Zack 'Most Wonderful Time'

Destiny Islands,
   December 18th, Friday

---

      “Hey ------! Merry Christmas!” Sora yelled from behind you. You turned around to face him.
“You do know it’s not Christmas yet, right?” you asked him, laughing.
“I know. I just wanted to be the first to tell you.” He answered scratching the back of his neck.
      “Did you hear the rumors going around school?” he asked as the two of you walked home together.
“What rumors?” you asked.
“There’s some guy at school that ‘supposedly’ stalks people.”
“Please don’t try to make school scary for me. Especially since it’s almost time for the Christmas party at school.”  
      When the two of you arrived at your house, there was a long, thin package on your doorstep.
“What’s that?” Sora asked as you bent down to pick it up. You partially unwrapped the package.
“It’s a rose.” You said, staring at it.
“Uh-oh. Looks like the Stalker found you.” Sora teased.
“It could have been Axel. He’s had a crush on me for a while.”
“Well I guess we’ll find out soon enough. See ya later -------.” Sora waved as he walked to his house.
      “Hey Reno, I’m home.” You yelled as you entered your house. You walked into your kitchen to find something to eat. On your fridge was a note.
“Went out to hang with Axel, be back late.”
“Sweet! I got the house to myself!” you exclaimed, walking into your living room.
      As you sat on your couch, watching tv, your cell phone rang.
“Hello?” you answered.
“Did you get my gift?” a voice asked.
“Who is this?” you asked.
“You didn’t answer my question.” The voice chuckled.
“Who are you?” you asked again, more sternly.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” The voice laughed before hanging up. You stared at the phone for a few minutes before calling your friend Xion.
“Hey -------! What’s up?” she answered.
“Hey do you want to spend the night over at my place?” you asked, trying to keep your voice from shaking.
“Sure! I’ll be over in a few minutes.” She hung up. You sighed.
      “Hey ------! I got my…. Why are you holding a knife?” Xion said when you opened the door. You quickly hid the knife behind your back and gestured for her to come in, closing the door behind her.
“Is Reno home?” She asked.
“What is with you and this obsession with my brother? He’s not by the way.” You crossed your arms in front of your chest, forgetting about the knife.
“Seriously, what’s with the knife?” Xion asked again.
“Alright, I’ll tell you. You know the rumors about that stalker at school?”
“Yea, what about them?”
“I think he called me earlier. He asked if I got his gift.”
“Gift?”
“Follow me.” You lead her into the kitchen, setting the knife on the counter, and showed her a thin, half-filled glass cup with the rose in it.
“Aww! That’s so sweet!” Xion exclaimed.
“Sweet? How is the possibility of me having a stalker ‘sweet’?”
      There was a knock at your door. You grabbed the knife again and headed towards the door.
“Uh…. Should I leave?” Roxas asked when you opened the door, suspiciously eyeing the knife.
“Is that your brother?” you heard Xion yell from the kitchen.
“No. It’s just Roxas.” You yelled back, obviously annoyed.
“Darn it!” she yelled. You rolled your eyes.
“So what’s up Roxas?” you said, leaning against the wall.
“I came here to drop off this box I found in my backyard. The tag says it’s for you but I don’t know how it ended up there.” Roxas said, handing you a small, thin, black box.
“Are you sure you don’t know how it got there?” you smirked, taking the box. Roxas looked down at the ground, blushing.
“I’m just kidding!” you laughed. “So is that it?”
“Yea. Well see ya later, and merry Christmas!” Roxas waved behind him as he walked away from your house.
