World and Characters belong to Gail Carson Levine. Writing belongs to Lemonlimesweetness.

Enjoy!


A comb, plenty of cosmetics, a few bathing oils, a fluffy towel, and other supplies lay on Eleanor's tremendous vanity table.

"Yes, we'll definitely need that." She mumbled to herself, grabbing more supplies from the endless depths of her cabinet drawer. Behind her Daria was still exploring her gigantic room, lost in wonder. Back at the inn, her old room was smaller than Eleanor's bathtub, and even then she was forced to share half of it with Emma. But the room didn't seem so small then until she stepped into Eleanor's.

Up at the table, Eleanor finally seemed satisfied with everything in front of her.

"Okay, I think I'm done here." She looked around her. "Daria…Daria?" She called out looking around her. She walked over to the open door to the far right of her room.

"Daria!" She called out in surprise to her friend leaning over her bathtub. This happened to be the wrong thing to do.

Daria squealed in surprise and fell headfirst into the bathtub…

The 'full of water' bathtub. A loud splash echoed within the washroom. Daria tried to stand up, but found in bewilderment and exasperation that she couldn't find the bottom of bathtub with her feet. She held herself up by the edge of the tub, and glared at her friend by the door that was beside herself with laughter.

"Well, that was the first step anyways." Eleanor said, her eyebrow raised at the girl drenched in the tub. "Now we have to scrub you clean."

She quickly grabbed a few scented bathing oils, pouring entire bottles in to fill the enormity of the bathtub. The perfume layered thickly into the water made Daria choke with disgust as it penetrated her nostrils and traveled down her throat.

"What is this?" she questioned incredulously.

"Lavender bathing oils." Eleanor answered calmly as she scrubbed away the grease and debris on Daria's body. Daria spluttered as Eleanor pushed her head down under the water and soaking her hair with the soapy water.

"Is this all really necessary?" she asked, trying to get out of the tub.

"Absolutely; You may not think you smell bad, but wealthy noses are sensitive."

This quieted her down.

"I am not smelly.." She muttered quietly.

oOoOoOo

"Ow!" Daria complained as Eleanor grabbed her hair back and beaded it with a shiny pearl. She was fully washed now, cleaner than she had ever been. Her skin was much paler than she had previously thought. And her hair was darker than she'd thought. It made a drastic change. But she'd preferred the smell before. She was now cloaked in such a heavy perfume, it was making her gag every now and then. Suddenly, Eleanor yanked her head back again, putting in another small pearl.

"Almost done," she muttered to herself. And with a last puff of powder, she smiled to herself.

"You're gorgeous." She reassured Daria. Am I really? Daria grabbed the great puffs of her dress, and tried hard to make it move with her to the mirror. "How heavy is all this?" she asked, feeling her hair towering above her.

"Stop being such a wimp." Eleanor said, disapprovingly. "And the peasants think we have it easy." Daria glared at her, but trudged slowly along to the large vanity mirror, taking care to not let any of the tiny pearls that Eleanor had put in her hair fall.

"Wow…Is that me?" It was hard to believe. A beautiful girl stared back at her through the mirror. Elegant curls started atop her head and cascaded gently down her back, the raven black of it shiny and glossy. Little pearls beaded the sides, bringing creamy highlights to significant parts of the up-do. A large necklace glittered by her neck, making the neck itself look insignificant by it grandness. And the dress was something else. It was a lovely mint green, working great with the paleness of her skin. The slightly ruffled bodice clung snugly, while the skirt billowed out in a sea of green lace. She was amazing.

But she noticed none of that. What she did notice was how it tied together. She looked just like all those other girls with large amounts of money. Snooty, full of it, and with something big stuck up her butt. "I look horrible!" she exclaimed. Eleanor laughed at her. "You do, but my mother will love it."

Daria laughed too. It was impossible not to with Eleanor there.

"Well come on then." Eleanor dragged her out of the room. "Mother!"

oOoOoOo

Lady Gianna, or Eleanor's mother, was a very sociable person. Which would explain why there was constantly company at the mansion. Like the large lady sitting across from her, Madame Vasquez.

This company was startled, however, when a loud voice shouted from upstairs. "Mother!" Madame Vasquez started with an un-ladylike squeal. Her glass of wine spilled over the plush white sofa, staining it with garnet. "My bad!" The Madame said, inspecting the damage. Lady Gianna smiled plastically. "You're not to blame. That rude child!" This better be good. She had forgotten already about the peasant 'daughter'. "Just wait here. I'll be right back." She assured Madame Vasquez who was pouring herself another glass. And don't spoil any more of the furniture! That cushion is worth more than your pitiful existence. She walked with a haughty strut out of the room and upstairs to where Eleanor had called from. "Eleanor what is it?" She asked sharply while still in the hallway. "I have a very important guest over and—" she stopped as she turned in her room.

My oh my. She caught a glimpse of Daria. Many occasions had gone by at grand parties, where the children of the other parents caught her eye, much more grand, in lack of a better word, than Eleanor could ever accomplish. It was torture to just stand next to their mothers and hear them bragging... on and on and on. And it wasn't as though she had any material to fall back on. It was Eleanor she had for a daughter, and even she knew that Eleanor wasn't very special. But Daria. She stared at the girl standing next to her daughter. Absolutely brilliant. This was the kind of girl she wished she had spawned. She immediately pulled on a faux smile and put her arm around the beautiful girl, looking out of place in the large mint green dress she had bought Eleanor last year. "So you must be Daria." She said, admiring her sleek, black curls. "Yes," the girl said shyly." She heard the door open behind her. The moose herself, Madame Vasquez. Wandering my house. How rude. Lady Gianna turned around and smiled at Madame Vasquez, who had her mouth open behind her. "Is this one of yours?" she asked the Lady. Jealous? Probably, with that whale of hers. Lady Gianna smiled, "Yes."

oOoOoOo

"Yes."……… Daria squealed with Eleanor. A family of her own, a family again. Lady Gianna escorted Lady Vasquez downstairs, after winking at Eleanor. Eleanor rolled her eyes next to Daria. "Let me show you your room!" Eleanor screamed. My room?

