Me: Yay! this is going to be so much fun! And so very, very, long! Time is running short and I have so many things to do but I'm determined to finish this over the next week.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

NOW READ!

Ch: 8 "All for you"

Over the time Sora had known King Mickey, he had been to his castle only several times in his life. Donald and Goofy had given him tours when he had arrived for the first time a few years back and it never failed to amaze him on how gigantic the place was. But as Sora was dragged along an unfamiliar looking hallway lit with star shaped oil lamps and highly detailed silver marble floor, he realized even if he spent a whole year in the King's Castle there would still be places that were still a mystery to him inside its stone walls.
"Where are you taking me again?" he asked for the tenth time.

"Someplace in the castle," Wish answered with a grin.

"No, really," he hissed, voice dripping with sarcasm. This girl was getting on his nerves. But the thing that really ticked him off was that she very much seemed to know it.

Fire was no better.

Sure, he had stolen her angel. But was it his God damn fault? No.

Suddenly the two maids stopped, looking around the large hall with puzzlement etched in there features.

Sora held his breath. 'Wait for it…'

"I think," Fire mumbled, "we're lost."

"Ha, ten points for me."

"We are not lost," Wish fumed. "We've worked here forever, we can't get lost anymore."

"Not what Yoshi said…"

"That's 'cause Yoshi got lost in the cellar two weeks ago looking for the Christmas tree ornaments," the red head explained smugly.

Suddenly voices drifted to the maid's ears from down the hall and they all turned. At first it seemed like there was no one there. But two small glowing orbs slowly made there way into view and Wish let out a cry of delight. "Lumiere!"

The orbs stopped moving and Sora had to squint to see the enchanted candlestick squinting back at them from the other end of the hall.

"Oh, mademoiselles!" he cried happily. "What brings you to this side of the castle?"

"We're looking for-" Fire began, but Wish put a hand over her mouth glancing at Sora with a look of annoyance. "Come down here Lumiere and we'll tell you."

"Right away!" the candlestick began to hop down the hall but stopped and turned back whispering something to someone they couldn't see. It wasn't until the candlestick had made its way over to Wish, Fire, and Sora that they could see a small tea cup and Cogsworth trailing behind him looking slightly exhausted. The tea cup glanced at Sora from behind the panting clock curiously and Sora gave a little smile.

"What is it you two maids are looking for around here?" Cogsworth asked with a frown.
Wish knelt down and motioned for the three appliances to come closer. She whispered something that Sora couldn't make out, but from the looks Lumiere was giving him it had a lot to do with him.

The brunet glared up at Fire, hoping to get his message of annoyance across, but the maid just stuck her tongue out at him.

"I didn't mean to steal your angel, now get over it," he growled through clenched teeth.

"Who said that has anything to do with this?" She blinked.

"The fact you keep looking at me like you want to stick a sword through my head."

The brunette blushed and she gave a small smile. "You'll see why in a minute."

Wish had stood up by now and Lumiere was smiling at him with the air of knowing something he didn't. Sora didn't like this much, but as Wish laced her arm with his he realized he should stop complaining. He was going to find out what all this was about anyway.

The candlestick was leading them back down the hall which he had just came. Cogsworth was right beside him with the tea cup trailing behind. He had heard Wish call him Chip which he guessed was from the small chunk of porcelin that was missing from the edge of the cups rim. Neither maid said a word to him as they walked along, but Cogsworth and Lumiere were making a habit out of talking quietly to themselves and glancing back at him.

The teen growled under his breath.

Suddenly the hall panned out into a small circular lobby which served as a cross road for 3 other halls winding into the depths of the castle. The kings crest was imbedded in the tiled floor in a light satin blue color, reflecting in the light from the pan windows above letting in a soft, heavenly light which spilled at Sora's feet. Two large double doors rested in front of him, complete with silver handles and a large heart shaped insignia; half on the left door and the other on the right so when the doors were open they were split. Sora began to wonder of Mickey had some habit of making the doors in his place look fancy. Just to test peoples' curiosity and see if they would open it.

Without a word, Wish wrapped her hand around the handle of the right door and pulled it open with a click. Fire pushed Sora inside with a laugh, sending him skidding several feet into unknown territory. He would yelled at her if it wouldn't of been for the breath taking surroundings which left him gapping and mute.

