AN: Thank you for all those who have reviewed; I'm always paying attention to those.

Keko-the-Hybrid: Thank you for that. For a moment, I was wondering if I should continue or not, but as long as there are people willing to read, I'm willing to write it. I was quite fond of writing the outing that Leona has with her parents. I'm not the best at writing about Regal and Raine, but I do enjoy doing it. Oh, and thanks for pointing out the wall of text in the first chapter, I changed that quickly. That was such a rookie mistake! As a reader myself, walls of texts can be annoying to read. I'll have to keep a sharper eye.

Romina78: Thank you for your honesty. I've been worried about keeping everyone in character. Any suggestion you can give is helpful. Let me know where it sounded awkward, I'll probably change it in the future.

Selene: Well, thanks for reading. Give it a chance, you might like it! Also, I'd suggest reading other RaineXRegal stories before this one. I won't be going into any details about how and why they fell in love, it is simply a fact in this story. The couples in this story have been together for years now and have had children...

Chapter 4: Extravaganza-Part 1

She'd been woken up quite early that day by none other than her father—a rare event in itself, but he had gone to bed noticeably early yesterday. He looked to be already halfway dressed. Groggily she told him that she would be downstairs and ready in thirty minutes and he left her to herself after closing the door behind him.

She knew it was her birthday, but she'd never been woken up this early for it. Was this birthday really that special? She took her shower, dried herself off and commenced to pulling out her dress and everything else she would wear with it. Notable additions were her black stockings and black and red short boots she'd owned already. Her boots had three small golden buckles that were there for show since they weren't detachable. They clicked on hard floors as if she was wearing high heels and they fit her small feet comfortably. She avoided high heels like the plague, she already deemed herself too tall as she was, especially since she was as tall as her mother at this point.

She put on her make-up as well, a dusting of powder, a bit of foundation, some eyeliner to bring out her eyes and blue-green eyeshadow to further do so, then she finished with natural-colored lipstick with a glossy finish. She put on earrings with red hanging rubies and a necklace her father had given her last year for her birthday, a gold Bryant family insignia hanging from it. It had been the first time she'd even seen such a thing—it wasn't an insignia that was plastered everywhere throughout the manor or anywhere at all for that manner, but it was an heirloom passed down to the firstborn at twelve. The gold insignia had hung from a thick chain, but he'd changed it to something more feminine. It was a sigil of intricate design inside of a circle which meant, her father had told her, "to seize power". As a last touch she slipped on her black and red lace fingerless gloves. Her nails were painted the same shade of blue as her hair—she'd done them herself last night and she thought they looked beautiful.

She trudged downstairs and was greeted by her mother who looked only halfway finished with her outfit as well. She began to grow a bit suspicious, but she didn't know what any of it meant. She was informed that she'd be going to the hair salon with her mother. She was a bit confused by this as she'd never done as much for her birthday before.

"Oh, don't worry about it, honey. It's just a formality and between the two of us, we probably couldn't pull off anything too extravagant with your hair," her mother said with a smile.

Her mother did little more than brush her hair, but anything else stylistic with her hair was purely natural and unintentional. Her ends always curled outward on their own. Her father knew how to do a bit more such as braiding and all sorts of different ponytails that could be quite elegant, but anything else besides was beyond him. She had thought briefly about putting curls into her hair…

"But what are you going to be doing, Dad?" Leona asked in her confusion.

"Well," he said thoughtfully, "I'll be decorating."

"All by yourself?" Leona asked, "I want to help too."

"With that dress on?" her father said back.

She looked down at her dress and realized it was a bit constricting and would likely get in the way with its poufy bottom.

"But—

"Don't worry about it," her mother said interrupting her. "Alright, let's go."

"I haven't even eaten anything yet," she said in her realization.

"You'll have time for that later," her father said to her questioning look.

She saw her parents pass a look between them and Leona knew she was being kept in the dark about something. Her mother very nearly dragged her out of the house, but soon enough they were on their way as she rode with her mother on the Rheaird.

