This is a little ditty for the EVERY COLOR OF THE RAINBOW FIC-A-THON! (and yes, it requires all cdaps...) Go to my profile and check it out!

Mythweaver may see where this idea came from if she reads this...

Enjoy! (This story is silly but hopefully cute for everyone)

"And they lived happily ever after," Rydia finished, closing the book's cover as she did so.

Glancing up, she could already see the dubious confusion on her daughter's face and sighed heavily.

Cuore frowned, "Impossible."

"What's impossible?" Rydia asked, trying to keep her voice tone from sounding too exasperated.

The little girl continued; "That they would live happily ever after. Humans are mortal, therefore, they would die. Therefore, they cannot live ever after."

Edge snickered. Rydia shot him an annoyed look.

Cuore glanced between them, "Am I incorrect?"

"No," Edge commented, ruffling her hair, "But I think the book meant the rest of their living lives, they were happy. Poor wording choice."

"Indeed." Cuore complained, before her brow furrowed again. "I also find it incomprehensible that a kiss somehow broke the magical spell."

Rydia frowned at the word 'incomprehensible', since they had discussed how that word made the little girl seem Maenad. But she had trouble breaking old habits, and often used words too big for children her age anyway.

Edge didn't seem daunted and just patiently explained. "It was the power of true love that broke the magic spell, Cuore."

The look she gave him was filled with skepticism, "Love is not a quantifiable force of this universe. It's not gravity, or time, or electromagnetism or-"

Edge sighed and cut her off, "It's a fairytale. They're all like that."

"Unrealistic?" Cuore asked, tipping her head to one side.

Edge glanced at Rydia, clearly asking for help and she sighed, attempting to frame a good explanation before she began talking. Cuore was an expert at debate, and while adorable, it was also a pain. Her logic and reason were second to none, and the appearance of a small girl didn't make it easy to listen to her when she got going.

"Cuore," she began, fidgeting with the book still in her hands. "Love isn't a force of the universe, it's…more like an emotion,"

"Emotions are more trouble than they are worth." the little girl mumbled.

Rydia frowned, not liking where this conversation was headed. "Without emotion, life would be dull and empty. Devoid of interest or color, if you think about it."

"But it would be logical and safe," Cuore argued, matching her mother's frown. "Emotions cause pain, and no life form wishes to experience pain."

"But pain is part of being alive," Edge pointed out.

"Pain is undesirable." Cuore countered. "When your physical body experiences pain, it's to let you know that you need to stop something. It is a safety measure. Too much of something causes pain. Emotion is no different. When your heart hurts, it's too tell you that you have too much emotion."

She averted her gaze, "Too much or too little of love causes trouble. Therefore, it would be easier to simply not experience it."

Rydia flinched, "Cuore, you love us…right?"

The little girl looked up, startled, "Of course! However I think my love would be insufficient to awaken either of you from a magically induced stasis."

Edge laughed, and Rydia glared at him, not sure this was a situation to be laughing at. She was sincerely concerned about how cold and calculating her daughter sounded at the moment. How very Maenad her thought process really was.

She'd always had trouble with her emotions; identifying them, understand them, governing them.

But this was a new line of thought that was very worrisome.

Before she could voice her concerns, Edge had picked Cuore up and sat her between them, commenting as he did so; "Well, somehow I don't think either of us are ending up like that, but I could be wrong."

The little girl tossed him a look, "I don't think you had ever anticipated fighting a being from outer space, either."

Rydia had to grin at that.

"Fair enough," Edge conceded, patting her shoulder. "But listen, I know that emotions can be more trouble than they are worth, but they can teach you things, too. Without them, you wouldn't learn."

Cuore blinked, "Explain."

"Well, every emotion has an upside and a downside. Rage is pretty powerful, but it's also dangerous. Without sadness, you wouldn't know joy." he described, shrugging.

Rydia nodded, "Without emotions you don't have free will to make your decisions. You yourself said that was what made Maenads and humans different. It's because we have emotions. They didn't. Without emotions we couldn't hope, either. Hope for the future, hope for something better."

Cuore seemed to ponder their words for a moment and then nodded, "I suppose that makes sense." She seemed too hesitated and bit her lip. "What about fear?"

"Fear teaches us caution," Rydia commented. "It tells us to be careful, to think before we act. Fear can be overpowering, but it can also be useful. It can hinder our progress, or hasten it."

The little girl clutched her skirt, "I have heard people say that you fear what you don't understand, but…I am afraid, and I know everything."

Rydia blinked, "What? What are you scared of, Cuore?"

The girl glanced up timidly, "A lot of things."

The summoner carefully wound an arm around her little girl, "You know it's perfectly normal. We talked about this."

Cuore nodded, "I know, but it's still…disconcerting. I don't understand."

"Knowing something and understanding it are different things," Edge told her carefully. "You can know anything, but you won't understand it until you've been through it."

Cuore blinked at him, as if processing the words. Rydia hoped they made sense to her. Emotions were a vital part of living, but they were also the most complex. Poor Cuore hadn't been created to ever experience them, let alone understand them. She was supposed to be robotic, not human.

But if there was one thing the little girl could do, it was learn.

Cuore hopped up and turned, pulling the book off her mother's lap. "This form of love requires more research. I will study these fairytales and attempt to understand as best I can."

She skipped off, tossing over her shoulder with a smile, "After all, if you do end up in a magical sleep, I want to know how to wake you up."

Rydia frowned as she watched her daughter walk off. "Our daughter is strange."

"Was there ever any doubt our children would be weird?" Edge asked her.

She shrugged, "No, but I'm just thinking…this poor world."

"Eh, it's good for it."

The fic-a-thon information is on my profile...it's open for any fandom and all the details can be found on my page. I wanted to write something for the first day of it, and this was all I came up with, but I hope it was still entertaining. I'll hopefully have some other goodies ready soon.