Welcome back readers! Sorry for the wait, been so busy lately. School work that is. Anyway, I'm very excited now because we are about to arrive at the kingdom of Corona and celebrate the lanterns. But I'll focus on the festivities that happen during the day in this chapter and save the lanterns for the next chapter. But don't worry, I plan to make these two chapters cute and fluffy for everyone to enjoy.
Ok enough talk! Let's begin!
I own nothing but my own songs and lyrics.
Chapter 9: Arriving at the kingdom
A bright sunny morning rose in the forest and everyone was sound asleep at their campsite.
Eugene was sleeping with his head on a rock and Rapunzel was sleeping on the grass with her hair around her as if it was a blanket.
Donald and Goofy were sleeping on their backs along with Sora and Kairi a few feet near the campfire.
Everyone continued to sleep peacefully until Eugene felt a drop of water fall on his face. He woke up and saw that Maximus found him.
He was soaking wet from the dam incident and was glaring daggers at him.
Eugene only smirked at the horse. "Well, I hope you're here to apologize." He said to the horse.
Everyone else continued to sleep peacefully when suddenly Eugene let out a loud scream. "Aghhhh…!"
Everyone jumped out of their sleep and saw that Eugene was being dragged away by Maximus.
"No, no, no, put me down! Let me go! Let–me–go–!" Eugene cried out.
"Eugene!" Everyone exclaimed as they ran to Eugene.
Rapunzel grabbed Eugene's arms with Sora and Kairi behind her trying to help. "Release–him–" Rapunzel exclaimed to the horse holding on to Eugene with all her might with some help from Sora and Kairi.
Maximus began to shake Eugene from side to side and his boot began to slip off. In a few seconds the boot slipped off and everyone fell to the ground.
Maximus with Eugene's boot in his mouth ran over to everyone to confront Eugene. He didn't care that much of everyone else, Eugene is what he has on his mind right now.
As Maximus ran Rapunzel and Kairi ran to him and put their hands out to him so they can stop him from hurting Eugene and calm him down.
"Whoa, whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" The girls exclaimed trying to calm Maximus down.
He continued to go wild. "Easy, boy, easy!" Rapunzel exclaimed.
"Settle down, boy, settle down!" Kairi exclaimed.
Maximus neighed fiercely and galloped on two legs.
"Whoa, whoa! Easy, boy, easy, easy." The girls said and in a few moments Maximus calmed down completely.
"That's it." The girls said. Everyone else was surprised and impressed that the girls managed to calm Maximus down.
'Heart of a lion those girls have.' Eugene thought to himself.
"Now sit." Rapunzel commanded. Maximus lowered himself but didn't sit.
"Sit!" Rapunzel commanded again. Maximus then sat down.
"What?" Eugene asked puzzled at what he is seeing.
"Now drop the boot." Kairi commanded. Maximus didn't drop it.
"Drop it!" Kairi commanded again. In a few seconds Maximus reluctantly dropped the boot.
The girls then went to Maximus and started petting him. "Aww, you are such a good boy! Yes you are." Rapunzel cooed.
"Aww. What a charming and handsome horse you are." Kairi cooed petting Maximus gently which he seemed to enjoy.
"You're all tired from chasing the bad man all over the place?" Rapunzel asked Maximus referring to Eugene. Maximus nodded in reply.
"Excuse me?" Eugene asked in a slightly offended tone.
"Nobody appreciates you, do they?" Kairi asked and Maximus grunted sadly.
"Do they?" Rapunzel asked and Maximus grunted sadly again.
"Oh come on, he's a bad horse!" Eugene exclaimed.
"Yeah. We fought him in the canyon remember!" Donald exclaimed.
"Oh, he's nothing but a big sweetheart!" Rapunzel exclaimed.
Maximus neighed delightedly making the girls laugh with him.
"Isn't that right?" Rapunzel saw his name on a tag. "Maximus?"
"That horse's name is Maximus?" Sora asked.
