- - - LIKE A STAR

[echo]

I PROMISE YOU I’LL BE THERE
’cause you’re number one on my wish list

[/font]
• • • • • • • • • • • LENA LAFLEUR ![/font][/color][/font][/size][/center]

Christmas was not a big event in Echo’s household. It had never been a very prominent holiday for his Native American mother, who didn’t see the point in celebrating a holiday when she didn’t believe in that God. It was pretty much the same with his Chinese father as well, who had only celebrated Christmas once in his life; the first year he had come to America staying with a friend’s family. Echo wasn’t against Christmas at all, he thought it was a lot of fun and he thoroughly enjoyed the music stores played, he just didn’t celebrate it in his own home. If friends invited him to spend Christmas with their families he usually went, but his own family celebrated something much different and much more spectacular in his opinion: Chinese New Year. His mother, the amazing woman that she was, was more than willing to celebrate the New Year with the Chinese side of the family, which certainly meant a lot to his father and relatives. While Chinese New Year wasn’t for a while yet, Echo was still looking forward to it. The celebrations lasted a good two weeks in his house, which was cleaned top to bottom and then decorated in brilliant shades of gold and red. Every room was filled with blooming plants that symbolized rebirth and prosperity, and a tradition New Year’s Day dinner was ordered from a Chinese restaurant and eaten at home before luck-drawing dishes were cooked, like oysters for success and lettuce for wealth. Noisemakers drove evil spirits away and they attended the Chinese New Year’s parade every year. Echo looked forward to it every year, though he had to take time off of school to go Astoria to celebrate it.

For now, Echo was going to go to the Christmas Ball the school put on every year, as he had the other two years he had attended high school here. Just because he didn’t celebrate Christmas didn’t mean he wasn’t going to go; this was his chance to go outside of his own cultural background and have a little fun. Besides, Christmas is everywhere. There was no avoiding it, so it was easier to just go along with everyone. Heck, he even wore a Santa hat every so often, though he couldn’t seem to find it at the moment. He assumed Errol must have borrowed it; that boy was pretty darn eccentric whenever dances came around. Echo was in quite a pathetic situation right now, having had to look up on his computer how to tie a tie. He wasn’t a big fan of having to dress formally, not liking to wear clothes that he couldn’t fight in. So, he was wearing a pair of his usual Hoboken pants, smoky grey and newer so that they would be “formal” enough. His shoes were deep green and more casual than typical dress shoes, and most definitely more comfortable. His blouse was the usual white, buttoned all of the way with his dark grey jacket already on and also buttoned. His tie was light green with darker stripes, which is tied using a diagram online. He made sure his hair was neatly brushed and his ear rings were formal to match the event, and last but not least a small gift for a certain someone.

Echo had yet to ask the girl he was falling for out, and while he had totally intended to ask her to attend the ball with him the London trip had cut into his time to ask her. He was desperately hoping some taller, better looking man hadn’t asked her instead, because that would leave the little mixed race fighter pretty heartbroken. Echo was a fighter, yes, but he was also a big softy. He didn’t handle heartbreak very well, even after a full lifetime of practice. Echo carefully tucked the gift into his jacket pocket and made his way down to the gymnasium, giving his money as he entered and immediately started looking for Lena. He saw a sea of familiar faces, the ones that stuck out the most being Errol dancing with Xelios, as expected, and a quite pretty Isa, but no sign of Lena yet. Oh! Wait! There she was! That head of incredibly long blond hair stuck out like a beacon for him, and he immediately wove through the people to approach her. He took a deep breath and mentally prepared himself, having not done this in decades. He gathered up his courage, which was easy enough, and approached her from her side so they could talk face to face. “Hi Lena, you look absolutely stunning,”

[/color] he greeted with a light blush to his tanned cheeks. [/justify] [/blockquote]words: 782
outfit: clicky!
lyrics: the ready set, wishlist
notes: <3[/blockquote]

[Evangeline Delilah LaFleur]

On the other hand, Christmas was pretty big in Lena's family. It was huge. Uncle Hayes would get a fresh tree every year. Aunt Cheryl would make cookies. Nevaeh, Jack, Carly and herself would decorate the tree, and usually fight about who gets to put the star on the tree...it usually ended up being little Archie. That is, if he didn't already try to eat the star...

