The Tale of the Lost

DnCnChIcK369

Halloween Town Part 2: What a Party

A/N: Hahahaha, the title chapter thing gave it away, didn't it? No, it didn't. You'll never guess what happens! I'm such a genius! MWAHAHAHAHA!

Review Replies:

Cauryn Terenkey: Okay, you smart person. Gah… Okay, so, first, in chapter 2, you manage to figure out that the voice is Riku, AND why she ran away… to an extent… Then, in chapter 3, you go all genius on me again and figure out something else I won't say here so as to not spoil it for other people. And yes, Riku is the awesomest dork you will ever meet! Hahaha… And NOW what do you do? You predict yet ANOTHER thing about this story CORRECTLY!!! Am I really this predictable? Sniffle… I hope you're just a genius, because I can't make my plot much more complicated! Meh, you are the smartest person ever. Haha, yay Christmas! And Axel! And Riku! As you can see, I have now updated, and thanks for the reviews! ::hands cookies::

Kairi irl: You still rock! Haha, yayness to Riku thinking in third person! And Stanta really IS all-knowing. It's super fun. I WONDER who it was who took the stuff? I really don't know. Maybe we'll find out in this chapter. Or maybe we won't. (Winkwink catch the sarcasm yet? Haha… winkwinK) And it'll be a little while before something REALLY important happens between them. PSSSSSSST coughcough Meeraisindenial coughcough… Tehe… Oh yeah! ::hands cookies: THANKIES!

Rebel Reader Bitch: Haha thanks! I'm glad you love it! Look! I updated! WOO! I win, muahaha. ::hands cookies:: Have a nice day!

Disclaimer's in chapter one… meh… I wish I owned Riku. That would be awesome. Very. Enjoy chapter 12!!!

May 22, 2009

Wow. I am the most sorry I have ever been in my life. Like, all out, I AM SO EFFING SORRY IT ISN'T EVEN FUNNY! I FEEL HORRIBLE! Please forgive me? Please tell me people will still read this? PLEASE?!?!?!?!?

And, um… review replies:

Fox of the Fallen: Well, I guess I didn't update soon. Oh my GOD! I AM SO HORRIBLE! Stupid drama. Stupid ex-boyfriend. Making me spend more time with him and stop writing. I haven't written in OVER A YEAR. That scares me. I am so so so so so sorry.

Please forgive me everyone?

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'Stupid jacket,' Meera thought to herself, rummaging through her clothes. 'Where did I PUT it?!?!?!?'

There was a knock on her door.

"Meera? It's Kairi, can I come in?" She asked.

"Hold on a sec!" Meera yelled back, pulling a small, white jacket out of her stack of clothes and putting it on over her dress. She went and opened the door, seeing Kairi standing there, mask, hairspray, and a small amount of makeup in hand, and then she pushed her way through the door.

"I want to help you get ready!" Kairi exclaimed, clearly excited about the day. She normally wasn't the overly girly type, but today she almost seemed like it. Meera, however, had been planning on wearing a dress, fancy shoes, and a mask and being done with it. Apparently, Kairi disagreed.

"But… I mean, it isn't even… the mask will cover up my eyes anyway, and a lot of my face, so really… why do we have to do anything to me?" Meera asked, not wanting to get all dressed up. Of course, they had Donald take off his "Blend In" magic; so all odd features (like fangs, wings, horns, funny pumpkin hats, and evil looking eye makeup) were gone. Kairi just smiled and took out a curling iron, curling Meera's hair, and then hair spraying it. She had straightened her own hair… that didn't do much.

She then applied some light, natural tones of makeup to Meera, clearly enjoying herself. Eventually, Kairi finished, and the two spent the rest of the time, up til when Meera had to leave to help make sure everything was ready, talking about random things I don't know.

XXXXX

'She's late. Maybe it's to get back at ME for being late before… it would probably make sense…' Riku thought, looking around.

Meera was running toward him, holding up her dress so as to not trip and murder herself, and he noticed she was still wearing her boots. She also had a bag on her right arm, most likely containing her mask and shoes.

Riku just… stared at her for a moment. 'I was right. She is cute. And she looks good with curly hair… I think I'll mentally slap myself now.'::insert mental slap here::

"Hey… you okay? You look sort of… out of it. Sorry I'm late, by the way," Meera said, examining Riku, not really understanding why he was staring at her. "Uhm… is there something on my face… or something?"

"What?" Riku asked, snapping back to reality. "Oh, uh, no. Your face looks fine."

Meera raised an eyebrow and walked past him, through the door, before turning around, smiling at the teenage boy still standing in the doorway.

"Well, are you coming to help, or not?" Meera asked, walking inside after that. Riku followed, shortly after, quickly placing his present under the tree – a smirk on his face – and noticing the very large amount of presents already under there.

