"…yes, yes, the Empire Of Jillius will remember your generosity. Good discussion and I wish you a safe journey home!"

Emperor Jillius was all smiles until the door closed behind the Volk Ambassador, at which point he collapsed against it in exhaustion.

So many diplomatic meetings, discussing political strategies, it was all so draining. He was happy to do it, after all his family had been the ruling body of the empire for a long time, but, even for a man only in his 20s, he was already feeling the strain.

He mused on the challenges that had fallen into his lap since he had been crowned Emperor when only 17 years old. First, it turned out his advisor Bagoo, who'd been serving his family for many years, had been putting him through chronic insomnia in a bid to control him and the Empire. It took the intervention of Klonoa to prevent such a disaster. And then, not too long afterwards, Garlen made a big for immortality, and he once again crossed paths with the cabbit in order to save both his people and the world at large.

All work and no play make fennecs dull boys.

He needed a vacation; he could easily make the time for it. But then he'd be expected to turn out in an official convoy, servants and bodyguards all round, who'd cater to his every whim whether he wanted them to or not, and he'd be followed by his subjects the entire time, which he just did not feel in the mood for.

He envied Klonoa. Despite all he had done, he could still walk around unaccosted and do stuff for fun like regular folk. Something Jillius wasn't nearly as likely to experience.

If only he could meld into the crowd of common people at least once…

Then, an idea came into his head.

It was adventurous, dangerous, probably really stupid, but a grin came over his face as he began to head to his quarters, already brainstorming exactly what to do…

…

An announcement was given out to the staff at the palace: Jillius was embroiled in a number of political paperwork that it was vital he complete, and so he had locked himself in his private quarters to finish them and would not be back out until the following day. No service or check-ups were required, and everyone there was given a strict do-not-disturb order. He would let them know when this would change.

In reality, Jillius was no longer in the palace at all. He had asked a confidant, one of his highest ranking guards and a personal friend, to quietly smuggle him out without anyone noticing, which largely went off without a hitch as he was led out a back way. They did not quite understand his desire to be let out unescorted but trusted that he knew what he was doing.

Long before anyone could find out he was gone; he was on a high-speed ferry out of the empire and headed for Lunatea…

…

Denizens of Joilant walked along doing their own thing in the main plaza. The whole place was basically a giant amusement park. On every street were amusement centres and shops selling numerous souvenirs, toys, and whatever else one might need to have a good time.

Most of the locals were dressed in flashy, indulgent garbs, in fact eclipsing any tourists in gawdy outfits by a country mile, although the rotund bellies and oversized noses helped them stand out as well. It was because of this disconnect that a specific individual was able to get away with a slightly inconspicuous clothing style, as people simply wrote him off as a sightseer.

Jillius looked round behind a pair of dark sunglasses, hidden behind an oversized coat, hat and scarf. He had been afraid that his purple complexion and big ears would be a giveaway, but fortunately Joilant wasn't as inundated with his image as back home, so most people paid him no mind, or at most gave him a polite smile as they passed by.

He ducked into one of the many shops, a few gold coins in his pockets, and bought a small keychain with the Joliant crest on it. A simple purchase, but when he was out here on his own, in disguise, it was absolutely thrilling.

Of course, this wasn't a completely authentic experience of being a regular person, but it was quite different from a life of privilege at the top.

After looking around a bit more, another idea came to mind. He had only intended to hang around wherever the ferry arrived at for an hour or so then hurry back, but he found it too thrilling to stop now, and so decided to hop onto a shuttle train off towards Breezegale. He knew that Klonoa lived there, and his friends often visited him there, and so it would be fun to surprise them with a casual visit.

…

"…aaand that's game! Guntz and Klonoa, 15, Chipple and Popka, 56!"

"Oh, c'mon ref!" yelled Guntz in a right fuss.

"Come now, Guntz, we gave it our all!" Klonoa said as he smiled and shook Chipple's hand.

Guntz went off to cool down, muttering "they only won because we lost…" to himself as he wandered over to a nearby bar.

The group had visited Breezegale's beach for the day, as the weather was perfect for a round of volleyball. Klonoa had seemingly gotten into the game first, and then a lot of his friends did as well. It was a good way to wile away the days when there wasn't anything else to do.

Today, Klonoa had decided to wear the outfit that Guntz had gotten him, which was basically an exact replica of the wolf's own uniform tailored to his size. Thus, the two had ended up as a double team against Chipple and Popka, while Lolo acted as the umpire of sorts. The name "Golden Killers" had been trialled as a team name, but Lolo didn't like saying such a morbid term so it ended up not catching on.

As Klonoa waited around for Guntz to return, he decided to go over to the ice cream truck nearby and treat himself. Sitting at one of the tables was a figure in an oversized coat, hat and sunglasses which looked totally out of season.

As Klonoa bought his popsicle, the figure piped up.

"Looks like you've been having a fun time."

Klonoa was about to agree with this mysterious stranger, when he suddenly got another look at them and did a double take.

"Emperor Jillius?!"

