The Wooden Heart Editing

Chapter 4

Disclaimer:

I do not claim the original fairy tale, but WH's plot and characters belong to me. Any famous songs, TV show/movie names, and brands that are mentioned in this work belong to their rightful owners.

Willa Field

-.-.-.-.

Three:

Reawaking The Past

-.-.-.-.

Maria gasped, her grip tightened, clearly afraid of the human-sized male mouse, but she moved to the spot next to him, bravely staring the rat off. Hans shifted his eyes to the struggling reddish blonde, pride blooming in his heart as he steadied her with his free arm while her lovely voice echoed through the large room:

"Why do you want to hurt Michael? I need him, you monster!"

The scream nearly shook the room as the young beauty shook with anger the young man didn't expect from her, but it warmed his heart to know she cared for him as much as he did for her. That only fumed the burning passion he had for the sweetest soul Hans has ever met.

And this was when Adam saw that glowing passion in their eyes and guessed that the shaking girl was the one, the key to his beloved mother's curse's end and the nutcracker's heart.

Realizing this, the king lowered his head to hide an evil grin. Oh this will be fun:

"Hm, such brave and strong words for a lovely girl, but you are not usually so brave, are you, Maria? I can tell you are shivering with fear inside" Adam smiled coolly, leaning against the wall, letting his weapon sway loosely as he surveyed the beauty with an amused glint in his black as coal eyes. Her eyes grew wide as she tried to hide the fear, but she knew she was failing miserably, by the grin growing on the rat's face.

As soon as the statement hit his ears, Hans sharply moved in front of Maria before he sat her down in a chair, blocking the rat's view as a deep growl burned in the walls of his throat, not liking the sound of the sentence toward Maria. And, he did not like that look, it was a chilly glace and whenever he sees it, he knows the 'king' was up to something:

"Well, I think someone is jealous, Maria. He doesn't like the way I was admiring you, my dear. But he really can't blame me, he can't be blind to your attractive frame." Adam teased darkly as he pushed off the wall, staring hard at the young woman in front of him, letting his eyes dance over her body.

Upon hearing this crude statement, Maria gagged at that while she leaned her forehead against the nutcracker's back, trying to escape the leering rat.

And this made Hans all more protective of her, feeling her shudders on his back fumed his hatred for the rat king and a growl crept out of his lips as he crept forward to the vulgar, crude pig:

"Say one more crude thing towards her and you will be ribbons on the floor, rat. Believe me when I say that, because I will carry out the threat. I am her soldier and I will be her protector!"

A gasp reached his ear, a shocked gasp from the girl he claimed the job of protector for and he quickly sent her a charming smile before returning his hard stare back upon the ugly creature; who was tskig and gagging at the scene:

"Haven't I taught you anything, boy? Women are nothing more than the key to what you want, like a…. heir to your throne and, Maria my dear, you would be a lovely queen…. for me and only me."

Without Hans' knowledge of how he was able to, Adam transported over to the blonde and tenderly put a trance of reddish gold to his stout, taking in her sweet scent as the girl growled deeply and pushed his chest to get him away from her, but he just grinned at her failed attempts as his arms tightly snaked around her to crush the beauty to his body with no end to the hold:

"Let me GO! I AM NOT yours!" Maria growled out through clutched teeth, thrashing against the rat while she tried to escape the disgusting hold and the gross-smelling breath against her nose.

Adam laughed madding before a hit of a sword made him drop Maria and Hans mouthed 'sorry' to the girl with a guilty look in his hazel gaze before he growled darkly, pinning the ugly creature to the wall while the sword was pressed against Adam's neck with a cold glare in his eyes:

"I told you that I will murder you if you said something vile to her or went anywhere near her. That is what I'm going to do, you vile creature, so pick up your sword and fight!" He stated as he stepped back while he gripped the sword so tight, the leather of the grip burned against his skin. He was ready to protect his beautiful angel from farther abuse, whether it was from her cruel and ice cold parents or this vile pig, he would protect her.

Adam smirked darkly as he stepped closer to the young man, ready to rip him apart. He will win this battle easily and when he did, Maria will be his; Adam grinned wider as he lifted his weapon to meet Hans' weapon and dropped his chin to his chest:

"Oh, so you think you can win over me, toy? How cute. Sorry, but I am a great fighter and no one can kill me!" He slowly shouted, the sound of his voice echoed off the walls around them, running forward with a cry of anger.

The young man grinned, running to meet the rat king and the sound of mental rung out in the room while a fierce glance in his handsome eyes, and they dangerously danced together as Maria gasped loudly, crawling to a seat but her eyes never left the fight with a slight shudder falling down her spine.

The teenage girl hated fights, for she was always faced one at least once a month, and they are horrifying to her when they're at home and to her, but when it is the real thing between someone she liked/cared and the fairy tale creature, it made her feel very uneasy as her stomach turned in fear.

She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't noticed the evilly grinning rat warriors coming at her; she finally noticed when a claw grabbed at her hard, eager to please their king, and she screamed horrified as she took her shoe into her hand, throwing it towards a terrify looking rat warrior in hopes that it would stop him from grabbing her and take her God knows where.

However, her hopes were dashed when his claw painfully scratched against her cheek, causing her body hit the floor with a loud thud that echoed off the walls as she fainted from the endless burning pain. Just as the warriors planned:

Hans gritted his teeth together as he saw her hit the floor, but he didn't have the ability to save the sore person he claimed to be a soldier for as he was busy with the rat king. But when his members nearly closed into the unconscious woman, the nutcracker lost his cool calm and shouted angrily as he let his sword clash with Adam, panting hard and staring coldly into his black holes of eyes:

"This is between you and me, Adam. Leave the girl out of this." He groaned out as they continued their dangerous dance, but the only reply from the evil king was a terrifying evil laugh.

"No can do, nutcracker prince, the girl is now the prize of this battle and it is your fault! Live with that and fight. Boys, do not touch that girl just yet, guard her until I win! Oh, and make her comfortable, I want my future bride to be happy." He yelled to the two mice that seemed to be his head members, and they snickered as they nodded with a bow:

"Yes, my lord." The two echoed before shooing the others away and then they locked their eyes on the female as their claws beautifully moved over her body.

