When Toby woke, she found herself once again in the large circular bed in her room, the veils drawn around it and mostly obscuring the room around her

(( AN: I drew a picture of the Teakettler. Go to Deviantart (dot) com and search "Teakettler" and you should find it.

(Edit: Sorry guys. Forgot that it stupidly removes website names like that.) ))

14.

When Toby woke, she found herself once again in the large circular bed in her room, the veils drawn around it and mostly obscuring the room around her. She was still wearing the tattered remains of her dress, but when she moved, there was no searing pain. Reaching behind her, she felt along her back. No scratches, only faint ridge-like bumps that didn't hurt. Apparently Mr. Luft couldn't prevent scars from forming.

Pushing herself into a sitting position, she pulled back the gauzy curtain and peeked out. Theo was half-sitting, half-slouched on a chaise across from the bed, the light glittering off his blue hair as his chest rose and fell steadily.

"He wanted to stay until you woke up," Baba Yaga said from behind her. Toby turned, the old crone half obscured by the drifting veils. The Princess pushed herself to her feet, moving around the bed towards the Fairy Godmother. With a sigh, she flopped onto a cushion near the old woman's chair.

"Funny. He wasn't nearly as attentive when I died two months ago." Toby paused, scrunching up her nose at a sudden thought. "I didn't die again, did I?"

The old woman chuckled. "No, just passed out."

"Great," Toby muttered, falling silent. She watched Theo sleep for a long moment before turning to look up at the white haired woman, who was also watching the young dragon across the room. "So… You're a dragon? Are you… the Dragonmother?"

Baba Yaga blinked down at Toby, then abruptly burst into peals of laughter. Toby jumped, then glanced over at Theo, afraid he'd awake. He stirred, but didn't open his eyes. The old woman's laughter softened into quiet chortles, and she wiped her eyes with one knobby finger. "Goodness no, child. Dragons live a very long time, but not forever. The Dragonmother lived for thousands of years – thousands of years ago. I am, however, related to her on my mother's side."

"Oh," Toby said, then tilted her head. Something about the way the Godmother said 'my mother's side' bothered Toby… until she realized where the flaw in the logic of that statement was. "Wait, I thought she was the mother of all dragons… So what do you mean only on your mother's side?"

Baba Yaga chuckled again, looking impressed. "I'm only half-dragon. My father was a Fairy. Rosepink's great great great uncle, to be exact."

"But… I thought everyone hated dragons…"

"Most do." The crone leaned forward, silver irises sparkling from the blacks of her eyes. "I daresay you understand when I say love is sometimes altogether unexpected – and perhaps a bit difficult." Toby felt her cheeks burning and looked away from the old woman. Baba Yaga stared at her for a moment, then leaned back in her chair, smiling faintly. "No one approved of my father being with my mother, of course. Fairy Royalty? With a Dragon, no less? But they would not be denied… and I was the result."

"What happened?" Toby asked softly.

Baba Yaga's face fell slightly, sorrow etched into those deep age-lines. "Fairies don't live as long as Dragons do. My mother tried to share her Life with my father, to cut short her thousands of years to extend his… but he refused. In the end, he passed away peacefully in his sleep. My mother curled up around his still-warm body and just… stopped being."

"I'm so sorry," Toby said softly.

"I'm not," the old woman chuckled. "It taught me how powerful love is… and how impossible it is to keep two who truly love each other from being together." She turned her gaze to Toby again, and Toby had the distinct feeling the half-Dragon was insinuating something.

"But, how'd you end up as the Fairy Godmother?" Toby asked, desperate for any conversation that didn't revolve around her and Theo or Dominic.

"I was chosen," the old woman said simply. "Each Fairy Godmother chooses her successor when she feels it is time. Why my teacher chose me is anyone's guess – especially since that was after it was revealed who my parents were. My aunt and uncle kept me a secret for a long time."

"So you chose Verum?"

The Fairy Godmother nodded, then, abruptly, stood up. "He's about to wake up," she said, then turned and strode from the room.

Toby stared after her. "… what?"

The old woman was already gone from the room, however, leaving Toby sitting there with a confused expression on her face. After a moment, she slid her hand down and gripped the hilt of Kjavaeos. Skysyr was resting on a pillow near the bed, so she rose to retrieve the other sword.

It was then she realized that Theo was awake and watching her quietly with those bright blue eyes. She froze, hand halfway to grasping the sword. Realizing how stupid she looked, she reached out and grabbed the sword, deftly tying it to the belt around her waist.

"Err… hi."

"Feeling better?" Theo asked, rising to his feet smoothly. Toby's heart thudded in her chest and she looked down at the sword hilts, not sure what to feel. She was so mad at him… but her body didn't seem to be paying attention, judging from the way her stomach was fluttering like mad.

Fluttery, however, didn't make her forget about what he'd done.

"Yeah," she said. "What happened?"

"Well, you passed out—"

"That's not what I mean," she interrupted him, staring at him quietly. He reached up, running a hand back over his hair as he stared down at the ground, avoiding her gaze. She waited.

Finally, he sighed. "I heard you, in my head. I don't know how. I just iknew/I you were in trouble. But by the time I got to you, Rosepink was gone, and you were nearly dead. I could barely feel a pulse. And, I don't know…" He reached up, rubbing the back of his neck. "I wasn't even thinking, it just sort of happened. Then… It was like a miracle. You started breathing again, started to wake up.

"I was so happy… but, then Verum showed up." His eyes lowered again, a furrow appearing in his brow. "She was really upset. She said the Story was all messed up, that it wasn't like it was supposed to be. That you were going to keep getting hurt unless we fixed the Story. Soon after, Dominic and Fizzybink arrived."

