A New Chapter...

[Anjel]

“Okay this is a little scary…” Harumi mumbled, just low enough to hear. She looked around in cheerful awe as everyone went silent. Her heart beat quickened as Samuel’s voice slowly lowered to a hush. He glanced over to see what was going on and smiled, dropping the microphone that screeched for a second. He watched as Harumi let Raidon lead her up to Lillie. “Geez, I didn’t think Raidon would live to see the day she walked into a ballroom.” He thought quietly. Harumi walked along with Raidon, blushing slightly at the comments and stealing glances at Raidon, as if wanting to ask if this was all normal, prior to the noise she heard just a few seconds before. Still, she made herself loosen up a bit. There was nothing to be afraid of, just that squeamish feeling you got before you said a speech. Everyone’s attention was on the both of them together.

[Animebella]

Raidon stole a glance at her and smiled, a true smile that was normally only saved for her. Oddly enough he had those special ones just to make her feel special. He continued walking ahead as they neard Lillie, everyone started to file in behind them to close the gaps, but the comments continued, all were good, nothing bad was said within such a range, shall the girls be jealous, no one would hear. Once they had reached Lillie he smiled as she smiled back, "Wonderful! Now we can truely begin!" She said all excited as she moved around the two to the side of Raidon only Raidon looked at Harumi, turn around." He mouthed quietlt to her as he started to turn. At the end Harumi would be next to his mother and he next to her. Lillie waited until they were set.

[Anjel]

Harumi stopped, as calmly as she could so not to fall. Her mind filled with thoughts of her fiance's smile. She smiled back, almost in a daze, but not allowing herself to day dream seeing as this was incredibly important. She didn't want to have any sort of bad impressions. There were only a few people that she only knew and she didn't want anyone to make judgements on silly mistakes. She watched as Lillie walked about them, amazed at how much more of a queen she appeared to be. She turned, as Raidon instructed and smiled lightly. "He looks like a prince too... everyone here... they're all so... peaceful." she thought, wondering what Lillie was about to do next. Meanwhile Samuel walked about the crowd. He got as close as he could to the front and smiled, happy to see his friend so happy. He felt a pinch of guilt, as Yuffie was locked away but ignored it. "She'd only break the silence..." he said, jumping a bit as Lillie started to speak. He smiled, they all looked like royalty... and in actually they really were. He almost wanted to be up there too, but decided against it. There were too many people watching, he'd only cause them problems. Instead he went around whispering happy little comments.

[Animebella]

Lillie smiled as the two came to face the crowd, Tadashi and Ryou came around as well, Ryou standing next to Lillie and Tadashi next to Raidon. Lillie smiled at the crowd, she whispered a few words and before anyone knew it her voice filled the ballroom, "Ladies and gentleman I present to you the newest addition to our family. Harumi." She called out as the crowd cheered, she didn't announce her last name for it would change very shortly. "My wish for you all is to be sure to be curteous to the couple, for the wedding will be very shortly in the future. I invite you all to attend." She smiled, "We will now have the dance for the two and the party will resume." She smiled as her voice resumed back to it's old self and and ushered the two onto the dance floor. Raidon looked to Harumi and smiled. "Just follow my lead and you'll be fine." He said bowing to her once out on the floor.

[Anjel]

Harumi looked around, unexpectantly very calm. She looked around at everyone, and smiled, nearly froze in place by her calm uneasiness. Still as Lillie went on she was even more uneasy. "Dance...?!" she thought, remembering how she blew off the many chances she had to learn to dance. She nervously followed Raidon to the dance floor and seemed to relax as he instructed her to follow his lead again. She smiled and bowed back slightly, "Always..." she said, truely in awe by the way he calmed her.
Samuel watched the both of them and sighed. he turned randomly and blinked, noticing Aria in the crowd cheering. "This is really great huh?" she asked cheerfully. Samuel's mouth dropped open as he poked at her, to see if she was really there. "What the-" "Don't worry my dear friend. I'm am actually here..." she said, hugging him, nearly in tears at the happiness glowing around the ballroom. "No... where's Cloud... wh- where's Joseph?" he asked angrily, but trying to hide it. Aria blinked and laughed. "Well he wasn't invited in so he can't... come in. You know how that goes..." she said thoughtfully. "As for Cloud, he's around here somewhere... He's so cute you know? I just love human men." she said, glancing over Samuel. He blushed like mad as she continually smiled at his reactions.

[Animebella]

Ryou and Tadashi watched the two for a bit before looking at each other with smiles, "It's about time everyone quieted down a bit." Tadashi said as all eyes were on the dance floor. "I'm going to grab a bit of freash air." He said as Ryou nodded, "Alright." He said as Tadashi made his way through the crowd unnoticed, least he hoped.

