The five friends went through the doors of (at least for Sora) the familiar castle. Better inside than outside. It was snowing and frigid and they were all still dressed for clear and sunny. Inside they were met with an explosion of color, deluge of aromas and deafened by joyous talk, laughter and the shuffling of hundreds of people. Some kind of party was going on. The entrance hall was full of people in fine vests and flowing gowns. Immediately they felt very much out of place. Like being dressed for casual Friday at a wedding. But at that moment Sora didn't care as he pointed out Belle at the base of the stairs. She was wearing a beautiful burgundy and gold gown with ruffles at the elbows and greeted guests at the side of a tall gentleman in a well-tailored blue and gold jacket and waistcoat.

Belle saw Sora first and lit up like star. She tapped the arm of the man next to her and when he saw what had gotten her attention, he lit up too. They met them halfway across the room. Sora was about to say hello and introduce his friends when-

"Sora!" Without warning the man strode over and embraced him like a long-lost brother. "It is wonderful to see you again!"

"Well, I-uh!" Sora didn't want to appear rude.

"I'll understand if you don't recognize me."

Sora looked up between him and Belle, who was smiling like she had a secret. Unsure how, it clicked.

"Whoa-wait! You're the-?!" Both he and Belle laughed at his astonished look. "The curse was broken! And you're all-so does that mean-?" Their smiles of confirmation were answer enough. He should have guessed as much on his own. Why have a huge party when your hosts were candlesticks and a wardrobe?

Once the astounded phase ended Sora introduced his friends. Kairi remembered both of them from their time in Hollow Bastion when the prince was still the Beast. He took her hand with a gentlemanly bow, saying how he was glad to see she was alright. Riku had been standing in the back of the group. A prickle of dread filled Sora when he came forward. The encounter between Riku and the Beast at Hollow Bastion had been less than friendly. But Riku only extended a hand.

"Bygones?"

The prince looked at him for a moment then smiled and shook on a wordless understanding.

Belle insisted they stay for the party, which, come to find out was the first annual Christmas party since the spell was broken. The prince didn't give them any chance to comment to the contrary. He waved and a paunchy man in a red coat and pencil-line mustache came jogging as fast as he could. Sora tried to withhold his astonishment upon learning it was Cogsworth. Of course it didn't take long after Cogsworth made his enthusiastic greetings to Sora did the commotion get Lumiere's attention. Then Mrs. Potts. Then Chip came running through with his dog. A moment later a pretty blonde woman with short hair in a pale blue-gray dress tugged at Lumiere's arm asking why she hadn't been introduced yet. He introduced her as Angelique, the castle decorator. It was because of her the party looked so festive.

Belle and Lumiere took the friends upstairs, boys on the left and girls on the right. Kairi and Rachel were excited giggles the whole time.

"So where're we going?" Bryan asked.

"Well you can't expect to attend such a prestigious party without being properly dressed, no?" Lumiere said with a hearty chuckle. "Come, come!"

A while later, longer than any of the boys thought it would be, Sora, Riku and Bryan barely recognized themselves. Never had they dressed formally before and the transformation was astonishing. They stood side by side next to a large mirror, turning and looking themselves over at every angle.

"I don't know about you guys," Sora said. "But we make this look good."

Bryan and Riku were in full agreement. Lumiere, with the assistance of a butler, decided on what the boys should wear. Oddly enough, none of them thought the dress shoes were all that uncomfortable. Lumiere insisted Sora be in something festive but simple, otherwise intricate attire with his aloof hair would just look ridiculous. So Sora wore a Christmas red and green vest and breeches with gold threading at the edges of the collar and sleeve cuffs.

Riku was put in light blues and silver-grays, much like his costume in Christmas town. Sora thought it made him look too pale and brought the focus to his sharp blue eyes in a strangely intense way. Frost-like white threading adorned the back of the vest and the sleeves from the elbow down. The butler insisted on doing something about his hair and would not be put off. The best he could was to pull it back with a light blue ribbon. Sora gave him the oddest look to see him with his hair so different. Or maybe it was just because he had an unobstructed view of his friends eyes now.

Bryan was going to go out in all black with a red and blue undershirt. But when Angelique knocked to see if the boys were ready, she wouldn't hear of him wearing such dreary colors at a Christmas party. So he switched to a dark navy vest with such bright gold trim it looked as though it could have actually been real melted gold spun into fabric. She went a little aggressive trying to comb down Bryan's hair but did manage to tame the tumbleweed a little. Angelique then hurried off to see if the girls were ready.

As special guests and old friends they earned the honor of being properly and formally announced as such. The party had moved into the ballroom while they were dressing so everyone would come down the grand staircase when Cogsworth announced them. They would come down in pairs. Sora with Kairi and Riku with Rachel. Bryan would go down with Angelique since he was the odd-man-out and would look odd if he weren't accompanied by a lady, at least until he joined the crowd. So Bryan went down first. Belle and the prince were at the base of the staircase to respectfully bow to their guests. Sora and Riku stood at the top of the stairs waiting their turn. Yeah, they recognized the honor but that was a lot of people down there! Although that didn't seem to matter that much when their girls came through the door on their side of the stairs. Sora and Kairi were announced and went down the stairs at about the same pace.

