Chapter 3

Relena followed her mysterious Nutcracker through the hole at the base of the tree. Swirling colors of every shade and hue surrounded her; the space seemed endless, and yet there was a clear path set before them. 'It's so strange,' she mused, 'I feel both heavy and weightless at the same time.'

"What is this place?" She asked, unsure whether the Nutcracker heard or would even answer.

"An interdimensional portal." He had heard. "It was made by the RATs using the magic of a scepter similar to the one that was destroyed in the fireplace. The leader of the RATs has equipped every regiment with a scepter that had a copy of the crystal he possesses."

"And where did the crystal come from? What exactly is it?"

"All we know is that he stole his from the Sugarplum Fairy. His method for mass producing the replicas is unknown."

That was as far as their conversations went before their trip resumed its silence. She found herself fighting the urge to ask more questions. 'It wouldn't hurt him to be more talkative.'

Her wooden savior, however, seemed annoyed enough by the few questions she had asked and just as bothered by her mere presence. The stories told by her Godfather had made the Nutcracker out to be a valiant soldier with honor, integrity and gentility, but the man before her seemed to lack the third. He was brave, to be sure, but-for someone who had been trained to be her protector-he seemed to care very little for her at all.

Her Godfather had said that the soldier was the destined love of the Princess and implied that romance between the two star-crossed lovers was inevitable. Now that she knew she was the princess from the story, she had a whole new perspective on the situation. Though she hadn't been in his presence long, the likelihood of such a thing ever coming to pass seemed non-existent. Granted, she had been stolen away at a very young age so such a connection, very likely, was a stylistic embellishment on her Godfather's part.

"So much for that childhood fantasy." She muttered to herself. He paused and turned to her.

"Did you say something?" She shook her head.

"No. it was nothing." She felt the blush rise, embarrassed by her disappointment. He gave her an affirmative grunt and continued on. She sighed and frowned in spite of herself and continued to follow him as they neared what seemed to be the end of the winding, oversized tunnel.

The light that shone had a warm hue to it that one could almost feel on the skin. When they finally a leave the portal, the smell of sugar and vanilla wafted through the air and the sun was beginning to peek over the tops of what seemed to be mountains that were made of rock-candy. In fact, as she took in her surroundings, she noticed everything seemed to be made of some sort of sugary confection. The path before her appeared to be made out of chocolate bricks lined with icing snow on either side. This was, of course, impossible, and yet...

'I wonder if…' in spite of herself, she knelt down and scooped up some of the cold icing and put it to her lips. 'It is real!' She stood and stared in wonder. Trees made of winding licorice and cotton candy leaves were scattered across the scenery. She both marveled at the sight and wondered how it was possible.

"Where… are we?" She slowly turned to him and she could have sworn he rolled his eyes.

"We're in Candy Land; the Easternmost side of your kingdom."

'Candy Land? Wait… my kingdom? I have a kingdom…' The thought seemed so alien and fantastical.

"And we have to keep moving. The town where my contact is supposed to be waiting lies ahead. It won't be long before the RATs learn we're here." He began to head down the path without her and she quickly followed, trying not to be too hypnotized by her surroundings. On the off chance that she was dreaming, she pinched her forearm and winced at the sudden, sharp pain. She was definitely not dreaming.

As the path wound on, things took a darker turn. The acrid smell of burnt sugar and baked goods assaulted her senses. Smoke rose from the village ahead, billowing like an ominous cloud.

"Damn." Heero swore. Before she knew what was happening, he grabbed her arm in a firm but gentle grip, and began to drag her off the path and behind one of the giant trees.

"Heero?"

"Quiet." He looked around for a moment. She tried to walk away and he pulled her back, pressing her between him and the tree. She felt a blush heat her cheeks at being so close.

"Heero—"

"I said quiet." He stood as still as a stone. Was he listening for something?

"There are RATs in the village. Nothing too difficult, but the civilians could be a problem." Relena didn't know what to say or even if she should say anything. He told her to be quiet as though she were a child! 'I'm getting tired of him treating me like an inconvenience!' She had volunteered to come, it was true, but that did not give him the right to treat her this way!