"Encaged this beautiful creature into a bed of glass until one of men wins and they will have her hand in marriage."

The girl was lifted off the ground as a mysterious wind begun to pick up in the room, swirling around the reddish blonde until she was lying in a caged bed, the glass shimmered on the wall behind her now bed.

His eyes widened while they took in Maria, cloaked in a pure black dress with hints of blood red; both were the color intertwined with evil, the complete opposite of the new-found heroin. Hans groaned in anger, hating the sight of the sweet young woman in such an evil outfit while her milky skin held her loving nature, because the dress twisted that innocence to a sickening sense of bitter sweetness.

This is so wrong to see her that way, the nutcracker thought with a scowl placed upon his lips:

After a few moments of raging inwardly, Hans turned to the rat king with a crazed look in his amber eyes and then, with an anger tick in the upper part of his cheek, Hans screamed angrily as he ran full force toward Adam. Throwing himself at him while his steel weapon echoed off the walls as their weapons hit together and the sound of their gritting teeth followed behind the groaning of both warriors, the wooden prince fully threw himself into the fight, unwilling to give the rat ass Maria.

He would not lose his princess to this ugly monster, or anyone else for that matter! Hans would fight until the end for the reddish blonde.

….And this matter won't be any different!

"You just signed your own death order with your blood, rat king! I will ever give Maria to you; I'll die before you would get your filthy hands on her!" Hans roared so loud, the walls literally shook with the sound, as they moved smoothly in battle. Adam laughed loudly while he blocked the hit from the toy:

"So sure that you will win, hm? Sorry to disappoint you, I'm the better fighter here! No matter how hard you try, she will be mine. You will never have her to love and it will be your own fault, remember that!"

Hans growled deeply, flipping in the air when Adam stabbed at him, and finally as he came back down to the floor, the blaze of the sword hit the side of Adam's face, drawing a wounded howl from the hideous monster; Adam looked back at him with blood running down from his eye and a dangerous glow in his eyes, as if he was going rip the nutcracker to strands. That sight made him grin, because Adam is about to get serious and Hans would see the full strength of his will. This fight was about to a lot more interesting, just the way Hans likes it, the grin widened as this thought ran across his mind:

And that was exactly what happened. Hans jerked forward after they collided once more, breathing hard and sweating. After a few minutes passed, they have been fighting for what seemed like hours but neither wanted to back down:

They both didn't want to give up the beautiful prize. One wanted to use her for his own selfish wants and the other wanted to free her from pain. And young Hans would do just that, even if he has to dance this dangerous dance all night long. Just to know that Maria was safe:

Hans hated that he didn't have the ability to use something other than his sword, however, knowing how powerful the damned rat really was He would use his Spring powers but the young prince felt that it would only wound the demon and the nutcracker wanted the rat gone for good, not just injured.

He thought as they both caught their breath about his next move, forming an idea as a smile grew on his face.

He drew his sword and his skilled hand hit the beast across the face with his sharp blaze, a grin formed on his tanned face as Adam roared out in pain, his giant paw swiped out trying to get the smug look off of the young nutcracker's face but Hans dunged it by leaping upwards, kicking the claw in the process which made Adam bellowed even louder and angrier:

"Why you little b—!"

"My lovely time, freeze!"

A deep, rich female voice carried out through the room, bouncing off of the walls and cutting off the dirty statement before it slipped from the rat's mouth, freezing the both warring men in their next move. As the rest of time melted into a stop, two slightly old women stepped out of the dark shadows into the moonlit light with sneaky grins laced onto their lips and pride shining in their eyes. One was a pretty dirty blonde with a pair of greenish blue eyes, which were placed on the nutcracker's focused facial features as her friend giggled behind her pink fan:

"Looks like our dear nephew knows to fight well, we taught him good, didn't we, Elisa?" The brunette woman with hazel eyes asked amusedly as she followed close behind the brownish blonde with her fan down at her side and a prideful smile on her full lips.

"Don't be too cocky, Michelle, we didn't teach him, that would be our beloved brother." Elisa retorted bemused as she rolled her eyes lovingly, her deep blue dress hugged to her every step towards the encaged beauty while her beautiful eyes laid trained on her.

"You are no fun, sister dear."

Michelle pouted like a spoiled child, but Elisa ignored her childish statement and slowly she lifted her freckled hand to sweep it across the bed of glass, letting her icy magic froze the lock and it fell to the wooden floor, ending the spell with a big crash. After a couple moments past, Elisa grinned her motherly grin as she knelt next to the sleeping beauty, staring at her with a strange glint in her eyes while her fingers traced her jaw line gently:

"Welcome back, Isabella. You are home where you are safe, my beloved rose." She whispered into Maria's ear, ignoring the fact that her frozen time spell was slowly coming to an end and two guards were moving towards them.

Luckily the fiery Michelle noticed as her famous smirk came on her full lips as she lifted her fan and swept her hand in a fast motion, sending them flying into the far wall. Then she ran forward, her arm set cross her chest, ready to use her fan once more:

"Sorry to ruin your reunion, sis, but the rat gang is coming!" Michelle shouted, waving her hand again as her sister gasped and cradled the sleeping girl to her chest.

But her crazy sister won't let them take the girl from the royals of Da Fae again, not after thousand years without the beautiful rose and endless searching for her. No matter how childish she might act sometimes, Michelle would die before she let that happen, and if it came down to it, she will sacrifice her life for the strawberry blonde.

She smiled bitterly at the close-eyed beauty, blowing a kiss toward her, before returning her icy cold glare back to the scowling monsters and her fan swung once again, which sent a blast of cold wind to each corner of the large room as her older brother used his battle magic, growling out:

"Back, you ugly-ass rats! You ain't getting this beauty, Adam! Haven't you learned anything when we met before? We will always be there for our nephew, always!"