He had been pushed into a very large ballroom. So large it could of fit all the residence of Traverse Town and then some. A large chandelier hung from the ceiling made of pure crystal which caused rainbows to swirl and jump around the room from the fractions of light from the candles. Tortoise lined the walls, shaped like stars that glowed across the large spread of dance floor, at least a mile and a half long. A gigantic blue and silver heart rested in the middle making Sora's eyes dilate. The silver edge seemed to be made of pure silver while the rest of the dance floor was marble white. A Christmas tree like the one in the lobby, rested against the wall on the opposite side of the room from where Sora stood, glittering and shining in the light in all it's glory. From where the Christmas tree stood, the ball room panned out into two separate smaller circular rooms on either side. The one on the right looked like a party room where guests who weren't dancing sat to chat. There was a fireplace on the far end and built in cushioned seats lining the walls like a border. A large glass table rested in the middle for foods and drinks.

The room on the left served as a separate ballroom with a large golden star imbedded in the floor. There were no seats, but many windows with two glass doors which led out to a wide spread balcony over looking the large planes and gardens of the castle serving as a romantic spot.

What was really ironic about all of this though, was that the whole ballroom, including the separate rooms, formed the King's insignia. The two rooms being the ears, and the main dance floor the head.

"So? What do you think?" Fire asked brightly.

Sora, who was having trouble tearing his eyes away from the sight, glanced over at the maid and smiled. "It's amazing. I didn't even know you had this place."

"Well, that's cause we don't use it often," Wish explained with a hint of sadness. "It's extremely special to the King. He put a lot of work into having it made just right."

"Sure seems like he did." Sora walked into the middle of the room, staring up at the ceiling and twirling around in place a few times.

The maids laughed.

"Ah, the boy likes to dance does he?" Lumiere called from over by the Christmas tree.

Sora blushed despite himself, but put his hands behind his head casually. "I don't dance."

"Sure you do," Cogsworth piped up from next to Wish. "It's instinct. All forms of royalty can dance."

The brunet raised an eyebrow. "But I'm not royalty."

"But you're a Keybearer," Fire reminded him. "That's close enough."

"Yeah but-" suddenly he stopped, dropping his hands to his side and turning to Wish. "What does this have to do with Kairi's present?"

The maid glanced at Fire, who glanced back, and they both smiled at Sora in a somewhat demented fashion.

The boy took a step back.

"This is her present."

Sora's eyes widened. "This whole ballroom?"

" Nnnn…not exactly," Fire explained slowly. "But here's what me and Wish came up with."

The brunet crossed his arms over his chest, listening.

"On Christmas Eve, we're going to have everyone come here for a ball. But we're not going to tell Kairi about it. She mustn't know a thing."

Sora nodded and the maid continued.

"We still have to sort out some of the details, but the main point is, you're going to buy her a dress and she's going t come here and you're going to dance with her. The whole ballroom to yourself, music, drinks, the works. But only for the first song. Then we are going to let everyone else come in."

Sora looked at Fire as if she were crazy. He had never heard of such a gift. "That's not exactly what I had in mind…"

Wrong thing to say.

Both maids grabbed him by the shoulders and stared him down with flames dancing in there eyes. He was growing used to this by now, but the only difference was the fact that their nails were digging into his flesh with the painful resemblance of needles.

" Ladies! Let the poor boy go," Lumiere cried, hopping over to them with urgency. "Clearly he's never heard of such a gift. Let us explain."

Cogsworth, on the other hand, wasn't so forgiving. "Explain?" he shouted, staring at his wax friend with shock. "This boy doesn't have the slightest idea how many strings we are pulling to make this gift possible! Let the girls have him, he deserves it."

Lumiere frowned. "My friend, you have not been out of the castle as much as I have. Teenagers aren't used to giving such gifts for they are never given the opportunity!" He hopped over to Sora, glaring at the maids who let him go with a growl of protest. The brunet let himself fall to the floor where he crossed his legs Indian style in front of the candlestick and let chip hop up onto his knee to listen with him.

" Now, after hearing your tale of woe from this hot tempered madam over here," he began, pointing at Wish who stuck out her tongue in reply, " I must offer my opinion that this is the best gift you could ever give a girl as charming as yours. It would seem more original to give her a diamond necklace or her favorite candies. But since you are short on time and money, sir, consider this gift something of more worth then what you could buy at a store."

"And it's something you're putting your time and effort into preparing," Cogsworth piped in as Sora began to open his mouth to protest.