"How do you have a room for me if your mom just agreed right now?" She asked, confused. "Oh silly Daria, we always have extra rooms we don't need. We always have extra everything we don't need." Eleanor looked at her knowingly, smugly too. "It's part of being rich." I could get used to that. "Okay." Daria was still unsure.

"Come on." Eleanor exclaimed, pulling Daria's arm. "Can I at least get out of this dress?" She said, looking at the endless folds and ruffles. "If out of that dress you mean into a new one." Eleanor said. Daria's eyes widened.

"Another dress?" Was this what they meant about the snobby, rich people being tortured souls? Because this was definitely torture.

oOoOoOo

"Daria, stop fussing. That dress looks great on you." Eleanor said to Daria while they headed down a large hall. "I don't care if it looks great; It feels uncomfortable!"

Eleanor sighed. "Stop whining." She then muttered to herself. "And the peasants say we're whiny." Daria heard.

"I am not whiny. And no longer am I a peasant!" Daria reminded her. Eleanor smiled. "No, you are not." "No I am not." She whispered to herself. Then she looked down at her dress. It was red, making her ivory skin glow strangely. It was casual. Well not so casual to her as it was for Eleanor, but it was less than the other dress. "Do I really look good in this?" She asked, feeling once again like a carefree girl. "Absolutely." Eleanor assured her. They stopped in front of a large door. Eleanor smiled at Daria and pushed it open. The room was large, very large. It looked almost like Eleanor's, fully furnished. "Wow." Daria whispered, twirling around to get sight of the whole room. "This is amazing!" She said, plopping down on the soft bed. And it was. The only thing she didn't like about the room was the bright, florescent, pink of it. "Yeah." Eleanor said, sitting down next to her. "It was supposed to be for my sister."

Daria was surprised. "You have a sister?" Eleanor smiled at her sadly. "I was supposed to. But, something went wrong when she was born, she didn't make it past the first hour." Daria had no idea what to say to this. "I had a sister too." She admitted in a soft voice. Eleanor looked surprised. Daria had never told her about her life before Frell. She listened intently. "And a brother. A mom, too." She looked down in her lap. "Before I came here, I lived with my family in an inn. But i-it" her voice broke. Eleanor startled. "You don't have to tell me." She told Daria. She looked at Eleanor gratefully, "Thank You." They smiled.

"So.." Eleanor started. "Do you have anything that you left behind? You know items of possession and such?" Daria furrowed her eyebrows. There really wasn't anything that she owned. In her little corner where she slept in an alley, there was only a tattered dress, a ruined basket, and some food she had rummaged…and her necklace that she had hidden under the tomato. The necklace. "Tomato!" she exclaimed running out of the room. Eleanor followed after her. "Tomato? You want to go back for your tomato?" She watched Daria open the door and run out into the streets. Eleanor called out behind her, "Daria! We have plenty of tomatoes in the kitchen!" but it didn't work.

oOoOoOo

Daria ran without stopping until she reached the corner of the alley she had previously resided. It was no hassle on her anymore. Almost a month of living rough and she was tough. She knocked away the vegetables, and sighed. The necklace was still there. She gathered it up and tucked it away in a hidden pocket in one of the many folds of her dress. The wealthy needed somewhere to keep their riches. She heard a voice behind her. "Daria? Is that you?" It was Jeremy, tugging home his fruit cart. "Hi Jeremy," she said cheerfully. There was a young boy standing next to him. "Who's this?" She asked curiously. "Oh. I've told you about my son Peter." He had. But Jeremy changed the subject. "Daria what are you wearing?" She looked down at the red dress. Could it be any more obviously wealthy?

She held the skirt of the dress, and chuckled nervously. "I kind of got adopted into a new family." Jeremy smiled a big smile. "That's wonderful, Daria!" She smiled at him. Another voice sounded behind her. "Daria!" She winced. Eleanor was probably freaked out. But she wasn't. She ran up to Daria, a smile on her face.

"Do you have your tomato now?" she said with a chuckle. "Yeah," Daria said, embarrassed. Eleanor noticed the company. "Who're your friends?" she asked, curious. "Oh!" Daria said. "Ok, this is Jeremy and his son Peter." She gestured to the two standing in front of her. She looked at Eleanor. She had a strange smile on her face. Peter walked up, a smile on his face too. "Hello." He said charmingly, holding out his hand. Eleanor giggled. "Hello." She batted her eyelashes. Daria couldn't believe her eyes. Was this Eleanor? "Eleanor, we have to go." Daria reminded her. Eleanor looked around at her and glared. It wasn't possible for her eyebrow to raise even higher.

Peter took Eleanor's hand and brought it to his lips, "Goodbye, in hope we'll meet again." Eleanor's eyes were left wide, as Peter helped Jeremy tug the cart down the street. As they rounded the corner, she sank to the ground.

"Wow."