Thanks again, AS ALWAYS, for your undying supports. I am overwhelmed by the number of follows and reviews on this. :'D Guys, guys.
Special mention to meh muse, Jane. Her kind words always inspire me to write more.
This chapter is for Fear The Hamburger, who will get her reference in THIS chapter. :) Oh, and there's a very very very special surprise at the end of the chapter (or near the end). I worked hard to work it in, and I hope you won't flame me for the lame fairytale-ness of this story. But hey... That's what happens in fairytales, right?
People burst into song?
Wink, wink.
Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans or the Disney Reference stated in this chapter.
(*)
"I promise you a thousand golden crowns!"
"I promise you money."
"I promise you... Uhm... That I'll never act stupid?"
Jinx sighed, sliding down in her throne chair as far as she could go. She blew a stray strand of hair away from her face. "Mother, this is stupid."
Raven glared at her daughter sharply. "Sit. Properly."
She sighed, sat up a bit straighter, and sighed again. The current event was so embarrassing that it was taking all of Jinx's power not to unleash a whole reign of bad luck on the whole lot. The only thing that was calming her down currently was thinking of various scenarios that would entertain her... The one she was thinking of now currently involved an exploding castle, and her, riding away into the sunset on Yule, with her arms around a certain prince of Athenia.
"So who do you choose, Princess?"
Jinx blinked, and tried focusing her attention on Herald. "Uhm... Sorry?" She could feel Raven glaring daggers and things much more worse than daggers at her from behind her back.
The Herald straightened up again, and blew his trumpet loudly, repeating the same thing he had said earlier. "The princess will choose who among the three have impressed her the most this round, and the prince will get to spend the entire afternoon with her with no interruptions coming from the other two princes, the queen herself, any servant of the castle, or anyone in general. So who do you choose, Princess?"
She's been watching too much 'The Bachelorette', Jinx thought wearily of her mother, who had obviously been looking for some inspiration in deciding who her future son in law would be. Jinx looked at the three in front of her. There was Prince Kent, who was looking all regal and handsome, Prince Wayne, who was looking like he didn't want her to choose him, and then there was Prince Allen, who was... Just smiling at her.
I don't want to spend any more time with you three than I need to, the princess thought, while looking down at them from her throne. But, in all honesty, there was only one prince who hadn't quite annoyed her as much as the other ones did, and that was...
"Prince Allen," she said quietly, out of the side of her mouth.
The Herald trumpeted even louder. "The princess has chosen Prince Allen for round one! Everyone, please clear the throne room!" Everyone in attendance (her mother had apparently invited everyone that wasn't Prince Kid, which disappointed Jinx) started to file out of the throne room, leaving Raven, Jinx, and the three princes. Raven looked at Jinx, and nodded slightly, which was Jinx's only indicator that her mother was pleased with her decision, and glided out of the room, Prince Wayne and Prince Kent following.
The door shut, and Jinx and Allen were left alone in the room.
"We have to spend a whole afternoon together, huh?" Allen said, and smiled at her. Jinx remained, unmoving, on her throne.
"Yes, apparently," she said.
"Ouch," he winced. "So cold, princess. You're not even going to smile once for me?"
"You..." she tried speaking, and couldn't. He was so like Prince Kid, it was almost like they were related.
"Look," he smiled at her again. "I know exactly what's going to cheer you up."
"How do you know I need cheering up?" she muttered, and covered her face with her hands. Maybe if she fell asleep, this would be over soon.
"It's obvious," he stated. "Hey, the coast is clear!" he called out, and she jumped as she opened her eyes. In a second, he had moved from in front of her throne to the window. Did he have super-speed too? Oh, this was great. Something else that would remind her of him.
"Hey, princess!" Another voice joined in.
She didn't know how to explain it. It was like a ball of fire had just settled inside of her stomach when she heard his voice. It was like being paralyzed. Like having a thousand insects fluttering around inside of you. It was like she wanted to kill herself but she couldn't kill herself. (She had no idea where she got that idea). She knew that voice. She knew it.
"Prince Kid," she said, forcing herself to open her eyes. There he was, standing in all of his glory as he bowed down in front of her, although his brilliant blue eyes were meeting hers. "You're not supposed to be here."
He snorted, and stood up straight. "And since when has that ever stopped me?"
She was shocked when Prince Allen, who was still in the room, smacked him in the head. "Hey, don't get like that," he said, smirking, although he looked like he was about to laugh. "Don't forget who allowed you to meet her."
"Wait... So you two know each other?" Jinx said, looking confused. Because if they did know each other, then it would all make sense.
"He's my little, annoying, smart-ass nephew," Prince Allen said, shocking the princess even further.