"And, let me guess, you want me to stay here while you go off into the town by yourself and take them all out, am I correct?"

"Hn." She rolled her eyes and lifted her hands to press against his chest to push him away. He glanced down at her, seemingly annoyed and stepped away from her.

"I'm going with you."

"No, you aren't."

"No one knows what I look like. For all they know, I could be a townsperson returning from a short trip." He shook his head.

"You'll only get in my way." He stared down at her, deep blue eyes peering into hers. "Stay. I'll return for you shortly."

"Alright," a quick idea came to her and she grinned, "But would you please tell me what your plan is if I am caught out here while you're gone?" His expression faltered. She had gotten to him! He stared at her for another long moment before he took a step back.

"Fine, you can come with me, but stay low, stay back, and stay out of sight. If you are spotted, it could prove disastrous for the village." He started out and she followed him, hiding where cover allowed and sneaking where it didn't.

If she hadn't been following his movements, he would seem nearly undetectable. He moved with all the grace and expertise of a perfect soldier. 'Just like the stories described.' This man had trained long and hard to succeed in his mission. She had witnessed him fight; knew how skilled he was. If she were being honest, it was her frustration with herself that was the worst part of the situation. She was supposed to return, stop the RATs and free her people but she didn't even know the first thing about self-defense, let alone fighting. 'Face it, Relena; you would be completely useless in a fight.' Perhaps he had been right to ask her to stay behind. 'Why must you always be so stubborn!' her silent, self-chastisement neither made her feel better, nor made her more useful.

They entered the town undetected. The shabby state of the streets from the abuse by the RATs showed everywhere. The houses that were made of gingerbread had clearly been chewed on. Chunks of walls and roofs were missing. An entire section of the chocolate cobble-stones had been devoured. A few of the houses had clearly been burnt to the ground; some recent and some obviously from another time. 'I think I'm going to be sick.' The sheer level of suffering these people must have endured made her stomach lurch.

Suddenly, Heero stopped. He peeked around the corner of one of the houses and she saw his posture change. He was angry; a sentiment they shared. She joined him at a decent vantage point and what she saw made her blood run cold.

The inhabitants of the town had been lined up according to age, gender, and size. Babies and children were crying for their mothers, mothers for their children, wives for their husbands and husbands for their families. They had been shackled around the ankles and wrists and were being loaded into giant cages.

"Single file! That's it! No pushing, no shoving, and no escape attempts or you will be made an example of!" The leader of the group shouted this from the center of the group.

"Wait here." Heero stated and turned to her.

"But Heero-"

"If you fall into their hands, then everything was for nothing." With that, he moved away from her.

Though irritated, she stood from her safe spot, watching as yet another child was taken from its mother; the heart-wrenching screams bringing back terrible memories...

Flames… the smell of smoke… the tears that soaked her face; her mother's tears…

"Relena!"

These events, so similar to the visions from her nightmares played out before her eyes in real time. It was so hard to breathe...

"No! Not my baby! Please! I'm all she has! Please!" The woman had thrown herself onto the ground and made herself dead weight to prevent her child from being pulled from her arms.

"Enough!" Their leader yelled. "Release the brat!" The child was handed back to its mother; a momentary relief before both mother and baby were thrown to the ground. The soldiers kicked the woman repetitively as she balled herself around the infant to protect it from their cruelty. Relena felt something building within her; burning red hot. 'How dare they do this?! How dare they separate families and terrorize towns?!' The leader finally closed the distance between him and the mother and pointed one of those scepters at her.

"If you wish by us to be left alone, then you and yours shall be turned to stone." The crystal in the end began to glow an ugly crimson and in a flash of that same ugly light, the woman and her baby were turned into a statue; their fear and pain frozen in time. Relena could bear it no more. That last act of cruelty did something; awoke something deep within her. The burning welled up and over until she could no longer contain it.

"Stop it!" She left her hiding spot and drew the RATs attention to her.

