Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Kingdom Hearts (or FFX-2 -Shinra) I only own, of course, the ones that I own. MWAHAHA

I have decided that Ivy's 'Special Place' isn't the platform with the Paopu Tree on, because it's too cliché for me… Sooo… enjoy… hides

Hey, and I also found out that the 'platform thingy' is actually called the islet, so all of you people out there who didn't know before, can now thank me!!! Oh yes. I'm just wonderful -Boos and hisses from the crowd- Okay, I'll just get on with the story…

Haha! I have returned, I just got everything uploaded onto the new computer and sooo I decided to read through all of this. I do not own 'Chinese Burn' by Curve.

Chapter 3.

The next day, Ivy woke up, to the Sun streaming in through the stained glass window next to her bed. She groaned, mumbled something along the lines of

'I don't want the goldfish fried, Granddad' and turned over. Not able to get back to sleep, she decided she would get up, and visit her special place.

She pulled the baggy old brown T-Shirt off, she had got it as a souvenir from one of the places she had visited a while ago, she sometimes slept in it when it was hot, she smiled vaguely at it, thinking of all the memories it brought back, and dumped it on the floor, before raiding her drawer and pulling out a clean top and trousers, and putting them on, as if in a rush, like she knew that she had to get there quickly.

When Ivy arrived at her destination, she stared into the spring, which constantly had a rainbow in its midst. It was much brighter this morning. She looked at the dark cave, just to the left of the 'little oasis' as one of the girls, Adriana, had dubbed it, and decided that she'd have to explore that one day, but maybe she'd take someone with her, it looked rather sinister.

She climbed the ladder leading up to the Tree House, and had been stood on the balcony outside for about 5 minutes, watching the horizon, when something caught her eye, down on the shore. She sat down, so she could get a closer look. She threaded her legs through the make-shift, flimsy wooden bars, and was just tall enough to see over the top, with a clear view of the two boys below her. One was tall, with silvery-blue hair, and poofy blue trousers. The other was probably about the same height as Ivy herself, with very spiky brown hair, which looked as if he had either spent hours gelling it up, or it was just naturally messy. Ivy squinted, so she could get a clearer view of this boy's attire. It looked to be mainly of a crown theme. Ivy couldn't see very well, but it looked as if they both had bright blue eyes, although the taller ones were more aquamarine, and the other boy's of the deepest blue, but extremely clear, showing off his innocence. The older one was clutching two wooden swords, and appeared to be jeering the other one on.

"Come on, I betcha can't beat me one-on-one, grab your sword!" The silver-haired boy yelled, throwing him a piece of wood, which looked suspiciously like a sword. The smaller, brown haired boy failed to catch this sword, and comically dived down after it. A few seconds later, he rose again, looking slightly red, and rubbing the back of his head. "Come on, the winner gets to share a Paopu with Kairi"

This obviously tweaked a nerve with the small, brown haired boy, as he blushed a deeper shade of crimson, and was just about to say something, when the older boys' sword came rushing towards him, and he blocked it swiftly. A furious battle ensued, the silver-haired boy sometimes shouting something like "You still don't got it" or "What are you so afraid of?" The smaller boy battled hard, and was obviously giving his all, but it just wasn't good enough. The silver haired boy was very talented at this. But eventually, when it looked as though the brown-haired one would give up, he got a slightly odd grin on his lips, and with a shove of urgency, he managed to find a flaw in the taller boy's defences, and performed an odd sort of move, which knocked the other boy down. Both boys, at this point wore a look of absolute surprise on their faces, and the smaller one helped the other one up, obviously bursting to say something, but knowing he really shouldn't.

"Thanks." Said the older one, simply.

"Welcome." The younger one replied. Then, not being able to hold it in any longer, he jumped up, hit the air and screamed "I beat you! Now the score's 5-2!!! Hahaha" and ran off, knowing the older one would kill him. The silver-haired boy shook his head, and chased after him.

