Disclaimer: I do not own these character. This is purely for fun :)

Author's Note: So, it has been a long, long, LONG time since I haven't written FanFiction, but having just finishing reading Marrisa Meyer's Luna Chronicles, I couldn't resist. This is set 9 years after the end of Winter and is my take on Sleeping Beauty in the world of the Lunar Chronicles. I hope you enjoy! Please review to let me know your thoughts. More to follow soon.

The Lunar Chronicles:

Bryony-Rose

Chapter One

Princess Rose, granddaughter of Queen Camilla of the United Kingdom, turned on the small platform that the dressmaker had made her stand on. Mirrors stared at her on three sides as she took in the sight of herself in the gown. Her heart sank. She hated it. It was too restrictive, too puffy in the skirt. Too pink!

Behind her, the dressmaker clapped her hands and sighed with satisfaction.

"Perfect," she mused as she adjusted the bow at the back of the dress.

Rose forced a smile that didn't reach her eyes and nodded, unable to bring herself to even lie about liking it.

"I'll certainly be the talk of the ball," she said through gritted teeth. She held back the rest of the thought, because I look ridiculous.

"You'll be the talk of the ball, my dear," came a voice from the door. "Because it is a ball in your honour."

She turned, recognising her grandmother's tones. Her smile now was genuine. She loved her grandmother. Loved the stories she told of the diplomats and leaders she had known. Nothing was secret between them.

Queen Camilla stepped into the room and, with a wave of her hand, she dismissed the dressmaker. Once they were alone, the Queen took in the full sight of the dress.

"I thought it was going to be blue," she said, thinking out loud.

Rose sighed, as best she could anyway in a fully corseted bodice.

"It was," she said no longer hiding her displeasure at what she was wearing. "But then she was inspired by the shade of dusty pink roses that adorned the invitations and –" she gestured at the dress.

The Queen smothered a smirk from forming on her lips. "I know you won't believe me," she said. "But it really does suit you. And it is only for one night. You only turn eighteen once, you know."

Rose's stomach gave a little flutter of nerves. Since her father, the Crown Prince, had passed away three years ago, Rose was next in line to the United Kingdom throne. Turning eighteen meant he came of age. She would be legally recognised as an adult. In a few months' time, on New Year's Day, the ceremony would be held to officially name her Crown Princess. She gulped back the nerves that threatened to overwhelm her. She did not feel ready for the responsibility.

Camilla seemed to sense her apprehension and pulled her into a warm, loving embrace.

"You have nothing to fear, my dear," she said. Her queenly manner replaced with the love and affection of a grandmother. "You will shine."

Rose let out a calming breath that was followed by a small giggle.

"In this dress," she said into her grandmother's ear, "I'll probably glow in the dark."

The laughter that erupted from Camilla was not fit for a queen. "They'll be able to see you from Luna," she said adding to the banter. "But like I said, it is just for one night."

Camilla pulled away from Rose and settled her arm over her shoulders, guiding her towards the changing rooms. Rose allowed half a smile to reach her lips. One night. But then so much more after that.

The summer moon shone yellow and bright in the darkening sky. At this time of day, just after it had risen, it looked close enough to earth for her reach up and touch. It was possible to make out the faint outline of the glassy domes protecting the cities and sectors on its surface. Lake Artemisia shimmered and glinted and hinted at the palace overlooking its shores. She couldn't see it, exactly, but she knew where on the lake it was located.

Cinder lay in the tall grasses of the meadow they were calling home today. The Rampion had landed somewhere in the province of France earlier that day and, as the rest of the crew had taken the latest batch of the letumosis vaccine to the surrounding towns, Cinder had stayed behind to fix a glitch in the air circulation system. With the work done, she had time to herself until the others returned, happy in the knowledge that they would all breathe easy tonight. Literally.

It was nearly nine years since their rebellion had changed the world and still their primary task was to stem the plague that had gripped the earth for so long. The new strain of the virus that had shown itself before Levana's demise had multiplied quickly and mutated faster than anyone could have anticipated. Only now was it showing signed of slowing down. Only now did they begin to think they were beating it back.

Through the peace and quiet that surrounded her, Cinder could hear a soft peal of music drifting through the meadow. It mingled with the chirp of crickets that had struck up in the twilight. Her gaze did not leave the moon. She wondered if Dr Nandez would be persuaded to add a zoom feature to her optics system. That way, she could gaze up at the moon on a night like this and see the city in all its glory. She may even be able to see Winter waving to her from the balcony of the palace's great hall

President Winter Clay, as she now was. The first President of Luna. It had been no contest at all when she had been persuaded to run. Cinder lifted her hand from behind her head and waved. Winter would be there waving back. Of course she would.

It took a moment for her to realise that the music she had heard was coming closer and was accompanied by footsteps and laughter and singing. Cress' singing. No doubt the music was playing through her port-screen – an old Second Era opera that she had memorised – and she was delighting her friends with her rendition.

Cinder sat up, feeling the damp of the evening dew on her back, just as the crew came into view at the edge of the meadow.

"Hey, slacker!" Thorne shouted over to her as he trudged towards the open cargo bay door of the Rampion. "You fixed our air yet?"

"Of course I have," Cinder replied, standing up and stretching out her limbs, both flesh and synthetic.

"Good," Thorne said. "Well, hurry up and get in here. We have visitors."

"Aye, Captain!" Her mock salute was met with one of his lop sided grins that many a girl had fallen victim to over the years. Thankfully, Cinder was not included in that number.

She glanced around at the rest of the group making their way back to the ship. Cress followed next. She had stopped singing and was taking hold of a box, that looked to be almost twice her size, from Hanna. Hanna and her brother Gregg were the newest members of the Rampion's crew.