Her parents were in an undeniably good mood and Leona thought she at least knew the reason to this—they'd be meeting their friends once again. She understood that they were quite close to their friends as if they were a second family. Her parents had talked about them at length at dinner yesterday and she was ultimately unable to add anything to the conversation. As many times as she'd met them, she hadn't taken the time to remember their faces or personalities. They were complete strangers as far as she was concerned.

At the salon, she was given a book filled with photos of hairstyles to look at and then she finally decided on one she liked—it was nicknamed the curly twirly. Leona found them to be beautiful and natural looking curls, spiral and full volume. She wanted her curly hair to be tied up in the back in a high ponytail with a red ribbon. She spent hours there at the salon and she began to understand why they had started so early in the day. Her hairstylist was all smiles and complimented her more than once on her silky hair and its length—it would be perfect for the kind of curls she wanted.

When she was done, Leona stood in front of a mirror and barely recognized herself. Was that beautiful woman staring back at her truly what she looked like? She was speechless, but her mother helped her and gave the hairstylist her thanks.

"You can freshen up your make-up when we get home again."

In hindsight, Leona probably would not put on her full make-up before going to the hairstylist, but her parents had been so closemouthed about everything so far. Despite everything even she began to feel a bit excited about the day's activities despite being forced to meet so many people. For now, she was simply with her mother who she chatted with casually (failing with getting any real information as to what would happen today out of her).

The first thing she noticed when she stepped inside was the absence of her father and the fact that the house was painfully lacking in decorations—there were none at all. Again she was looking at her mother for a plausible explanation.

"Oh, he probably forgot something and went out to get it. It won't be until later anyway—we still have time."

"So I don't need to put on my make-up again until later," Leona said stubbornly.

"Well, I have a surprise for you," her mother said, it was her first admission to anything out of the ordinary. "Wait for me as I get ready."

Leona couldn't squelch her sense of glee as her mother said this. What exactly was she planning to show her? She went upstairs and reapplied her make-up and then, in an instant, returned downstairs to wait for her mother. Her mother eventually came and she wore a simple blue dress that was somehow sophisticated in its own way. The sleeves were long and sheer and the dress itself flowed down to just past her ankles where blue felt short boots peeked out. It made her white hair appear even more vibrant than usual. She used a headband that wrapped around her head adorned with black roses that pushed back soft white hair. A few tendrils of hair touched her forehead. A few pieces of her hair had been braided likely by her father last night and it gave her long hanging hair a bit more pizazz. She also wore a small white silk purse which likely only had keys, money, and identification. Her mother looked lovely.

They headed out once again. It was worth noting at that moment that the weather was perfect that day. The skies were clear and the sun was bright. The temperature was not too hot and not too cold. She could wear her outfit without having to put on a jacket. It worked wonders on her mood. In that moment, she did begin to feel special if only a little. Today she was thirteen, a young teenager.

Her eyes grew big as their Rheaird began to slow down in front of a large building that had notable, grand white columns in the front. It was the ballroom, the one where important people would have huge parties and invite countless people who they could not possibly know. Her mother was taking her there? They were climbing up large steps and she kept looking at her mother incredulously.

"What in the world?" Leona said aloud, but her mother would say nothing.

She was a few steps in front of her and opened the large double doors that led into the main room. Just like that, she could hear the music. It wasn't anything too loud or raucous at this point, but there was a live orchestral band there playing light music. There were people already there sparsely populated, but there nonetheless and already she had no idea who they were. She did know that they were high-class judging from their clothes. Now her mother turned to her.

"Your father and I have been planning this for a while now. We'd planned initially do something smaller, but word got around about this and people were begging to be invited."

"But…I don't know anyone," Leona argued.

Her mother smiled, "You will in time. It's an all-day affair so you don't have to rush anything nor do you have to get to know everyone."

Leona looked away. "Where's Dad?"

"Making the guests feel comfortable. Let's go see him."

At least they could do that, Leona thought, as they walked through the large, grand room. Was this place supposedly going to be filled with people? It rather frightened her. She couldn't understand why her parents had insisted on such a thing—it was unlike them. They were private people who kept to themselves for the most part. This should have been out of their comfort zone, but they seemed at ease. She wished she could say the same about herself.