Raidon smiled to Harumi, "Your doing wonderful Harumi." He said after they had danced for a bit and the music mixed up just a bit. He pulled her closer for a slower dance. "Just be yourself, I know your scared. I should have warned you of all this." He whispered in her ear as his arms wrapped around her waist keeping her close. "But you seem to be a natural, it's as if you were born to dance." He smiled at her, "Just a bit longer and then we can mingle." He said as he noticed Lillie grabbing Ryou and pulling him to the side of them to dance. She was asking him all of these questions that even he couldn't keep up with. More or less on the topic of Tadashi, he was supposed to join in on the dance, but once Ryou calmed her and told her he had only gone out for some freash air she said no more.

[Anjel]

Harumi continued dancing, even through her fear. She wasn't sure how Raidon was able to dance that way, with everyone watching, but she was at least happy that he wasn't as inexperanced as she was with these types of parties. "Thanks... I don't think... it'll be easier when everyone else is dancing too." she said, happy to be so close to him now. She smiled and closed her eyes, as the dance slowed down a bit. "Still... I love dancing with you like this... we've never danced before huh?" she asked softly, opening her eyes to look up into his eyes. She smiled, wondering if it was even possible to fall any more in love with him. 'It's like a dream...' she thought.
Samuel pushed past Aria and went around to find Cloud. It wasn't hard however, since he was the one who looked the most uncomfortable in a tie. "Cloud?? Is that you??" he asked. Cloud looked up calmly and nodded. Samuel couldn't tell if he was smiling or not, but he had to have been at peace if nothing else. "Ah... so how are you?" he asked uneasily. Cloud stared at him for a moment before answering him directly. "I'm pissed. I don't like liars Bear." he said. "However... I'm only here for as long as she wants me here. If it wasn't for you though, I would have missed everything entirely... so thanks. I'm just suppose to play stupid until after the wedding." Samuel's mouth dropped open. He'd never heard Cloud talk for that long. "So everything's okay?" he asked. Cloud shook his head. "All except for that kid who went with us. Aria's smart... but bringing him was really stupid."

[Animebella]

Tadashi wandered out towards the garden area through a side door. He took in a breath of fresh air and smiled to himself, glad to be away from all of the noise even just for a bit. After all it was a party for him and Raidon, but it seemed it was no fun when you so much as forced to dance and all. He was an expert at the dancing now a days, but still. It wasn't fun less you could spend it with the one you loved. He sighed as he walked over to a stone bench and sat down with his back to the door in case someone should come out.

Raidon thought back a bit then shook his head, "It seems you're correct, this is the first time we have danced together. At all I do believe." He said tilting her head to the side ever so slightly, "Odd huh? How this would be the first time we'd ever danced together." He smiled, as she looked up to him and he kissed her forhead lightly. "I think we should be off the hook." He said as he turned to see his mother and father bickering back and forth on some matter. "Shall we mingle then?" He asked looking back towards her with a grin. he was happy to be able to introduce her to everyone, not so much showing her off as he was just proud to have found the one for himself. Proving everyone that ever doubted him wrong.

[Anjel]

Harumi was glad to be done dancing, but as they stopped she almost wanted to continue. Instead they went about crowd as Raidon introduced her to his many friends and family. She smiled making small conversations with the different kinds of people, most of which she didn't remember after long. She sighed, not use to so much attention. It wasn't long before she did notice a familiar face. "...Is that... Cloud?" she asked softly. She glanced over to Raidon a bit confused, but as she looked back he was gone. "Wierd, I must be losing it." she said, giggling a bit. "It would be cool to see him though..."
Samuel sighed. It wasn't easy, but he'd managed to keep Cloud a secret. "You know, unless she's mad at me, I don't see why I'm suppose to be hiding." he grumbled. Samuel frowned and tried to explain. "You being here means Joseph's here... you're both a problem! Raidon thinks you hate him and Joseph definatly hates him. Just give them the rest of the party to be happy would you?" he asked. Cloud croseed his arms. "You don't think Harumi would be happy to see me?" he asked. "So am I going to make her depressed the during her wedding?" Samuel frowned a bit, unsure what to say. He scratched his head uneasily as Aria returned. "Hey Cloud! Let's go dance! Don't mind Bear here, he's just a little stressed! Plus if they do that whole switching thing I might get to dance with the King!" she said cheerfully pulling him out of his seat and dragging him away. Samuel watched them, feeling useless. There was really nothing he could do, so he went back to singing.
As Tadashi sat someone watched him curiously. Still, unable to show himself in his true form he came in another. Something safer so not to have scared him. "What are you doing? Isn't everyone else inside at the party?" said a dry horse voice. An old man had taken a seat on the ground with a eye level view at the roses. He looked up and smiled kindly at the young prince before taking a bite of a small red apple. "Unless you're like me... the garden is much more relaxing... even when it's kind of cool outide." he said, trying to prove that he meant no harm.