"What's this? A girl?" The leader sneered. "Put her in with the rest of them!" One of the RATs charged her. Suddenly, Heero sprung forward to attack. The commotion distracted the other RAT soldiers long enough for her to escape the leader. She stole the keys from his belt and ran over to the cages. Relena unlocked as many of the shackles as she possibly could.

"Go, hurry! Get out of here!"

Many of the women took their children and ran as instructed, but a few joined the fight. The younger men picked up whatever they could find and began to attack the RAT soldiers. Relena wished her father had let her take fencing lessons. She felt so helpless hiding behind the cages.

"There you are!" A RAT soldier had discovered her hiding spot and pointed his sword at her.

"You're the cause of all of this! Now die!"

Relena looked up in time to see him raise his sword for a killing blow, ready to strike her when it suddenly got knocked out of his hand. Just as quickly, a figure landed between them. A tall, thin, gingerbread man with black icing for clothes and a brown licorice braid stood poised for attack; his light purple eyes seemed to be made of rock candy circles. He carried with him a scythe that seemed to be made of a candy cane with a long, rock candy blade.

"It's pretty obvious to anyone that you're the bad guy here." Her rescuer said. "Are you alright, Lady?"

"You! The King will be pleased when I bring in your head on a platter!" the soldier growled.

"Heh, dream on, cheese breath!" Relena watched the giant cookie-man fight the large rodent and began to question yet again if someone had spiked her punch at the party.

"What's this? A girl?" The RATs turned their attention to her as she left her hiding place.

"Put her in with the rest."

"Damn it, Relena!" He swore under his breath for the third time since finding her. This woman was going to be the death of him. He tackled two RAT's to the ground in one swift move. The first tried to get up but a solid punch to the face rendered his opponent unconscious.

A second RAT righted himself. Heero jumped to his feet, kicked the RAT down and crouched over him dealing another swift, hard blow. A third soldier nearly overtook him from behind. Heero saw his blade and dodged, grabbing the sword off of one of the others. He parried one attack and countered, disarming his assailant. Heero took a moment to assess the situation. He had to locate her. In the commotion, the villagers who had been freed began to fight back - seizing the weapons of their fallen oppressors. Relena seemed to be the one liberating them. 'She's brave.' He smiled in spite of himself.

He lost sight of her, though, when another RAT soldier clashed swords with him. Heero made quick work of him, blocking the sword thrust before kicking his attacker to the ground. He looked up just in time to see a large RAT about to attack Relena! The soldier's weapon was raised to deal the killing blow to the unarmed princess. Heero felt time stand still... There was no way he could get there! Before he could even try, someone else intervened. Heero smirked as the giant cookie distracted her attacker. He knew her braided rescuer; she'd be safe.

Four more RAT soldiers converged on his position. Heero readied himself to fight them, squaring off his stance and readying his own blade. A figure jumped behind them, sword pointed to the soldiers' backs, stance strong.

"Stop. You're defeated." The new arrival stated. Two of the RAT's turned to face the newcomer.

"Who are you?" One of them asked.

"Where were you hiding?!"

The newcomer smirked.

"Wufei Chang" he stated, flicking his wrist to reposition the blade. "I don't hide anywhere."

The RAT's charged both of them at the same time, Heero dodged the first, parried the blade of the second. The first RAT turned, sneering. Heero smirked. The second RAT brandished his blade again and renewed his attack. They attacked in unison. Heero sidestepped and parried; grabbed an arm of one and used the force of his blade to dislodge the balance of the other. He moved with inhuman speed, grabbed both soldiers and slammed them to the ground, knocking both unconscious with relative ease. Wufei's opponents seemed to be just as easily dispatched as well, posing no real challenge.

"Yuy." Wufei greeted. Heero nodded in response.

After that, the fight did not last very long. Relena's quick thinking in freeing the villagers aided in the effort and—as the last of the RATs were shoved into cages—the villagers gave a rousing cheer. Many of them swarmed him, taking his hand and thanking him. He could only nod to each in response. As he glanced around, he found Relena standing in the middle of it all. She knelt down and stared at the stone figures. The sorrow on her face… the unshed tears in her eyes… it made him feel…

"She only wanted to protect her baby…" The crowd had become eerily silent. She reached out and gingerly touched the cold stone. "I'm so sorry…" Heero watched a tear fall from her eye and splatter on the stone. He felt something strange; something unfamiliar...