"Well if that's what it says on his collar then yes." Kairi said giggling in the process.
"You've got to be kidding me." Eugene said not still not believing what he's seeing.
Maximus saw Eugene again and was about to attack again when Rapunzel stopped him.
"Look. Today is kind of the biggest day of my life, and the thing is, I need you not to get him arrested." Rapunzel requested but Maximus grunted defiantly.
"He's our guide to the kingdom so we need him." Kairi said. "Just for twenty-four hours and then you can chase each other to your hearts content, okay?" Kairi asked.
Eugene sighed and stretched his hand so he can shake it with Maximus. But Maximus turned away defiantly.
"And it's also my birthday. Just so you know." Rapunzel said.
Maximus thought for a few moments then he reluctantly shook Eugene's hand.
Then suddenly everyone heard the sound of bells coming from the distance.
"What is that?" Donald asked wondering what the sound was.
"I think those bells mean we're close to the kingdom." Rapunzel said and everyone was getting excited about it.
"Well come on fellas!" Goofy exclaimed and everyone started to walk away.
But suddenly Maximus lifted one of his feet and hit Eugene hard in the chest.
"Oom!" Eugene exclaimed losing his breath and falling down.
Maximus neighed delightedly and everyone let out a hard laugh at that scene.
"Oh! We almost forgot!" Sora said before he, Kairi, Donald and Goofy spoke up together.
"Happy birthday Rapunzel!" Everyone exclaimed happily.
"Aww! Thank you guys!" Rapunzel exclaimed happily before Sora and friends did a group hug with her.
Everyone continued to walk through the woods until they came to a clearing.
After going out to the clearing they saw a beautiful and majestic kingdom with a large castle on top of a hill and a village on the hill where the common folk live.
Everyone was amazed at the kingdom, especially Rapunzel. She felt so excited and happy that she let out a silent 'wow' from her mouth.
"We made it!" Sora and Kairi exclaimed hugging each other.
"We made it!" Donald and Goofy exclaimed high fiving each other.
As everyone walked to the kingdom entrance Eugene saw a wanted poster of him with still not the correct nose on it.
Eugene crumbled it up but Maximus glared at him. Eugene stuffed the paper in Maximus's mouth but he blew it into Eugene's face. Then the two got into a fight with each other until Donald and Pascal stopped them.
"Behave." Donald said pointing at the two.
The two stopped but they intentionally and childishly bumped into each other. Donald groaned in disgust.
"This is gonna take a while for them." Donald said in disgust.
Everyone made it into the kingdom village and saw many common folk walking around and doing their things. They also discovered that it was already decorated for the lantern festival that's supposed to happen that night.
There were purple banners with yellow suns hanging on ropes that stretched from building to building in the village.
"Wow. This place is beautiful." Sora said.
"No kidding." Kairi said.
Everyone went to walk but they started to run into the other people accidentally.
"Sorry!" Rapunzel apologized after bumping into a commoner.
"Sorry!" Sora apologized after bumping into a commoner.
"Excuse me!" Goofy said to a commoner.
"Excuse me!" Kairi said to another commoner.
Everyone continued to find a clearing through the crowd of common folk when suddenly Rapunzel felt a tug on her hair. Everyone saw that people were steeping on her hair but they also saw Eugene and Donald gathering it up for her.
After gathering all the hair everyone began to talk with each other.
"We need to do something about Rapunzel's hair. It's a little dangerous for her to have her hair like this in a crowded village." Sora said and everyone nodded in agreement.
"We need to shorten it somehow." Kairi said and everyone looked around to see what they can find.
After a few moments of looking they found the answer. Everyone saw four young red-haired girls sitting on a fountain braiding each other's hair.
Everyone smiled knowing that they found the answer.
Eugene let out a whistle before Sora spoke up. "Hey, excuse us!" Sora called out to the girls who turned their attention to everyone.
Everyone showed the girls Rapunzel's hair. They then let out a gasp of excitement.