This caused the unfrozen king to growl, but Michael kept him too busy to charge at the fighting pair. They always ruined his plans with their protective nature towards their nephew, but not this time. He nodded his head to his minions, motioning them to charge at the women and to take the girl again, that girl will be his no matter what!

Michelle grinned, shouting over her shoulder as she ran towards the raging army of rats:

"Elisa, take care of the girl and we'll take care of these meddling monsters, k?! Don't worry about us! We'll be home soon!"

Michelle stared at the growling human-sized rats, smirking all the way. She was ready to get some fight time in, for it has been a while since she fought anyone, and she thought this rat king deserved an ass-kicking for a long time as soon as Drosselmeier brought Hans home as a nutcracker, but for now his minions will have to.

"Let's deal with the dumb minions for the boy while he deals with the king, Drosselmeier! They are so annoying!"

"I hear that! Let's do this for him!" The gray-haired man shouted back as he waved his hand hard, shooting fire out of his palm.

Michelle grinned at that before sobering, going back to the fight. She wanted to fight Adam, but the burette knew that Michael is the one that deserves to fight him right now, after all he is her soldier and it is his job to protect her.

She giggled at that thought as Elisa gently carried the girl back to the portal to Da Fae's main city, Saza Gae, and back to safely while Michelle starts to fight along aside her nephew and brother:

"Let's do this, Michael. This monster won't get Maria!" She yelled over to where the fight resumed while the woman used her wind against the raging rats running at her.

Hans grinned eagerly, nodding in answer to his aunt's statement before lunging at his enemy once more, ready to end this once and for all. This ends now!

Hans smiled at the beast when their swords clashed; sweat sparkling on his wooden skin as the rat king breathed heavily, a permanent scowl placed onto his lips. They have been fighting for what seemed like hours, but neither would back down, for they both had a reason to fight their best and to the end. And that is a dangerous desire for the soldier and the rat.

Hans has been waiting for this since Adam first started chasing him for revenge for a woman who never really loved him, since he started to put everyone Hans loved in harm's way just because he wanted to make the nutcracker pay for taking the mouse queen's life. But now, the rat king took things too far this time, bringing Maria into their dirty fight, and it was Hans' turn to take revenge on the king. His wooden smile grew even wider as he raised his sword again and repositioned his feet in a classic battle stance staring straight into Adam's beastly eyes, challenging him to make his next move. And while growling his cry, Adam did just that.

Adam jerked forward fast; his skilled hand hit the nutcracker across the face with his sharp blaze, a grin formed on his lips when the nutcracker screamed out in pain, but the rat's grin soon faded as his giant blaze swiped out trying to get the smug look off of the old demon's face:

"You little bastard, I'll make you pay for hurting me and making me ugly!" Adam growled, stalking forward to where the wooden boy was panting with a sly grin placed onto his lips.

"Making you ugly? Oh please, Adam, you were already ugly. I did you a flavor."

Michelle laughed loudly while she danced with her deadly wind against the warring creatures, which caused the rat to roar out loudly:

"You little bastard, I'll make you eat your words!" Adam growled through his sharp teeth, his paws were swinging at the young nutcracker's arms, but Hans was able to move away from the first of his hits with his weapon as he laughed giddily.

Sadly, one hit made contact with his right arm while his arm was raised to hit the creature once more, and god it hurt. Adam laughed evilly when the wooden toy knelt to the ground in pain, but Hans didn't let the pain stop him as he left the hurt arm again; he gritted his teeth, fighting back a moan of pain and slapped the beast on the face with his sword again, but this time?

Much, much harder.

Adam cried out in pain, backing up from Michael as he covered his bloody wound; which he used to his own, he jumped onto the wounded Demon and threw punch after punch, kick after kick until Adam's eyes rolled back in his head. After a few more hits to make sure the rat was down for a while, Hans carefully lifted himself off Adam, splitting on him as the young man passed his unmoving body, a virtuous growl ripping from his throat.

The boy leaned against the wall while he waited for his aunt to finish with Adam's minions but as soon as their leader fell to the wooden floor, they ran to him and picked him up, carrying the rat's body to their own portal to their part of Fae.

Mich panted as she slowly moved to Hans' side, watching the vile creatures fade into the other world before she uttered her current worries through a frown:

"I think the war just begun, honey. He won't give up until I—Maria is his."

Michelle mentally slapped herself for almost slipping up, but the nutcracker didn't seem to notice the slip. He was more interested in the fading figures of the rat army with a scowl laced to his lips. Hans was pissed and he was ready to fight, the brunette woman could tell by the icy cold glare in his hazel eyes:

"I know, and I won't stop until he is dead." He snapped dangerously as he sheathed his sword to his side once more.

His cold tone took Michelle by surprise, when he was always so laid back and calm. But she knew this was normal for fairies' mates and she couldn't fault him for it:

"Mates can be crazy when they are protecting their bien-aimee (beloved one)." She whispered amusedly under her breathe as her hazel eyes stayed trained on her nephew, her arms crossed across her chest.

Hans coldly sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose to prevent the harsh headache from coming on, but it was no use; it was already there and he knew he deserved the pain. Hans promised Maria that she was safe with him and vowed to be her soldier, but he almost failed her; she got hurt because of him.

He sighed once again, walking to the double doors leading to the balcony of the Sandbox, and once he was outside, he watched the stars twinkle happily as his doubts started to twist his insides into an uncomfortable knot:

"Auntie, what if I fail Maria like I failed Isabella? I lost one love, I can't lose another." Hans whispered sadly, leaning on the marbled railings as he hung his head in shame.

Michelle bit her lip to keep the tears at bay, she won't cry in front of him. The woman knew he needed her right now and she couldn't be weak. But, god, it hurt to see him so beaten up and ashamed. He was so depressed when he found out that the local witch, who was thought to be a good witch, cast a spell on her. He thought that the spell was a deadly curse designed to kill her, but in reality, the spell was designed to reborn her in a time that Michael would need the young princess the most.

The burette looked at her brother, pleading to let her tell him. But Drosselmeier sighed sadly, shaking his head, telling the woman that they couldn't tell him. No matter how much they were dying to tell him there's beyond hope.

