Sorry to keep everyone waiting, but I've had a lot going on over the past few weeks. I've been going out of town, which didn't give me time to write, and I've had a few computer issues that needed to be taken care of, not to mention having writer's block. But now, I'm happy to be back and even happier to bring all you wonderful readers the next chapter of my story.
When she learned about James' reason for never singing in public, Sofia wanted to do everything she could to help her brother re-discover his love of singing, but she found herself conflicted about doing that, and about wanting to help honor the promise he made himself never to sing in public again.
"Sofia!" Amber called, interrupting her thoughts.
"Amber! What's going on?" Sofia asked.
"I found a song we could do together. I also had an idea about how we could perform, and practice it," Amber said as she held up a CD.
"How?" Sofia asked.
"We can record ourselves singing it, and have the door open so everyone can hear it. James will love it so much that he'll have to sing with us!" Amber replied.
"But then we'll have to record another copy of just the two of us, since you want to do this with me for the singing contest," Sofia pointed out.
"Oh...you're right," Amber sighed. "Well, I'm not giving up. I know James loves singing, and he shouldn't stop doing something important to him."
"What song did you want to do?" Sofia changed the subject. When she saw the CD, she said, "Oh, Mom loves this movie!"
"That's from a movie?" Amber looked surprised.
"Yes! We always sang songs from movies as we worked in the shop, and this was one of her favorites," Sofia smiled as she recalled how customers always threw in extra coins when she and Miranda sang as they worked.
"So what do you say, Sofia? This one together?" Amber asked.
"It's perfect!" Sofia said as she started the song and hit the record button.
It's a little bit funny, this feeling inside
I'm not one of those who can easily hide
I don't have much money, but boy if I did
I'd buy a big house where we both could live
Amber smiled as she joined in, If I was a sculptor, but then again, no
Or a man who makes potions in a traveling show
I know it's not much, but it's the best I can do
My gift is my song, and this one's for you
And you can tell everybody this is your song
It may be quite simple, but now that it's done
She and Sofia sang together, I hope you don't mind,
I hope you don't mind that I put down in words
How wonderful life is now you're in the world
James heard Sofia and Amber recording their entry for the contest. They sounded nice together, and he thought they had a really good chance of winning.
Seeing him outside the door, Amber smiled as she sang, I sat on the roof and kicked off the moss
Well, a few of the verses, well, they've got me quite cross
But the sun's been quite bright while I wrote this song
It's for people like you that keep it turned on
Sofia also saw him and smiled as she sang, So excuse me forgetting, but these things I do
You see I've forgotten if they're green or they're blue
Anyway the thing is what I really mean
Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen
She then took the first part of the chorus, And you can tell everybody this is your song
It may be quite simple, but now that it's done
Then she and Amber finished the song together, I hope you don't mind,
I hope you don't mind that I put down in words
How wonderful life is while you're in the world
I hope you don't mind,
I hope you don't mind that I put down in words
How wonderful life is while you're in the world
"Great job, Sof! Nice singing, Amber!" James said as he came in and the song ended.
"Does this mean you'll sing something too?" Sofia asked hopefully.
"I don't know…you know how I am about this," James looked uneasy.
"You do know our mother never really held you to this 'I'm never singing in public again' thing, right?" Amber asked.
"I'm sorry…I just can't…" James walked away before they could see him break down. Unfortunately, when he turned away, tears rolled down his face. He was thankful to reach his room before it got worse.
"James, are you okay?" Eddie Monkey asked as he sat down next to him and wiped his tears away. Like the girls' amulets, James' badge let him talk to animals.
"Eddie, what can I do? I want to sing to Vivian, but you know how I am about singing in public. I want to tell her how I feel, but I don't know how," James sighed.
Suddenly Eddie spotted something. The badge on James' shirt glowed. "Does that happen all the time?" he asked.
"No…but Sofia and Lucinda told me about this," James said as he looked at it.
He looked up, and saw that he and Eddie weren't alone. A man wearing a fez, vest, and baggy pants was in the room with him. On his shoulder was a small monkey who also had a fez and vest.
"Aladdin?" James asked. "Where did you come from?"
"Your badge summoned me," Aladdin replied. "When one prince needs help, another comes and gives it to him. And you're in luck; Abu and I are here to help you."
"Brilliant!" James cheered. He then remembered something. "Wait a minute. My sisters Sofia and Amber said they met Princess Jasmine when we went to Tangu a few years ago, and she helped them when they were trapped."
"That's right. Jasmine told me about how she helped them, and now Abu and I are here for you," Aladdin said again. "Now, what's going on?"
James told Aladdin everything, from how he wanted to sing to Vivian, but he wasn't sure about doing that since he made the promise to himself.
"You can still sing to her," Aladdin assured him. "I remember that when I first met Jasmine, people kept telling me to just be myself. I didn't listen at first, because I was disguised as a prince so I could get close to her. But as time went on, I learned that she loved me for who I was, not what I was wearing."
James suddenly looked interested when he heard the word 'disguise'. "And that worked?" he asked, hoping that Aladdin knew he was paying attention to the advice he was giving.
"Yes it did. I learned to just be myself, and Jasmine and I married. Just remember, James, be yourself, and she'll love you no matter what," Aladdin said as he picked up Abu, who was showing a keen interest in James' collection of shiny trophies, then they waved and disappeared.