Even Midna got a little stocking with a carrot in it from Lena. Christmas was a pretty big deal. Everyone was together again and they would have a big Christmas dinner and tell stories. In a lot of ways, it was like a story-book Christmas.

Outside of home, Lena usually found herself taking her acoustic guitar to a restaurant or a charity even and playing all sorts of Christmas songs there. Unfortunately, no one would allow her to play "Santa Stole My Girlfriend" by The Maine (maybe it had something to do with the line "Santa, you bitch"?). However, "Ho, Ho, Hopefully" was allowed, so perhaps she could complain too much. Perhaps next year, she could play in a venue that would allow her to cover "Yule Shoot Your Eye Out".

However, this year, Lena decided to switch it up a bit and go to the school dance as part of her Christmas festivities. She usually avoided dances. They...weren't exactly her thing. Lena couldn't dance...and she didn't enjoy putting on high heels (Aunt Cheryl wouldn't allow her to attend a school dance in Converse. Lena wouldn't see why not. Converse and dresses look cool together...). Even now Lena wasn't decked out in total dance attire. Yeah she was wearing her satin, dark blue halter dress with it's rinestone pin in between her breasts. She put on silver heels and rinestone necklace and earrings. Her wrists jingled gently when she moved from her silver bangles and she was wearing a little bit of eyeliner and her white-blond hair was extra curly...

But even now with all this fancy attire, Lena wore a black leather jacket with it's sleeved pushed up over her curve-hugging dress. She wore the jacket because she felt it gave her outfit a nice...edge. She wasn't sure how to describe it, but she thought it was cool.

But she also wore the jacket to cover up an insecurity. She had two scars left from the accident that took the life of her mommy and daddy. One she hid well. It was in her hairline on the left side of her head and her blond curls always covered it. But the other? The other was her reason for always wearing a plaid shirt or sweatshirt or sweater or jacket or...something. The pink scar on her upper right arm. It was an ugly and painful reminder for her and she would rather keep it all covered and just...forget about it. She tried to. And it was easier to forget when you couldn't see it, or so she has discovered.

She stood to the side of the dance floor, observing people rather than dancing herself. She saw familiar faces from her grade and from other grades, but she chose not to speak with them. She didn't want to barge into any group that had arrived. She was beginning to reget not coming with a group...and soon after, she regretted coming at all. What was she thinking? Dances weren't for her. Now, a concert? That was for her. Putting on a dress and heels and trying to look pretty only to get ignored? Yeahhhhh, not so much. Putting on shorts and sneakers and shoving people around while singing your favorite song by your favorite band at the top of your lungs? That was ten times more appealing.

She sighed, hugging her jacket closer to her body. Her feet were killing her. She'd been standing a while. And she really didn't like the music too much. She was hungry too. Really hungry. She hadn't eaten before she left for the dance. And she couldn't buy anything from a vending machine...she had to pay for her ticket in and now she was broke. Perhaps it was time to go home. Maybe it was also time to start looking for a real job to help solve her money issue. Lena began to turn to leave when she heard a voice call to her...a familiar one at that. “Hi Lena"

She turned slightly as the voice finished, "you look absolutely stunning,”
Her silver blue eyes met up with a pair of almond shaped brown ones. Lena light up and smiles upon seeing Echo, and a pink blush worked it's way onto her pale cheeks as well. "Thank you, Echo," She replied with a grin, "Did you just get here?"

Because if she'd seen him earlier, she wouldn't have wanted to leave.

