Finally, a break from the filler. Sorry about the delay; it took me quite a few rewrites to get the last part satisfactory, but I still think there's something...missing from it.

I know that much of the stuff I write doesn't make any sense at first, but it will later on.

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING MENTIONED IN THIS STORY! Surprise!

Just this story. Enjoy!

Xxx XXX xxX

"How do I look?" Xion asked, stepping out from behind the dressing room door.

Naminé studied her friend's outfit for a moment. The dress was strapless, mid-calf length, dark purple, and decorated with floral designs on the left side.

This time, the two girls hadn't gone to a normal clothes outlet; they had instead gone to (of all places) a wedding boutique to buy their Formal clothing.

And it was taking so very, very long. Naminé had received a text from Roxas five minutes ago stating that the guys were done getting measured for their tuxedoes, and were waiting outside the store the girls were in.

"What is this, the twentieth outfit?" Naminé sighed. "And they're all the same to me. I'm telling you, Xion, you looked perfect in every one."

The traceuse pouted. "Some judge you are," she muttered, stepping back inside the small cubicle.

"Well, why don't you bring in Roxas or Sora?" the blonde suggested, leaning back on the couch. "They would have a better sense of what looked good."

"But I want it to be a surprise!" Xion protested.

"Well, so would I, but that's only applicable to Roxas," Naminé replied. "Sora's not your date—he can see you before Formal, right?"

"Next!" Xion stated, walking back into view.

"Did you even listen to—wow."

This dress was a midnight black, ankle-length, halter top evening gown. It also happened to flow over the brunette's figure like water.

The other girl just stared at her. "This one is perfect," Naminé said slowly. "I think it's the best out of all the other ones, really."

"I think so, too," Xion replied, returning to her room. She emerged a minute later in her street clothes, with the evening gown carefully held out in front of her. "Your turn."

Oh, Roxas and Sora were going to be so pissed when the girls were finally finished. Naminé could remember how long it took Xion to approve an outfit the last time.

The blonde headed over to a rack of white dresses, only to be pulled back by the arm.

"No white," Xion warned. "Color only, please."

Naminé pouted and looked at her friend with pleading eyes, but all she got was the cobalt steel of Xion's cold gaze.

"Fine," the flaxen-haired girl sighed, turning to a rack of blue dresses.

A few minutes later Naminé, clad in her first dress, surfaced from her dressing room. The outfit was light red, sleeveless, and ankle-length, with rather revealing slits down the front and along the left side of the skirt, up to the mid-thigh. She hugged her arms to her chest in an attempt to hide what cleavage was showing.

"I think this one's a bit too showy," Naminé muttered, flushing deep crimson at the thought of Roxas seeing her in such an outfit.

"Agreed," Xion remarked. "And what are you blushing about now?"

"Nothing!"

"Roxas?"

"Shut up!"

The second dress was much less informative about Naminé's body. It was a dark grey, also sleeveless, and came down to the blonde's knees.

"Well, this one's too simple…" Xion mused, her eyes flickering up and down the dress.

"I want simple," Naminé declared. "Something with a gazillion layers just isn't my type."

"No it isn't, but neither is something too simple. Try the next one, if you please."

The third dress in the pile was also an evening gown. It came down to slightly below Naminé's knees; the hem of the skirt was multilayered to give the impression of ocean waves. The strap was a triangle connected to a small, ruffled ringlet of cloth wrapping around her slim neck, leaving the dress backless down to the waist, and another pair of straps wrapped around the girl's shoulders. All in all, it was a beautiful (and somewhat complex) example of an article of formal women's wear.

Unfortunately, the color was…

"White?" Xion yelped, leaping to her feet. "How did—"

"How should I know?" Naminé said. She turned around in a full circle. "But I like it."

"No, no, no," Xion groaned. "White does look good on you, but nobody will be wearing that color to the Formal."

"How do you know?" Naminé asked primly.