[Animebella]

Raidon brought her around to all of his extended family, friends and such. Smiling as Harumi was well accepted with everyone. The second she looked up and spoke of seeing Cloud he looked over to where she was looking but saw nothing but more guests. He shook his head, "Nope, I think your seeing things hun." He smiled, "But you must miss him a lot to be seeing him in the crowd. I'm sure he'll be here in time for the wedding." he said with a smile that was nothing but fake, considering he wasn't looking forward to Cloud arriving because it would mean Joseph would be right behind. He looked back to the dance floor seeing his mother and father now dancing. his mother seemed to have calmed down as she rested her head on Ryou's chest, closing her eyes as they spun slowly. He sighed a bit upset on the whole matter but shook it off, not ready to ruin Harumi's night with the mear thought that they could be here so quickly. "Why not grab a drink then?" He asked excusing them from whom they were talking to and taking her hand to lead her over to the drinks.

Tadashi nearly jumped out of his skin when a voice came from close by. He looked up and shivered seeing as an older man was sitting there looking over at him. "I..I .. uhmm well. I just came out for some fresh air is all sir." He said, so used to being formal it came naturally. He nodded slowly, "Yes, yes well.. it's not so easy having to entertain everyone." He said looking away as a cool breeze ruffled through his hair.

[Anjel]

Harumi nodded, “Yeah… but he’s probably too busy to come to the wedding… anyway, it’s no big deal right?” she asked, cheering up again. She focused back on the conversation before Raidon had excused them. “Sounds good.” She said, though she was skeptical about the certain things there were to drink. Harumi was capable of getting hyper off of lemonade; she wasn’t about to risk going crazy on a small glass of alcohol. Even still, she followed after him, trying not to look out for Cloud. Her mind was telling her that it was impossible for him to be there, however, she was so sure that she’d seen him that she couldn’t help her wanting to look around a bit. “Hey, there’s a karaoke bar too… what a strange looking man up there…” she mumbled. She blinked, covering her mouth as she started to recognize Samuel now. “I mean… no, he does look strange.”
The old man blinked a bit surprised at him, but continued. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to frighten you. Still, I suppose you’d be more terrified to see an old man sitting here staring at roses as if he were dead.” He said, chuckling a bit at the disturbing thought and potential joke. “There’s no problem with wanting a bit of fresh air… still you should be more careful. There are lots of odd things that can go on at night… especially when you least expect it! So you shouldn’t go off sitting in a position in which your enemies are able to attack you-“ he paused, as he’d tried to get up, but had fallen. “You see? I should have known it was cold enough to get my muscles all cramped up and now I can’t walk…” he mumbled angrily to himself as he tried to stand again. “Maybe I’m the one who should be taking the advice…”

[Animebella]

Raidon brought her over to the drink table and sighed lightly glad to see not many were around. He looked back to Harumi who was looking else where when she spoke of an odd looking person over by the karaoke bar, "Huh? Oh, yeah we do have one, I guess it slipped my mind." His eyes wandered the room as the laid upon the old man singing up on the stage. He tilted his head a bit, he looked strangely familiar. "Odd, he looks sort of familiar, and yet I just can't seem to place it." He said looking at the man a bit more befor shrugging and grabbing a drink. "Oh well, I suppose it's not a big deal." He looked back to Harumi, "Are you alright? Hungry, thirsty?" He asked knowing he could get her anything she wished for.

Tadashi shrugged slightly, "I suppose it's something different. It's not like anyone would be out here in the first place, but seeing as it's such a peaceful night, well." He paused and looked away, "I was just out to get some air, the guards around here are more than enough than have to worry of anyone suspicious." He looked over to the man again, "Is there a reason your out here as well? I mean someone like you should be inside where it's warmer." He said growing a bit concerned for the man. He stoood as he noticed the man was habing problems standing. "Here allow me." He said helping him up slowly so not to hurt him.

[Anjel]

“Thirsty I guess… any type of juice is fine.” She said politely. She paused and pushed her hair back a bit. “So, are you enjoying the party too?” she asked, looking around at the guests for a moment. She smiled, feeling like a real princess in a more formal way. She’d been a Raidon’s princess for what seemed like forever now, but she’d never really dealt with the excess attention that being in a royal family had brought. It was fun, but somehow frightening. “You know, this isn’t as bad as I thought it would be… for a while, I couldn’t even go to parties like this but… I feel bad seeing all the things I’ve missed…” she said thoughtfully.
“I’m too old to go to parties like this. I’d just be a problem… Young people don’t like my kind of company… usually. Still, I like being invited…” he said, lying partly about the invitation. “It gives me a chance to visit the garden! Especially these red plants here… Red is my favorite color you know? It’s the color of life… Roses keep you in love, and apples in health. The name Poinsettia gives me the feeling of death but… you see it’s all apart of life really…” he said struggling again, before noticing Tadashi had helped him up. “Ah, thank you… you know, I really hate being alone while my family and friends are at the party. I’m bored to tears at home... Do you have somewhere I could sit... maybe inside until the party's over? My daughter will take me home from there...”