The place was well decorated and she knew that her parents probably had not put it up themselves at all. Nothing about it screamed birthday, it was more like a dance that she'd come too early to, but it was all tastefully done. They found her father there in the back room and she was taken aback by his appearance—he looked more dashing than usual, but she couldn't tell what he had done differently. Maybe it was the way the lights fell on him or his pleasant smile which she'd seen a thousand times before. No, that couldn't be it. His tux was almost overly elaborate. His hair was pulled back and tied into its usual low ponytail—the bow he somehow was always able to tie on was white instead of blue…maybe that was it. Whatever the reason, he looked absolutely splendid, but she remembered that she didn't look herself either—she was that woman she'd seen in the mirror. Her father complimented them both upon seeing them. She knew he would do so, but it was embarrassing all the same.

"One of Lloyd's boys is already here," her father said to them both, but mostly to her mother.

"Lucas?" her mother asked.

"I guess you were right," her father said back to her.

He was a middle child, her mother explained to the perplexed Leona of the three sons that Lloyd had with his wife Colette, but there were also two daughters as well. Leona was surprised at just how many children there were. She sighed at the prospects. Was she expected to make an effort to know every single one of them?

"Where is he now?" her mother questioned him.

"Probably near where the band is playing. You know how much he loves music on account of his older brother."

Older brother? Leona thought. It made little difference to her who this Lucas was or what his interests were and especially the reason why that was so.

Her mother smiled at this. "Well, why don't you go and introduce yourself to him," she said to a slightly annoyed Leona.

"If I'm not mistaken, I think I did that before," Leona said crossing her arms.

"It's been a while," her mother said with a shrug. "Go and mingle."

She wanted to stay with her parents, but it seemed as if they no longer wanted her nearby. It saddened her a bit. Were they simply tired of her being around? But she chided herself at even beginning to think such a thing. But still…She wasn't used to the amount of freedom her parents seemed to be giving her. Most days she wasn't allowed out of either of their sights whenever she played outside and she was to remain in the house at all times if she came back from school and neither parent happened to be there (although her mother usually was).

This was her birthday, but this was beginning to feel like the worst one she'd ever experienced. With a sigh, she turned from her parents and moved towards the open door that led into the larger room. On closer inspection, she realized that there in fact were two stages. A smaller one off to the side in which the current band was playing and one grand stage that sat in the front empty and darkened. She could make out decorations there as well—draping gold ribbons strewn on each wall and gold and black helium balloons.

She realized that she hardly knew what this boy looked like and she couldn't remember his age—probably somewhere close to hers. As she walked through the crowd, she felt completely self-conscious. She was by herself and she felt as if everyone was looking at her. A permanent light blush came across her cheeks, but it was camouflaged by her make-up blush thankfully.

She thought she found him when she noticed a boy much younger than the adults nearby casually watching the band play. His hair was starkly blonde—almost as if it had been bleached and he wore a black tux, he already held the jacket in his arms with hands placed in his pockets. His hair was spikey as well and Leona wondered how much gel he must have used to obtain such a style. His undershirt was blue. Overall, his outfit of choice was forgettable as countless others had chosen something similar. He was a little shorter than her and his stance was a bit slouchy. All she could see was the back of his head as she slowly approached. What was she going to say? Hi? Hello, whatchamacallit? She decided she would simply tap him on his shoulder—a fairly intimate thing that she'd seen other people do to the others from afar, but it got the job done and she did not have to recall his name to get his attention. She hesitated when she was just close enough and then tapped his left shoulder quickly.

He turned to look at her a little startled, but his puzzled expression turned into surprise when he saw her.

"Today must be my lucky day," the boy said. "And who might you be, beautiful?"

She felt her cheeks reddening even more. His eyes were a dark blue and they appeared full of curiosity. Eventually her eyebrows furrowed at his response. "Don't you know who I am?"

The boy looked at her a little closer. "Ah, I remember now," his voice sounded a bit deflated. "It's the ice princess. Interesting birthday party your parents are throwing for you."

"Well, it wasn't my idea. They did all this behind my back."

"And you're upset about it?" he asked with a hint of ridicule.

"Not upset just…"

"Tell me, princess—

"I'm not a princess."