She blew out a sigh, knowing that the middle-aged royal couldn't betrayed the secret just yet, for the details of the spell are that she has to be the one to tell him who she really is and to do so, the blonde has to remember her past as the raven-haired beauty. She couldn't not mutter a word of this and she hoped it would end soon.

With a sigh, she stepped toward her handsome nephew with a deep frown placed onto her perfect plump lips, so odd to behold the brunette frowning when she was always smiling and laughing. When the boy's shoulder was in reach, Michelle touched it with a motherly tender gesture, making the teen turn and look at his aunt as his eyes swirled with undeniable sadness:

"First of all, you did not fail Isabella, Michael. If I were you, I'll stop saying such silly things or Alicia will beat your ass something fierce." Michelle teased with a wink, trying to lighten the mood around them, but the name of his closest female friend didn't stop him from trying to reply:

"But, she died because of me, Aunt Michelle! How can you—"

"But my dear boy, she hadn't die, not really. Let me finish, Michael," She sternly requested when her nephew huffed and started to cut her off, her hand up to keep him quiet until she was finished; "Isabella is here around us, I cannot tell you how I know this, you just have trust me when I say she will come back to you. After all, a love like yours won't die so easily. Now, I'm done with your depressed altitude, we have a room to design." She stated simply as she dragged to the portal, knowing that Hans baffled by what Michelle has said, but hopefully she didn't cause him to find out what exactly she had meant….

-.-.-.-.-

Dark surrounded her but she wasn't scared or afraid. Maria was calm, like she expected what was coming next. It was a comforting feeling to have and it brought a smile to her lips. She knew she should've been afraid of the darkness, but Mari wasn't, it was something she needed to experience.

She sat down on what seemed like the floor as the scene bled into a beautiful teenage girl standing there in the falling snow, wearing a pure white gown, smiling.

Maria titled her head a little, confused as why she was there in this strange place. It looked like somewhere from a forgotten past, but whose was it? And why was Maria seeing the ink black haired teenage girl's past? Even though the question escaped her, Maria got the feeling that the girl was waiting for someone but didn't exactly know who it was.

She watched as the ravenette slowly walked forward to the railing of a baloney and leaned into it, looking out to the most beautiful sunrise Maria ever seen. Maria licked her lips as the bitter wind tickled her bare skin but the cold didn't bother her, in fact, she welcomed it like an old friend, and she was happy to be there in the beautiful place:

It was as if this was a familiar scene, but she never remembered it, it was a forgotten memory, something that faded from her mind but there is something in the back of her mind that yells at her to recall the scene in front of her. The swirling snow and the smiling girl are so familiar to her that Maria just wanted to go up to the girl and ask her who she was, but she could not move from the spot she was frozen to. Then, the wind carried a soft whisper, a voice Maria knew instantly.

"Isabella, where are you?" Isabella turned her head quickly as Maria followed her lead when she searched for the owner of the deep, comforting voice.

And moments later, the beautiful girls' eyes met the hazel ones of Maria's former friend and soon-to-be lover, Michael Ashgers, as he walked towards the ravenette. he was smiling so sweet at her, it almost caused Maria to become high on a sugar rush and she wanted to be jealous of the ravenette tanned beauty, but she couldn't bring herself to hate her; the girl felt a connection to the other girl which felt like they were the same soul. It was an odd but amazing sensation and it was a new feeling.

Hans was wearing his old-fashioned suit with his raven hair tied into a tight ponytail and his grin placed onto his thin lips:

"There you are; I've been looking for you. What are you doing out here?" He asked as he stopped next to her, his arms folded on the railing. She smiled in return to the question, nodding to the snow so the teen knew why she was out here:

"Oh you wanted to see the snow?" The raven-haired young man chuckled, c*****g his head to her, causing Isabella to giggle deeply and lifted her hands as they moved wildly in the air.

'Oh yes! Winter is my people's masterpiece, after all. It is so wondrous, do you think so, beloved Michael?' She signed excitedly, causing the blonde to gasp, for it dawned on her that the raven beauty was mute.

The beauty was…. faulted, just as Maria was, but she held her head high and proud unlike the shy and beaten down girl sitting just a few feet away from the joking young couple.

Maria hugged herself tightly as the tears slowly dropped from her eyes, feeling so angry at herself for being so weak and running away from her problems by hiding in her room. She let Adam power over her, just as her parents, and now Michael was in danger because he was trying to protect her. He would get hurt, or even killed because of her! Why?!

Why was she being tortured like this!? Seeing this scene was showing her that she was nothing like this girl, but it's high time that she became braver!

No more, she thought as her eyes lifted up with a hard stare in them, a light surrounding her body:

"NO MORE, I'M DONE HIDING!" Maria screamed loudly, the light glowing brighter than ever while melting the scene into dark once more.

Maria knew she should have terrified of the light as the glowing grew brighter and the fact that her feet no longer touched the ground, but she wasn't the bit afraid; the light seemed like a comforting, warming blanket, welcoming her back into the forgotten memories of Isabella Rosa Durazo:

Her forgotten past life:

-.-.-.-.-

"The baby is coming, Your Mastery! Hurry!" The nursemaid screamed as she ran into the throne room, where a handsome mid-twenties man was standing in front of the colored window.

It was a cold, beautiful December in the Western Winter Kingdom when the king and queen were welcoming a new heir to the kingdom:

The year was the most magical time in both the magical and unmagical world, the roaring 1920s, when prince Tuan was betrothed to one of the two most beautiful princesses of the world. The princess was the heir to the Western Fall Kingdom, her name was Lesley Anna Daze, and her power was over both wind and rain; one of the two rarest powers a Fall fairy ever can hold.

The couple first met when they were twelve and the contact started an endless love between the fall fairy and the winter fairy, making their parents very happy seeing how powerful Tuan and Lesley were. The kings of both kingdoms knew that if the heirs would to marry, the new heir would be the most powerful fairy Da Fae would ever see and they would be the powerful ruler ever to sit on the throne.

