Whelp, I went and did it: Daybreak Academy now has its own Tumblr blog! Search for it under the name daybreak-academy-fanfic because I'll be uploading all the previous chapters one day at a time (which may change, tbh), giving insight on chapter inspirations, and reblogging a ton of fan art from around the Tumblr Kingdom Hearts community!

Wanna know this chapter's final word count? 2,656 words, without the author's note. Yep. I think it's the longest anything I've written in awhile. RIP my fingers, but thank baby Jesus for writing a lot of the prom chapters beforehand. This chapter was only 956 words before I spent the entirety of one Saturday (April 25th, if you must know) to write this monster. Ya'll should be proud of me.

Thank you for reading!

Anora had severely underestimated her anxiety for tonight. It took her ten whole minutes to put her dress on- too fearful of actually putting it on for some reason. She didn't have any mirrors in her room either. Of course, looking at herself in the dress might have ramped up that anxiety to another level, so maybe it was for the best.

Hearing a knock on her door almost made Anora jump out of her skin. Cautious for some reason, Anora went to her door and opened it up a hair to see who was on the other side. She sighed in realizing that it was only Skuld. The nervous girl let in the other, quick to notice that Skuld was carrying a rather large make up case in her hand. As Anora looked over Skuld, Skuld looked around Anora's room in mild judgment.

Skuld was already dressed for the formal; wearing a dark gray knee-length lace dress with a chiffon overlay that only reached mid torso, and covered half of her arm. She was even wearing a pair of simple black high heels, a pair of dangling earrings with a single ruby at the end, and her hair had been pulled back into a complicated looking french braid.

"Why is your room so… small?" Skuld wondered. "You barely have room to walk around in here."

Anora shrugged- her room was fine to her. She had room for what she needed, which really wasn't that much.

"You can always petition to have a larger room next year," Skuld went on, placing her make up case on Anora's desk. "But only up to the seventh floor, since you'll be going into Seventh Year classes."

That was when Skuld turned around to actually look at Anora. For a moment, the older girl blinked, as if she didn't recognize Anora, before quickly shaking her head.

"Oh good, you're already dressed." Skuld noted with a little wave of her hand. But then she looked at Anora's hair and grimaced. "Please tell me you were going to do something with your hair, though? I know it's short, but you have to have at least one nice headband to keep back the strays."

Taking a step back, as the idea never occurred to her, Anora shuffled around her room and around Skuld to get to one of the drawers in her desk. Eventually she withdrew a headband and showed it to Skuld; it was a simple metal headband, the same one Anora had worn to the dress shop a week back. To her disappointment, Skuld sighed.

"You're not going to make this easy for me, are you?" the oldest murmured under her breath. She then looked up at Anora to say, "Where's your hairbrush? If you want to wear that headband, I can put it in for you."

Anora gave a small nod before getting her hairbrush. She thought Skuld would have her sit, but she didn't; instead Skuld brushed out Anora hair, expertly placed the headband in the middle of Anora head. Skuld then braided part of Anora's hair around the metal, leaving only the blue flower visible and giving the illusion that it was hung freely in Anora's hair.

"That'll do." Skuld finally permitted. "Now, you actually do need to sit while I do your make up. You won't move around as much if you do."

With that, she motioned for Anora to sit at the desk chair. Not sure if she really had a choice, Anora did as instructed and helplessly watched as Skuld started to get out her materials.

"I'll do your make up first before I do mine," Skuld told her. "You might not guess it, but I was a pageant kid before I attended Daybreak. I can do my own make up blindfolded."

That would actually explain a lot… Anora thought to herself, but didn't voice out loud.

"Close your eyes for me," Skuld then instructed, "And don't move an inch- smokey eye is an art all its own."

Sitting a bit straighter in the chair, Anora did as she was told. Skuld immediately began to work without hesitation. After five minutes, Anora wanted to fidget, but if she tried Skuld would remind her to stay still. Every now and again, Skuld would tell Anora to smile real wide or to open her eye for a moment so she could apply the mascara. Anora didn't know how long Skuld had trapped her in that chair, but it seemed to take years.

"There." Skuld finally decided as she took a step back from her handiwork. Now seeing Anora from a further distance, Skuld's jaw almost dropped.

"O-oh wow." she stammered. "Anora… You… you look so beautiful."

The confused glare she got made her realize that Anora didn't know what she looked like. Giving a small snap of her fingers, Skuld went to get a hand mirror she had placed on Anora's desk earlier. She gave Anora the mirror and took another step back to admire her handiwork.

