And here we are again! Chapter 3!
Enjoy!
I do not own Hetalia or any of the Disney characters!
Chapter 3 : Take Me To The Floating Lights
As Flynn dropped to the floor, Natasha stood stock still for a moment, still holding up the frying pan she had just hit him with. When she heard sounds coming from the window, she wondered if her mother had somehow made it to the window by herself but when she saw the strange boy standing in the room, she grabbed the nearest thing to hand (the frying pan) and swung it at his head and then she realised she had just whacked a possibly dangerous stranger.
"EEEKKK!" she screamed and bolted behind the tailor's dummy she used to make her clothes before the strange man could wake up and get her. When she plucked up the courage to peek over the dummy's shoulder, she saw that he had not moved. Holding the frying pan out in front of her, she inched her way back to the young man, knocked out on her floor.
She bent over him and prodded him with the frying pan but there was no response. His face was covered by his blonde bangs so she used the frying pan to flip his hair away. Slightly tanned skin and high cheekbones became visible along with firm lips on a slightly boyish face. He looked about nineteen or twenty and, if Natasha was honest, quite cute.
But he must be after her hair. How he found out where she was, she had no idea but there was nothing else here for him but her magic hair.
Kiku sat on Natasha's shoulder as she bent over the unconscious man and turned the pan round and used the handle to push his upper lip up so she could see his teeth. Instead of pointy teeth, she saw perfectly normal ones and she gave a sigh of relief.
The man groaned and she whacked him again in panic. He would be out for a while.
After a few epic failed attempts, she managed to stuff the unconscious body into her wardrobe and stuck a chair against the door handles to keep the doors shut (he had fallen out on top of her at one point). When she finally achieved her aim, she collapsed in the chair to catch her breath and reality sank in.
"There's a man in my closet," she told herself as if not believing the statement. Then she realised that her inner sanctum had been invaded and she had beaten the intruder and grinned.
"There's a man in my closet," she laughed, standing up and doing a little victory dance. She was tougher than her mother gave her credit for and she could use this to prove that she could handle the outside world. Then maybe her mother would take her to see the lights.
"Too fragile to go outside, mother," she said to herself. "Well, not any more!" The she twirled the frying pan and it hit her in the side of the head.
"Owwww!" She rubbed the side of her head and her eye caught the satchel and she put the frying pan on a table and picked up the satchel. She opened it and looked at the jewelled crown nestling within. She took it out and looked at it. It was pretty but what did you do with it? She had never seen one before and it was too big to be a bracelet. She looked in the mirror and slowly brought it up to her head. It seemed right so she put it on top of her hair where it sat like it had been created just to sit there.
"Natasha, let down your hair!"
"Mother's here!" she gasped. She pulled the crown from her head, grabbed the satchel, threw them into a nearby pot to hide them and ran to the window. Katya looked up from the foot of the tower.
"Hurry up, Natasha," she called. "I have a surprise for you." And Natasha threw her hair down to Katya.
"I have one for you too," she replied as she began to pull Katya up. She heard her mother chuckle.
"Mine's bigger!" she bragged. Natasha huffed as she pulled at her hair.
"I sincerely doubt it," she muttered as she pulled Katya to the window. Katya stepped over the sill with a basket and a fake smile.
"I brought back parsnips," she said. "I'm going to make hazelnut soup, your favourite." Natasha actually hated hazelnut soup but any attempt to tell Katya this seem to result in selective deafness on her part.
"Mother, about earlier ..."
"Oh! You know I hate to leave you after a fight," Katya interrupted. Actually, she left to let Natasha to stew in fear of what she had said. "Especially when I'm not the one in the wrong!"
There it was, the guilt trip but Natasha was not going to let it deter her this time.
"I've been thinking a lot about what you said earlier," she began but Katya did not want to rehash this.
"You're not still going on about the stars, are you?" she huffed.
"The floating lights," Natasha corrected. "And yes, it does concern that ….."
"Because I thought we'd settle that," Katya wanted to nip this in the bud.
"I just saying, Mother," Natasha pressed on. "You think I'm not strong enough to handle myself on the outside..."
