Come See the Lanterns: Rapunzel's Birthday

[savedtheworld]

Who: Everyone in the village willing to celebrate Rapunzel's birthday
What: Rapunzel's birthday and a surprise lantern ceremony
When: The evening of March 5th (and optionally backdated art club stuff for March 3rd)
Where: Throughout the village
Summary: Rapunzel thinks everyone's forgotten her birthday. But Ikki and Aang have asked everyone who's willing to prepare a lantern ceremony as a surprise.
Rating: It's a scene from a Disney movie, so G. ...Probably.

It was a long time since Rapunzel first told Aang about the lantern ceremony that happened every year on her birthday. They originally decided to arrange one for her half-birthday, but he wound up being stressed enough to forget it at the time. But now that her actual birthday approached, he remembered. Working together with Ikki and the art club, they set it up to be a total surprise for her.

Following the inquiry of Asch, Ikki made a general announcement about the birthday plans: everyone could make their own lanterns and tell their friends to help/make some, too (and this can be handwaved as much as need be). And on the 5th, the art club had a secret early meeting in which they focused primarily on the making of the lanterns, while keeping it a secret for Rapunzel.

And now the time has come for it to pay off. Once night falls in Luceti, the lanterns are distributed in a variety of ways. Some people may prefer to let them drift out their windows. Others are released from atop Appa the sky bison - as well as any other air creatures willing to lend their services. And anyone with wind powers such as airbending also helps to guide the lanterns' path to focus near the river. There, boats have been set up - both for Rapunzel and for anyone else who would like to enjoy sailing under the lanterns. And in the plaza a small party area has been set up with food from, well, anyone who thinks their characters would cater for the event. Go wild!

Happy birthday, Rapunzel.

Comments

Art Club (March 3rd)

[savedtheworld]

[On the Sunday before Rapunzel's birthday, an art club meeting is called together via Ikki's journal announcement. Everyone is set to work on making the paper lanterns, and some switch shifts in keeping Rapunzel from discovering the meeting. Feel free to thread out lantern-making hijinks!]

[elongatedsmile]

[A girl with slightly long arms, legs, and facial features, with scales and claws will be slinking around. Mostly because she was pestered by Ikki here with the promise of fish. Too bad that fish was cooked and she prefers it raw.

She just doesn't understand what birthdays are and what the big deal is. A bit intimidated by the gathering of so many people she'll be hanging out towards the edge of the crowd and waiting patiently for it to end and she can go home without being pestered by a child during the lantern making.]

[pendantry]

[Raven brings with her the two lanterns she'd already worked on, using descriptions from Asch as well as she could. They look nothing like what Rapunzel might actually expect - for one thing, there are glowing crystals inside instead of actual fire - but hopefully they can use them.]

Is...this okay? [See, she didn't know it was going to be an Art Club project and...]

[niceguypose]

[Rock Lee finds a little table in a corner where he tries working furiously like a one-man assembly line. Sure Rapunzel broke his heart, but he still cared for her and was ready to do everything in his power to ensure her birthday was a special one. There's a youthful fury in his movements as he tries assembling lantern after lantern.]

I must... I must!

[origami_ninja]

[Konan has always been good at making paper art, and while her skills aren't as refined at this age, her natural talent comes through as she works on crafting a paper lantern. It's pale blue with a floral design on it.]

[savedtheworld]

[Aang's glad to be able to do something to make one of his friends happy. He makes sure that he's near Rapunzel when the lanterns are initially deployed in order to see her reaction. It gives him something to feel better about, too.

He could be found all around different parts of the party. Having food, mingling around the plaza, offering rides up the river or riding Appa and helping to direct the lanterns. But for a lot of the time, Appa's able to do his job himself, or any of the other certified Gaang members spend a shift manning him. And sometimes, he just stops to look out and stare at the lanterns. Even if no bad guys were beaten and no one sent safely back to their homes, this still felt like a victory to him.]

[complicatedliar]

Aang, a favor? I cannot stay long, but I prepared a few fireworks for the lady, since I think she'd like them. Might I give them to you, and you can set them off when you think it the right time?

[breezing]

[ Ikki's obviously in high spirits for the entirety of the party. Like her grandfather, she makes sure to be near Rapunzel when lantern time comes around, but she can otherwise be found talking to everyone and getting into almost everything. It's extremely likely that she can be found in Aang's company, or that of someone else she knows, although she can also be found off on her own at a few rare points in the evening - never for long, though.

She'll try to greet everyone at some point, if they don't get to her first. ]

[complicatedliar]

[Just a short hello, but Loki does make sure to find Ikki. Tomorrow is a big and possibly dangerous day, so he would like to see the few people he likes before anything happens.]

Hello, Ikki. My apologies for missing the art club again.

[origami_ninja]

[Ikki might notice something that's obviously different about Konan today. Namely the fact that she's a little girl, much closer to Ikki's size and age. Her hair is still its usual characteristic blue and she's wearing a paper flower in it as always.]

[complicatedliar]

[Loki can't stay long, not with the test of the machine tomorrow. But he's taken the time to put together a few fireworks for Rapunzel, and to at least stop and say hello to her before hurrying back to his house.]

[gleamed]

[After she manages to control the outpouring of happy tears that she cried at the sight of lanterns and all the smiling faces of her friends, Rapunzel is around to socialize. She's glowing even more than usual (if possible), sure to greet, hug and thank every single person present. She's just so happy - she could sing!

