disclamation: I still do not own anything except for this very fanfiction.

Back outside of the palace walls and off of the palace grounds and beyond the edge of the forest, Sora heads back home on her horse. She is finally ready to continue facing her stepfamily when she has no idea what she is really in for from Sakura and Jun.

Jun Motomiya: Somebody's in trouble.

Sora Takenouchi: What are you talking about, Jun?

Leilani Motomiya: Nothing really, Sora, but I would run while I still can if I were you.

Sora Takenouchi: What are you saying, LeilanIIIII?!

Sora is asking Leilani what she means exactly when Sakura comes in and starts to pull on poor Sora by her right ear.

Sakura Motomiya: You're late. You're just lucky that I'm in a good enough mood to be merciful towards you. What were you even doing outside of our knowledge without our permission?

Jun Motomiya: I'm just gonna go out on a limb here and say that 'CinderSora' was probably slacking off.

Leilani Motomiya: That doesn't sound accurate enough for Sora. I think she might've needed some time to herself.

Sakura Motomiya: 'CinderSora' doesn't have the luxury of getting any time to herself. All of your time belongs the three of us now, 'Cinder Soot'.

Jun Motomiya; Oh, mother, that's so naughty. I don't why you didn't bring it up when discussing our names for 'CinderSora'. Why, it would have been better than even 'CinderWench'.

Realizing that she just made fun of her own name for Sora, Jun suddenly throws a tantrum and takes her frustrations out on a pillow, then a bookcase, then an old vase. When she finally gets to one book in particular, Sora suddenly feels an urgent need to stop her rampaging. So, she grabs the book from Jun's grasp before she can damage it.

Sora Takenouchi: I'm terribly sorry about that, but I truly do think that you just need to calm down.

Sora takes Jun's hands into hers and teaches her some tricks to calm her down.

Sora Takenouchi (continued): Let's just do some deep, therapeutic breathing, and we'll feel better in no time at all.

Jun takes these deep breaths with Sora and these deep breathing exercises of Sora's help Jun calm down even a little bit.

Jun Motomiya: Thank you so much for the help, but you're still 'CinderSora'. You're just lucky that my mother and I are in a good mood and feeling merciful enough to go easy on you right now.

Leilani Motomiya: Speak for yourself, Jun. At least, mom actually prides in you whenever you act like yourself.

Sora is suddenly confused as to why Leilani seems to be on the sour side of things while her mother and sister are happy as queens.

Sora Takenouchi: If I might be so bold as to ask, why are Jun and madam so happy while you seem to possess the aura of a caged bird, Leilani?

Leilani Motomiya: The reason I'm unhappy while my mother and Jun are ecstatic is because the thing that the two of them are so happy about is a royal ball for the sake of the prince as requested by the prince, himself, which is scheduled to take place in five days' time.

Sora Takenouchi: I thought the prince was already betrothed to a princess from a neighboring kingdom.

Jun Motomiya: Well apparently, the prince wanted to explore further options than just marrying some foreign pig that the royal court has the nerve to call a princess.

Sora Takenouchi: But wasn't the prince's wedding to Princess Tara of Sonatania in a mere five months?

Sakura Motomiya: Yes, but he requested a ball for the people. Sure, only the prince, himself, knows why, but Jun and I are now incredibly grateful that the prince is guaranteed to fall for my daughter upon even meeting her.

Leilani Motomiya: As for me, mother and Jun said that I am to only go to the ball simply for the food.

Sora Takenouchi: I'm terribly sorry that they've set that standard for you, Leilani. But if this is a ball for the people, then that means I can go to.

Leilani Motomiya: Oh, right. I guess that at least you could have a good time at the prince's ball.

Sakura and Jun, however, are initially against the idea of Sora getting to go to ball. Jun starts to tease poor Sora about it.

Jun Motomiya: YOU? Dancing? With the prince? 'I'd be honored, your highness, would you mind holding my broom?'

Then, Jun begins laughing up a storm at the very idea of her stepsister, Sora, attending the ball.

