Author's Note: I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! It shouldn't have taken me so long, and I am so so sorry. However, I have a favor to ask of you guys. I would really appreciate it if you guys would pester me about it. It helps me write, because it reminds me that I have actual people who are waiting for me.

Disclaimer: I do own Gwen, Kiki, and the idea. But I don't own Rosalina, Shadow, or Wonder. They belong to Nintendo, Sega, and Jessy1997-Wonder respectively.

"You look wonderful, Princess."

"Thank you, Gwen." Princess Rosalina said to her most trusted maid. "I would never look so radiant if it weren't for you."

Now as a general thing, Rosalina wasn't the sort to complement herself. But she looked like her mother, and she couldn't deny that her mother was beautiful. More than beautiful. She had been the most radiant woman in the land, and her kindness just amplified that.

And besides, it felt kind of good to compliment herself every once in a while.

Rosalina looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was pulled back in a bun with a light blue ribbon that tied in a bow. She wore her bangs pinned back with a blue topaz clip. Personally, she would rather have worn her hair down, as she found it more comfortable. But she hadn't done so since her mother's funeral. Her dress was simple, but beautiful. It was light blue, with off the shoulder sleeves and a hoop skirt. In the front, she wore the broach her mother had given her on the day she was born, along with the matching earrings. Of her feet were teal high heeled shoes.

"Are you ready to go down, Princess?"

"Gwen, for the thousandth time, please call me Rosalina!"

"Yes, Princess." Replied Gwen with a small smile. "But really, are you ready?"

"As soon as I get my mask on."

"Oh Lord! How could I forget! It's a masquerade ball, of course she needs her mask!"

"Gwen, it's quite alright, my mask is right here." Said Rosalina, holding up the teal mask.

"Right you are Princess, I do most sincerely apologize." But Rosalina simply waved away her apology. After putting on the mask, she was ready to go.

"I suppose I should go now." Said Rosalina, unhappy at the thought of leaving her friend alone.

"But Princess, there's another hour to go before the ball."

"But the ball starts at eleven. It's ten-fifty."

"No Princess, it starts at noon. You were simply told it started at eleven so that you would be ready an hour early, and therefore you wouldn't start freaking out."

"Oh." Rosalina looked surprised for a moment, and then a smile slowly spread across her face. "Well, in that case, I suppose I'll just have to get you ready."

"Me?" asked Gwen.

"Of course! I was just thinking how much of a shame it was for you to be known as my servant, when you really have such a pretty face."

"Princess? What do you-" But Gwen was cut off by Rosalina dragging her into the walk in closet.

20 minutes later, Gwen came out. Or rather, she was pulled out by Rosalina.

"Oh Gwen, you look wonderful!" and it wasn't a lie. Gwen was a sweet looking girl slightly on the short side, with large brown eyes and think brown hair, with she wore in a bob with bangs. She was wearing a light red hoop dress. The bodice had a built in corset, and the skirt reached the floor, which hid Gwen's matching flats. And to top it off, she was wearing a matching bonnet.

"Oh, Gwen you're the absolute equivalent of cute!" Gwen, whose cheeks were bright red, looked down at her feet.

"I don't look half as good as you or anyone else who's going to be at that ball." She muttered, quite embarrassed. She was supposed to help the princess, not the other way around.

"Don't say that! You look wonderful Gwen! You look much better than some royalty, and you're not even wearing make-up!"

"I'm not wearing any jewelry either, Princess." Gwen reminded her.

"Of course you are!" said Rosalina, who was looking through her jewelry box. "Ah, here it is!" she said. She was holding up a chocker with a silver chain. It had a single ruby on the front.

"P-Princess! I could never- I, I wouldn't be able to- I can't wear something so beautiful!"

"Of course you can Gwen." Said Rosalina kindly. She bent down to the girl who had shadowed her since she was a child. "My mother always told me that you can only truly shine in while wearing jewelry that is less precious than you. She said that if someone believes that you are more precious than your jewels, then you can make them come alive. You, Gwen, are much more precious than that choker."

And with that, Gwen burst in to tears. Rosalina hugged her, and a few minutes later, she stopped crying.

"Th-thank you, Princess."

