A/N: I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, ect…… Wow, you were wondering whether I was still alive or not, weren't ya? I had the worst writer's block in the history of writer's blocks! Believe me, I've been trying to write, but I finally decided, after a couple reviews from Cathy wink wink, to just sit down and write until I had a chapter written, and although it took me a while, it's finally here. Now, my chapters will be coming more regularly, and I will finish. However, my chapters won't be coming as often as they were before my writer's block, but I'm shooting for weekly chapters. Hopefully. Again, I'm sorry. I know it must have been terribly annoying have a half finished story gathering dust. Well, as I said, I'll try harder to update more often, and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: All characters and circumstances from Shrek and Shrek 2 belong to Dreamworks, not me.

Confrontations

'Charming, just leave me alone,' Fiona thought as she sat in the highest tower of her palace. She inwardly winced as she heard Charming call her name again, and again, and again. A small, exasperated groan emanated from her lips as she put her head in her hands. In the beginning of her and Charming's relationship, she had come running to his side like a lovesick puppy every time he had called her name. However, after a week of "I used new conditioner today, can you tell?" and "Do these pants make me look fat?" and other pointless questions and statements of the like were enough to drive her insane, even if she did love him. The fact that she loved Charming was one of the many things that Fiona did not understand lately. Why did she love him? What was so lovable about him? He was the vainest person she had ever met in her life, which was saying a lot since she did live in a royal court. Nothing about him, save perhaps his breathtaking good looks, appealed to her at all, and it annoyed her that she couldn't even be excited about their wedding anymore, since whenever it was mentioned, politics always came up. In fact, every day that went by made her dread her wedding more and more. She felt as if she was betrothed to Charming instead of in love with him. She had to keep assuring herself that she was indeed marrying for love instead of for looks or politics. She was marrying Charming because marrying him would make her life comfortable and conflict- free. She was marrying him because she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him, because she loved him.

"Fiona!" Charming's velvety voice exclaimed from below for the hundredth time.

"Oh God," Fiona groaned as she brought her knees to her chest and placed her face in her hands.

"Charming, please stop that yelling pumpkin, and calm down," The Fairy Godmother exclaimed to her son, "I already told you that your hair looks fine. Why do you always need a second opinion?"

"I have to know what my fiancé thinks, mother," Charming said matter-of-factly, "But I suppose I should calm down a bit. I mean, it's not as if she's going to tell me anything other than my hair is fabulous." Charming stopped for the tenth time to admire himself in the mirror.

The Fairy Godmother rolled her eyes jokingly, and flew out of the room. Charming was going to take a while. Just as the Fairy Godmother came out the door, she nearly collided with Queen Lillian. Both Queen Lillian and the Fairy Godmother shrieked in surprise.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me. I didn't see you." The Fairy Godmother said sweetly.

"Oh, Fairy Godmother, it's quite all right," Lillian replied just as sweetly, "Actually, I was just looking for you. Do you mind if we…chat over tea. There's something I want to discuss with you."

"Of course, Your Majesty, whatever you desire." The Fairy Godmother said. She inwardly winced as she flew beside the queen out to the courtyard, dreading the heated argument she knew was coming.

When the two women entered the courtyard, Queen Lillian did not bother to wait for the tea to be poured.

"Fairy Godmother, I am so confused. What has happened to my daughter? What have you done to her?" Lillian exclaimed. Although she had already heard the truth, supposedly, from Harold, she wanted to hear it from the Fairy Godmother.

"I've done nothing to your daughter, Your Majesty. All I did was help her see reason." The Fairy Godmother replied.

Figuring that she wasn't going to get the truth from the Fairy Godmother, Lillian decided to take a slightly different approach.

"I know about everything, Fairy Godmother, so please don't lie to me. Although I have been ignorant throughout most of this ordeal, I am certainly not stupid!" Lillian exclaimed angrily.

