Wow it's been a long time. OKAY. This is mainly a filler chapter I guess, but I like the next one a lot better. Anyway, we left off with Agura changing into her sexy dress ;)

"Ow owww! You slut!" Cindy clapped her white gloves together as Agura re-entered the ballroom, now wearing the other dress. "That's a total compliment, by the way."

"Dang, girl, you DID bring a dress for the Undergrind!" Jazz looked her up and down, nodding in approval.

"Jazz, don't be a lez." Ari rolled her eyes, laughing. "But seriously, you look smokin'. Think the queen's gonna be pissed?"

"Oh, she'll definitely be pissed." Agura nodded. "But…it was my only other dress." She winked, thinking suddenly of Elaina. I hope she's doing okay…

Suddenly, the symphony of music seemed a whole lot louder.

"Ohmygawd, dancing! I have to find Alexander!" A princess near them absolutely freaked out, sprinting away as best she could in her heels. Ari, Jazz, Cindy and Agura simultaneously rolled her eyes.

"Dancing?" Agura asked skeptically.

"Don't worry. You really just sway back and forth." Cindy shrugged, tapping a prince near her on the shoulder. "Hey, dude. Wanna dance?"

The prince looked at her in a small amount of fear. "Um, usually it's the prince who asks-"

"Yeah, okay buddy, c'mon." Cindy rolled her eyes, dragging him to the couples that had already lined up.

"Okay, I swear she's a boy on the inside." Jazz muttered just before she was tapped on the shoulder. "Ooh! Don't mind if I do…" She smiled and let the prince lead her away.

"Am I supposed to dance with Stanford?" Agura hissed to Ari.

"Nah, don't want to give it away before the unveiling." Ari shrugged, craning her neck to spot the redhead. "Oh, and it looks like he already found someone…" she commented in interest, pointing to where Stanford was bowing to some brunette girl. Agura felt a tiny flare of jealousy, not because she wanted to dance with him (she didn't), but because he, in total jerkiness (was that a word? Because it described him PERFECTLY right now!), had left her, the total newbie, up the creek without a paddle or a dance partner!

"Oh hey, Eric!" Ari suddenly exclaimed, tapping a prince who had appeared to their left.

"Ari! Sup girl?" Eric high-fived her. "You wanna throw down?"

"Save it for the Undergrind, doofus." Ari gave him a grin. "Now, ahhhsk me for this dahhhhnce." She drawled in an exaggerated accent.

"Oh, Ari, my love, dance with me!" Eric cried dramatically, kneeling and grabbing her hand passionately. Ari laughed, playing along.

"Why, Prince Eric, certainly!" She exclaimed, pulling him to his feet and giving Agura a flirty wave goodbye. Agura narrowed her eyes, considering her options. She could either-

A. Stand by the food table and pig out like the loner she was (fatty much?)
B. Randomly cut off Brunette and demand Stanford dance with her? (Just a little witchy.)
C. Pretend to have a seizure? (Drastic, not to mention embarrassing.)
D. Have Sage make her a portal and zap back to the Salt Flats? (Yeah, that wouldn't freak anybody out.)

Or was it 'Other,' the option where she turns around and finds not one, not two, but at least six different princes of various attractiveness staring directly at her?

The option where all six blush, like children caught with their hand in the cookie jar, when suddenly one steps forward, like a Moses parting the Red Sea?

The option where, with white teeth gleaming, blue eyes sparkling, and a tanned, muscular arm extended he asks, "May I have this dance?"?

Well, sadly, it was not that option, but at this point Agura would take what she could get. There was a crowd of princes (she blamed it on the dress), and one did step forward, although the parting was more of a shuffle than the splitting of the Red Sea. His eyes did not sparkle, although they were a decent shade of green, and she wasn't sure of the condition of muscle or tan-ness on his arm due to the tuxedo jacket, but he did have fairly nice teeth and she did need a dance partner. He introduced himself as Stewart as they joined the line of couples that was forming, him opposite her, and she replied that she was Agura and had no idea how to dance. He laughed and said that she simply had to follow his lead. She didn't appreciate taking a traditional gender role, but then again she didn't have a choice. The princes bowed to their partners, and in turn the girls curtsied. Agura was only a beat behind, but her curtsy, programmed in by thousands of repetitions in front of her mother, was absolutely flawless (if not a bit less low than usual, thanks for that thigh-high slit).They took each other's hands and Agura decided that maybe dancing wasn't as terrible as she had thought. Just a bunch of swaying around. Then, of course, her partner's hand, currently on her back, tried to sneak down further.