"White's representative of innocence, of purity," Xion sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Most don't think of high school students as that. People who don't know you might think you're stuck-up."

"Why would I care about what others think of me?" Naminé replied. She recalled Yuna's warning.

Popularity's a stone cold bitch. Don't ever be sucked into it, you hear?

"If you don't want others to make your life miserable, then you should," Xion said. "Plus, we're trying to impress me and Sora's parents, remember?"

Now that was a solid argument; Naminé wasn't going to dress up for only one person this time.

"Good point," the blonde admitted. "But don't you think your parents would appreciate a girl who didn't care about others' opinions of her?"

"Actually, they wouldn't," Xion answered with a small smile. "But the design of that dress is actually pretty good."

"Do you think it's in another color?" Naminé asked.

"Let me ask," Xion said, striding off.

Naminé changed back into her jeans and T-shirt just as Xion returned with a store worker.

"You wanted that dress in another color?" the refined-looking woman inquired.

"Yes, please," Naminé replied.

"We have it in blue, grey, black, and red," the worker said. "Which color do you like?"

The blonde considered it for a moment. According to both her mother and Xion, warm colors didn't go well with her skin, so red was out of the question. Black, too, had never been one of her better clothing shades, and she plain didn't like grey.

"Blue," Naminé said.

"Alright, one second…" The woman returned a minute later with an ice-blue version of the white dress. "Oh, and it matches your eyes, too. Perfect."

Xxx XXX xxX

They were supposed to pick up their dresses the day before Fall Formal. Therefore, the two girls exited the boutique minus what they had just bought AND a crapload of munny.

"There they are," Naminé whispered, pointing at Roxas and Sora, who were lounging on a bench. Sora had apparently dozed off.

"Naminé! Xion!" Roxas shouted, running over to the two girls. "What took you so long?"

She glared at Xion. "That one decided that she absolutely had to try the twenty plus outfits she chose!"

"I'm a girl!" Xion protested, backing away. "I need to know what looks best on me!"

Roxas sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm assuming Naminé told you everything looks good on you?"

"I did," Naminé stated.

"That's just not possible!" Xion said, stamping her feet.

"Why are you trying to reject a compliment?" Sora asked, joining the trio. "Say thank you, idiot."

"Fine, thank you," Xion huffed. "But I still say you two are lying!"

"The cake is a lie!" Naminé murmured, wriggling her fingers.

"You played Portal?" Roxas asked.

"Not me, my older brother."

"Okay…who's your older brother?"

"His name is—"

Then Naminé's eyes narrowed to slits. "Kairi."

"Your brother's name is—?" Roxas raised an eyebrow. Then he realized whom his girlfriend was referring to. "Oh…crap…"

Xion, Roxas, and Sora whirled around to see the redhead, with a group of friends, strolling through the shopping plaza.

"Did she see us?" Xion hissed, pulling her friends behind a nearby tree.

Naminé peeked out from around the trunk. "No, they're actually walking away from us," she whispered. "But it looks like she came here to shop for the Formal."

"So she didn't come here to look for us?" Sora sounded disappointed, but in Naminé's eyes that was justified.

And then her attention was ripped away by a certain heterochromatic female at Kairi's left. "Is that Yuna?"

Roxas stepped out from behind Naminé, squinting slightly. "Yep," he confirmed. He pointed to another brown-haired girl in a yellow sundress, and then a silver-haired girl with red eyes. "That's Selphie and that's Fuu, respectively."

"Guys, why are we spying on them?" Sora asked, pulling both blondes back into cover.

"No idea," Naminé replied.

"Well, I'm going to talk to Kairi," he declared, and before any of them could stop him, Sora was striding towards his former girlfriend.

"This is purely gonna suck," Roxas groaned, clapping a hand over his eyes. "Sora's going to get massacred."

"We have to follow him!" Naminé said firmly, and then she started off after Sora, ignoring the two's frantic warnings. "Come on, you two! We can't just Sora go alone!"