"And something she will remember and treasure in her memory for a life time," Fire hinted quietly, making Sora's head turn with a snap.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"So you're saying, if I give her this gift, it won't be like a box of chocolates you can eat in one day and then forget about, or a piece of jewelry you'll wear and get tired of over time…" He fingered his crown necklace softly and looked up at the large chandelier looming above him and his friends. "It'll be something she can always go back to in her memory and relive."

"And from what we've been hearing, she needs some new good memories," Fire mumbled.

Wish nodded. "And so do you."

Sora bit his tongue to stop from shouting at his two friends, but realized they were right. He owed it to Kairi and he was pretty sure a gift couldn't get anymore special then this.
The teen raised his head, scanning the large, classy room once more before letting a smile slip onto his face.

"All right," he answered, picking Chip up by his handle and lowering him to the floor before he stood up. " What do I have to do?"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

For the rest of the afternoon Sora and the others had sat and planned out the details that would ensure the party's secrecy from Kairi and the reaction it would get from her. By the end of the day, Sora was determined to have every little detail be perfect.

"And the dress has to be pretty yet simple," he explained during dinner as he chewed down on a piece of chocolate pie with Wish, Fire, the enchanted appliances and several others which included Riku, Max, and Chip's mom Mrs. Pots who were listening with full interest.

Suddenly the brunet's eyes went wide in panic. "I can't go dress shopping! Crap…"

"Leave that to us." Wish stated proudly.

"Good," He raised his glass to his lips and drank the remainder of milk inside before placing it on Mrs. Pots tray.

"But your still paying for it," Fire added.

Sora gaped. "B-but-"

"We'll take what amount you have," Wish smirked. "The rest you can send to us in check when you go home."

"…You suck. You know that, right?"

"No we don't." Fire winked, hopping out of her chair. "We're just straight forward when it comes to cash."

"Amen to that." Wish quietly got out of her chair and pushed it in, saluting Sora with a smile. "See you tomorrow! One 'o'clock sharp, ballroom. Where something comfortable and easy to move in."

"And some comfortable shoes. You'll be dancing until we think you've got it right."
Both girls disappeared into the crowd of people and Sora leaned over to Riku. " What did she mean by 'easy to move in'?"

Riku swallowed his last bite of chicken and pushed his empty plate of food away. "Something that won't fall off, like those pants. Something that you wont trip on…like those pants."

Sora glared at him.

"And something you wont look like a slob in…like thos-"

"I GET IT ALREADY!" he shouted, watching his friend laugh. "I'll where my other pants, you critic! Like yours are any better."

Riku got up, sticking out his left leg so his friend could get a good view of his un-ripped, clean blue jeans. "Ah, but they are my dear friend. No one can argue with that."

The brunet opened his mouth to protest, but Riku's eyes suddenly widened and he took off in the other direction shouting a "Heads up!" back at his confused friend.

Suddenly Sora felt arms wrap around him from behind. "SORA!"

He looked up with a small yelp of surprise, only to find a pair of violet eyes staring down at him.

His heart did a summersault "Kairi!"

Wait a minute…

He shot everyone at the table a death glare before hopping out of his seat and kissing her on the lips. "Hi Kairi."

She blushed deeply and wrapped her arms around Sora's middle in a tight hug which made his face turn as red as a tomato. Max and the enchanted appliances snickered at his reaction but averted their gaze as he shot them another look of pure death.

"Do you feel better?" she asked.

"Yeah, can't you tell?" he asked, putting on his trademark grin and making her laugh.

"Yeah, I can tell." She smiled back, eyes shining brightly. "That's good since there's only three more days till Christmas."

'Oh joy..' he thought, stomach dropping to his knees.

"That's…great."

Kairi nodded, taking a step back and picking up a small blue bag from the ground and hiding it behind her back. "Well, I'm going to bed. See you in the morning!" And before Sora could get another word in she had taken off toward the stairwell.

"Ah…" He opened his mouth then shut it, plopping back down in his chair with a sigh. "Girls are confusing."

"And expensive," Max muttered.

" But worth every penny dear." Mrs. Pots assured him who only rolled his eyes in reply.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The next day came quickly and Sora had to have Riku force him out of bed and help find a comfortable and suitable set of clothing.

"Don't you have that red jumper you used to where when you were fourteen?" Riku asked in frustration as he dug through Sora's closet.

He raised an eyebrow. "What do you think Riku? Besides, I grew out of it."

"What about the black one?"

