A/N When I first wrote the Princess and the Goblin 2, I never thought of making a sequel. During its writing, however, I came up with an idea of Irene being kidnapped by pirates, and it just stuck :D

Same deal: I own no PatG characters, except Angelina, and the Goblin Cat and King and Queen's names. Also, I only own the Captain of the Bloody Fang, the Bloody Fang itself, and Simon for Pirates of the Caribbean, and any other OCs. PotC is owned by Disney. Barbara and Millie are owned by Alu In Chains. Froglip's surname is owned by MonMonMouse from DeviantART.

Chapter 34

Snow Days

A Few Weeks Later…

Irene walked about the castle, bored. The weather had grown cold, and it may snow in the future. She hadn't seen snow since she was quite young. She once asked if Froglip had seen snow. "Maybe once, but I can't really remember." He had shrugged. "All I know is that it's cold and wet."

She glanced out of a window and did a double take. Fluffy-looking white crystals were falling from the clouds, and had begun to make the ground white. Her eyes widened as she smiled widely. "Snow!" She walked quickly through the halls and found Froglip napping on a sofa. "Froglip, wake up! It's snowing!" She exclaimed.

He twitched an ear, but didn't wake up. "Froglip? Come on, you can't sleep all day. That is the cats' jobs." He still didn't stir. Rolling her eyes, Irene sat at the edge of the sofa and stroked his right cheek. "Froglip." She whispered. "Wake up." She bent down and kissed his round nose. He twitched his nostrils, but was still asleep. Rolling her eyes, Irene said to herself, "You asked for it." She moved his cape aside so his stomach was showing. Smirking naughtily, she began tickling just under his ribs with her fingers.

He began softly snickering. Keeping one hand at his stomach, she reached up and just barely brushed her fingernails against his head just behind his ears. He began laughing harder, but still kept his eyes closed. "Well, don't say I didn't warn you." She moved so she was sitting at the edge of the sofa and grabbed his ankle. He froze at this. While he was distracted, she ran a finger up and down the bottom of his foot.

Froglip bit his lip as he began laughing again, and tried to pull his foot out of Irene's grip. She had a strong grip though, and this made her tickle his foot with all five of her fingers. "I-I-Irene!" He snickered; now he was awake. "S-stop it!"

"Hmm, I don't think so." She smiled. She grabbed both of his feet in both of her hands, and tickled the bottoms with her index fingers. That was worse. His laughter began increasing in volume as he tried to jerk his feet away. "S-s-s-s-stop!" He gasped. "Stop! P-p-p-please!" She tried not to laugh herself as she tickled him more. "S-s-s-stop! P-p-please stop!"

Finally growing weary, Irene let his feet go. Froglip lay limp on the sofa, while she leaned back over his legs. "That was mean." He panted.

"I couldn't get you to wake up any other way." She defended herself. "What did you want me to do?"

"Let me sleep."

"Oh, but that's no fun," She moved onto the sofa so she was leaning on her knees, which were on either side of his legs. She placed her hands on the arm of the sofa above his shoulders so she was above him. "Now is it?"

"It may be fun for you, but it's not for me." He lightly scowled, aware of his higher heart rate. "You know I'm most ticklish there."

"You're right; I know." She bent down so that her nose was lightly touching his. "That's why I do it." She tilted her head to the side and kissed him. Finally giving in, he kissed her back as he placed his hands on the small of her back, holding her against him. He felt the baby kick lightly at his stomach, but ignored it; he was busy at the moment.

"Ahem." A voice sounded. They parted, but Irene only lifted her head; Froglip didn't let her waist go. They turned towards the voice to see Curdie, crossing his arms and tapping his foot with a raised eyebrow. "What do you want?" Froglip snapped, irritated at the interruption.

"Hello to you too." Curdie said sarcastically. "I just wanted to let you both know that it is snowing at the moment."

"Snow?" Froglip cocked an eyebrow.

"It's coming down fast. Already the entire ground is white. I'll just…leave you two alone." He backed out of the room nervously until he was gone.

"It's snowing?"

"That's what I wanted to tell you." Irene blushed. "I guess I got a little distracted."

"You and I both." Froglip lowered a hand to stroke the top of Irene's stomach. "Apparently Jr. was trying to interrupt as well. I felt a kick."

"Just now, or while we were distracted?"

"While we were distracted. And as for before, why did you want to wake me up just to tell me it was snowing?"

"Because I want to go and play in it!" She said as though it was obvious. "Come on, Lazy-Bones." She stepped off of the couch and walked out of the room, grabbing a dark red winter coat with light-brown fur lining along the way.

"Irene, wait a minute!" Froglip climbed off of the sofa and followed her out of the castle. He also grabbed and pulled on a coat; this one was a brown one lined with gray fur. "I don't think that's such a-" He slowed to a halt when he saw outside. There was a fresh blanket of snow everywhere, and it was still falling. His golden-yellow eyes slowly widened at the sight. "…Wow." He whispered.

"Froglip, come on!" He shook out of his trance and saw Irene, standing in the snow, wearing brown winter-boots and her red and brown coat. "It's beautiful out here." She spun around in the snow, throwing her head back so the snowflakes fell on her face.