"Yep, okay, no, we're done." Agura shook her head, removing his hands from what Steward apparently considered her back and separating the two of them. Fortunately, this was part of the choreography that everyone seemed to know but her, and so it seemed planned. Agura quickly grabbed the prince to her right and spun into his arms. The princess she had stolen him from gave her a murderous glare as she was now stuck with Agura's old partner. The prince Agura had stolen gave her a curious look, then looked down at the rest of her and decided to call it an upgrade. It bothered Agura in the slightest, but at least he kept his hands above the equator.

And considering the cameras, including a certain Katharine McPhee's, positioned everywhere, she could only hope it didn't bother Vert too much.

Back in Handler's Corners (several hours later because of time zone differences and yaddadadadada):

"Better than that horrible flag dress she got caught in." Sherman was the only one able to make a non-sexual comment on the outfit change.

"Uh, yeah. Waaaaaay better." Spinner muttered, and was rewarded with a sharp elbow in the side. "Ow!" He pouted to Vert, who sat there with a slightly smug, but still irritated, look on his face.

"He's not wrong." Zoom commented.

"Dude, you're like what, thirteen?" AJ looked at him curiously, and his remark was funnier because he was trying to make an inquiry instead of a joke.

"Sixteen. Oh, and shut up." Zoom grumbled.

"Yeah, and she's seventeen. So nice try." Spinner cackled, and Zoom gave him the same treatment Vert had administered to Spinner.

"Yeah, chicks don't go for the whole younger-than-them thing." AJ shook his head.

"Next person to make a sexual comment about my girlfriend not only gets toilet duty but their head stuck in one." Vert called with a half-joking, half-not-at-all tone in his voice, and everyone immediately fell silent.

"Hey, can we watch the game?" AJ asked after a minute.

"No, no, Vert has to creep on his girlfriend to make sure Agura doesn't hook up with one of the members of One Direction." Spinner reprimanded mockingly, grabbing a pillow just in time to escape Vert's elbow.

"Okay, you guys are not only immature, but annoying me. Out." Vert pointed to the door.

"But I'm watching!"

"No, you're stalking other princesses!"

"You're stalking other princes which is even worse because it's gay!"

"OUUUUTTTTT!"

"Why are you so irritable?!"

"Dude, he and Agura get it on like, seven times a week. He's 'frustrated'!"

"For the love of God, AJ, stay out of this! And you promised not to tell anyone!"

"He's right, isn't he?! You're 'frustrated', aren't you?!"

"OUT!"

So, in short, despite the absence of the team's two greatest conflict starters, nothing at home had really changed. Vert grabbed the remote and increased the volume, wondering if that would allow him to her exactly what she was saying.

"Vert, you know Agura wouldn't go for any of those princes." Sherman, who had retreated along with the rest of the team, peered his head through the door. "Aren't you kind of obsessing a little?"

"No." Vert replied curtly, and Sherman sighed.

"Whatever you say, boss."

He ducked just in time to avoid the pillow flying for his head.

Back to the Ball:

Agura felt a little guilty for stealing her partner, but she was way too absorbed in trying to figure out who the heck Stanford was dancing with. She dipped, twisted and turned along with the other girls, constantly craning her neck to try and discover Brunette's identity.

When she finally caught the right angle and saw the girl's face, her jaw dropped and she missed a few steps.

Earlier… Stanford POV:

What does Agura think she's doing?!This ball is supposed to be MY debut! In a dress like that, she's going to steal the whole spotlight and then some!

Stanford was fuming until he noticed a prince try to sneak a peek at Agura walked by him.

And then another.

A whole line of them, not even trying to disguise their ogling as she strutted past!

In a protective sort of way, he bristled, but only for a second until realizing something.

Well, at least I'll finally have SOMETHING to hold over Vert.

Another prince leered and bounced his eyebrows at his friend.

And maybe a little more respect from the guys…Yeah, I'll let the dress thing slide.