"Left it at home. "

"Well you're not wearing these, that's for sure," he mumbled as he threw a pair of leather black pants at his grinning friend.

"You gave them to me, remember?"

"Yeah, 'cause they were hideous." With sigh, he stuffed all of Sora's close back into his closet and sat down on the edge of his bed frowning. "Well, there's only one more possibility."

The brunet hopped to his feet with a laugh of triumph. "Your closet! Let's go!"

With much irritation, Sora had dragged his friend over to his room on the other side of the hall and waited as he searched through his own belongings to find him something to wear. He had always liked wearing other peoples clothes for some reason, ever since he was a little kid.

"All right, here." A set of clothing came sailing at Sora, landing in his outstretched arms. It consisted of a clean pair of blue jeans, a white T-shirt, and a black hoody with two white wings decaled on the back.

Sora smiled at this.

"All right, now get out if here!" Riku growled, pushing him out the door and across to his own room. "You've got five minutes to get dressed and get down there. That's what Wish said."

"Fine, I'm going."

The teen nodded, trying hard to hide the smirk that was twitching at the corner of his lips. "Good luck twinkle-toes!" And with that said, he leaped out the door before Sora could throw anything harmful at him.

QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ

It had taken him ten minutes to find the stupid ballroom after he had slid down the staircase, ripped Riku's jeans, and found Lumiere to ask for directions. Wish, Fire, and two people Sora didn't know were there when he arrived and they all smiled at him with delight.

Sora blinked, blue eyes watering from his sprint down the vast hall to avoid being late. Wish and the others didn't seem to notice as they surveyed his outfit with wandering eyes.

"Not bad, I like it," Fire commented. "Especially the wings."

"Thanks, now lets get going," he urged, tapping his foot on the ground.

"Fine." Wish walked over to one of the strangers consisting of a very cranky looking duck who was surveying Sora as if he were covered with mud. He wore a black top hat which shadowed over his beady eyes while small spectacles rested crookedly on his bill. A blue vest, held together by shiny black buttons covered his feathered chest, with a golden pocket watch sticking out of the left pocket. "This is your dance teacher."

Sora's mouth dropped open.

"He's Donald's Uncle by the way. Uncle Scrooge," Fire explained, laughing at Sora's expression.

" Oh…" was all he could say in reply.

"This one looks like a hopeless case if you ask me, ladies," the duck snapped, poking Sora with his feathered finger. "Doesn't stand straight, feet too big, and no air of proper grace that I can see from down here."

Sora looked down at his shoes and frowned. "Hey!"

"Stand straight!" the duck barked.

The brunet jumped back with a yelp, but did as told to the best of his ability.

But to Scrooge, it wasn't enough.

"Feet apart, shoulders back, unlock your knees boy you'll pass out that way! Left hand over your heart, fingers curled toward the palm, right hand behind you. There you go!"

Sora did all of this with increasing difficulty, but stood stock still as the duck circled him like a hawk.

The girls giggled from nearby, making him clench his teeth.

"Good enough…" Scrooge muttered, tapping his flipper on the floor in a steady rhythm. "Try to look more relaxed. Never let your girl know your nervous."

"R-right."

The duck waved his hand and Sora let himself fall back into his regular standing position. "So, when do we get to the dancing?"

The duck removed his spectacles from his bill with a swipe of his hand and rubbed them with a small handkerchief from his pocket. "Right now. Let's begin!"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

( Song: "White Christmas" - The Drifters)

The afternoon drove on endlessly, leaving Sora with sore feet and a very large headache. Uncle Scrooge was strict, but Sora had to admit he knew what he was doing. He had taken turns dancing with Wish and Fire who surprisingly were pretty good at waltzing. Scrooge explained that it was up to the man to lead the lady in a proper waltz.

"Never let the lady lead, or they'll walk all over you," he told him as Sora accidentally stepped on Wish's foot as he waltzed with her around the ballroom. She kicked him in the shins in payment, making the poor brunet hiss in pain. Fire shot her a look.

"But what if Kairi doesn't know how to dance?" Sora asked, hopping around on one foot.

"That's why its important that you lead," Scrooge smirked.

"Wonderful.."

Despite the fact it was hard work, it didn't mean Sora wasn't making any progress. He had always been a fast learner, especially when it came to battling.

Sora just viewed learning how to dance as a weird type of new battle move. Minus the Keyblade.

And now here he was, eight 'o'clock at night and walking down the candlelit hallway to the stairwell. Listening to the music drifting from the lobby that was making his head pound even harder.