"No one at the dance is going to recognize you." Skuld remarked, almost wondering to herself if she was part fairy godmother.

Anora gave an absent nod- the girl in the hand mirror nodding back. Apparently, not even Anora could recognize herself. Skuld bit her lower lip in thought as she looked Anora over again.

"Ephemer better thank me for this." she said to herself, just loud enough for Anora to hear. But the younger of the two didn't quite register the words- the girl in the mirror was looking so overwhelmed that her eyes were glistening with tears.

. . .

"Looking sharp, Ven!" Ephemer beamed the moment he saw the young Leopardus student. Almost immediately, Ventus's cheeks started to flush a light pink.

"I think I used too much hair gel." he admitted, running his hand through his slicked back hair. Now that he mentioned it, Ephemer noted that his golden yellow hair a bit darker than usual. "Every time I touch it, it makes a sound like crunching leaves."

Not meaning to be rude, Ephemer gave a small snort of amusement. "I just used enough to manage what I've got." he admitted. "My fluffy hair is why Ava adopted me, after all!"

Ventus's face scrunched into one of confusion. One of these days, he'll ask for the full details on Ephemer and Ava's story, but for now there were other things to worry about.

"We were going to meet the girls at the Vulpes dorms, right?" he asked.

"You bet." Ephemer agreed with a nod- for some reason he had decided to fuss with his cuffs before looking up at Ven. "What time is it? We should start heading that way now."

"6:45, I think." came the immediate answer before the young boy actually looked down at his watch. "Well, just about anyway." he then affirmed. "6:41 as of five seconds ago. Now six seconds, eight, nine..."

"You nervous?" Ephemer teased, clapping his hand on top of Ventus's shoulder. The younger boy jumped in surprise, then looked up at the older boy with a guilty expression.

"Is it obvious?" he then asked as he threw a hand behind his head. Ephemer laughed.

"They're still our friends, Ven." Ephemer reminded him like a big brother would remind a brother of the house rules. "It doesn't matter what the girls look like, they're still the uptight scholar and manic pixie dream girl we've always known!"

Ventus put on a light, still rather nervous, smile as he agreed with small, "Right." as the two started to head to the Vulpes dorms.

Once the boys got to the Vulpes girls' dorms, it became quickly apparently that they would not be meeting the girls at the door. A lot of students were going in and out of the dorms at this point. Girls waiting for their friends, some waiting for their dates, and other girls making a mad dash back into the dorms because they forgot something. Ephemer made the smart decision to text Skuld that they had arrived, and from there, all the boys could do was wait.

They didn't have to wait long- coming out of the dorms five minutes later was Anora and Skuld. At this point, they were too far away to get a good look at them, but it was more than obvious that Skuld was making last minute preparations on Anora. Even while walking, Skuld was fussing over Anora's hair like a disapproving mother. As the two got closer, both Ven and Ephemer could even hear Skuld fuss over Anora.

As the girls got closer, a sudden jolt ran through the boys' bodies they were able to get a better look at them. To Ephemer, Skuld looked more like a mother of the bride, with Anora being that very bride- or maybe a princess with her flowing dress and flower headband. Ventus, on the other hand, simply wasn't used to girls being fully dressed up- the only other girl he knew refused to wear anything fancier than a pencil skirt and blouse. (Which, honestly, didn't make his friend look any flattering in the slightest.) So when he saw Skuld and Anora dressed up, all niceties were lost on young Ventus in awe.

"They look beautiful." the boy gawked in wonder.

Ephemer almost couldn't say a word as he looked Anora up and down. A lump in his throat almost prevented him from letting out a rasping and slow, "She is." in agreement.

"Now it should stay." Skuld sighed as she finished messing with Anora, just as the two were in arm's length of the boys. Anora gave a weak smile as she absently tried to touch her head.

"Don't touch it!" Skuld hissed, almost smacking Anora's hand had the girl not flinched at Skuld's shrill voice. Giving a stiff nod, Skuld then turned her attention to the boys. The smirk she gained was almost malicious.

"You two look like you've seen a ghost!" Skuld immediately teased. She turned to Ephemer and let out a bemused snort. "You alright there, Ephemer?"

"O-of course I am!" the older boy quickly exclaimed, making a disgusted grimace. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Curious, Ventus looked over at him and pointed at his mouth. "Dude, you're drooling." the youngest bluntly pointed out.