Stanford shrugged. He wasn't jealous of Agura; she might be a princess but she acted like a total commoner (and a tomboy commoner at that). It was just…Simon was always so popular at the royal balls. Stanford was…well, sort of the ugly stepsister. Most of the princes that talked to him here had really only mistaken him for his brother. He sighed. The real Stanford Isaac Rhodes III only got to shine as the cool DJ at the Undergrind, it seemed, but the problem was that it was the balls where social status was determined and names were made known. So was he jealous? No. Sure, she was getting more attention than him (from guys and girls, it seemed; which was odd considering how she didn't really seem to fit in with the latter) and so what if she had gotten to ditch that ugly dress and was now stealing the show in this slew-errific one? (Vert would definitely kill him for saying that). He wasn't jealous. Not one bit.

"Oof!" Stanford realized that, in his musings, he hadn't exactly been paying attention to his surroundings, and had run right into a girl dressed in deep blue.

"Oh! Y-your Majesty." The girl turned and curtsied nervously. "Please, excuse my clumsiness."

"Don't worry about it, it was my fault." Stanford replied quickly. Out of all the thousand princesses at the ball, why did the particular one have him stumbling and blushing like a newb?! She was gorgeous, that much was clear: long dark hair and blue eyes, with a dress that somehow reminded him of the color of Agura's. The old one, that is, but this one was much more attractive, just like its wearer (Agura would kill him for saying that but he too awestruck to filter his thoughts). He realized that he and this girl, whoever she was (he desperately needed to find out) were caught in a hugely awkward silence.

"Well, um, this is quite the ball." She began anxiously, hoping he couldn't hear her heart pounding.

"Yes, well, once you've been to one, you've been to them all." Stanford shrugged, trying to sound nonchalant, as if he seduced girls like her all of the time. Obviously, he didn't. "Though I say, the ladies seem to grow more and more lovely every time." He winked boldly, and she blushed behind the mask. "What's your name?"

"Elaina." She responded shyly.

"How lovely." Stanford smiled, and as if on cue, music began to play. "Ah, may I, um, have this dance?" He looked to her nervously. Stanford was obviously a fabulous dancer (anyone could see that), but when it came to the traditional ball style he suddenly had two left feet. The important part with the dance, though, was to get a partner, and fast. Nobody wanted to be the odd one out of the line, and he wanted to be dancing with her.

"Y-yes. Of course!" Elaina stammered as he took her hand, guiding her to the dance floor. "I-I've never actually done this." She admitted.

"That's okay; just follow my lead." Stanford repeated the line that had been drilled into him and still retained its class to her, and she smiled as the music began.

Back to Agura:

Oh my God oh my God oh my God OH MY GOD!

OH MY FREAKING GOD!

STANLAINA!

She could hardly even believe that the two were hitting it off-

Actually, she could hardly believe ANYONE would hit it off with Stanford. Most of the time she just felt like hitting him. But hey, good for him!

Should she warn Elaina? They did seem to be having fun, but they had only just met! The poor girl probably had no idea what a player he….well, considered himself, but for once the Brit actually seemed to be thinking about what was coming out of his mouth. Agura was focusing so hard on that problem that she didn't realize her stolen partner was looking at her in amusement.

"So, um, thanks for saving me from dancing with that guy." Agura said quietly as what would be forever known as the longest dance of her lifetime continued.

"Oh, Prince Stewart the fem-Slewart?" Her new prince cracked a grin. "Yeah, good call on ditching him. He has that nickname for a reason."

"Thanks for the tip. I hope your girlfriend isn't too mad, though." Agura added.

"Oh, that girl? Nah, that's Princess Emilia, and trust me, I have no relations with her whatsoever." He shook his head. "I'm George, by the way."

"Agura. Nice to meet you." Agura said. "So, does everyone actually know this dance, or…?"

"Oh, yeah, we all had to memorize it." George nodded. "Don't worry, it's almost over…now." The music stopped, and the couples performed one more bow and curtsy.

"Nice." Agura started to say, but was cut off by someone tapping her on the shoulder.

"Princess, we're about to start the reveal ceremony." A suited waiter (or guard, she couldn't tell them apart anymore) said quietly.

"Alright." Agura bit her lip. What would the Queen say about her outfit change?

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"Agura!" Sophia's welcoming smile faltered. She, Steven and Stanford were gathered behind a red curtain on the balcony. "Um, your dress…" She couldn't seem to find words to describe it.