The boy grinned at her mischievously. Then she very nearly smacked herself, she'd just given him fuel to continue to annoy her with.

"Tell me, your highness, you wouldn't happen to know the name of a poor old plebeian like me, would you?"

"You're Lucas, right?" Leona said thankful that her parents had mentioned his name and that she'd actually been listening. "And you have an older brother and a younger one. Then two sisters." She was quite satisfied with the other's momentary speechlessness.

"Well, well, that definitely deserves a round of applause. I'd be more impressed if it wasn't so likely someone had just supplied you with all of that information a few moments before."

Now it was Leona's turn to be speechless for a moment. "Th-that's not true! I knew you from before."

"How is that even possible? The only thing you seem good at is ignoring people—and you're really good at it."

Somehow Leona must have rubbed him the wrong way but she couldn't for the life of her figure out why. Maybe it was the obvious reason; she hadn't attempted to talk to him any time before.

"Did your parents put you up to this?" Lucas said in criticizing tones.

Leona perched her lips. "No."

"Right," he said shaking his head.

"Look, I'm sorry for whatever I did before. I'm introducing myself to you now because I've decided to turn a new leaf," she said to him. It was only a half-truth, but it would do for now.

"Oh, is that right," he said with another grin. "Well, good job, you've introduced yourself, you're well on your way to becoming slightly less stuck up."

Leona was shocked by his frankness. "Sorry for not liking everyone I see."

"Aaand you have a long ways to go."

"You know this is my birthday party. I'm the one you're supposed to be treating nicely." She only received a "humph" from him. "And I can have you kicked out if I wanted."

"I doubt anyone would take kindly to kicking out one of the great, selfless Lloyd's offspring."

Leona only stared at him not understanding what he was saying.

"Nevermind," he said with an exasperated sigh, "It's not important. Let's just say it wouldn't make for a good birthday party to kick out your guests."

"Lloyd," Leona said slowly, "I've heard that name before…"

"You probably have. He's in history books and I'm sure you must have been told the story of how two separate worlds were reunified."

"Yes," she said realization coming to her. "Lloyd Irving! I know him."

"No, I know him. You've just heard of him somewhere in a textbook. They make him sound like a saint—not that he's not. Anyways, he's an idiot so is my mother."

"Wait a minute," she said with surprise, "You're that guy's, son?"

"Well, of course, Lucas Irving at your service," he said flashing a smile full of endearing self-confidence.

"But you called him—your father—an idiot."

"He is. The rest of my brothers and sisters have different levels of idiocy as well. As for me, I thankfully dodged a crippling genetic bullet."

"That's yet to be determined."

"I had no idea I needed your recommendation. I suppose I'll be on my best behavior then."

Leona almost found herself rolling her eyes despite not ever doing such things before. He'd turned to look at her, but now he was looking at the playing band as he had before—he must have found more interest there at that point, not that she blamed him. She was getting tired of finding the right words to say to him anyways. She followed his example and stood beside him watching the once orchestral band. Now the music sounded more like jazz. She heard it, but she certainly was not as into it as her new acquaintance whose eyes seemed mesmerized. It was as if he were in some other world.

"So, it must be true what they say about you," Leona said marveling at the other.

"Huh?" he replied barely paying her much attention.

"The fact that you love music on account of your older brother," Leona responded almost saying what her father had said verbatim.

This drew his attention as he glanced at her. "And who told you that?"

"Umm…people," Leona said with a shrug.

Lucas laughed almost fitfully and it caught her off guard. She completely missed the joke and waited for him to calm himself.

"What people, Altamiran Princess? I had no idea I was so renowned here. Or could it be that you often make great strides in visiting my neck of the woods?"

"Alright," Leona said exasperatedly. "I get your point. But it's true, right?"

"Speaking of being the talk of the town, that would be my brother, Linus."

"Is he famous?" Leona asked with surprise.

"You could say that. At this point I think I'll stop expressing my surprise at how much you don't know. It's starting to give me a headache. Anyways, Linus, he's always been into music—and he's always been easy to look up to. You just have to meet him; it's hard for me to explain it well. I bet he can even make someone like you smile."

