Episode 1: Valentine's Day
Rapunzel's Castle
One of the ruffians from the Snuggly Duckling walked down the hallway towards Flynn. "Hey Rider," he said, "There's a letter for you and Rapunzel." Flynn rose and took the letter. He remembered that Rapunzel was in the library and he headed down the hallway and up the stairs to the royal library. Flynn opened the door and finds Rapunzel painting the library.
"Flynn, I told you I didn't want you to see it yet." Rapunzel said.
"Sorry Rapunzel, but we have a letter." Flynn held it out to her. Pascal crawled off of her shoulder and grabbed the letter from Flynn. "You know, he still creeps me out." Rapunzel ignored him and opened the letter. It read,
Dear Rapunzel and Flynn,
Your audience is requested at Cinderella's castle on February 14th at noon. We are hoping to have tea served after lunch and activities will be planned accordingly. Thomas and I hope you grace us with your presence.
The scene jumps to Cinderella's castle. She and Thomas were seeing to the arrangements and decorations. "Well darling, what do you think?" Cinderella asked after she placed the final heart centerpiece on the tables.
"I think it looks wonderful. Our guests will be very pleased with it." Thomas said.
"Thank you. Is your father coming?"
"No. He's away on business. It will only be our friends arriving this afternoon."
Thomas wrapped his arms around Cinderella's waist and kissed her lightly on the lips. The doorbell rang and Cinderella grew more excited and rushed to the door. As she opened it, she found Snow White and Prince David to be the first to arrive.
"Cinderella! It's so lovely to see you again." Snow White said as she hugged Cinderella. Emma ran right inside and looked for Alexandra. Prince David hugged her as well and then he asked, "Where's Thomas?"
Thomas appeared out from behind Cinderella. "Right here. Good to see you David." Thomas gave David a manly hug and Thomas and Cinderella showed their first guests to the dining table. The doorbell rang once again and Cinderella went to the door. Aurora and Phillip appeared in the doorway.
"Cinderella! Thank you so much for sending us an invitation." Aurora said.
"You're a very dear friend; of course I would invite you." David and Thomas were catching up at the dining table and Phillip sits down beside David.
"Hey Phillip! How are you?" David asks.
"Oh you know…same old same old." As the guys engrossed themselves in the conversation, the women oversaw the dinner preparations. Alexandra appeared in the kitchen and she and Emma helped as best as they could. Pocahontas arrived with John Ralph. Followed quickly behind them, Belle and Adam, Mulan and Shang, Ariel, Eric, and Melody, Jasmine and Aladdin, Esmeralda, Phoebus, and Zepher, Tiana and Naveen, Meg and Hercules, Rapunzel and Flynn, and finally Kida and Milo.
Cinderella's dining table was filled with red, white, and pink hearts. Beautiful pairs of hearts labeled the seats for the special guests. Each guest took their seats, placing their napkins on their laps. Thomas picked up his wine glass and tapped it three times with his spoon.
"Attention everyone. I'd like to make a toast. To my wife and our beautiful daughter Alexandra. She may be half a princess but she helped her mother today to set up this wonderful lunch." Everyone laughed and clinked their glasses. "But I'd also like to propose a toast to all of you. For joining us on this wonderful valentine's day." Glasses clinked once more and everyone sipped their wine. The children of course sipped grape juice.
David rose from his chair and invited everyone for a toast of his own. "I'd like to toast Thomas and Cinderella for having us for Valentine's Day." Glasses rose in the air once more as cheers of thanks erupted from the table. Melody, Emma, and Alexandra quietly sat at the table until Zepher grew bored; he put his napkin under his nose and pretended it was a beard.
"Hey guys, check this out." Zepher said. He started to do an impression of Phoebus. "I'm the Captain of the Guard; I'm big brave and macho. I.." Zepher caught sight of his father's not-so-amused expression. Zepher put the napkin in his lap like the three girls had and sat quietly.
Phoebus smiled and rusled his son's hair. "My beard is shorter than that Zepher. I take pride in keeping it short."
"Oh really?" Esmeralda said. She tapped a part of his beard. "You missed a spot." Everyone giggled at the exchange; Zepher smiled at his papa.
"With that napkin, you almost looked like my grandfather." Melody giggled.
"Melody." Ariel scolded. "Be polite."
"Sorry Mother."
"She's quite alright Ariel." Esmeralda said. "I've seen your father and the way he held that napkin, it did look like his beard."
Dinner went on with many different conversations buzzing around the table. The children were seated at the end of the table while the adults gathered at the other end. Thomas, David, and Phillip sat close together quietly catching up. Kida seemed out of place, considering the fact that she had only met Cinderella once and that was through Pocahontas. Kida and Milo stuck by Pocahontas and John Ralph for the evening. Kida excused herself from the table and went to sit in the foyer. Milo noticed that Kida was a little off; so did the rest of them.
"Is Kida okay?" Cinderella asked.
"Oh! Oh yeah she'll be okay. I'm just...going to go t..talk to Kida." Milo excused himself from the table and followed after Kida.
"Kida has a little trouble dealing with people. She's been in Atlantis for far too long." Pocahontas explained.
"I understand." Meg said.
Milo found Kida; She rested her head on her hand as she gazed out the window. "Kida? Is something wrong?" Milo placed his hands lovingly on Kida's shoulders.
"Milo, I don't belong in this world. I should be back in Atlantis, helping my people."
