TAoP Chapter 8

Food, Friends, and Fireworks

Inside the room was a big screen blocking a section of the wall, a full length mirror, and Daisy waiting for Minnie and Penny. The double doors, that Penny wondered about earlier, were open and there were tons of clothes inside there.

"Now, Penny, through that door is the bathroom. In there, you will find a bath waiting for you," Minnie explained as she pushed Penny through the door.

"But-" Penny started, but the door had already closed. She groaned and looked around. The bathroom was spotless and white. In the middle stood a large tub waiting for her to sink into and tons of towels were beside it. Penny set Midnight down and started to undress. Starlight flew towards the sink and found a small tub just for her. She chimed with delight and immediately went in.

Penny slowly lowered herself in and floated on the top, unsure of what to do. Back at Neverland, she and the Lost Boys just swam in the Mermaid Lagoon to get clean. Star started giving her instructions on what to do and Penny finally had a proper bath. When she finished, she sat in the tub her knees drawn up and her arms wrapped around them.

Can I come in? Midnight asked, putting his paws on the side of the tub.

Of course! Penny reached down and lowered him into the water. She used her knees to hold him up since he was too small to sit properly. From there, she started to wash him until all the dirt came off him. As she finished up, Minnie knocked and came in.

"How does it feel, Penny?" Minnie asked, looking over her hair.

"Pretty good. Can I come out now?"

"Yes and dry yourself. When you're done, come to the bedroom. We must find you something to wear." Minnie let herself out again.

Penny stood up, with Midnight in her arms, and shook the water out of her hair. When she set him down, he did the same, following Penny's example. Laughing, she found a towel and dried herself off. She wrapped the towel around herself. Picking Midnight back up, she set him on the counter by the sink. She grabbed another towel and quick dried him too. Star also got out and dressed, feeling refreshed and ready for the party.

That was fun! Midnight called coming out from under the towel.

I'm glad. Penny carried both of them into the room, where Minnie and Daisy were waiting.

"Okay, Penny, come here," Minnie said as she put Midnight on the bed. She led the girl over to the screen and handed her two pieces of clothing, "Put these on and we shall find you something to wear."

Penny blinked at the clothes. One was just a long strip of brown cloth with clasps at both ends and the other was a smaller pair of brown shorts. She put on the shorts first and found they only came down a little bit above her knee and was skin tight. She was still able to move and all that. Penny looked over the other piece with confusion. Star sat on the screen, patiently told her how to put it on, since she wore one herself. It went over her chest, much like the ones that the Redskin women wear when they go swimming. She then stepped out from behind the screen and Minnie took her over to the mirror.

"Is this what I'm supposed to wear?" Penny asked. She frowned at herself in the mirror, Am I getting taller?

"Oh, no dear. These are undergarments. You wear them under your clothes," Minnie explained, taking measurements, "Have you gotten taller?"

"I'm not sure. If I am, I must return to Neverland as soon as possible. I can't grow up!"

"It's alright, Penny. We shall discuss this after the party," Minnie can still feel Penny's concern and anger from being lied to by Jayden.

"Right, I think she would look great in a green dress," Daisy said, looking through the clothes in the closet.

"Yes, I think you're right…"

"Do I have to wear a dress?" Penny whined, looking distastefully at the dress Daisy picked out. Star flew over to it to get a closer look and claimed that she liked it, "Well then, you can wear it, Star."

"Come, Penny, it's a party. We all want to look our best," Minnie said. She looked at her and sighed when she saw the expression, "All right, we will see if we have any nice pants that will fit you." She sent Daisy off to find something and grabbed the brush on the dresser. She went to work on Penny's hair as she worked on Midnight's fur.

"Can Midnight come? I promise he won't cause any trouble and ruin everything," Penny asked. Minnie looked down at him and he looked at her with his puppy eyes.

"Yes, he can come. Pluto would be glad of the company," Minnie said as Daisy came back carrying clothes.

