A Suikoden III Short. Usual disclaimers apply.

Main Characters: Chris, Lilly and Borus

Pairings Warning: None

Chapters Read: Technically takes place before the game, so… But it likely wouldn't hurt to play up to Chapter 4 anyway.

Explanation: Inspired by Kidd's third profile of Chris. Note that this is merely my interpretation of what might have occurred – I don't know the exact time the event was set, so I took artistic liberty. Translation: chibi Lilly, Chris and Borus getting into trouble, yay! Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing different takes on this by other writers…

~ * Having a Ball * ~

Vinay de Zexay had a fantastic reputation when it came to celebration. The Zexen capital was well known for the grand scope of its galas, tales of the sheer lavishness of every commemoration circulating through every country. Noble families often migrated to the city from near and far simply to partake in the festivities, another symbol of their wealth and high living. This was especially true of the Zexen Federation Day Ball, widely known to be perhaps the most revered and lavishly executed extravaganza of all.

Yet Lilly Pendragon was bored out of her mind.

It seemed that for all the hype surrounding the festivities, there were distressingly few activities open for ten-year-old girls… at least, ten-year-old girls who came with their parents from a place as far away as Tinto.

Said parents were currently making the social rounds, chatting their lives away with other equally upscale adults while their bored children milled about disinterestedly, trying to keep from nodding off.

Lilly was unused to feeling uncomfortable like this. She didn't know anyone else here, she was in a strange city far from home, and in a strange new dress to boot. The huge pink cream ruffles of her dress's flowing skirt were extremely difficult to avoid treading on as she wandered aimlessly through the choking crowd.

She scrunched her face up into a cute pout, deciding that once they finally got home, the first thing she'd do was throw all her super-fluffy dresses out the window and pitch a fit until she got a new wardrobe. She wasn't a little baby anymore, and surely there were plenty of fashions that didn't put the wearer in constant danger of tripping over her own clothing…

Take, for example, the silver-haired girl she spotted at that moment standing by one of the food-laden tables several feet away. She looked plenty pretty without drowning in a mass of ruffles. Lilly's pout became an expression of stubborn determination as she staggered toward her, determined to ask where the stranger had bought her own dress.

Unaware she was being scrutinized by a peeved Pendragon at that very moment, Chris Lightfellow watched the nearby adults nervously, wringing the hem of her simple silver and royal blue gown in both white-knuckled hands. Satisfied that none of the older folks were paying any attention to her at the moment, her amethyst gaze swiveled to the white tablecloth before her.

"I'm not so sure this is a good idea…" she mumbled.

The ivory tablecloth rippled, and then a hand emerged and pushed it upward, revealing the scowling face of a boy crouching underneath the table.

"Shh! You wanna get us caught?" scolded the boy in a harsh whisper.

"No, but…"

"Then be quiet, okay? Just give me a bit longer and I'll get it!"

The blonde-topped head vanished back beneath the concealing white folds of the tablecloth, and Chris stamped her foot in frustration. Why did that Borus have to be so… so… boyish?! If he got caught, it would land both of them in trouble…

"Excuse me!" an imperious voice cried behind her.

"Wah!" Chris jumped with shock and spun around, silver braids whipping wildly behind her, lavender eyes wide with fear. "What?! What?!"

"Ow! Careful with those!"

Lilly winced and rubbed her cheek where one of the other girl's long braids had struck her. Chris double-blinked, startled to see a girl roughly her age standing where she had expected a disapproving adult to be.

"Oh… Sorry," she murmured sheepishly.

"Are all Zexens this edgy?" wondered Lilly, still rubbing her sore cheek. "I just wanted to know who does your tailoring…"

"Uh…" Chris shrugged. "I dunno… a tailor?"

"…Ha. Ha. Ha," Lilly deadpanned. Her lower lip jutted out again as she stubbornly insisted, "I didn't come over here to listen to your poor attempts at humor. Now, seriously, who made that dress?"

