We were taken to a private parlor, just the five of us.  A waitress came in with platters of food for our aching bellies.  Neither the king nor queen said a word to their renegade son.  Michelle and I wandered wide-eyed in their wake until we had arrived into the room.  The king and queen sat in separate seats leaving the three of us to sit on a sofa.  The two royal parents stared at their son in bafflement, unsure how to react.  Finally the queen spoke.

"We thought… you… were dead, Char."  Her voice was tremulous.  The king didn't utter a word but grasped the arms of his chair firmly, as though to stop his hands from shaking. 

Chad… Char… didn't say a word but looked down into his lap like a chastised child. 

"What happened to you?"  Queen Ella said softly. 

"Chelmak and Cyrillianna saw me on my ninth birthday,"

"Oh," Ella shook her head and closed her eyes, remembering the day.

"They asked me how I'd like to run away.  So they took me to Earth and took care of me for awhile, then… I ran away from them.  Nine years later, here I am with the girls who brought me here.  Cathy, who was cursed by Cyrillianna and Michelle, the daughter of Cedric."  Chad spoke quietly.  "But the fairies came back once we did."

POP! 

"Mrs. Cook!"  Michelle and I chimed at the sight of the suddenly arriving person. 

"Mandy!"  Char, the king and queen cried in unison. 

"Cathy," Mrs. Cook scolded, "I told you to wait for a week!"  She wagged a finger at me.

"Are you a fairy too?"  I asked, thinking nothing would surprise me ever again.

"Yes, I am.  The minute that Chelmak and Cyrillianna came storming into my office asking where you were, I went looking for you."  Mrs. Cook, or Mandy, or whatever, said breathlessly, still glaring at me. 

"What?  I thought that Chad- Char was the link!"  Michelle gasped.

Mandy shook her head.  "Just a hostage."

"I thought that Michelle was!"  Chad/Char looked astounded.

"Just a relative."  Mandy shook her head, and her curly hair bounced about her face. 

"What the hell is the link?"  I finally burst. 

Mandy turned to face me.  "A fairy who goes to Earth can only stay for so long without returning to Kyrria, for there isn't supposed to be magic on Earth.  They had to find one who was both of Earth and Kyrria, thus you, and curse you to keep their magic strong on Earth.  The minute you left, their powers began to dwindle on Earth and every curse that they laid there began to fail."

"What about you?"  Michelle asked.

"My own powers were restored once a month by returning here."  Mandy explained quickly.  "But I never used them other than to return here, unlike the sibling fairies." 

"Char was a hostage?"  The queen asked, rising from her seat slowly. 

Mandy turned to look lovingly upon the queen.  "Yes, they intended to use him to gain your allegiance to their cause.  But it was by chance that he arrived upon Michelle and Cathy fleeing from Earth."

The queen sat back down in her seat and Mandy took a seat on the other side of the room.  I took a sip of water.  My stomach let out a huge grumble and I knew it was feeding time, no matter how dark the situation at hand.  I began to prod my food and bring it towards my mouth.  Everyone watched me and Chad began his own meal as well, followed soon by Michelle.  After we had finished our meals, I leaned back, stomach proud to be a part of my body again. 

"Now, you three have come with news," the king said, looking back to his son with darting eyes full of sadness. 

"Yes," Michelle began quickly, "there is a cure for the curse of Obedience."

Ella's ears perked up.

"It's really kind of lame, actually," I said, stopping Michelle before she could say another word.  "Basically, you just tell the Obedient to break their curse as a command.  They have no choice and the curse is broken.  I just had it broken this morning.  Wow," I raised my eyebrows.  "This morning.  It seems like days ago."  I looked at Mandy sharply.  "Do the days take longer on Kyrria than on Earth?"

Mandy shook her head with a faint smile. 

"It sure feels that way," I said stubbornly. 

"Father also wanted to let you know that Chelmak and Cyrillianna are back on Kyrria, presently searching for Cathy."

King Char put his fingers to his forehead and rubbed.  "All right.  Let us think about this in the morning.  I'm sure the day has been long for all of you, not just Cathy.  We'll have someone show you to your rooms.  Char…."  He looked at his son. 

I grabbed Michelle's hand and dragged her out of the room to allow the family to have their reunion in privacy. 

"These rooms are huge," I said flatly to Michelle. 

Michelle nodded meekly, once again lapsing into softness. 

"What do they do with all of this space?  I mean, they could have some wild, crazy cool parties."  I babbled.  I touched all of the finery.  The blankets were a soft texture and the sheets had to be silk.  The tapestries were amazing in detail and the carpets even had their own illustrations.  The lamps were ornate and usually a precious metal decorated with precious gems.  In my room there was a bookshelf that took over half of the room.  The books looked boring, actually, all histories and stupid things like that.

"We should probably get some sleep."  Michelle yawned.  "See you tomorrow, Cathy."

"Sleep well, my funky fairy." 

Michelle left my room and closed the door behind her.  I sat down on my bed and stared in wonder at the intricate designs of the canopy above.  I wasn't sleepy anymore, but intrigued by the room around me.  One of the tapestries relayed a scene of a unicorn rearing up to meet the gentle touch of a winged fairy with flowers in her hair.  Another had two centaurs holding hands and frolicking away together in a field of roses.  I stood from my bed and wandered back to the bookshelf.

