I'll be leaving for about two weeks tomorrow, so consider this my parting gift to you.

Kairi: "It's the usual heaping of senseless fluff before things go crazy."

Thank you Kairi…

Kairi: "Anytime! DarthKingdom doesn't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Square Enix or anything else he feels like using."

!

Chapter 80: The Ball

The team appeared in a lush, thick forest. From what Sora could see beyond the canopy overhead, it was night time. He moved a little farther into the clearing they had landed in, and a glance up into a break in the trees confirmed his suspicion.

It was a peaceful little scene. Nearby, a dirt path wove through the forest, and Sora thought he knew where it led.

"Beautiful place." Kairi commented, linking her hand with Sora's. It was such a habit by now that she barely even realized that she had done it.

"Yeah, trees, nice." Axel commented absently on the other side of the clearing, lighting a small twig on fire out of boredom.

"Can't you ever just appreciate the silence?" Riku asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm a pyromaniac. Got it memorized?"

Goofy leaned in toward Sora and whispered, "Maybe we should get going to the castle."

"Before Axel sets half the forest on fire!" Donald added.

"C'mon guys!" Sora told the group at large. "Let's get going, it looks like it might rain." And indeed, there were a few clouds, but he didn't honestly believe that they would prove to be a problem.

So the ten of them left the clearing, and set off down the dirt path that Sora had noticed. He only had a general idea of where they were going, but Donald and Goofy agreed with him that they were going in the right direction of the castle.

So naturally, they got lost, and arrived at the castle gates fifteen minutes after Kairi turned them around.

The Beast's castle looked much different from when Sora, Donald, and Goofy had last seen it. Its dimensions and general architecture looked the same, but the outside was totally different. The black and grey stones had turned to pure white, and the roof tiles were a pleasant shade of red. The gargoyles had been replaced with angels, cherubs, and other similar statues.

There were two plausible explanations: The first was that the Beast had called in a new personal decorator, but Sora doubted that.

"The curse was lifted!" Donald voiced Sora's thoughts.

"Sweet!" Sora punched the air. The Beast had become the Prince again.

In front of the castle gates were a few carriages, their owners absent, and their horses still bridled there, braying lazily. The castle was all lit up tonight, warm lights shone from almost every window, and the large oaken doors were ajar, spilling more warm light into the courtyard.

"Is there a party going on or something?" Riku asked, gazing up at the castle.

"I can sense plenty of people in there." Nehrut said. "Must be."

"Why is it that we always get here at these times?" Sora asked Donald and Goofy with an edge of irritation in his voice. The last time, they had accidently walked in on Beast and Belle's private dance party.

"This will be fun then!" Kairi said, beaming. She looked at Sora. "You know, we never really did have a proper first date."

It was true enough. In the month after they had gotten together, they had never gone to a movie, dinner, or anything totally alone. The closest they had gotten to a date was the quiet time they had spent alone together on the islands (more often than not, at their beach where they had spent so much time as children).

But neither of them minded this at all. They had each other, and that was more than enough for them.

"Sora dancing..." Nehrut pondered this. "You know, somehow I can't picture it."

"With good reason." Riku said, chuckling. "There was a school dance once, and when he tried to ask Kairi to dance, he fainted!"

"I did not!" Sora's face was beat red.

"You did, but at least you got back up before everyone could panic." Riku was enjoying this. "Then, when they actually started dancing, he was so freaked out that he stepped all over Kairi's feet and fainted again."

"It's not like either of you can dance any better!"

"In case you never noticed, I danced with five girls that night." Yuffie raised her eyebrow questioningly, and Riku caught himself quickly. "None of which were half as beautiful or interesting as Yuffie."

"Good boy." She said, smiling, and patting him on the head as if he were her pet dog.

"And I was raised alongside royalty." Nehrut said. "I've been dancing since I was five. Watch me tonight and see if I'm lying."

"Who are you dancing with?" Axel smirked.

Nehrut paled, and glanced at Bariss, who was blushing brighter than Sora.

Before either Sora or Nehrut could receive any more ribbing about dancing, a single man pushed one of the castle doors open wider, and stepped out into the night. The man was holding what appeared to be a clipboard in one hand.