"Yeah, and I didn't get these outrageously good looks from him," Prince Kid said, which earned him another smack in the head.
"Look, if you keep this up, I'm not holding up with my side of the deal," Prince Allen teased.
"What deal?" Jinx asked.
"Stop asking so many questions and worrying, Princess," Prince Kid assured her. "It'll make all that lovely pink hair of yours turn the same color as your skin."
She glowered at him. "And is the fact that my skin is gray amusing, your highness?" she asked him, crossing her arms.
"Oh, not at all, princess," he said quickly, retreating. "I was just concerned."
Jinx rolled her eyes. "Right."
Prince Allen burst into laughter. "Some attitude you have there, your highness!"
"Attitude?" she stared at him. "I'm being smart-ass towards your nephew. I'm going to hex the hell out of him if he doesn't shut up. And you're laughing?"
"Well," he sobered up, quickly deciding that an emotionless Jinx was better than a scary one. "I mean, seeing you like this is much more better than watching you sit on your throne all day like you're carved out of stone. Kent's been talking on and on about the things he would do to you to make you crack-"
"I don't want to hear it!" Jinx said, turning beet-red and covering her face.
Allen laughed. "Anyway, about the deal my nephew and I have. I said that if I get any time with you, I get to give it to him."
"Really?" Jinx said, already thinking about picking Prince Allen all the time.
"Yep, and since you have a whole afternoon, I'd tell you to take your time, but well, I have places to be." Allen winked at the princess, and bowed. "Permission to be excused, your highness?"
"Permission granted," Jinx said, smiling in spite of herself. She was liking him already. "Oh, wait. How will you get back in time?"
"Super speed, princess," Prince Allen said, and disappeared.
(*)
"Queen Raven wasn't pleased with the fact that Jinx was starting to lean towards Prince Allen. She had thought Prince Kent and Prince Wayne were much more mature and suitable to the throne, and she had thought her daughter would think so, as well. Apparently, this wasn't the case."
(*)
Raven stood in her private room, looking out at her gloomy kingdom.
"You don't like this, do you, your majesty?"
She whirled around to face her loyal servant. "Sir Red. I told you to leave me in silence."
"You didn't say I had to leave," Red X said, looking up at her, uninterested. "So, what's gor your crown in a knot, your majesty?"
Raven clenched her fists. Sir Red was the only one who dared to talk to her like this. Yet, she allowed it. Years of service and the blood on his hands weren't easy to do. "I don't approve of her decision."
"It's not like she's decided to marry him, your majesty," Sir Red said. "It's the first round."
"Still. First impressions count." Raven turned back to face the window. "And I do not want someone as immature as Prince Allen leading my kingdom alongside my daughter."
"What do you want me to do about it?"
There was a silence as Raven contemplated her next words.
"Should Jinx start leaning towards Prince Allen a little bit more... We'll just have to take him out of the game then, hm?"
(*)
"Jinx! Jinx!" Starfire floated around the chaos which was backstage, looking for a pair of pink devil horns. She was unable to do so, and frowned. She caught Beastboy's attention. "Have you seen Jinx, Beastboy?"
"Actually, I think she just got on stage," Beastboy said. Raven and Red X appeared out of the corner of their eyes, which signaled the end of their act. "Yep, she's probably on with Kid Flash right now. Why?"
"Well, I was just going to do the reminding, but if you have done it already like I have told you to, then I am sure that it will be alright."
Starfire looked at Beastboy, who looked as if he had suddenly remembered something. "You did do the reminding of Jinx, did you?"
"Well..." Beastboy said slowly. "I might have probably told her, but I might have not, so it's sort of a fifty-fifty thing going on here-"
She looked at him, stricken. "Beastboy! She does not know?!"
"Like I said, Star," Beastboy said, chuckling weakly. "Fifty-fifty."
Star let out a frustrated curse in Tamaranian, and it sounded quite scary, in BB's opinion. "Beastboy," she said, "If Kid Flash was very disappointed in you when you did the ruining of their first kiss what do you think will happen to you when Jinx finds out you forgot to remind her about her musical number?" she said.
"Well, shit."
(*)
"So what do you have in plan for us, Prince Kid? Are we just going to sit here and stare at each other?" Jinx asked him sarcastically.
"Although I'd love to do that for the rest of my life, princess, we have a lot of other things we can do," he said, making her blush. "I wanted to take you somewhere."
"Are we taking Yule?" she asked nervously.
"Nah," Kid said easily, and turned around. "I'm carrying you. Piggyback."
She looked at him blankly. "I'm wearing a gown."
