Good evening, everyone. I hope the beginning of October is serving you well. For me, I'm getting a lucky break in my current career. Starting tomorrow, I'll be co-teaching first grade at an elementary school. So, in order to celebrate it, I've got another update of Kingdom Konvention. I hope you guys enjoy.

Disclaimer: While I have a (plastic) keyblade, the Kingdom Hearts franchise itself belongs to Square Enix and Tetsuya Nomura.

Everyone crowded around one of the beds, each with varying levels of curiosity and excitement. Watching them from where she sat, Namine was a little amused. Combing back her blond hair, she said, "Well, it's good to see you guys are ready."

"Well, mostly," Aqua said with a shrug, staring at her male companions. "Some of the boys here had a bit of a slow start."

"Well, excuse me for enjoying the comforts of my couch," Axel immediately said in response, his emerald eyes showing slight hints of a tired glare.

After a couple of laughs went through the room, Sora asked, "So, Namine, what sort of outfits did you make for us?"

"Well, I did a little bit of research into this world that we've landed in for this convention. It turns out that a lot of the worlds we've been to before are known in this one as movies. So, I thought it would be fun if we dressed up as some of the people we've met." Namine reached over the edge of the bed and pulled up a few bags. "I talked with Aqua and Kairi about who is dressing up as whom, and then Xion helped me in making the clothes. So, just look around in these bags. In each of them are a couple bagged outfits. Your name will be on the bag with your costumes."

As Sora and Ventus immediately tore into the bags, excitement on their faces, Namine turned back to Aqua and said, "Aqua, everything for your costume is already hanging by the bathroom door."

"Thank you, Namine. I'll make sure to take care of your hair first."

"Um, Namine, should we be worried about what you girls are making us wear?" Roxas questioned, looking at his bag as if worried about what he'd find.

Namine shook her head calmly. "Don't worry, Roxas. There's nothing too revealing in these bags. And if you truly feel uncomfortable with what we picked out, I tried to pack extra clothes in my suitcase that you can work with."

Roxas paused, thinking about how he felt about this. After a moment, though, the boy nodded, satisfied with this answer and went to go back to the boy's hotel room to change. Most of the other boys left the room as well, leaving the girls and Riku left in the room. Upon noticing he hadn't left, Kairi asked, "What's wrong, Riku? Are you worried about your costume?"

"No, it's not that," Riku answered, shaking his head. "It's just, I noticed there's no wig in this bag."

"Yeah, that's right. I think Ven is the only one we gave a wig for."

"But, why? I thought that most people wore wigs when dressing up for conventions."

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that, Riku," Namine responded with a soft smile. When she had his and Kairi's attention, the blond girl continued, "It's not just the worlds we've been to that are seen as fictional in this world. Apparently, our adventures were made into a series of video games here. If we don't wear wigs, the others at the convention might just see us as the characters of this 'Kingdom Hearts' series, playing dress-up."

"Oh…" Riku slowly walked out, a slightly baffled look on his face. Honestly, he couldn't help but wonder just what their adventures would look like in a video game, considering what crazy things they had to fight against…

The next several minutes were spent changing into costumes and brushing teeth and hair. Kairi was the quickest out of the girls to be ready and stepped out excitedly. She wore a pretty little blue dress with a big blue bow in her hair. According to Sora, this was a dress that Ariel had worn when she first got her legs in order to meet her prince. The princess of heart beamed even more as she recalled who her two best friends would be dressing up as. Giddily, she thought, 'I can't wait to see Sora dressed as my 'prince'. He'll look great!'

As if manipulated by her thoughts, Sora and Riku popped out of their room in their costumes. While opening the door, Sora was speaking to his friend. "Geez, don't I look spiffy, Riku? I've always wanted to dress up like Prince Eric!"

"I'm happy for you, Sora," Riku responded calmly, humoring his childhood friend as he adjusted his own coat. Riku was dressed in an elaborate blue suit, lined in a golden yellow with a white shirt underneath. It was apparent to Riku that he was meant to be dressed up as Belle's prince, although he and Sora had only known him as the Beast.

