We creep along after Zane and Kawaii~Chan for a long time, waiting for Ghost to show up. And the date is... kind of awkward. Zane goes to the bathroom first. And then comes back looking happier but still flushing under Kawaii~Chan's gaze.

"They are so cuuuute!" Garroth coos under his breath from our spot in the bushes.

"Garroth, shush!" I command, smacking him. "We need to stay quiet, so they don't---"

"IF YOU LIKE IT THEN YOU GOTTA PUT A RING ON IT, IF YOU LIKE IT THEN YOU GOTTA PUT A RING ON IT---"

"Oh, crud muffins!" I hiss, pulling my phone out. Lucinda and Garroth give me weird looks. "What? I let Mummy pick her own ringtone!" I press "accept" and put it next to my ear. "Mummy, why are you calling me?"

"Zuzu just called me!" She says cheerfully. "And you and Gargar haven't called me in ages!"

"Mummy, I really can't talk right now." I tell her. "It's important!"

"Yes, I know, you're on a date!"

I nearly drop my phone. "Excuse me, what?"

"Zuzu was calling me asking for dating advice, and he said he was asking for you and Gargar! Which one of you is on a date? You! You must be, because you sounded so hurried to hang up on your DEAR, SWEET MOTHER THAT YOU HAVE NOT CALLED FOR AGES AND AGES---"

"Oh, for the love of Irene," My dad's voice joins in. "Violet, hang up now!"

"Don't you dare, Vivi!" Mummy says angrily.

"Sorry, Mummy!" I say. Then I almost press "hang up" but hesitate. "Mummy, I'm not on a date. Neither is Garroth."

"What? Then why---"

"Bye, Mummy!" I hang up. Lucinda and Garroth continue to stare at me. "Oh, shut up." I mutter.

Lucinda shakes her head. "We will talk about that later. For now..." She looks around. "Does anyone see Ghost?"

"There she is!" I hiss, pointing at the Bumpi ride, where a familiar green-swimsuited someone in a Starry costume is purposely bumping Kawaii~Chan around the ride. Kawaii~Chan yelps a few times and Zane drives over, grabbing her hand and pulling her off of the ride and out into the pathways.

"What's going on, what happened?" Kawaii~Chan yells as they run.

"I DON'T KNOW, BUT STARRY DOESN'T LIKE YOU!" Zane yells back.

"Oh no, why? Starry is my favorite mascot!!" Kawaii~Chan says.

"JUST RUN!" Zane yells, pulling her along.

Starry (Ghost) can be seen running after them like a mad starfish. "I'm going to get you, you---" She promises, but Garroth leaps out of the bushes and tackles her to the ground. Kim slips from the Starry costume, dizzy and knocked out.

Lucinda and I look at each other and follow him quickly. "Nice tackle, Garroth!" Lucinda cheers.

"And such form!" I say, patting his back. Lucinda kneels to examine Kim.

"Ahh, poor Kim!" Lucinda says sadly.

"Ohh, Kim! Ohhh, are you all right?" Garroth pleads, kneeling down. I'm almost afraid he'll start poking her like he did at the lodge.

She moans in response. "T-thank you...Garroth..."

"This isn't good at all." Lucinda says. "Ghost is beginning to manifest powers that Kim can't control."

"Uhh--uhd, dummm, who's in the what now?" Garroth asks stupidly. I roll my eyes.

"It means that Ghost has the potential to take over Kim's body." I explain slowly and clearly.

"Right." Lucinda agrees. "Kim no longer has complete power over Ghost." She sighs. "This... could be bad."

"REALLY?" Garroth asks, scared.

"Yeah." Lucinda replies. Then she sighs. "Um, let's get Kim to the boat."

"UHHH--BUT FIRST!" Garroth says. "Uhhh... can I try the costume on? I've always wanted to---"

"Now, Garroth!" I scold, kicking the costume from his groping hands.

"Awwww." He says sadly, helping us pick Kim up and carry her back to the boat, laying her in bed.

"Uhhhhhh..." She groans sadly, closing her eyes.

"She'll be all right." Lucinda assures me.

"You're sure?"

"She should be. Ghost shouldn't come back, at least for a while." Lucinda says. "In the meantime, why don't we go upstairs and finish the tea we were so rudely pulled away from?"

I giggle. "Well, Zane~Chan was at risk. I had to!"

Lucinda laughs. "True. Garroth, you coming?"

"Sure!" He links arms with Lucinda and I and pulls us up the stairs, to our tea party waiting for us under the bright silver moon.

_________________________________

"We better get to bed before Zane and KC come back." I say, putting my long-empty cup down.

Lucinda makes a pouting face. "But this is fun! It's the first time we've talked in a while, both of you!"

Garroth giggles. "Yeaaah... That's true. But, I agree with baby sister. It's WAAAAY past your bedtime." He says sternly.

"Excuse me?" I demand. "My bedtime?"

"Yes."

I laugh. "All right, all right. But only because I miss Mummy, and you're the next best thing."