The kingdoms would become one, and that's what happened:

And a year later, Lesley announced her pregnancy, which sent out a roar of excitement throughout the kingdom, and then on December 23rd of 1925, the queen entered the last stage of labor:

King Tuan gasped happily, his heart drummed against his chest, and then he took off to the royal bedroom where his beautiful wife was screaming in pain. He rushed to her side and took her tiny hand into his giant one, squeezing it with a giddy grin laced to his lip.

"Lesley! You are doing amazingly, my love, just more one push!" He soothed loudly as the sound of rain mixed with the queen's screams, his green eyes were sparkling happily.

Her hand squeezed Tuan's hand once more before she let out a loud howl, pushing once more before a heath cry filled the room. The room started to buzz with activity, caring for the new princess of Saza Gae and laughing with glee over her cute moaning and crying.

After the nursemaids was done cleaning her body and wrapping her tightly in a pink blanket, one nursemaid gently laid the baby girl on the proud mother's chest, who was smiling ear to ear as she caressed her cheek:

"Oh Tuan, she is the most beautiful thing I ever have laid my eyes on. She is a true princess!"

"Yes she is, armore. What are we going to name this beauty?" He asked soothingly, his grin grew by the minute, graining a giggle from Lesley.

"Isabella Rosa Durazo."

-.-.-.-.-

'Momma, do we have to go?' The five-year-old girl signed, pouting like the cute little girl she was. Lesley laughed motherly as she knelt to her baby girl, her blue eyes sparkling with mischief:

"Ah, little rose, why are you so scared of going to the spring fairies' kingdom? The prince is very kind; I think you are going to love him. Daddy was just teasing you, my rose, don't worry about it." She stated tenderly, stroking Bella's black hair before taking her tanned hand into hers as she tucked her blonde hair behind her ear, walking to an old car.

An hour later, mother and daughter walked to the gate of a caste where a smiling couple standing in front of a grand fountain with a frowning boy between them. When Lesley saw them, she started to smile wide and she rushed to the couple, but her daughter was slow and growling under breath.

She did not want to be there, boys were gross, and daddy said that Aqaz—the city of the spring fairies—was a terrible place.

"Sasa and Safen, it's so good to see you again!" Lesley gushed as soon as Sasa was in earshot, dropping Bella's hand tenderly to hug her old childhood friend while giggling with happiness. Sasa laughed, hugging the blonde tightly in return:

"Oh yes! It seems like forever since we saw you and Tuan. But I guess that's what happens when you become parents, no time to keep friends." She mused as Sasa patted her son's head, graining a laugh from her friend.

"Yes I suppose so, but its wondrous thing to be. Speaking of which, this must be your handsome son. Nice to finally meet you, Michael." Lesley smiled, curtsying to him:

"Likewise, your highness. I heard stories about your adventures with dad and mom in your younger days." The seven-year-old boy said with a bow and a polite smile placed onto his lips, but inside he was screaming to get away from this royal trap.

Both of the heirs were itching to leave for the same childish reasons, but for different wants. But if only they knew what will lead to when they meet eyes, they'd be all smiles:

For the girl, she was so confused as to why they were here and she was scared because of what her father said to about Aqaz earlier. Momma was assuring her that papi was just trying to scare her, but Bella knew daddy wouldn't be that mean to her; she was his little rose and he loves her so much. So she believed her father when he stated that this place was dangerous and they shouldn't be there. No matter how pretty it was, it was dangerous.

For the boy, it was annoying that he had to be there to greet a gross girl rather than be with his friends and play war as a king. But, no, he had to be here, for it was his duty as the prince to greet any other royal members of Da Fae and their children. He huffed deeply when his mother nudged him in the side with her elbow, lifting his hazel eyes in reply to finally meet his doom while meeting the girl.

However, instead of meeting his and hers doom, they met their density in the eyes of the other person. When hazel meets deep blue, their minds went cold and time came to complete stop:

"Who is that, Your Highness?" Hans whispered in awe, pointing to the blushing dark-haired beauty behind the tall blonde.

Lesley turned slowly as the seven-year-old boy stood there with his mouth hanging wide-opened, and laid her blue eyes on her beautiful daughter while her eyes were sparkling with mischief. Slowly, she spoke around a wide grin, knowing what the look means:

"That is my daughter and the princess of Saza Gae, Isabella Durazo. Do you want to go talk to her, Michael?" She waved her hand happily towards the shy-looking five-year girl while her grin growing:

"Can I?"

"Of course, but she is mute so you need to read her hands. Do you know sign language?" She asked sweetly, smiling as the boy's mother stepped towards the pair.

"I taught him as soon as he was six-months-old to the age of six. I knew this day would come soon, sweetie. Michael is ready to talk to Bella." Sasa stated proudly, putting her hand on her son's shoulder.

She nodded in respond, biting her lip as both mothers watched the little prince walked to the mute princess with a slight blush on his bold cheeks. He was so nervous to talk to her, but Hans was drawn to her and he needed to talk to the beauty.

"Hello Isabella, how are you?" He smiled shyly, c*****g his head to the side.

The girl chewed her lip nervously before slowly her hands to sign her reply. She feared the nerves were getting worse, but the smile placed on the boy's lips eased them a little and the shaking in her hands went away:

'I'm well, Michael, thank you. And don't be so grow-uply, just call me Bella.'

And that was how their love story begun, as nave children who thought they would be best friends for the rest of their young lives. The boy vowed to be her guardian angel and to be always there for her when she needs him. For the girl, she wanted to be in his arms and never leave; Bella felt that he was going to someone so special, the girl never wanted to let him go.

Either one would have foreseen the legend they just gave birth to, no, for it was too crazy to even imagine a story like theirs….

-.-.-.-.-

The kids ran happily through the giant castle's ballroom as the birthday girl sat still in her special chair, watching with a smile placed on her lips.

Bella just had turned seven, and she was happy to see her three best friends here to have fun. Fingering her icy blue and white dress, smoothing it down a little, she thought back to the past two years of her short life:

After meeting Michael that sunny day, the two children was difficult to part and was always together, alone happily, at least until when a blonde boy and a brunette girl entered their lone world:

The blonde and blue-eyed boy was named Jasper Zawers, and he was slightly on the serious side but when he was around the three other children, maybe especially around the brunette girl, he was silly and outgoing. He loved his friends' laughter and when Jasper was the cause of it, he couldn't help to smile.