He was very thin looking, but was by no means unhealthy. He had ginger-colored hair, tied back into a pony tail. He wore a brown vest over a pale yellow shirt with golden cuffs. His trousers were also gold, and he had a bright yellow neckerchief.

When he got closer, Sora finally realized that he knew the man's face. Although the last time he had seen it, it had been on the front a candle.

"I am terribly sorry, monsieurs and mademoiselles, I was under the impression that all of the guests had already arrived!" He said in a warm French accent that seemed perfect for him. He hadn't looked up from his clipboard as he spoke, and was approaching them at the gate at a rapid rate. "If I could just have your names..."

"Aw, c'mon Lumiere, don't you recognize me?" Sora asked with mock hurt in his voice, grinning.

The former candelabra maitre d' looked up immediately at the sound of the familiar voice. He beamed widely, and tossed the clipboard away. "Sora, mon ami!" He strolled quickly toward the gates, pulling a golden key from his pocket to unlock them. He opened them up wide, and immediately crushed Sora in a friendly embrace. "A pleasure as always, to see you again, my young friend!"

"Thanks! You look great."

"You are too kind." His eyes travelled across the others in the group. "And I see that you've brought more guests along with you this time!" He caught sight of Donald and Goofy and gave them both a warm hug as soon as he did.

So, Sora introduced his friends as he had on the other worlds they'd revisited, and one by one, Lumiere would either embrace the men as if they had known each other all their lives, or give the girls gentlemanly pecks on the hand. When he finally got to Kairi, a little twinkle came to his eye.

He turned around to Sora again, "So this is the young lady that you've been searching for!" He turned back to Kairi, and kissed her hand. "Welcome to our humble castle, madame."

"I take it that you will be courting this young lady to our little party tonight, Sora?" He asked, putting an arm around the teenager's shoulders.

"He'd better be." Kairi said coyly, smiling at Sora flirtatiously.

"And of course, I am sure that our master would love the company of the rest of you as well!"

After some general assent, they all agreed.

"Splendid!" Lumiere said, clapping his hands together excitedly. "If you'll just follow me, I'll ensure that you all receive proper dancing garments."

"What's wrong with what we're wearing now?" Axel asked.

"That's got to be the stupidest question you've ever asked." Nehrut said, yanking the ex-Nobody's red hood over his head.

Roxas and Namine appeared, hand in hand. "Actually, he's asked stupider ones, believe me. 'How do you spell 'flower?''"

Lumiere seemed quite surprised at the sudden arrival of two new guests. "Lumiere, this is Roxas and Namine." Sora introduced.

"Hope you don't mind, but Namine and I have never had a first date, either."

They all walked into the main hall of the castle, and soon discovered that the inside had changed in similar fashion to the outside. It was brighter and considerably more cheerful in here compared to the last time that Sora had been here. He could see three other people in the hall, conversing near the center of the room.

The first was a pudgy man with scrawny arms wearing a brown suit and pants. The ends of the sleeves and the suit jacket were gold. Hanging from his neck was a white neckerchief and a gold pocket watch. He had a large face, and small eyes. He had reddish-brown hair, and a very long, thin mustache.

The second was an older woman with a kind face, and white hair topped with a pink bonnet. Her dress was the same color, but was covered by a long, white cooking apron tied at the back.

And the final person stood much shorter than the other two. He was a small boy that was probably only around the age of seven. He had messy blonde hair that refused to stay combed as is custom with all little boys. Whenever his lips parted, one could see that he had a chipped tooth.

The butler, Cogsworth turned around when he noticed that Lumiere had returned with the late arrivals. "Ah! Sora, it's a pleasure to see you again, as always!"

"Mrs. Potts!" Lumiere ushered the woman over to his side. "Would you please see to it that our lady guests are adequately dressed for tonight's events?"

"Oh I'd be delighted! Right this way, dearies..." When only Kairi, Yuffie, and Bariss followed her in the direction of the east wing, she tittered and looked at the transparent Namine. "Oh come on dearie, don't be shy now!"

Namine looked a bit uncomfortable. "Um, I can't exactly change into anything else."

Roxas gave her hand a gentle squeeze. Not for the first time, Sora's heart went out to the two Nobodies who deserved so much more than what they had now.

