Author: Anney
Fandom: Firefly
Rating: Gen
Word count: 649
Warnings: No beta? Kinda choppy I think and probably some other things I don't want to admit. River-centric. If you read this, please give me some feedback because this is my very first (and possibly only) Firefly fic and I'd like constructive criticism. I can be reached through reviews on here or my email: anneykun2 at yahoo dot com. If you want me to reply to you please leave an email addy in the review. Thanks!
Summary: This is a fairy tale of smallish proportions.
Fairytale
This is a fairytale of smallish proportions.
Once upon a time there was a girl that was beautiful and a genius and she could see every thing as the world spun around on a titled axis. She was unstoppable, uncontrollable, and unavoidable. She was every un a person could think of if they felt the need to try. She was glorious and danced around rooms made of mirrors while her dresses flowed out around her in lace clouds. Every person or every thing she touched was nourished into new life and she was like her name; always flowing over whatever stood in her way.
River. More body, less water but never stopping. Graceful lines and clear currents.
She is the princess and like every princess is eventually stolen away from her knight and held captive far away. Knight has to fight against dragons, or fathers, and pave his way to her, with money, so he can stand before her proud and covered in blood splattered armor of protection. He's beautifully smart but not as smart as his princess because that is never done. They get it from one of their parents; maybe a mother she tries to remember with forgetfulness. Her dragon is covered in blue and like a myth she refuses to believe in it is two headed, but instead of fire it breathes pain and screaming blood tears. The least powerful of the most powerful. This dragon is long reaching necks and snapping teeth.
Unlike the other princess that was apple tricked she has more than one knight. A brother knight, an almost-father knight, a woman knight, and a knight that doesn't know he is. Those are just her weapons, her protections; there's more to her but she protects them more than they protect her. It's only fair, after all, that she gets her hands dirty at least once. She's not a fairytale princess all the time. She can be the villain too.
Her castle doesn't belong to her in the strictest sense but she feels a connection, she feels at home in it so she thinks that maybe it is a little bit hers. She'll do what she can to help it along as it moves through the vastness of forever.
The princess is saved, like always, but the stories never really tell what happened to her while she was hidden so far away. River-princess is damaged but not and she can't say the words that would make her brother knight happy with her. He doesn't understand that sometimes different isn't so bad and damage can't always be fixed. She's the same but not.
They can't always out run dragons though. In the end it's not like a fairytale ending but it's perfect for her. There's a fight, and there's death and she sleeps in a box made of wood with her knights spread around. She's the center of a cross that others have to bear as they make their way into tomorrow without a castle or a princess or knights, or anything they used to have. Although she never meant to hurt them now that it's happened she can't say how sorry she might or might not be. It's better this way. No more dragons to run from, no more hiding to do.
In the end a princess dies along with people that she loved and the others, no less loved but more alive, go on living in a world that is different. They avoid apples, and dragons out of habit and love but after some time has passed there's no more need for it and life goes on. River runs across people and gives them life but in the end she keeps moving on and only a few go with her.
Not all fairytales are meant to be ended with happiness. Sometimes the princess dies, and sometimes the dragon wins.
(end)