"I don't think," Katya replied. "I know you not!"
"But if you just..."
"We're not talking about this any more!" But Natasha was reaching for the chair to open the wardrobe and show her mother what she had achieved.
"Trust me, I know …..!"
"No more about those accursed lights, Natasha," Katya snapped. "You're not leaving this tower, EVER!"
Natasha's hand froze on the chair and then pulled away, leaving the chair where it was. Her mother's tone was so adamant, there was no use showing her. She would not change her mind.
Katya saw the look on Natasha's face, like someone who had lost her best friend and, as she was the only one Natasha knew, it was her. She had to take control again.
With dramatic emphasis, she almost threw herself into her chair and gave a heavy sigh.
"Wonderful," she said in a suffering tone. "I'm the bad guy!"
The emotional blackmail worked for a moment but then Natasha looked up of the painting of herself watching the lights then at the wardrobe which contained the man she had knocked out. Surely he knew the way to the lights but she had to make sure he would not steal her hair.
And she had to get her mother away long enough for her to leave, see the lights and get back.
"I just wanted to say," she said, tentatively. "That I know what I want for my birthday."
"What?" Katya asked, tersely.
"Paint," Natasha replied. "Made from the white sea shells you got for me that one time."
"That's a three day journey," Katya replied. She did not want to travel so far. The last time she got them she had been passing and thought they would keep Natasha quiet. Natasha knew how far away they were which was why she said it.
"I though that would be better than the …. stars," she decided not to say 'floating lights' and set her mother off again. Katya decided to agree rather than risk Natasha going back to her obsession with the 'floating lights'
"Will you be all right on your own for that long?" Katya asked. Natasha kept the look of triumph from her face.
"I know I'll be safe as long as I remain in the tower," she replied, with as much innocence as she could muster.
"Make me up a basket of food for the journey," Katya ordered. "And sing to me before I go." If she was going away for that length of time, she would need another dose of youth magic.
Natasha did everything she was told to and after singing her special song, gave Katya the basket and helped her on with her cloak.
"You know I love you," Katya lied again.
"I love you more!"
"I love you most!"
Natasha lowered her mother to the ground and watched her walk to the tunnel entrance where she turned and waved. Natasha waved back and Katya disappeared into the tunnel.
Natasha ran to the wardrobe and opened it where the still unconscious young man fell out and face-planted into the floor.
Kiku sat on the unconscious man's shoulder while, after winding her hair around the man to secure him in a chair, Natasha climbed into the rafters and then nodded to Kiku. Kiku took some of the man's hair in his mouth and tugged. The man's head wobbled but that was it so Kiku turned round and smacked his cheek twice with his tail.
No response!
Kiku had one more thing to try and hope the man was the type to clean his ears.
His chameleon tongue shot out of his mouth and into the young man's ear canal.
"ARRRRGH!" That woke him up!
Flynn came to with a start and tried to rub his ear against his shoulder after Kiku retracted his tongue from it and had to stop because his head HURT!. As his eyes focus, he saw something curling around the floor that looked like …...
"Is that …. hair?" he muttered. He tried to move and found himself tied to the chair he was sat in. With the same hair that trailed over the floor and he followed it until it disappeared up into the shadows of the rafters.
"You can't get loose," a female voice with an east european accent called from the shadowy ceiling. "So struggling is pointless!" Flynn peered into the shadows and could just make out the outline of a human figure sat on the main rafter but he could see little else.
"I know what you want," the voice continued. "And I'm not scared of you!" What he wanted? Not scared of him? What was this chick talking about?
"Huh?" he asked.
The figure jumped down from the rafters and slowly crept into the light. It was a young girl, about sixteen years old with wide blue-purple eyes and hair the same colour of that which covered the floor and he noticed the hair moved when she did. Was all that hair from her? There had to be miles of it. She was also carrying a frying pan, defensively.
"Who are you?" she demanded. "And how did you find me?" Flynn just stared at her in surprise. She was very pretty, or would be if she did not look like she was going to hit him. When he did not answer, she grew impatient.
