A/N: So, this was a thought that popped into my head one night, and wouldn't leave until I had written it down. At first it was just going to be a oneshot, but somehow it became longer and is now a five-part piece. Many thanks to my lovely beta! (She's a unicorn.)

Please note: The title of this story is supposed to be (Un)limited but ff . net refuses to acknowledge the parentheses.

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, but I do own my love for the friendship that has become known as Hummelberry.

The first time Kurt visited Rachel in the hospital was during her first chemotherapy treatment.

When Kurt entered the room, he was immediately met with the obnoxiously loud, know-it-all voice of Rachel Berry, who was attempting to stand up while a couple nurses, a doctor, and both her fathers were trying to get her to lie back in bed. All the while Rachel was busily telling them all how perfectly healthy she was, how there was no way the test results were correct, that she couldn't have leukemia because that would just wouldn't fit in with her plans to become a Broadway star. Kurt paused at the doorway, unnoticed as Rachel finally broke free from her fathers' hold and jumped to her feet.

"And for another thing-" she began, placing her hands on her hips and tossing her head up in the air. She didn't get very far, for as soon as she was upright, she began to sway slightly, letting out a small moan and closing her eyes. Kurt watched as a nurse took Rachel by the arm and set her down gently on the bed.

"Ms. Berry, we've already started your treatment," the doctor told her. "You're going to start feeling very weak soon, so you can't be walking around too much. Now I want you to at least sit in bed here while I speak to your fathers out in the hall. Sirs?"

One of her fathers – Kurt wasn't sure what his name was – leaned down and pecked Rachel on the cheek after she settled back against the pillows, a sour frown on her face. "We'll be right back, starshine."

Kurt pressed back against the doorway as the team of nurses, the doctor, and Mr. and Mr. Berry left the room, talking in hushed voices. As soon as they were gone, he turned back to look at Rachel, who had picked up a well-worn copy of Pride and Prejudice which she was glaring at. He watched unnoticed as she reached up a hand to wipe furiously at her eyes.

Standing up straight, Kurt plastered a smile on his face before sweeping over to her bed, grabbing the book out of her hand, and placing it on the table beside her.

"Kurt!" she exclaimed in surprise, her eyes lighting up upon seeing him. "What are you doing here? And why'd you take my book? I was just getting the part when Mr. Darcy-"

"Rachel, the book was upside down."

"Oh."

"Look, you need a distraction," Kurt said, as he sat down on the bed, forcing Rachel to draw her feet up, and pulled up his own to fold them neatly beneath his legs. Clapping his hands together, he smiled and said brightly, "Now, Miss Berry. You are not going to spend your day attempting to read Jane Austen novels, no matter how brilliant they are."

Rachel felt a smile grow on her face. Seeing the bright spark in Kurt's eyes, she had a feeling that things were going to become exciting fairly quickly.

"Oh, Mr. Hummel? And just what do you propose I do instead?"

Kurt cocked his head to the side, his smirk growing larger. "Well, I could suggest we sing songs together-"

Rachel sat up straighter, opening her mouth to tell him her preferred song choices.

"-but," he continued, forcing her to snap her mouth shut in annoyance, "I think you and I need to take a little trip down memory lane instead."

Rachel frowned. "What do you mean?"

Kurt smiled and leaned over the side of the bed. Rachel strained to see what he was doing, only catching a glimpse of a bag she hadn't noticed when he had first made his presence known, before he sat up excitedly with several items in his hand.

Rachel gaped. "Kurt, what are those?"

Kurt looked down at the princess hat, the play-sword and his own prom crown that he was holding. Then he looked back up at Rachel.

"Props!"

"For what? Are we going to act out a scene from Hamlet? Because those are not necessary, to be honest, Kurt."

Kurt shook his head, placing the prom crown on his head. "Not Shakespeare, milady. For I am Prince Kurt, and you are my sister, Princess Rachel." He sat up on his knees and leaned toward her to place the cone-shaped princess hat (it was pink with a translucent scarf coming from the top, and scattered with gold stars) on her head.

"Kurt, what are you doing?" she asked confused.

He smiled. "We are going to play pretend."

"What?"

Kurt's smile turned into a frown. "You don't want to? I thought it'd be fun. It's always nice to feel like a child again." He glanced down at his hands. "You know, when everything in life was good and nothing bad could ever happen except in stories?" He reached up to take the crown off his head. "I guess it was a stupid idea. It was something I used to do with my mother when she was in the hospital and it always made her smile, but I guess that was just because I was a kid. We'll sing instead, if you'd like."

Rachel held out a hand to stop him from taking the crown off. "No, Kurt. I – I think it's a great idea. It's just that…I've never played pretend before."

Kurt frowned at her. "What do you mean? How could you never play pretend?"

Rachel shrugged. "My dads had me in dance lessons, singing lessons, acting lessons, and piano lessons since I was five months old. I guess you could call the acting playing pretend, right?"

She looked at Kurt, but he was shaking his head.

"No, Rachel. Acting is when you become someone else for the sake of telling a story. Playing pretend is becoming your fantasy for the sake of having fun. Playing make-believe is…" Here is paused, frowning as he tried to think of how to explain it. "Playing make-believe is when you can be whatever you want to be, and always be invincible."

Rachel still wasn't sure if there was much of a difference between acting and playing pretend, but she nodded as if she understood Kurt's thought process.

"Now," he said, jumping to his feet and standing next to the bed. "I am Prince Kurt, the Fearless, hear to defend Princess Rachel, the Golden, from the evil foes who dare try to harm you in your weakened state."

And so Kurt wove a tale of dragons and elves, jumping around the room and swinging his sword at invisible enemies. Meanwhile, Rachel sat on the bed, laughing and gasping dramatically at all the right moments, and even throwing in her own ideas from time to time. And Rachel experienced for the first time the childish, innocent joy and invincibility one feels when playing make-believe.

For that one moment, she forgot where she was and why she was there, because in reality, she was in a grand castle by the sea, watching with glee as Kurt fought valiantly for her life.