A New Chapter...

[Animebella]

Tadashi smiled to see he would be able to get along well enough now. He handed him and apple and he took it from him. "Thanks." he said with a true smile as he watched him hobble off towards the castle. He looked the same to him, nothing had changed except maybe his strength just a bit. But Tadashi wasn't alarmed, on the contrary he followed him into the castle, not being able to see him he walked off to find someone to occupy his time. Still carrying the apple he made his way through the crowd and found Raidon and Harumi.

Raidon was looking at his glass as the red liquid swished around in it, only to look up once he heard her voice. He looked over at her and smiled, "Yeah, I get that a lot though. I guess I was just too used to it to remember to tell you." He nodded, "Perhaps it is, but I still wonder about her sometimes, she can be a bit over the top. I assume it's to make up time with my brother though, she did seem to just leave him like that. Not that she had any choice in the matter though." He shrugged lightly, "Can't say we hate her for it though, the problem is almost completly gone, we should have nothing more to worry about after the wedding." He grinned slightly then looked away slightly embarassed. He looked back with a curious look in his eyes as she asked him a silly question. He nodded slowly wondering where this all came from but he listened regardless. He watched as she blushed and smiled, "Ah yes, I understand completly Harumi. I wish only to fufill that for you one hundred times over. I won't allow anyone to steal you away ever." He reached over to rest a hand on her cheek, "I'm already too in love with you to pull back now." He leaned over and kissed her other cheek. "You can have the utmost faith in me, your more than safe in my arms." He was confident in saying this because no matter what, he wouldn't lose her. He looked up after a second hearing someone watching them. "Oh Tadashi." He said with a smile as he allowed his hand to drop from Harumi's cheek and rest in her lap to find her hand.

(Haa ha, nah no worries... *is prepared for the worst* *shifty eyes*)

[Anjel]

Harumi nodded, unable to help but wonder if something strange was going on. She glanced over at Tadashi and smiled, before noticing his apple. Her smile faded just barely. “Hiya Tadashi… I didn’t know they were serving fruit…” she said quietly. Her heart nearly skipped a beat, but she tried not to show it. The room got warmer but she stayed calm. “No… no, no, no, this isn’t happening now…” she thought, smiling through her fear. She took a sip of her drink and sighed, trying to relax again. “You know, maybe you guys should talk for a minute… I need to go to the restroom for a moment, please excuse me.” She said, calmer than she expected to.
Samuel ended yet another song and went off towards the floor again. He regrouped with Cloud and looked around for Aria. “What happened?” he asked. Cloud stayed silent for a moment before sighing. “Come on, we need to go. You’re now my responsibility until Aria comes back and I don’t want anything crazy going on here…” he mumbled. He pointed at his inner jacket pocket and Samuel frowned. “How come…? What’s going on?” he asked. Cloud frowned a bit. “He’s been invited in, Bear…” he said softly. Cloud really didn’t need to answer as Samuel had already turned into the smallest bear he could be before hopping into Cloud’s pocket.

[Animebella]

Raidon looked over to Harumi as Tadashi found them and smiled. He shook his head though, "No, actually some old fellow gave it to me when I helped him about." He said looking down to the apple that he continued to twirl around in his fingers. He looked up but before he knew it Harumi had gone. He sighed, "I'm not that hungry though, on the contrary, it seems I'm unable to eat much of anything with all of this going on." Raidon watched as Harumi walked away, he had something inside him telling him to follow her, but more or less he didn't want to look of a stalker. So he turned and noted the apple in his brother's hand. "Old fellow? I don't believe I know of anyone that we invites to be old..." He tilted his head to the side as he thougt it over, "But perhaps I'm mistaken." He smiled and clapped his brother on the back, "You should eat something, I don't want to be picking you up from the floor shall you faint or what not." He said and Tadashi only could nod, his eyes still fixed on the apple. Raidon watched him wondering who this old fellow was.

Lillie and Ryou had slowed from the dancing and were now seated at a table with some old friends laughing away at something or another. Raidon's eyes scanned the crowd as he wondered if something was up. He saw nothing peculiar about anything, but figured he would tip the guards off on this feeling of his. Normally they were never wrong, "Tadashi wait here for Harumi's arrival will you?" He only nodded as Raidon walked briskly towards one of the guards to tell him what was up.