"WHO ARE YOU AND HOW DID YOU FIND ME?" she repeated in a steely tone and a dark aura over her eyes, raising the frying pan threateningly. He came out of his trance and put on a cocky grin and seductive look.
"Hi there," he replied, smoothly. "How ya doing? The name's Flynn Ryder!" The look that the girl gave him said 'So what!'.
"Who else knows I'm here, FLYNN RYDER?" she said, forcefully, pointing the pan at his face. Flynn realised that the smooth approach was not going to work with this girl.
"Okay, okay," he replied, hastily. "It's like this, Blondie ….."
"Natasha!"
"Bless you!" he replied. "I was in a situation, stuck in the forest and I saw your tower and …..." It was then he realised something was missing.
"Oh! Oh no!" he looked around the room in desperation. "Where's the satchel?" He needed that crown! The money the crown would bring could set up his search for his family indefinitely.
'Oh, so the satchel is important to him!' Natasha thought. Mind you! That shiny head jewellery was very pretty. But he could be after her hair but perhaps she could use the satchel to her advantage.
"I've hidden it," she said, smugly. "Where you'll never find it!" Flynn looked around the room again and spotted one place it could be.
"It's in that pot, isn't it," he replied, looking over at it.
Clang!
When he came to, it was the same as before. Still tied up with silvery-blonde hair, still no satchel.
Still had a chameleon's tongue in his ear!
"ARRRGH!" he screamed again as the tongue retracted. "WILL YOU STOP DOING THAT!"
"Now it's somewhere you'll never find it," Great! Blondie was still here!
"NOW!" she said with determination. "What do you want with my hair? To cut it? SELL IT!"
What was the deal with her hair? Sure there was a lot of it and it would make a lot of wigs but he was not a wig maker so what would he want with it?
"Look!" he replied. "The only thing I want to do with your hair is get out of it. LITERALLY!" That seemed to stump the girl, Natasha, did she call herself?
"You..." she hesitated. "DON'T want my hair?"
"Why on earth would I want your hair?" he huffed impatiently. "Look! I was being chased, saw this tower, climbed it, bada bing bada boom, the end!"
"Are you telling the truth?" she asked, warily.
"Yes," he replied. Natasha eyed him and hummed. Kiku appeared from her hair, ran down Natasha's arm and stood at the edge of the frying pan that was inches from Flynn's nose, looking him up and down. Yes! It was him!
Kiku ran back up Natasha's arm and she retreated with him to the far side of the room. Flynn watched them as Natasha turned her back to him and then he began to struggle to try and loosen the hair to escape.
"I'll need a guide," she whispered to Kiku. "And I think he's telling the truth." Kiku nodded in agreement. Natasha was so close to finally leaving the tower.
"No pointy teeth," Natasha had nightmares about that and everything else her mother had ever told her. "And I might never get this chance again. Do you think I should?" Kiku nodded again. Natasha turned back to Flynn who stopped struggling.
"I'm going to make a deal with you, Flynn Ryder," Natasha announced.
"A deal?"
"Look this way," she walked to the picture of herself and the lights and gave the hair a yank to pull the chair round. It turned but it also tipped up and Flynn landed on his face.
"OWWWWW!"
"Do you know what these are?" she asked, pointing to the painted floating lights. Flynn looked up as best he could with his face squashed into the floor.
"You mean the lanterns they release for the princess each year?" They were the only things they could be.
"I knew they weren't stars," Natasha breathed. Then she spoke up again. "These lanterns will appear tomorrow night. I want you to take me to see them, then bring me home safely. Then and only then will I return your satchel. That's the deal!"
What! Go back to the palace when everyone there was out for his blood. Uh huh!
He flipped the chair round so it was now on its back.
"No way!" he said, adamantly. "Me and the palace! Not exactly on speaking terms. I'm going nowhere near it!" Natasha looked at Kiku who gave her encouragement to do what she had to. She yanked on her hair and the chair was pulled upright. She pulled slowly and Flynn and the chair began to move toward her.