"So what if it rips, you probably have twenty more."
"I'm heavy."
He scoffed. "I don't think so."
"We'll be seen."
"Princess, I could get us from here to China without us getting seen."
"No."
"Come on," he said, rolling his eyes. "Look, do you trust me?"
She sighed. "Oh, deja vu."
"Do you?"
"... In a sort of crazy way, yes."
Suddenly, the opening bars to a song very familiar to Jinx's ears filled the air. "Uh..."
Kid saw something in her eyes, and he fought the urge to laugh. "Don't fantasy characters usually break out in song, princess?"
It dawned on her. "Oh, no." I am going to kill the person who forgot to tell me there was even a musical number!
"Oh, yes, princess."
"This is a mistake."
"I don't think so."
"You wouldn't!" she warned him, as he drew closer to her, grinning mischievously.
And suddenly, he reached out, threw her around him and dashed away at the right moment, leaving her to clutch his neck blindly and rather clumsily. "Ah!" she gasped out, as he raced out.
She felt the vibrations from his back as he chuckled. "I can show you the world," he sang out, in a baritone voice, all low and in tune and sexy. "Shining, shimmering, splendid. Tell me princess, now when did you last let your heart decide?"
Before she knew it, they were whizzing in and out of the streets of Gothamlandia. Even though she had to almost squint her eyes to see, she saw blurs of darkness, caught whiffs of ungodly odors, and heard very distant coughing every once in a while. She winced; this was another reminder that her mother was not who she seemed to be. Suddenly, he stopped, nearly dropping her, and he continued.
"I can open your eyes..." he said, and she saw the beautiful farmlands that were just across Gothamlandia, and they seemed like the only happy place in her kingdom. "Take you wonder by wonder, over sideways and under on a magic piggyback ride," he winked at her, and she felt her heart fly out of its designated place in her body and somewhere out towards the moon. He bent down to pick a daisy for her, and he offered it to her, as she rolled her eyes.
"A whole new world," he sang, and this time, she didn't hesitate to throw her arms around his neck as he started running again. "A new fantastic point of view. No one to tell us no, or where to go, or say we're only dreaming-"
He knew she was unprepared. He knew that someone had probably forgotten to tell her, so he wasn't sure if he was just supposed to sing the whole song or not. It wouldn't be a problem for him, anyway, since he loved Disney movies and knew most of the lyrics to their songs by heart.
Which was why it surprised him when her voice, small at first, piped up before he could. "A whole new world..." Jinx sang out, her voice nothing like he could have ever imagined. He looked behind him to look at her, and she looked beautiful at that moment, almost completely lost in the world as she took in the sights of a world she had never seen before, the wind blowing through her hair.
Were her eyes sparkling?
"A dazzling place I never knew. But when I'm way up here, it's crystal clear... And now I'm in a whole new world with you..." she looked at him then, noticed he was looking at her, and she blushed furiously, her arms unconsciously tightening around his neck.
And then before she knew it, they were running on water. She gasped; how in the world did he get here? But she didn't know how fast he was going; heck, he was probably an invisible blur by now. The ocean spray felt so good, though, and she laughed - a sound that even she hadn't heard in such a long time, as dolphins started popping out of the ocean next to them (although she could only catch glimpses, since they were going too fast.)
"Unbelievable sights..." she looked longingly at the back of Prince Kid's head. "Indescribable feelings... Soaring, tumbling, free-wheeling, through an endless open sky, a whole new world!"
"Don't you dare close your eyes," he joined in, and she could hear a tinge of pride in his voice.
"A hundred thousand things to see."
"Hold your breath, it gets better," he sang, and suddenly, he plunged into the ocean, kicking at a fast speed.
She nearly screamed. This was so not in the movie, Kid Flash! But as she opened her eyes, she caught glimpses of colorful fishes, corals, and everything. She looked around them. I really have missed a lot...
Suddenly, she felt a hand grip one of hers, and she felt the butterflies that were living in her stomach start acting up again. Then, they were out of the water. "I'm like a shooting star, I've come so far... I can't go back to where I used to be..." she said, considerably softer than usual, as he continued running.
"A whole new world," he continued, and for that she was glad. She loved his voice. She melted.
"Every turn a surprise."
"With new horizons to pursue... Every moment, red-letter," she said, and now they were running through a very green, beautiful woods.
"I'll chase them anywhere, there's time to spare, let me share this whole new world with you..." as their voices melted together, she took the plunge and leaned into him, pressing her face against his shoulder, as the song got mellower and slower.
Kid's heart race increased. Was this it? This time, with no interruptions?