"Luckily, we kept some of Max's old things," Daisy said, lying them on the bed. There was a pair of long black pants, a white long sleeved button up shirt, and a green vest.

Penny stood up and started to put them on. The pants fit her nicely, only they were a little bit long, and she would've rather worn shorts. She tried to put on the shirt over her head, but she couldn't get it on.

Minnie pulled it off, "You have to unbutton it first." She unbuttoned it for the girl.

She finally managed to get the shirt and vest on and looked in the mirror. Penny liked how she looked and fixed her hair so that it was straight on her head. Star made the comment that she looked like a boy. She chose to ignore her.

"How do I look?" she asked the ladies, putting her fists on her hips. She could feel Minnie's disappointment, but then heard, If this will make her more comfortable.

"Looks good, Penny. Why don't you go outside and see if everyone is here yet?" Minnie suggested.

"Okay!" she ran out of the room with Midnight and Star following her. Midnight was excited as he ran beside his new best friend and Penny felt the same way. Star was looking forward to seeing what the sky looked like at night and the food the cooks were preparing.

They finally made it outside and found that everyone was, in fact, already at the party. The girls were wearing elegant dresses with their hair in different designs. The men wore suits and ties, very different from their normal clothing. Penny stood at the edge, feeling nervous all of a sudden. Midnight had his tongue out, his tail wagging, looking at everything and everyone.

Wow! Look at all the people! Hey there's Pluto! He ran over to where the other dog was and stayed there for awhile.

Star landed on Penny's shoulder and looked at everyone. She found the food table and pointed it out to Penny. She walked over to it as her stomach growled for food. She only had that one apple and that was early in the morning already. At the table were fruits, meats, cheese, and food Penny didn't even know. Star flew down and grabbed a grape, eating it. Penny grabbed one of everything, but found out she couldn't carry everything with one hand.

"There are plates," a voice said behind her.

She turned, apple in mouth, and found Jayden with an amused expression on his face. He handed her a disk and she dumped everything she had onto it.

"Fanks," she said around the apple.

"No problem. I almost didn't recognize you," he said, stealing food off her plate. He was wearing a dark suit with a blue tie around his neck instead of his usual goggles. He also tamed his hair and cleaned up before the party.

"Well, they tried to put me in a dress," Penny explained while she was cutting up food for Star since everything was too big for her.

"A little hungry are we?" Illiana asked, showing up beside them. She wore a lilac dress that went just below her knee. White heels were on her feet making her a little bit taller and around her wrists were gold bracelets. Her purple hair was pulled in an elegant ponytail with her bangs in ringlets around her face.

"Wow, you look really pretty, Illiana," Penny said, taking more food. Midnight also came up so she dropped food in his mouth.

"Why thank you, Penny. You look very nice yourself."

"She looks like guy, a defender about to become part of the group," Max stated coming over to them. He, too, wore a suit but his tie was red.

"Well, I knew she wouldn't wear a dress."

"When do you think they'll announce the-" Jayden started to ask when the King and Queen entered the area and everybody was cheering.

"Please, everyone, enjoy yourself for awhile. In a little bit, we shall announce who our new warriors are!" Mickey declared to everyone.

"Never mind! That answers my question," Jayden said, stealing more food from Penny.

"Oi! Get your own—OW!" Penny was pushed into Max who, out of reflex, caught her before she fell.

"Opps, sorry. Maybe you shouldn't be standing so close to the food table," someone said behind her. Looking back, she found Ace taking her spot by the food. He wore pretty much the same thing she saw him in the other day, only it looked more formal. His red shirt was long sleeved and a black tie went with it. Behind him was Jayden's twin, Joss. Joss wore a white suit with a green tie and he was ignoring his brother and friends.

"Hey! You should apologize," Illiana said, glaring at Ace.

"Why? He was in my way," he said simply.

