonde replied sharply.
"Ouch, touché, Pypa," Yuna said, not tearing her gaze from the mirror.
"Yunie, you need makeup," Rikku said. Yuna paled.
"No, I don't," she replied.
"Yes you do."
"No."
"Yes."
"No!"
"Oac!"
"Rikku—" Yuna began, but her cousin pushed her into a chair and began putting makeup on a flinching Yuna.
"Yunie, hold still," she commanded, tracing her cousins' eyes with a brown pencil. "Stop flinching."
"Stop sticking that pencil in my eye!"
"I'm not trying to. You're moving."
Lulu watched the scene unfolding in front of her. She really thought that it was a shame that Yuna was so terrified to even attempt to look nice because of Seymour. It was such a waste—Yuna really was pretty when she wasn't up to her elbows in art supplies. Tidus would get to see her dressed up, though, even if it probably would be just a one-shot affair, as Yuna called them.
"Are we done yet?" Yuna asked.
"I guess so," Rikku sounded a little annoyed, but Lulu figured she should count her blessings—Yuna had stayed still long enough for her cousin to put basic cosmetics on her face. "Do you like it?" The blonde asked, gauging Yuna for any kind of reaction.
Yuna wordlessly nodded. She hated to admit it, but under layers of clay, charcoal, and boyish-styled clothes, she was… pretty. "I still think paints go better on a canvas, and not on faces," she said.
"You're welcome, Yunie," Rikku said irritably. "E muja oui, duu." Her voice was sarcastic. ("I love you, too.")
"So what's up for transportation?" Yuna finally asked.
"Don't worry about it," Rikku chirped. "I've got it all covered."
"With what?" Lulu asked skeptically.
"I just bribed Brother into driving us. He's got a pretty nice car, even if he did make it himself out of spare parts."
"You bribed Brother?" Yuna rolled her eyes. "I know I'll regret this, but what did you bribe him with?"
"One of my bras… I said it was yours, though. I knew you would never go for it so I sacrificed some of my own underwear. You owe me, cuz."
"You told him what?" Yuna asked, appalled.
"Chill, Yunie! Besides, you know just as much as I do that my brother gots a thing for you!"
"That's disgusting," Lulu said. "And slightly incestuous."
"Come on, guys, put some shoes on. It's time to go!" Rikku said with a laugh. She grabbed her bag and sped out the door, and Lulu and Yuna followed.
~*~
Ta-daa! I was gonna post the dance in this one, but I have this elaborate thing worked out, and, again, it woulda been overkill. Don't worry, though! I have a five-day weekend coming up and I can write my chapter then. Finals are over (today was the last day) and I'm just gonna let my brain relax. Peeze review!
Authors' request: I can admit when I can't do something and songwriting is one thing that I absolutely cannot do. I need someone who can write songs. If you are interested, email me at Glass_Dragoness@hotmail.com or else drop me a review and let me know that you're interested, because it's part of the story later on. Not really a major bit, so if no one does it it's not deadly, but it'd be nice. So lemmie know if you're interested! Luv ya, babes!