"Yeah…I'll do that. Thanks for the talk, Aladdin!" James said as he and Eddie were left alone. A disguise was such a great idea, and he thought of what he could wear, since she'd never seen it.
James made his way down to the knights' barracks and knocked on the door. He hoped this plan would work, but at least Aladdin had given him some good ideas. First he'd try the disguise, then he'd tell Vivian the truth.
As he'd hoped, it was Sir Finnegan who answered. "Little Prince!" he greeted him, calling James by the nickname he'd given him when they first met. "What are you doing here?"
"Do you still have my squire outfit?" James asked.
"I do indeed," Sir Finnegan said as he handed it to him, "but we aren't going into battle, and there's no knighting ceremony or Shield of Valor ceremony coming up that I know of. So why do you need it?"
"It's part of my costume for a performance at school," James explained, then he told the knight about Vivian, and how he wanted to sing to her.
"Ah, young love," Sir Finnegan smiled as he recalled some of the ladies he'd wooed over the years. "She's a lucky lady to know that you care so much about her, but you shouldn't have to resort to disguises. When you see her, tell her how you feel."
James didn't want to tell Sir Finnegan that he'd just had this conversation, so he said, "I'll keep that in mind, Sir Finnegan. And thanks again!"
Back in the castle, James managed to get the squire outfit to his room without anyone seeing him. "Okay…costume's all set…now, a mask," he mused. "Madame Colette could probably make something for me, but what color?" After a moment of indecision, he went down to the royal dressmaker with the idea of black, because Amber had told him that one could do anything with that color. He didn't know that she and Lucinda were following him as he knocked on Madame Colette's door.
"Prince James! What brings you here?" Madame Colette asked.
"Can you make a black mask for me?" James asked.
"Why would James need a mask?" Amber asked.
"We can always ask him," Lucinda suggested. Suddenly, she got a mischievous look on her face. "Or…Amber, follow my lead."
Meanwhile, Madame Colette had found a strip of black cloth. "Will this work for you?"
"Brilliant!" James cheered.
"Good. I'll tie it and mark the spot for the eyes," Madame Colette said as she tied it in place. She picked up a piece of chalk and said, "Now hold still."
James nodded, then kept his head still as Madame Colette began filling in the eyes. Suddenly, she heard, "Madame Colette, we need you!"
"One moment, Prince James," she said as she left the room.
A few moments passed, and James looked up when he heard footsteps. He started to remove the cloth, but someone twisted his hands behind him. "What's going on?! Who's there?" he shouted.
"Why do you need a mask?" he heard Amber's voice.
"I need a mask. So what?" he asked, looking around for his sister.
"Wrong answer. Now you pay for it! Rictusempra!" Lucinda's voice came from somewhere in front of him.
James felt something hit him in the chest, and he fell laughing to the ground as Lucinda's Tickling Charm took effect.
"We'll ask again, James: why do you need a mask?" Amber asked as she and Lucinda pinned him down and started tickling him themselves.
"Stop! I can't tell you!" James laughed, trying to squirm away.
"James, you know we'll find out sooner or later!" Lucinda scolded playfully.
"Later sounds good…DAD!" James yelled, hearing the king and queen out in the hall.
"Excuse me, Miranda…girls, you know you shouldn't do this," he heard Roland's voice from the door.
"Thank you!" James gasped out, trying to locate him as he heard him enter the room.
"You didn't let me finish," Roland grinned, even though he knew James wouldn't be able to see him. "Girls, you know you shouldn't do this…without me!" And he joined their game.
"James, did I mention that the spell only gets stronger if more people join us?" Lucinda half joked when she heard James yelling for help.
"What are you…oh, Rollie, you're as bad as they are…and no thank you, Amber, I think I'll just watch," Miranda couldn't help but laugh when she saw what they were doing and saw Amber motion for her to join them.
A moment later, Madame Colette returned to her studio. She saw the queen, wearing an amused smile as she looked into the room, and followed her gaze, only to find James laughing on the floor, and Amber, Roland, and Lucinda kneeling over him, their fingers moving all over his body. "What is going on?"
"Nothing!" Roland and Amber chorused as they felt James twitching under their fingers.
"And by nothing they mean Finite Incantatem!" Lucinda ended the spell. She, Roland, and Amber were all grinning as they let James up.
"We'll let you get back to whatever you and James were doing, Madame Colette. You were probably just helping him with something," Roland said. He tousled James' hair, then he and the girls left.
When the mask was done, James went back to his room. He made sure that nobody was around, then he tried on the complete costume. "Looks good," he mused as he looked in the mirror. "Now I can sing to Vivian, and she'll never know it's me. And I think I know just the song…"
Author's Notes
First, thanks to Niagara14301 for suggesting Your Song by Elton John for Sofia and Amber. And I agree with something Amber said about it: I didn't know this was from a movie either, but it's from Moulin Rouge and sung by Ewan Macgregor.
Rictusempra and Finite Incantatem are from Harry Potter
Sir Finnegan is the knight James was a squire for in The Silent Knight
Madame Colette was the Royal Dressmaker in Four's a Crowd
The reprimand of doing something sooner or later and choosing to do it later is from The Shy Princess
The idea of James' badge summoning princes is also courtesy of Niagara14301, and I thought Aladdin would be a good choice to talk to James about using disguises and being himself (and I have to add it as well, even though the Genie isn't in this story, Rest In Peace, Robin Williams).
