Maybe Missing

By Stor-E-Phool

A/N: Hey, this fanfiction was betaed by LazyCatfish27, and invented by me! I hope you enjoy a new take on the heroine, Princess Celia! Happy reading.

The moon was rising over the Flower Kingdom, with only fifteen days until the Ball at Saint Lyon. Quietly, a small figure detatched itself from the shadow of Waltz Castle and made it's way East, toward the forrest. It's cape bellowed as it moved, and its mask hid its identity as the moon light illuminated it's silhouette.

Finally, the figure stopped at the Viennese Waltz Lake, and stared out over the waters, its reflection crisp and clear on the surface. He halted there for a moment, taking in the soft breeze blowing over the lake, and listening as a chorus of crickets and cicadas rang from the grasses around him. The figure drew his hand to the clasp of his cloak, and pulled. Immediately, the cape dropped to the ground, and the figure's suit came into view. He wore a plain, black tuxedo with a deep violet bow tie peeking out from underneath the collar. Clothing for a formal occasion...

The figure lifted his arms in a peculiar manner. Slowly, he began to sway back and forth, silent words flowing from his lips. He stepped lightly, allowing his feet to guide him across the grass and flowers growing near the banks. His tailcoat fluttered behind him, trying to keep up with his quick, graceful movements. It seemed like hours before he finally took his last bow to his invisible partner and stepped back toward his abandoned cloak. He swung it back to its rightful place on his shoulders and reclasped it around his neck. He looked out onto the waters once again, a sorrowful expression raised itself to the surface of his features.

"'Til we meet again, my sweet...." He raised his hand in farewell to the lake and turned away, hiding his face from whomever would see his tears in this illuminated night.

The figure made his way back up the path to the castle, shuddering as a whisper carried over the lake in response to his call: "....Goodbye, Kip...."

.oO0Oo.

The morning dew clasped itself to the pedals of a rose as the sun began to rise on Waltz Castle. The air was still crisp with the scents of the night, and the flowers seemed almost as if they dreaded waking from their slumber. The courtyard of Waltz Castle was just beginning to bustle with servants tending to royal demands and castle upkeep, and the guardsman was, as always, keeping his silent vigil over the entrance.

A shriek rang throughout the quiet of the morning, rattling even the sleepiest sluggard from her rest. A young girl dashed into the garden, still in her white sleeping gown, face an angry red color.

"By the Vine, Princess Celia! What the Morning Glories is the matter?!" Exclaimed a heavy-set nervous-looking maid, hurrying toward the peeved princess.

"'What's the matter?' 'What's the matter?'" She screamed, balling her fists in rage. "That man is the matter!" she flung her hand toward the entrance from which she had just come from, and in the doorway now was a pink-haired prince with an exasperated look on his face. The princess was still alive with fury. "Who in their right mind would allow someone like Cesar into my room?! I'm a young girl, for heaven's sake!"

The nervous maid's cheeks colored. "W-well... h-he is...your, um, partner, y-your Highness, so, I, um...I didn't think..."

"That's right," the Princess cut her off, "You didn't think."She rounded off on the guardsman. "And what were you doing when I screamed?! When a young girl like me screams, the men had better hop-to and help out a little instead of just standing there like a lump of cold turkey!"

The guard saluted, trying not to meet the princess' eye. "Y-yes'um!"

"Good. Now what are you going to do about this man?" She jabbed her thumb toward a baffled Prince Cesar who was still staring at Princess Celia dazedly. He shook himself awake and focused back onto the situation at hand.

"I say, my little Rose-of-the-Sea! I merely knocked on your door!" He protested, gliding past the nervous maid and gingerly taking the princess' hand. "Put down your thorns, my lovely! I only wished to dance with this Kingdom's most beautiful flower in the light of morning's dawn! I desired nothing heinous or vulgar! Perish the thought!" Princess Celia's face of rage was back for a moment, and she even raised her fist, but suddenly all signs of anger dissipated and she flashed the prince a smile.

"Oh, Cesar, you charmer!" She giggled and hugged his neck. "I'm not really that pretty! I'm only a young girl, you know!" Cesar's face reflected a look of relief and he smiled as well as she let go of his neck

"Nonsense, Pearl-of-the-Ocean!" He replied, taking her hand and dropping to a knee. "You are more beautiful than the setting sun! More glamourous than the rising moon!" Princess Celia's cheeks flushed, and she closed her eyes humbly.