Rapunzel then sat down and then the little girls braided her hair for her. While that was going on Eugene was trying to hide from the guards who were patrolling the village.
In a few moments the girls were done and Rapunzel's hair as shorter (down to her ankles), and braided with some flowers on it.
"Wow!" Sora, Kairi, Donald and Goofy exclaimed in delight at Rapunzel. They all thought she looked great.
"Thank you!" Rapunzel thanked the girls happily.
Sora, Kairi, Donald and Goofy walked to Rapunzel. "You look great Rapunzel!" Sora said happily.
"You sure do!" Donald and Goofy exclaimed happily.
"Those flowers definitely look beautiful on you." Kairi said smiling.
"Thank you guys!" Rapunzel exclaimed happily.
"Well fellas." Goofy spoke up. "Let's go explore the village, shall we?"
"Yeah! Let's do it!" Sora said.
Kairi grabbed Sora's wrist. "Come on Sora!" Kairi then ran through the village dragging Sora with him.
"Woah! Take it easy Kairi!" Sora exclaimed as he was being dragged by Kairi making everyone else laugh.
"Kairi's sure excited isn't she?" Donald asked.
"Oh she's not the only one Donald!" Eugene said as he was being dragged by Rapunzel through the village making them laugh again.
Kairi was dragging Sora and Rapunzel was dragging Eugene around every little place in the festive village, going "ooh!" and "Ah!" and "Look at this!" and "Aww!".
Sora didn't seem to mind it that much though, as if knowing Kairi was happy was all he needed to be happy as well.
Eugene didn't seem to mind either except on some parts where he dropped a few things thanks to Rapunzel for dragging him but he still didn't mind so long as Rapunzel is happy.
Donald and Goofy enjoyed the festivities as well, but remained subtly behind Rapunzel, Eugene, Kairi and Sora, both deciding that the four should get a nice first date without any distractions.
After a few moments of walking around the village, everyone stopped and Eugene spoke up. "Hey guys, I found a chalk drawing area that's-"
"Drawing? Ooh! I'm really good at drawing!" Rapunzel exclaimed in glee.
"She sure is Eugene." Goofy said laughing, making everyone else laugh with him.
"Show me where it is!" Rapunzel exclaimed as she dragged Eugene along wherever he directed with the fullest enthusiasm ever.
"Chalk drawing that sounds interesting. How about we go check it out, Sora?" Kairi requested.
Sora smiled, and linked arms with Kairi "Hey, why not?"
Kairi then thought to herself. 'Good job. You're getting there.' Kairi thought thinking about what Donald and Goofy told her last night about her love with Sora.
It took little time to find the drawings, and even less to grab a small pack of chalk and start coloring the street.
Sora drew a pretty okay portrait of Kairi, but the portrait Kairi drew of Sora was absolutely stunning.
She had somehow managed to capture the laughter in his eyes, each individual spike of hair had character, and his smile held and radiance and sweetness that held your heart.
"Wow Kairi! I had no idea you were that good of an artist." Sora exclaimed making Kairi giggle.
"Well, I guess I know one thing that people can do better than Me." he laughed, slightly embarrassed.
Kairi only smiled and spoke to Sora. "That doesn't mean anything bad, Sora. You're still amazing."
She then began drawing another picture, while Sora looked over and found Rapunzel scribbling away, looking focused.
"Jeez blondie, how many shades of purple are you gonna use?" Eugene laughed.
"Oh I don't know, maybe 25, or even 50. It all just depends on what it takes to bring out my artistic vision." Rapunzel replied, exchanging one worn out stub of chalk with another.
Sora found, through his aching jaw muscles, that he couldn't stop smiling. Everywhere was a warmth and care that refused to leave anyone alone.
Sora found that even Donald and Goofy were smiling a lot more than usual, and were actually partaking in a drawing or two-
"There, finished." Kairi said wiping sweat from her forehead.