He was also an heir to a kingdom, but not a fairy kingdom, rather than the Elvin kingdom. Elves are known to stay into their species because they thought that they were better than the fairies, but once in a blue moon, they adventure outside that silly idea and become friends with the other species in Da Fae.

And even rarer, they would have mated with a fairies or a Were, which in the case of a certain blue-eyed southern prince that is what happened when he met the brunette girl's beautiful muddy-green eyes:

The brunette and greenish brown-eyed was named Alicia Waseys; she was the most outgoing female in her own kingdom, Xea Sae, and everyone knew the summer fairy was a fiery spitfire. The princess of the Summer fairies is the most loyal person to anyone she loved and cared about, so when she met three new friends one day at Gae's magical boarding school she always stayed with them despite what the other summer fairies steered about being friends with bloody different races of fairies and species of Faen.

She would say that 'My people are meanies' or something else when the kids were grown with a roll of hazel eyes.

With two more bodies in their small group, Michael and Bella were content being friends with only three people. It was easier for them to be close to just a small group of friends, because when you were odd, it was harder for you to make friends:

A tap on her shoulder shook her from the rushing memories, and slowly, she looked up to find her beloved inky-haired friend's hazel eyes were waiting for her with a bright smile shining upon her.

"Hey, Bella, can I give you my present first?" Ten-year-old Michael whispered excitedly into her ear. She grinned widely and nodded eagerly, making her night colored hair swirl around her head.

He grinned back, gripping her small hand into his to pull the girl up from her seat, and dragged her out to the castle's huge courtyard, with Jazz and Ally making kissy faces and giggling behind them.

Once they were free in the hot sun, the young boy moved to a chair and settled her into it before taking the seat next to it, fishing in his pocket for something. When a couple minutes passed, he finally took something out of it, laying it down in her lap.

She looked at the box for a moment before looking at her best friend, the boy smiled and nodded, urging her to open it. She smiled as she reached up to brush her soft fingers along his jawline before her hands opened the little black box, revealing the most beautiful locket she ever seen:

On the face of the heart, it looked like a string of spring flowers, golden in color, was crawling up on each side, guarding the turquoise jewel in the middle of the heart.

The design symbolizes Michael and hers relationship very well; the flowers symbolized him and the jewel symbolized her, the strings gently held the beautiful birthstone in the middle of the locket, symbolizing the way her male best friend keeps the now seven-year-old girl sane and smiling. It was so beautiful.

The ink black beauty gasped, touching the necklace lightly before she signed in awe:

'Oh, Michael…it's beautiful, thank you….'

"Turn it over." His expression matched hers, filled with awe and wondrous joy.

She did, carefully so, and saw these words imprinted into the back of the heart:

I'm always going to be there to steady you, I promise. —Michael

Bella smiled, turning her eyes back to his face with a loving stare. The love deep in her heart slowly rose a bit more to the surface as she lifted her hands to simply sign:

"Thank you."

With that, the two slipped inside and started to play again, this time, though, the necklace was safely around Bella's neck.

-.-.-.-.-

The spring fairies has had done their job well as the endless blue sky stretched overhead and the spring sun smiled down on the scene underneath the bright light, but the feeling on the ground was cloudy with sadness and fear for the long-due goodbye that hurt the now teenage girl so much, it is crushing her heart under the pain pressure:

She sighed deeply as her index finger played with her locket, waiting while her back leaned back on the cool metal of the 1925 Studebaker.

Bella was now seventeen-years-old and the most stunning beauty in the magical world to ever walked through Da Fae. But now, she was frowning unbecomingly to her usually happy face, it was just too hard to smile today:

Michael was going to help Uncle Drosselmeier for five years as his worker while the then-thirty blonde man worked as the royal inventor to the were kingdom at the outskirts of Xea Sea's town. Drosselmeier worked in the wires' kingdom for the past eleven years, but when the mouse queen cast a terrible curse on the princess, he needed help to break the curse; so he roped Michael into going to Awa, where are the were live.

And Awa is so far from her, who will keep Bella sane when so much crazy is around? What about the promise that was edged into the back of her locket; the promise to keep her steady in this crazy time in their lives. She didn't want to resent him for leaving her and their friends, but it is so hard to keep calm:

Five years is a long time to not see someone you cared deeply about, she thought bitterly as another sigh escaped her lips as her eyes rolled upwards.

Bella knew that he had to go and he would write her every chance he will get over the five-year time, but it was the first time that the pair was going to be separated since they met all those years and that made the teen girl feel uneasy. She hated the hard knot of dread in her stomach, just sitting there in the middle of it, and twisting her insides with nerves.

When a hand came down on her shoulder, she jumped in surprise and the glaring thoughts were slowly disappearing as her blue eyes met Michael's hazel glance, his eyes were a bit depressing and the look made her feel even worse when she saw it:

"Hello, rose." Michael whispered sadly, his hand coming up to touch her cheek.

It seemed as if the nineteen-years-old boy was relishing the feel of her soft skin under his hand for the last time for a while. Bella sighed once more before her hands slowly came up to sign a simple greeting, because anymore was hard to form:

"Let's go on a walk before I have to go." He suggested tenderly as he grabbed her hand into his huge one, gently pulling her towards the Aqaz Woods next to his home.

They remained in an uncomfortable silence as their footsteps echoed impossibly loud off the beautiful and tall trees; the sound rang in her ears, almost deafening her. She wanted to say something, anything, to stop the deafening silence but her hands clung to the skirt of her bright red sundress so tightly, her knuckles turned white. Her hands were froze, making it difficult to free them from the endless silence, no matter how much she wanted to.

This was so hard for Bella to face, the fact that they will be apart for a huge stretch of time when they were together for many years. Bella knew this feeling was not just a friend saying goodbye to a best friend, but a lover losing a lover to another thing in their lives; she just couldn't voice her feelings to him because he was leaving and he had to. He would stay forever if she were to mutter one word, and she would soon die rather than stand in his way of a bright future.

