"Okay, sweetie, it's bedtime now.."
"Aww, come on, Mama. I'm not sleepy. Can I have a bedtime story if Papa tells it?"
"All right, I guess. But only if Papa says you can."
Stellar ran into her parents room, where her father was sitting on the sofa reading a magazine.
"Papa? Can you tell me a story?"
Mwu looked up from his magazine. A story? Murrue was much better at telling stories than he was..
"How come you don't want Mama to tell you a story?" he asked. His daughter shook her head.
"Mama's busy with Lily. Besides, you never tell me stories. Please, Papa?"
Mwu sighed, but put down the magazine with a smile. "Okay. Come sit down"
Stellar smiled happily, and climbed on the sofa, and from there onto her father's lap.
Mwu cleared his throat, and began.
"Once upon a time, in a far-away kingdom..."
"No, Papa. I love princess stories, but they all sound the same. Can you tell me a different princess story?"
Mwu looked at the six-year-old in surprise. "Different? Different how?"
"Well, the princess always lives in a big castle with a king and queen, and there's always a wicked witch. Wasn't there ever a princess who lived somewhere different?"
Mwu scratched his chin, trying to think. Stellar had a good point, but how could he think up a story like that?
At that moment, Murrue came into the room, carrying the newest addition to their little family. Baby Lily was just two months old, but already had as sunny a temperament as her father and big sister. She had her mother's features and porcelain complexion, but her father's blue eyes and golden hair. She was still awake, and looking around at everyone.
"Mind if we join you?" asked Murrue gently. Stellar beamed. "Yay! Are you and Lily going to listen to Papa's story too?"
"If Papa says it's okay" replied her mother, looking at Mwu.
Mwu reached out a hand and pulled Murrue down to the sofa beside him. "More the merrier"
Looking at his wife, Mwu was suddenly struck by inspiration. A story about a princess that was different, huh?
"Once upon a time..."
"Awww, Papa!" wailed Stellar.
"Ssssh. You wanted a fairytale, right? Well, all fairytales have to start with 'once upon a time'. It's law."
"Really?" she asked, blue eyes wide in awe.
"Really and truly. Okay, I'll start again. Once upon a time, there lived a princess. But this was no ordinary princess. She was much more beautiful than the princesses in story books, in fact, she was the most beautiful lady in the whole world. And she was also very brave, because she was a soldier, and even had her own ship, named after an angel."
Murrue's cheeks turned scarlet as she realised who the 'princess' in Mwu's story was, but she kept quiet. Stellar was listening, rapt, and even little Lily was looking up at her father.
"Well, one day, this princess met a prince. He wasn't exactly most people's idea of a prince, because he was kinda loud and overconfident. And silly sometimes. The princess didn't like him much at first. But he fought just as hard as he could to protect the angel ship and the people inside it, and gradually he and the princess became friends."
"I'm glad they made friends, Papa. But what did the prince look like? You said the princess was the most beautiful in the whole world, but what about the prince? Was he handsome?"
Mwu was embarrassed. How do I answer that one?
"Uh...well...he...er..."
A small giggle to his right caused him to turn and look at Murrue. "Yes." she said.
"The prince was very handsome." She blushed a little as she said it.
"How do you know, Mama?"
"I just do, that's all. Don't I, Mwu?"
Stellar looked curiously at her father, who was slightly pink-cheeked, but didn't say anything.
Mwu coughed nervously and continued the story.
"The prince and princess were were friends now, and fought together side by side. And gradually, almost without realising it, they fell in love with each other. They realised how they felt when the prince was sent away from the angel ship. But he came right back again because he couldn't bear to say goodbye. After that, the prince and princess were together all the time, and for a while, they were very happy."
"Hey, can you hold the story for a while? It's way past Lily's bedtime, and I'd better go get her settled down" said Murrue, standing up. The baby was fast asleep in her arms.
"Can I come say goodnight? Oh, and can I go get some milk, Mama?" asked Stellar, scrambling down from Mwu's lap.
"Sure you can. But no cookies, okay? It's too late."
As they walked out of the room, Mwu smiled happily. He and Murrue had been worried at first that Stellar might be jealous of the new baby. But in fact, she adored her little sister.
I'm so lucky. No fairytale princess could ever compare to my three real ones...
Murrue came back into the bedroom a few moments later and sat back down on the sofa, snuggling up to her husband.
"I never knew you were such a good storyteller. Although I think you exaggerated the 'princess'' beauty somewhat."