"Kida, you may be Queen but you deserve a holiday. Everyone loves you, they think you're a wonderful person. Just like I do." Milo kissed Kida's cheek and she realized he was right. He grabbed her hand and pulled her back into the dining room. Kida calmly took her seat and joined back in on the conversation.
"I'm bored Mommy." Emma said to Snow.
"Just wait a minute Emma. Cinderella has planned a very fun day. Right Cinderella?"
"Of course but I forgot a few things so, Alexandra, why don't you and the other kids go play in your room for a little while?" The kids finished up and ran up to Alexandra's room. "Snow, could you help me?" Cinderella and Snow went into the kitchen and there awaited batches and batches of heart shaped treats and goodies.
"Is something wrong Cinderella?"
"Of course not. My help has the holiday off and I'm left to take care of everything myself."
"I'd be happy to help. What needs finished."
"Thomas has the volleyball net, croquet, and badmitton set up in the backyard. After dinner, i've prepared a Valentine's Day ball in the ballroom. The entire kingdom will arrive for the ball at seven o' clock sharp."
"That sounds wonderful. You've gone all out for this holiday." Snow observed.
"It's the most important holiday to celebrate love, family, and friends. Snow, you have all been my very dearest friends and nothing makes me happier than to share this holiday with you."
Cinderella hugged her best friend and pulled away. She grabbed the plate of cookies and brought them to the dining table. "Everyone, on today's to-do-list we have yard activities in the back. Thomas and I have a pool back there as well as a volleyball net as well as the croquet set and the badmitton net. We hope you will all stay for the Valentine's Day ball later tonight."
"Of course we will. It will be a grand occasion." John Ralph exclaimed.
"Yes, it should prove to be a most splendid occasion." David said.
"Naveen, I still can't dance." Tiana hummed.
Naveen leaned closer to his wife's ear and whispered, "You danced with me as a frog and you dance with me all the time. Why is it suddenly a problem again?"
Tiana whispered back, "I have stage fright."
"You will be fine my dear. I'll be with you the whole time." The guests made their way to the back yard; Zepher and the girls played tag and ran around the yard while the adults engaged in friendly games. Cinderella, Snow White, Kida, Pocahontas, Meg, and Mulan formed a volleyball team against Milo, Hercules, Shang, David, Thomas, and Eric. Belle and Adam scooted chairs next to each other and watched the game.
Rapunzel and Tiana found themselves challenging their husbands to a game of badmitton while Esmeralda, Phoebus, Ariel, Aurora, Phillip, and John Ralph picked up mallets and began a game of badmitton. After the girls defeated the men in volleyball, they switched sides and began again; Adam and Belle pulled out a book and read together under the shade of an oak tree growing in Cinderella's prized and cherished garden. After they saw defeat, Mulan sat down for a break.
"What's wrong Mulan? You can't handle men?" Shang teased.
"I handled an entire army, including Shan Yu all by myself. I can handle big tough men. I just need a break." Shang sat down next to her and kissed her forehead.
"We'll join in. Come on Phoebus, I bet I could beat you in just about everything." Esmeralda taunted.
"Just hang on now Esmeralda, even Zepher said that you cheated during that last game and I want to see you try to cheat in volleyball." Phoebus said.
"We'll just see who cheats."
As the game progressed, Esmeralda spiked the ball one after the other as they came across the net. Phoebus stared in shock at his wife's newly discovered talent for volleyball. The game ended with Esmeralda's team taking the game 21 to nothing. Everyone headed for the cooler and grabbed an ice cold bottled water. Phoebus continued to stand in front of the net, completely taken aback by Esmeralda's 21 point lead.
"It's okay Phoebus, it's just a game."
"What a woman!" Phoebus simply said.
"I've heard that before. Come on, come get a water and cool off." Esmeralda lead Phoebus to the cooler and grabbed him a water. Belle closed her book and joined them.
"That was great game you guys. Adam and I found it so enjoyable."
"Yeah, I could tell through the bindings of that book." Meg commented. Hercules chuckled and nudged Meg's arm with his elbow which she responded by shrugging her shoulders. Night eventually fell on this beloved holiday. The children quietly sat in the drawing room, patiently waiting for their parents to fetch. Zeppher lurched to his feet as Phoebus and Esmeralda opened the door and beckoned him. Phoebus shook Thomas's hand while Esmeralda and Cinderella hugged their goodbyes.
Ariel, Eric, and Melody approached Cinderella, Thomas, and Alexandra. "Today was so lovely. Thank you for inviting us." Ariel thanked.
"It was a pleasure having you at our home." Cinderella said.
"Eric, feel free to bring Max next time. I think the kids would like it." Thomas said.
"I'm sure Max would like it too. Grimsby is too fond of him." Eric replied before they left. Couples filed two by two out the door. Snow White, David, and Emma were the last to leave.
"So, St. Patrick's Day at my place then?" Snow asked.
"That sounds good Snow. You'll send the invitations right?" Cinderella asked.
"Of course. We'll see you then." They exchanged hugs and said their last goodbyes. Thomas closed the door behind them and turned to Cinderella.
"Well, I can't imagine a better way to celebrate a day devoted to love with my two favorite girls and my best friends in the world." Thomas gave Cinderella a kiss before she could respond.
"Yuck." said Alexandra.
"Yuck little lady? I'll show you yuck." Thomas said as he playfully picked Alexandra up. Thomas and Cinderella began tickling her and they giggled as a happy family.