Behind him, Sora had come out, wearing a simple white shirt, a pair of pants and a pair of black boots. He smiled, feeling like a sailor, as he prattled on, "If I'm being dressed up as Eric, I bet you anything Kairi is gonna be my Ari…"

Suddenly, he trailed off when he saw Kairi looking towards them, anxious to hear what they thought. Sora gasped and mumbled, "Whoa… Kai… You look great…"

She giggled, happy with Sora's compliment. "Thanks, Sora. Both of you look amazing, too."

Sora gave a gigantic grin while Riku pulled at his pulled-back hair, saying, "Well, that's good, I guess. Honestly, I feel a little strange. This seems a little much for going out, even if it is dress up…"

"Don't worry, Riku. You'll get used to it," Kairi assured.

Stepping in, Sora added, "Yeah! And honestly, you look really great, Riku!" He then turned to Kairi and asked, "Who will be his 'Belle', Kairi?"

Kairi opened her mouth to answer, but was caught off-guard when she heard the door behind her open. Smiling, she decided to answer Sora's question by saying, "Well, why don't you guys see for yourselves?"

Everyone looked and watched Xion step out of the room, her balance a little off as she was still adjusting to her high heels. She wore a poofy, yellow ballroom dress with straps instead of sleeves and a matching pair of ballroom gloves. As the boys marveled at her appearance, Kairi exclaimed, "That dress looks lovely on you, Xion!"

"Perhaps, but I don't know about these heels…" Xion gasped as she nearly missed her step and focused on her balance. "I'm not sure I like how they feel on my fee-ee-eeagh!"

Suddenly, she fell forward, and she would've fallen flat on her face if Riku hadn't stepped into to grab her. Concerned, he asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just need a little time. Give me a few minutes, and I'll get used to these heels." She stood up shakily, holding onto Riku for support. Once she was back on her feet again, the young keyblade master said, "So… You're going to be my Belle, huh?"

"Yeah, well, Kairi said she wanted me to get dolled up, I guess," Xion responded with a small shrug. "Not too sure yellow is my color, though…"

"Well, I-"

"I think you look awesome, Xion! Yellow looks great on you!" Sora interrupted cheerfully, causing Riku to let out a slight sigh of annoyance.

Xion laughed a little nervously before replying, "Thanks, Sora."

Suddenly, the door to the boy's room opened once again. This time, Roxas and Terra stepped out into the hallway. Roxas was pulling at his teal vest, not too comfortable with fabric. Overall, he had the appearance of a rogue: specifically, a rogue named Flynn Rider who Sora had met along with a girl named Rapunzel during their last adventure to face off against Xehanort. With a frown, Roxas said, "What's with these clothes? They feel scratchy."

"You're just thinking too hard, Roxas," Terra told him calmly. While he wasn't fussing with his clothes, he still questioned it in his mind. While Terra himself wasn't familiar with what he was wearing, a couple others would know he was dressed as Prince Philip from the Enchanted Dominion, complete with a red cape to pull it all together.

In response to the older man, Roxas frowned and said, "Thinking too hard? Terra, I'm basically wearing a burlap sack. Whose idea was it to dress me in this?"

Roxas looked out at the others, expecting a response. Instead, his eyes immediately went towards Riku, holding onto one of his best friends in what appeared, to him, as a loving embrace. Darkly, the blond boy scowled and stepped forward before pulling Xion away from him. "Hey, don't get so grabby, alright?"

Riku frowned slightly. He and the others knew that Roxas could be a little protective over Xion. While his memories of their first year together were still a little muddled, it was clear that a subconscious connection was still there. And as such, he was probably acting like this as a way to subconsciously protect her from being hurt again.

Wanting to clear things up, Xion said, "Hey, Roxas, it's nothing, really. He was just helping me get my balance back."

Roxas turned to look at her and gasped a little at her appearance. Momentarily forgetting what he had seen earlier, he said, "You look great, Xion. That's the dress Belle wore, right? I remember Sora told us about that."

Xion nodded quietly, mumbling, "Yes, he did."