"Yeah, Sabrina spilled wine on my other one, so…" Agura said bluntly. She had held up the positively perfect princess role all night and was ready for a break.

Sweatpants sound REAL nice right about now.

"Oh. Well, I'm sorry that you didn't have anything else to change into." Sophia apologized uneasily. It was plain to see she did not feel comfortable with Agura wearing that.

"That's okay." Agura pasted on widest smile while debating whether or not to be insulted.

"Now, don't forget to take off your mask, dear-" Sophia began saying when suddenly, trumpets blared and the noise on the other side of the curtain went quiet.

"Oh! That's our cue!" The Queen clapped, dragging Steven and Stanford through the curtain with her. They were met with wild applause.

Wait! When's my cue?! Agura panicked, slipping off the white mask as the queen began.

"Ladies, gentlemen, honored guests! I'd like to thank you all for attending tonight, and it was lovely to reconnect and see so many familiar faces!" Sophia paused to beam at the crowd. "Now, I know you've been waiting for all night for this, so without further ado, I would like to introduce to you, my son Stanford's bride and the future heir to the throne if a hundred and eighty eight of us Rhodes die off, Miss Agura Ibaden!"

Well, I guess that would be my cue. Agura shrugged, stepping through the curtain and instantly feeling more exposed than she had ever felt in her entire life. Every person in that massive ballroom was staring straight at her; every person waiting for her to mess up. She could practically feel the heat of two thousand eyeballs all directly focused on her. Panic spread through her like wildfire, and she tried not to think about it, even though that was impossible.

Never let them see you sweat.

Her own motto rang through her head just seconds before her mother's strained instruction.

Well smile and wave, dear!

Agura slowly lifted her hand and plastered her best princess grin on her face, feeling for all the world like a robotic doll in a display case, waiting to be pounced upon and thrown all over the room by some greedy five year old.

The audience loved it. They clapped, and cheered, and she pretended to smile back and wave across the massive room as if she cared, as if she wanted to be here and spend the rest of her life with these stuck-up socialites.

"Agura, is there anything you would like to say to the kingdom?" Sophia whispered to her, and Agura almost snorted.

"No thanks." She replied graciously. "Nothing you could repeat on national news."

"What's that dear?" Sophia asked again, and Agura resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"Oh, nothing."

Just smile and wave.

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"Thank God that's over." Agura muttered as she re-joined the P.A.P.

"Nice work, I couldn't even tell you didn't want to be up there." Ari laughed.

"Oh my God, I can't even imagine the look on Queen Sophia's face when you showed up in that!" Cindy clapped her white-gloved hands together.

"I can't even imagine all of the eye rolls there were when people realized that I'm going to be their new princess." Agura laughed, but a part of her secretly wished that they would deny it. Just a teeny, tiny part.

"More like wolf whistles." Jazzy pointed out, and Agura blushed.

"Hey, speaking of wolf whistles, what's up with you and that cute Eric guy?" Agura asked Ari, and Cindy and Jazz both squealed.

"Shut up!" Ari hissed, and just as quickly switched back to a sugary smile as a camera rolled past them. "Eric and I are just friends." She said clearly, but Jazz shook her head in doubt.

"Please. Y'alls kingdoms are right next to each other, you hang out all the time, and Royal People magazine had an article about you. That's love." Jazz snapped, and Cindy high-fived her.

"Royal People magazine does not decide who's in love." Ari rolled her eyes defensively.

"What's Royal People magazine?" Agura asked.

"It's like People magazine, but, you know, for Royals." Cindy explained.

"Uh-huh." Agura muttered. That has to be the most ridiculous, pompous, mind-numbing-

"You should know, Agura, there was an article on you in it just yesterday." Ari commented.

"What?!" Agura demanded, panicking slightly. "Saying what?"

"Oh, nothing too personal. They somehow got pics of you getting off the airplane-"

"Oh my God, I was wearing sweatpants!" Agura cried in distress, and the three princesses cackled.

"You sound like Bella!" Jazz wheezed.

"Hey! Don't speak of The-Twin-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!" Cindy stopped laughing long enough to snap.

"Ladies, please." Ari halted her giggles long enough to rest her elbow on Agura's shoulder. "A princess's true beauty is measured by what's on the inside." She nodded in mock sincerity and sent the trio into another fit of mirth.

