A/N: Update time! I hope you guys like this chapter. I decided to use this chapter to move things forward so the relationship can start building. I think there are funny bits, but I'll let you guys be the judge of that. ALSO prepare for the cutest duo EVER! YOUNG CLAUDIA AND STEVE! I think they are adorable, so we shall see what you all think. Let me know after you read it. I can't wait!

Enjoy! :)

Myka flung herself on the bed, burying herself in the pillows simply willing the world around her to disappear. She had done it so many times before; losing herself in the books she borrowed. How she longed for a book now to carry her away from this dark place, but when she opened her eyes; nothing had changed.

A soft knocking on the door had Myka bolting up in the bed. She clutched the pillow tight against her chest. "Go away!" She heard footsteps and thought that the person had left, but she was wrong and soon the knocking continued. "I said go away! I don't want to see anyone."

"Please miss." The voice on the other side of the door was so soft and faint that it was almost swallowed by the oak door before it could reach Myka's ears.

A moment passed before Myka finally stood. She took her time, a little frightful and very angry. She didn't know where she was or who these people were. She opened the door and a young woman, probably around her age stood there with a tray. "Yes?" She only cracked the door open a little, afraid that it would be some sort of trick.

"I brought you some tea." The woman's eyes were cast down to the floor. "I prepared your room for you earlier, but I wasn't here when H.G. brought you to your room."

"Leena?" Myka opened the door a little more, remembering H.G. mentioning the woman who prepared her room. She peeked out, first looking around to see if she was alone, then letting her in.

"Yes, I'm sorry. My name is Leena." As soon as the door was opened enough, the young woman walked in and without warning, two young children ran in after her. Myka jumped back and yelped. "Steven! Claudia! I am so sorry miss. They didn't mean to frighten you." Myka looked at them, a little boy with big blue eyes and a young girl with red hair. They ran through the room and jumped up on the bed. "Please forgive them..."

"It's okay." Myka laughed for the first time that day, looking at the innocence in those two faces. There was a bit of mischief in there as well, but she could tell they were just a couple of kids having some fun. She walked over to the bed and sat next to them. "So... Steven?"

"Just Steve miss or Jinks... but um..." He looked at the girl next to him. "Only she can call me that. This is Claudia." The little girl smiled so big.

"Your tooth..." Myka pointed at the girls mouth.

"I chipped it. Well, Jinks chipped it actually but it was an accident." The little girl spoke with such authority, that Myka wondered if she belonged to HG. The lisp was also very adorable and the grin on Steves face melted Myka's heart. Claudia looked over and bumped him in the arm. "He's very proud of himself. The big brother I never wanted." She stuck her tongue out at him and he did the same thing.

"Hmmm... I chipped a tooth once falling off my horse. I also broke my nose." Claudia looked at Myka like she was the coolest person ever. "I was young though, so it was a baby tooth and it fell out later and I got my big girl teeth." Myka smiled and the children laughed. Myka noticed that the other woman watched them with a fond smile on her face. "I'll be right back." She whispered and walked over.

"You're really good with them. I haven't seen them this happy in ages."

"Leena who's children are they?"

"They're orphans. They were brought here by a man called Arthur, you'll meet him later. H.G. allowed them to stay."

"Why? She doesn't seem like the type to allow such kindness."

"She wasn't always like this miss." Leena felt the need to defend the woman she had once called a friend. There was so much more to her than what appeared to be true.

"Please call me Myka." She shifted back and forth uncomfortably at the formality. They moved over to the small table, set down the tea and sat across from each other while the children played on the bed.

"She used to be wonderful, the most beautiful and kind person you could ever meet. The castle was bright and even though the forest was pretty much the same, the sunlight always found it's way through the thick branches. It was a warm and inviting place filled with laughter and music." Leena smiled sadly at the distant memory.

"What happened?"

Leena opened her mouth to answer when they were both startled by Steven who jumped off the bed and ran over to them. He fiddled with something in his pocket as Claudia walked over to stand by him.

"Dinner! We have to get you to dinner. It's in... um..." He stared at the small clock that he pulled out of his pocket and scrunched his face up. He leaned over to Claudia and whispered something. She looked at the clock, whispered back and smiled as he stood proudly. "Dinner is in twenty minutes!"

"He's our time keeper. He is the reason everything runs so smoothly around here." Leena scruffed up his hair, making Claudia laugh. She turned to Myka and whispered. "As long as Claudia is with him, everything is on time. Poor boy doesn't know how to read it that well yet."