He slowed down until he was at a jog, her face still pressed against his shoulder. Then, as the two of them reached a clearing in the forest, he finally stopped, and she reluctantly unwrapped her arms around his shoulders as she dropped down. Surprisingly, her dress was only slightly frayed at the bottom, and both of them had slightly dried out from their quick dip in the ocean. He smiled at her, looking at her pigtails, which had gotten loose and were now slightly wilting off of her head, but it still looked cute. "A whole new world..." he said, reaching out and tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
She echoed his voice, nearly trembling as he got closer to her. "A whole new world..."
"That's where we'll be..."
"A thrilling chase..." She wasn't sure who was stepping closer, him or her, as she looked up into his eyes.
"A wondrous place..."
The music ceased, and they were only a few centimeters apart. Jinx's heart nearly failed her, and even Prince Kid was starting to feel a bit numb. His hand, slightly shaking, grasped her chin gently, pulling her face up close to him.
"For you and me..." they sang in unison, completely on time with the music as they stared deeply in each other's eyes.
She bit her lip, but was unable to leave his gaze. They were too close now, it was almost unavoidable.
He leaned down slowly, his warm breath fanning out over her face. She remained still, determined not to move, hoping and praying that he wouldn't stop, and thinking that if the world truly were good, he'd-
Kiss her.
Their lips met and it was almost as good as any fireworks that lit up the sky on a dark Fourth of July. It was like hearing the choirs of all the angels singing at the same time, and it was like riding a roller coaster, and feeling your stomach flip over a thousand times as it went loop after loop after loop. At first, he was hesitant, and their lips only met for a second, but then she wrapped her arms around his neck and brought him close to him again.
(*)
"Ehem."
(*)
The sudden reminder that they weren't the only ones in the room brought them apart, both of them breathing heavily. "I... I..." Prince Kid stuttered out. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have- the song was getting to me and I..." he groaned. He didn't care if he was acting or not, right now, he was talking as Kid Flash, not as Prince Kid, and he didn't care if Rob and Star killed him.
"Shhh..." she said, although she was blushing and couldn't even look him in the eye.
He paused, confused.
"Just... Be quiet." She murmured, closing her eyes, feeling serene.
"Why?"
"Because. Just because."
He was quiet for a moment, and he caught the little smirk on her face a little too late; she was only fooling with him. He let out a big laugh of relief, and brought her close to him. He hugged her, resting his chin on the top of her head.
But while he was smiling peacefully, Jinx was feeling a bit of dread in her heart and stomach.
My mother will kill me.
(*)
Terra: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
Wondergirl: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
Me: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
Aqualad: You three are going to make me deaf!
Raven: *eyes sparkle like a little girls, although she speaks not a word*
Aqualad: Can't you guys just behave like Raven?
Terra, Wondergirl, and me: NO!
Terra: Are you kidding me! This. Is. My. SHIP!
Wondergirl: ONE TRUE PAIRING!
Raven: OTP wooooo~
Herald: When did you teach the three of them about shipping?
Me: Like you need to know. And Robin!
Robin: What? I had to stop those two. They might have gotten too into it. Should I remind you that we are holding this play for children, not just so all of you can satisfy your OTP cravings-
Me: Blah, blah, blah, like you weren't doing the same when you paired the two up together as leads!
Robin: *huffs*
Wondergirl: Oh, and Cy? You can let BB out now.
Cyborg: *goes to a door labeled 'Storage' and unlocks it, letting BB tumble out*
BB: I MISSED THEIR FREAKING KISS?! COME ON!
Terra: *shrugs* Better safe than sorry. Don't worry, you can watch the next one.
Cyborg: Why didn't you just shape-shift into a T-Rex or something?
BB: ...
Wondergirl: Yeah, why didn't you? I had my doubts about locking you in a closet, but after you stayed in there for the first 10 minutes, I was calmed.
Terra: We decided it was a bit dangerous for you to be up and running when there was a very potential kiss scene coming up.
BB: ... Why didn't I freaking MORPH?!
Argent: Anyway, I think that Fear the Hamburger's reference was very evident in this chapter.
Bumblebee: You gotta love Aladdin!
Kole: Anyway guys, the reference thing is up again! Remember, first one to review what Disney or Fairytale reference they want in the next chapter gets it, and a special mention as well.
Hotspot: And Aladdin, Brave, Monsters Inc., and Tangled are off the list.
Wondergirl: And don't worry guys, even though the first kiss is done, she'll be having a whole lot more to write about.
Me: Are you guys going to let me say anything yet?
Robin: Read and Review, guys!
Star: And she apologizes for the very... Lame? Musical. Although I thought it was quite very romantic of her to do so.
Me: I guess not.