"It's no accident you're here," she replied. "Something lead you here. Fate, destiny ….."
"A dog!"
"... so I've decided to trust you..."
"Bad decision!" Flynn almost sang.
"But I'll tell you this," she replied, tired of his interruptions. She gave the hair a hard yank and Flynn began to fall forward but his descend was arrested by Natasha and they were almost nose to nose.
"You can tear this tower down, brick by brick," she promised, a scary dark aura falling over her eyes again that sent a chill into Flynn's soul. "But you will never find your precious satchel!"
"Let's see if I've got this right," he mused. "I take you to see the lanterns, bring you back and you give me back the satchel?"
"I promise!" Flynn looked into her eyes for any hint of a lie.
"And I never, EVER, break a promise!" she assured. "EVER! I'll even pinky swear!"
Something about that drifted at the edge of Flynn's memory and he believed she would keep her promise but there was still the slight problem of him being Most Wanted among the Italian population. No! He had to get out of this. With the crown! So he pulled out the big guns.
"I didn't want to do this," he said. "But you've left me no choice." He looked up at her with puppy dog eyes and a pouty lip. It melted the heart of many a female orphanage warder and some of the orphaned girls.
Natasha just stared at him as if to say 'what are you doing?' Flynn persevered for a little while until he realised it was not working.
"Okay, this is new," he mused. "I'm clearly having an off-day. All right! I'll take you to see the damn lanterns." Natasha squealed with joy. Unfortunately, she also let go of the tilting chair and Flynn landed on his face again.
"Ooops!" was all she could say. There came a pained groan.
"I'm regretting this already!"
Natasha did not tell Flynn she could get out of the tower much easier than he got in so he began climbing down after he was released from her hair. She stood on the sill and threw her hair over the hook. She looked down at the world below. It was so close, she was halfway there. It was so big and wide open, did she dare to take this step? Did she dare not when she was here at last and had this chance? She looked back into the tower and the safety it represented and stepped back toward the room. Should she stay? No! She was going!
Kiku wrapped himself in Natasha's hair to secure himself for the trip down.
'Here I go,' she thought, took the rest of her hair and threw it down.
Flynn was almost at the bottom when a blonde mass fell past him, quickly followed by Natasha, sliding down her own hair. Why did she not tell him she could do that? She could have lowered him down instead of making him climb down. He pouted.
Natasha stopped just above the ground. This was it! She could just climb back up and her mother would never know. If she never even set foot on the ground, she never technically left the tower.
But she had come this far. Something told her if she backed away now she would regret it. She slowly lowered one foot.
And felt the grass for the first time beneath her feet.
She put her other foot on the ground and knelt down. She could smell the grass and the dirt and they smelt just as she imagined. She could feel the summer breeze as it blew dandelion seeds into the air. It called her to follow where it blew and she chased the seed and her feet felt something wet and she looked down to see she had run into the nearby stream. She loved the feel of the cool water on her feet and for the first time in her life, she felt completely free. She began to run, race, dance, chase, leapt, bound, flying toward the tunnel to the outside. Pounding, splashing through the stream again. She burst through the ivy, hiding the tunnel and she spun around, finally feeling the world around her.
Her life was finally beginning!
Natasha's finally out of the tower but how's she going to cope with the outside world? And what will Katya's reaction be when she finds out her 'little flower' has pulled up her roots and run off? And can Flynn/Alfred deal with his unwanted companion?
To Cardfighter By Maple – At long last …..! Patience, my friend. All good things and all that! XP
To messie2624 – He certainly has shape-shifting ability as does Hercules and their roles will be explained in this story although it won't be for quite some time. And Thank you! I'm so happy my stories make your day! :D
To themusicalcat – I have this image of an unconscious America with little hamburgers with wings, flying in a circle around his head now XP (any artists out there, feel free to do a picture of that). And yes, Kiku and Hercules are shape-shifters, among other things, and they'll be explained in due course. I totally agree, I wouldn't want the same name as those two either :(. And tormenting little kids is definitely a real low. But it hasn't work! Natasha's rebelled. GO NATASHA! XD
To Este Savoy – Is this a good AmeBel Fanfiction? Well, I'll bow to your greater knowledge of that! XD UsUk is one of my favourite ships too but, as Arthur is Alfred's Dad, that wasn't really possible with this story so AmeBel it is. And don't grin like an idiot! Grin like 2p! England! It scares people XP.
