AN: This is the third installation of Happily Ever After…Right, I am
thrilled with the response I received and I really hope everyone enjoys
this chapter! Other Sailor Moon characters will appear later in the
chapter, this chapter is just gonna focus on the development of Raye's and
Sere's friendship and a few trials that they are gonna have to overcome on
their journeys.
Companions
"I WANT HER FOUND!!!!" the yell resounded throughout the entire palace as guards from every post scurried to find the missing princess. The sound of feet pounded through the halls as brigades of soldiers in their separate divisions left to investigate the area surrounding the palace. One knight was left alone in the palace with the furious royals. Bowing in respect he waited for his orders from the king and queen. He did not belong to the palace soldiers but was offering his assistance nonetheless. A lock of ivory hair fell into his violet eyes and he wanted desperately to push it back but he did not.
"I would like to go to retrieve the princess as well, your highnesses." The prince spoke, for a moment the knight had thought him mute.
"No" The king made his answer very clear yet the foolish regal persisted.
"But…"
"NO! When my daughter you will be here to marry her!" It was a command and the prince quickly took to pouting. He barely restrained the need to roll his eyes.
"You." It seemed the royals had finally decided to acknowledge his presence. "You are not apart of our kingdom so what have you to gain in helping us find our daughter?" It seemed the king was a suspicious man. 'Good'
"Why, your highness I only want to assure the princess' safety." That wasn't all he wanted to assure but he'd keep that to himself for a while. "Well…" the king seemed hesitant to continue but a jab from his wife forced him to, "you are welcome to help in the retrieval of the princess." With a swirl of his cape he and his wife exited the throne room leaving a pouting prince and a smirking 'knight'. The prince's pout turned to a sneer as he turned to the grinning 'knight'.
"You will not touch my fiancé or I will have your head" the threat was ignored as the 'knight' left the throne room without so much as looking at the prince. Angered at being disregarded he shouted, "HEY!" at the retreating back of the man and stomped his foot, mentally planning what he'd do to the knight when he was king.
The ivory haired man followed the path from the palace to the main road to see troops spread out searching the area. Looking around the vicinity he wandered down the road keeping his eyes open for any indications of the princess. Checking the ground he saw hoof prints in the road, noticing that the prints were lighter than the others, he followed them to a certain part in the road where they ended. On the ground he saw a glimmer of white. Getting off his horse he bent down to reveal the pure white dress that the princess was famous for wearing, tattered and stained in dirt and red. He looked at it suspiciously, checking to see if anyone was watching him he sniffed the red substance on the dress and gave a superior smile.
'Clever little princ8ess'
Seeing the captain of the guard coming to him, he quickly shoved the dress into his saddle bags before reported no findings and was left alone. Staring at the darkening skies he realized there wouldn't be enough time to track her down today. Taking another look at the dress in his bag he mounted his horse and turned around to go back to the palace. He would go back to the palace before deciding his course of action. In the morning he would take steps to find the clever princess. With a conniving grin on his face he raced down the road back to the home of the irate royals.
The rapid speed of their ride was something Raye wasn't exactly comfortable with and she was bored. Hanging onto Sere's waist wasn't helping much either, there wasn't that much to hang onto. Raye would have voiced her complaints but chose not to when she saw the focused and thoughtful look on Sere's face. What Raye didn't know was that Sere was thinking about her new companion and what they were going to do. Sure with the amount of money that prince 'charming' carried around they could be safe and by a nice little cottage and live happily ever aft… 'NAH!' she shook her head. If she wanted to be safe and boring she would have stayed at the palace. If Sere wanted to be completely honest with herself which she usually was she'd admit that she really didn't know where they were going let alone what they would do. Her first instinct was to ask Raye. After all she wasn't alone anymore so she it was only fair that she consult her on their decisions.
Raye's thoughts weren't far from that of her travel companion. She really wanted to know where they were going and if they possibly had a place where she could properly bath and be fed. After all being practically dead for long periods of time left a girl hungry. Raye was really hesitant to bother Sere but gathering her newfound bravado she asked what had to be the most important question in what was probably going to be an extreme adventure.
" Where are we going?"