[Anjel]

Harumi walked quickly out towards the hallway, breathing in sharply now, as the terror in her heart started to build. She frantically looked around for Yuffie before going into her room where she found her trying to tear a hole in the chains attached to her feet. "Yuffie! Are you alright??" Harumi asked fearfully. Yuffie looked up and smiled a bit annoyed. "Yeah but don't tell Bear. He'll think you're drunk too and keep you in this room." she said angrily. She glanced behind Harumi for a moment, then curiously and met her eyes again. "What on earth... hey did you bring someone for me to hang with?" she asked cheerfully. Before she could even finish Harumi shut the door behind her and locked it back from the outside. "No... Listen... You can sense people right? Try and find Cloud will you?" she said, sliding to the floor, tired. Yuffie agreed, and within seconds she brightened up. "He's here-! With Bear… What is he trying to scare you off or something? I'll teach that son of a b-" "No... not him... hey, loan me a spell okay? Something like keeping someone away for let's say, twenty four hours." Yuffie frowned at the request but agreed cautiously. “Alright, here I’ll write it down. Seriously though if you need some extra back up all you have to do is-“ she paused to give her the note and noticed that Harumi had already destroyed her chains. “Awesome, thanks! You’re my best friend you know that?” she laughed. Harumi nodded and cautiously opened the door after reciting the spell. “Of course I am. One more favor okay? Make sure that apple that Tadashi has and all the other apples here in the castle are destroyed!” Yuffie held back a laugh, wondering if her friend was drunk, but decided it didn’t matter. It was too late to stop her anyway as Harumi went off to the party again.

[Animebella]

Raidon was talking to the guards in mumbled voices not wanting to frighten any of the guests that were enjoying themselves. He looked to the guard who nodded in agreement and started to pass the word to the others before slipping outside to make certain no one entered or left. Raidon turned around and scanned the area for Harumi, still no sign of her however. he was beginning to grow concerned, had she figured something out before he had? She may very well be in danger less he found her. Nodding to himself he set off through the crowd to find her, asking others along the way. No one had seen her but a few who said she was heading back towards the main hallway. He nodded his thanks and continued along.

Tadashi on the other hand was almost mesmorized by the apple, for he had no idea why he just was. As if it was the best looking apple around or something of the sort. He frowned, but his brother's words echoed through his ears, eat something.. well perhaps he should. there was never anything wrong with apples anyways, always so healthy. He lifted it to his nose and sniffed it before going to bite down.

Lillie and Ryou were now among the crowd, hearing word from one of the guards that something may be up. They were told to keep everyone calm and in the room. Lillie and Ryou made their way to the dance floor where they could see all around and started to dance, their eyes warily searching the crowds.

[Anjel]

Yuffie went around eating apples and cheerfully greeting people. Noticing that there weren't many apples she sighed, finding them harder and harder to come by. "Geez, they invited you first?" a voice muttered stoicly. She turned carelessly and frowned seeing Cloud. "Hey, not so great not being loved as much huh? Just be glad you came at all! I would have run off to Vegas just so you couldn't attend." she said rudely. Cloud blinked, the insult didn't phase him. "You know why she wanted you to eat all the apples around here? Because they can kill you." he lied, unnoticably amused at the expression he got back. Yuffie started choking, terrified by the thought and turned, frantically searching for Tadashi. When she spotted him about to eat, she stopped him. "Hey before you eat we should dance! You know, you shouldn't dance and then eat because... because you're stomach will hurt! It's like swimming!" she lied, nearly shouting.
Harumi had almost made it to the ballroom but stopped. She held on to the side of her dress lightly, almost sleepy suddenly and turned around. The hallway had turned into a grass field. "You're scarying everyone for nothing... I wish you wouldn't run from me, especially when I haven't caused any problems with anyone." a vocie mumbled. Harumi grew hot with anger and yelled back, but nothing audible could be heard. "The apple? Oh, that... well when you help people it's usually nice to give them things in return. He helped me inside, so I gave him something that might get him out of the party... he'll see some nice happy little illusions, but everyone else will just notice that he fell asleep. He'll be up by tomorrow..." Joseph said, appearing now. He smiled at Harumi's shocked face and returned things to normal. "We'll talk later... I'd really hate to attack a certain somebody for interupting this conversation. Let's make a deal okay? You keep quiet, and so will I, but if you start talking about me, I'm going to come out, as I will eventually. Just enjoy the night while you can..." he said touching her face for half a second before she shoved his illusioned hand away and stepped back. She took a breath, weighing her options. She blinked, realizing Raidon was still comming and whirled around.