"But, Cesar! You speak with the words of a poet! A young girl like me cannot be worthy of such fine speech!"

The guardsman and the maid had already left the 'romantic' scene, and began to tend to their jobs again, ignoring the mush and gush between the two. The relentless complimenting went on well past noon, and it was after lunch time that the two parted ways.

Princess Celia sighed dreamily at the patch of flowers in front of her. He thought she was "more beautiful than a grand flower garden"... How sweet was her dear, dear Cesar--

"Those are are called Pearly Everlasting, you know." commented a soft voice from behind Celia. "They grow pretty much everywhere, especially dry places." She turned to see a stoic Prince Liam, looking down at her as she sat on the white courtyard bench. He mustered a shy smile. "Ancient peoples used to make it into a medicinal tea to cure colds and coughs."

Celia shrugged, and looked back at the flowers. She could see where they got the name "pearly" from. The flower heads were round and white, some with yellow tufts in their centers. But while the buds were nice to look at, the stems were thick and woolly, the green leaves dark against the pure white of the stems and bracts. So except for its face, it was kind of an ugly flower, really.

"It's gross, Liam." He cocked his brow a little.

"Why's that, Celia?"

"Well, when you first look at it, it's kind of pretty. But if you look a little deeper... like at it's leaves and stems and stuff? It's gross." Liam's smile grew a little more relaxed, and he looked at the Pearly Everlasting again.

"Flowers are kind of like people, then, huh."

"Hmm? How's that?" Celia looked back up at the prince, but he had already moved on to another group of flowers. She sighed and lifted herself from her spot on the bench to join him. He was now looking at a flower with several large, flat-topped, umbel clusters of tiny white flowers. At the center of the little flowers was a single red-purple flower, standing regally above the others. It was a very pretty little flower.

"Queen Anne's Lace." Liam said, and pointed at the center flower. "Named because Queen Anne was so self-centered that she was famous for it." Celia nodded, feining understanding. There seemed to be some meaning in Liam's words that she wasn't quite grasping, but she couldn't figure out what it was. They walked a little further down the path, and came to a patch of delicate white flowers with whorls of dark green leaves a couple centimeters below the pedals. Morning dew, amazingly, still glistened on the flowers; they had been in the shade for most of the day.

"Oh! How lovely, Liam!" Celia squealed, and hugged his arm in delight. "A young girl like me could definitly do with one of these tucked behind her ear!" She reached down to pluck one, but Liam held her arm back.

"Certainly not, Princess Celia. This is called the Windflower. While on the outside this flower is the pinnacle of beauty, when the stem is severed it emits a foul odor and is quite poisonous." Celia nodded her thanks to Liam. He gestured to the Windflower once again. "It saddens me when outermost beauty is ruined by innermost ugliness. Wouldn't you agree, Celia?" Celia shrugged, and looked at the Windflower again. Liam sighed heavily, but plucked a tall-stemmed large bowl-shaped flower with whitish-pink pedals. The center was a deep purple-red color with a large, yellow stamen growing from it. He gently put it into her hands and looked her straight in the eye.

"This... is a Rosemallow. It's beautiful, but it's beauty holds no depth. It's my least favorite flower for that reason, and that reason alone." With that and another shy smile, Liam headed out of the courtyard, without another word to Celia.

Dazedly, Celia glanced down at the Rosemallow flower. It really was beautiful. She smiled and placed it in her hair. A Rosemallow was the perfect flower to adorn a princess.

She journeyed from the courtyard and headed east toward the forest. The day was a little more than half over, and the heat of the sun on the flowers of Tango garden caused the floral scent to waft over to Celia. She took in a breath and floated toward the garden, thinking of Liam's meaningful words. Why did he have to be so cryptic? Why did he say all of those deep words, talking about flowers like they were alive? Why--

"Celia? What are you doing here?" Celia shook her head and looked around to see who was talking to her. A boy a little younger than she was was sitting on the bench next to the fountain in the center of the garden. Next to him lay a makeshift fishing pole and a little dirty wooden box.

"Hello, Vince." She replied, wandering over toward him. She took another look at the things beside him. "I guess you've been fishing, then."

"Yup!" He grinned, patting his pole. "And I'm heading out again with Michael in a bit, if you wanna come." Celia grimaced and swallowed a little.

"Really, Vince. A young girl like me isn't interested in something so disgusting as fishing." Vince laughed.