Sere's head snapped back as she faced Raye. It was then that Raye realized that Sere was slightly shorter than her. Using her height as an advantage Raye straightened herself as much as she could in the saddle and holding onto, Sere and looked down at her. Sere was not amused.
"Do you honestly think that you are the first person to try and pull height on me?!" Sere asked incredulously. All of her life she had been short did Raye really think that was gonna work with her. Still Raye held her stance and looked down at Sere as if silently demanding an answer. 'Obviously she does' Sere thought shaking her head in amusement and turned forward in the saddle. Where ever they were going it sure as hell wouldn't be boring.
A silence stretched over the two with Sere inwardly laughing and Raye sulking quietly. Taking a glance back Sere felt a little guilty. She hadn't meant to change the mood of the trip and if they didn't speak to each other this adventure was going to be seriously boring. Facing frontward she rolled her eyes she asked resignedly, "Do you really want to know?"
"Yes."
"Honestly…" Sere said hesitantly, seeing Raye nod she continued unsure of how the other girl would react, " I really don't know where we're going."
Silence…
…and then the storm
"WHAT!" the scream bounced off the treetops, ground and leaves to surround the unprepared golden one. Clutching the reins and her ears in both her hands she turned around to see Raye with her hands on her hips and looking to be in reprimanding mode, a stance Sere was all too familiar with. She glared annoyed at the smug looking raven haired princess.
"Was that really necessary?!" Sere asked irritated by the current ringing in her ears she was trying to get rid of with her fingers. She knew that she was also loud but having all that noise sent back hurt. She almost felt bad for all the screaming she did to prince charming…then she remember what a humungous ass he'd been and instantly felt better. Unfortunately remembering that event, no matter how pleasant it had been, also brought to light the fact that she didn't' know anything about her companion and she'd didn't know anything about her.
"You know, that's not very ladylike!" It would seem that Raye had gotten to the point of boredom where she felt the need to purposely be annoying…and enjoying it.
"Well I never said I was a lady! Did I?" Sere replied in her own defiant yet condescending way. AN: It can be done! I do it all the time! ^_^
" Well you are obviously not one of good breeding." The haughty response was immediately countered with a sarcastic comment.
"And you are obviously not one of few words."
"How nice of you to notice!" was the proud response was unexpectedly spoken by Raye and Sere wondered what had happened to the meek princess she had saved but there were more important things to be taken care of. When she glanced back and saw her partner's face. It was then she decided the cocky smile on Raye's face had to be eradicated.
'And the spider weaves her web!' she inwardly grinned.
"Kind of hard not to." Sere said keeping her tone as nonchalant as possible.
"Is that supposed to be an insult?" Suspicion was evident in Raye's voice as her smile was quickly replaced with a contemplative frown. Raye didn't know why she was starting a fight but she was bored and it was fun.
'Much better than picking fights with the grumpy dwarf!'
"Take it as you want to, just know that when I insult you you'll know it!" she exclaimed.
"Oh really?" Raye asked arrogantly, " and how is that?"
" Well…" Sere said with a mischievous grin, " I could always call you an overbearing cow or horse or say in that ugly dress you look like an as—"
"How dare you! Who do you think you are?!" Sere rolled her eyes and realized that this conversation wasn't getting them anywhere fast and it was starting to get dark. "Can we finish this battle of the wits a little later", she said, using her head Sere motioned upwards. "It's going to be nightfall soon. And if we don't find a place to stay…" Sere stopped suddenly. "Listen…" Sere tilted her head to the left slightly, Raye watched her in confusion. Sere turned around and smiled at Raye while excitedly saying, "There's water nearby! We can camp there for the night and in the morning we can decide where exactly we're going. Deal?" Raye nodded her head in agreement.
"Good. Than maybe we can finish our argument after the both of us have cleaned up!" Remembering the argument and her behavior Raye instantly felt shame. Keeping her head bowed she waited for Sere to steer the horse into the direction she had heard the water. The trees began to thin out and they were met with the sight of a beautiful crystal clear lake. Dismounting Sere turned around to see Raye still sitting on the saddle looking rather meditative and with a self reprimanding look in her eye.
Sere looked at Raye as she just sat there on the horse, appearing to be beating herself up over something.