Midnight growled at him by his foot. Star was also twinkling angrily at him and calling him bad names.

"Enough," Penny said looking at them, "I'm fine. I'm not hurt or anything." She bent down to pick up Midnight, but when she reached him, he bit Ace in the ankle.

"OUCH! Why you little-" Ace pulled his foot back as if to kick him.

"No!" Penny took the kick from the side and rolled away with Midnight in her arms. She tried to stand up, but the pain in her side throbbed and she couldn't breathe.

"Penny!" Illiana came over immediately while Max and Jayden stopped Ace from following. She looked at the bruise that was beginning to form on her left side, "This looks bad."

Penny hissed when Illiana put her hand on it. The pain went slightly away and she could hear the boys fighting above her.

"What'cha do that for?" Jayden demanded. He actually had his staff out as if waiting for a fight. The staff was as tall as he was and made out of wood. It was painted blue with black horizontal stripes all around the staff. On the top were four points and in the middle of the points was a large diamond.

"His dog bit my leg!" Ace yelled back. Joss bent down to see his ankle. He healed it with ease, but never met his brother's eyes.

"Then don't push our guest. She would've moved out of the way if you asked," Max said.

Before Ace could retort back, Goofy came over to see what was wrong, "What's going on here?" He looked between Ace and Jayden and Max, as if he could guess what was wrong.

"Nothing, Sir Goofy. We were just leaving," Joss said, grabbing Ace and walked away.

The group watched them and Ace turned back to glare at Penny. She glared back as Illiana finished healing.

"Now, what really happened?" Goofy asked again looking at his son.

"Well—"

"I just fell, that's all," Penny interrupted. Even though Ace was annoying, she didn't want to be a tattle-tale.

Jayden looked as if he wanted to say something when Donald interrupted him.

"Alright, it is time we announce who will be our new protectors!"

Max, Jayden, and Illiana ran out to where Donald was, just as a huge group of students also approached. Penny stood back to see everything better and to stay out of everyone's way.

Are you okay? Why did you get in the way? Midnight asked from her arms.

To make sure you are safe. Now hush and don't worry about it, Penny wanted to hear what was happening.

Mickey got up and everyone fell silent, "Tonight is a very special night. We shall finally group our new warriors into groups of two or more. If you are called, then you are welcome to join our fight against the Darkness and protect those who need us!" Cheers roared through the crowed. Mickey started to call off names and the students who were called stood in groups of two, three, or four. "Ace and Joss will be a team." The two of them grouped up grinning. Finally, only a couple of students remained and the trio was among them. "And our last group will be…Jayden, Illiana, and Max!" All three of them got into a group hug, jumping and screaming. Everybody clapped and cheered. "Congratulations to everyone who has made it and I wish the best of luck to those for next year!"

At the end of the speech, fireworks exploded all around the castle to celebrate. The three of them went back to Penny and they couldn't look happier. They grabbed the fruit punch and made a toast with each other.

"To us! To become great warriors of our time!" Jayden yelled.

"Let's do it to it!" Max added. They all drank.

"Congratulations, guys!" Penny said once they finished.

"Ah Penny, the first chance we get, I will take you back to Neverland," Jayden promised. She smiled and yawned at the same time. Star was also getting tired but watched the fireworks.

"Maybe you should get to bed. Some people get sleepy when they are healing," Illiana suggested, putting an arm around Penny's shoulders. She led her back to the castle and to her room, wanting to make sure that she got there and slept. "I'm not sure if I managed to completely heal it. I'll look into more in the morning.

"Right, it's not that bad," Penny lied a little bit. It only pained when she moved fast, but man did it hurt!

"I shall see you in the morning," Illiana closed the door behind her.

Star and Midnight fell right asleep as soon as they hit the bed, but Penny stayed up to see the fireworks. She didn't know when it happened, but she was soon dreaming of Neverland with Star by her head and Midnight curled up by her side.