"Nope" Mwu replied, pressing a kiss to the top of her auburn head. "If anything, I played it down"
Before she could protest, Stellar came back into the room, clutching a pink plastic cup full of milk.
"I'm back, Papa!" she announced. "Can you keep telling the story?" She clambered back up onto Mwu's lap, being careful not to spill her drink.
"What did the prince and princess do next?"
"Well, they were in love, and happy for a time. The prince would go out and fight, but he would always come back. Until one day, a bad ship came after the angel ship. A very bad man said they'd done things that they shouldn't. The princess and her friends hadn't really done anything wrong, but the bad man didn't care.
He made a big beam shoot out from his ship. The prince knew that if the beam hit the angel ship, it would disappear. So he jumped in the way of the beam. The last thing he remembered was being very happy he had saved his beloved princess, even though he couldn't be with her anymore. Then the prince disappeared in a flash of light."
Stellar's eyes were as round as saucers. "What happened to the prince, Papa? Was he okay?"
Tears started to form and trickle down her cheeks. "Did he leave the princess all alone?"
A tiny choked sob came from Murrue, and a single tear dripped down her face. The memory of that day when she thought she had lost Mwu was still very painful, even though it had been over nine years since. Her heart still ached when she thought of it.
"Mama? Did Papa's story make you sad too?" Her little girl climbed off Mwu's lap and onto her mother's, hugging her tight. "It's okay, Mama. It's only a story."
"I know, honey. And I think there's more to this story, as well..."
"Is there, Papa? Was the prince okay?" asked Stellar. Mwu nodded, a sad expression on his face. Murrue knew that he hated remembering the next part, as it was painful for him.
"After that, the princess was very sad. She had her friends with her, but she was very lonely without her prince. And so, two years passed.
Then one day, when the angel ship was fighting against some evil soldiers, the princess' friend found an injured man on the battlefield, and brought him back. It was the prince."
Stellar's face lit up. "Yay! So the prince was okay? But if he was okay, why didn't he come back to the princess?"
"It was the prince, but he was very different. He had longer hair, and a big scar across his nose. But the worst thing was that he didn't remember the angel ship or his friends, and he didn't remember the princess. He thought he was a prisoner, and she was a stranger to him. And he was very rude to her, and made her cry..."
He trailed off, still sad at the thought of causing Murrue so much pain. Without Stellar seeing, Murrue reached out and took his hand, squeezing it comfortingly. She didn't blame him, it hadn't been his fault.
"Why didn't he remember the princess, Papa? Did that big light do that?" asked the little girl, drinking her milk.
"The prince had been hurt after the light hit him, and he had some scars. But he had been found by an evil king, who wanted to use him. So the evil king took away the prince's memories, hid them away so he would never know that he was meant to be someone else. Then he made the prince fight for him and do bad things.
Now though, the prince was on the angel ship, even though he didn't remember them. At first, he was angry. But gradually, he got to know the people on the ship, and he became more friendly. Then one day, the princess let him go. The angel ship was going to start fighting again, and she didn't want him to get hurt."
Stellar cuddled into her mother's arms, starting to get a bit sleepy. "But wasn't the princess sad to see him go?"
"Very sad" replied Murrue. "But like Papa says, she didn't want the prince to be hurt again"
"Well, the prince flew away, but he didn't really want to. He had been getting a funny feeling in his heart whenever he saw the princess, and he wanted to know why. So he came back. And as he did, he realised that he did know the angel ship, and the princess, he just wasn't sure how.
So he stayed with them, becoming part of the crew again, and fighting for them again. Until one day, another ship shot a beam at the angel ship, just the same as before. The prince by now really cared about the princess, and he wanted to protect her. So he jumped in the way of the beam again. But this time, he didn't disappear. He remembered everything, about who he was, and how much he loved the princess. And so, they were able to be together again."
finished Mwu. Murrue was smiling, with tears in her eyes, still holding onto his hand. Stellar was almost asleep by now, but she smiled and mumbled "I'm glad he remembered. Did the prince marry the princess?"
"He certainly did" replied Murrue, lifting up her little girl. "And now, it's bedtime."
"Okay, Mama. 'Night, Papa"
Mwu grinned. "Goodnight, sweetie."
As Murrue tucked Stellar into bed, the little girl muttered. "Papa never finished the story. Did the prince and princess live happily ever after?"
Murrue kissed her on the cheek. "If they keep going the way they have been, and stay as happy, then they will."
We will, I'm sure of it. We'll live happily ever after...
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( That was...a bit longer than I'd intended. But it came out okay, so it's all good.
Please read and review! )