Seeing that the situation was under control, the destiny island inhabitants turned to Terra. Giggling a little, Kairi said, "You look dashing, Terra."

"Yeah, well, I don't feel dashing…" Terra mumbled, messing with his cape as he said, "I feel like a bit of an idiot to be honest. I certainly hope Aqua looks better than me, for both of our sakes. With the pattern you girls have set up, I'm guessing she's meant to be my 'princess' this weekend."

Kairi giggled again, causing the boys to give her questioning looks. Seeing how amused she looked, Terra asked, "What's so funny?"

"Oh, you'll see," Kairi responded ambiguously, causing everyone to question what these girls had planned for their weekend.

At that moment, Aqua and Namine exited the room. Namine's hair was braided up, with colorful flowers in her hair, and she wore a simple, lavender dress with sleeves going slightly past her elbows. This outfit was very plain compared to Aqua's extravagant appearance. Upon her head was some sort of hat with two big, black horns attached. Out of all of the women there, she was the only one wearing make-up, with purple lipstick and thick, dark eye shadow. While she still had her pants and tank top on, there were now black arms bands that she wore that went from her shoulders down to her wrists. It looked as if there were more fabric attached, though, that would show if she spread her arms out.

Roxas turned his attention from Xion to Namine as he suddenly smiled, surprised with how she looked. "Namine, you look really cute. I guess if you're my Rapunzel, I don't mind wearing this burlap sack."

Namine blushed and looked down, smiling. "Thank you, Roxas."

"What on Earth are you wearing, Aqua?" Terra asked as he gaped at her. "That doesn't look like any princess I've seen!"

"Yeah," Riku said suspiciously. "In fact, you look more like… Maleficent."

Aqua smiled, looking quite satisfied with herself. "That's right, Riku. I wanted to do my own take on Maleficent. Showing that wicked elegance as well as the hints of a dragon. Watch this."

Suddenly, she spread out her arms, showing that the arm bands had fabric that hung down in the shape of dragon wings. Everyone let out gasps of shock and awe, with Sora going, "Whoa! That is so cool!"

Everyone else nodded in agreement, not expecting any of them to have a costume like this. Calmly, Aqua pulled her arms back and said, "Thanks for the compliment, Sora. And thank you, Namine, for helping me put this together."

"You're welcome, Aqua."

After another moment of thought, Terra realized something and said, "Wait a minute. I thought you girls had a certain pattern set. One of you girls would be a princess, and then get paired up with a 'prince'. If you're going to be Maleficent, Aqua, then that leaves me without a princess. Who's going to be Aurora?"

"Well, actually…"

Interrupting Aqua was a loud opening of the door as Axel burst out of the room, wearing a pinstriped suit of black and white, making him look really ghoulish. With a slightly concerned look, he said, "Hey, guys! Ventus isn't coming out of the bathroom! I think something's up!"

While most of the hallway's occupants looked towards the redhead with questioning looks, Roxas and Xion looked towards their friend with slight intrigue. Voicing their thoughts, Roxas said, "Wow, Axel, that's quite a costume."

Breaking out of his concern, Axel gave a small smirk and said, "Thanks, Roxas. I do make a pretty sexy Jack Skellington, huh?"

While Roxas rolled his eyes at the older man's tone, Xion smiled and said, "Well, you do look nice. But you need to look more like a skeleton. Or at the very least, more Halloween-like."

"Well, as soon as Aqua helps me with the face make-up, I should look more like him."

"Hold it, Axel! Go back to what you were saying earlier," Riku said urgently. "What do you mean Ventus isn't coming out? Is there something wrong with his costume?"

"I don't know, man," Axel replied, running a hand through his hair. "I tried asking, but he just said he wasn't going to come out."

Terra and Aqua stared back at each other with concern before silently agreeing that they had to check on him. So, they went back into the boys' hotel room, with everyone slowly following behind them. Calmly, they approached the bathroom door, and Terra spoke out, "Hey, Ven, are you okay?" No response came, so he threw in, "Do you need some help in there with your outfit?"