[Animebella]

Raidon smiled and nodded, turning back to find a good fruit juice on the table. He poured two glasses full and turned back to her. handing her a glass and keeping the other for himself. He lead her over to a table and pulled aside two chairs for them before he answered. "Yes, well considering this is one of the few I have been to I guess you could say I'm enjoying myself. Only because you are around though." He smiled at her as he ushered for her to have a seat next to him. "I'm glad to hear you are enjoying yourself though. I have to admit it... I was scared for a bit unsure whether or not you would really be alright. I know it's all new to you and all. I guess I should have explained it all a bit better so it wouldn't have took you by surprise. Though from here on out it should be fine, all until the actual wedding though." he shrugged, "My mom will fill you in on those details though, she knows them better than anyone around her. Considering most couples choose the gardens outside to have their weddings. I'm more than surprised she doesn't have her own wedding shop or something." he said and sighed, "She's so unpredictable, overbearing and protective at one second, loud and obnoxious the next." He grinned, "But she's well admired and loved, so I guess I can't say much else." He smiled at he sipped on his drink.

Tadashi smiled at the old man, glad to see he ment him no harm. Though he was a bit offguard, considering he sometimes relied too much on the protecting guards. His mother always did scold him when he brought in stray creatures for one matter or not. Something about lurking predators that could be hiding anywhere or disguised as anything. Though she had yet to teach him a spell to see past the disguises. None of this mattered to him, more or less occured to him that this man could mean any harm, he was an old man, certainly couldn't move fast enough to even set up some sort of attack. "I suppose that's to be expected though, seeing as young people these days wish not to be burdoned by other means aside from their friends." He sighed, wishing he knew a peaceful life or a normal teenager, but alas he had sort of passed by that stage in life. "Red is a beautiful color." He said though seeing it more as death he was interested in the way the man saw it. He had never thought of it in a way such as that before. Once he asked to go inside and sit down somewhere a bit less cold and more so comfortable Tadashi saw no reason not to agree. He nodded, "But of course, It will be safer for us both I believe, I suppose I feel more secure in the castle, but i feel free outside the overbearing walls." He looked up as he spoke of the walls, "Ah, such a pity, do you need help?" He asked looking ack to the old man once again.

(Aww man what a setup! Tadashi's playing right into his hands and he doesn't even know it! What a shame, this may not end well.)

[Anjel]

((xD I just love writing for Joseph!! Still don't worry! Tadashi's pretty much safe for now, everyone is really. I'm not ready for him to start acting crazy... YET!))

Joseph smiled a bit at Tadashi’s faith in strangers. It was so innocent that he decided not to torture him. He’d almost felt bad. After all, he wasn’t there to wreak havoc and if he did, it wasn’t meant for him. “No sir… I think you’ve helped me enough. In fact, here, take this as a gift from me… I’ve gotten this far, I think I should get home.” He said, seeming to fade a bit. He held out an apple towards him, and as he took it, he changed into his real form. He chuckled, pushing his silvery hair back in place and brushing himself off. He stepped away from his illusion and smiled, making sure Tadashi could still only see the old man waving goodbye and hobbling away. “It’s a shame… such a gullible playmate lost…” he thought walking off and into the castle. He looked around, dressed as a male maid so not to alarm anyone. He looked straight ahead, making sure no one looked into his dark red eyes. They flashed in both amusement and sorrow, at the many people inside until they fell on her. “Again… she’s in love with him… it’s too late.” He mumbled painfully. “And she’s beautiful… more than last time I saw her…” he said, turning to leave as tears wielded up in his eyes. His heart softened by the pain to the point that he left. Tears were coming, but he wouldn’t allow them any closer.
Harumi sat beside him and smiled softly. She felt something strange suddenly, a pinch of sadness that sat in the back on her mind. It didn’t grow, but it didn’t disappear either. “No, no, it’s alright… I mean, I didn’t know everyone was going to stop and all start staring like that… but it was fine. No harm done…” she said, giggling a bit as he started on Lillie. “Well, see, then it’s good practice for when I walk down the aisle. Besides, Lillie isn’t so bad. I think she’s just bored being here all day long.” She said cheerfully. She felt it again, more noticeable this time. She fell silent, scanning the ballroom, but there were too many people to tell who from whom. After long she looked to Raidon and smiled sadly. “Raidon kun… you know how much I love you right?” she asked. She knew that he’d known already, but she felt the need the say it again. “I just… I’m so in love with you…” She could feel the passion coming out of her soul and she blushed, but didn’t look away. She couldn’t. “So I refuse to let anyone steal me from you.”