The initial shock gave way to a happy surprise as Klonoa ran over to greet the Emperor, who was in his heavy disguise. Klonoa may not have recognised him at first glance, but that voice and those purple ears added up to his true identity.

After shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries, the conversation moved to the obvious.

"What are you doing all the way out here in that getup?!" Klonoa asked incredulously.

"Well, I felt like taking a day out!" Jillius replied with a smile, though that smile belied his discomfort in being in such a burly coat in this heat. "I suppose I could ask you the same sort of question."

Klonoa looked down at his outfit and shrugged. "I… I guess so. But aren't you hot in that thing?"

Jillius was about to deny it, but a bead of sweat fell from his brow and he finally gave in. "Y… yeah, I… I guess I am…"

Admitting defeat, Jillius took off the hat, scarf and coat, leaving him just in his trousers and a white shirt. It didn't really matter that much if the others recognised him, they knew him too well anyway.

Smiling a little, Klonoa moved to head back to the volleyball game, before turning back. "Say, I don't suppose you'd like to join us for a game, would you? I think I'm going to need a new partner while Guntz is off drowning his sorrows."

Jillius looked over at the makeshift court and net they'd made nearby in the sand. He smiled, but with a slightly wistful look of things he'd never been able to try. "I guess, maybe… but I've never played it before. Never had time growing up in the palace, I guess."

"Well, then we'll teach you!" Klonoa said as he ran ahead. "C'mon!"

Jillius thought about it for a minute, before throwing caution to the wind and running along after him.

…

The next couple of hours were a blur, but the group ended up having a lot of fun. Jillius was initially a complete novice at the game, but quickly picked it up and became a formidable opponent. His taller stature compared to the others resulted in him being able to catch and block a lot better than they could.

Eventually Guntz came back, and once they were left with an odd number of players they decided to do one-per-side for a little while. Popka, Chipple, Lolo and Klonoa continued with some new matches, while Jillius and Guntz watched on nearby, the canine looking over at the Emperor with a surprised air. He had never seen him without his crown, and his white hair was actually quite a fitting look.

Something was on his mind, though, so he soon piped up.

"Say, Jillius, did you hear about Klonoa's dress-up escapades that went on recently?"

Jillius looked over surprised. "Oh yes, the phone call you made! I do apologise again for the inconvenience that caused; did it go on too long afterwards?"

Guntz shrugged with a smirk. "Well, it came to a head when he made off with a bunch of our clothes and we caught him trying to wear them all at once."

Jillius raised a hand to his mouth. "Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry, I had no idea…"

Guntz let out a laugh and raised a hand to slow him down. "It's fine, no lasting harm was done. The sight of him was so ridiculous that we kind of ended up forgetting to be angry."

Jillius nodded, still feeling bad. "Were you able to find a way to stop it?"

Guntz thought for a moment. "Well, we kind of figured we'd need a way to placate it, so we went to this tailor and had a few different outfits made for him. I hear he spends quite a bit on clothes now, he loves trying out different looks."

Jillius finally gave an amused smile. "Well, I guess it didn't all turn out bad, then."

As Guntz chuckled, Klonoa called them both over, Lolo having arrived with Popka so they could experiment with a 6 player game. Their discussion mostly closed; the pair got up to join them.

…

Jillius got his clothes ready as he freshened up in the unisex bathroom at the nearby bar. Luckily no one at the beach had recognised him, but then they weren't as likely to as they would back home. Shaking the sand from his clothes and getting his hat and coat together, he got ready to get the train back to Joliant, and then the ferry back to the Empire. If all went well, he'd be back home by midnight.

As he turned around and prepared to head out and say his goodbyes to the others, he was met by a feline with differing colours on both sides on her body. One side white, the other dark purple.

"Heya there, Mr. Jillius." Tat said with a smile. "Could I have a word before you go?"

Jillius looked round, already wearing his dark sunglasses again. No one was nearby, so he quietly nodded. He thought about ducking back into the bathroom for added privacy but decided against it.

"Well, I know it wasn't intentional, but I wanted to thank you for getting Klonoa onto his dressup fix!"

Jillius' eyes widened in surprise, not quite expecting that. "Um, well, you're welcome I guess."

Tat smiled. "I mean it! It's really fun to have another makeover buddy to go with Lolo, Leorina and her squeeze. It really suits him too, he really does pretty well!"

Jillus gave a nervous smile. "W-well, I'm glad that I could help with that." He said before heading off.

"Oh, one more thing!" Tat called after him, and he stopped briefly.

"I wanna try and rope in some of his other friends into my makeover sessions, because I bet they'd look great in some extravagant drags, so… if you ever want to try it out as well, the offer's open."

Jillius blushed, too stunned to say anything in reply, but gave a polite nod in acknowledgement and headed off outside.

Tat smiled. She really did enjoy being able to dress up and pamper her friends. For as much as she teased them, she really did like spending time with them, talking and chatting about random gossip while they got all pretty and nice.

And as much as she was sure Klonoa's guy friends would balk at the prospect, she did want to get to know them all better, and what better way than to have them all get together and try out different outfits and see how they looked on each other.

She grinned evilly.

One of these days…

THE END