"Yeah. I wouldn't imagine that a young girl like you would like anything interesting!" Vince made a mockingly feminine gesture and dramatically reenacted the strut of a peacock for Celia. The brunette tightened her jaw and stood her ground. Vince laughed again, "Whoa! Don't get so mad! I was just kidding, Celia!" still laughing, he took off for Viennese Waltz Lake.

"Ooh, that Vince!" She cried, collapsing onto the bench where he had been sitting. "I do not act like that!"

"You kind of do." a voice remarked beside Celia. She looked beside her and jumped when she realized that it was Vince again. "Sorry for spoiling my exit. Forgot my tackle box!" He tried to take off again, but Celia clasped onto his arm.

"I don't really act like that, do I?" Vince sighed, and sat down next to Celia. "I'm not snobbish, right?"

"Uh, no... not at all...you're the nicest ever..."

"Why thank you, Vince!" Celia said with a grin, "I just knew that a young girl like me couldn't be as horrible as you made me out to be! Thank you!" Vince rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, well... I'm gonna go fishing now..." He left Celia to herself and headed back to the lake.

.oO0Oo.

"Princess! Princess Celia! Wake up! Wake up, your Highness!" Princess Celia opened her eyes sleepily. What was that pain in her neck? "Princess Celia, wake UP!" Before her eyes floated a funny, shouting creature with a miffed expression on its face.

"...Kip...?..." Celia lifted herself from where she was laying and looked around. She yawned and stretched. "What are you yelling at me about now?

"Princess! What are you doing sleeping here?! In Tango Garden of all places!" He was pacing about to and fro in front of Celia. "This sort of behavior is so unbecoming of a royal princess! I can't believe you would do something so..." She zoned out of Kip's rant and fell in to a sort of trance. "...I don't think King Crown would ever forgive me if he knew--"

"--Kip." He gave Celia a firm glare, having been cut off from his lecture. Celia slumped in the seat. "...Am I... spoiled?" Kip's expression of sternness turn to one of concern. He looked her in the eye seriously.

"Like curdled milk."

.oO0Oo.

"Kippy! What ever happened to your face-y?!" Exclaimed the little girl, blonde braids bouncing as she followed along after him. Kip glanced behind at her and grimaced as the breeze hit the still-tender bruise on his eye. He managed a small, crooked smile at her.

"...I...fell." he replied, clasping his paws behind his back, sinking in the air to fly at the girl's side. "But what are you doing walking around Waltz Castle all by yourself, Princess Harmony? Aren't you supposed to be with your own tutor?" Harmony looked down at her feet.

"I don't like Renny... She's boooring-y!" She peeked up at Kip with her green eyes, and shook head so that her long braids swung to and fro behind her. "I wanna follow Kippy... He's much cooler than that dumb ol' Renny!"

"Ren Purt Crast is NOT boring-y --- er, she's not boring, that is." Kip growled and re-adjusted his mask. "And I need to be going, Princess Harmony, Your Highness." He began to drift higher and further ahead than the little princess, until he heard a soft sob usher out from her. He sighed heavily and turned to see what was the matter. The princess had planted herself on the cobblestone floor of the castle's main hall and her face was running over with large, pitiful crocodile tears. Her bright and green eyes looked even bigger as she cried pathetically.

"Kippy always used to play with Harm-y, but now he has Celi-y, and doesn't like her anymore-y!" She whined, and Kip dragged himself back toward her. He placed his hand on her shoulder and tucked her tousled bangs back behind her ear. She really needed a haircut soon.

"That's nonsense, Your Highness." He told her, patting her head comfortingly. "I still like you. I just have more important things to do now than playing with you and your dolls." (His previous occupation was babysitting in the royal nursery...he was very happy to be rid of it and on to things better than working as a living jungle-gym)

"No, no, no-y! You don't love me any more-y!" Kip sighed and made her stand up and go back to the nursery where she belonged, assuring her all the way there that he-- indeed-- loved her very much and would never truly leave her. By the end of the journey through the halls, Princess Harmony was skipping and laughing, happy as a lark. As Kip shut the door to the nursery, he sighed with relief. Finally he could get back to his duties and--

"Very noble, Mr. 'Kippy'." remarked a female voice behind him, and he turned to see a gray mouse-like creature in a muted brown sweatervest was smiling slyly from across the hall. She looked over her thick-framed horn rimmed glasses at him and slinked toward the nursury door. She turned the knob and opened it, never taking her eyes from Kip. "If it had been me I would have just let her wander the castle until she learned her lesson."