"So…I've never met him before?"

"Funny thing is he's always managed to miss those annual birthday parties of yours. Nothing against you—it's just something always came up or extenuating circumstances. He'll be at this one, though, that's for sure."

"Oh? And what makes you so certain?"

"You'll see," he said mysteriously.

Leona didn't get it, but she decided not to press for answers. Besides, she wasn't all that interested in the first place.

"They're really pulling out all the stops on this one," Lucas said. He was referring to the current selection of music being played.

"Do you know this band?" Leona asked.

"Never heard of them in my life. Must be local, but that definitely doesn't take away from their obvious skills. Listen."

Leona turned to the stage once again and listened for a few moments. "It's okay. It sounds a bit like racket," she concluded.

"Racket?" Lucas replied flabbergasted. "Close your eyes for a moment."

Leona gave the other an annoyed look.

"Just do it, alright."

"Fine," she said crossing her arms. She closed her eyes despite herself. It wasn't as if she trusted this newfound acquaintance, he could be doing something completely obnoxious unbeknownst to her because of her closed eyes.

"There's a steady tempo," he began, "The drums are the beating heart. Listen to it carefully. Ignore everything else for now."

It took her a moment, but she heard what she assumed were drums. There was a complex rhythm that changed slightly every once in a while, but it eventually repeated itself. It was, in fact, constant and steady. She subconsciously began nodding her head to it.

"Then there's the saxophone. That's the one singing to you, it's desperately trying to tell you something without the use of words. Its voice conveys the most emotion to you."

"I can hear it," Leona said momentarily.

"It has to follow the set tempo, but beyond that, the saxophone can do whatever it pleases. Now there's the piano, the backup singer in this case. It's a free spirit as well held back only by the tempo. Its goal is to compliment the saxophone, enhance its message."

"Yeah," she said agreeing with him, "I suppose I can see that—I mean hear that."

"And all of that is happening simultaneously. If you listen closely, you can hear the bass player as well. Sometimes even a chime."

"That helps…it sounds less like racket."

"It isn't racket," Lucas said back curtly.

Leona opened her eyes and looked at him. "Well, maybe you have a better ear for music."

"I think that fact is painfully obvious."

Leona frowned at the other. "Must you always be so rude?"

"That's ironic coming from the ice princess."

"Not that again," Leona said exasperatedly.

The music that had been playing came slowly to a close and the crowd that had formed around the stage began to disperse. Leona wondered what she would do next. Oh, what she wouldn't give for a nice book and a warm bed right about now. There was no awkwardness she had to deal with and best of all no people.

"I'm bored. Want to go exploring the city?" Lucas said at once to her.

"Um…well…"

"Don't tell me you want to stay here all day."

"No, not really. It's just…I don't know if I'm allowed to leave."

Lucas raised one eyebrow. "Did someone say you couldn't?"

"No…"

"Then there's your answer. C'mon, I want to go outside. Nothing special will happen here for hours."

"And you know that for a fact?"

Lucas shrugged and Leona slowly shook her head.

"And what about the other people that's supposed to come. I'm the birthday girl, but I won't be at my own party."

"We won't be gone forever," he said with a sigh. "Besides if you're talking about the twins and the rest of my brother and sisters, they probably won't be here for a while."

She hadn't been. Instead she'd been looking for some excuse to simply stay there. Something told her that even if she asked her parents if it was okay, they'd be fine with it. Already, they were nowhere to be seen. Seemed like they were desperately trying to give her freedom to do whatever she pleased.

"But why are you here so early?"

Lucas seemed to get a bit defensive when she asked. "What does it matter to you?"

"Oh," she said surprised. "I was just asking. It's not a big deal. Look, I'll show you around the city and then we come back here in a few hours, alright? How does that sound?"

"That sounds like a plan, princess."

This time she really did roll her eyes, but moved in front of him before he could see it. She was glad she'd decided not to wear heels. They weren't ideal for exploring and something told her that she would be doing a lot of it that day. She looked towards the big clock on the far wall of the room they occupied with roman numerals. It was barely even ten o'clock in the morning. Today was going to be a long one…