"Rosalina." Said girl reminded her.

"Yes, right. Oh Lord, look at the time, we'll be late!"

"Wait, wait! You're forgetting the choker!"

"Oh! Right, of course!" said Gwen, blushing at having forgotten about it. She turned around, and Rosalina fastened the choker around her neck.

"Now, we need to wipe your face, you can't go with puffy eyes."

"Thank you, Princess."

"You're welcome Gwen. And please call me Rosalina."

"Whatever you say, Princess."

"Will you ever stop calling me that?"

"Not a chance." Gwen grinned, and Rosalina sighed as she wiped Gwen's face with a washcloth. Then she stood back and looked at her handiwork. The dress was really perfect for Gwen, and Rosalina had never worn it, excluding the fittings, as she had outgrown it too fast. The corset wasn't overly tight, as Rosalina had been ten at the time of its making, and the creamy ivory color of the bodice contrasted nicely with the blood red of the ribbon that loosened or tightened it. The dress was also blood red, and the sleeves were tight until the elbow, at which they flowed loosely.

"Well, we had best be off, we don't want to be late."

"Wait… something's missing…" Rosalina looked Gwen up and down, frowning. "Of course! The bonnet! That dress has a bonnet to go with it. That's what's missing!"

Rosalina rummaged around in a drawer for the bonnet.

"No… no… no… ah! Here it is!" she pulled out a bonnet the same color as the dress Gwen was wearing. Around the rim, there was wavy silk, the same creamy ivory as the bodice.

"There! Perfect! I'm glad it doesn't tie, though. I don't think it would look very good."

"Th-thank you…"

"You really are silly, Gwen. You're one of those people who never see their own beauty, but never see the beauty of others."

"I take after she who I serve."

"What do you mean? Gwen? Hey! Gwen, come back here! GWEN!"

Rosalina ran after her laughing friend, who was heading towards the staircase. The ball was about to begin.

Kiki and the others Mini-Chapter

"Oh, this is so romantic!" cried Wonder happily. "Those two are going to have such a sweet story, and then the wedding, and then-"

"Will you shut up?" asked Kiki, annoyed.

"There's no reason to be rude!" said Wonder angrily.

"Well you're being all blissful regarding their affection for each other when there are imperative things occurring! That thing in the beginning of the story could be precarious! They may very well be in mortal peril! And they haven't even acknowledged where they are! What if they have interminable amnesia? Well? What then?" Said Kiki, also annoyed, although for entirely different reasons.

Wonder was speechless. And angry. Really angry. A little kid had just told her off using words no fourth grader should know.

"Are you purposely using all those too-long words just to annoy me?"

"To put it simply, yes."

"How dare you-" Now, Wonder is usually a very quiet and shy girl who hates French, but loves snowboarding and baseball. But she is not pretty when she gets angry. Actually, pretty isn't the right word, because she's just as pretty as ever. But things could turn nasty. You see, Wonder has some certain… abilities that make her a tough opponent. Luckily, she kept her cool, and decided, very wisely, not to blow something up. She took a deep breath, and said "That's a horrible thing. Aren't little kids supposed to be sweet?"

Kiki snorted. "Please. Nine-year-olds are nowhere near sweet."

And although Wonder did not know it, Kiki wasn't referring to herself.

Author's Note: And finish! Well, did you like it? I hope you did, because it took me quite a while. As I assume you noticed. And I'm going to keep track of what day I update. Today is October 11, 2010. I last updated on August 16, 2010. Also, I went back and changed some things. I put a line between the Author's Notes and the story. I went back and corrected spelling/grammar errors. The only changes that really have to do with the story are that in Chapter Two, I changed the time that the woodcutter has to bring the queen Rosalina's heart from tomorrow to tonight, and I changed Endon to Waluigi. Those of you who are like 'What? Who's Endon?' and 'What do you mean? It was always tonight!" because you started reading the story after I changed it, in Chapter Two, the queen said it was for it to be tomorrow at six because otherwise it wouldn't go with the flow, and Shadow's servant used to be called Endon. He is now Waluigi, as in the Wario Brother. And that's all! Bye everyone!

GrossGirl18

Over & Out

=D