In fact, she just might. Except songs between socializing and food sampling. She's enjoying one of the best days of her life - she wasn's sure she'd ever been as happy as she was at this moment.]

[origami_ninja]

[Konan made it to Rapunzel's birthday party, albeit not in the form Rapunzel is accustomed to. Konan is currently eight and a half and only vaguely remembers the names and faces of her friends in Luceti. Through interacting with them, fuzzy memories start to come back. She still hasn't caught on yet that people are used to her being much taller.]

Happy birthday!

[The blue hair and the paper flower in her hair might look familiar, if nothing else. She presents Rapunzel with a bouquet of paper flowers she made by hand earlier.]

[complicatedliar]

[After handing off the fireworks to Aang, Loki stops by briefly.]

Happy birthday, Lady Rapunzel.

[happyends]

[ Madoka knows she has to make absolutely sure to at least tell Rapunzel happy birthday..! So she's quick to look around for the other girl until she spots her, walking up to her eagerly. ]

Ah.. R.. Rapunzel-san! Happy birthday!

[stillplaying]

[She hadn't really known what to get the other girl for her birthday. Even if there was little to no age difference between them, they probably couldn't be any more different. And yet, despite the colorful paint on the arrows, Rapunzel had picked out such a wonderful holiday gift. All she wants is to return the favor.

In the end, she's doesn't think she did as good a job as Rapunzel did in picking out a gift. But she's satisfied with her selection, hidden within a box wrapped in sparkly golden paper. At some point in the night, she seeks out Rapunzel and holds out the box with an nervous sort of smile.]

Happy birthday.

[pendantry]

[It's a bit weird to see her practically floating around and singing, but very Rapunzel at the same time. When they do pass each other, Raven turns toward her and holds out a small wrapped package.]

Happy birthday.

[heartisabattleground]

[It was a tough few days to keep Rapunzel from finding out about all of this, but the pay off was great.

Seeing her so happy makes him glad he could see her like that.

When she seems to be mingling about, Sora's already got her present wrapped up.]

Happy Birthday, Rapunzel! Glad to see you're having a good time.

[tailasoldastime]

[Beast hears about the celebration a little late, but he eventually makes it to the gathering and immediately searches for Rapunzel. Upon seeing her, he almost runs toward her with glee... wait. This is too familiar. It's reminding him of that Saturday in February he became... er, affectionate. Um. That was embarrassing.

So in the end, he greets Rapunzel with more seriousness, attempting to hide his excitement on finding her present so quickly, keeping it tucked under his arm in a small box.]

Rapunzel... h-happy birthday!

[gonnawreckit]

[Ralph makes his way to her eventually - kind of sheepishly, with no signs of a gift in hand. But he smiles at her as he approaches.]

There you are, Goldie. Hey, uh... happy birthday.

[lostinmyway]

[The moment Grune spots Rapunzel? Well, it's time to hurry over for a big, soft hug.]

Happy birthday, Rapunzel!

[She has a few gifts for her friend, actually, but it's going to take her a minute or two to remember to hand them over. Whoops?]

[wise_maiden]

[Raine is attending the party, having already assisted with the Art Club's decorations. She seems distracted, but mostly is enjoying the general atmosphere, and smiling a hello to those she's knows because - well, it's just nice to be around people.

She just might have snuck a few of her own baked goods in among the variety to be found. Only a little bit. An attempt at lantern shaped cookies to be precise, though of course they don't glow. Actually it's just yellow lemon filling. With sprinkles. Surely someone might try that at some point. Not that there's anything specific to link it to her, unless of course, they just know.

As for the actual boat part of the evening, she might head down to the river with the others, but she'll hesitate noticeably once people actually begin the boarding process.]

[stillplaying]

[It's really not so surprising to see all these people at Rapunzel's birthday. She remembers the turnout at the girl's Thanksgiving feast. Remembers seeing all the responses to Ikki's post. Of course there would be a lot of people here. She's friendly, nice. Someone others would want to be around.

Once her duties to distract Rapunzel were done, she went home to change into an actual dress, unbraid her hair, and pick up the small gift she picked out for her firend. The dress is a simple green frock, albeit most of the top is covered by her brown hunting jacket.

When the lanterns are realized, she can't help but laugh and smile in awe. The art club really did do an amazing job.]

[origami_ninja]

[Konan is also amazed by the beautiful display. She wasn't sure of what they would look like once everything was finished and ready to go, but now, it's one of the most beautiful things the young orphan's ever laid eyes on.]

It's even prettier than a rainbow!

[Konan has seen some impressive ones, having grown up in in a country where it nearly always rains.]

[niceguypose]

[Rock Lee did his job - he assembled many lanterns as he could and got a gift for Rapunzel. Sure, she had broken his heart recently, but that was no reason to stop being her friend. He remains his normal, energetic self as the celebrations proceed. He does make his way around to take in all the sights and greet people nearby.

He also does a few odd things that are relatively normal for him. One is that he runs after the lanterns while they float by in an attempt to "race" them. The other is that he releases a bag of flower petals into the air and tries to catch them all before they land on the ground, grunting whenever he misses one.]

[lostinmyway]

[Grune, of course, is having a wonderful time. She made three and a half lanterns at the special art club meeting--she got distracted partway through her last--and this evening, she has a ton of fun sending them into the sky. She also baked lots of cookies and cupcakes and so forth to share with everyone, although after a while, she'll probably get distracted and wander away from the table she set up to distribute them, too.

She's so glad she's able to spend time with everyone like this. This is the perfect way to celebrate the birthday of a good friend!]