So, the boys and girls were separated into two groups momentarily, with the boys being ushered into a nearby room by Lumiere. Almost immediately, the maitre d' was piling different suits on top of them to try and wear, and shoving them into side rooms for a bit of privacy. Everyone was soon decked out in new clothing except for Mickey, Donald, and Goofy, for which the castle staff had no sizes.

Neither of them were particularly put off by this though, and assured him that they would be able to survive a ball without new clothing.

After trying on several different suits, tuxedos, and shirts, they were finally set. It had taken nearly fifteen minutes with all of Axel's complaints.

"I don't know why you're complaining." Sora said, aggravated, tugging nervously at his dark red cuffs. "You can actually pull off the suit look."

"Yeah, I do make this look good." He admitted, admiring one of his scarlet cuffs. "But this stupid neckercheif is too much." He pulled it out of its place and put it into his inside pocket.

"Well, it is not necessary anyhow. And in any case, that is a cravat." Lumiere waved it off. "But the point is that now you are all perfectly dressed for a night of dinner, dancing," He put a hand on Sora's shoulder and winked, "And for some of us, amour."

Sora gulped nervously, and adjusted the neckerchief –cravat-, suddenly not being able to breathe so well.

Lumiere led him, Axel, Riku, and Nehrut back into the hall, with all of them except Axel looking a bit nervous. Despite the fact that Riku and Nehrut were both good dancers, the prospect of dancing with Yuffie had made the older Keybearer nervous. And the prospect of possibly dancing with Bariss was had brought back those familiar bees that the latter had first known at Christmas Town.

Roxas was grinning at them, and trying to restrain his laughter at their expressions. Namine had a similar grin. "Relax, guys. You look just fine."

This only did a little bit to encourage them, but now it was too late. Mrs. Potts was finally ushering the three girls into the hall. The guys' jaws dropped.

Kairi was in a long, pink dress with a front that cut off around the knees, showing the front bottom part of her legs. It hugged her body in all the right places, emphasizing her swaying hips. She was wearing heels for the first time in Sora's memory. The dress's sleeves were long, and cut in two where one could see the outer part of her arm. A small, silver headband adorned her brow.

Yuffie wore a slinky black sleeveless dress with a v-shaped neckline. It had open seams about ten inches below the waist, (tastefully) exposing the outer skin of her legs. She wore a thin, short black shawl on her shoulders, with a silver flower pattern on one shoulder. Riku noticed that she still had her black headband on. Apparently Mrs. Potts hadn't been able to get it off. She had a rose in her hair, tucked behind her ear, and that brought a smile to his face.

Bariss was still wearing dark green. Her dress was longer than the other girls' and brushed across the floor. It had only one left sleeve, which actually went past her hand. On her upper right arm, there was now a shiny green and gold armlet she had apparently just gotten. Her hair had been pulled down into a long braid.

Neither of their guys realized they had been staring with drool pouring from their open mouths until they were right in front of them.

Kairi smiled at Sora. "How do I look?"

He had to take a few moments to catch his breath, and peel his eyes away from her dress to her face. "You look..." And he suddenly realized that 'beautiful' wouldn't even begin to cover what he was thinking right now. He had just fallen in love with her all over again. After searching his vocabulary for something that could even come close, he finally decided on, "Angelic."

Apparently, Kairi was happy with this choice of words, because she reached up and kissed him gently, caressing his cheek with her hand. So he returned the favor, and placed his hand on the small of her back. He was momentarily surprised when he felt Kairi's tongue probing at his lips. He allowed her entrance immediately.

Riku was unaware of this, his aquamarine eyes were caught in Yuffie's brown ones. She had asked him the same question that Kairi had asked Sora, and was waiting patiently for a response, with a playful smile on her face. At last, he said, "You look amazing."

"Is that all?"

He gulped, and quickly changed the word to, "Stunning."

"That's better." She said, smiling wider. She pulled his face down to her level, and placed a quick peck on his lips. But he wouldn't settle for just that, and the quick peck became a full-blown kiss.

Bariss had stopped in front of Nehrut, not really knowing what to expect, though secretly hoping that she would receive a similar compliment.