After the rebellion, a number of Thaumaturges loyal to Levana had escaped trial and taken refuge in hiding on earth. Most of them had by now been found. One of them had kidnapped Hanna and Gregg, both shells, and held them hostage while she harvested their blood to build up her own immunity to a particularly virulent strain of letumosis that was making its rounds at the time. When they had heard what was going on, Cinder and Cress had made it their own personal mission to track them down and rescue them. It had not been long after that that Scarlet and Wolf had retired from the crew to take care of the farm in Rieux. Hanna and Gregg had eagerly taken their places on board.

As they approached Cinder, Hanna beamed her carefree smile at her and glanced over her shoulder. Cinder followed her gaze and her heart skipped. Bringing up the rear with Iko was –

"SCARLET!" She bounded over and threw her arms around the red-head, pulling her into a tight embrace. Scarlet laughed and returned the hug.

When Cinder, finally released her and saw her face, she could see there was a secret hiding behind the smile in her eyes.

"What?" Cinder questioned, her brow creasing.

Scarlet's smile widened. She said nothing, but took hold of Cinder's arm and guided her towards the ship. Cinder glanced over her shoulder to see Wolf following behind with the vaccine supplies loaded in crates on their quad-transporter. He smiled nervously and waved at her. Cinder waved back. She couldn't remember the last time he had looked so uneasy. What was going on here?

With greater effort than she had expected, Cress heaved the box onto the main table in the Mess. The smell of fresh tomatoes, picked only hours ago from the Benoit-Kesley Farm, wafted up to her and made her bounce on the balls of her feet in anticipation of sinking her teeth into the tender, sweet flesh.

She felt Thorne step up behind her, his hand resting on her hip as his kiss found the nape of her neck. She giggled as the three-day stubble tickled her skin. She turned in his embrace and, standing on the tips of her toes, she claimed his lips with her own.

Nine years. Nine years together and he could still turn her entire body to liquid with his smile. She gazed up at him, not caring at all that Hanna and Gregg were in the corner making retching sounds at them. They were young, she thought. They would learn.

The rest of their party drifted into the Mess, no doubt drawn in by the tempting aroma of fresh food. Cress caught sight of Wolf and a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. He was looking well. His jawline was not as prominent as it had been the last time she saw him. Cinder's last act as queen had been to commission a research team to study what could be done to reverse the genetic manipulation done to the soldiers. It had taken them years to develop the Gene Therapy, but it seemed to be having some effect. Slowly. Wolf looked more like the man she had first met in North Africa all those years ago.

Scarlet and Cinder were the last ones to come in, rapt in conversation.

"…and how did you know we were here?" Cinder asked.

"Are you kidding?" came Scarlet's reply. "This ship leads the vaccine fleet. There's practically a parade every time you enter earth's atmosphere. We heard weeks ago you were scheduled to make a stop here. Rieux is only twelve miles that way –" she pointed towards the rear of the Mess. "– and with our deliveries, it wasn't exactly out of our way."

Cress watched her for a moment. Her hair, flame red and warm as ever, had been left to grow out a bit, long and wild. It wasn't nearly as long as Cress' had been in her satellite days, but still it was long and free, cascading down past her shoulders in waves to her mid-back. She had also put on a little weight. Not much, but given the fresh home cooking she could enjoy every day at the farm, it was not entirely surprising. Her red hoodie (a new one by the look of it) clashed beautifully with her hair. But that wasn't the most striking feature about her. Scarlet's smile was wide and joyous and completely untameable. She beamed around the room at her friend and took a deep breath.

"It's good timing, really," she said casting her gaze around everyone gathered. "There's something we need to tell you." She took hold of Wolf's hand beside her and a knot of tension seemed to tighten in his shoulders.

Before Scarlet continued, Cress had the feeling of a great jigsaw puzzle clicking into place in her mind. Wolf's tension. Scarlet's elation. The extra weight she was carrying.

Scarlet was –

"I'm pregnant!"

A collective gasp took the air out of the room for a second or two as the news sunk in. It was broken by an ear piercing shrill from Iko as she threw her arms into the air with excitement and hurtled around the Mess to Scarlet's side.

"CONGRATULATIONS!" she cried.

Questions started to fly around the room – how far along? Boy or girl? Will it have wolf genes? When are you due?

Cress fixed a smile on her face – one that she hoped would show her joy at the news and none of the pain. She busied herself with unpacking the box of produce and tried very, very hard not to look at Thorne, but her eyes betrayed her. She glanced at him. Thankfully she didn't catch his eye. His jaw was set hard and she could see his own shoulders carry some of the tension that Wolf displayed.

She looked away and swallowed hard. This was not the time to get teary. She let Scarlet's excited answers wash over her – three months along, it's a girl, we haven't had her screened yet but the test is next week, she's due in January…

"That's wonderful," Cress managed to say, although her tone was slightly less enthusiastic than she had wanted. Scarlet didn't seem to notice, but a pang of sympathy briefly flashed through Cinder's features before she remembered the rules and it was gone. She nodded to Cress and, if she hadn't been a shell, Cress was sure there would have been a wave of strength emitting from Cinder just for her. The thought made her smile a little wider.

Only for a moment, though, as she caught sight of Thorne slipping out of the Mess, his fists clenched by his sides. Cress wanted to follow him, but she would have to push past too many people for it to be unnoticed. She turned her attention back to the fresh tomatoes in her hand. She brought them up to her nose and breathed in the hint of sunshine left on their skin. The breath she let out calmed her a little and she continued to unpack the box.

I am fine, she told herself as she retreated into the safe walls of her own make-believe world.

I am happy for them.

I am happy…