[Animebella]

Tadashi almost had the bite he was somewhat looking forward to when he heard a voice. A familiar one, more or less shouting at him. He looked up, the apple untouched as he noticed Yuffie was standing next to him looking frantic. He blinked then smiled at her, "Oh, you want to dance then?" He asked as if nothing had just happened, "If I had known I would have asked you earlier.. only I couldn't seem to find you." he shrugged and looked back at the apple, "I don't think it has that effect, but I wasn't really hungry to begin with to say the least." he looked back at her, "Is something the matter?" He asked, adressing her frantic behavior.

Raidon tried to clam himself, surely nothing was going to go wrong, he just had to find Harumi and make certain this were the truth. He chewed himself out on the inside knowing he should have accompanied her to the bathroom. he felt horrible now, what if something happened to her? He was felling worse and worse, but froze once he spotted her standing by the bathroom door looking over at him. She looked normal enough but even so he had to be sure. He walked over to her and rested a hand on her cheek lightly, "Are you alright? Nothing happened to you right?" He asked looking around to see if anything was around, but nothing could be found.

[Anjel]

Harumi felt the need to speak up but didn't. She took Raidon’s hand and held it against her cheek lightly. "No, no I'm fine... why?" she asked, wanting to hug him but afraid to look to suspicious. She smiled at his behavior and shook her head, taking his hand in hers. "I was on my way back now... why did something happen? Is everyone else alright?" she asked, trembling just enough to be noticed. She couldn't help it. No matter how much she wanted to hold everything back she knew she had to explain, just not now. Everyone was still so happy and peaceful. She just needed to hold out until they were all gone, safe and back to normal. “It’s got to be pretty bad if you came all the way here to check on me… what’s going on?” she asked, growing worried about Joseph’s side of the deal.
“Oh… well then can I have it instead? She asked, picking it up. She looked it over and smiled, before throwing it as far as she could. She didn’t see it hit the ground, but she was satisfied. “Ah, shoot!” she said, “That was such an accident... it won’t happen again.” She laughed a bit embarrassed at her own behavior and took his hand. “Well, forget about the silly apple. Let’s go dance before you get attacked by all those girls again!” she said, dragging him out to the dance floor as Cloud took care of the apple. There was almost a hit of laughter in his face and Yuffie scowled at it. She was angered by the simple fact that Cloud and Samuel could have been laughing at her.

[Animebella]

Raidon looked her over as she lifted his hand to hold it to her cheek, he allowed her to do so, but even so she looked worried. Then as she took his hand in hers it was only getting him more concerned, "Yes, everythings fine. I.. I was just coming to find you to make sure everything's fine here as well." He said now noticing her shaking, "Harumi... is something the matter? You look someone.. well freaked out.. did something happen while you were away?" He asked wanting to know now, if something happened he needed to clean it up before it grew into something worse. "Perhaps it's just me in the matter, but something is telling me that something may happen. Not for the best either." He said looking around suspiciously, "Did you meet someone on the way here?" He asked not lookinb at her as his eyes scanned the hallways. Now he was begining to worry, as she shook it was vibrating his hand, she was spoked, and she knew something he didn't. He looked back to her with concern in his eyes, "Harumi, this could be a serious matter, is everything alright? You know you can tell me." He said not trying to bother her too much but he wanted to know if something happened.

Tadashi nodded, but before he handed it to her she already had it and threw it as far as he could see. He blinked a few times then looked back at her wondering what had just happened. Once she laughed he shrugged, "No matter." He said with a smile as she grabbed his hand and dragged him to the dance floor saying something about the girls that usually swarmed around him. He nodded slowly and followed after her as best he could, though he was quite curious now. She had disappeared for a while and appeared just as he was about to have a snack.. it seemed just a bit odd. But aside from the point he looked at her as they stopped on the perfect spot on the dance floor and he took his pose, a slow song was just starting and he bowed ever so slightly, so used to the whole thing and all.