To FireFox Vixen – You give my stories so much Love! :3 And there is always more!
To Scarlet Phantom – Don't feel bad! Frederick had no definite nationality so he can be Scotland if you want him to be :). Everyone seems to have taken the change in name well so, no problem! Luciano and Flavio have really taken to the army and I wanted to redeem them a little but they might make a bit of a pain of themselves (unintentionally). As for family reactions, tune in next week. (Hiding from your magic pipe of pain now! XP)
To 1 – Don't worry! The only change is the name. But I'm afraid if I update sooner HT6 won't be ready when this one's finished so I'm afraid you'll need to be patient. Remember! It's a virtue! XP
To Guest – Thank you so much :D Really, only one character could be Pascal and it had to be Kiku! And more is on its way! :)
To Kin of Norway – I'm glad you liked it. Berlitz will have his moments and it's thanks to little Marcello that Berlitz isn't too decrepit or even expired after sixteen years (he'd be over a hundred in doggy years). I had to put something about how Luci and Flavio were getting on and the thing with Kiku and Hercules will soon be explained. And Alfred has survived. Funny! I have a relative that likes all the blood-thirsty villains too XDD.
To kassydaPJgeek14 – And more you shall have! That's a promise! :)
To Ishikawa Miki – Thank you so much. Who's the 2p!? Now that would be telling but he's coming up. Yes, it's a he and another well-loved character will be making an appearance too.
To ArtemisIsis13 – I'm not too up on the Nyotalia names either. Other than the Badboy Bimbo Trio in HT6, this is the first major character I've use a Nyotalia character for so I'm in unknown territory here. I wish I could have got the songs in somehow but (sigh) it wasn't to be. I know what you mean. It would take me more than fifteen minutes, just to sweep, mop and shine the floor, let alone the rest of it. I can only assume some residual magic gives her super speed to do all that ;P. Or she's learnt some time-saving tips over the years. And, of course, Kiku! Never doubt that he would be back and Yep! Chameleon. It would be cool to shape-shift, imagine the fun you could have. Yeah! The hair. I used to have long hair that went right down to the small of my back but that was pain enough. Now it's short but it's funny how when you want it to grow, it doesn't but when you don't, it seems to grow overnight :( Katya's not Mother of the Year, is she! She just doesn't want Natasha to believe that she could cope without Katya so she'd never leave. Kiku has his reasons for wanting Natasha to leave the tower but they are in Natasha's best interest, unlike Katya's. The reason for Natalya's behaviour is coming soon which might help you accept her new persona.
Yeah! Not the best way to become financially secure but Flynn/Alfred is in with a bad lot but at least he has enough brains not to go too far, unlike the Jones Brothers. And the nose on the wanted posters? Yes, I explain that too XD. I was quite happy with the way the Berlitz-Flynn/Alfred pursuit turned out and Marcello having magic was a bit of logic for why Berlitz was still a fully active dog after sixteen years (very old for a dog if it lives that long) but it's something I might be able to do something with at a later date. I'm thinking that Marcello having magic is a more benign side affect of the Fae's child-bearing gift. And don't worry about Alfred, he has a hard head XP I can imagine some of the observations about 'Mother Knows Best' XD and I know what it's like to get a song stuck in your head. I once heard Ian Dury and the Blockheads 'Hit me with your Rhythm Stick' on the radio and it got stuck in my head for the whole day (I don't even like that song). You can bet Flynn/Alfred and Natasha's first meeting will be …... interesting. And I hope your arm gets better soon.
Arthur's on the search for Alfred and what made Natalya go off the rails will be explained. Natasha and Flynn/Alfred will visit a certain establishment and we'll see an couple of old faces. And a certain friend of Arthur's shows up!
So till next week,
Hasta la Pasta!