"Wow… people already put a lot of presents under there," Meera commented, also noticing.

"Yeah… some of these say they're from Santa…" Riku muttered. Meera sighed and walked around the room, checking all of the spots with mistletoe, the tree, all of the tables which now had food and drink on them.

"I think we're all set!" Meera said, turning to Riku, who was making sure all of the ornaments on the tree weren't going to randomly fall off. Meera raised an eyebrow. "Yeaaaaaah… I'll go tell everyone that it's starting, like… now. So YOU get your mask on and try not to break anything while I'm gone…"

XXXXX 15 minutes later XXXXX

Meera walked through the door again, her mask and shoes now in place, and she was surprised when she entered the large ballroom to find it practically full. She smiled and ran over to where she could see blonde, spiky hair.

"Cloud!" Meera exclaimed. Cloud turned around and gave Meera a small smile.

"Hey. I see you're looking happier," Cloud commented. Aerith was at his side, smiling at Meera, silently agreeing with him. "Have you had fun?"

"Actually, we haven't really DONE anything yet. The only reason we're even here right now is because we don't really know what we're supposed to be doing, so me and Riku decided we'd play matchmaker," Meera told them, giggling. Speaking of Riku, he walked up behind Meera at that point.

"Hey, when should we pass out presents?" Riku asked, causing Meera to turn around. She tilted her head and tapped her chin with her first finger.

"I'm not sure… before… or AFTER the food… hmmm…" She turned back around. "What do you think Cloud?"

Cloud was silent for a moment, noticing the difference in the way that Meera and Riku were acting around each other. "I think it should be before we eat."

"Alright! Well, you heard him Riku," Meera said, turning around again. "So, soon is a good idea." Riku grabbed Meera's arm and pulled her up to the stage where there was a microphone.

"Tell everyone, then," Riku told her, quietly. Meera turned around and placed her hands on her hips, an odd expression on the lower half of her face. (They're wearing masks, remember?)

"Why can't you tell them? Why me? I was trying to catch up with my non-biological big brother!" Meera told him. Riku smirked and handed her the microphone. "Hmph…"

"Just do it, already," Riku said. Meera glared at him and turned back around, facing the crowd of people, some of which were staring at the two teenagers on stage in amusement. Meera put on a smile.

"Hello everyone! I think most of you out there know me, but if you don't, I'm Meera. And I'm pretty sure all of you know Riku over there, who is a bit afraid of speaking in public, so he's having ME say all this for him," everyone laughed and Riku snorted, glaring at Meera. "Make sure you always notice where you're standing, seeing as how there's some pretty randomly placed mistletoe all over the place.

"And, just in case you're wondering, we'll be doing presents in about fifteen minutes, followed by eating. Because… we feel like it! Merry Christmas, guys!" Meera told everyone. She turned back around, still smiling, and Riku pulled her off stage. "What? I had to think of SOME reason why you were standing there like an idiot. It was the first thing that popped into my head!"

'As cute as half of my mind is now determined that she is, she is one diabolical, evil, little…' Riku thought. "Well… I just… ugh."

"I'm terribly sorry that I have left you speechless, however, now I'm going to go and make sure that Sora and Kairi are SOMEWHERE near each other, or we might as well call this whole ball off," Meera said, still smiling, and went to find Sora and Kairi. Riku went over and got some drink from one of the tables before Sora came over to him and smirked.

"Alright, Sora, why are you giving me that look?" Riku asked. Sora leaned against the table.

"Well, I thought I should let you know that Kairi is really smart. And, after I asked her out, right after we got stuck under mistletoe, it was almost as though a light bulb went off in her head. She said yes, gave me a hug, and ran off to for Meera. Then Meera made her little speech, and right now, they're probably talking about what I'M about to talk to YOU about," Sora explained. Riku raised an eyebrow.

"Which is?" Riku asked.

"Well, after Meera's speech, I realized what it was that Kairi figured out, and went to come and find you. I'm pretty sure I know why you and Meera did this. And I have to admit; it's a pretty good plan. Not to mention it worked. But then, it made me wonder… why get Meera to help you?" Sora asked.

"Because-"

"No, Riku. You're smart. You DEFINITELY could have come up with this on your own. I bet Meera didn't help think of it at all, did she? It was either you, or some other random person you'd never met before, am I right? This just isn't Meera's style, from the amount I know her already. She'd have probably locked us up in a closet," Sora explained. Riku smirked, remembering their Plan B that apparently wouldn't be needed.

"So, why are you telling me this?" Riku asked…

XXXXX

"Meera!" Kairi exclaimed, running over to her. Meera turned her head and saw Kairi, pretty dress and all, and she stopped looking for said girl with burgundy hair.

"Kairi! Where's Sora?" Meera asked.