"I told you, I don't know!" Chris was flabbergasted: who did this strange girl think she was to come out of nowhere and start asking silly questions? Not to mention that her timing really sucked…

Suddenly the tawny-haired boy's head popped out from under the tablecloth again. This time the boy was grinning ear-to-ear when he emerged, golden brown eyes shining as he produced a pair of glasses filled to the brim with a deep burgundy liquid.

"Got it!" he declared, crawling out and standing up with his treasures. "Now we'll see what my parents and all the adults like so much about this stuff. Here ya go Chris… Um, who's your friend?" he asked as he belatedly noticed the wide-eyed redhead in ruffles standing next to the startled silver-haired girl.

"Ah, ah, ah," sputtered Lilly, pointing at the glasses he carried. "That's wine! Only grownups are allowed to drink that stuff!"

"Eep!" Borus froze up. "D-don't you dare tell on us!"

"Y, yeah!" seconded an equally terrified Chris.

"No fair! I want some too!"

"…Huh?"

Chris and Borus blinked in unison. Lilly's bottom lip jutted out dangerously again, and she stamped her feet impatiently, hands on her hips.

"If you guys don't let me try it, I'll tell!" she threatened. "Now gimme that!"

She made a grab for one of the glasses, but Borus jerked his hand away, hissing, "No! My idea, Chris and I get to try it first!"

At the same time, Chris tried to grab the glasses as well, saying, "Okay, okay, here, take it…!"

There was a crimson splash, and the three froze, staring down at the mess they'd made. A huge stretch of burgundy now slashed across the front of Lilly's formerly pure pink cream dress, dripping down the ruffles. The trio gaped at this for a long, breathless minute, then the redhead's face contorted again.

Just because she didn't particularly like the dress that much didn't mean she would take having a couple of wine-stealing brats ruin it!

"I'm… gonna…"

Her entire body trembled with the force of the coming eruption. Chris and Borus both recoiled, certain the next word would be a screech of "TELL!" that would bring all the adults down on their heads.

"H, here, take it!" Chris cried, yanking the remaining glass from Borus's numb grasp and thrusting it toward Lilly as a desperate peace offering.

The quaking redhead paused, blinking at the glass goblet. She reached out, took it… and promptly dumped the contents onto Chris's dress.

"There. Even," she declared, folding her arms and looking mightily pleased with herself.

Chris looked down at the fresh stain on the front of her blouse for a moment, then up at Lilly, blank-faced. Slowly, tears began to glisten in the corners of her eyes. Unlike Lilly, she happened to really like her dress. Her father had told her before that she looked a great deal like her mother while wearing it.

Glaring back up at Lilly, driven solely by impulsive anger, she slapped the other girl across the cheek.

Lilly staggered back a step, one hand going to her throbbing cheek, the other tightening into a fist at her side. She looked fully ready to respond in kind.

"Um, girls…?" Borus interjected, seeing the pair glare daggers at each other.

His meek murmur was a mistake, as it reminded both of his presence. They turned their glares upon him, and he recoiled. Both decided upon one thing at that instant: it was his fault for getting the wine in the first place.

"You!" both snarled.

"Ahhh!" Borus screamed, sounding remarkably like a stereotypical female, and ducked back underneath the tablecloth,

Both girls lunged after him, and the table rocked dangerously before falling over with a fantastic crash. Everyone in the vicinity jumped and turned just in time to see everything on top of said table fly off, blanketing those closest in splattered foodstuffs.

Borus emerged first, half-tangled in the no-longer pristine ivory tablecloth, yet stumbling away as fast as his snared legs would carry him. Hot on his heels were a girl with silver hair falling out of its neat braids and a redhead with the bottom ruffles of her dress ripped off, screaming and throwing handfuls of ruined food at him and each other.

The collected adults blinked at this spectacle, then reacted in typical fashion: each turned to those closest to them and declared unanimously, "Not my children, thank the Goddess."