THE TROUBLE WITH WANDS

Author's note: I don't own any characters except for Trillionaoscapie, Cousin Jason and a few party guests. Doctor Who is owned by the BBC.

Author's second note: This story is actually a sequel to my Cinderella tales, which involve Cinderella and a Fairy Godfather falling for each other and getting married. This story occurs a little after those stories. Those stories should be posted soon on another website since they don't feature the Doctor. This story is now broken up into chapters.

CHAPTER ONE

Cinderella hummed as she dusted the wooden chairs in the cottage her husband, the faerie Trillionaoscapie, had told her he needed to visit. They had enjoyed six months of blissful marriage since they had defeated the evil faerie, Malverna; then, out of nowhere, Trillion (as she sometimes called him) had told her he needed to journey to this place. Cinderella had insisted on going with him. Against his better judgment, the fae relented. His wife now sneezed as she coughed up a cloud of dust. Her husband seemed oblivious to her as he poured through a thick tome entitled Getting to Know Your Magic Wand: the Real Scoop while hovering four feet off of the ground, his dragonfly wings fluttering madly.

She cleared her throat, saying, "Trill?"

"Hmmm?" the faerie's reply came.

"Don't you ever dust this place?" she exclaimed, sneezing again. "I mean, there are cobwebs on top of cobwebs…"

Trillion shook his head. "Nope," he told her, not looking up from his book. "I don't really use this cottage often. I only use it when I need to recharge my wind and my magic energies."

"But why isn't it properly dusted, at least?" Cinderella pressed.

The red haired, blue eyed faerie shrugged. "I don't know," he answered. "But if you feel like cleaning, knock yourself out."

Cinderella started going into the next room to see what dirt trails awaited her there. She was prepared to open the door when her husband's voice stopped her. "Oh, one thing, though: watch out for the void pockets," he cautioned her.

The blonde-haired, green-eyed woman turned around. "What are…what you said?" She questioned.

"Void Pockets," Trillion said again. "They're little temporal folds that fae use to replenish their magic so that they can do time-travel missions."

"And why would they be in a house?" Cinderella asked.

"'Atmosphere's conducive to them being here," Trillion answered.

Cinderella sighed. Sometimes, most times, in fact, her husband had a penchant for not explaining everything to her satisfaction. She walked over to Trillion, standing in front of him so that he was forced to put down the book and look up at her.

"And are they big enough for, say, a human to fall through?" Cinderella asked.

"Nope!" the fae answered brightly. He picked up the book again. His wife sighed, opening the door. She lit a candle, and then stared at the dusty, neglected furniture in the bedroom in disgust. She saw a small table with a white stick sitting on a purple pillow trimmed in gold on the other side of the room. Crossing over to the table, Cinderella picked it up. It was covered in brown markings; they resembled several strange runic symbols. Before she could examine it further, the stick started glowing, and getting hotter.

"Oh!" She yelled as she dropped it. She blew on her fingers, waving them as though they had been burned. Trillion ran inside.

"What happened?" the fey asked, concern on his face.

"I wanted to polish the stick that was resting on the pillow, and then it overheated," Cinderella said.

"Oh, Cind, I'm sorry about that," Trillion apologized, massaging her fingers. She felt a cooling sensation in her hands. "That better?"

"Yes," Cinderella replied. "What was that stick?"

"My wand," her husband answered. He looked at the pillow, but didn't see it resting on it. He lifted up the pillow and scanned the table, but didn't locate the glowing stick. "Where is it?" he asked.

"It isn't there?" Cinderella queried. As Trillion shook his head, his eyes widening, she said gently, "have you looked everywhere?"

"Nnnoooo," Trillion ground out slowly. "You were the one who had it last!"

"You're annoyed at me," Cinderella shot back. "There is no reason for you to be annoyed. I didn't know it was your wand because you didn't tell me!"

"Well any fool can tell that it is a wand," Trillion accused. "You must have seen pictures in the faerie stories!"

"But I've never seen one up close before!" Cinderella defended, crossing her arms. "And I don't think you are striking the proper tone here!"

Trillion opened his mouth to retort, but then snapped it shut as he realized his wife was right. She hadn't had close exposure to his kind for very long, and it wasn't right that he should take his frustrations out on her. He hung his head, muttering, "you're right, Cind. I shouldn't have accused you of anything." He looked around the room, asking softly, "so do you see it?"

Cinderella shook her head, saying, and "no."

"It's got to be here," he said, his voice rising as he had a sinking feeling in his stomach. He ordered, "You check under the bed. I'll look on the floor."

They both searched for about twenty minutes, and Trillion brushed off his dirt covered tights. Cinderella glanced under the bed yet again when she noticed a patch of grey matter that wasn't there before.

"Trillion, what do you make of this?" She asked, showing him the spot where the grey discoloration was.

"Void pocket," he murmured, then straightened up as a horrifying thought crossed his mind.

"What?" Cinderella asked, peering at him.

"What if it fell through one of those void pockets when you dropped it?" Trillion whispered, terrified.

"Oh, no," Cinderella whispered back. She gasped, saying, "It could be anywhere!"

Trillion buried his face in his hands. He then looked at her and said as a determined look crossed his features, "we've got to find it!"

"Can't you just summon it back, or something?" Cinderella questioned, trying to help.

"I wish I could, but it's not that simple," Trillion answered. "You see, once the wand falls through, it's near to impossible to retrieve it. The Void is so vast; it is hard to retrieve an object of that size by simple teleportation. We have to go to where it is, and then get it back manually."

Cinderella shook her head, saying, "Your people sure have strange guidelines…or whatever they are."

Trillion nodded his agreement. He concentrated for a moment, then said, "I know where to begin looking…" he said.

"Great!" Cinderella exclaimed. "Where is it?" She asked.

"In the future," Trillion said. "Wait here. I'll retrieve it, then come right back."

Cinderella shook her head, saying, "where you go, I'll go. We are married now, and I am not going to stay behind when I could help you find it."

Trillion sighed, realizing that she was determined to go with him, no matter what.

"Very well," he said, resigned. "I've got to make one quick change." He waved his arms, and Cinderella was dressed in a white blouse with a distinctively higher black skirt. Trillion had on a blue shirt and jeans, his wings hidden from view. Cinderella blushed at the length of her skirt.

"Great legs, hon," the fairy commented, looking appreciatively at her.

"Thanks, but where is the rest of my…attire?" She asked.

"That's it, I'm afraid. Skirts are somewhat shorter in the future," Trillion said. He didn't add that he knew longer skirts were coming back into vogue. "Are you ready?" he asked Cinderella. She nodded hesitantly, still not comfortable with the shorter length of her skirt. "Hold onto me," the fey commanded. She did as he bade, then the couple vanished.