She continued to favor pink as she had been for weeks. Her dress was of simple design and solid pink, but not so bright it clashed with her off-red hair. Her hair had been pulled back behind her ears with several pearly hairpins shaped like butterflies. It wasn't really long enough to do much else with, especially on such short notice. Her jewelry included a necklace of tiny pearls with a pink jewel as a charm, a pink pearl bracelet on her left wrist and a simple white-gold tiara. The dress was sleeveless but her shoulders were not bare. A ruffle of shimmery iridescent white material went across her shoulders, chest and back. Another strip of material of the same white outlined her waist and from it, draped a fine sheer-white silk that rippled and shimmered each time she took a step.

Then Cogsworth announced Riku and Rachel. Riku was barely aware of his legs moving as he went down the stairs. Yes, he'd seen Rachel in a dress before but not like this. What he saw left him in awe.

Like Kairi, her dress wasn't poofy like a ball gown, of simple cut and design and a dark powder blue. Very different from her usual lavender. Her hair had been pulled up in a small bun and the rest flowed loosely across her shoulder. It was tied up with silver and had sky blue sparkly silk hanging from it. A small blue, jeweled and pearled flower was clipped over her left ear and her bangs were combed over to the right. Her dress was also sleeveless and her shoulders were bare, only to draw attention to the fine silver chain and teardrop shaped pendant around her neck. A ring of white silk sewn into the shape of roses lined the top her dress with a single magenta rose in the center. A tiny 'cape' of the same blue silk in her hair tie was sewn in beneath the line of roses.

They stopped on the platform beneath the two stairs. Riku hoped she wouldn't say anything to him. He felt like he had a lump in his throat the size of a walnut. Rachel looked him over and smiled. Apparently she liked what she saw. Part of her smile eased the lump and made him feel less tense. The rest was the pale blush and slight tremble of her hand as he took it after they bowed and curtsied to each other. She was just as nervous as he was. Oddly though there really wasn't a reason why. It wasn't like they were at a wedding or anything.

Everyone joined in the party. Many guests were curious how so many kids so young knew the hosts well enough to be announced like nobility. Music started shortly thereafter and about half the people paired up to dance. Bryan was fair game for all the eligible young women since he didn't have lady friend on his arm. Sora blamed it on the mustache that made him look older and more mature than he really was. Rachel gave her brother the same knowingly-leave-you-to-the-wolves smile she'd given him years ago at Mermaid Lagoon. He returned the same I-shall-exact-my-revenge glare he had then too. Some of the ladies gave Kairi and Rachel jealous glances and others giggled if the boys happened to glance their way. Riku saw the girls batting their eyelashes at him but was too acutely aware of the heat of Rachel's arm wrapped around his own to pay it more than a seconds thought. Only he did feel a stab of horror when Rachel said she'd like to dance.

"I don't dance." He said promptly.

"So? Neither do I."

"I barely know how."

"I don't really know either. All you gotta do is lead."

"Oh sure, is that all? Blind leading the blind?"

"Kinda, yeah."

"We'll look like idiots."

"Just imagine two bejeweled flamingos trying to waltz. That's what we'll look like and we'll make it look good."

Riku laughed out loud. The things she said sometimes. But she was right. On a dance floor the only two things that matter were the partners and the music. So the guests would see two young adults who barely knew how to dance take a stab at it anyway and have fun doing it. What the heck? Why not? Riku did his best to ignore Sora and Kairi snickering. Then again, it didn't take long before they too were on the ballroom floor doing some kind of shuffle that sort've resembled a waltz. It surprised Riku that dancing wasn't all that hard. After watching experienced dancers for a while he felt he got the idea pretty well. Not good enough to give lessons or anything by any means but at least he and Rachel weren't looking at each other's feet or stepping on them a lot.

But for saying she wasn't good at dancing Riku felt like he was about as graceful as a tree trunk and Rachel was the leaf floating on the breeze. Maybe she was just having more fun than he was so it was just a matter of perception. Still, he couldn't stop marveling at how beautiful she looked. But every time he thought about saying something his voice mysteriously disappeared.

"My girl for yours?" Sora and Kairi swirled around close to them. They stumbled and laughed a lot but were having a wonderful time.

"Best stick to a partner who's isn't taller than you." Riku countered.

Sora made a motion and sound like he'd been stabbed in the heart and Kairi laughed.

The music slowed down and a young woman in a bright red and gold dress stood in front of the musicians. In a clear, ringing operatic voice she sang an aria about two star-crossed lovers reunited under the stars on a crisp winters night. The notes were hypnotically haunting but beautiful.

"She was amazing!" Rachel said. The music picked up its usual tempo after she finished and everyone resumed their dancing. "It was like hearing the chimes of a crystal bell."

"She was good." Riku agreed simply.

"Didn't you like it?"

"Oh I did, it's just," Riku spun her so she was standing with her back to him and over her shoulder he whispered,

"I prefer liquid starlight."