Deciding that anything was better than that look on Raye's face Sere took her index finger and poked Raye on the side of her stomach. Startled Raye jumped and fell gracelessly off the back of the horse arms swinging desperately. Sere stared at the place where Raye was and calmly walked around the horse's rear to see Raye laying on the ground surrounded by her skirts, legs spread wide and glaring at the sky, muttering curses in a very unladylike manner. Sere couldn't help it she started laughing… loudly.
Raye's glare was transferred from the sky to the chuckling golden princess. Seeing that her ebony haired companion didn't find the humor in her position Sere swallowed the rest of her laughter and held her hand to help Raye up. Sniffing indignantly Raye ignored the offered appendage and picked herself off the ground and began attempting to wipe the dust off of her dress. After a couple of minutes of looking at all the dirt that now decorated her dress she gave up and crossed her arms with a huff.
After annoyance, indifference moved into her thoughts. 'Oh well! I didn't like this dress anyway!' then another thought occurred to Raye. 'But what am I gonna wear now?!'
Sulking seemed like the only option since Raye wasn't prepared for her sudden attack of impulsiveness that seemed to have been lacking in her life since her birth and looking at the blonde she blamed her for it. Sere watched as Raye seemed to be scowling in her direction she returned the look before walking over to the horse and removing the saddle.
They were lucky. It seemed that the night was going to be warm. Definitely warm enough to take a quick dip in the lake.
Concentrating on the matters at hand were hard when one had someone else boring holes into the back of her head.
'This is really getting irritating!' Sere thought clenching the map in her left hand unconsciously as she felt the violet eyes digging into her skull.
"Are you just gonna stare at the back of my head all night?" she finally asked tired of the silence.
"Maybe." It was obvious someone held grudges.
"Is this about the argument or the little poke I gave you?" Sere asked emphasizing the 'little'.
"What do you think?"
"Well I personally think your taking this way too seriously." Sere turned around to face her. " You looked way too deep in thought and I thought that was the best way to bring you out of." Raye looked at her skeptically.
"That was the best way you could think of!?" Sere shrugged casually.
"And I was bored. If I had thought for one second you would take it so personally I wouldn't have done it." Sere said honestly,
"I'm sorry." Looking into the blue eyes Raye saw that she was genuinely sorry. Shrugging her shoulders she strolled over to the lake and stood there gazing at her reflection. Sere stared at her in disbelief. She had just given her an honest to goodness apology and all she got was a shrug! She twirled around and decided that she should put her annoyance to better use like getting firewood before it got too dark to see. She left Raye to her thoughts and went to complete her task.
Raye could tell that Sere's regret was sincere but that didn't mean she wasn't gonna get her back for it. Princess like behavior be damned! She was after all a girl with honor. She just didn't know how to get revenge yet. It didn't take long for Sere to find suitable wood and when she got back Raye still hadn't moved from her spot by the lake. As soon as Sere set up a fire she went back to the saddle bag and pulled out another set of clothes and set them on the ground while taking a brush out and beginning to groom the white steed. It neighed in delight as she brushed its coat until it was shiny and it gently nuzzled her hand when she was finished. It using it's nose pushed her in the direction of Raye as if telling her to make amends. She shot it an annoyed look before reluctantly going over to her companions side.
Raye was deep in thought about how to get payback when Sere stood next to her and didn't say anything it wasn't until then that she noticed just how close they were to the lake. "I know I've already…" the rest of what Sere said was blocked out as a devious thought entered the once demure girl's mind. 'It's so wrong' Raye thought, 'It's so evil!' She didn't know how long it was that she had been thinking about it but she did catch the last part of whatever Sere had been talking about.
"So…are we okay?" An evil grin planted itself on Raye's face and with a shove she was once again by herself on the lake and laughing hard as Sere surfaced waving her arms around sputtering out water from her mouth. Raye smiled innocently and said,
"Oh! Now we're even!"
Sere looked up at her immensely pleased 'friend' stunned and without a second thought grabbed her leg and pulled Raye in with her.
Raye broke through the water with a look of shock on her face and turned to see Sere once again giggling at her. Waving her arms from side to side she sent a wave of water at her companion and so the fight began. With both princesses sending large waves at each other while one tried to dunk the other and soaking each other to the bone. The white stallion gazed at the human girls in confusion but just shook his head. He'd never understand humans.
