Finding Hope
Written by: KovuTheGirl

Chapter 2: Off to Far Far Away!

It was evening by the time Donkey made his way to the swamp to welcome the newlyweds home, and he was in for a surprise when he saw the human child sitting in Shrek's recliner reading a storybook.

"so, she just showed up here?" Donkey asked once Shrek and Fiona filled him in on the recent events.
"Aye, she did," Shrek replied.
"and you're going to keep her?" Donkey asked.
"yes, we are," Fiona smiled.
"Hope, we'd like you to meet a very good friend of ours; this is Donkey. Donkey, this is Hope." Fiona introduced.
"nice to meet you, Hope!" Donkey exclaimed.
"oh, my gosh, a talking donkey! That is so cool!" the four-year-old exclaimed.
"that's not going to go to his head…" Shrek mumbled sarcastically.

Donkey and Hope immediately hit it off and played for the rest of the night. While Hope was distracted, Shrek and Fiona went into their bedroom to talk.

"are you sure this is a good idea, Fiona?" Shrek asked.
"honey, we can't just send her away; she's all alone in a land she's unfamiliar with. Not to mention, I would hate myself if we sent her back to her biological parents." Fiona defended.
"I know, but the real question is, can we handle being parents? To a human child?" Shrek wondered, his lack of confidence very evident.
"sure, it's going to be a bit challenging, but I'm confident we can handle it. Besides, no one is ever really ready to be parents," the ogress reassured with a soft smile.

That night, Shrek had managed to put together a child size bed for Hope to sleep in and set it up in their bedroom. It wasn't the most ideal setup, but it was the best they could do on such short notice. As Shrek was about to enter the room, he heard his wife's sweet voice telling a story.

"…an enchantment upon her of a fearful sort, which could only be broken by love's first kiss." Hope looked up at the ogress, eyes as big as saucers as she read from the book.
"She was locked away in a castle, guarded by a terrible fire-breathing dragon. Many brave knights attempted to free her from this dreadful prison, but none prevailed. She waited in the dragon's keep, in the highest room of the tallest tower, for her true love and true love's first kiss."
"what happened next?" Hope asked.
"Well, finally the day came where a brave knight came and rescued the princess, but he wasn't exactly what she had expected him to be. As they journeyed away from the tower, a friendship began to form, and eventually, they fell in love. The knight confessed his love for the princess and she revealed that felt the same way about him. They shared true love's first kiss, and it broke the princess's spell. And they lived happily ever after." Fiona smiled. Hope stifled a yawn.
"Goodnight, Hope." The ogress whispered, tucking the child under the covers.

As Fiona turned around she saw her husband walk into the room and planted a soft kiss on her lips. As she got into bed, Fiona lit a candle on her bedside table. She claimed that it was for Hope in case she woke up in the middle of the night, but Shrek had a feeling that wasn't the whole truth but didn't question his wife about it. It didn't take long for the new family to fall asleep, each one very hopeful and confident about this new life that was just beginning for them.

~5 months later~

Many months had passed and Shrek, Fiona, and Hope had gotten accustomed to their new lives. Hope took to the idea of the ogre couple being her parents right away and was very happy living in the swamp with them.

She now had her own bedroom in the house that Shrek had built and was very happy that her new parents didn't force her to stay in her room. She traded her jeans for dresses that Fiona made for her; she had dresses of nearly every color but loved her purple and emerald green ones the best. Today, she was wearing her favorite green dress and was sitting on the corner of her parents' bed as Fiona brushed her long brown hair.

"how do you want me to style your hair today, sweetie?" Fiona asked as she brushed.
"can you do a braid like yours, mommy?" Hope asked.
"of course, Hope." Fiona smiled.

Hope had begun calling her and Shrek 'mommy and daddy' a couple months prior, and it brought joy to the ogress to see the child adjust so well to living with them. At first, she wasn't sure how a four-year-old human girl was going to feel about living in a swamp but realized that wouldn't be much of a problem as Hope voiced her thrill and happiness about being there many times. The ogress knew it also made Shrek extremely happy that Hope was happy with them and started to refer to them as her parents.