"...Ren." Kip answered somberly, taking hold of the doorframe and closing it before she could escape into the nursery confines, "...You need to stay at your post and do your job."

"Like you're doing yours?"

"Yes, exactly how I'm--" He looked at her and glared. "I'm not doing my job right now, Ms. Crast, simply because you haven't been doing yours adequately up to this point!" She adjusted her spectacles to sit high at the bridge of her nose and huffed, folding her arms stubbornly.

"Well, maybe, I would be doing my job adequately if someone would quit lecturing me about it!" She flipped her mousy brown hair over her shoulder and gestured for Kip to move away from the door. He moved aside agitatedly.

"I expect you to do better with Harmony, Ren."

"And I expect you to mind your own student... not mine!" She slammed the door behind her, and Kip sighed with resign. No, that Ren was definitely not boring... more like irritating in the extreme. He pondered her not caring for Harmony the way she should. Did it not occur to her that the child she cared for was to one day become a powerful force in the government? That the fate of the entire Flower Kingdom was upon that child's shoulders?? Whatever possessed Ren to take her job so lightly Kip would never know.

Finally, Kip was at the door to Princess Celia's chambers and opened it. The room was pink with flowers decorating everything every where. There was a large canopy bed in the center with a dresser right next to it. To the right of the bed sat a tea table and two elegantly-dressed young women were seated at it. One woman wore her hair in a high ponytail and wore a floor-skirting pink dress, while the other wore her hair in a low bun, a golden heart barrette pinning her bangs neatly back. She wore a thick blue ribbon around her neck with a bell dangling from the bow. Her dress was a beautiful azure with bows tied every once in a while around the bell of the dress. Though their dresses were different, the delicate features of their faces were the same. One was a princess.... and one was an imposter.

"Princess Celia. Celia. How are you two today?"

"Fine." They both answered at one time, bringing their teacups slowly to their mouths and sipping soundlessly. The Celia in the blue crossed one leg over the other and looked at Kip with big brown eyes. "You're late, Kip." He shuffled shyly in the doorway and looked down.

"...I was helping Princess Harmony back to her tutor, Celia." Kip looked from Celia to Celia, and the one in pink answered him with a sullen look on her face.

"How kind, Kip. But I'm sure that my cousin could have gotten back to ol' whats-her-name on her own. She's six, now, right?"

"Yes, Princess Celia." Kip took a seat across from the two and poured himself some tea. There was silence for a moment, the only sound coming from the clatter of teacups being set back on their plates. Finally, the Celia in the blue spoke up.

"I imagine you're wondering what the real princess is doing here." Kip nodded, a couple teacake crumbs falling from around his mouth. The Celia in pink sat up a little straighter and dabbed her mouth with her napkin.

"Ah, yes, indeed." Her emerald eyes wandered about the room dreamily and almost sadly. "...I've come to tell you that I am not coming back to the Flower Kingdom after this visit, Kip." He stared at the princess, completely aghast.

"W—what?! What is the meaning of this?!" Princess Celia avoided Kip's gaze and stared out the window at the bright blue sky.

"I've become so accustomed to this other world of Celia's. I've even... fallen in love."

"In love?! You been there a mere two weeks!" Kip exclaimed, throwing his fist down on the table, "You can't possibly be in love!"

"What do you know, Kip? How could you know? You're not me. You never even been in love before! Like you'd know!" Princess Celia yelled, clutching the hem of her dress in her fists. Her emerald eyes glinted in the light, reflecting off of a tear welling up. Kip rose in the air to meet her eyes.

"I have been in love, Your Highness, and you're the one who doesn't know!" With that, Kip flew from the room, leaving the two girls alone. The sun had begun to set already anyway, and he was expected at the lake. He took his thick black cloak from the nail outside the Princess' chambers and pulled it across his shoulders. At a brisk pace, Kip flew through the halls of the castle and exited through the courtyard, taking the usual path to Viennese Waltz Lake.

Only one person could calm his nerves now that he was worked up, and that was Narine.

Princess Narine; the woman in the Lake!

A/N:Whoo! This chapter took forever. But I think it's really pretty good for my first Princess Debut fanfiction! Now, listen. All of these flowers I've mentioned? They're real! I didn't make them up at all! Except for the fact that the Windflower doesn't really stink OR kill you... it has only POSSIBLE poisonous qualities. I stretched the truth a little. But only a little~! Tell me what you think! :3