The fight ended with both girls tired and drenched sitting around the fire that Sere built as they attempted to dry off. The fire and the warm air helped immensely. Raye noted that even with the 'washing' it had undergone the stains on her dress were still there. She glared at her hair that had somehow lost its curls and had reverted back to being straight once again. She blew a wet strand out of her eyes and glanced at her acquaintance. Even though they both looked like drowned rats she had to admit that her associate carried the look better than she did.
Sere sat with her golden hair parted in her hands trying to wring the water out of it. She sighed after she had finished one part and moved onto the other. Moving her gaze to the fire Raye felt a warmth fill her that had never really been known. In the huge palace of her childhood and the little hovel that she shared with 7 little men she had never felt so comfortable or felt so free. Under her eyelashes she peeked at her companion…no her friend and Raye felt such undescribed happiness at that one word.
In the palace she'd only known people who were either terrified of her Stepmother or pitied her. And with the dwarfs she had felt like more of a mother and a servant than a friend to them. Until this golden haired girl her only real friends were the birds she used to sing to. It was such a lonely existence…
"Whatever it is let it go." Raye looked at Sere astonished. 'Can she read minds or something?'
"What do you mean?" She watched as Sere rolled her eyes.
"Whatever it is that has you in such deep thought and is depressing you, let it go." Seeing the bewildered look on Raye's face Sere decided to elaborate. "Is whatever your thinking have anything to do with your past?" Raye nodded. "Then stop thinking about it!" she exclaimed exasperated. "The past is over and done with! You can't change it so why live in it?"
Raye could see the sense of her statement and was stilled by her companion's insightful declaration. It put a few things in perspective for her.
"I wanted to apologize for my behavior earlier." Sere looked at Raye confused at the reason for the apology and the apology itself until understanding settled over her features.
"Oh! you mean the unexpected swim in the lake?" Sere waved her hand dismissively, "Don't worry about it! It was fun!" she exclaimed. Raye looked at her like she'd lost her mind.
"I pushed into a lake!" Raye exclaimed.
"And I pushed you off of a horse. Well not exactly pushed but you get the idea!" Raye looked like she was really questioning Sere's sanity.
"And you're okay with this?!" 'This girl just gets more and more confusing!' Sere just shrugged and said, "Fair is fair!" Taking the last part of her hair she squeezed until she was sure she got as much of the water out as she could. She finally noted that Raye was still wearing her ugly dress. Without saying a word she got up and walked over to where the horse was bent down and picked up the clothes she had left out. Walking back over to the fire she plopped them next to Raye.
"Change."
Raye looked at the clothes and at her, but when she saw the look on Sere's face she headed for a nearby tree and changed out of her soaked outfit and into the one provided. A few moments later she stepped out in a pair of black pants that were large and looked a lot like the ones Sere wore and a red button down shirt that also hung off of her frame but not as much as it did for her companion. She fidgeted uncomfortably in the clothes and made a face when she saw Sere. She had always been taught that it was inappropriate for a young lady to dress in such a manner. Sere nodded approvingly.
"You look great!"
"I feel ridiculous!"
"Hey it's better than being soaked isn't it?!"
"Barely."
"Stop complaining already! Besides it's better than that multicolored disaster you were wearing before!"
"Hey!"
Sere ignored Raye's protests as she set out once again for the saddle bag and pulled out a map. Sitting by the fire Raye joined Sere and they set out a plan. They still didn't know where they were going but they would find the nearest town get some information and in Raye's words get some decent clothes before heading to nowhere.
With a plan of action set and the balmy night air they in all seriousness and spoke to each other of their dreams and hopes. Raye of her hopes to truly find herself and Sere of her dream to be independent. With pasts buried both girls instead spoke of the trivial things of life and a relaxed atmosphere settled itself over the both of them. They found themselves enjoying each others company, once wit and sarcasm were put aside. The smell of the forests and the lake mingled to leave a scent that hung all around them and eventually lulled them to sleep. The fire slowly burned itself out and the two princesses slept peacefully side by side.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter of Happily Ever After…Right! ^_^
You can all thank Miko633 for the quickness of this chapter and for reminding to get off my lazy ass and actually write another chapter! ^_^;;;
If you want more you have to review!