Kairi's drawing was absolutely amazing. The Drawing-Sora had a handsome, yet quirky smile, as he extended a Paopu fruit to Drawing-Kairi, who was extending a paopu fruit to Drawing-Sora.
Sora was smiling with such love and joy that it seemed almost impossible to contain in artwork. There was such a tender and pure love in each stroke of chalk.
"Hey! Just like the picture in the secret place at the islands." Sora said remembering the picture in the secret place at Destiny Islands.
"Yup. Both of these drawings are for you," she said, nestling closer to Sora, who only sat there in happy appreciation. He looked at both his portrait selves.
"Thank you Kairi. They look beautiful." Sora said hugging Kairi.
"Your welcome." Kairi said before looking at Sora's drawing of her. She then let out a giggle. "That's a cute picture of me."
"Thanks. Not the best though." Sora said before Kairi spoke up again.
"It doesn't matter how good it is, I still think it's cute." Kairi said making both of them smile.
The couple walked over to everyone else and saw their pictures. Donald and Goofy's drawings were themselves but in their outfits they wore at Disney Castle.
Sora and Kairi laughed. "What is a photo op or something?" Sora said making both of them laugh again.
"It's the best we can think of." Donald said pouting a bit.
"Oh come on guys. We think it's pretty good." Kairi said with Sora nodding in agreement.
"Thanks guys." Donald and Goofy said in unison before looking at Rapunzel's drawing.
It was a perfect picture of the sun symbol of the kingdom. "Wow!"
"You're definitely a fantastic artist Rapunzel." Sora said making everyone nod in agreement.
"Thanks guys!" Rapunzel exclaimed happily.
After the chalk drawings, everyone stood in line to buy some food. While they were waiting Rapunzel looked to the left and saw a beautiful mosaic on a wall.
The mosaic had the king and queen of the kingdom and saw a baby girl with blonde hair being held by the queen.
Everyone saw Rapunzel looking at the mosaic and took a look themselves.
"Wow. That's a beautiful mural." Kairi said as everyone continued to look at the mural.
While they were looking they noticed that the mosaic had flowers placed in front of it. They also saw a family with two young girls placing the flowers in front of the mural.
One of the little girls spoke up to her younger sibling. "It's for the lost princess." She said before placing the flower in front of the mural.
"Lost princess?" Sora asked and everyone was wondering the same thing.
They continued to look at the mural but then they looked at the baby girl in the mural, then Rapunzel.
"Hey guys. There's something oddly familiar about the baby in the picture." Sora said.
"Hmmm." Goofy thought. "She looks a little bit like Rapunzel."
Sora, Kairi and Donald let out a small gasp. "What?" They asked in unison
"That's not possible. Rapunzel lived in a tower outside of here all her life." Donald said puzzled.
"What do you think Rapunzel?" Kairi asked but saw Rapunzel was gone. "Rapunzel?"
Everyone looked around for her for a few moments before spotting her dancing happily to the music playing.
Everyone let out a bright smile on their faces seeing Rapunzel dance happily to the music.
Kairi then called out to her. "Hey Rapunzel! Can I join you?"
Rapunzel saw Kairi call her and she motioned for Kairi to join her. Kairi smiled brightly and joined Rapunzel dancing happily to the music and making Sora, Donald and Goofy smile brighter.
Eugene just bought some food and saw the two girls dancing to the music which made him smile too.
The dance the girls were doing started to get attention from the common folk. Then the girls separated and started to bring some common folk in to dance with them which they all seemed to enjoy.
After letting a few more common folk to the dance the other common folk who were watching were clapping enthusiastically, even Sora, Donald and Goofy.
While the girls were dancing they motioned for Sora, Eugene, Donald and Goofy to join them. They friendly refused but Maximus bumped them from behind which forced them to go forward to the girls.
Soon the whole square was dancing, a folk gathering full of clapping and merriment.
Sora, Kairi, Donald, Goofy, Eugene and Rapunzel were dancing together. However, they didn't know how, but they then got separated, dancing with complete strangers.
