Summary: They were just children, how were they to have known that the rose bush marked a grave.
*Is Story as written* *(words I wanted to cut)Sequel/Companion to Of Miracles And Ghosts
A'ren laughed as her elder brother chased her. She turned back to look at him and stumbled over something.
"Ahh!" She cried as she landed hard in the sand.
She turned to look at what had tripped her and frowned curiously. It was a Rose Bush. One that had Blue and Brown Roses.
"S'len, come here, look at this!" She shouted.
"What is it A'ren?" Her brother asked as he followed her voice over.
"It s a rose bush." She said as she inspected her dress for tears, the Lady Amanda would get into trouble if they came home with ruined clothes and they wouldn't be allowed to come over anymore.
"So, it'll probably die out here anyway." Her brother said as he picked her up and set her on her feet.
"But it has blue and brown flowers." A'ren whined.
"You have been listening to too many of Lady Amanda's Stories." S'len scowled down at his sister.
"Its true, look." A'ren pointed.
S'len sighed and looked at the bush, then he frowned, "That's really weird, I didn't think that was possible."
"Ha, told you." A'ren stuck her tongue out at him.
'Are you two lost?' A quiet voice asked.
The two children whirled around to look at the voice, and found themselves staring at the two people in shock. Before them stood a Vulcan with brown eyes and black hair, his clothing was traditional Vulcan garb, next to him was a young man with sky blue eyes and blond hair, a man who was crouched down on their level looking at them with a soft smile playing at his lips.
"Maybe." A'ren said honestly, "We were playing one of Lady Amanda's games, called Tag, we may have wandered too far."
'Ah, I remember playing Tag.' The blond said as he stood, holding his hand out for A'ren to take. 'We'll take you back to the houses, is that alright with you? It s getting quite dark.'
"Oh, we hadn't noticed." S'len exclaimed as he took his little sister's hand while she took the blonde s hand, shocked to find that it was semi-solid, enough that her it was like holding her mother's hand, but that the rest of him and his companion was slightly see through, she wasn't sure why that was but she was more interested in the stranger reason for being in the middle of the desert.
"Why are you out here anyway?" A'ren asked.
'Making sure that lives are not lost to the Desert.' The Vulcan said in reply.
The blond smiled at the man before turning to the children, 'How about we have a story instead, hmm?'
The little girl grinned suddenly, "What kind of Story?"
'One I heard on Earth.' The man returned the grin.
"How's it go?" S'len asked as the night became noticeable, their parents had noticed they were gone by now, and like most Vulcan parents would likely be panicking.
'Once upon a time, because apparently that is how all stories begin...' The blond began.
'*There was a Little Boy who was given a box of 25 tin soldier as a gift. They wore smart uniforms and proudly shouldered their guns...*' The brunette continued when the blond began to ramble.
"But shouldn't they have Phasers?" S'len asked.
'This tale was written long before Phasers existed.' The Vulcan explained.
'*And the little boy was very pleased with them.*' the blond picked up, '*Only one of the tin soldiers wasn't quite perfect, for he had just one leg.*'
And the two men weaved a story about an beautiful ballerina, a tin soldier, and an evil jack-in-the-box for the two children as they walked along in the dark desert, the story came to an end as the lights of the city came into view.
'*...But then he felt an icy wind around his ankles, and a breeze coming through the window (once more) swept him off his feet and into the air. This time he landed in the blazing flames of the open fire-but the brave tin soldier didn't mind, for the dancing girl was blown in too, and landed at his side.*' The blond said softly.
'*"Be brave, my love!" cried the tin soldier, holding his gun on his shoulder, and the dancing girl burst into flames and was gone. Then the tin soldier himself began to melt...*' The Vulcan took over, much like they had been doing the entire story, mostly to keep the children awake, for neither could carry them.
'*And the next day, when the woman with the kind face was raking over the ashes, she found a tiny tin heart that the fire had been unable to melt away.*' The blond ended, smiling softly as he heard the voices that called the children's names.
He leaned against his Bondmate's chest as the two children ran into the lights that were shining for them in hopes that they would see them.
When the children turned back to thank the two they were gone, as though they had never existed, and if they believed Lady Amanda's tale of a blue and brown flowered rose bush then they never said a word, and if they defended the Lady against their parents and friends, well that was their business. And if it took three years for the Vulcans to believe in the Desert BondPair it was only because they didn't know how to listen.
But when their parents questioned their want of a jack-in-the box a paper ballerina and a box of 25 tin soldiers, one not quite finished, well who would believe that it was because Lady Amanda's story about the Desert BondPair mirrored it quite well.
The Vulcan was the Tin Soldier, the crazy Romulan was the Jack-In-The-Box, and the Human was the Paper Ballerina, because Humans were quick to died and Vulcans remained, and Romulans popped up unexpectedly.
Let's pretend that this was planned, The story is 'The Brave Tin Soldier' well a retold version for children, by Hans Christian Andersen, in this book, -100 Classic Stories- If you have never read this story, first boo on you, read it!
Second! It s about a tin soldier who was unfinished, he was without a leg, and during his troop's wandering around their new place he sees the paper dancer who is in a position where it looks like she has one leg, they fall in love but the Jack in the box likes her too, Sometimes the boy loses him and knocks him out the window where he is played with by children, put into a paper boat and washed down the sewers to the ocean or a lake where he is then swallowed by a fish, which is caught and sold to the parent or serving girl(this all depends on which version you are reading) and she finds him when the fish is cut open and gives him back to the boy. in some versions the boy throws the tin soldier into the fire and the dancer follows him. In a few versions the dancer has a little tin flower and that, along with a little tin heart is all that remains of our couple in the morning.
The one I Told also has a bit of Fantasia 2000's Version, which is set to music and has the evil Jack in the Box. Sorry, I'm not Sorry. It fits O My how it fits. There are just so many versions of Fairy Tales, and most of them are slightly different and I have a headache now so I can t really think straight enough to figure out what gets the Soldier get lost in the first place, and yes I have read most versions of a lot of Fairy Tales.