I haven't decided who comes next so…
YOU DECIDE!
That's right people you get to decide which inner senshi shows up in the next chapter of this fic!
REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Companions
"I WANT HER FOUND!!!!" the yell resounded throughout the entire palace as guards from every post scurried to find the missing princess. The sound of feet pounded through the halls as brigades of soldiers in their separate divisions left to investigate the area surrounding the palace. One knight was left alone in the palace with the furious royals. Bowing in respect he waited for his orders from the king and queen. He did not belong to the palace soldiers but was offering his assistance nonetheless. A lock of ivory hair fell into his violet eyes and he wanted desperately to push it back but he did not.
"I would like to go to retrieve the princess as well, your highnesses." The prince spoke, for a moment the knight had thought him mute.
"No" The king made his answer very clear yet the foolish regal persisted.
"But…"
"NO! When my daughter you will be here to marry her!" It was a command and the prince quickly took to pouting. He barely restrained the need to roll his eyes.
"You." It seemed the royals had finally decided to acknowledge his presence. "You are not apart of our kingdom so what have you to gain in helping us find our daughter?" It seemed the king was a suspicious man. 'Good'
"Why, your highness I only want to assure the princess' safety." That wasn't all he wanted to assure but he'd keep that to himself for a while. "Well…" the king seemed hesitant to continue but a jab from his wife forced him to, "you are welcome to help in the retrieval of the princess." With a swirl of his cape he and his wife exited the throne room leaving a pouting prince and a smirking 'knight'. The prince's pout turned to a sneer as he turned to the grinning 'knight'.
"You will not touch my fiancé or I will have your head" the threat was ignored as the 'knight' left the throne room without so much as looking at the prince. Angered at being disregarded he shouted, "HEY!" at the retreating back of the man and stomped his foot, mentally planning what he'd do to the knight when he was king.
The ivory haired man followed the path from the palace to the main road to see troops spread out searching the area. Looking around the vicinity he wandered down the road keeping his eyes open for any indications of the princess. Checking the ground he saw hoof prints in the road, noticing that the prints were lighter than the others, he followed them to a certain part in the road where they ended. On the ground he saw a glimmer of white. Getting off his horse he bent down to reveal the pure white dress that the princess was famous for wearing, tattered and stained in dirt and red. He looked at it suspiciously, checking to see if anyone was watching him he sniffed the red substance on the dress and gave a superior smile.
'Clever little princ8ess'
Seeing the captain of the guard coming to him, he quickly shoved the dress into his saddle bags before reported no findings and was left alone. Staring at the darkening skies he realized there wouldn't be enough time to track her down today. Taking another look at the dress in his bag he mounted his horse and turned around to go back to the palace. He would go back to the palace before deciding his course of action. In the morning he would take steps to find the clever princess. With a conniving grin on his face he raced down the road back to the home of the irate royals.
The rapid speed of their ride was something Raye wasn't exactly comfortable with and she was bored. Hanging onto Sere's waist wasn't helping much either, there wasn't that much to hang onto. Raye would have voiced her complaints but chose not to when she saw the focused and thoughtful look on Sere's face. What Raye didn't know was that Sere was thinking about her new companion and what they were going to do. Sure with the amount of money that prince 'charming' carried around they could be safe and by a nice little cottage and live happily ever aft… 'NAH!' she shook her head. If she wanted to be safe and boring she would have stayed at the palace. If Sere wanted to be completely honest with herself which she usually was she'd admit that she really didn't know where they were going let alone what they would do. Her first instinct was to ask Raye. After all she wasn't alone anymore so she it was only fair that she consult her on their decisions.
Raye's thoughts weren't far from that of her travel companion. She really wanted to know where they were going and if they possibly had a place where she could properly bath and be fed. After all being practically dead for long periods of time left a girl hungry. Raye was really hesitant to bother Sere but gathering her newfound bravado she asked what had to be the most important question in what was probably going to be an extreme adventure.
" Where are we going?"
Sere's head snapped back as she faced Raye. It was then that Raye realized that Sere was slightly shorter than her. Using her height as an advantage Raye straightened herself as much as she could in the saddle and holding onto, Sere and looked down at her. Sere was not amused.