Froglip reached out and stepped in the snow, withdrawing his foot on contact. It was cold! He spotted a pair of boots beside the door. He stepped into them, then walked out into the snow. "Irene, isn't it cold?" He stepped up to her. "What about the baby?"

"Oh, pish-posh, the baby is fine." Irene rolled her eyes, but smiled slightly at his concern. "Don't you want to have fun while it lasts? Who knows if it will snow next year, or ever again!"

Froglip looked around at the scenery. The snow fell in the trees, hanging in clumps on the branches. It looked very pretty; there wasn't a single footprint anywhere. "It is nice, when you ignore the cold." Suddenly, a pile of snow hit him in the back of the head. Shaking his head, he turned around; Irene had her hands behind her back and was looking to the side. She was smiling though. "What was that?"

"What was what?" She snickered.

"Did you just throw a snowball at me?"

"I don't know," She shrugged. Then she brought her hands to the front, revealing another ball of snow in her hands. "Maybe." She tossed it up, smirking at him with a cocked eyebrow.

His eyes widened as he slowly backed away. "Oh no. No, you wouldn't dare."

She pulled her arm back and threw the snowball as hard as she could. Before he could duck, it hit him full in the face. "Mph!" He yelled as Irene laughed. He brushed the snow away to find her covering her mouth as she laughed. "Oh, you think that's funny, do you?" He muttered. He bent at the knees and gathered some snow in a big pile. He molded it into a ball and held it over his head. When Irene saw what he was doing, she quickly made two small snowballs and threw them at him. One hit him in the chest, while the other got in his face. He dropped the snowball he was holding onto his head. He shook himself as Irene began laughing again. "Ooh, that's it!" He began running at her. Still laughing, she turned and ran from him. She ducked behind a tree, panting.

"Gotcha!" Froglip grabbed her just under her arms and kissed her hungrily. She tangled her cold fingers in his hair as she returned the kiss, quickly warming up.

When the cats exited the castle, Grazzlegritch exclaimed, "See? I told you it would snow."

"Whee!" Turnip ran and jumped out into the snow. Because it was deep, he disappeared with a "plop" "Turnip? Where'd ya go?" Barbara called, cautiously stepping into the snow.

The gray cat leapt out of the snow and back into the castle, covered with the frozen water crystals. "C-c-cold!" He shivered. "C-c-c-cold!"

"Fluff up your fur and come on!" Grazzlegritch ran through the snow, churning it up. Turnip shook himself off and ran into the snow as well. Both males jumped and snapped at the falling snowflakes.

"Is it just me, or are the males more frisky when the weather is cold?" Millie wondered out loud.

"It ain't just th'males; I'm feelin' a li'l jumpy myself." Barbara remarked. "Race ya t'th'stables?"

"Readysetgo!" A brown blur ran through the snow.

"No fair! You cheated!" Barbara ran after her best friend

"Pirate kitty!"

Later, Curdie had come, and he and Froglip were having a snowball fight, while Irene watched in amusement. Froglip ducked as a snowball flew over his head between his ears, and threw one of his own at Curdie, hitting him in the knee. He threw another, and it hit the miner boy in his pain-center. "Bullseye!" Froglip grinned as Curdie screamed, "COLD! COLD!"

Froglip just laughed at this. "If you can't take it, don't start it." He gasped, holding his sides as he continued laughing.

"So that's how you want to play it, huh?" Curdie made another snowball and threw it, but his aim was a little low, and the snowball sailed between Froglip's legs.

"That the best you got?"

Growing frustrated, Curdie balled up another snowball. "Heads up!" When Froglip looked up, Curdie threw the snowball hard into his face. "Gotcha!" The miner boy laughed.

"Oh yeah?" Froglip muttered. He brushed the snow off of his face into his hands. Sneaking around, he grabbed the back of Curdie's coat, pulled it back and stuffed the snow down the back of his coat. "AHHHH!" Curdie screamed, running off. "COLD! COLD! No fair!"

"You started it!" Froglip snapped childishly, laughing.

Irene shook her head, smiling. "Your father is so childish at times." She said softly, laying her hands on her stomach. "But I love him all the same. And I know he'll love you as well."

That night, as Irene lay in bed, reading, she sighed and leaned back, stroking her stomach. If her math was correct, she was seven and a half months pregnant; so in less than two months, she would have her baby. As she thought about it, she drifted off to sleep.

When Froglip came in, Irene was asleep with one hand on a book she had been reading, and the other on her belly. Smiling lovingly, Froglip took the book out from under her hand and placed it on the table. He lay in bed next to her and cupped her belly in his hands. Stroking it with his thumbs and whispered, "I can't wait to meet you, my child. Your mother is a beautiful woman, and so loving and caring. She was able to see past my ugliness enough to fall in love with me. And I know that no matter what you look like, she will love you as well."

He didn't know it, but Irene was smiling down at him. She heard him talking and she had opened her eyes to see him cradling her belly in his hands. Sighing softly, she closed her eyes again, drifting off into a deeper sleep.

A/N I couldn't resist adding Irene/Froglip fluff :3 But mean ol' Curdie had to interrupt, huh?

I loved writing Froglip and Curdie's snowball fight XD

Only three chapters left, excluding the epilogue.

Rainlily216: Thank you :) Unfortunately, no, he will not. But another Sparrow WILL show up ;)