"You're doing what now?" Sun asked, staring at the Aether siblings with a raised eyebrow. Lillie giggled.

"The Aether ball. It's a traditional formal occasion that's been hosted by our family for generations!" She explained excitedly.

"Oookay and how come we've never been informed of this?" Hau asked, fake pouting.

"Well it never really came up," Gladion rubbed the back of his neck "It only happens once every four years, so I'm pretty sure you all, minus Rose and Megan, were all still in middle school during our last one."

"True..." Rose hummed "So why are you telling us?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Lillie grinned "We're inviting you!"

Hau's jaw dropped "Is that even allowed?! Didn't you say this was a formal event?"

The two siblings smirked at each other "We... managed to pull a few strings." Gladion mumbled with a mischievous wink "Just dress smart, and Lillie and I will be over to pick you guys up"

"You're even giving us a ride?!" Rose squealed "Oh man, having rich friends are the best!"

The siblings blushed slightly

"So..." Sun glanced around "Will Megan be invited?"

Lillie gasped "Of course! Why wouldn't we invite her?!"

"I mean... she's not here."

"Megan's at the library at the moment," Gladion calmly claimed "She said she wanted to find a book for her brother, didn't say what about, but still."

Rose suddenly gave him a sly smirk, inching closer to him and lightly elbowing him in the chest "And how come you know about this, eh?"

"W-Well technically both Lillie and I knew," he stuttered, with Lillie nodding in approval "We drove her there, after all."

The brunette pouted "Darn, and here I thought you two had become an item."

"N-No! Why would you think that, t-there's no way Megan and I could become a-- we're just friends!"

The group stared at him, eyebrow raised.

"Look, let's just go find her and tell her the news!" He declared, stomping out of the studio they had all booked "We've more or less run out of time here, anyway."

Lillie sighed "Whatever you say, brother."

---

"I can't go."

"What?!" Hau and Rose yelled, causing them to be hushed by nearly the entire library. They blushed "Why not?"

"I have work that evening." Megan stated with a shrug, her eyes not leaving the shelves as she grazed over each book. She did eventually tell them about her job, just not the reasoning behind it. "Lillie huffed."

"You have work every evening."

"Minus Wednesday's and weekends."

"Not my point." The blonde crossed her arms "Come onnn, it won't be the same without you!"

Megan sighed and placed the book she was looking over back on the shelf "Listen guys, I want to go, believe me I do. However right now I don't really have the liberty to, you know, go out. I-- hey!"

Gladion took her phone from her pocket, unlocking it and dialing a number while holding Megan back by her forehead "Calm down it's just a phone call."

"With my pho--"

"Shh. Hey, Luke what's up?"

Luke?!

"Uh-huh, yeah me too. Hey listen, Megan's been invited to our family's ball, however she feels like she can't attend because of work. Do you think you can sort something out for her? Oh, it's on Friday."

Is he for real?!

"You will? Great, thank you so much. Uh-huh. Great I'll let her know. Yeah, bye!" He hung up and handed the phone back to its owner "It's all taken care of."

"You're ridiculous..." Megan murmured, her hair covering her eyes so her expression was unreadable. Everyone thought she was mad, until she began laughing. She looked up at them with the biggest genuine smile ever "I can't believe you would go out of your way just so I could have a good time."

Gladion smiled, pink dusting his cheeks "It's as Lillie said; it wouldn't be the same without you."

"Yay, Megan's coming!" Rose yelled wrapping her arms around the girl's neck, only to get shushed again.

Sun smirked and slung an arm over her shoulder on the other side "Honestly, do you think we'd ever think about going without you? That's crazy."

"Yeah! You're part of the gang we'd never not include you!" Hau laughed, with Lillie nodding in approval.

"You're our friend, Megan. We'd never give up on you that easily."

Megan was touched. She pulled every single one of her friends into a hug, which they happily returned.

But then a thought crossed her mind "But what am I going to wear? I don't have anything formal."

"Just wear your dress from prom!" Hau suggested.

"Oh. I never went to prom."

"WHAT?!"

"Okay that's it," the librarian called out angrily "You six need to leave."

---

"Lillie, this really isn't necessary..." Megan sighed as she sat on the bed, along with Rose and Sun, as Lillie rummaged through her closet. In the meantime Hau spun around in the girl's swivel chair, and Gladion sat peacefully in a beanbag chair with his phone in hand. Lillie scoffed.

"Oh please, this is completely necessary. I have to find the most amazing dress I have for you!"

"Just grab a dress. Any dress. I don't have to look like a princess--"

"Yes you do!" Both Lillie and Rose yelled, shutting her up immediately. She briefly heard Sun whisper out a 'damn', but didn't really pay much mind to it.

"Ah-hah!" Lillie yelled out in victory, pulling out a piece of dark scarlet fabric and tossing it into Megan's lap. She then grabbed Hau and Gladion's wrists, while Rose began pushing Sun by the shoulders towards the door. The boys were yanked into the hallway, causing them to turn to the two girls in confusion.

"Sorry you can't be in here, not while we work our magic. Bye!"

They slammed the door shut.

Sun, Hau and Gladion blinked, exchanging glances with each other as they processed what happened.

"I mean," Sun began "They could've just asked..."