"Do you honestly think that you are the first person to try and pull height on me?!" Sere asked incredulously. All of her life she had been short did Raye really think that was gonna work with her. Still Raye held her stance and looked down at Sere as if silently demanding an answer. 'Obviously she does' Sere thought shaking her head in amusement and turned forward in the saddle. Where ever they were going it sure as hell wouldn't be boring.
A silence stretched over the two with Sere inwardly laughing and Raye sulking quietly. Taking a glance back Sere felt a little guilty. She hadn't meant to change the mood of the trip and if they didn't speak to each other this adventure was going to be seriously boring. Facing frontward she rolled her eyes she asked resignedly, "Do you really want to know?"
"Yes."
"Honestly…" Sere said hesitantly, seeing Raye nod she continued unsure of how the other girl would react, " I really don't know where we're going."
Silence…
…and then the storm
"WHAT!" the scream bounced off the treetops, ground and leaves to surround the unprepared golden one. Clutching the reins and her ears in both her hands she turned around to see Raye with her hands on her hips and looking to be in reprimanding mode, a stance Sere was all too familiar with. She glared annoyed at the smug looking raven haired princess.
"Was that really necessary?!" Sere asked irritated by the current ringing in her ears she was trying to get rid of with her fingers. She knew that she was also loud but having all that noise sent back hurt. She almost felt bad for all the screaming she did to prince charming…then she remember what a humungous ass he'd been and instantly felt better. Unfortunately remembering that event, no matter how pleasant it had been, also brought to light the fact that she didn't' know anything about her companion and she'd didn't know anything about her.
"You know, that's not very ladylike!" It would seem that Raye had gotten to the point of boredom where she felt the need to purposely be annoying…and enjoying it.
"Well I never said I was a lady! Did I?" Sere replied in her own defiant yet condescending way. AN: It can be done! I do it all the time! ^_^
" Well you are obviously not one of good breeding." The haughty response was immediately countered with a sarcastic comment.
"And you are obviously not one of few words."
"How nice of you to notice!" was the proud response was unexpectedly spoken by Raye and Sere wondered what had happened to the meek princess she had saved but there were more important things to be taken care of. When she glanced back and saw her partner's face. It was then she decided the cocky smile on Raye's face had to be eradicated.
'And the spider weaves her web!' she inwardly grinned.
"Kind of hard not to." Sere said keeping her tone as nonchalant as possible.
"Is that supposed to be an insult?" Suspicion was evident in Raye's voice as her smile was quickly replaced with a contemplative frown. Raye didn't know why she was starting a fight but she was bored and it was fun.
'Much better than picking fights with the grumpy dwarf!'
"Take it as you want to, just know that when I insult you you'll know it!" she exclaimed.
"Oh really?" Raye asked arrogantly, " and how is that?"
" Well…" Sere said with a mischievous grin, " I could always call you an overbearing cow or horse or say in that ugly dress you look like an as—"
"How dare you! Who do you think you are?!" Sere rolled her eyes and realized that this conversation wasn't getting them anywhere fast and it was starting to get dark. "Can we finish this battle of the wits a little later", she said, using her head Sere motioned upwards. "It's going to be nightfall soon. And if we don't find a place to stay…" Sere stopped suddenly. "Listen…" Sere tilted her head to the left slightly, Raye watched her in confusion. Sere turned around and smiled at Raye while excitedly saying, "There's water nearby! We can camp there for the night and in the morning we can decide where exactly we're going. Deal?" Raye nodded her head in agreement.
"Good. Than maybe we can finish our argument after the both of us have cleaned up!" Remembering the argument and her behavior Raye instantly felt shame. Keeping her head bowed she waited for Sere to steer the horse into the direction she had heard the water. The trees began to thin out and they were met with the sight of a beautiful crystal clear lake. Dismounting Sere turned around to see Raye still sitting on the saddle looking rather meditative and with a self reprimanding look in her eye.
Sere looked at Raye as she just sat there on the horse, appearing to be beating herself up over something.
Deciding that anything was better than that look on Raye's face Sere took her index finger and poked Raye on the side of her stomach. Startled Raye jumped and fell gracelessly off the back of the horse arms swinging desperately. Sere stared at the place where Raye was and calmly walked around the horse's rear to see Raye laying on the ground surrounded by her skirts, legs spread wide and glaring at the sky, muttering curses in a very unladylike manner. Sere couldn't help it she started laughing… loudly.
