A background for Juliet's character. Mostly just my imagination running unchecked…. Every time I find a strong female character I have to write a back- story for her. So here's Juliet's! (note: I put minimal effort and time into this, so there are probably oodles of grammar mistakes…)

Note: I wrote most of this after the first time I saw the movie so let me know if there are any errors in dialogue, actions, etc.

I only waited this long to publish it because I wasn't sure if it was worth reading.

Oh well, enjoy!

I wasn't always forced to stand on a pedestal all the time. Dad was much more easy- going before mom got smashed in a raid on the blue garden. Losing her so soon after losing his brother, "Uncle" Ulrich Redbrick seemed to be the thing that made him paranoid. It didn't help that both of their deaths were a result of them running and climbing due to complications from the feud.

Uncle taught me many things Dad refused to. He saw something in me, a great red warrior maybe. Someone who could send those blues running and end this timeless feud…

The things uncle taught me… they're just so exhilarating. He taught me to watch and plan; to see what I wanted to do and how to do it. I could clear any obstacle in my path, I just needed to trust my mind and body to know what to do. He made sure my body was prepared for it too. Dad taught me to dance, Uncle taught me to fly. Not literally of course, that's impossible. No, he taught me to jump, to run, to flip, to swing, to use what I had and (most importantly) to land gently so I didn't chip anything. He said I was a natural. I got through his training with no scratches.

Then of course, uncle got smashed slipping off the fence on a rainy day while he was training for a blue-garden raid.

Soon after that, mom died on a subsequent raid and dad went insane. Of course, I can't prove it but something definitely changed in his mind because he suddenly started stifling me. I was all but glued to my pedestal. I slowly lost all my peers as I became "that girl up there."

This brings me to today. I finally found a way to make a name for myself here. To become more than just 'the gnome on the pedestal.'

A Cupid's Arrow Orchid. A flower most gnomes only dream about laying eyes on. I had only ever heard stories about them…. they were so rare in this part of England, and so beautiful.

I had rushed off my pedestal as soon as I came to life. I knew father would come looking for me soon and I wanted to have some freedom before he set guards on me. Again. Dad doesn't understand that keeping me cooped up on that stone tower only makes me want to practice uncle's skills more. I can't just stand there holding a rose all day. It drives me crazy. I need to be free. I need to run and flip and feel the way I create paths around danger. Danger makes me feel alive. Over the years since mom and uncle died, I've become convinced Dad is trying to make me die inside. Like all that matters is that I'm flawless outside and broken inside.

I climbed the apple tree; it was the only place no one would think to look for me. I made my way up easily enough; the same way uncle had taught me to. I saw where I wanted to be and planned how to get there. First this branch, than that one. It was child's play. Uncle would've been proud. Before long, I was peering through the upper branches, looking for adventure. I parted a thick swath of leaves and I saw it. The flower sprouted out of the roof of the abandoned Lawrence greenhouse, glowing beautifully in the sun. I stared at it for the longest time. If only we could grow those in the garden….. Those blues would admit defeat at last and this whole stupid feud would be over. Our garden would clearly be superior. But how to retrieve it…?

"Juliet!" I knew that voice. Dad had found me. He was clearly agitated by finding me in a tree. In "danger." I turned to tell him I was fine.

"oh! Whoa!"

I heard him gasp as I stepped on an apple instead of the branch and it fell out from under me. I stretched my arms out as I fell; grabbing the branch I knew was there. I swung myself over and around it and dropped gently into the waiting large leaf. I let it cradle me as I slid gently to the ground with barely a clink and certainly no scratches. Dad was wincing like he expected me to crash down next to him and break into a million pieces. I smiled at him. Would he never learn? "Hiya, dad!" I said as he shook his head in relief. "You won't believe what I found!" I continued, eager to let him know about the orchid.

He let out a sigh of relief. "Do you want to get smashed?" He asked me incredulously, ignoring my comment. As usual. I tried anyway. This flower would change everything.

"A flower that will put that blue garden to shame, just across the alley…" I said excitedly.

"This whole feud business," he snapped, grabbing my hand and dragging me towards the pedestal. "… is none of your concern. And as leader of this garden it's up to me to…"

"uh, I am a RED after all.." I interrupted, rolling my eyes. Reds were supposed to find ways to best those blues, right?

Dad tapped Nanette on the head and she spat out some water for me to clean my hands. Not that they were very dirty anyway. "Oh, you're just as impulsivated as your mother was." He lectured me as I held my hands impassively under the stream, trying not to roll my eyes again. "Bless her to bits…" he said, obviously thinking about mom's fateful mission and its crushing end. He fixed me with a stern gaze as Nanette closed her mouth. "Now, back where you belong." I yanked my arm out of his grasp with an annoyed huff before he started dragging me up the steps. What was I? Eye candy for the rest of the garden?

"I can't just stay tucked away on this pedestal all my life…" I told him as he herded me back up to my tower.

"Don't you see?" He said to me as if I were a foolish little gnome. "When will you realize, you're delicate…" he said in a careful, patronizing voice.

My hands closed into fists. I trembled with rage. "I'm not DELICATE!" I yelled at him, kicking my flower at him angrily. He dodged it and it landed in Nanette's mouth.

She plucked it from between her lips. "She's definitely not delicate…" I heard her say. She was right about that.

Dad grabbed his staff, and turn back down the stairs as I glared after him.

"Stubborn girl….!" I heard him grumble as he stalked off.

I had to take a deep breath to stop myself from yelling after him. "Ugh, right…." I said disdainfully. I glanced through the fence where I could see my flower sprouting from the old Lawrence greenhouse and I smiled. "Delicate?" I chuckled. "I'll show him who's delicate…"

Tonight, I was going to get that flower. And I was going to do it without getting a scratch. Dad would see. I was a red warrior, not a delicate decoration that needed constant supervision.

That flower was going to change my life.

That's it! Thanks to kagomehater4ever for inspiring me to publish this even if it is incomplete and unedited!