"Come on! We have to get ready for dinner!" Steve pulled on Leena and they walked over to the wardrobe.

"Thank you all for being so wonderful, but I'm not going to dinner." Myka said flatly, remembering exactly where she was.

They all froze in shock, mouths hanging open.

"But... H.G. expects you to be there!" Claudia yelled out. "You have to go!"

"No. I don't have to. I am her prisoner, not her guest so I won't eat with her. If the only way she'll allow me to eat is in her presence, then I won't eat at all." Myka sat on her bed with her arms crossed in front of her. "Please tell her that."

...

"She said what!?"

Myka could hear the screaming question all the way from her room, as well as the hurried footseps coming up the stairs and down the hall; but it was the harsh knock on her door that did it and she stepped back, tucking herself safely in the corner of the darkened room.

The knocking continued. Myka thought she could feel the room shaking and wondered how one small woman could carry so much strength. She didn't know that the strength was fueled by an anger so strong that it could have torn that door down completely. "Go away!"

H.G. was stunned and looked at the people surrounding her. Pete was also now standing there beside them, lighting the torches in the hall. "Did she just..." She knocked again. "Open the door!"

"No!" Myka shouted back with a fraction of the strength her captor posessed, but she stood her ground.

"Why isn't she doing what I say?" H.G. looked at the people around her questioningly.

"Maybe you should try being a little nicer?" Pete suggested. H.G. growled slightly at the ludacris thought, but looked at the door.

She took a big breath and with every ounce of restraint she could muster knocked softly. "Join me for dinner." She ground between gritted teeth.

"Say please." Claudia jumped up and down attempting to whisper it into H.G.'s ear.

H.G. looked at the little girl and back at the door. "Please."

"No."

"Gah!" H.G. started to pace in front of the door, Myka watched the shadow moving back and forth. "What now?"

Everyone looked at her, worrying their lips and shifting side to side.

"Ask one more time and say pretty please." Steve spoke up and all eyes shifted to him.

"I will not say that." She went to knock again, but instead pulled back and looked at her servants. "If she doesn't eat with me, she doesn't eat at all. You!" She pointed to Pete. "Make sure she stays in there. When she's ready to eat, have a meal prepared and send someone for me." Everyone accepted the demand and went off to do their duties. Pete stood there and waited.

...

Some time had passed and Myka's stomach was growling furiously. She clutched her stomach hoping to quiet it, but it wouldn't stop. She slowly walked over to the door and opened it up, almost screaming when she saw a man slumped over in a chair next to her door sleeping. She tip-toed past him and hurried down the stairs in search of the kitchen.

Pete woke up just as Myka was at the bottom of the stairs and jumped up to follow her.

Myka found the dining hall and walked in. There was enough light outside the room to see the long table, but the room itself was unlit.

"You shouldn't be in here." Myka gasped, her hand on her chest as she turned to see a man lighting a torch by the entrance. "You could get in trouble, walking around the castle without H.G."

"You... you were guarding my door."

"I'm Pete." He lit another torch and the room lit up beautifully, the tall mirrors all round the room bouncing the light in every direction. He walked toward Myka and she cautiously backed away, but he stopped at the chair a the head of the table, pulling it out and gesturing for her to sit.

"But I thought..."

"Please sit. I'll have Leena bring you something to eat."

Myka sat down and just as she was about to thank him, he was gone. She started to fidgit nervously, the room almost seemed to darken in his absence. There was something about having these people around that had started to slowly brighten the castle, but when they were gone, it went back to being gloomy and dark.

"Here you are!" The little red head hurried in with a tray of tea. The little cup she had was chipped and she studied it curiously.

"It happened the same time as this." She pointed at her tooth. "It was a huge mess and Jinks didn't even really get into any trouble." The girl huffed, sitting in the chair next to Myka. "But you cause one small fire in the East wing and everyone gets on your case."

"Well I'm sure he didn't mean to do it, and look..." She held up the cup. "This little guy has been through a lot and you don't hear him complaining do you?" Claudia shook her head. "Would you like some tea?"

"I'm not allowed."

"What? Why not?"

"We have our own room to eat in. We're not supposed to even sit in here."

"Well, I'm not supposed to be in here without H.G. so I insist that you join me. We can break the rules together." She winked at the little girl, causing her to giggle.