"No!" Ventus shouted from behind the door. "Don't come in here!"

"What's up, Ven?" Sora asked from behind Terra and Aqua. "Are you scared the costume doesn't look right?"

"I don't want to come out! I look stupid!"

Curiously, Sora looked over at Kairi and asked, "What did you make Ven wear?"

"Well, we wanted to try something different," Kairi said a little unsurely with a shrug.

"Come on, it can't be that bad," Roxas said calmly. "Seriously, if I can come out wearing potato sack clothing and Riku can come out looking like some pony-tailed pretty boy, you can't look any dumber than that."

It seemed that Roxas's words brought out a reaction, for suddenly, Ventus swiftly opened the door and glared out at everyone, shouting, "Trust me, you can't look dumber than how I look now!"

Ventus's face was beet red with anger and embarrassment, as everyone realized what Ventus was wearing now. As they saw their young friend in an elegant, blue dress with a lighter shade for the v-collar, their earlier question of who was meant to be dressed as Princess Aurora was silently answered. Everyone in the room stared wide-eyed at the strange sight before them for a few seconds before any sort of reaction came out of them.

After a brief pause, Roxas covered his mouth as a stifled laugh threatened to escape him. Axel, however, just burst out into boisterous laughter, bending over as he supported himself against the wall.

"Shut up, Lea!" Ventus shouted back, feeling furious with the taller man's amusement. "I don't think this is very funny!"

Axel took a couple of deep breaths before calming down to say, "Sorry, Ven… It's just… we didn't expect this sort of thing to happen… You have to admit it's a little funny…"

As Axel continued to chuckle, Ventus spent a moment glaring at him before turning his attention to Aqua, who was watching the scene with curiosity next to Terra, who was still standing slack-jawed and wide-eyed. Bitterly, the young boy asked, "Aqua, was this your idea?"

Knowing that he was a little worked up, the older woman said, "Ven, you have to calm down a little-"

"Was it?!"

Aqua let out a sigh and said, "Actually, it was Kairi's. She wanted to have one of you guys cross-dressing so we could have some variety in our costumes."

Ventus, Terra, Riku and Sora all stared at Kairi in surprise for a moment. Quietly, Riku mumbled, "Why am I not surprised that this was her idea?"

Kairi giggled a little bit, smiling mischievously. Ventus, after hearing Aqua's words, marched over to the princess of heart as best as he could, considering what he was wearing. Once he reached her, he said, "Kairi! What's wrong with you?"

"Oh, relax, Ven. This was all in good fun," Kairi said lightheartedly. "You should feel honored. We chose you to cross dress because we didn't think the other guys would be up to the challenge. And it looks like I made the right choice. Honestly, I think you actually look prettier than I do!"

This final comment seemed to switch Ventus's mood from furious to sudden, mind-shattering shock, and then to depression as he backed away and collapsed against the wall, wrapping his arms around his legs. Seeing this caused Kairi to stare back confused for a second. "What happened?" She looked back and forth between her friends and asked, "Was it something I said?"

Riku sighed, and Sora decided to pull her aside. Once they reached the back of the group, he explained, "You see, Kairi, guys don't like to be called 'pretty'. When you compliment a guy on his looks, you call him handsome, dashing, good-looking, even cute is a better word than pretty…"

"Or you can just call them hot or downright sexy," Axel said teasingly, cutting into their discussion.

The two of them, as well as those that heard him (those being Namine, Xion, and Roxas), gave him slight glares. Roxas hit him in the arm, mumbling, "Oh, shut up, Axel."

While this was going on, Terra and Aqua looked back at Ventus, who was still sulking in the corner quietly. Nervously, Aqua mumbled, "I feel kind of bad we made Ven do this..."

Terra, who finally shook himself out of his surprise, nodded and said, "I'll go talk to him, okay?"

Aqua nodded, and after seeing this, Terra went up to Ventus and knelt down so he could talk with him. "Hey, Ven. Relax. I'm sure Kairi didn't mean that. Why don't we get up and sit in a more comfortable place?"