"We're gonna regret this, aren't we?" Roxas muttered as he hurried to his girlfriend's side.

"Meeting Kairi?" Xion cracked her knuckles. "Hmm…"

"I'm having none of that, Xion," Naminé growled as they closed in. "Be on your best behavior, okay?"

"No guarantees about that. Kairi's got to be on her best behavior, if you want her in one piece."

Kairi and Sora were already arguing when the three got close enough to hear them. Yuna, Selphie, and Fuu were just staring at the redhead and brunette, clearly surprised at Sora's sudden appearance.

"—could I at least talk to you?" Sora cried.

"We are!" Kairi retorted.

"Alone, I mean! Away from people you have to put up a façade for!"

Yuna nodded. "Come on girls," she said, waving to Selphie and Fuu. "Let's give these two some space…"

But Fuu stood her ground. "No," the girl said bluntly. "Protect Kairi."

"What on earth would she need protection from?" Selphie demanded. "She's Seifer's girlfriend, for heaven's sake!"

"Him," Fuu replied, pointing at Sora. "Them, too."

Naminé, Roxas, and Xion stared right back into Yuna and Selphie's shocked eyes until the two girls looked away.

"I'd say the only person Kairi needs protection from is you," Xion spat, glaring hatefully at Fuu. "Now go away before I lose control."

Fuu looked once at the traceuse's fiery eyes, then the fearful ones of Yuna and Selphie, and then the warning ones of Naminé and Roxas.

"Leave," she mumbled, walking away.

"You can talk now," Xion growled at Kairi.

"Like I need your permission," the redhead retorted, turning to follow her friends. "And like I'm willing to talk with that loser."

"Kairi, wait—!" Sora grabbed her arm. "No—don't go—!"

"Let go," Kairi said. But her tone wasn't angered and haughty like Naminé had expected, it was pleading…and fearful?

She couldn't possibly be afraid of Sora; he was one of the nicest guys Naminé had ever met.

"Please! Before—"

What the hell? Was she crying?

"Hey, porcupine! What're you doing with my girl?" Seifer, with three of his minions behind him, was storming towards the scene from across the square.

"He's here!" Kairi gasped. Her violet eyes were wide with terror. "Sora, run! Please! I—I don't want you to get hurt!"

"Like you even care," Xion muttered. "And I'm itching for a fight anyways."

"I'm not," Naminé interjected, grabbing the brunette's arm and dragging her away. "Roxas, Sora! Let's go!"

Sora's feet were apparently nailed to the ground he was standing on. "Kairi…" he whispered, apparently oblivious to the incoming Seifer.

"Come on, move it, you moron!" Roxas hissed, waving at the spiky-haired brunette. "Do you want to die?"

When Sora still didn't move the blond gave a huff of frustration and wrapped an arm around the other boy's midsection, pulling him away from Kairi.

The boy finally seemed to wake up. "Kairi!" he yelled, reaching out to the redhead. "I'll—I'll come back to you, I promise!"

Despite Naminé being at least twenty feet away from Kairi by that point, the blonde could somehow hear what the redhead said next.

"I know you will," Kairi murmured. "I love you, Sora. I hope you can still believe me…"

Naminé whipped around in shock at the unexpected statement. She couldn't lip-read, but anyone could've caught the redhead's final words.

"Thank you, Naminé," Kairi mouthed as Seifer's outraged yelling began. "Thank you…for protecting Sora for me…"

Xxx XXX xxX

I think Xion's excuse for not wanting Naminé to wear white was lamer than a three-legged ox, as was the ending.

It took me half an hour to design Naminé's final dress to something I found satisfactory; I hope it looks good to those clothing fanatics out there (no offense intended).

REVIEW. *eyes explode with intensity of glare*

Roxas: Epic fail, SB.

Sb Original: Shut up, spike-head.