[Anjel]

“Did you see him…?” Harumi asked after a while of being silent. They’d just talked about their secrets; it was too contradictory to be hiding things now. She looked up at him, hoping the spell had worked by then. “I… Cloud’s here, you know that? Aria is too.” she said, making sure not to have mentioned Joseph. She held on tighter to his hand and took a breath. “But everything should be fine here in the castle. Nothing will go wrong until everyone else has gone home. Until then, just be normal okay? There’s no way to pick them out of the crowd and so far… they just want to talk. You’ll be there with me right?” she asked, looking up at him. She hoped he’d get the message before she smiled again, somewhat desperately this time.
Yuffie stared at Tadashi, unsure what to do next. She glanced away for a moment, wishing the song hadn’t slowed down and noticed Cloud again. He watched, slightly amused from the crowd. As she turned back to Tadashi, she let him take over, so she wouldn’t seem so strange. With him in the lead, it was almost hard to mess up. “So, you enjoying the party so far?” she asked, growing nervous. She’d usually only been that close to people when she was fighting. This was a different feeling entirely. “I missed the middle of it because of Samuel so it seems to have slowed down a bit.” She said.

[Animebella]

Raidon felt her grip grow a bit more tight as she spoke, "Here? Oh, cloud and Aria." He nodded slowly, "I havn't seen them yet, but that time you said you think you saw Cloud got me wondering whether or not you had." He said and smiled a small smiled, "talking is alright, so long as nothing happens to the guests." He said after looking away for a bit. "I'll be there forever." He said softly looking back towards her, "Anyone else I should know of?" he asked knowing it was only naturla to expect Joseph to arrive with the two. He had a feeling he had to keep a close eye on Harumi from here on in, he was also curious about Samuel. He thought he would have held off Joseph for a bit. Hopefully Cloud was around to help and not hurt, but for some reason he was doubting that. He looked at his watch, it was already close to midnight. "I'm not sure how much time we have left, but if that's the case then we should enjoy it." He said a bit gruffly but smiled at her, hoping to relieve her just a bit.

Tadashi noticed her hesitant actions and took it upon himself to take over. He was so used to the manner that he almost expected it now. He led her along the dance floor like he had so many girls before her, glad to be able to talk and get to know her a bit more. "Yes, a wonderful party indeed, though I wish it weren't so tiresome all of the time." He said looking past her and spotting his mother and father looking sort of frazzled. He frowned, something must be up. "How about you?" He asked turning his attention back to her, "I think he was only trying to keep you safe perhaps. he seems like the kind that would rather mess with your head a bit though. Even still he's sweet." He smiled at her as they danced about.

[Anjel]

Harumi began to speak again, but Aria appeared. She came up quickly, hoping to scare them and shouted as she hugged them. “I’m here!” she shouted cheerfully. She kept the both of them together as she hugged them tight. “Aren’t you glad to see me??” she asked. Harumi stared up at her oddly, and shook her head. “Not so much.” She answered stoically. Aria glared at her and dropped them both suddenly. “I leave for two years and you even start talking like him...” She mumbled partly to herself. She sighed and turned to Raidon. “Hello again Raidon. I bet you’re glad to see me huh? Even if I brought along a bit of baggage…” she said. Harumi frowned at her and looked away. “Quite a bit.” She mumbled. Aria’s smiled faded a bit before she held a very confused looking doll out for them to see. “Anyway, I just wanted you both to know that I’ve taken care of your little… problem. Sorry for the scare. I’ll keep him on a leash this time!” she said petting the small Joseph doll. Harumi nodded as she started to leave. “Have fun at the party okay? And next time I expect an invitation…” she said threateningly, though it was mainly playful.
Yuffie laughed quietly to herself. “Sure… he’s sweet like poisonous sugar.” She mumbled, thinking about Samuel. She shrugged and fell silent for a while. “Actually, I thought this was going to be a little party, you know, just people who live here already. I guess it’s okay though. No one’s judging me about the pants and everything, so I guess it’s all good.” She replied. “You look like you hate them though… why even come?” she asked, thinking about the many other things he could be doing. She smiled, and continued. “This is a really big castle. You guys have to have a game room… or maybe a field to practice training in. Why even bother…?”