And then without knowing it, he started to dance.

Arms around an invisible person, muttering the steps under his breath and trotting and spinning down the hall without missing a beat.

Lumiere, who was hidden in the shadows near the end of the hall leading into the lobby, nudged Cogsworth who was beside him as the Keybearer danced past.

"He's getting to be pretty good, no?" Lumiere whispered to his friend.

Cogsworth frowned. "…well I have to admit, he's not to shabby. One more day will probably do it."

"Did you tell the King?" Lumiere asked.

The clock glanced at him. "I might've mentioned it…"

The candlesticks wick lit with a spark of rage. "Go! We only have one more day, no time to lose, you!"

"Fine, I'm going," he growled, waiting until Sora had danced out into the lobby before heading down the hall toward the King's office.

Sora had stopped himself from dancing before he reached the large crowd which was buzzing around the lobby. No one paid much notice to him as they poured over gift lists, ordered drinks, and chatted amongst one another. He took the opportunity to slip up the stairwell, limping on his sore feet all the way.

"One more day..." he mumbled. "Then everything will be perfect…I promise Kairi."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The next day was nothing but dance from six A.M to ten 'o'clock. Scrooge had invited some more people to come and watch, including Riku who would much rather have been asleep at that time of the morning. The others consisted of Max, Queen Minnie, King Mickey, Goofy, Yoshi, Wish, and Fire. The only reason the two maids were there though, wasn't to dance, but to get money out of Sora for Kairi's dress.

"How much do you want?" he asked, never taking his eyes off the two as they circled him smirking. The others watched with amusement.

"Oh," Wish shrugged . "We don't know."

"That's why we think it would be more understandable," Fire crooned, leaning on Sora's shoulder, "if you give us your whole wallet."

The brunet's eyes narrowed. "Hell no."

Bad answer.

"GET HIM, FIRE!"

Before Sora could leap out of the way, a flash of black light illuminated above him from a small, black storm cloud that had shot out of Fire's hand pressing the weight of what felt like one thousand men plus the whole Disney castle itself upon his body until his knees buckled and forced him flat onto the tiled floor leaving the wallet in his back pocket open and easily obtainable to the two maids.

Wish smiled, rubbing her hands together in triumph. "Nice one."

"Didn't even need my staff that time," Fire stated proudly.

Sora let out a growl of frustration as he struggled to release himself from the gravity spell, not liking the position he was in one bit. With a laugh, Wish plucked his wallet from his pocket, waving to the onlookers and running out the ballroom doors with Fire at her heels. "See you later! Don't worry Sora, we'll get Kairi the best dress in town!"

"Regardless of price!"

When the brunet heard the door shut with a loud click, the spell disappeared, releasing him from it's hold. Immediately he sprang to his feet and glared at his friends who were smiling sheepishly.

"Some help you guys are…" he muttered.

The King shrugged. "Well, at least you don't have to worry about going out to find a dress."

"But he still needs a tux and a nice pair of shoes," Scrooge reminded him sternly.

" And a hair cut," Yoshi added.

Sora's hand flew to his head with a snap. "Back off!"

" Joking, chill…"

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

The rest of the day consisted of shoe and tux fitting. And all within the Disney Castle.

"Why do you have all this stuff here?" he asked, looking up and down the aisles of suits, shoes and clothing. Goofy had led him down to the Castles basement.

"The king likes to keep extras of everything just in case of emergency," he explained proudly.

"Well then why couldn't we have gotten a dress for Kairi down here?"

Goofy considered this for a moment. "Gawrsh, probably because all the dresses down here belong to Queen Minnie and Daisy. I'm sure you wouldn't of wanted to give her a hand me down."

Sora smiled slightly. "No, she deserves better then that."

Goofy nodded in agreement, holding up a clean black tux and handing it to him. "Try that on, and then we'll be all set."

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

It had taken two full days of his vacation, blistered feet, and a very, VERY empty wallet, but he had done it. He had learned the basic of waltzing (even though Scrooge said he still had a long way to go), gotten Kairi a dress, barrowed a tux, and everything else for Kairi's present. Tomorrow was Christmas Eve and that was when everything was going to take place. At eight 'o'clock sharp.

And without even removing his clothes or his shoes this time, he crawled into his bed, throwing the covers over his body and drifted off into a series of dreams which included him dancing with Goofy, a very large candy cane, and a very empty wallet.