“Pre-merry Christmas to you too.” You yelled back before shutting the door. You put the knife in your back pocket as you walked back to the kitchen.
      “Ooh! Is that an early Christmas present?” Xion asked once she caught sight of the box.
“I guess so. And since there’s no card or tag saying who it’s from, I can only assume it’s ‘Him’ again.” You sat down in a nearby chair and put the box down on the table in front of you.
      The two of you sat in silence for a few minutes, until your phone rang.
“Hello.” You muttered.
“Did you open it yet?” the same voice from before asked.
“Is it him?” Xion whispered. You wagged a finger in the air, silently telling her to be quiet.
“Listen, you little creep!” you yelled. “Tell me who the heck you are now!”
“Alright, alright! Calm down. Sheesh, I can feel your ‘Death Glares’ over the phone.” The voice laughed.
“You’re that stalker from school, aren’t you?” you snarled.
“I guess you could call me that. But I only look after beautiful young ladies, such as yourself.”
“Flattery will get you nowhere. Now just tell me who the heck you are!”
“I can’t tell you who I am. Not just yet. But I can tell you where we can meet; the Christmas party at school. Oh, and don’t worry about trying to find me, I’ll find you. And please don’t bring a knife.” You were quiet for a few minutes, trying to decide on what to do next.
“If you’re trying to decide on what to do next, I suggest opening my gift. See ya!” the voice chuckled before hanging up.
“Xion, when’s the Christmas party?” you whispered, starring at the black box.
“This Saturday. Why? What did he say?” she asked.
“I’m meeting my stalker tomorrow.” You said in a dead tone as you opened the package. Inside was a beautiful (and obviously expensive) diamond, emerald, and ruby necklace.    
      “Hey sis, I’m home!” Reno yelled when he walked inside the house.
“Yay! Reno!” Xion squealed as she ran out of the kitchen towards him.
Crap. Reno thought to himself, forcing a smile.
“….. Xion! Why are you here?” Reno asked, trying to sound happy.
“------- asked me to come over. I can’t blame her. Who would want to be alone after finding out they have a stalker after them.”
“A what?!” The ‘smile’ on Reno’s face disappeared.
“A stalker. Haven’t you heard the rumors at school?”
“You’re telling me that there’s a stalker after my sister?”
“Yea, but I don’t think he means any harm. He gave her a few gifts.”
“Gifts?”
“A rose and a diamond necklace. He also wants to meet her at the Christmas party.”
“Where is she now?”
“Upstairs in her room.” Reno ran up the stairs to your room, where you had your door closed and locked. You were sitting on the floor, leaning on your bed, listening to music. You held the same knife from earlier in your lap, starring at your reflection in it.
“Yo sis, you alright?” Reno knocked on your door. You sighed.
“Yeah. I’m alright.” You muttered.
“Then can you come out?” You sighed again and unlocked the door.
“Hey Reno. What did you want?” you muttered putting your hands on your hips. A questioning look came upon his face when he saw the knife.
“The knife’s for protection.”
“Okay then. Can I ask if you’re really gonna go meet this ‘stalker’?” he added air quotes to stalker.
“I don’t know. I feel like I should because I want to face my fear. I also wouldn’t have anything to worry about because I would have all of my friends there to protect me. But then I think of what else could happen.” You looked down at the floor.
“How about this; you, Axel and I escort you to the party and help you look for this guy.”
“He said he would find me.”
“Well either way, if you need help, we’ll be there. And you know Axel and I are some of the best fighters on the island.” Reno smirked. You couldn’t help but laugh at him.
“Alright Reno. I’ll go.”
“Great! Now could you put the knife back?” He started laughing along with you.