The food came in dish by dish and each one was wonderful. She asked everyone to sit and eat with her, Leena took some convincing, but Pete was an easy target. He plopped himself down and dug in like he hadn't eaten in years. Steve was a little shy, but Claudia stacked his plate with food and he opened up a little more. Claudia got up and sang a few little tunes for them and they laughed together and ate together. Myka almost felt at home here with these people.

"What is all the commotion?" An older man stood dumbstruck at the dining hall entrance. He straightened his glasses and looked back and forth between everyone and the food and then at the guest. "What are you doing!? I wasn't even there and I know that she isn't to eat unless H.G. is here with her! You all have to clean this up and go now, get her back up to her room and we can pretend this never happened."

"Artie..." Claudia whined. "She was so hungry! We couldn't let her starve." The little girl ran up to him and whispered. "She's her one." Then she pulled away speaking normally. "You don't want to ruin it do you!?"

Artie looked at Leena who smiled and nodded, then at Myka who was still a little wary of him. "Alright. Fine. Just eat quickly and make sure everything is put away. I was never here." He turned around and started walking away.

"Thank you." Myka whispered from the end of the table. Artie looked over his shoulder and mumbled a 'you're welcome.' "Is he always like that?"

"Pretty much." Claudia took her seat again and dug back into her food.

When they were all finished, Myka helped them clean up even though they begged her not to. She was their guest, but she wouldn't back down until they let her help. She reasoned that it would go by quicker and she could get back to her room before they got found out.

They walked up the stairs and she looked around admiring the ornate nature of the castle. "It's so big." She whispered, walking through the hall. "I mean, how big is it exactly?"

"It's huge! I don't think I've even seen all of it and I've been here almost my whole life!" Claudia was trailing behind Myka, becoming her second shadow. "We should go exploring!"

"No Claudia." Leena was very stern with the kids, even though she was always loving and kind to them while disciplining them. "We all have to get to sleep."

"But she didn't even get to see the hall where we used to have parties or... or the music room, the combat room with all these really cool weapons that H.G. used to use... or the library!"

"Library?" Myka perked up and Leena noticed how her eyes lit up and how a smile; a real smile spread across her face.

"We have a library, but you really shouldn't be walking around the castle so late. Perhaps we can show you tomorrow?" Leena tried to get Myka to wait, but before she knew it, Myka disappeared. "Where did she go?"

Claudia and Steve who had already lost interest just looked at her and shrugged their shoulders. She ran forward and headed into the West wing toward the library, not knowing that Myka had gone right.

...

Myka walked through the dark, peeking in every room just hoping to find the library. She came to the end of the hall. There was a large double door entrance. She reached out tentatively and took the knob in her hand. It was easy to twist, but it took a little effort to pull it open. The room was cold and darker than any other place she had seen so far. It was like a cave, the large balcony open, letting the wind blow in. The curtains were torn and broken glass was everywhere, frames hollow and empty, without pictures to claim them. There was a bed, there were chairs and there was a mirror, or at least part of a mirror; the rest of it was shattered on the ground.

Myka looked at the room, taking in every detail and she came upon a picture of H.G. or at least she thought it was her. She looked different, there were no scars on her face she was smiling. The picture was shredded, half of it missing, but it seemed that H.G.'s arm was around something in the photo, that half of the picture was no where to be found.

Fingertips slid over every dusty surface of the room, as hazel eyes continued to take everthing in. Myka came to a table with a glass box. She looked in and saw a gold locket resting in it, floating as if by magic. Her hands came to either side of the box and she slowly lifted the lid, curious as to what was in the locket.

"What are you doing in here!" H.G. growled, gripping Myka's arm and pulling her away. She immediately checked the box and turned back around bearing her teeth as she guarded the treasured glass case.

"I'm sorry. I was looking for the..."

"You shouldn't be looking for anything!" Her voice boomed through the room and the rest of the castle. Myka knew it could be heard and hoped that someone would come to help her. "Get out!" H.G. snapped. Myka was frozen in the same spot. She wanted to do as the woman had said and leave, but her feet wouldn't work. "I said GET OUT!"

Myka snapped out of it and ran. She ran faster than she ever had in her life. She passed Claudia, Steve and Pete on the way down the stairs and they all tried to stop her.

"Myka! Don't leave!" Claudia shouted.

"I can't... I'm sorry but I have to." She ran, sprinting out the door and into the night. Her horse had still been there, Pete must have put him in the stable. She got on quickly and bolted through the forest.

She kept getting caught on things, branches were pulling her hair loose and scratching up her arms. She didn't know which direction was home, but she knew where the castle was and wanted to get as far away from it as possible.

