This is an experiment in writing style more than anything. Concrit is really appreciated

Fairy Tale

Jack hadn't believed it. Until he saw it anyway. And there it was.

The team had warned him, explaining that they'd only realised when they'd seen it too.

He'd followed Ianto that night, not sure why this was bothering him so much.

When Jack had returned after the year that never was, he'd been gone for a month and a half. He'd returned expecting things to be the same

They weren't.

Ianto's smile seemed to shine in the darkness of evening as he approached his target. He tapped their shoulder and they turned around, smiling in delight as Ianto put his arms around them and kissed them.

Jack's heart sank.

It was true.

The story Gwen had told him sounded like a fairy-tale. A handsome prince, looking for meaning, rescues a pretty princess from a dishonourable man, and they live happily ever after. Well Ianto fitted the profile of handsome prince without an issue. And his princess was pretty as she put her arms around his neck and smiled up at him. And the dishonourable man had been a drunk who wouldn't take no for an answer.

Ianto had been walking around the city, unable to sleep since Jack had left, when he'd heard her shouting for help. He'd rushed headlong to help and had scared the drunk away. Then he'd taken the girl home and calmed her down.

They'd bumped into each other again and she'd insisted on thanking Ianto for his rescue. She'd bought him coffee and they'd chatted. About two weeks later and they were going out three or four times a week.

Jack didn't know the girls name, but he saw she was pretty, with strawberry blonde hair and a smile that filled her whole face. She was young, maybe about 20 or 21, and dressed in a pretty flowing top and jeans. Her head just passed Ianto's chin. Ianto's hand cupped her cheek and he smiled down at her with a tenderness Jack had never seen before.

Ianto's princess took his hand and pulled him along down the street. Jack followed them, missing his coat, but Ianto would spot it in a second, and Jack wanted to be unnoticed tonight, for once in his life.

He tailed them, following them past pubs and clubs, eventually arriving at the Plass.

"Where're we going?" laughed Ianto. His princess turned to face him,

"I don't know… we're just gonna have to see." she said, smiling up at him. Ianto chuckled and kissed her again, their fingers interlacing. His princess lifted herself up onto her toes so she could deepen the kiss. When they pulled apart, her lips chased his lips for a moment, before she suddenly gasped in horror and said,

"Edward!"

Ianto grinned, like he was expecting a treat, "What about him?"

"I forgot to make sure he went to his AA meeting!"

"Oh dear." Ianto's voice was one of amusement. His princess's voice was one of over the top distress.

"Oh… how could I forget, the llama and the duck will never forgive me! You see, you should never trust your alcoholic, homicidal squirrel with me. I'll never remember get him to his AA meetings."

Had Jack misheard her? She couldn't have just said that, could she?

Ianto was chuckling and she was grinning up at him. Ianto kissed her forehead.

"You're so weird my Sleeping Beauty."

"Now why do you call me that? We both know I snore like a Moose."

"Have you ever heard a moose snore?"

"Well… no, but then again I've never heard the sound of a mouse being sucked in and out of a vacuum cleaner before yet everyone agrees that's what my hyper laugh sounds like."

"I see… anyway, I call you Sleeping Beauty, A, because you love to sleep, and B, you remind me of the Disney version for some weird reason."

"Right then. I suppose I should be singin' then, eh?" Jack now registered her Irish brogue. It complimented Ianto's welsh one.

"Oh well-"

Too late she was singing, swaying to the song as she pulled Ianto into dancing with her,

"Kiss Me too fiercely
Hold me too tight
I need help believing
You're with me tonight
My wildest dreamings
Could not forsee
Lying beside you
With you wanting me

And just for this moment
As long as you're mine
I've lost all resistance
And crossed some border line
And if it turns out
It's over too fast
I'll make every last moment last
As long as you're mine…"

Ianto seemed to give into her enthusiasm and he spun her under his arm before pulling her against him again, his arms going around her, holding her close to him. He sighed and took over the song, singing the male part,

"Maybe I'm brainless
Maybe I'm wise
But you've got me seeing
Through different eyes
Somehow I've fallen
Under your spell
And somehow I'm feeling
It's up that I fell
…"

They sang, twirling around in the middle of the Plass, together, stumbling and laughing, no perfection in what they were doing. Hardly a fairy tale ending where the dances are graceful and stoic. This was impulsive, joyful and silly.

"Every moment
As long as you're mine
I'll wake up my body
And make up for lost time…"

Ianto sang alone, "Say there's no future
For us as a pair…"

They sang together again, and the princess tripped over her own feet and giggled.

"And though I may know
I don't care
Just for this moment
As long as you're mine
Come be how you want to
And see how bright we shine
Borrow the moonlight
Until it is through
And know I'll be here holding you
As long as you're mine…"

Ianto dipped her and nearly lost his grip on her as she let all her weight rest in his arms without warning. His attempt to save her wound up with them both on the ground, Ianto landing on top of her. He shook under the force of his own laughter, and hers beneath him. Then they were kissing, nothing serious on the surface. But Jack could see the way Ianto was holding her hand as he kissed her with his delicate pink lips that the feelings were deeper. The Prince had his Princess.

Jack sighed, realising that Ianto had no need of him, and that Jack wanted nothing more than for him to stay with that girl. A girl who made Ianto laugh, who talked about imaginary alcoholic squirrels, and got Ianto to sing and dance with her on the spot in a public place, right above where Ianto worked, with CCTV cameras at every angle no less. A girl who was kissing him with hunger and devotion. A princess who needed no dress or decent voice to be so.

Jack wanted Ianto to be happy, beyond anything. Ianto deserved, never mind needed, to be happy. Jack knew there would always be a spark between them, and if this girl who'd flown into Ianto's life (or had he flown into hers?), disappeared, then maybe Jack would have a chance. If he did, he would take it. He'd all the time in the world to wait.

But for now he let them have their fairy tale. Every prince deserved a princess who made him smile. And Jack refused to be the evil king that kept them apart.

No matter how much it hurt him.


This was so random… but I couldn't get it out of my head. If anyone's wondering why I didn't name the girl, it was just 'cause I felt it worked better to refer to her as the Princess, to keep the whole Fairy Tale thing going. Once Again, Concrit -- Squee!