---

Destiny Islands
   December 19th, Saturday

---

     You woke up earlier than usual that morning. You sat on the edge of your bed, still a little groggy, and stretched your arms.
“Good morning.” A voice said from behind you. You quickly turned around to see Axel sitting in a chair on the other side of your room.
“Geez Axel, don’t scare me like that.” You smiled at him. “When did you get here?”
“Last night. Your brother said I should keep you company.”
“Let me guess. He couldn’t stand Xion?”
“Yep.” He made a popping sound on the ‘p’. “Well I guess I better get out of your way so you can get ready.” Axel stood up and headed for your door. “Oh and by the way, your friend called last night. He said it would be best for you to wear the necklace.” He said before he shut the door behind him. You groaned, remembering the possible events for this evening.
I might as well try to enjoy it. You thought to yourself as you headed towards your closet.
     “Reno where’s the necklace?” you asked walking into the living room.
“You left it in the kitchen.” Reno answered, not taking his eyes off the tv. Inside the kitchen was Axel, sitting at the table, drinking a cup of coffee, the box across from him.
“Well you look beautiful.” Axel winked, setting his cup on the table. You wore a Christmas red t-shirt that showed off some of your shoulders and tight, black jeans.
“Thanks Axe.” You sighed, putting on the necklace.
“What’s wrong? Nervous about meeting your stalker?” he asked
“Of course not.” Obvious sarcasm in your voice. “I’m very excited about someone who might kill me.”
     A few minutes later, the doorbell rang.
“I got it.” You yelled, heading towards the door.
“Are you sure about that?” Axel asked.
“He said he would meet me at school. Not pick me up at my house.” You answered. At the door was Sora and Riku.
“Merry Christmas!” they both exclaimed.
“Once again, it’s not Christmas yet.” You said laughing.
“We know.” Riku said smiling. “But we really came over to see if you wanted to walk to the party together.”
“And to make sure you were still alive.” Sora added.
“Sora, you ruined my day yesterday. Please, don’t ruin today too. I’ve already got enough to deal with.” You muttered.
“What did I…” Sora got distracted when he saw your necklace. “Where’d you get that? There’s no way that’s from Axel.”
“I heard that!” Axel yelled from the kitchen. “And I take offense to that!”
“It’s from the stalker. I’m supposed to meet him at the party.” You answered.
“Maybe he is trying to keep you alive.” Riku said, still smiling.
“Alright, enough scaring my sister.” Reno said walking up to the three of you, Axel behind him. “Let’s get going.”

---The Party---

      “So who’s this guy I keep hearing about?” Yuffie asked you.
“I don’t really know. I’m supposed to meet him here.” You answered.
“Wait. You’re going out with him, but you don’t know who he is?”
“Yuffie you have got to stop listening to these rumors. Xion told you, didn’t she?”
“No, it was Roxas. But c’mon -----! Tell me more about this mystery guy.”
“The first time I found out about him, he gave me rose.”
“Aww! That’s so sweet!”
“Not you too! So what, it’s just a rose. I still don’t get how that makes a stalker ‘sweet’.”
“Your admirer is the Stalker?”
“I believe so. After he gave me this necklace, he said he wanted to meet me here.”
“So that’s where that necklace came from. It looks to good to be from Axel.” Yuffie laughed.
“Be careful not to say that in front of him.” You laughed along with her.
      You and Reno leaned against the wall, your eyes scanning the room for any one suspicious.
“Anything yet?” Reno asked you.
“Nope. Nothin’.” You’ve been at the party for over an hour and was starting to become a little impatient.
“It’s pretty annoying when a girl gets stood up by a guy she doesn’t know.” You muttered. You scanned the room again; still no luck.
      “Hey ------!” you heard a familiar voice call out. You looked up and saw Cloud walking towards you two.
“Hey Cloud, what’s up?” you asked, slightly smiling.
“I want to introduce you to a friend of mine.” He pointed to a tall, raven haired boy leaning against the opposite wall. He smiled and waved at you.
“Well he seems nice.” You waved back. Cloud grabbed your wrist and lead you to him.
      The boy stared at you with intense, violet eyes.
Does this guy not know how to blink? You thought to yourself as you lowered your eyes.
“Hi,” you held out your hand, “I’m ------.” He lightly grabbed your hand and lifted it to his face.
“It’s a pleasure to officially meet you, Mrs. ------.” He kissed your hand. A chill ran down your spine when you heard his voice.
“I apologize for not finding you first. My name’s Zack, by the way.” He smiled.
“Zack asked me to get you ‘cause he was too shy to ask you himself.” Cloud teased.
“Shut up!” Zack yelled, punching Cloud in the arm. “The ‘real’ reason,” Zack glared at Cloud, “was that I needed to get you away from your brother. I swear he looks like he’s about to kill me.”
“'If' he knew who you were.” You corrected, chuckling a bit. “So what did you want?”
“To get to know you better, by asking you out.” He scratched the back of his neck.
“Sure, I’d like that.” You smiled.
“Hey -------!” you heard Reno yell behind you. “Time to go!” You ran to Reno, but not before yelling, “Merry Christmas Zack!” He smiled and waved.
“Merry Christmas, my prey.” He whispered.