#rfhf 2015

"Trick or treat!" The young group of kids shouted at the hundreth house they had stopped at that night.

After they received their candy, the group made their way back out into the street and contemplated what to do next.

"I think we have enough candy. Let's go to my house and watch movies!" Leonel, dressed like a medievel prince, suggested.

"No way!" Roy the pirate retorted. "There's no such thing as too much candy! We have to clean this neighborhood out before we even think of stopping!"

"Besides," Cammy, who was dressed as Wonder Woman, added. "We can't just go over to our teacher's house. That's weird."

"So I guess that means our house is out too?" Aria grumbled. Aria and her brother Aaron wore matching costumes. They were dressed as Woody and Jessie from Toy Story.

"I'd like to go home," Sera stated. "It's getting cold out."

"I like the cold!" Serena countered. Serena was in all red, with a pitchfork and little devil horns while Sera wore a white toga with wings and a halo above her head.

"I'm okay with doing whatever you guys want," Leann said. Her costume this year was Snow White.

"Yeah, whatever's fine." Orland wore round glasses on his head and his mother had skillfully put a lightning bolt on his forehead. Hogwarts robes hung from his body. He had read the books throughout the past year and despite his friends trying to persuade him to go as Draco Malfoy he was determined to be Harry Potter.

"Well nothing's fine if we can't decide on something," Aaron finally spoke up.

The group debated and argued a while longer, until Aria cut the conversation off.

"Did you guys hear that?" she asked.

"Hear what?" Roy asked, looking around.

"It sounded like it was coming from the bushes," she replied.

"I think I heard it too," Sera agreed.

"I didn't hear anything," Serena disagreed.

"It was probably nothing. Just a squirrel or something," Leann assured the rest of the group.

Another restling noise came from the bushes, causing the kids to jump.

"S-Something's in there!" Leonel was almost fully panicing by now.

"I bet it's a ghost!" Cammy suggested, bouncing from excitment.

Orland rolled his eyes. "There's no such thing as ghosts."

"Oh really?" Roy asked with a mischevious gleam in his eyes. "Then go check it out."

"Fine. I will," Orland huffed.

He slowly made his way to the bushes, heart thumping and nervous, but trying not to let the other kids tell he was scared. As soon as he reached the bushes, he stuck his hand out to examine the foliage.

"BOO!" A dark figure jumped from the bushes, clothes torn and blood all over his body.

The kids, including Orland, screamed and ran in the opposite direction. They didn't stop to catch their breath for blocks.

The dark figure doubled over laughing. "I told you, Jake! I told you they'd all fall for it!"

Another figure came from the bushes, grumbling and obviously upset. "I thought my son was smarter than that."

Kyle puleld off his mask and held his hand out. "Pay up."

Still grumbling, Jake pulled a wad of money out of his pocket and handed it over to Kyle. "I hate Halloween."

"Are you kidding me?"

Raguna was currently curled up in his bed, clutching his head as yet another migrane settled in.

He wasn't sure of the time. It was still dark out, so he knew it was still early.

Ragune had been kept up all night by the headaches that pierced through his skull and his clogged up nose. Of all days to get sick, it just had to be today.

Kardia had only recently opened it's arms to Raguna, and he was forever grateful. Mist let him work on the farm and he felt like he was doing pretty well so far. So well in fact that he had planned on entering one of his own vegetables in the Spring Harvest Festival that very day. The day he was sick on.

Raguna wanted so badly to use this Festival to show the people of Kardia how blessed he felt by their kindness, but as he suffered through another headache, nothing sounded better than to spend the day holed up in his home.

Before sleep could drag him away once again, Raguna quickly laid out the pros and cons of skipping the festival.

Pros would be that he gets the rest he obviously needs. That, and he's been ranting on about how excited he is for the Festival, so when he isn't there people would worry and maybe even send him presents when they find out he's sick.

Cons included a bunch of people, especially Mist, barging into his home wondering where he was at. Everyone could wind up hating him for ditching the most popular festival of the season.

"Hello, Leonel. It's so nice to meet you." Frey's smile shined as she shook the young boy's hand.

"I-It's nice to meet you too!" Leonel replied, forcing a smile. It's not that it wasn't nice to meet his dad's close friend, but the circumstances were terrible.

According to Leonel's dad, Frey and her husband had recently renewed their vows and wanted to take a night off to go celebrate, but were having trouble finding a babysitter. Since Barrett had planned on being in Selphia that day anyway, he offered to bring Leonel along to babysit for the night and earn some money.

"It'll be good for you to do some work," his dad had said. "Besides, it seems like something you'd be good at."

Even though he was now a teenager, Leonel's girlish appearance still haunted him, and it often gave people the wrong idea. He didn't want to babysit some little kids!

Leonel was far too much of a people pleaser to say this, however, and agreed to do the job. Money is money, after all.

"This is Noel. Noel, say hi to Leonel!" Frey ushered the young boy, maybe four or five years old, to stick his hand out and introduce himself.

"Hi, Lee-nel," Noel said and gave Leonel a sloppy handshake.

"Hello, Noel," Leonel replied.

A girl who looked about seven or eight came out of one of the other rooms of the palace and walked to her mother's side.

"Luna, this is Leonel. He'll be watching you and your brother tonight," Frey told her daughter, still smiling. Did she ever give her cheeks a break?

Luna gave Leonel a suspicious glare, but introduced herself politely.

Frey and her husband gave Leonel the rundown of the house. Where the food was, what time to have them in bed, etc. They then gave their children kisses and headed out.

"When's dinner?" Noel asked expectantly.

"It’s only four thirty. We’ll have dinner around six."

"But I want it now!" Noel huffed and stomped his foot, crossing his arms in the process.

"Well I’m sorry but it’s too early for supper," Leonel told the younger boy.

"Now! Gimme now!" Noel yelled.

Leonel simply rubbed his forhead, trying to ignore Noel’s little trantrum. What he was getting paid so wasn’t worth this.

"Come play Castle with me!" Luna, who had been somewhat avoiding Leonel all evening, all of a sudden decided to make a peace treaty.

"Oh, um, sure," Leonel rubbed the back of his neck. "How exactly do we do that?"

"Well, duh. You’ll be the prince locked away in a tower and I’ll be the princess- no, knight-no, both! And Noel will be the my sidekick, Venti the Dragon!"

"Yay!" Noel was obviously pleased with his part.

Leonel let out a little laugh. "Alright. Let’s do this."

"Are you guys all set for bed? Pajamas on? Teeth brushed?" The two kids assured Leonel they had done everything as they were supposed to as they climbed into their beds.

"Tell us a story!" Noel demanded just as soon as Leonel was about to turn of the lights.

"Yeah!" Luna agreed. "Please?"

"Okay, I guess I can." Leonel pulled up a chair and sat betwen the two beds. "Once upon a time..."

"Leonel, we’re home!" Frey whispered as she slowly opened the door the her side of the palace, not wanting to awake anyone. "Hello?"

The main room was empty. Frey and her husband decided to see if the kids were in bed. They were, but in the room the babysitter was also fast asleep, sitting in a chair with his head resting on a bedside table.