Disclaimer- I do not own any of the characters from Kingdom Hearts I or II, or Advent Children.

Notes- The party is fast approaching! I'm personally excited to get that one written and posted.

Chapter 18- Lunch in the Garden

The next morning, the girls got to work painting the ballroom. Fleur and Hilda had chosen a warm, golden shade for the walls, with a deep red-ish burgundy shade to accent the doors, windows, and fireplace. The guys spent the morning hauling all of Roselin's things out the door.

At lunch, Kadaj made everyone his famous club sandwiches. Fleur made iced tea, and they all ate in the courtyard. As they sat and ate, Aya looked up into the clear blue sky and sighed.

"What is it?" Cloud asked, sounding both curious and concerned.

"Oh, nothing." She replied softly. "It's just such a beautiful day. I don't think I've seen a sky this blue in a long time." She smiled at Cloud. He couldn't help but return the gesture.

Hari had finished her lunch and was walking alongside the small stream, admiring the koi and the scenery. She strolled along quietly by herself, walking through the hedge maze and smelling the flowers. Suddenly, her serene silence was broken by warm hands over her eyes, accompanied by a familiar voice.

"Guess who..." He whispered.

"Oh, I dunno... Kadaj?" She joked.

"Wrong!" He laughed as he spun her around and kissed her lightly. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him again. They made their way back to the spot under the tree where they had left their friends. Kadaj walked in front of Hari as they walked around the corner of the hedge to see Fleur and Sora kissing passionately under the cherry blossom tree. Aya and Cloud had already gone off on their own, obviously to give Fleur and Sora some alone time. Kadaj turned on a dime and bumped into Hari, who was following close behind him.

"Let's go this way..." He whispered.

"But why don't we just go back?"

"How 'bout let's not and say we did..."

"You're acting strange..."

"Ah... I just think we should give Fleur and Sora some... some time alone together. They're... um... well we shouldn't interrupt."

Hari took the hint and turned to head back into the hedge maze. She and Kadaj walked hand in hand, getting lost in the seemingly never-ending maze.

Meanwhile, Aya and Cloud were sitting together in a large patch of flowers. She picked one out of the ground and lifted it to her nose, smelling the sweet aroma. Cloud watched her lovingly as she placed the flower in her hair. He couldn't wait any longer...

"Aya..."

"Yes, Cloud?" She smiled at him. He smiled back, nearly getting lost in her eyes.

He hesitated. "...Never mind. It's nothing."

"Cloud," She interrupted. She knew what he was going to say. "I love you. You know that, right?"

"I do. I love you too, Aya." He said with the utmost sincerity, looking deeper into her blue-gray eyes. She had spoken his words for him, so he just leaned in to kiss her. She kissed him back, and he wrapped her in arms, holding her close. She settled into his warm, firm grip and continued to kiss him sweetly.

Soon, Sora and Fleur began packing up the blanket and picnic basket and heading back inside. Fleur and Hilda cleaned everything and put it all away while Sora and Sholto moved the new furniture into the new ballroom, in which the paint was just done drying. After Sora and Fleur returned inside, Hari and Kadaj soon followed. And last but not least, Aya and Cloud came walking in holding hands.

After everything was all cleaned and put back where it belonged, Fleur took Aya, Hari, and Hilda to Yajai to have dresses made for the ball. The guys had their afternoon work cut out for them, since they were assigned to hand out the invitations for the ball. The hard part was having to go around town on land and having to go to Arcadia to hand out the invitations. Along with this task, they had to buy themselves suits for the ball. They did their shopping first, and then decided to start in Arcadia with the invites.

"She gave me a list..." Sora said as he unrolled a long scroll of paper with the names of the people Fleur wanted to invite.

"Hey..." Kadaj pointed as he read some of the names. "Some of these people live in Arcadia."

"Yea... Look, Denzel... Tifa... We know them!" Cloud said, pointing out the obvious to Kadaj.

"Well, this is a long list... We better get going. We'll go get our suits first, and then... well, it looks like we should start in Arcadia." The three of them sighed in unison. This was going to be a long afternoon.

Back inside the castle, the girls were running about Yajai's workshop, choosing from all different sorts of fabric. Aya chose a gorgeous gold silk and another red silk with black lace to use as an accent. Hari had put together a beautiful combination of turquoise and gold with white lace. Fleur, though, had to keep her choices a secret. Yajai made sure she wouldn't ruin the surprise of her entrance at the ball.

Yajai made Hari and Aya's dresses first. The girls all waited in Fleur's room while the seamstress worked. It took only a few hours before they were done. As they entered back into Yajai's workshop, Yajai stood proudly between two mannequins that were draped with white sheets.

"Who wants to try on first?" Yajai smiled. Aya and Hari looked at each other for a few moments. Then Hari nudged Aya to take a step forward.

"You go first, I wanna see yours!" She told her, pushing her further towards the mannequins.

"Ah, Aya... this one is yours! Yajai said, placing a graceful, bony hand on one of the mannequins. "Come along." She grabbed Aya's arm with the other hand and wheeled the mannequin in front of them to the back of the room. After they were hidden by the mountain range of fabric and thread, Yajai pushed Aya into a room along with the still-covered mannequin.

"Put it on and come back out when you're ready." Yajai said, pausing, then smiling and shuffling out.

Aya turned to look at a large mirror on the far side of the dressing stall. She pulled closed the curtains and sighed. Here goes nothing, she thought. She took her hair down and began to change into the dress.