"Whose idea was it?" Toby asked softly. "Someone had to think of telling me it was Dominic instead of you."

"No one's… at first. Verum just kept saying this wouldn't have happened if we were following the Story." He sighed. "Someone – Dominic, I think – said that at least we knew who your True Love was, it wasn't like we could change it. Then Verum looked up with this… look on her face. 'Maybe we can,' she said."

"Why'd you go along with it?" Toby's hands curled tightly around her elbows, staring up at him. She wasn't sure whether to be relieved to finally find out the truth or furious that it'd taken so long… so she just kept looking at him, waiting.

"What choice did I have?" His hands curled into fists. "It was all my fault…"

Toby stared at him in surprise. "What?"

"If I'd just… stayed away from you, like I should have, you would have been with Dominic and she couldn't have gotten to you. Or if I'd just… not left you." Theo's eyes dropped, his shoulders slumping with anger… Anger he'd directed all at himself, Toby realized. "If I'd just done or the other, you would have been safe. But instead I put you right in the face of danger… then left you. I don't… I don't deserve to be close to you. I got you killed."

Toby felt like shaking him. Instead, she punched his upper shoulder, glaring at him furiously.

"Ow! What?!" Theo jerked, staring at her in obvious surprise.

"You are such a moron sometimes. Do you really think that you could have stopped Rosepink, even if you'd stayed? She would have killed you, then taken care of me. So stop blaming yourself for something that's not your fault!" She punched his upper arm again, but this time his hand closed around her wrist, sliding up to her shoulder.

She didn't look up at him, just locked her eyes on a spot on his chest, her anger melting away. "… you didn't get me killed. You saved me."

"I'm still sorry," he said softly. "When I saw you laying there… It was like I'd lost the last good thing in my life."

She smiled faintly, shaking her head. "What would Georgette say if she heard you talking like that?"

"Probably something archaic about honor and following your heart," he said with a soft chuckle, reaching up and cupping her cheek. She tilted her head against his palm, closing her eyes for a moment. She really did care about Dominic, she really did. But when she was with him, she felt safe and comfortable. With Theo, her heart raced and her stomach made little flipflops inside of her. It was an entirely different feeling.

Raising her eyes to his face, she smiled faintly. "And what's your heart telling you to do now?"

He leaned down, his face only inches from hers, not saying anything. Toby tilted her head up towards him, gazing into those brilliant blue eyes that even now were gently swirling, drawing her in. His warm hands were on her shoulders, pulling her towards him and she stepped into him.

Uh oh! They're having a moment.

Toby stiffened, and Theo jerked back from her. Looking over her shoulder, she found Demora sitting in the doorway, her ears perked forward. Behind her was a tall blonde figure that made Toby forget all about her embarrassment.

"Georgette!" She moved towards the door, flinging her arms around the tall Knight's neck. The blonde woman chuckled softly in that rich, velvet voice of hers, returning the hug. Toby stepped back to take stock of the Knight. The tall woman was, for once, not clad in the silver armor that seemed her trademark. Her long, golden blonde hair was pulled back in a braid, then bunned at the back of her head, though wisps escaped to frame a beautiful but strong face.

"I am greatly pleased to see thee, Princess," Georgette said. Then she looked up, her attention on Theo.

The dragon moved towards them, a bit awkwardly Toby thought, amused. Georgette put her hands on her hips, looking Theo up and down. "Thou hath been lacking on thy exercises. Didst thou forget the regime I didst lay out?"

Theo stared at his toe, just like a child who'd been caught sneaking carrots to the dog under the table. "… no."

"Well?" Georgette's eyebrow arched.

"Aw c'mon! I've been fighting Fairies! That counts, right?"

Georgette considered for a moment, then nodded. "Only eighty sit-ups as punishment, then." When Theo groaned, the Knight tilted her head. "A hundred, then?" Theo shook his head, and the Knight smile. "I didst nae think so."

Abruptly, she reached out, pulling him into a tight hug, pressing a kiss to his forehead. Theo returned the hug ardently, then seemed to realize Toby and Demora were still in the room, because he made a face. "I didst miss thee, son," Georgette said, then released him.

Toby didn't miss the way Theo's face lit up and thought back to her conversation with Verum, and how the Fairy Godmother-in-training had noted how important Georgette's attention was to Theo.

"Where's Valiance?" Toby asked, as much out of curiosity as to fill the silence that had fallen after that.

Georgette rested her hands on her hips, looking vaguely amused. "He didst nae wish to bubble back here. Verum didst fetch us, aye, after news that thou didst discover the traitorous Fairy Queen's portal and the Fairy Godmother herself."

"Did you know? That she disappeared because she tried to stop Rosepink?" Toby asked, tilting her head. The tall Knight shook her head.

"I… wert nae in a place to know her, before she didst disappear."

Before Toby could ask her what she meant, however, Demora's ears perked right up and she leaped nimbly onto Toby's shoulder. The Kitsune made a show of looking down at Toby's ruined and dirty dress, then back up at her.

You're a very pretty Princess, yes, but this isn't a very pretty dress. Are you going to wear it to the assembling, then?

"The assembling? What?" Toby looked between Georgette and Theo, though the dragon simply shrugged.

Silly. We're going after Rosepink! The fox-spirit paused, then looked over at Georgette. Err… That's the bad one, right? Georgette nodded, and the Kitsune hopped over to Toby's other shoulder in her excitement. So hurry hurry hurry! We're going to war!