"It's not the size of your tiara or your country, but the size of your heart." Jazz chimed in, barely containing her amusement.

"And if you're not Bella than screw you!" Cindy flung her arms into the air and this time even Agura doubled over in laughter.

"So, hey, when exactly does this ball end?" She finally asked when the giggles had subsided.

"Oh, these things can go on forever." Ari rolled her eyes.

"We usually just sneak out and hit the Undergrind." Cindy added.

"Then let's blow this popsicle stand." Jazz grumbled.

"Jazzy, you know we have to wait our turn…" Ari chastised.

"Turn?" Agura asked, wondering when she would stop feeling like an outsider among these girls.

"Yeah." Cindy turned to explain. "It would be mega-suspicious if all of the young royals left at the same time, so we have a pre-determined order, organized by whoever is hosting the ball. Everyone signs up in groups of three or four and then they're assigned times, usually ten or fifteen minutes apart, to sneak out."

"How do you know all this?" Agura asked in disbelief. It was harder being a royal than she thought.

"Facebook." Ari laughed.

"There's a Facebook page for the Undergrind?" Agura raised a dubious eyebrow.

"Um, of course! How else would we figure all of this out?" Jazz said, as if it were obvious. "Hey, when's our slot again?"

"Um…" Cindy looked around the room, locking her eyes on the grand analog clock. "Okay, little hand on the ten, big hand on the…"

"Congrats, Cindy, you're both blind and can't tell time." Jazz muttered.

"Hey! My governess never taught me how!" Cindy defended.

"Yes she did, Cindy." Ari said unemotionally, as if she had repeated it a hundred times.

"Okay, fine, but-"

"For the love of P.A.P., it's ten-twenty-eight!" Jazz huffed.

"Oh my God, finally! We get to leave in two minutes!" Cindy fist-pumped. "I'm about to get my Gangnam on."

"I just hope-"

"That Errrrric goes?" Jazz nudged Ari with a wink.

"No!" Ari glared. "That Stanford plays that new Will. . 'Scream and Shout' song!"

"Ooh, the one in the Beats commercial?" Cindy asked.

"You know it!" Ari cheered. "It'll be so fun to dance to-"

"With Errrrric?" Jazz nudged her again

"No!" Ari blushed. "Okay, maybe!"

"Ha! You two are so in love." Cindy sighed happily.

"We are not in love, we're just friends." Ari rolled her eyes.

"With benefits?" Jazz suggested devilishly.

"Oh my God! No!" Ari hissed. "God, Jazz, someone's gonna hear you!"

"And then you and Eric will HAVE to date each other. Mwa. Ha. HA." Jazz smiled smugly.

"Hey, um, girls? Ten-thirty?" Cindy said impatiently.

"Oh my God, Cindy, I'm so proud of you!" Jazz squealed and clapped.

"Are you making fun of me?" Cindy asked suspiciously.

"Never!" Jazz said sincerely, patting her shoulder. "Now c'mon, let's hit the Undergrind!"

Agura blindly followed the P.A.P. trio to a limousine that was parked outside.

"You guys really go all out." She murmured as they entered.

"Eh. It's just so that we can all change." Ari shrugged, already wriggling out of her green dress.

"And, because this car is a place of honesty, you could use a few minor alterations." Jazz added, wriggling a royal purple number up her torso.

"What happened to 'ow ow, you slut'?" Agura raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, no, you're still a slut, but that was for ball standards." Cindy winked to show that the statement was not meant as an insult. "You're mega overdressed for the Undergrind."

"I already changed once, and I didn't bring anything else!" Agura worried. Yes, she did hate it here, but she hated not fitting in a whole lot more.

"No problem." Jazz smiled calmly, and before Agura could stop her the caramel-skinned girl had snatched a pair of scissors and sheared off the bottom half of her dress.

"Oh my God!" She shrieked in half shock, half disbelief, as the dress went from a jagged, diagonally slit hem exposing one of her legs to a straight one that ran right across the middle of her thigh.

"I love it!" Ari squealed.

"It's a freaking tube top!" Agura screeched. "This is way too short!"

"Honey, wait until you see what some of these girls wear to the Undergrind." Jazz consoled. "You'll look like a nun."

Okay, there's more, but that's all I could do for now! (Getting on the long side) I hope everyone had an AWESOME holiday break!