Foreword: Hi everyone :3 Here's the next fairy tale! I hope you like it. I would like to thank ShadowArtist13, p3paula, NO Gears (Lea), XionTheBlackRose, DecidedFate13, Shiori Yomu, GrooGirl, WritingBookworm, pinkchocola and Anonymous for their reviews. Thank you to everyone who has favorited or is following this story. Also, this will be one of my last updates, if not the last, before I go on vacation. Now, onto the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, the Brother's Grimm fairy tales, or any of either's characters and storyline.


Hello, dear reader. My brother, Vanitas Grimm, and I are glad you like these little stories. This next one is called Cinderairi. Enjoy. And remember, live a pious and good life or face the consequences.


There once was a rich man named Terra. His wife, Aqua, became sick and when she felt that her end was drawing near, she called her only daughter to her beside.

"Dear child," she said. "Remain pious and good, so our dear God will always protect you. And I will look down on you from heaven and be near you." Then, her eyes closed and she died.

Kairi went out to her mother's grave each day and wept, and she remained pious and good. Winter came and the snow spread a white cloth over the grave. Then, spring came and the sun melted it again. Meanwhile, Terra took himself another wife.

The wife's name was Larxene. She brought two daughters with her, Xion and Naminé. They were beautiful, but had dark and evil hearts. Life became very bad for poor Kairi.

"Why should the stupid goose sit in the parlor with us?" Xion said.

"If she wants to eat bread, then she will have to earn it. Out with this kitchen maid!" Naminé agreed.

They took her beautiful clothes from her, dressed her in an old gray smock, and gave her wooden shoes.

"Look at the proud princess!" Xion laughed.

"How decked out she is!" Naminé shouted as they led her to the kitchen.

Kairi had to work from morning until evening. She would get up before daybreak, carry water, make the fires, cook and wash.

The sisters did everything imaginable to hurt her. They made fun of her, and they would scatter peas into the ashes for her, so she would have to sit and pick them out. In the evening, there would be no bed for her. Instead, Kairi slept in the hearth by the ashes. She was always dusty and dirty, earning her the name Cinderairi.

One day, Terra was going to the fair, and he asked his two stepdaughters what they wanted him to bring back for them.

"Beautiful dresses." Said Xion.

"Pearls and jewels." Answered Naminé.

"And you, Cinderairi. What do you want?" He asked.

"Father," she answered. "Break off for me the first twig that brushes against your hat on your way home."

So he bought beautiful dresses, pearls and jewels for Naminé and Xion. On his way home as he was riding through a thicket, a hazel twig brushed against him and knocked off his hat. Then he broke off the twig and brought it with him. Arriving home, he gave his stepdaughters the things they had wanted, and he gave Cinderairi the twig from the hazel bush.

Cinderairi thanked him and went to her mother's grave. She planted the branch on it, and she wept so much that her tears fell upon it and watered it. It grew and became a beautiful tree.

Cinderairi went to this tree three times every day, and beneath it she wept and prayed. A silver bird came to the tree every time, and whenever she expressed a wish, the bird would throw down to her what she wished for.

Now it happened that King Ansem proclaimed a festival that was to last for three days. All the beautiful young girls in the land were invited, so that his son, Ienzo, could select a bride for himself. When the two stepsisters heard that they had been invited, they were in high spirits.

They called Cinderairi saying, "Comb our hair for us. Brush our shoes and fasten our buckles. We are going to the festival at King Ansem's castle."

Cinderairi obeyed, but wept, because she would have liked to go to the dance with them. She begged her stepmother, Larxene, to allow her to.

"You, Cinderairi?" Larxene said. "You, all covered in dust and dirt want to go to the festival? You have no clothes or shoes, and yet you want to dance?"

However, because Cinderairi kept asking, Larxene finally said, "I have scattered a bowl of lentils into the ashes for you. If you can pick them out again in two hours, then you may go with us."

The girl went to the back door in the garden, and called out, "You tame pigeons, you turtle doves and all you birds beneath the sky, come and help me gather:

The good ones got into the pot.

The bad ones go into your crop."