"Talking to Riku, probably. I was just with him. And YOU have a promise to pay up on," Kairi told Meera, who smiled again.

"Ah, yes, the reason for all of this? But, you see, I don't know if it happened yet or not, so I'm not going to tell you until I'm sure," Meera commented. Kairi smiled and pulled Meera over beside a very inconspicuous door.

"Well, it DID work, me and Sora are going out now, just so you know," Kairi told Meera, who's mouth dropped open. Kairi smiled. "But, before I continue ranting at you, I do believe it has been somewhere around fifteen minutes, so you go find Riku and start passing out presents!"

Meera closed her mouth and ran over to the tree, looking for Riku, who had just walked over, too.

"Did you just get practically mauled by Sora, telling you about how they know why we planned this?" Meera asked, noticing his deep-in-thought look. He nodded, staring at Meera for a moment, before looking away. "Okay then… you take this half of the tree, I'll do the other half."

The two managed to get everyone's attention, and most people either sat down in a chair, or on the floor. Meera picked up the first present she saw. It was for Kairi, from Riku. She walked over to Kairi and handed the present to her, and everyone watched her open it.

"Oh, wow," Kairi muttered. It was a very pretty necklace. It had small, white pearls along the chain, and at the end was a carved, dark pink heart that looked just like a real one. (As in, the ones you see when Sora beats a Heartless, not the ones that are in our body in real life…) "Thanks Riku!"

"No problem," Riku said, smirking. Meera's mouth was hanging open, and now everyone's eyes were on her. She recognized that necklace. Turning around, she walked up to the smirking, silver-haired teen and kicked him on his shin. "Ouch, what was that for?!? Save the kicking until AFTER you open yours!"

Her eye twitched and she poked her finger on his chest while saying, "Why the hell should I? I bought the freaking box, and I was all super duper insanely worried that some had broken into where you and Sora were staying and stole a bunch of stuff, and it was just YOU! I was all freaked out for nothing! You just decided to steal stuff! The amount I want to give you ANOTHER bruise right now is out of the ceiling and-" Meera was interrupted by…

Riku's lips on hers. At first, she didn't realize what was happening. I mean, she had just been kicking and prodding him because she was angry. What was going on? She didn't kiss back or close her eyes. Her eyes were wide open, in fact. He pulled away, his eyes wide, too, and realized what he had just done. In front of almost everyone he knew. She was just standing there, her mouth hanging open, wide eyes, and slowly backed up before she ran out of the room.

Everyone in the room was completely silent and staring at Riku. He collapsed onto the floor, sat pretzel style, and put his head in his hands. He groaned felt a hand on his shoulder, and some of the light was blocked with shadows. He stayed there like that until he could hear movement and talking again.

"Hey… it'll be okay."

Riku lifted his head to see Sora, Kairi, and Cloud standing above him.

"What do you know?" He muttered, lying down on the floor, taking off his mask and throwing his arms over his eyes. "I didn't even plan that! What did I just DO? I don't even like her! I just wanted her to shut up!"

Kairi giggled, which caused Riku to lift his arms off of his face and look at the three people that cared to comfort him. They were all smiling. He raised an eyebrow.

"What?" He asked. He sat up again and looked around the room to see happy people dancing, seemingly forgetting all of the drama that was going on with the poor, silver-haired teenage boy.

"Riku… you remember what I was talking to you about before you guys started to pass out presents?" Sora asked, still smiling. He was happy with the proof in his newly found discovery.

"It's obvious that you like her. You treated her completely differently than you did when you were still in Radiant Garden," Cloud explained. "I'm going to go make sure she's okay."

Kairi held her hand out to Riku and helped him up. He brushed off the backside of his tux and picked up his mask. He put it back on and went under the tree to pick up the present he had picked… or, stolen, for her. He turned to Kairi and handed the box to her.

"Give this to her if you see her, okay?" He asked, looking really upset. Kairi nodded with a bittersweet smile on her face. She realized why he was so upset. He wasn't upset about kissing her in general… he was upset because she was so shocked that she ran away. Riku turned and left to who knows where…

XXXXX With Meera and Cloud XXXXX

Meera was sitting on a bench covered in snow outside the back of the ballroom. She was shivering and there were a few cold tears running down her cheeks. She wasn't crying because she was sad, and she wasn't crying because she was angry. She wasn't crying because she was happy, either. She was only crying in shock. And that thought only made her cry more.

It seemed to her that Riku liked her. After all, he had kissed her in front of almost everyone she knew. And she was crying in shock. It made her feel guilty, because she couldn't like him. At all. He reminded her too much of… him. It couldn't work. She was too afraid of them both.