Sora Takenouchi: Well, why can't I go?

Jun Motomiya: Because you are just a servant girl, 'CinderSora', and nothing else. Face it. The only use you would have to his majesty is being a scullery maid and not his wife.

Sora Takenouchi: There is still the fact that if the whole kingdom is to attend the ball, that does extend to me, as well.

Sakura suddenly sees Sora's point about the invitation for the ball extending even to her, but she refuses to give up on the idea of the prince falling for her own daughter, Jun.

Sakura Motomiya: Yes, so it does. Well, I don't see any possible reason why you can't go.

Jun is just about ready to object to this idea when Sakura makes a deal with Sora.

Sakura Motomiya (continued): That is, if you can be finished with all of your work in time for the ball.

Sora Takenouchi: Oh, I will finish with my work in time, I promise.

Sakura Motomiya: And if you can find something suitable to wear for this ball.

Sora Takenouchi: Oh, I'm pretty sure that I can. Oh, thank you, stepmo_ madam. Thank you. And if it'll make you feel even a bit better about me going to the ball, Jun, I don't even care about dancing with the prince, anyway. I just wanna go to the ball to see a friend of mine who lives at the palace.

Jun Motomiya: Really, now, you don't even care about dancing with the prince, do you?

Sora Takenouchi: No, truthfully, I don't care one little bit about dancing with the prince. I really do just wanna go to the ball to reunite with him.

Sakura and Jun are suddenly shocked by Sora calling her friend a 'him', as in a boy/man.

Sakura Motomiya: 'Him'? And who might this 'him' friend of yours be?

Jun Motomiya: I bet he's one of the royal servants, or dare I say it, an apprentice of some kind of trade just like your father was.

Sora Takenouchi: Well, as a matter of fact, he is an apprentice whose master is his own father.

Sakura Motomiya: Well, then I guess there's even less of a real reason why you can't go if you only wish to meet back up with a friend while you'd be there.

Sora Takenouchi: Besides, I am still a member of the family, even if I've turned into a servant who does almost all of the work, now.

Sakura Motomiya: Just get on with your chores before it's time to leave.

With that, Sora finally left the room and Sakura just sat down on her regular chair.

Sakura Motomiya: I thought she'd never leave. Thank God she's finally out of our hair until we need her again.

Leilani Motomiya: Well, that was very kind of you, mother. Yet for some reason, it seemed a tad bit out of character for you to be that nice to Sora.

Leilani might be openly calm about the idea of Sora getting to go to the ball for the prince, but Jun is just upset enough to throw yet another temper tantrum at the very thought of Sora getting permission to go.

Jun Motomiya: Mother, how could you do that? Do you even realize what you just said?

Sakura, though, only had one thing on her mind about her word to Sora going to the ball.

Sakura Motomiya: Of course, I know what I had just said to 'CinderSora', my dearest daughter, Jun. I believe that I said 'if'.

Jun quickly catches onto her mother's word to Sora and just chuckles about it.

Jun Motomiya: Oh, 'if'.

Leilani is slower to catch onto her mother's plan about the whole thing, but she realizes that Sora will not have enough time to do all of her chores and find something suitable to wear by the appointed time.

Leilani Motomiya: You mean to say that you're not really going to let Sora go to the ball, mother?

Sakura is aware of what her daughter, Leilani, is asking her about, and she just remains remorseless about the whole thing.

Sakura Motomiya: Bingo, Einstein. There's no way 'CinderSora' will be able to finish her chores and find a suitable dress in time.

Jun Motomiya: But, mother, what if, by some miracle, 'CinderSora' can find a way to tend to the chores and find something to wear for the ball? What'll we do, then?

Sakura sees Jun's point, and unfortunately for Sora, she knows exactly what they will do about it.

Sakura Motomiya: Well, just in case she is able to do just that, we'll fix that and ruin her dress before she can even step out the door.

Jun is openly thrilled by the idea, but Leilani, after being told that she would only be attending the ball for the food, hides her feelings of intrinsic guilt behind a bitter smile.