As Fiona braided her daughter's hair, she thought back to her own childhood. Sure, she was ten years old when her parents sent her to live in that tower, but she couldn't quite remember a time when she and her mother spent time in the same way she and Hope did. Surely her mother had brushed her hair like this and spent time with her before she left, didn't she?

"there. All done." Fiona announced, satisfied with her handiwork.

"thanks, mommy. I love it! It looks just like yours!" Hope exclaimed.
"I'm glad you like it, sweetheart." The ogress giggled.

A short while later, Shrek, Fiona, Hope, and Donkey had finished eating dinner and a loud knock on the door was heard. Shrek approached the door and opened it, unsure of what to expect. After all, who would be knocking on an ogre's door?

" we are not going, and that's final!" Shrek exclaimed.

The ogre couple had been summoned to the kingdom of Far Far Away by the King and Queen; Fiona's parents, to celebrate their marriage. While Fiona and Donkey were both thrilled at the thought of going on another adventure, but Shrek was less than enthused.

Hope, on the other hand, wasn't really sure what was going on and was waiting for her parents to fill her in.

"what's going on, mommy?" Hope asked as the ogress entered the house again.
"pack your things sweetie; whether your father likes it or not we are going to Far Far Away" she smiled.

"why are we going there?" the child asked.
"because mommy's parents want to meet daddy, and that means they'll get to meet you too," Fiona explained.

With that, Hope went to her room and began to gather what she would need for this trip. She packed a few of her dresses, her favorite stuffed toy; a dragon with a striking resemblance to Dragon herself, and her favorite storybook that her mom and dad would read to her at night. Both excitement and anxiety filled the young girl at the thought of this trip; they were going so far away from home, and she would be meeting her maternal grandparents at the same time. What would they think of her? What would they think of her father?

The journey to Far Far Away was lengthy. After a day and a half of traveling hope finally grew bored. Donkey insisted he go with them and was currently annoying the living daylights out of Shrek.

Fiona explained to the girl that her parents were the King and Queen of Far Far Away and that they were human prior to them leaving their home.

"but if you're mommy and daddy are humans, why are you an ogre mommy?" the child had asked.
"well, when I was a little girl a witch cast a spell on me; at night I would turn into an ogre, and by the time the sun rose I would be human again. The only way to break the spell was by finding true love's first kiss." Fiona explained.
"like in the story!" Hope exclaimed.
'yes, exactly like in the story, sweetie. And just like in the story, my parents put me in a tower guarded by a dragon to be rescued by my true love who would break the spell. Well, daddy's the one who rescued me, and at first, we didn't really get along but as we traveled we ended up falling in love. Now, before I admitted to myself that I was in love with daddy, I was actually going to get married to someone else, but your father crashed the wedding just to tell me that he was in love with me." The ogress smiled.
"what happened next?" Hope asked excitedly.
"well, sunset was approaching, and I turned into an ogre in front of everyone in the church, but that didn't matter to your father. He said that he loved me, and I told him that I loved him too, and then we kissed. And the spell was broken, and I've been an ogre permanently ever since." She finished.

Shrek looked over to his wife telling their daughter the story of how they met and smiled. He still couldn't believe that he was married to a beautiful princess like Fiona, or that they had a human daughter, yet here they were. It made the ogre happy to think how different his life was compared to several months ago; before they found Hope, before he rescued Fiona, before he met Donkey…

While he was skeptical and nervous about the idea of being a parent, to a human child, no less, Shrek was happy they decided to raise the child. He had grown quite attached to the child and would do anything to ensure her safety.

The four-year-old girl was now sitting on Fiona's lap while the ogress read to her out of a storybook. As she read, Hope's eyes got heavier and she would soon most likely fall asleep in her mother's arms.

Looking out the window, Shrek sighed; this was going to be a long journey to Far Far Away.

A/N: My gosh! I didn't think I would make this chapter this long… I actually had to cut it shorter than planned because I still had quite a bit I wanted to get to in this chapter, but I guess it can wait until the next one! Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it, and I will see you all next time!

KovuTheGirl