She closed her eyes as a deep sigh, wondering why are goodbyes so hard, so tearfully depressing, to do?

Bella questioned in her mind alone, but soon her hands formed the question in the air, graining a sigh from the boy as she watched his eyes rolled upwards to the endless sky, seemingly unable to look at her.

"Because there are so much words to say and so little time to say them, there is so much that is unsaid between us, Bella." Hans finally stared at her again with an unreadable gleam in those loving eyes:

"Why is it so hard for you, my sweet rose? Please my Bella, tell me what's going on in that pretty head of yours, I need to know…."

Bella bit her lip hard, musing the answer to that difficult question; the uneasy feeling started to burn stronger in her stomach as she was staring at the handsome older teen leaning against a tree.

Should Bella tell him the truth that she was dreading his departing and leaving her behind that she was in love with him and always have been since the age of thirteen? She sighed deeply as she swung her head to the side before Bella took a deep breath in and slowly lifted her hands to form the waited-for answer:

'I think you are right, Michael, there is so much unsaid between us. But there's no time to unshed the feelings the words would reveal.'

Her head was lowered so she didn't see Hans blinked in bafflingly confusion before a grin stretched across his thin lips as he walked towards her, feeling like he was walking on the air:

"My Bells, are you saying—"

"Michael, my boy! We have to get going or we will be late, come my dear boy!" Came the echoing, cheerful bellow of his uncle, ruining the last moment they would have together alone for a long time.

They stood there as the eerily cold wind blew through their bones, both unwilling to move an inch, they just wanted to keep on staring at the love of their lives. Why is this so hard to say goodbye? They realized the answer was so simple and easy, but Hans and Bella could not say or do anything because there was no more time, no matter how they wanted to shed the heavy feelings in their hearts. There was no more time to do to shed the feelings….

Bella sighed deeply, dropping her eyes from his and to the grassy ground, as her hands hesitated to sign the last phrase Hans would see her sign ever.

'You better go, sweetie. I'll miss you….' Her hands read, but the teenage boy knew there was more to the phrase with her down turned eyes and the deep frown laced to her full lips.

He wanted to stay with her at her side, keeping his promise to keep his Bella steady in this crazy time, and to love her the way she deserved to be loved. However, and heart-rending to realize, he couldn't stay; no matter how much Hans wanted to throw his duties to the wind and do so, he just couldn't. He was the prince and a good hearted young man, so as such, the raven haired man was good for his word and he always kept his promises to his family. He just couldn't keep this most precious promise, and god, it kills him inside:

Hans ranked a hand through his hair, growling deeply in frustration, and then he sighed sadly before he dug into his pocket for something, knowing there was nothing to do in this situation and he has to go. Once that the thing he was looking for was in his hand, he grabbed her soft hand into his, placing it in her palm, before closing her fingers around the soft unknown thing and leaning in to whisper softly into her ear:

"I am in love with you, Isabella. I will be back to you, so when I come back, tell me your secret. This is for you to remember me by."

With that, the raven-haired teen walked away quickly, afraid to see the expression on Bella's face. A lone tear rolled down his cheek as Hans stepped from the forest and as he left the first woman he ever loved behind him unwillingly, but the tears were endless when he heard Isabella's hoarse, haunting, cry echoed to the sky:

For as the men climbed into the car, she finally revealed what he gave her to herself, the emotions ultimately took over when she saw the final gift…

A pure white choker with a single blue bead hanging from it, the winter fairy sign of engagement…

-.-.-.-.-

Isabella ran hard with hot tears in her eyes, the words of her mother still ringing in her head, and they crushed her heart like a car crashed into it. It cannot be true! It can't be! She screamed inside, her feet drumming against the dirt:

She was twenty-two, trying to be happy for Michael's sake and doing well for missing a part of her heart. She was continuing school at Azqa Quie (Twilight Moon in Sazan) Prep, knowing that would be what Michael wanted.

But, when she turned twenty-three, all of that stopped when the news came. She heard of the curse on him; and, depressingly, how he was refusing to come home to her, afraid that she would turn away. Did he really think she would leave him after all they went through together? It was almost too much for her to bear with, and that was the reason why she was running on this path, she could not handle this. She tried to, but now it was crushing under it endless pressure:

Bella reached where she was running to and before she started to pounding at the local witch's house, she caught her breathe as she tried to calm the raging emotions down. After a few minutes of soundly knocking and pounding, a beautiful salmon-colored haired young-looking woman opened the door with a worried sparkle in her blue eyes upon seeing the princess at her door in tears.

"Isabella! My child, what is wrong? Come in, my sweet and tell auntie what is wrong." Amanda soothed her niece as she wrapped an arm around the raven-haired crying woman, leading her to the living room where she told her best friend/aunt everything that led her here:

When the younger of the two women finished her story, they sat in front of each other as the stretch of uncomfortable silence fell over them, each of them were trying to forget the words of the story.

While one was calming her emotions once more with a hand clutched over her heart, as if she was trying to keep it whole and together in her chest; the other was shocked to hear this.

This was the exact details of the legend of the Sugar Plum Princess, the savor of the future warring world. She once read it in one of her books as she studied at the highest witchcraft schools across the worlds, and it shook her to her core. When she saw the words edged into the pages, a horrible case of dread twisted her insides because she had a bad feeling that the heroin seemed familiar, haunting familiar:

The legend stated that a girl would die, ending a rule in its tracks for many years, from saving herself from the pain of a broken heart. Only to be reborn more powerful than she ever would be and she would save the magical world with help of true love. But a spell will be the cause of the girl's death and the spell would be from a witch, specially a memory and healing witch; the only witch who has those powers was Amanda.

So, she was the reason that her niece would be taken from her loved ones and the magical worlds.

Although Isabella was going to be the heroin in the future to lead the kingdoms to freedom from the Rat King, to a better future for all the species in the magical world, it was for a heavy price and Amanda was going to bear that responsible on her own. But the salmon-haired woman knew that it had to be done.

