"Drinks are on me, everyone!" shouted Zazie, who was already beginning to show signs of tipsiness. A good number of the people of San Miguel were around the bar a few hours after the darkest hours of their lives had come to an end. After hope was nowhere in sight, after all had seemed lost, the darkness had lifted, showing great promise to a bright future.
Doomsday had been prevented, and they sure as hell were going to party.
Django, the center of of the city's attention, grinned sheepishly at Zazie, who had her arm wrapped around his shoulders and had pulled him closer. She had a pretty sloppy smile on her face, using Django to keep her balance.
"You're the greatest Solar Boy I've ever known, you know that? Isn't that right, people?"
Django glanced to Otenko, trying to ignore Zazie's state, who was enjoying the spotlight more so than Django was.
"Got that right." Otenko seemed to beam with happiness.
"You did great!" Kid slapped Django on the back of his shoulder, Django having received a good number of those from almost everyone, about four or five of those from Zazie.
"T-thanks," said Django in reply, rubbing his shoulder. "I-it wasn't much..."
"You should have seen it, everyone!" Otenko yelled, getting everyone's attention. "There he was, him and the Doomsday Beast..."
Django sighed, the sunflower having gone into the details of the battle once more, making out to be more than Django thought it had been. In fact, Otenko seemed to add more and more to it each time he told it. At least for a moment the eyes were off him. Or so he thought, but he noticed someone pushing through the crowds, heading over to him.
Django smiled, "Lady. How are you this evening?"
Lady returned the smile to Django. "Hm. You'd expect these people to get some sleep after such an event, but I suppose a little celebration is in order. I bet this is overwhelming for a child like yourself, you'd rather get some rest."
Django laughed nervously. "Well, it wouldn't be very nice of me to just leave everyone like that. They threw this party mostly for myself, after all."
Lady chuckled. "I suppose." She peered at Zazie, who had finally removed herself from Django, her gaze set upon the only person in the room who decided to stay clear of the party folks, staying in the farthest corner of the bar. Lady then looked back at Django. "Lita should be here soon. She said something about brining you something special. Please show much gratitude and joy in her gift."
Django blinked at her, confused as to why she felt the need to say that. "Um, of course?"
Lady shook her head slowly. "You have no idea." She moved closer to Django and leaned over, kissing him on his cheek. "Enjoy the party Django. You have many friends who care about you."
Django blushed a light pink shade and watched Lady walk off to Otenko's little area where he was imitating Jormungandr as best as he could. Django laid a hand on his cheek and glanced over at Zazie. He then looked to what she was staring at and frowned. "Why don't you talk to him?"
Zazie nearly jumped out of her seat and nearly crushed Django's head with her staff, just barely holding back her reflexes. Her face went red and she shook her head vigorously.
"Nah. Why would that grump talk to me? Hmph. In fact, what makes you think I want to talk to him?"
Django sniggered, "No reason. Just maybe you'd like to--"
Django was interrupted as Lita grabbed him by the shoulder and yanked him off his seat.
"Can I speak with you for a moment, Master Django?"
Zazie grinned widely at this, finding it very amusing. Though she did not hear Django's reply, the boy disappeared into the crowd with the young Earthly Maiden. Zazie wondered for a second as to what the two would be doing, seeing as how Django was too dense to see that Lita was deeply in love with him.
"Well, good evening there, Zazie."
Zazie looked to her right to see Cheyenne had shown up at the bar, taking a seat next to her. "Hey, how's it going?"
Cheyenne grunted. "I'm not sure what to make of this little gathering."
"Little?" Zazie laughed. "This is hardly little."
Cheyenne glanced about to room, seeing it almost completely full and most were around by Otenko, who had gotten a few of the people there to help him act out the scenes of 'heroism' that Django and his friends had performed. "I guess you're right. I'm not really fond of these get-togethers. But I figured I should show up for Django. By the way, where is he?"
Zazie grinned sinisterly. "Off with his lovely Earthly Maiden." Cheyenne nodded to this, but said nothing of it.
Yup, Zazie figured, everyone knew about it but Django. Zazie sighed, blowing her bangs out of her face before leaning back against the counter. Though she had felt a bit tipsy before, she got over it rather quickly. The Sunflower Girl was used to it.