Perhaps he had sensed it, because after a few frozen moments, where they just stared at each other, he finally said, "You look great."

The second the words left his mouth, he was blushing, but not quite as bright as Bariss was. Both of them failed miserably to hide it, which made Mickey and the bachelors in the room chuckle.

"Thanks." She said, her eyes focused on the floor.

"This way, please." Cogsworth said, ushering them up the flight of stairs that led to the grand ballroom. He cracked the doors open, and took a quick peek inside, and then looked back at them. "When I announce you, would the four couples please come in in pairs?"

Nehrut was about to voice that there were only three couples present, when he realized that Bariss was right next to him. They glanced at each other, and Nehrut awkwardly offered her his hand. She smiled shyly, and took it.

Cogsworth walked through the doors, and they heard his voice soon after. "Announcing Keyblade Master Sora, Princess Kairi, and guests!"

"'Guests?'" Riku repeated, but they were already walking through the doors, which Lumiere and Cogsworth had opened.

"Enjoy the party!" Lumiere whispered to them as they passed.

The ballroom was a gigantic room about the size of the audience chamber at Disney Castle, but roughly oval-shaped. It was all gold. There were rows of columns along the sides of the room, with blue banners stretched across them. They stopped at the far side of the room, where more than a dozen tall windows stretched high to the ceiling. The nighttime landscape could be seen far and wide through those windows. A painting of what could have been Heaven was painted on the ceiling, from which a gigantic, gold chandelier hung.

It was exactly as Sora remembered it, and it brought a smile to his face.

The ballroom was filled with a few dozen people, either dancing or talking. But every eye had turned toward the newcomers when Cogsworth announced their arrival. A few applauded (the few who actually knew any of them by reputation), but most simply went back to their business.

They walked inside, and Cogsworth shut the doors behind them. They were soon all approached by a smiling couple that Sora actually knew.

The woman was very thin, with red-brown hair that was partially in a bun. The rest spilled down over her shoulders. She had bright, hazel eyes. She wore a yellow dress with a full skirt made for dancing, and long dress gloves of the same color.

The man escorting her was about a head taller than her. He had a handsome face, and long light red hair which had been tied back into a pony-tail. Sora wasn't familiar with either of these features, but he easily recognized his bright blue eyes, and the re-tailored blue and gold suit the man was wearing.

"Sora!" The former Beast greeted him in a voice that wasn't even recognizable. He walked directly toward him, and crushed him in a tight hug which Sora returned with one arm (the other was still wrapped around Kairi's).

Belle walked up to the Prince's side, and embraced him, as well, though this time Kairi was also a part of it.

"How are you guys?" The Prince asked, looking Sora up and down.

"Doing okay, Prince..." It suddenly occurred to Sora that he didn't know the Prince's real name, and shocked him that he had never even asked. He cast a glance over at Donald and Goofy, who also appeared to be drawing a blank.

"Adam." The Prince said, catching onto their train of thought, and smiling a bit. "My name is Adam."

"I knew that."

Adam laughed, and it was such a heart-warming sound that the depressed, brooding Beast Sora had met at Hollow Bastion wasn't at all visible in him at that moment. Sora noticed Belle glance at him lovingly.

"Well, we're very happy to have you all here." She said, beaming at them. "Just make yourselves at home, dance a little!"

"We can get down to business later, can't we, Your Majesty?" Sora asked Mickey hopefully.

The mouse looked a bit uncomfortable for a few seconds, before finally giving in, and saying with a smile, "Oh alright. You guys have earned a bit of a treat after all this time."

"Glad to hear it. I'll be over at the food table for the rest of the night trying to chat up some ladies." Axel said casually, and walked in the direction of a long table adorned with some delicious looking food at one side of the room.

"That's the spirit." Roxas said, rolling his eyes. As Mrs. Potts began to play a slow tune on the piano in the corner of the room, he squeezed Namine's hand, and smiled at her. "Care to dance, milady?"

She rolled her eyes at him, and walked with him to the center of the room. A few of the other guests seemed surprised to see a pair of informally dressed, semi-transparent teenagers dancing in their midst, but said nothing.