Ivy watched these two boys for a while after this, it seemed that they were both best friends, and the person, Kairi, who the tall one talked about, was also their friend. Although these two were the best of friends, it seemed as though there was an unspoken rivalry between them, and Ivy wanted to know why. The place she could always find them was on the platform, by an oddly shaped tree. When she had asked Tidus what this was, apart from being surprised that she had actually talked to him, and not at him, he said it was called the 'Paopu Tree'

Tidus, Selphie and Wakka had taken a shine to Cid and his son, Farrouh, and spent most of their time with them, and not, as it seemed to Ivy, doing what they usually did, which was battle each other for fun. Ivy sort of wished that they were still holding battles; she'd like to pulverize someone.

A couple of days later, Cid announced that the date of their first performance on Destiny Islands would be one week later, and Tidus, Selphie and Wakka were hung-up with excitement. Ivy decided she should start making up the dance immediately, and got the 3 other girls she would usually perform with together, to work out and practice a dance. Before the end of the first day of practicing came to a close, the four had worked out a dance, and the other three girls went to have dinner with the others.

Ivy packed up the stereo (another souvenir she had got from a place they had visited, it saved Farrouh and his band playing while they danced, this got quite boring after a while.) and carefully put it back in its special place in her room, she followed, to discover that the three friends she had been watching for all this time were now sat round the fire, next to Cid and Wakka. Ivy had a nagging feeling that she wouldn't enjoy dinner if she sat down with them, so she went back to the boat, and made herself some pasta. She ate this, taking her time, and then went to the Tree House, and practiced the dance, with painstaking precision, all the while, not thinking of anything but the trio she spent scrutinizing, and all Tidus, Selphie and Wakka had told her.

She mulled it all over in her head, special detail she had picked up herself, her own judgments of each of these very individual characters, and then came to thinking of why she was actually observing these people in the first place. She felt kind of like a stalker, she knew her behaviour often baffled people, but at the moment, the only person she was truly baffling was herself. She became so angry with herself that she tripped and fell flat on her rear end. Cursing slightly, she got up, and looked out of the door less door-frame, and saw the night sky, dotted with silvery stars, and looked up to the glimmering moon, glowing, sat, nestled in-between stars, smiling warmly to herself.

The time passed like a flash of lightning, and by the end of the highly-apprehended week, the four girls knew the dance like they now knew the island, for they had explored every grain of sand as far as Ivy was concerned, except maybe, the Secret Place, as she had heard it called by Tidus. She was still aware of a very strange… aura… pulsating around that place. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she was sure that when the time came to go in, she would know.

At precisely 6 o' clock, the curtains went up, and Cid stepped out into the limelight (with a tux on, to most people's surprise) and spoke into the microphone he held, which made his voice seem 100 times louder than usual, which, considering the volume of Cid's voice anyway, made everyone (except those performing - they were used to it) cover their ears, and, when finally used to it, have to shout across to their friends and family for them to even hear slightly what was being said.

He announced the start of the 'long-awaited show' as he called it, and the curtain went up, as Arima, (Ivy's older sister) began to sing 'My Heart Will Go On' by Celine Dion. (A/N, Don't say anything, I don't own it and couldn't think of anything else)

"Is this all she can sing?" Ivy said to herself, as she brushed her hair, getting ready to dance, as she was 7th up, just after the interval. "Best place to be in the show, everyone comes back feeling really into it and refreshed, you don't get little kids screaming that they want to go to the loo half way through. God I hate that." She shook her head to herself, and cursed as she brushed through a particularly nasty knot.

The show ticked past, Farrouh arrived, late, as it had been his turn to accept and sell the tickets on the door. He winked to the younger girls, who swooned at this behaviour, as he entered his changing room. Ivy shook her head, and muttered a couple of obscenities to herself. She couldn't possibly see what they saw in him, but he had got them all gossiping about his 'yumminess'. Her expression obviously told something of her thoughts, because even the most dense of the three other girls noticed, and said

"Aren't you so glad that Farrouh's your brother, Ivy?"

"Of course not, Ivy hasn't even noticed Riku, isn't he gorgeous?" one of the other girls said evilly to Ivy.

"Yeah, he's wonderful, I just love the self-centred, arrogant type." Ivy announced, sarcastically, as she pushed past the dumbfounded girls to peer through the curtains onto the stage. She watched Shinra doing his 'Shinra the Amazing Al-Bhed' Act, in which he did his best to balance spinning plates on sticks and so forth. All in all, it was quite a sweet act, and Ivy liked it all the better seeing as it was right before the interval.