"HEY! Old man!" Zazie shouted, spotting Smith who had just showed up with Violet. "Took you long enough!" Zazie stood up out of her seat with her glass and leaned on her staff, smiling at the two as they came over to them. "You'll have to wait a moment for Django. He's busy with important issues that we all know he needs to deal with. He will hopefully not make an ass of himself in the process of talking with Lita."
Smith guffawed. "About time. We can wait, right Violet?"
Violet stood behind Smith, still shy around everyone who was there. She nodded slowly. "Where's Sabata?"
Zazie snorted. "Who cares about that jerk? But if you want to know," she pointed her staff to the far corner on her right, "he's over there. I think he's got that cat with him."
Violet practically bounced away from Smith, over to Sabata, who had found the only spot in the inn that no one had gone over to besides himself. Zazie watched as Sabata lifted his head and started talking to the little girl, letting her sit down next to him. Zazie snorted once more, feeling annoyed suddenly.
"Ah, those boys have really gotten her to open up more." Said Smith, smiling at the little scene before him.
"You're right." Cheyenne nodded. "Everything seems to be looking up. Though I'm not particularly sure that everyone should be celebration so soon. There is still danger out there, and we shouldn't forget about it."
Smith looked toward Cheyenne. "True, but we have just survived a crisis. I think the city is entitled to a good time." Smith glanced at Zazie, who had wandered over to Sabata and Violet.
"How long are you going to stay?" Violet asked Sabata.
Sabata lifted the small black cat, Nero, off his lap and handed him to Violet. He looked up to see Zazie, who took up a seat next to Violet. Sabata turned back to face the bar, gripping onto his glass.
"Yeah, Sabata." Zazie eyed Sabata. "How long? I'm surprised you're still here. You like to disappear a lot."
"I'm not sure." Sabata said dully. "I think I'll be leaving soon. It's too late to leave tonight and make any progress."
"Leaving?" repeated Violet, sounding disappointed. Nero meowed at Sabata to echo Violet's objection. "You're going to leave San Miguel? Why? You haven't been here long and the Vampires are gone now."
Sabata took a quick sip of his drink before looking back at Violet. "I only stayed to help Django. It was needed and I owe him a lot. Now that the immediate danger is gone, I have to get back to keeping a promise."
Violet tilted her head to the side. "A promise?"
"Yeah," grumbled Zazie before taking another swig of her drink, "what promise? I didn't think a guy like you could even make a promise, much less mean it."
"Are you drunk, Zazie?" asked Sabata, who was getting annoyed with her rather quickly. He was beginning to wonder why she was even over there with him in the first place. She didn't seem to like him very much, at least that was the impression he got from her.
"You tell me," snapped Zazie. "Don't I have the right to get drunk? It's a party after all!"
Sabata snorted. "I'm still trying to figure out what everyone is celebrating. Nothing has changed, only delayed. Other Immortals are still out there. I don't see how life has gotten any better. If you ask me, it's only gotten more complicated and irritating."
Zazie leaned over, past Violet, staring at Sabata. "Are you always this depressing?" Zazie stumbled a bit, gripping the counter for support. "Lighten up a bit."
Sabata's right eye twitched and he was about to reply to her when he saw Django heading their way, pushing his way through the crowded inn. He almost tripped on his way over, staggering over to the counter, ramming right into it to catch himself. He smiled nervously at everyone and stood up straight, as well as fixing up his messed up hair a bit before turning to the group.
"Django!" Violet hopped off the stool with Nero and ran over to Django. "Where were you?"
Django grinned at Violet. "Hey, Violet. I was outside with Lita. When did you get here? I saw Smith nearby, as well as Cheyenne. Guess everyone is here now."
"Haven't been here too long." Violet smiled up at Django and shifted around a bit.
"Nice to see you again, Django." Zazie slowly stood up, using her staff as support. "Surprised you came back so fast. Guess Lita still hasn't said anything. Heh. I think I'm going to go and, uhhh, get some air myself. I think I'm gonna be sick."
Django blinked and watched Zazie shove her way through the crowd, even whacking some people when they didn't move right away. Django then turned to Sabata, raising an eyebrow. "What is she talking about?"
Sabata shook his head slowly. "Not my place to say."