The servants who had finished serving the tea, while being ignored by the monarch and fairy at the table, began to back away, not wanting to draw attention to themselves.

The Fairy Godmother gaped at her. Who was this woman? This certainly couldn't be the sweet, placid queen she had met and known for years. This was someone else entirely. This was…

"I am a mother!" Lillian said, interrupting the Fairy Godmother's thoughts, "And I demand to know why you have done this horrible thing to my daughter and son-in-law!"

After a few moments, the Fairy Godmother found her voice.

"Your Majesty, being a mother yourself, you must know that we do what we feel is best for our children." The Fairy Godmother said softly and somewhat nervously, "Sometimes a mother has to take extreme measures to make our children happy."

"But sometimes a mother just needs to butt out of other people's lives!" Lillian yelled as she hit the table with surprising strength, nearly knocking over the tea.

The Fairy Godmother stared at the queen in shock for a split second before suddenly getting angry.

"Wait just a bloody moment! You and your husband were the ones who brought me into Fiona's life in the first place, or did you just forget that little tower incident?" The Fairy Godmother yelled.

"Yes, that was a big mistake on our part, but our mistake does not give you the right to decide who my daughter marries or what goes on in my family." Queen Lillian exclaimed, "Why, you're nothing more than an intrusive, lying, scheming, wicked….."

Before Lillian could get any more adjectives in, she spotted Harold trying to make his way into the castle undetected.

"Harold!" Lillian yelled, now directing her attention towards her husband.

Harold noticeably winced, and tentatively turned toward his wife.

"Come here, now!" Lillian ordered.

Harold made his way slowly to the table in the courtyard where his wife and the last person he wanted to see at the moment were sitting.

"We were just talking about you, dear," Lillian said with mock sweetness, "Why don't you tell me again how you betrayed our daughter and participated in this dreadful scheme, and why don't you also tell me the truth as to our son-in-law's whereabouts?"

Harold simply stared at his wife and stammered stupidly. The queen rolled her eyes and quickly redirected her attention back to the Fairy Godmother, to the great relief of her husband.

"Why don't you tell me, Fairy Godmother?" Queen Lillian said in an almost threatening tone, "I'm just dying to know."

The Fairy Godmother, no longer in shock because of the queen's uncharacteristic behavior but angered because of the queen's disrespect, had no trouble finding her voice.

"I'm sure you do want to know, Your Majesty," The Fairy Godmother replied with mock politeness, "Hmm…maybe we can come up with some….agreement and both get what we want."

"What are you talking about?" Queen Lillian said softly, narrowing her eyes in annoyance.

I'll tell you," The Fairy Godmother said, while glancing menacingly at King Harold, "but why don't we discuss this in private, Your Majesty, and we'll discuss the terms of the agreement."

"The TERMS!" The monarch nearly screamed, "There are no terms to discuss. I demand that you tell me what I want to know!"

"If you want to know where your precious ogre is," The Fairy Godmother said, sarcasm tingeing her voice, "Then my son and I are getting something out of it."

How dare you!" The queen said loudly, "What, are you holding him for ransom, now!" The queen laughed briefly at the ridiculousness of the entire conversation.

Queen Lillian and the Fairy Godmother continued to argue for nearly ten minutes while King Harold watched uncomfortably. As the argument started getting more and more ludicrous, the king decided to attempt to intervene.

"Ladies, ladies, why don't we –," The king started, but was quickly stopped by the ominous glares both his wife and the Fairy Godmother threw his way.

"Perhaps you're right, Fairy Godmother," Queen Lillian said, still glaring at her husband, "maybe we should discuss this in private."

The two adversaries made their way without a word into the castle, to the great relief of King Harold. When Harold saw the castle's main entrance close, he put his head in his hands.

"What have I done?" He whispered to himself, the twinge of regret and sorrow cutting through his heart like a knife.

A/N: Good? Bad? Hmm? Please don't forget to review, if there are still any readers out there after my long absence. 