Without a word, Kairi pulled Sora to the center of the room, and Sora's nerves began to return to him as they reached a spot near Roxas and Namine, who were dancing with a surprising amount of grace to the music.

Kairi apparently sensed his nerves, because she turned her head and smiled at him reassuringly. And just like that, he wasn't nervous anymore.

They stopped near the center of the room, and Kairi turned back around to face him fully. She took his left hand, and placed it on her waist. She put her own hand over it. Then she took his right hand in her left. Sora was surprised to find that his nerves had completely disappeared. He was in good hands, and he knew it.

And so, they danced.

Unlike the unfortunate school dance that Riku had so kindly brought up, they were both completely comfortable. Kairi steered, guiding Sora around the dance floor. They moved very little at first, while Sora got used to the beat of the song, and the rhythm of the dancing.

Then, they were moving more. Their movements were wider, more graceful, and beautiful. Before long, they were both comfortable with the dance, circling slowly across the dance floor in time to the music.

All the while, they smiled at each other, paying absolutely no attention to anything else around them. They were lost in each other, as though they were the only ones in the ballroom. Kairi leaned in to Sora, and brushed her lips against his.

They were falling in love all over again.

"So how am I doing?" He asked her.

"Not bad... But then again, you do have somebody to make you look good."

"That hurts, Kairi. That really hurts." He said, with mock sadness in his voice.

She giggled. "Well, let me make it up to you." She pressed her lips against his, and the two stopped their dance as the song came to its close.

Over on the side of the main dance floor, King Mickey sighed, and smiled at the two young lovers.

"To be that young again, huh guys?" He looked at Donald and Goofy.

"They sure do look happy over there, huh?" Goofy hyucked. "Good for them."

Mrs. Potts started playing another song with a slightly slower tempo. Riku and Yuffie joined Sora and Kairi on the dance floor accompanied by Adam and Belle.

Axel was still at the food table, holding a glass of wine in one hand and leaning against one of the columns. He looked over at Nehrut and Bariss, who were standing with each other not far away from him. Both looked slightly uncomfortable.

The former Nobody sighed in exasperation. He held up his free hand, and snapped his fingers.

Nehrut's shoe began to smoke slightly. Nobody else noticed, but it was enough to get his attention. The psychic did a little spastic sort of leap backwards, and turned around to glare at Axel.

The pyro nodded meaningfully toward Bariss, who had her hands folded behind her back, and was looking a little lonely. Nehrut looked at her back, and gulped. All of his confidence he had felt earlier seemed a distant memory now. But he nodded to himself, and walked toward her.

Axel smiled in satisfaction, and Mickey caught his eye. "Sometimes you've gotta drop a hint or two."

The King nodded in agreement.

Nehrut tapped Bariss gently on the shoulder. When she turned around, he held out his hand. "May I have this dance?"

Bariss smiled. But this time, it wasn't exactly her usual shy, slightly embarrassed smile that usually came up in these kinds of situations. It was slightly...

Flirty?

Whatever it was, she took his hand, and said, "I'd love to."

He squeezed her hand gently, and led her onto the dance floor. He tentatively placed a hand on her waist, and took her free hand in his own. He gave it a gentle squeeze as they started dancing.

As they danced, Bariss kept looking uncomfortably at her own feet. Catching the hint, Nehrut slowed down their dancing, allowing her to become totally comfortable. "I've never really danced before." She admitted, embarrassed.

"You're doing great."

"Why do I get the feeling that you're only saying that because I could snap your neck like a tooth pick right now?"

"I'm not, and you wouldn't do that."

"Nah." Perhaps intentionally, perhaps not, she moved closer to Nehrut, to where they were only about an inch apart. "It'd be a shame to ruin that tux..."

Nehrut chuckled.

Back near the food table where the King and his friends were congregated, Lumiere smiled. "Ah... amour." Perfectly timed, one of the castle's maids (a slim, dark haired young woman named Babette) walked right past him holding a feather-duster. She tickled the end of his nose with it as she walked past, sending him a suggestive smile over her shoulder.

A lustful look and a big grin appeared on his face, and he ran after her.

Yes, it was all good fun. But less than an hour later, the party would come to a sudden, unexpected end.

!

Heh… Well, I'll see you at the end of July!

Please review!