Two white pigeons came into the kitchen window, and then the turtle doves, and then all the birds beneath the sky came swarming in. The pigeons began to pick, pick, pick, pick. And the others began to pick, pick, pick, pick. They gathered all the good grains into the bowl. Hardly one hour passed before they finished, and they all flew out again.

The girl took the bowl back to Larxene and was happy, thinking now she could go to the festival with them.

But Larxene said, "No Cinderairi, you have no clothes and you don't know how to dance. Everyone would only laugh at you."

Cinderairi began to cry, and then Larxene said, "You may go if you are able to pick two bowls of lentils out of the ashes for me in one hour." She knew that Cinderairi would never be able to do that.

Cinderairi went through the back door into the garden and called out, "You tame pigeons, you turtle doves and all you birds beneath the sky, come and help me gather:

The good ones go into the pot.

The bad ones go into your crop."

Two white pigeons came in through the kitchen window, and then the turtle doves, and finally all the birds beneath the sky came swarming in. The pigeons began to pick, pick, pick, pick. And the others began to pick, pick, pick, pick. They gathered all the good grains into the bowls. Before a half hour had passed, they were finished and flew out again.

Cinderairi took the bowl to Larxene and was happy, thinking that now she would be allowed to go to the festival with them.

But Larxene said, "It's no use. You are not coming with us, for you have no clothes and don't know how to dance. We would be ashamed of you." With this, she turned her back on Cinderairi and hurried away with her two proud daughters.

Now that no one else was home, Cinderairi went to her mother's grave beneath the hazel tree and cried out,

"Shake and quiver, little tree.

Throw gold and silver down to me."

Then, the silver bird threw a gold and silver dress down to her and slippers embroidered with silk and silver. She quickly put on the dress and went to the festival.

Her stepmother and stepsisters did not recognize her, because they thought her to be a foreign princess, for she looked so beautiful in the golden dress. They never once thought it was Cinderairi, for they thought she was sitting at home in the dirt, looking for lentils in the ash.

Prince Ienzo approached her, took her by the hand and danced with her. Furthermore, he would dance with no one else. He never let go of her hand, and whenever anyone else came and asked her to dance, he would say, "She is my dance partner."

She danced until evening, and then she wanted to go home. But Prince Ienzo said, "I will escort you," for he wanted to see whom the beautiful girl belonged. However, she eluded him and jumped into the pigeon coop. Prince Ienzo waited until her father Terra came, and then he told Terra that the unknown girl had jumped into the pigeon coop.

The old man wondered, "Could it be Cinderairi?"

He had them bring an ax and a pick so that he could break the pigeon coop apart, but no one was inside. When they got home, Cinderairi was lying in ashes, dressed in her dirty clothes. A dim little oil-lamp was burning in the fireplace. Cinderairi had quickly jumped down from the back of the pigeon coop and had run to the hazel tree. There she had taken off her beautiful clothes and laid them on the grave, and the silver bird had taken them away again. Then, dressed in her gray smock, she had returned to the ashes in the kitchen.

The next day when the festival began anew, and her parents and stepsisters had gone, Cinderairi went to the hazel tree and said:

"Shake and quiver little tree,

Throw gold and silver down to me."

Then the silver bird threw down an even more magnificent dress than on the preceding day. When Cinderairi appeared at the festival in this dress, everyone was astonished at her beauty. Prince Ienzo had waited until she came, then immediately took her hand and danced only with her. When others came and asked her to dance with him, he said, "She is my dance partner."

When evening came, Cinderairi wanted to leave, and Prince Ienzo followed her, wanting to see which house she went to. But she ran away from him and into the garden behind the house. A beautiful tall tree stood there, on which hung the most magnificent pears. She climbed as nimbly as a squirrel into the branches, and Prince Ienzo did not know where she had gone. He waited until Terra came, then said to him, "The unknown girl has eluded me, and I believe she has climbed up the pear tree."

Terra thought, "Could it be Cinderairi?" He had an ax brought to him and cut down the tree, but no one was in it. When they came to the kitchen, Cinderairi was lying there in the ashes as usual, for she had jumped down from the other side of the tree, had taken the beautiful dress back to the bird in the hazel tree and had put on her gray smock.

On the third day when her parents and sisters had gone away, Cinderairi went again to her mother's grave and said to the tree:

"Shake and quiver, little tree,

Throw gold and silver down to me."