So, with a heavy heart, she stood slowly and walked to a sleeve holding thousands of bottles of many potions as she kept her head lowed to keep her tears hidden, and wrapped her graceful fingers around a bright red bottle before sadly making her way toward her weeping niece. Why me, why did you have to come to me? She asked bitterly in her mind as she sat down next to Bella, causing the girl to look at her while the tears still rolled down at her cheeks:

"Baby, do you want to forget the pain? If you do, you might forget everything…" Amanda whispered sweetly, caressing her cheek. Oh Goddess, please say no, she silently plead with Bella to no avail. She lifted her hands to sign this, not even looking at her aunt:

'I thought I was strong enough to deal with anything life would've thrown my way, but I was dead wrong; this is too much to bear, I want to forget.'

That made her weep, hugging her before handing her the bottle.

"Then drink this, you'll forget all the pain."

And with that, the ravenette dipped the bottle to her lips and sipped the bitter liquid down to half empty, not realizing what she really had done. After a few more sips, the girl fell over the arm of the couch, crashing the bottle when her fingers went lazed and it slipped from her hand.

Amanda sighed deeply in sorrow, wiping her eyes before she removed Bella from the arm to a more comfortable position and cleaned the floor and her face with care; as she cleaned, Amanda whispered sweetly and softly to the peaceful-looking beauty all the way.

"You'll be okay soon, my sweet child, and soon you will be home again."

After that day, people stunned the beautiful witch, believing she was jealous of the princess's beauty. But, the only ones that knew the truth were her family and the others involved and they waited with heavy hearts for the day the heart of the magical world would return to them, no matter how many years past for them; they will keep on waiting for her….

-.-.-.-.-.-

When the light died down, she was lowered to the floor once more, out of breath. Was that a dream? Maria wondered as she caught her breath, a hand over her heart and her head reeling with confusion. She was so confused, but also so excited, not really knowing why.

Soon her breath returned to her and her racing heart slowed, allowing her to look up again. Maria was expecting pure darkness in front of her like before, but there was a strange mirror against the black wall surrounded by a white light; she c****d her head in question before she made her way to the mirror, gasping when she saw the ravenette smiling back at her lovingly:

"Hello sister, you kept me waiting quite a long time." She said in a soothing tone, it was odd to hear her talk after seeing her sign. How was this possible?

"Sister? I don't understand. And…. how in heck are you talking? I thought you were mute…." This earned her a giggle and a shake of her head.

"You will soon, sister, don't worry about figuring this out just yet. Just enjoy your new life, your new family. And remember, I am always with you, you are never alone anymore. Now go, they are waiting for you." Bella raised to touch the cool glass, smiling sweetly, her head urged her to meet hers:

And as soon as Maria did, the mirror and darkness melted away, causing the blonde to fall, screams echoed around her fading form…

-.-.-.-.-.-

Oh my head…. was the first thing that she thought as her eyes slowly opened, her body awaking to the world again, but they just closed again because of the harsh lights of the sun and the room. What was that? Maria wondered as her mind wandered back to the dream, still baffled by it but she was amazed at how magical it seemed. It was like a scene from of her books, it couldn't be real but somewhere inside of her whispered otherwise.

With a shake of her head to free herself from the confusing thoughts, Maria's eyes adjusted to the lights so she finally looked around the room. And the sight earned a gasp from the blonde:

It was beautiful; the walls were painted with purples and blues, midnight blue curtains draped everywhere, brushing the bright blue carpet slightly, and the bed spread were the same colors. It was as if she were in a beautiful sea and it welcomed her like an old friend, she smiled at that thought.

When she was done taking it in, she threw the covers off and swung her legs over the edge, heaving a deep sigh as she tried to make sense of the odd dream. Then, she realized that she was holding something cold, like mental at the touch. Maria furred her eyebrows in confusion as she lifted her hand, uncurling her fingers to reveal….

She stared at the locket, shivers broke out across her spine. The fairy tale-like dream was more than a mere dream, it was Isabella's memories leading up to her death, the blonde understood that and was honored she showed them to her, but what she could not wrap her mind around was, why her?

Why did Bella felt that Maria was worth the precious gift of having a glimpse at her life? Was she really the rebirth of the beautiful princess? Even if the answers were as plain as day, Maria found it unbelievable that someone like her could be royalty and mated to an amazing fairy like Michael:

The wind blew and one of the doors leading to the balcony opened, breaking the thought. She growled, frustrated that she was interrupted in trying to solve the mystery behind the dream, she stood carefully and leaned on whatever was in the path to the doorframe so she wouldn't fall on her bad arm as well as her face, taking the knob into her hand as her legs started to feel like jelly. I need to stop doing this or I'll kill myself one of these days, she thought with a shake of a head of blonde hair and Maria begun to shut the door.

However, just when the young woman was about to hear the click of the door, she saw something. Maria frowned deeply, wobbling toward to the railing to get a better look. It worked. And a surprised gasp escaped her lips.

It was Hans sitting against an odd-looking tree with an absolutely breathtaking sober expression laced to his facial features as he spoke to another tall handsome young man close to their age, and both of their faces soon held heart-broken expressions which almost broke her heart and tears fall onto the wooden still.

She wanted to cheer the young men up so badly, but how? Maria hadn't had many friends before, she didn't know how to keep a smile on someone's face, so how?

A voice called to her through the wind and she turned her head toward /the bright sun, smiling small as the blonde closed her eyes, letting the soft breeze caressed her cheek:

They are the reason, sister. It's your turn now, take care of them and love them as I would. They need you.

Maria opened her eyes and returned her glance back on the boys, only to find a brunette girl sitting with them. Ally. She smiled sadly, moving her eyes upwards again, her grip on the necklace grew tighter:

"I'll make you proud, Bella, thank you…" Maria whispered, briefly admiring the locket before she adorned it on her graceful-looking neck.

She accepted her destiny the moment she placed that locket around her, and Maria didn't mind one bit. Yes, it will be hard and a long road, but it would be worth it in the end….