"Awwww. Wait. Is that a compliment?"

I hug him. "Yes, you big teddy bear." I wave to Lucinda. "Bye, Lucy! We'll be back tomorrow, hopefully with Zane~Chan deets!"

Lucinda smiles. "All right, then. 'Night!"

Garroth pulls me towards the upper deck so we can travel down to our rooms. Then he freezes. "Uh-oh."

"What?" I peek around him and see Zane and Kawaii~Chan heading our way. My heart plummets. "Eep! Hide, Garroth! Hide!"

He ducks behind the doorway and I do the same on the opposite side. I catch him peeking around and sigh. "Plug your ears and close your eyes!" I command. Whining, he does so. I plug my ears, but I keep my eyes open just in case Garroth peeks. I hear muffled conversations behind us, and some weird bubble sound, and then Kawaii~Chan, very red, goes upstairs to her room. I feel the sudden urge to laugh.

And then I catch the giggling.

Oh, Irene. That's what the 'bubble sound' was.

"Garroth, no!" I hiss, but he's grinning and giggling and I suddenly can't control my giggles, we're both giggling and my ears are uncovered.

"Huh?" Zane's voice comes. We both keep giggling and Zane's voice turns stern. "Garroth... Violet..."

GIGGLE.

"I know that's you guys!" Zane appears on either side of us, and we're caught. "AH-HA!" Zane exclaims. He runs toward Garroth and, still giggling, I join them.

"Huehue... all right, all right baby brother, you found us." Garroth says, adorably fighting a smile.

"Were you guys behind there this whole time?" Zane demands.

"Well..." Garroth says.

"Not on purpose." I cut in. "We were on the deck when we saw you two coming back. We didn't know what to do, there wasn't time to run, and we didn't want to ruin the end of the date, so we just found a place to hide, and hid."

"Don't worry---we covered our ears, and didn't hear anything." Garroth adds in.

"Hmph." Zane says, at least a little satisfied. "Well, I can honestly say I appreciate that. But why were you guys giggling so loudly?"

"I've been giggling this whole time!" Garroth admits, earning an elbow in his gut. "I guess you guys couldn't hear it over the goo-goo eyes you were making at each other!"

And I'll admit, I fought hard to keep another giggle down.

"HEY!" Zane yells.

"Soooo..." I prod. "Tell us! How did it go?"

"Well, it went great, for the most part." Zane says. Yeah, like Starry chasing your girlfriend?

"Good!" Garroth says, and before I can stop him, he says--- "And that thing with Starry chasing you guys didn't interrupt anything, did it?"

I mentally groan.

"No, not really, I---" Zane stops dead. "Huh? Hey, how did you know about that!?"

"Oh! Well, I was going to tell you eventually---"

"That was Ghost!" I explain while still trying not to laugh. "Ghost---uh, Ghost---found out you had a date... and wasn't too happy about it."

"Really?" Zane sighs. "I knew something was up."

"Yeah, but hey---uh, don't worry about it!" Garroth says encouragingly. "Ghost is all calm now and totally won't bother you anymore."

"Really." Zane asks.

"Really!" Garroth says cheerfully. "Why don't you go to your room, and get some rest yourself. Huuuuhhhh? You lady-killer, you! Huehuehuehue!"

"Ignore him." I advise. "But, you probably shouldn't be here if Ghost wakes up."

"Yeah, all right." Zane says. "Thanks guys. I appreciate you looking out for me. And trying to keep your nose out of my business."

"I'll try!" Garroth says, giggling.

"No promises, though!" I say, just as giggly.

Zane chuckles. "Yeah, yeah. Night!" He heads upstairs for his room. Once he's gone, Garroth sighs.

"I'm happy for him, but Ghost is still all about Zane." Garroth worries.

"Then why'd you lie?" I demand.

"I just didn't want to tell him right after his date!" Garroth says defensively. "He deserves to be happy. I wasn't going to bring that down!"

I sigh. "I guess you're right. I just hate to leave this over his head after all he's been through."

"Hey, you haven't been partying much either." Garroth points out.

I feel like there's more to that sentence than Garroth is letting on. "What is that supposed to mean?" I ask.

Garroth looks me in the eye. "Well, think about it. When was the last time you did something for yourself, baby sister?"

"That's easy, I---" I pause. "Ummm... Well..."

Garroth nods. "See? You do so much for everyone else. I think it's time you had some fun."

"I went on the roller-coaster the other day?" I try.

"Yeah, but after that?"

"Umm."

"C'mon. The park should still be open! Wanna come with me? It'll be a date!"

I raise my eyebrows.

"Oh, you know what I meant, baby sister. Come on. You're having fun, whether you like it or not!" He grabs me and pulls hard, tugging me towards the park. I laugh and let him pull me away, and we spend all night going on rides and playing each other in games and...

For once, I don't feel an aching reminder of what happened bearing down on my back.

For once, I can actually believe I can let go of my fears.