The fifteen minutes of break-time flew by, and all-too-soon for some of the less confident girls, it was time for them to perform.

The music began to play, they strutted onto the stage, each wearing a black mini and black fishnet top, with, of course a black bra or bikini top underneath. They each took their starting positions, which would double as their finishing positions. They danced in time with the beat, bobbing as if all they knew was that, at that exact moment. Ivy had specifically chosen this song because, well, she just liked it. It was in your face and malicious, like her. It did indeed remind her of herself, and she was sure that if any of the girls had had more sense then they would have realised this.

The voice began to sing, and they began to really get into the dance. She burns friends like a piece of wood And she's jealous of me because she never could Hold herself up without a spine And she'll look me up when she's doing fine

The girls all pivoted, hand on hip and looked behind them with massive attitude. Ivy was second to the left, being one of the taller girls. They each raised their hands above their heads and waved them up once, down once and turned back around to await the next move:

Because the rage it burns like Chinese torture She's just someone's favourite daughter Spoilt and ugly as she willingly slaughters Friends and enemies they're all the same All the same Crush her fame Burn her name

Ivy was truly happy whilst dancing, it was the only thing that totally took her mind off past experiences. She glanced out to the audience and saw that everyone was loving the dance; some were even watching and copying their moves. She could do the dance without thinking about it; it had now become a ritual for Ivy to just watch the audience towards the middle of the song. They dipped sexily as the next part of the verse came along.

She'll break a promise as a matter of course Because she thinks its fun to have no remorse She gets what she wants and walks away And she doesn't give a fuck what you might say Because it cuts her up like Irish mortar Mother's pride is what we taught her Soiled and petty as we happily taunt her Friend and enemy, we're all to blame

At this, the four girls split into two at the front and two at the back. The back two repeated a few select moves in time with the beat whilst the front two did their thing. Ivy was in the back, but didn't stay there for long, as her and Adrianna, the other taller girl moved forward, walking as if on a catwalk and then danced their little bit whilst the other two girls now at the back repeated their few moves to the background beat. Adrianna and Ivy were the better of the four dancers, even though Ivy was one of the younger ones. And, as Cid always said, 'best 'til last'. They did their thing and the crowd went wild, jumping and throwing around water that they had bought from the (reasonably priced) refreshments stand. Ivy was not fazed at this, it most always happened.

She'll burn us bad She'll flaunt her fame She'll make us remember, make us remember her name

The girls skipped back into line, each shaking down, then raising their arms in different directions at the same time, doing their 'cheerleader part' as Ivy called it. The loop returned and they did the same thing.

She'll burn us bad She'll flaunt her fame She'll make us remember, make us remember her name

The singing paused for a while, and they separated into their two halves again, now on each side, a sort of dance-off taking place.

If she sits still like she knows she could She could win this game and be the queen for good Save herself up for the cream of the crop Then she'll look us up when she's ready to stop The dance off continued, the top half of the verse being occupied this time by Ivy and Adrianna, tilting their heads and being altogether aggressive. The other two bounced back with their second part and it was clear that the dance had been practiced repeatedly. Because the rage it burns like Chinese torture She's just someone's favourite daughter Spoilt and ugly as she willingly slaughters Friends and enemies are all that came To burn her name Crush her fame Burn her name Crush her fame Burn her name Crush her fame Burn her name The dance off session finished, and they returned to their end positions. We're all to blame The music trailed off, the crowd wondering whether it had finished yet. Obviously they were not expecting the big ending, the fireworks shooting from the front of the stage. Everyone jumped, most people thinking the Heartless had returned or something had blown up. Then they realised and watched as the colours filled the darkened sky. Somehow the girls had managed to convince Shinra the Amazing Al-Bhed to help them out and managed to compile the best finale they had ever unveiled. Even Cid was surprised at the splendour the fireworks showed. The final one shot from the very centre of the stage, spelling out 'Chinese Burn' in pink and green letters 10 feet tall. The crowd cheered, and the girls filed off stage. The rest of the night was a huge success, and everyone (including Poison Ivy the Sullen) enjoyed themselves to no end.