But, with this sudden realization that Riku was not, in fact, out to kill her just like she knew he was… she didn't hate him. She didn't even dislike him. But-

"Hey," a manly voice said, said man sitting down beside her. She turned her head to the side to see Cloud, a concerned expression on his face, staring at her. She looked back to the ground. "He feels bad. If that makes you feel any better."

She shook her head and stood up, brushing the snow off of her dress. She decided she would go back inside to get her other shoes and make sure everything was running smoothly. She passed the giant tree and saw everyone happy and Sora and Kairi dancing together and everything. Kairi noticed her and came up to her, Sora following behind at a slower pace.

"Are you okay?" Kairi asked, quickly scurrying to the table by the tree. Sora and Kairi must have finished passing out the presents since none were left under the tree. But there were five presents on the table Kairi was heading towards. Sora pushed her over to the table.

"These are for you! I know you probably want to get some rest, so I'm going to walk you back and you can open them whenever you want!" Kairi told her, leading her to the door. Sora stayed behind and socialized. The two girls walked in complete silence until they reached the door of where they were staying. Meera took all of the presents and went inside, Kairi heading back to the ball.

She put all of the presents on the table and was about to go back to her room to find something to sleep in. She stopped, however, and decided to open her presents. Kairi's was first. It was in an oddly shaped bag, so she was curious as to what it was. She pulled out the tissue paper and saw a large oddly shaped box filled with votive candles, pine scented bath salts, bubble bath formula, pine shampoo, and pine body wash. A small smile came on her face.

Next was Sora's. It was a thin but long box, wrapped in snowman wrapping paper. She ripped it open, not caring to save the paper, and opened the box. She found a fuzzy pair of grey pajama pants with a matching grey T-shirt. The T-shirt was plain, but the pants had snowflakes on them. She smiled at that, since she HAD just been worrying about what to wear to sleep.

Next was a box-shaped present from Cloud. She opened it in the same fashion that she did the present from Sora and pulled out another small box and a large blanket… one that she had loved from Radiant Garden. She smiled and put it beside the pajamas, opening the other small box that looked like a jewelry box. Inside it was a very pretty bracelet, a charm bracelet, with only a few charms already on it. There was a snowflake, a cat, and a dove. She happily clasped it around her wrist. Two more presents to go!

The next was a small bag that said it was from Yuffie, Leon, Cid, Tifa, and Aerith, and the rest of the Radiant Garden gang. She pulled out a simple Christmas card that they had all signed and a journal. A note was attached to it that said "To keep track of your journey, since Jiminy stayed with us."

Then came time for the last present. Her smile fell when she saw whom it was from. She had to resist the urge to just push the present away and forget about it. But she did, in fact, open up the neatly wrapped box and couldn't help but smile at what she found inside. It was the one teddy bear that was stolen, which happened to be extremely soft, and, wrapped around it, was the necklace she had said she wanted to give herself. She held the necklace in her hand and had a thought…

XXXXX With Riku XXXXX

Riku slumped down against a wall, outside where they were staying. He couldn't believe himself. How could he have ever let any part of him like Meera at all?

'It doesn't make any sense. She flat out told me that even if she did hate me, she wouldn't tell me. So she probably does. Now I probably just magnified it by ten, so she must want to kill me. I bet I embarrassed her. I bet she's sitting in there right now, crying, and it is ALL MY FAULT!' He punched the ground. 'Why did I even do it? The only way to fix this is for her to think… for her to think it was a joke or something. That would work. Then things would stay the exact same way…'

Then Meera came out the door, smiling, and holding the necklace that Riku didn't notice in her hand. She quickly noticed he was there and her smile dropped a little as she put both of her hands behind her back, like she did something wrong.

'Like she could ever do something wrong. She looks TOO pretty in that dress. No wonder I pretty much lost control of myself. Typical male,' he thought.

"Riku… I need to talk to you abo-"

"Don't bother," Riku interrupted, standing up. "It wasn't anything, really. I just needed some way to get you to stop ranting, and it worked. It didn't mean anything."

Riku couldn't see it in the dark, but at that time, Meera's eyes watered. Her fist clenched so tightly around the snowflake in her hand that she felt it pierce her skin and could feel the blood drip off of her hand. She didn't realize she was leaving blood marks in the snow.

"Fine. Never mind. Forget I even wanted to talk to you," she muttered, quickly turning around and going back inside the house. Riku walked over to where she was standing and immediately felt horrible. There, in the snow, was his gift to her. The snowflake necklace. But he cringed when he saw it was covered in blood, and surrounded by it in the snow.

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A/N: Once again. I AM SO SORRY! I got all caught up with Adrian. I shouldn't have neglected ANY of my stories, though. It's no excuse. And I apologize. Please, forgive me? Can I still even write worth a shit? I feel like I lost all of the talent I may have had… If you're still here… let me know.

Alyssa R.T.