[Animebella]

Raidon was about to speak when Aria showed up and pulled them both into a tight hug. He gasped ever so slightly whe she let go. Blinking a bit as she asked if he had missed her, he nodded slowly not wanting to disappoint her. "Yes, as a matter of fact I have actually." he said trying to hide the worry in his voice now, but not doing a very good job of it. But he had to remember that he was in this for keeps, that jerk coulden't have Harumi, no matter how much he tried. He grinned slightly at the thought as Aria pulled out a doll of Joseph, "Interesting." He said lightly as he looked it over then back up to Aria. "So long as he behaves tonight, I'm willing to wait him out." He said in a low voice as she walked off. He looked to Harumi, "Then shall we head back down? Maybe seak out Cloud? I have a feeling you wish to see him again, no?" He asked gripping her hand with a smile.

Tadashi sighed, "If most of it didn't involve me I would have been tempted. But it seems mother and father are set on finding me someone to occupy my time with." He shrugged lightly, "I think they think that I need someone to get me away from the books. Though I was never interested in girls." he frowned, "I guess they just don't understand that I'm fine without anyone in my life. I have all I've ever wanted, never asked for more." He said looking away for a moment before looking back, slacking off a bit when the music grew a bit faster.

[Anjel]

Yuffie smiled, and her smiled got wider as he continued, “Oh yeah? Well, you could go with me, I never have time to read.” She said cheerfully. Listening to how stupid she sounded, she quickly continued. “I mean, I have a strict training schedule and I have to go all over the place to keep up with Cloud. Why don’t you come too? It’ll be fun! Especially since I don’t always have the money to stop and buy healing potions.” She said. Yuffie blinked, realizing he was going slower than the music. She went a bit faster, wondering if it was really okay to take over. “Also… you wouldn’t have to wear… I mean, you can dress more… casual. And warrior outfits are really cool. You’d learn how to fight, and never go to another ballroom party again, you know?”
Harumi glanced at Raidon and nodded, wondering when he’d ever met her. She glanced back to Aria who danced away with the little doll in her hands. It seemed to have gotten angrier. “Right… let’s go.” She aid, not really listening until she heard Cloud’s name. “Oh… yeah, that would be good too. Are you sure though, I mean after what happened last time.” She said, her thoughts flashing back to the last time she’d fought with Cloud. Then again, he did come back to try and save them. It couldn’t have been that bad.
Cloud walked around the ballroom floor, looking for signs and warnings. After long he noticed Aria, who tossed a doll at him. “I’m guessing Bear loves that power of yours.” He said, looking at the angry Joseph doll. Aria shrugged and took Samuel out of his pocket. “You see, you’re okay… Come on back to life Sweetie.” She said. She watched as he refused and shrugged. “Fine, I’ll just use you as a hair tie!” she said, pushing her hair back and making sure he held onto it. She smiled as Cloud watched and winked at him. “See, I’m cute huh?” she asked, feeling a sudden jealous energy around him. She smirked, almost seeing Aeris’ angry spirit as he carelessly watched her.

[Animebella]

Tadashi listened to the propsition that Yuffie had seemed to form. It all sounded so perfect actually, but fighting.. was he really up to something like that? He frowned a bit but nodded as he watched her take over the lead and started to match her pace. "Hmm.. well i could sure tech the two of you a lot when it comes to medical purposes, though I have to wonder why you tag along with this Cloud fellow." he said wondering if they were like family, or if she just did. Training may be fun though, he could be more efficient in the areas he lacked and his parents would be proud. Though that would leave the throne only to his brother and Harumi... would she e alright with that? Raidon never had told him how she felt on the matter. It was a big matter to take on coming from a place where she wasn't too used to the customs around here. He looked to Yuffie after a second and smiled, "Well i guess it's a wonderful offer, but I need to be sure Harumi is okay with taking up the throne with my brother. I was always his fall back plan, I don't think he wants to force her into the position that she has to." He shrugged, "But it would help my studies tremendously." He was curious about the world, and all of the new skills he could gain from leaving the castle.

Raidon nodded as they started down the hallway regardless of what happened last time. The memories found their way into his head as he pretty much relived the moments. "As much as I'm a bit wary on the matter, I'm not going to take the oppurtunity away from you. Plus if I stay away from him it's only going to show a childish behavior in me. I can't possibly pull that one out of the bag with the situation we are in. It would only make matters worse." He paused to smile at her, "Maybe I'm overthinking this thing, but I certainly don't want to do anything that may break our relationship." He kissed her cheek just as they came upon the stairs.