---

It was finally Friday, and things were buzzing in the Aether estate. There were servants everywhere, making final preparations and making sure everything single detail was picture perfect. Yes, everything in this ball had to be absolutely perfect, Lusamine's orders. I don't think it's because of the guests, it's more because this is the one day her husband, Mohn comes home from his job abroad. That's also why the Aether children were glowing; they got to see their dad after four long years.

Gladion fixed up his tuxedo, smoothing it down and looking himself over in the mirror to make sure no dust was on it. Hmm... yup, seemed all clear. Nodding at himself in approval he turned to Lillie, who was sitting in front of a dressing table mirror while tearing a hairbrush through her platinum blonde locks. She looked annoyed.

Sighing, the boy walked over to his sister and took the brush from her "Allow me."

Lillie huffed and crossed her arms, watching as Gladion gently ran the brush through her hair and smoothed it with his free hand. For a boy that always looked like he wanted to kill someone, he was actually really soft.

"Hey, Gladion?"

"Hmm?"

"When we were at the library. After you called Luke, I noticed you were looking at Megan in a strange way."

The movement of the brush momentarily paused "I wasn't looking at her any differently than I would any other day, Lillie."

"Yeah but--" she paused "There was definitely a difference. There was more of a... a spark, like a small twinkle in them. Kind of like how mother looks at father."

Gladion yanked the brush through her hair.

"Ow!"

"Sorry, sorry!"

Lillie grumbled, muttering that it was okay. She felt Gladion begin to plait her hair "But anyway, it got me thinking..."

Gladion momentarily glanced at Lillie's reflection. She was looking back at him, causing him to look back down quickly. Taking a deep breath, she continued

"Gladion, do you... like Megan? Like, not in a friend way, but in a romantic way."

The air suddenly became thicker. Gladion's hands stopped working on braiding Lillie's hair. She glanced at his reflection again, only to see that his face had darkened. His eyes flickered, as if he was calculating what to say next. He bit his lip, before opening his mouth to speak. However he hesitated, like something was holding him back. Finally, after taking a deep breath he spoke.

"No. I don't think of her that way."

Lillie sighed, looking down at her lap. He was lying, she could tell. But as far as she knew, Gladion was still single. So she let it be.

"If you say so..."

Gladion hummed, finishing the fishtail plait he was giving his sister and draping it over her shoulder. He then reached for the white butterfly hairpin on the desk and slid it into her blonde locks "You're all done."

Lillie took a good look at herself, admiring her brother's work before standing up and hugging him "Thank you."

"No problem." He chuckled "Now, let's go pick up the commoners."

"Please don't call them that in front of their faces."

"Sorry, it's the suit."

---

Megan let out a breath, placing her brush on her chest of drawers and giving herself a look over. She was wearing a dark scarlet off the shoulder dress that went down to her knees, with a pair of flats in the same colour to match. Around her neck was a pendant, gifted to her at birth, which was a heart shape with an alexandrite in the middle. Her hair was half up half down, with braids running down the sides to keep it in place. Her makeup was done by her brother's girlfriend, who had came over just to help her get ready.

"Thank you, Ashley." She turned to the caramel haired woman, smiling gratefully "I love it."

"Well you should," Ashley grinned "You look like a warrior princess, ready to kill any man with your dangerously good looks!"

Megan laughed, but it was cut short when Luke bursted through the door "Megan why is there... there... there's... wow..."

Megan smiled bashfully, averting her gaze "Do I look okay?"

"Okay? That's the understatement of the year." The man came over and placed his hands on her shoulders "You look beautiful. No, stunning."

"Thanks, Luke." She smiled, placing a hand on his "And thank you for letting me do this."

"Are you kidding? You need this." the male reached up to touch her cheek "You need a night to relax and be with your friends, because you haven't been able to do that. You're still growing, so enjoy it while you can."

Megan let out a shaky breath, reaching up to hug her brother tightly. He happily returned it, despite Ashley warning them to watch the makeup.

"By the way there's a limo outside." The man suddenly claimed.

"WHAT?!" Megan pulled away and rushed towards the window, and lo and behold there was in fact a limo out there. And guess who was standing in front of it.

Frenchfry.

"Wha-- Why didn't you tell me sooner?!"

"I got sidetracked!"

Megan groaned and grabbed her purse, giving Ashley and Luke a quick hug before dashing out the door and down to where the limo was.

"Hey, Frenchfry!" She waved, getting the boy's attention. He turned to face her, only to freeze when making eye contact. He was captivated by her beauty, even more so than usual. That dress hugged her curves right while...

Oh my god she looks like a goddess...

"Quit staring at me, Frenchfry." Megan murmured shyly.

"I'm... sorry, Megan. You look really nice."

It was her turn to blush "Oh, uh... thank you."

Gladion smiled at her cuteness before opening the door to the limo, holding a hand out for her. She took it gratefully, grabbing her dress as he helped her into the back of the vehicle before climbing in himself. Everyone else was already there, all smart and pampered up.

"Wow, Megan!" Rose grinned "You look great!"

"So do you." Megan replied, gesturing to the girl's black strapless dress.

The limo began to move, and the group began to talk excitedly about their plans for tonight. Sure, it was meant to be formal... but maybe, just maybe, they could show off that one routine they worked on together...

Nah... they should be respectful.

But anyway. Each of them were ecstatic for the night to come. The night of the ball.