Title: Fairy Tale
Day/Theme: 10th September/"When I see your heavens"
Series: A Little Princess
Character/Pairing: Becky/Sara, post-novel
Rating: PG

Once, not long ago and not far away, there was a princess born. Her Ma and Da died when she was too little to know them, so she ended up in a 'norph'nage. She got brought up there, and it wasn't too bad, 'cos she learnt how to keep her head down so that nobody bothered her. She never knew she was a princess, neither did no one else, so she got by and never thought about nothing.

Anyway, she got too old for th'orph'nage, so they sent her out to get work 'n start payin' 'em back. Work was bad, but she kept her trap shut and didn't say nothing about it, so it got better after a bit. She still didn't know nothin' about princesses, but then she saw one.

The princess was beautiful – not like they're supposed to be, in fairy tales and the like, but real like, like you could touch her and she wouldn't mind. She had all the right clothes and jewels and stuff as well, but you never thought about that when you could see her face, 'cos that was nicer than any of it. She had lots of words and she shared them round like they was sweets, you could see all the girls listening and she always listened back when they wanted to talk, even though her stories was better.

One day, anyway, the princess-in-disguise went to tidy up the real princess's rooms and 'cos work was so bad, she nodded off. The real princess found her and when the princess-in-disguise woke up, she gave her somethin' to eat and told her a story. Then she did that every day, 'cos that's what real princesses do.

Only then, y'see, there's a wicked witch. And she's jealous of how wonderful the real princess is, so she casts an evil spell and makes everyone think the real princess isn't a princess. It doesn't work on the princess-in-disguise, though, because she's a princess, too, even if she don't know it. It doesn't work on two other princesses at school, neither, because they all three know the real princess is a princess no matter what happens, 'cos that's just who she is. So the real princess has to work as a maid, like the princess-in-disguise has to, and she gets sad, like, you know. 'Cos the wicked witch cast the evil spell on her most of all, so even though she knows she's a princess, she sometimes starts thinking she isn't.

Anyway, they all go on like that for a bit and then a king from a far away country comes and he sees the real princess and realises who she is. So he sends her new princess stuff and then when she goes to say "thank you", 'cos that's what a princess does, he breaks the spell on her. And then she tells him about the princess-in-disguise and he takes her away, too. So the princesses are back together again.

-

"What happens next?" asked Sara sleepily. They were sharing a bed, like they often did, and she was curled around Becky's warmth.

"I dunno, miss." Becky hugged Sara tentatively and beamed when Sara hugged back.

"I know," Sara decided. "The princess-in-disguise has a spell on her like the other princess had, and they don't know how to break it."

"How do they do it, miss?"

"The same way they always do it in fairy tales." Sara hesitated a moment, then kissed Becky softly on the lips. Pulling back, she looked at Becky, her dark eyes boring into her and searching for the truth. "Do they – do they live happily ever after?"

Becky felt for Sara's hand in the darkness. "Yes, miss."