The grand Audience Chamber of Disney Castle was filled with music, chatter and laughter. People of all kinds of sizes, ages and races were assembled in the big hall.
In one corner of the room, a silent man holding a glass of wine was standing. Leon, formerly known as Squall Leonheart, was watching the other guests of King Mickey and Queen Minnie intently.
He realized with a tinge of envy that almost all of the guests of honor have arrived here in the company of some associate of the opposite gender...
He saw Princess Ariel of Atlantica (in human form, of course) talking to her husband, Prince Eric, and their young daughter, Princess Melody. He saw Jasmine, princess of Agrabah, with her beloved Aladdin, and Hercules, the son of Zeus, with his girlfriend Megara. Also present at the festival were Jane Porter with her fiance Tarzan (who was looking pretty uncomfortable in a tuxedo), Fa Mulan and Li Shang as ambassadors of the 'Land of Dragons' and the former Beast, Prince Beau, with his wife Belle.
'Even Sora has some female companionship,' Leon noted as he looked up at the podium, where Sora and his friends were talking to the king and queen. 'He sure looks happy, standing up there, next to Kairi...'
He didn't know if Rika would hold any grudge against his friend because of this, but if that was the truth, the white-haired boy didn't show it.
Kairi looked really nice in that pink dress, a present from Queen Minnie...
Leon imagined how Rinoa would look if she wore that dress...
Suddenly, his thoughts were being interrupted by the gruff voice of his friend Cid:
"Feeling melancholic, old boy?" The head engineer of Radiant Garden snickered. "I noticed how you looked up there to Sora and Kairi. Would you, by any chance, thinking of a certain girl with long, black hair?"
"Stop that," Leon replied, although he had to snicker. "You know I don't like it if you tease me."
"Well, it seems to be the only entertainment I seem to get here," Cid said. "That, and this nice punch." He shook his head. "I tell ya, it's a nice party and all, but... those furry fellows really don't know how to throw a REAl party. I mean, where are the dancers? The fireworks? The strong stuff?"
"I have the feeling people like us will always feel out of place, with so many members of nobility around..."
"Too true," Cid sighed. "It's just not the right place or a practical thinking guy like me."
"Excuse me," a voice addressed them. "But are you, by any chance, residents of Radiant Garden?"
Leon and Cid turned around their heads. Standing in front of them was some humanoid bird wearing a strange head and a pair of glasses.
"That we are," Cid nodded. "And you might be..."
"Oh, my apologies," the stranger smiled. "My name is Gyro Gearloose, the castle's head engineer."
Cid smirked. "Well, in that case we are colleagues. I am the head engineer of Radiant Garden, myself."
"You must be Mr. Cid Highwind," Gearloose assumed.
"Yup, that's me! Although just Cid will do. You heard of me?"
Gearloose nodded. "Oh, yes. Donald told me so much about you. He said that you once dealt with Gummi Blocks, is that correct?"
"Well, yeah... I once owned a lil' store back when we lived in Traverse Town... those Gummi Ships always have fascinated me, you know?"
"I developed my own theories about Gummi Block properties," Gearloose said, a glint of excitement in his eyes. Leon knew this glint all too well: He always saw it when Cid started to talk about his own inventions.
Cid grinned widely. "Well, I suppose we could always exchange our knowledge, right?"
"Of course," Gearloose nodded. "You see, the thing about Gummi Blocks that always made me wonder was the fact that..."
Leon chuckled as he saw the two scientists vanish among the crowd, all the time chattering.
"Looks like Cid found a soul mate," a gentle and amused voice exclaimed.
Aerith Gainsborough, another member of the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee, stepped up to her friend's side. She was wearing an elegant, red dress today.
"So, having fun?" she asked the swordsman.
"I'm getting bored as good as I can," Leon sighed.
Aerith giggled. "Sorry, but I'm afraid there are no fighting contests on this party." She looked closer at his face. "Something on your mind?"
Leon pondered if he should tell her that he had been thinking about Rinoa, but decided against that. "Well, I was worried about Yuffie... do you think she's able to take care of everything all by herself, back home?"
"Don't worry about that," Aerith said. "Yuffie isn't nearly as absent-minded as most people believe her to be. Besides, she always has Tron to help her out."
"I suppose you're right..."
----
"Dammit, DAMMIT!" Yuffie ranted. "Where is that cursed file?"
"Calm down, Yuffie," Tron's voice came out of the speakers. The security program of the Radiant Garden main frame tried his best to calm down the upset ninja girl. "And please, stop pounding the keyboard with your fists."
"I know, I KNOW!" Yuffie screamed in frustration. "But I tell you, this computer drives me nuts. How on earth do people like Cid cope with those gadgets? Every time I try to do anything with that thing, it won't do whatever I tell it to do."
"Look, maybe you should just shut down the program and try again from the start..." Tron suggested.
"Again? Tron, that would be the SEVENTH time today. I have a better idea, what if I just move that file over there..."
"AAAACK!" Tron yelled. "NOT ME! THE OTHER FILE! THE OTHER FILE! NOOO! NOT INTO THE RECYCLE BIN!"
"Oops!" Yuffie quickly stepped away from the computer console. She giggled nervously. "Maybe I should ask someone else to do this..."
"That would be the best," Tron groaned. His voice was weak. Even Merlin would do a better job than Yuffie, he thought. Even if that old magician preferred magic over science.
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(Posted Fri, 05 Jan 2007 12:13)
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