[/size][/center]


WORD COUNT: 811
LISTENING TO: sally's song - amy lee
COMMENTS: le dress

[echo]

I PROMISE YOU I’LL BE THERE
’cause you’re number one on my wish list

[/font]
• • • • • • • • • • • LENA LAFLEUR ![/font][/color][/font][/size][/center]

Most people who knew Echo, or at least knew who he was, did not peg him for a fan of dancing. His constantly guarded posture and dedication to Martial Arts often led to him being stereotyped as someone who was too brutish to dance. Any true Martial Artist would tell you just how wrong that was, because dancing helped the movements more than most people would think. It helped to build up muscle strength in areas that one might not use in certain fighting styles, as well as adding a sense of grace, which could have a negative affect if there was too much of it. Mostly, though, dance helped with flexibility, which was very useful when it came to fighting. Some of the kids that he helped teach were so stiff and rigid, which didn’t really help very much. Echo may have guarded posture but he was not inflexible by any means. Having known about how dance helped with martial arts from his first life, he made sure to incorporate that into this second one as well. Mind you, Echo wasn’t very good at capoeira, even though it was a fighting style that mixed dance into it already. He was capable of using capoeira techniques, sure, but he wasn’t very good at the style overall. But back to the point, people were usually surprised to see Echo at dances. They didn’t think he would be into that, but he most certainly was.

That was one more reason for him to look forward to the New Year. The very large family on his father’s side always invited his mother’s side, and anyone else who was married into the family, for a party. They rented out the only hall in the city for the night and got one of the cousins to be the DJ. It was one of his favourite parts of the celebration, because it meant being able to see everyone while having the best time ever. Echo could not wait to be able to go home for a week to spend time with his family. He would miss school but it would be worth it. For now this would do, since he had Lena to look forward to. Hopefully he would be able to ask her out to a movie by the time the night was over, assuming she didn’t reject him when he asked her to dance with him. It had been a long time since he had felt this way about someone, and with a lifetime worth of experience in his belt Echo was pretty sure as to what it was he was feeling meant. He couldn’t help but admire her when he saw her, with her long golden hair and the blue dress that matched it so well. He even liked the leather jacket that she had on, which wasn’t something he usually went for.

There was absolutely no way that the Chinese-Native American could pass up going to compliment her. To not do as such would be blasphemy to everything that he stood for. So he went over, said his little hello, and complimented her on her on her dress. He would most likely compliment her if she was wearing a paper bag though, because he found her very beautiful no matter what she was wearing. He hoped she didn’t get the impression that he was only saying that because she was all dressed up. He couldn’t help but swoon internally at the blush on her fair cheeks, his smile fond and warm. “You are most certainly welcome,”

[/color] he replied as smoothly as he could. He was trying to be suave, but he wasn’t sure how well that was working. Just be yourself Echo, that always works. “I did actually,”[/color] he nodded. “Do you want to dance with me?”[/color] he asked, holding out his hand and praying that he wasn’t rejected.[/justify] [/blockquote]words: 674
outfit: clicky!
lyrics: the ready set, wishlist
notes: <3[/blockquote]

[Evangeline Delilah LaFleur]

She wasn't the dancing type. Lena wasn't too flexible and she wasn't one to bump and grind. She felt like an idiot when she shook her hips. She also didn't want to come off as slutty when she danced, like other girls did. Not that she really ever could be sexy. Sex appeal was not on her side. She was tiny, she didn't have huge breasts and she didn't exactly hold herself with confidence. Yeah...no. So, dancing was not Lena's strong point. She also was quite clumsy, which didn't help her very much. Just give her a stool to sit on and a guitar and leave her alone. That would be perfect for her.

See, that's why concerts were so great. You didn't need grace to jump up and down and flail your arms. There was no point in looking sexy. You were going to get sweaty and gross anyways. Concerts were a good environment for the musically inclined girl. But school dances? She just felt humiliated for being here. She just wanted to go home and.......do something else. She wasn't sure what, but...she wouldn't be wearing a dress while doing it, that's for sure.