Raye's glare was transferred from the sky to the chuckling golden princess. Seeing that her ebony haired companion didn't find the humor in her position Sere swallowed the rest of her laughter and held her hand to help Raye up. Sniffing indignantly Raye ignored the offered appendage and picked herself off the ground and began attempting to wipe the dust off of her dress. After a couple of minutes of looking at all the dirt that now decorated her dress she gave up and crossed her arms with a huff.
After annoyance, indifference moved into her thoughts. 'Oh well! I didn't like this dress anyway!' then another thought occurred to Raye. 'But what am I gonna wear now?!'
Sulking seemed like the only option since Raye wasn't prepared for her sudden attack of impulsiveness that seemed to have been lacking in her life since her birth and looking at the blonde she blamed her for it. Sere watched as Raye seemed to be scowling in her direction she returned the look before walking over to the horse and removing the saddle.
They were lucky. It seemed that the night was going to be warm. Definitely warm enough to take a quick dip in the lake.
Concentrating on the matters at hand were hard when one had someone else boring holes into the back of her head.
'This is really getting irritating!' Sere thought clenching the map in her left hand unconsciously as she felt the violet eyes digging into her skull.
"Are you just gonna stare at the back of my head all night?" she finally asked tired of the silence.
"Maybe." It was obvious someone held grudges.
"Is this about the argument or the little poke I gave you?" Sere asked emphasizing the 'little'.
"What do you think?"
"Well I personally think your taking this way too seriously." Sere turned around to face her. " You looked way too deep in thought and I thought that was the best way to bring you out of." Raye looked at her skeptically.
"That was the best way you could think of!?" Sere shrugged casually.
"And I was bored. If I had thought for one second you would take it so personally I wouldn't have done it." Sere said honestly,
"I'm sorry." Looking into the blue eyes Raye saw that she was genuinely sorry. Shrugging her shoulders she strolled over to the lake and stood there gazing at her reflection. Sere stared at her in disbelief. She had just given her an honest to goodness apology and all she got was a shrug! She twirled around and decided that she should put her annoyance to better use like getting firewood before it got too dark to see. She left Raye to her thoughts and went to complete her task.
Raye could tell that Sere's regret was sincere but that didn't mean she wasn't gonna get her back for it. Princess like behavior be damned! She was after all a girl with honor. She just didn't know how to get revenge yet. It didn't take long for Sere to find suitable wood and when she got back Raye still hadn't moved from her spot by the lake. As soon as Sere set up a fire she went back to the saddle bag and pulled out another set of clothes and set them on the ground while taking a brush out and beginning to groom the white steed. It neighed in delight as she brushed its coat until it was shiny and it gently nuzzled her hand when she was finished. It using it's nose pushed her in the direction of Raye as if telling her to make amends. She shot it an annoyed look before reluctantly going over to her companions side.
Raye was deep in thought about how to get payback when Sere stood next to her and didn't say anything it wasn't until then that she noticed just how close they were to the lake. "I know I've already…" the rest of what Sere said was blocked out as a devious thought entered the once demure girl's mind. 'It's so wrong' Raye thought, 'It's so evil!' She didn't know how long it was that she had been thinking about it but she did catch the last part of whatever Sere had been talking about.
"So…are we okay?" An evil grin planted itself on Raye's face and with a shove she was once again by herself on the lake and laughing hard as Sere surfaced waving her arms around sputtering out water from her mouth. Raye smiled innocently and said,
"Oh! Now we're even!"
Sere looked up at her immensely pleased 'friend' stunned and without a second thought grabbed her leg and pulled Raye in with her.
Raye broke through the water with a look of shock on her face and turned to see Sere once again giggling at her. Waving her arms from side to side she sent a wave of water at her companion and so the fight began. With both princesses sending large waves at each other while one tried to dunk the other and soaking each other to the bone. The white stallion gazed at the human girls in confusion but just shook his head. He'd never understand humans.