"But Terra, I don't want to go out there," Ven mumbled as he buried his face into his legs. "I can't go out there. What will people say when they see me like this? I look stupid."

Terra sighed, knowing that this boy that was like a younger brother to him was not in the best of moods. It would probably take quite a bit to calm him down. Coming a little closer, he placed a hand on his shoulder and said, "To be fair, Ven, you do pull it off better than most of us guys could. It doesn't look that bad."

"That's the thing, though. I don't WANT to pull it off. I don't want to be seen wearing a dress…"

"Don't think of it like that, Ven. Think of this as…" Terra paused for a moment, thinking of how to complete his sentence, before finishing, "… becoming someone else for a day."

Terra looked down to see Ventus peer up at him from behind his legs. The older man smiled, taking this as a good sign, and decided to keep going with his thoughts. "You see, I think that's the whole point of dressing up at a convention. For at least a day, ordinary people get to pretend that they're someone else and act like they have a more exciting life than they really do." With a slight chuckle, he added, "I guess in our case, we'd be pretending our lives are a little less exciting. For example, Aqua can pretend to be a heartless monster, Sora gets to pretend to be a sailor, and I pretend that I'm a dashing young hero."

Terra smiled back at Ventus, waiting for a reaction. After a bit of a pause, Ventus let out a small chuckle before saying, "Terra, we all have keyblades. We're already dashing young heroes."

"Heh, I'm not really that much of a hero," Terra admitted with a small, slightly hollow laugh as he remembered past memories. Shaking it off though, he noticed the long, blond wig on the counter, no doubt a part of the young boy's costume, and calmly grabbed it as he said, "And you, Ventus, you get to be the real actor here and pretend you're not only a different person, but a different gender."

Gently, he placed the wig over his friend's head and said, "And I know you can pull it off. You've pulled off more incredible things than this before. The fact that I'm here with you all is proof of that. So, what do you say? Are you willing to give it a shot?"

Ventus looked back at his friend a little nervously, keeping his lips in a thin frown as he thought over Terra's words. After a while, he eventually sighed and replied, "Fine, I guess I can try. But only for today, okay?"

As he stood up, Terra followed suit and said, "Fair enough. I'm sure no one will mind, so long as you're joining us today." Turning back to everyone else, he said sternly, "Isn't that right, guys?"

One by one, everyone nodded and agreed not to push Ventus about this, with Namine saying, "Thank you, Ventus. I really appreciate it."

Looking back at her, Ventus sighed before making a small smile. "No problem. I know you worked hard at making these. Sorry for making such a scene."

"I don't know. I think it was kind of warranted," Riku mumbled quietly to himself so others wouldn't hear.

Happy to see her friend feeling better, Aqua came forward and said, "Come on, Ven. I'll make sure your wig is on properly."

Ventus nodded and went out to the door leading to the hallway. While he cautiously peeked out for anyone outside, Aqua turned back and said, "You come along too, Lea. I need to make sure your make-up gets done."

"Yes, ma'am," Axel responded in a mock salute before walking out, taking Ventus with him as he quietly assured the boy that he would be his shield in the hallway.

"We'll wait for you downstairs, Aqua," Terra told her. "I'll try to make some plates for the three of you."

"Thanks, Terra."

Seeing that everything else was taken care of, Aqua left to go back to her room to take care of Ventus and Axel. Everyone else began to make their way down to the first floor, looking forward to eating and getting their day started properly.

And now, we've reached the end of another chapter. So... Is it weird to say that this whole fanfiction got inspired because I wanted to put Ventus in a dress? I blame last month's trailer for Kingdom Hearts 2.8 for that. It was already bad enough that certain moments in Birth by Sleep have caused me to jokingly call him an "honorary princess of heart", but after that trailer, and one particular moment for the 0.2 gameplay (those of you that saw the trailer may know what part I'm talking about), I'm convinced that Square Enix wants the crossdressing fanarts and fanfics to happen.

So, I think in one of the next two chapters, our cast will finally leave to get their badges and begin exploring the convention. I hope you all look forward to it. Thanks for reading today's update.