"There is a whole section on Ayortha," I whispered incredulously to no one.  I pulled a book out and opened it up.  "Crap, what is this language?  San skrit?  Oh, right, Ayorthian," I blushed at my own stupidity.  I put the book back in its place and wandered down the line.

There was a book that read "fairy tales" that caught my interest.  Finally, something I could relate to.  I hoped that it had Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty.  I loved those stories.  I pulled it out and stared in wonder at the first page.  There was a gorgeous illustration of Sleeping Beauty with a basket on her arm.  Nothing cheesy like the Disney drawing, but a statuesque girl with flowing blonde hair and soft eyes.  The picture was actually moving.  I read the story and smiled at the ending.  It was a bit different than I was used to, because the wicked fairy's story was a lot sadder than I had expected.  I could relate to her.  She had been cast out of her order by a jealous teacher, who knew that Maleficent was more talented and beautiful than she.  She had become a fairy pariah. 

I closed the book and reopened it to make sure that I hadn't missed any illustrations, but the story had changed!  I gasped and stared at the picture.  It was of me!  There was a map by it.  I was grinning in the picture and pointing to the map.  There was an X and a dotted line leading to the castle in Kyrria where I now was.  I flipped to the next page and saw a young boy in a fancy tunic walking through the gardens with a sad look on his face.  The caption read "Prince Char, age 9."  A story next to it read about how his older brother was so much more talented than he and everyone loved him more.  Even on his birthday he was forgotten for the sake of his brother. 

That's when I realized that this was Chad Char. 

The next page had a picture of him chasing me through the forest.  We were laughing.  I smiled because of the memory.  Then thought back to the would-be kiss.  Damned pinecone. 

I sighed and turned the page and found a story called Ella Enchanted.  There was a picture of Queen Ella at what must have been a younger age.  I read the entire story until a few hours later when I finally finished it.  I cried when she had to lie to Char about being Hattie.  That made me positively sob. 

"I wish I was a heroine of a fairy tale," I touched her smiling picture.  "She was enchanted because of the proper alliteration, but no, I had to be named Cathy, so therefore I am cursed.  Quelle crap."

There were a lot of C's on this planet.  Chelmak, Cedric, Cyrillianna, and Cathy.  Curses.  Crap.  There were probably cats.  Chad.  Char. 

(A/N: I just realized this and I thought that was exciting, so I shared it with you.  Sorry.  I'm crazy like that.)

Kyrria was the planet of alliteration. 

I yawned and leaned back into the wall, closing the book and hoping for a new story again. 

There was a knock on the door.  I yipped and jumped up.

"Come in!"  I said clearly, holding the book by my side. 

Chad Char walked in, looking tired with rings under his eyes.

"Hey Chadar," I said, messing up his name yet again.

"Hi," he said softly, walking slowly towards me.  "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," I told him.  "You?"  I pushed my hair behind my ear.  I had let it out of its ponytail so I could sleep.  Not that I went to sleep, mind you, but my initial intentions were to sleep.  Right. 

Char nodded, his hair falling into his face.  "It's strange to be back home."  He admitted.

"I'll bet," I responded uncomfortably.  I didn't really know what he was going through.  I had barely given any thought to my family, who was probably celebrating my loss at the moment.  "I just read your story," I showed him the book. 

He quirked his eyebrows.  "That's Mom's fairy book."

"Yeah, it's cool."  I grinned. 

"What do you mean by my story?"

"Why you ran off and all.  How's your brother doing?"

"He's off fighting dragons or something right now.  He's coming home next month."  Char said quietly. 

I could tell he was feeling down again.  I put my hand on his arm and squeezed.

"I don't know your brother or anything, but you're a really neat guy.  I wouldn't trade you for anyone, and I don't think your parents would either.  Your brother may be older, but that doesn't matter.  To me, at least.  And I lo- am your friend.  It shouldn't matter to you either."    

What was I babbling about?  Great, now he probably hated me.

But no.  He smiled at me and took my hand in his own.  I smiled back at him it what I hoped was an encouraging way.  Hell, I'd settle for sexy.  I hoped desperately that there was nothing in my teeth.  I probably think too much.

"I lo- am your friend too."  Wonderful.  He was making fun of me now.  I had nearly told him that I loved him but had made enough errors for the day.  He must have noticed the slip after all.  He was a clever, clever lad. 

"Shall we tango?"  I burst out suddenly.  I put my hand on his other hand and put it on my waist then put my hand on his shoulder and began to step to the side.  He smiled, restraining a laugh and followed me.  "Da, dadada DA."  I sang softly.  "Now, this is the tricky part," I said.  "We switch directions." 

I threw my head back and looked to the other side. 

"Okay, we have tangoed enough for one evening, my good sir."  I said, letting go of his hand.  "Besides, it just doesn't work without a flower for my teeth." 

His fatigue seemed to have subsided.  He looked vastly healthier.  His lips looked even more inviting.  Hair had fallen in front of his eyes again.  Instinctively, I moved it behind his ear. 

"Thank you," he grabbed my hand before I could move away, put his other behind my back.  I put my hand on the other side of his head and willed Michelle to stay in her room this time.  She wouldn't be ruining another kiss.

He leaned forward a little more quickly than the last time.  He whispered to me: "You aren't escaping this time."

"I didn't ever want to."  I responded softly. 

He pressed his lips softly against my own.  They were so warm and soft I felt as though my soul would drain into him.  My first kiss.