The fight ended with both girls tired and drenched sitting around the fire that Sere built as they attempted to dry off. The fire and the warm air helped immensely. Raye noted that even with the 'washing' it had undergone the stains on her dress were still there. She glared at her hair that had somehow lost its curls and had reverted back to being straight once again. She blew a wet strand out of her eyes and glanced at her acquaintance. Even though they both looked like drowned rats she had to admit that her associate carried the look better than she did.
Sere sat with her golden hair parted in her hands trying to wring the water out of it. She sighed after she had finished one part and moved onto the other. Moving her gaze to the fire Raye felt a warmth fill her that had never really been known. In the huge palace of her childhood and the little hovel that she shared with 7 little men she had never felt so comfortable or felt so free. Under her eyelashes she peeked at her companion…no her friend and Raye felt such undescribed happiness at that one word.
In the palace she'd only known people who were either terrified of her Stepmother or pitied her. And with the dwarfs she had felt like more of a mother and a servant than a friend to them. Until this golden haired girl her only real friends were the birds she used to sing to. It was such a lonely existence…
"Whatever it is let it go." Raye looked at Sere astonished. 'Can she read minds or something?'
"What do you mean?" She watched as Sere rolled her eyes.
"Whatever it is that has you in such deep thought and is depressing you, let it go." Seeing the bewildered look on Raye's face Sere decided to elaborate. "Is whatever your thinking have anything to do with your past?" Raye nodded. "Then stop thinking about it!" she exclaimed exasperated. "The past is over and done with! You can't change it so why live in it?"
Raye could see the sense of her statement and was stilled by her companion's insightful declaration. It put a few things in perspective for her.
"I wanted to apologize for my behavior earlier." Sere looked at Raye confused at the reason for the apology and the apology itself until understanding settled over her features.
"Oh! you mean the unexpected swim in the lake?" Sere waved her hand dismissively, "Don't worry about it! It was fun!" she exclaimed. Raye looked at her like she'd lost her mind.
"I pushed into a lake!" Raye exclaimed.
"And I pushed you off of a horse. Well not exactly pushed but you get the idea!" Raye looked like she was really questioning Sere's sanity.
"And you're okay with this?!" 'This girl just gets more and more confusing!' Sere just shrugged and said, "Fair is fair!" Taking the last part of her hair she squeezed until she was sure she got as much of the water out as she could. She finally noted that Raye was still wearing her ugly dress. Without saying a word she got up and walked over to where the horse was bent down and picked up the clothes she had left out. Walking back over to the fire she plopped them next to Raye.
"Change."
Raye looked at the clothes and at her, but when she saw the look on Sere's face she headed for a nearby tree and changed out of her soaked outfit and into the one provided. A few moments later she stepped out in a pair of black pants that were large and looked a lot like the ones Sere wore and a red button down shirt that also hung off of her frame but not as much as it did for her companion. She fidgeted uncomfortably in the clothes and made a face when she saw Sere. She had always been taught that it was inappropriate for a young lady to dress in such a manner. Sere nodded approvingly.
"You look great!"
"I feel ridiculous!"
"Hey it's better than being soaked isn't it?!"
"Barely."
"Stop complaining already! Besides it's better than that multicolored disaster you were wearing before!"
"Hey!"
Sere ignored Raye's protests as she set out once again for the saddle bag and pulled out a map. Sitting by the fire Raye joined Sere and they set out a plan. They still didn't know where they were going but they would find the nearest town get some information and in Raye's words get some decent clothes before heading to nowhere.
With a plan of action set and the balmy night air they in all seriousness and spoke to each other of their dreams and hopes. Raye of her hopes to truly find herself and Sere of her dream to be independent. With pasts buried both girls instead spoke of the trivial things of life and a relaxed atmosphere settled itself over the both of them. They found themselves enjoying each others company, once wit and sarcasm were put aside. The smell of the forests and the lake mingled to leave a scent that hung all around them and eventually lulled them to sleep. The fire slowly burned itself out and the two princesses slept peacefully side by side.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter of Happily Ever After…Right! ^_^
You can all thank Miko633 for the quickness of this chapter and for reminding to get off my lazy ass and actually write another chapter! ^_^;;;
If you want more you have to review!
I haven't decided who comes next so…
YOU DECIDE!
That's right people you get to decide which inner senshi shows up in the next chapter of this fic!
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