And then Echo found her. Seeing him alone brought a smile to her face. But seeing him in his tie and everything...she couldn't help but blush a little. He looked handsome in green. She didn't figure him to be much of a dancer either, though, not going to lie. Most boys weren't dancers, she had found. Unless they were super duper ghetto. Or they liked being stupid. Or the gay guys who do AMAZING ballet or tap routines.

Echo didn't fit into any of those categories...at least, not that Lena knew of. He seemed to have a high sense of honor so purposely looking stupid wouldn't quite fit that personality, now would it?

But she had no complaints about him being here. Sure, she was surprised. But complaints? None. She liked that he was here. She felt a little less awkward now.

“You are most certainly welcome,”

She smiled at him. That was awfully smooth, of him, she had to admit.

“I did actually,”

"Where've you been all this time?" She asked, her head tilting to the side. Was he grooming for this long? Had he shown earlier, she would have been having a ton of fun right now. But, the past did not matter. He was here now and that comforted her a bit. Tonight still had potential to turn around and be one of the best nights of her life. She had renewed hope now that he was here.

He offered his hand to her and asked Lena, “Do you want to dance with me?”
This boy didn't know what he was getting himself into. He wanted to dance with one of the clumsiest people on the face of the earth. And she was in heels. He was just begging for disaster, wasn't he? Still, Lena could not resist that smile and those eyes. She smiled in return and said, "I'd love to." As she stepped closer to him, she warned, "I might crush your toes, though. So, I apologize in advance."

[/size][/center]


WORD COUNT: 534
LISTENING TO: lost in stereo - all time low
COMMENTS: poop

[echo]

I PROMISE YOU I’LL BE THERE
’cause you’re number one on my wish list

[/font]
• • • • • • • • • • • LENA LAFLEUR ![/font][/color][/font][/size][/center]

Echo was constantly surprising people with the kinds of interests that he had. Between shocking people with his martial arts, his abs and his interest in dancing, his love for philosophy also tended to come as a surprise. He was a big fan of Sigmund Freud and his theory about dreams, though he had read a lot more than just Freud. His love for philosophy was strongly reflected in his fighting beliefs, and Echo was all abut self knowledge and self expression. His chosen way of self expression was, to put it simply, martial arts, seeking all knowledge in order to gain self knowledge. He didn’t believe in much else, like God and heaven and all of that fancy stuff, though he often kept this to himself given the people he was often around. He was rather certain that if he expressed his disbelief in God and religion he would get an earful from a certain “saint”. So far he had successfully avoided having to give his opinion on the topic, which he didn’t plan on changing any time soon. But tonight was about being in RSOR. Tonight was about having a little fun, putting aside the fighting for a few hours to swoon over a beautiful young lady.

She was a different sort of beautiful than his “type”, which was part of what hypnotized him so much about her. He loved how fair she was, and he especially loved that she wasn’t much taller than him. He could nearly look her in the eyes, which meant a lot to someone as small as him. It wasn’t just about her height though, of course not, there was a whole lot more to Lena than just her appearance. She looked amazing in the deep blue of her dress and he loved the leather jacket that she added. It suited her physically and what he had seen of her personality. He definitely wanted to get to know her, not as a friend but as something more. It was so weird to feel like this again, after having been with one woman for so long in his first life. Back then he hadn’t thought it possible to feel like this again, to want to know someone completely and entirely. He was honestly surprised to see her alone, at least he hoped she was alone. For all he knew her date was off getting her a beverage or something of the sorts and would not be pleased to see Echo making moves on his date. Not like Echo couldn’t defend himself from an angry boyfriend; there weren’t very many people in this school who proved to be a challenge in a fight. “I haven’t been here long actually, I had to help with the dojo,”

[/color] he answered before asking her to dance.