A few minutes later, Aya emerged from the dressing room and waltzed out to show off her dress.

"Oh my gosh!" Hari squealed.

"You look amazing!" Fleur smiled big. Yajai just stood by and admired her own work. Aya spun around, posing for her friends.

The dress was mostly gold, with a bit of red revealed on the front of the skirt and the front of the top. The black lace separated the gold from the red on the torso of the dress, and it edged the red around the bottom of the bell-shaped skirt. She spun around again, making the dress flow lavishly. She then curtsied, and Yajai took Hari by the arm to take her to the dressing room. Aya took a seat next to Fleur, and they watched and waited for Hari to return.

Moments later, she turned the corner bashfully, smiling sweetly. "So?" She questioned.

"Oh wow! You look wonderful!" Aya said excitedly as she stood up to examine Hari's dress more closely.

"It's gorgeous!" Fleur smiled and giggled with excitement as she began to see how wonderfully the party was coming together.

Hari twirled around in her dress, which was turquoise with gold showing from the front of the skirt. The torso was a corset style, and the skirt was large and flowing. White lace rimmed all the gold fabric, and she had a large gold bow near her lower back. The dress had simple sleeves that draped her arms in the turquoise fabric. She and Aya looked each other up and down, both smiling at how the other looked. They felt like royalty.

"Okay girls. Go change back and head up to your rooms. Fleur, you go with them, I need Hilda's help making your dress." Yajai said as she ushered Aya and Hari back to the dressing rooms. "I'll have the dresses brought up to your rooms. You go relax for awhile."

After Aya and Hari changed, they both went up to their rooms and both had a long soak in their baths. For the next few hours, Yajai and Hilda worked tirelessly on Fleur's gown for the ball. Fleur sat anxiously in the front room, while Yajai and Hilda did all their work behind closed curtains.

Hilda had chosen to wear a dress she already had made awhile back. It was a simple, pale green shade with bows around the bottom of the skirt. It had thin, lace straps over her shoulders.

Fleur sat twiddling her thumbs looking around at all the color that surrounded her. She was startled when Yajai and Hilda finally emerged with her dress, uncovered, on a mannequin. Fleur was speechless.

"So, what do you think?" Yajai asked.

"Not half bad, eh?" Hilda smiled.

"It's... it's amazing! Wonderful! I've never seen anything like it!" Fleur jumped up from her chair and ran over to the dress, running her hands down the soft silk.

The dress was made of black silk with gold lace and red lining revealed widely in the front. The torso was black as well, with a gold section in the center in the shape of a V. It had black sleeves that draped from just below her shoulders to her elbows. Behind it was a small train of the black silk. Like Hari's, her dress also had a bow, but her's was long and delicate. It was tied behind her back, but the ribbon reached all the way down the back of the skirt.

"Well, try it on! The party is tomorrow, after all." Yajai reminded her. Fleur nodded and went back into the dressing stall to put on the dress. Of course, it fit perfectly and looked stunning on her.

"Well!" Yajai began. "Sora will be very pleased, if I may say so." She finished with a smile. First, Fleur gave her an odd look as if to say How did you know about Sora and I? But then she smiled and thanked Yajai. She changed out of the dress quickly and put it back on the mannequin. She then rushed upstairs to see how the ballroom looked. She hadn't seen it since she painted it earlier.

When she entered, she saw that all of the furniture had been placed with an expert eye. It all looked perfectly done, and the guys had even lit the fireplace. This and the light from the new chandelier gave the room a warm, inviting glow. She wandered into the room, admiring it from all sides. She sat down on the couch by the fireplace for a moment, then moving to the back of the room to inspect the long wooden table that would play host to the food served at the party. She was very pleased.

Later that night, the boys came home, each with a shopping bag and wet hair.

"Welcome back!" The girls all called from above the foyer.

"Hey! Come down here and greet us properly!" Cloud called. All of the girls ran down the stairs and wrapped their arms around their men.

"That's more like it!" Kadaj joked as he dropped his bag to return Hari's hug. Cloud and Sora both did the same. They all sat down to relax in the foyer. Cloud put his arm around Aya, and she yawned deeply.

"You tired?" He asked her.

"A little..." She said with a nod.

"It is getting late..." Fleur remarked. "And we do have to get up early to prepare for the party tomorrow evening."

"Yeah..." The group replied all at once.

"We should get to bed." Kadaj said, being the second person to yawn.

"Yea... good night, you guys. See you in the morning, bright and early!" Hari smiled.

"Good night." Everyone replied.

Cloud carried the already-sleeping Aya upstairs to her room and laid her down to sleep. He kissed her on the forehead and bid her good night, then going to his own room to sleep.

Kadaj and Hari walked to her room, holding hands on the way up. They kissed lightly and said good nights at her door, then separating for the night.

Sora and Fleur spent a few more minutes downstairs, until Fleur fell asleep. Sora carried her upstairs, and put her to bed. Before leaving, he knelt at her bedside clutching her hand for a few moments.

I'm so glad you're able to be happy... I love you more than I ever thought I could love someone. You took me in and showed me kindness. I will never forget that.

He kissed her on her forehead and bid her good night, departing to his own room for the night.

The next day, Fleur was turning sixteen, and there would be a wonderful celebration.

Notes- Wow, that was a long chapter. Probably... no, definitely the longest I've ever written. Hope you liked it! And the next one will be the long-awaited party! I'm excited to get that one written. Thanks for reading! R+R!

-VarekaiSoleil