"What?!" he quickly exclaimed as he went to wipe his mouth. Much to his chagrin, everyone laughed at him. As he tried to recover, he dully told them, "Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up. Just make fun of the guy who keeps his heart on his sleeve, huh?"

But he did steal another look at Anora- and he'd be damned if he didn't actually feel himself drool this time. This was going to be one heck of a night…

. . .

Strelitzia had purposely requested for Lauriam to pick her up late. She had only guessed that Anora and her friends would go to the formal before it was set to start, and she had been right on the mark. It was also a very horrible idea; she couldn't see very well from the window, but Anora looked stunning in the sunset with her prom dress on. It was a bit obvious that she wasn't comfortable wearing the dress- but once she and her friends started joking, Anora's disposition relaxed quite a bit. Strelitzia felt her heart melt.

I love her, I love her, I love her…

The girl shook her head as she tried to clear her thoughts. Lauriam was going to be picking her up soon, and she wasn't even wearing her dress yet. Strelitzia looked over at the dress she had laid out on her bed. It was floor length, the skirt made almost completely out of tulle. The bodice boasted an illusion sweetheart neckline with cap sleeves, all decorated in lace. The lace on the bodice tapered off at the hip like the leaves of a fern bush. Lace also adorned the bottom of the dress, also making abstract flower-like patterns.

Strelitzia gently brushed a finger over the lace. This dress had been her mother's a long time ago- she had managed to dig it up while sorting through her own clothes some time back. The dress was originally white, but with the fading and yellowing lace, Strelitzia had found someone who could dye to a light orange. It was still a very beautiful dress; one that Strelitzia swore on her life that she'd never get rid of.

And now she was going to wear it to formal. And talk to Anora face to face in it. And maybe even cry in it for good measure.

Letting out a small sigh, Strelitzia started to get ready for the formal. She put the dress on with care, then she started to twist and braid her hair into a high bun. Strelitzia was never one to put on too much make up or wearing dark, gaudy colors, so most of her make up ended up light and only added some slight color to her cheeks, nose, and eyelids. She happened to finish just as Lauriam sent her text saying that he had arrived at the dorms.

She would have been out sooner had she not lingered at her door for a good five minutes. Her hand shook as it hovered over the door knob. Maybe she could tell Lauriam that she didn't want to go to the formal anymore? Would he even believe her? She doubted it. In a half thought, half murmur, she said to herself, "May my heart be my guiding key." before finally opening her door.

Lauriam was far too patient to be her brother. Especially when the cranky Elrena was bickering about something or another right into Lauriam's ear. It took Strelitzia a moment to realize that Elrena was holding a small disposable camera; of course Lauriam would want pictures. Lauriam offered Elrena small smiles of mock sympathy until he noticed his sister walking up to them.

Almost instantly, Lauriam's eyes started to slowly widen as he watched Strelitzia.

"You didn't tell me you were going to wear one of Mother's dresses." he softly said once she was close enough. Strelitzia blushed.

"I wanted it to be a surprise." she admitted.

"Color me surprised, then."

Elrena only sneered in disinterest. "If you two idiots are done blabbing, can you squeeze together so I can take this stupid photo?"

"We wouldn't still be babbling if you had decided to go to the formal too." Lauriam teasingly reminded her.

Elrena gave an undignified 'pfft' in retort. "I'd rather get carded at a bar in town." she even informed them. "Now smile and say cheese."

The two siblings looked at each other, shared a smile, then turned to Elrena before declaring brightly, "Cheese!"

With the obligatory pictures out of the way, the two siblings made their way to the gym. Lauriam was less than pleased with this year's theme.

"They really wanted to go for the whole Under the Sea shtick, huh?" Lauriam dully noted.

"Maybe it's easier?" Strelitzia thoughtfully mused.

"But this is the spring formal." he then grumbled. "It wouldn't hurt to have some flowers here and there."

Strelitzia laughed at her brother before she could stop herself. She happened to look around the rest of the gym and was quick to notice Anora in the crowd. Her blood ran cold while her heart simultaneously started to race. Lauriam, who was not shy to when his sister would clam up, gave her a curious tilt of his head. He didn't look to see who he was looking at; instead he gave her a small pat on the back.

"Remember to talk to her tonight." he softly reminded her.

"I will." Strelitzia promised. "Just… remind me every other song or something. Okay?"

Once more proving that he was the best brother in the world, Lauriam smiled even brighter at Strelitzia before agreeing with a firm, "Promise."