He couldn’t help but smile when she agreed to dance with him, unable to help the squealing he was doing on the inside. Curse you teenage hormones, making him feel all giddy over something as small as a dance. Okay, so it wasn’t just a small dance, it was a big once, but still. Boldly Echo took her hand and led her to a less crowded area of the dance floor as she warned him. “That’s okay, I have experience with toe-crushers,”[/color] he joked as he led her. “I’m a good leader,”[/color] he promised as he put his hands on her hips, being respectful about it and making sure he didn’t get too close in case she was antsy about that sort of stuff. “Just don’t worry about stepping on my feet and keep your eyes on mine,”[/color] he assured her with one of those lovesick smiles.[/justify] [/blockquote]words: 615
outfit: clicky!
lyrics: the ready set, wishlist
notes: <3[/blockquote]

[Evangeline Delilah LaFleur]

“I haven’t been here long actually, I had to help with the dojo,”

"Dojo?" She repeated, "You work at a dojo?"

Clearly, Lena found that very impressive. A dojo! She wished she could do all that...karate, ninja, Asian, Bruce Lee kick-y stuff. But she could barely walk from one side of the room to the other without tripping or something. Lena was very clumsy. The martial arts would not be a wise sport for her to persue. All the same, though, she loved to watch. It amazed her when the fighters did flips. Or flying kicks. Or trips or...or...anything! Martial arts were VERY cool to her. It was like real life Mortal Kombat. Except...Mortal Kombat had blood. Lots of blood. And the removal of limbs and organs crucial to human life. So, maybe it was like...the E-rated version of Mortal Kombat.

An E-rated version of Mortal Kombat. That'd be quite boring, don't you think? I mean, like, the punches would be followed by the 1960-esque "BIFF" "BLAM" "POW" signs and instead of fatalities they're give each other flowers. Or...they'd just keel over. Which was also lame. There had to be the spine ripping!!! Or the face nomming or acid vomiting or turning-into-a-dragon-and-eating-your-sorry-ass...ing. That's what made Mortal Kombat fun and interesting. Not that Lena wanted Echo to turn into a dragon or have his spine ripped out. She was fine with his style of martial arts that didn't have all of that exaggerated violence.

...Perhaps the Mortal Kombat analogy should not be used in this situation. Kindly disregard her previous thoughts.

His smile made her just melt. There was something about this boy. Lena couldn't quite put her finger on it, but there was something in his eyes that Lena didn't see in the eyes of other boys. There was something about the way he acted that made it seem...she didn't know quite what it was. There was a mystery to this attractive young man and it lured Lena in. She smiled back at his smile. She felt his warm hand wrap around hers. She looked down at their hands for a moment before turning her gaze back on him, her smile warmer, now. She laced their fingers together and followed him. She was relieved and she appreciated that he took her to a place where there were less dancers.

“That’s okay, I have experience with toe-crushers,”

She grinned, and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I’m a good leader,” He added.
"well...hopefully I won't crush your toes," She said. She blushed slightly when he put his hands on her waist. To tell the truth, she had never danced with any-

Scratch that. She had danced with someone once. She had danced with her father before he died. She danced with him at a wedding they had gone to. She had been sitting at the table, watching Daddy dance with Mommy when he looked over at her and smiled. Then he went to her, knelt down to be eye to eye with her and held his dance out to her. "May I have this dance?" He had asked.
Of course, she did not refuse. She took his hand and he led her out on the dance floor. Lena could still remember the song they had danced to. "Don't Wanna Miss a Thing" by Areosmith. She could still remember the smile on Daddy's face. She could still remember him letting her stand carefully on his feet as he swayed them side to side.

It'd been a while since Lena thought of her parents. That memory seemed like it belonged to another life and another person. Echo brought back that lovely memory for her. She was half tempted to thank him for that, but he wouldn't know what she was talking about and she would feel and probably look stupid. So she didn't say anything. She wore a beautiful smile instead.