Leaves were rustling, crunching into the thin layer of snow, and before Myka knew it, she was knocked off her horse, falling into the cold ground that almost swallowed her whole. "What?" She looked around to see four pairs of eyes staring back at her and four sets of sharp, white teeth pointed in her direction. "Wolves." She whispered, wishing desperately that the snow had swallowed her, made her disappear. She watched them carefuly, backing up until she hit a tree. She held her breath, sure that if she made another sound, they would pounce.

One of the wolves growled and snapped at her, much like H.G. did back at the castle. The beast came at her again and bit her coat, yanking it off of her and shredding it to pieces right before her eyes. It was setting up to jump at her again, only this time it was sure to get her throat. She closed her eyes and heard a whimper. She opened them up to see the wolf with an arrow in it's side, her gaze immediately darting around the forest. H.G. stood there with a bow and arrow, expertly in hand and aimed at another wolf.

All the wolves that remained ran to H.G. at the same time, she missed one, got another and while getting another arrow, one jumped on her and bit into her arm. Myka watched as she pulled the arrow out from behind her and jammed it into the wolfs side. She repeated the same move with the last wolf and it fell to the ground in front of her. Myka stood up, getting the reigns on her horse and slowly walking over to the woman laying in the snow.

She eyed her warily and looked at her horse who then lowered itself. Myka helped the injured woman up and onto the horse, walking back to the castle.

...

They sat in the main room in front of a roaring fire, both of them soaked and shivering from the snow. Myka had a bowl of warm water and a cloth. "I need you to remove your... if you would just."

"Leena can do this you know." H.G. bit her cheek, trying not to snap again.

"I want to do it. Please?"

H.G. stood slowly and unbuttoned her now torn coat. She pushed it off her shoulders and let it fall to the ground. She wore a long sleeved dress which she shrugged off and was left in a night dress, exposing her arms and legs. Myka could see the goosebumps surfacing as the chill set in. H.G. sat and pulled a blanket over her legs, putting her bleeding arm forward to Myka.

Myka took the cloth and dipped in the water before pressing it softly into the other woman's injury to clean it off. H.G. hissed and moved her arm. "You shouldn't move so much." H.G. kept shifting, the sting getting worse. Myka repeated her action of cleaning out the wound.

H.G. pulled back. "That hurt!" Myka dropped the cloth and shuffled back a little.

"It wouldn't hurt so much if you'd just sit still!" She yelled back, tired of all the abuse.

"I wouldn't be hurt if you just stayed in here like you were supposed to!"

"I wouldn't have run away if you didn't yell at me!"

"Well I wouldn't have yelled if you weren't looking through my room!" H.G. was now standing, her face and chest getting red as her blood boiled.

Myka met her every step of the way, now standing as well and getting right in her face. "Maybe you should try being a little nicer and stop pushing everyone away! Stop scaring everyone!"

H.G. took a few breaths, calming herself down as she eyed the woman in front of her. She had guts, and confidence and she admired that. She wouldn't normally give up and submit so easily, but Myka was the one; she could feel it, and she wanted her to stay so she sat down and put her arm back out, averting her gaze to the fire. "I'm sorry."

Myka sat back down. "Please hold still, it'll sting but it shouldn't be too bad." She lightly dabbed the marks and H.G. flinched a little, but shut out the pain there.

"You can call me Helena." She finally looked back into Myka's eyes when she felt her stop. Myka was looking back at her with the softest expression she had seen yet, and a small smile beginning to grace her lips.

"Thank you Helena... for saving my life." Myka finished cleaning and wrapped Helena's arm, noticing the scars along her shoulder and making a mental note to ask her about them some other time.

...

"Look look look!" Claudia was jumping up and down, shaking Leena's hand.

"I see. Isn't it exciting?" Leena could see the impact Myka was making on H.G. She could tell that she was the one and hoped that they would be able to figure this all out before their time was up.

"Do you think it's gonna work?" Pete whispered behind Leena.

"All I can say is there's definitely something there that wasn't there before." They all smiled, watching as the two women talked to each other in front of the fire; Helena making an effort to get to know Myka. "This will work."

Thank you for reading this. I hope you guys liked it and come back for the next chapter. I didn't know where to end it so I just kind of made a thing at the end. I am following the outline of the movie, but trying to make it a little different. I can't wait to really get into this story because I think it'll be great and I hope you all enjoy where I plan to take it. :) Please review or comment and let me know if you like it. I appreciate the support. Thank you! Love you all. XO