They continued to dance to the peppy and festive tune, but it was awkward, and a little embarrassing.
"Let's not say anything about this. Agreed?" Donald muttered, his face pinkish with humiliation.
Goofy nodded, his face red with embarrassment. "Agreed. You don't say a word, I'll keep my mouth zipped."
Then in a few moments everyone went back to dancing with each other.
While Sora was dancing, he looked back at Kairi, who had her eyes closed in sheer bliss, enveloped in the music. Rapunzel closed her eyes and was fully enveloped into the music too.
Soon Sora and Eugene became lost in the music as well, weaving through the crowd to get to Kairi and Rapunzel, who were in turn moving to them as well.
And as the music came to a bright ending, Kairi and Sora fell into each other's arms. Rapunzel and Eugene fell into each other's arms too. Everyone in the crowd cheered.
They were all smiling brightly at each other feeling this was one of the best moments of their lives.
"Wow. That was amazing." Sora said to Kairi.
"It sure was Sora." Kairi said to Sora.
"You're a great dancer." Sora said to Kairi.
"Thank you Sora." Kairi said to Sora.
Then the couples separated and Eugene motion everyone to follow him to the docks where some gondolas were sitting.
But before they began to walk Sora noticed lanterns on display. He then spoke up.
"Hey guys before we go, I've got to do something really quick. It's nothing bad, it's something beautiful." Sora said. "It's a surprise though."
Everyone nodded and allowed Sora to complete his task.
Sora got to the lantern display. "Hey miss, how much are these lanterns for?" he asked, prodding the woman running the display curiously.
"Free of charge. Two lanterns, custom made, just for you and someone close to you." The woman smiled.
"Oh really?" Sora replied, examining the lanterns on display, wondering what Kairi would think. "Well, I want two lanterns for me and that red haired girl over there." Sora said pointing to Kairi.
"That red-haired lass is your girl, isn't she?" the woman asked.
Sora nodded "Today's been like a first date for us, and I... I want to do something special for her. And I want to show her how I truly feel about her."
The woman smiled brightly before reaching underneath her counter, pulling out three sheets with intricate designs on them. "That one has borders, this one has main symbols, and this is if you want a custom design."
Sora stared at the papers, and blinked. "Um, y-you mean you'll make a custom lantern?"
"Absolutely! You want something special for your girl, your heart should speak for you." The woman smiled again.
Sora pulled out the charm Kairi had made just for him, and looked at it along with his crown necklace.
He smiled, knowing exactly what design he was going to make.
After a few moments Sora returned to the others hiding his surprise in his coat. Everyone smiled at Sora when they saw him.
"Just in time Sora. We're about to go out to the harbor on these gondolas." Kairi smiled.
"One for me and Rapunzel. One for you and Kairi and one for Donald and Goofy." Eugene said to Sora.
"Awesome!" Sora exclaimed as everyone boarded the gondolas and started to row out to the harbor.
Eugene turned to Maximus. "Hey Max!" Eugene called out tossing a bag of apples in the process.
Maximus turned away thinking he stole the apples. "What? I bought them." Eugene said as Maximus began to eat the apples.
"Most of them." Eugene said making Maximus stop eating and making everyone laugh with him.
"Where are we going?" Rapunzel asked curiously.
"Well, best day of your life, I figured you should have a decent seat." Eugene said.
"Well Eugene. We can't wait to see the lanterns tonight. Especially when we are out in the harbor to see it. Right guys?" Sora asked his friends.
"You bet Sora!" Kairi, Donald and Goofy exclaimed happily.
Everyone felt so excited and happy for tonight because when the lanterns happen the night will be so wonderful and magical for everyone.
And done! Again I'm sorry for the wait, been so busy. I hope you all loved this chapter especially the kingdom dance. You guys are definitely going to be excited for the lanterns in the next chapter because it's going to be so romantic and magical for everyone.