She looked down after a while to make sure she wasn't stepping on him. She was clumsy. Stepping on him didn't seem to far fetched. She heard him say, “Just don’t worry about stepping on my feet and keep your eyes on mine,”

She looked back up at him, her silvery eyes meeting his dark brown ones. She saw his love-sick smile and he received one in return. "Okay," she said. Coming back to her senses for a moment, she said, "Wait. Hang on."

Reluctantly, she stepped away from him. Lena leaned against the wall for support and removed her silver high heels. Now her chances of stepping on him had lessened. She gave him another smile and returned to him, her arms wrapping around his neck once more. "I think we're good now," She said with a grin. "Or, at least if I step on you, it won't hurt."
It was also easier to look into his eyes at her natural height than at the height the heels gave her, but she didn't want to admit that. Her eyes said it everything she didn't for her anyway.

[/size][/center]


WORD COUNT: 849
LISTENING TO: dream on - areosmith
COMMENTS: sorry this took forever. D:

[echo]

I PROMISE YOU I’LL BE THERE
’cause you’re number one on my wish list

[/font]
• • • • • • • • • • • LENA LAFLEUR ![/font][/color][/font][/size][/center]

After being in martial arts as long as he had been it had been a while since Echo had felt an ego boost from people being impressed. “Sort of,”

[/color] he explained modestly. “The black belts help teach the lower belts. I wasn’t supposed to help with that today but two of the others couldn’t make it,”[/color] he continued with that humble grin of his. It wasn’t that big of a deal to him so he wasn’t really putting much effort into his answers. It wasn’t like he got paid for helping to teach the lower belts, so it wasn’t really like he was working there. It wasn’t even like volunteering, since it was part of being a black belt anyways. Besides, Echo loved teaching others martial arts. It was so fulfilling and invigorating. He missed having his own dojo to teach people in and show them the true way of martial arts, since in the dojo he was currently at he found that they often had clouded judgement of what martial arts was. It wasn’t just fighting, it was bringing together your mind, body and soul. It was uniting all aspects of your body and becoming one with it. He couldn’t get into a rant about the corruption of martial arts in America right now though; he had better things to worry about. More important and beautiful and physical things.

Seeing her smile made his knees week, bringing back all of those incredibly strong emotions that he had felt in his first lifetime. What Lena did to him was so familiar but also so new. Taking her hand felt so natural but at the same time it made him incredibly nervous. He was glad that she wasn’t recoiling from his touch and lacing her own fingers around his. He didn’t want to let go of her, not now and not ever, and he didn’t plan on it now that he had her hand. Echo found a less crowded area of the dance floor and took her there, giving promises that he didn’t mind if she stepped on his toes. “I’ve had worse injuries,”[/color] he assured her, which was most definitely true. In this lifetime he had accidentally stabbed himself during a weapons kata, so having his toes stepped on was nothing. He wasn’t too worried about it, even if she was in heels. His pain tolerance was pretty high and he confidence about his ability to lead was even higher. As mentioned earlier, people were always shocked that Echo knew how to dance. He loved dancing, especially when it was with such a gorgeous girl. He was determined to make this night amazing for them both.

He had to admit, when she stepped away from him he was rather disappointed. He hadn’t really expected her to remove her shoes but he wasn’t exactly going to complain either. It made her that much closer to eye level, which was something that he didn’t get very often. Not very many people were as tiny as he was, so he savored the very few people he met who were close to his height, or lack there of. His smile grew when she returned to him, his arms wrapping around her waist in a gentle and careful way. He didn’t want her to get the wrong impression, after all. “Your feet will get dirty,”[/color] he stated obviously, but in a light hearted tone. The slow song started and Echo opted for the typical walk-in-a-slow-circle kind of dance, since he remembered clumsiness being involved with her.[/justify] [/blockquote]words: 591
outfit: clicky!
lyrics: the ready set, wishlist
notes: <3[/blockquote]