This time the bird threw down a dress that was more splendid and magnificent than any she had yet had, and the slippers were of pure gold. When she arrived at the festival in the dress, everyone was so astonished they did not know what to say. Prince Ienzo danced only with her, and whenever anyone else asked her to dance, he would say, "She is my dance partner."

When evening came, Cinderairi wanted to leave, and Prince Ienzo tried to escort her, but she ran from him so quickly he could not follow. The prince, however, had set a trap. He had the entire stairway smeared with pitch. When she ran down the stairs, her left slipper stuck in the pitch. Prince Ienzo picked it up. It was small and dainty, and of pure gold.

The next morning, Ienzo went to Terra and said, "No one shall be my wife except for the one whose foot fits this golden shoe."

Xion and Naminé were happy to hear this, for they had pretty feet. With Larxene standing by, Xion took it to her bedroom to try it on. She could not get her big toe into it, for the shoe was too small for her. Then Larxene gave her a knife and said, "Cut off your toe. When you are queen you will no longer have to go on foot."

Xion cut off her toe, forced her foot into the shoe, swallowed the pain and went out to see Prince Ienzo. He took her on his horse as his bride and rode away with her. However, they had to ride past the grave, and there on the hazel tree sat two pigeons crying out:

Rook di goo, rook di goo!

There's blood in the shoe.

The shoe is too tight.

This bride is not right!

Then, he looked at her foot and saw how the blood was running from it. He turned his horse around and took the false bride home again, saying that she was not the right one, and that the other sister should try on the shoe. Naminé went into her bedroom, and got her toes into the shoe alright, but her heel was too large.

Then Larxene gave her a knife and said, "Cut a piece off your heel. When you are queen you will no longer have to go on foot."

Naminé cut a piece off her heel, forced her foot into the shoe, swallowed the pain and went out to Prince Ienzo. He took her on his horse as his bride and rode away with her. When they passed the hazel tree, the two pigeons were sitting in it and said,

Rook di goo, rook di goo!

There's blood in the shoe.

The shoe is too tight.

This bride is not right!

He looked down at her foot, and saw how the blood was running out of her shoe and how it stained her white stocking all red. Then he turned his horse around, and took the false bride home again.

"This is not the right one either." He said. "Don't you have another daughter?"

"No." Said Terra. "There is only a deformed little Cinderairi from my first wife, but she cannot possibly be the bride."

Prince Ienzo told him to send for her, but Larxene answered, "Oh no, she is much too dirty. She cannot be seen."

But Prince Ienzo insisted on it, and they had to call Cinderairi. She first washed her hands and feet clean, and then went and bowed down before the prince who gave her the golden shoe. She sat down on a stool, pulled her foot out of the heavy wooden shoe, and put it into the slipper. It fitted her perfectly.

When she stood up, Prince Ienzo looked into her face, and he recognized the beautiful girl who had danced with him. He cried out, "She is my true bride!"

The stepmother and two sisters were horrified and turned pale with anger. Prince Ienzo, however, took Cinderairi onto his horse and rode away with her. As they passed by the hazel tree, the two white pigeons cried out:

Rook di goo, rook di goo!

No blood's in the shoe.

The shoe's not too tight,

The bride is right!

After they had cried this out, they both flew down and lit on Cinderairi's shoulders, one on the right, the other on the left, and remained sitting there.

When the wedding with Prince Ienzo was to be held, Xion and Naminé came, wanting to gain favor with Cinderairi and to share her good fortune. When the bridal couple walked into the church, Xion walked on their right side and Naminé on their left side, and the pigeons pecked out one eye from each of them.

Afterwards, as they came out of the church, Xion was on the left side and Naminé on the right side, and then the pigeons pecked out the other eye from each of them. And thus, for their wickedness and falsehood, they were punished with blindness as long as they lived.


And thus concludes the tale of Cinderairi, her wicked stepsisters and Prince Ienzo. How was it? My brother and I hope you enjoyed and will come by again soon for another story. Until next time, dear reader.

Sincerely signed,

Sora and Vanitas Grimm


PurplePantherXVI: If the fairy godmother had appeared in this version, I most definitely would have made her Riku xD But since she did not, I had to settle on making him the silver bird.