'What's wrong with me?' He wanted to take her into his arms and comfort her. He hadn't felt like this since those dreams… They were so long ago. He was a foolish boy then. He had no time to think about them…

He was searching for her… there was a fog, thick and swirling…

"Princess?!" He cried out. Was she in danger? Did she need him? He wandered aimlessly until he saw her there: golden hair flowing around her, aqua eyes shining at him…

"My princess!" She said something, but he couldn't understand what it was...

Heero shook off the memory. Somehow, he found himself walking toward her without even thinking about it.

Suddenly, where the teardrop had fallen, the stone began to glow with a pale, blue light that spread over the surface of the tragic statue. The glow became brilliant and blinding with a purple and silver hue. To his amazement, when the blinding light cleared, the mother and her baby were human again. The crowd began to cheer. Heero made his way to her and lifted her to her feet. She seemed to be in utter shock. The woman looked at her, tears of joy in her eyes and reached out her free hand to grasp Relena's.

"Thank you! Thank you! Oh, thank you, so much!" The woman smiled and turned from Relena who appeared to be dazed. "It's a miracle!" The woman walked to join the crowd, kissing her baby as she did so. Relena seemed in a daze. Heero stepped toward her. He felt the need to check on her...

"Relena…?"

"I… I don't understand." She looked at her hands. "What… how did it happen?" Heero shook his head as she turned her gaze to him.

"You are the heir to the legacy of the strongest being in our lands. You willed it and made it so."

"You mean… I broke the curse?" He nodded, but Relena still seemed in shock.

"Come on. It won't take long for this to reach their leaders. We have to get you someplace safe." Heero took her hand to lead her away from the throng of people only to be stopped short.

"Not so fast, soldier boy!" A voice came from behind him. He took a protective stance in front of Relena. "You and your little lady friend aren't goin' anywhere."

The voice made her freeze in place, eyes looking to Heero. Her gingerbread rescuer seemed to be less friendly than before, but Heero didn't seem worried. He kept his protective stance, but he was relaxed. Relena watched the braided gingerbread man walk around them.

"You must be some special lady to reverse the magic of the crystal so easily. You might be useful in our rebellion." He walked up to her but Heero never left his place.

"Put down your scythe, you braided idiot." A new figure called to the gingerbread man. Relena looked at this new addition to their group with wide eyes. He was a large, porcelain doll with jet black hair pulled into a small ponytail and a white Asian outfit she assumed might be some sort of fighting attire.

"What? Wufei, don't tell me you're with them?" The braided cookie leaned on his scythe.

"Duo." Heero stated, his voice tinged with annoyance.

"How do you know my name? Let me guess: my fame has reached the far corners of the lands! It's okay to be impressed."

"I'm the one who stationed you here." The gingerbread man (now known as Duo) stared at him for a moment, and then his icing mouth turned into a smile.

"Heero?!" Duo rubbed his candy eyes. "Of course! Shoulda known from that mop-top! What happened to you?"

"Isn't it obvious, you idiot?" Wufei chastised him.

"Oh, right, the magic of those scepters. Damn." Duo rubbed the back of his head as if in thought. "If they got you too, we're really in trouble." He relaxed his hold on his scythe.

"So, then, are you traveling with this little lady?" Relena suddenly felt the weight of all those eyes on her.

"Duo, this is Princess Relena Peacecraft of the Sanc Kingdom."

"The Princess Relena? The heir to the Sugar Plum Fairy?" Duo walked closer to her and took her hand in his. "Pleased to meet you, your highness!" He kissed her hand and then took a step back. "My name's Duo Maxwell! I may run, and I may hide, but I never tell a lie! That's me in a nutshell!" He gave a sweeping bow and rose and winked at her. In spite of everything, she giggled.

"But he is prone to exaggerations." Heero dryly jabbed. It was the closest thing to having a sense of humor she'd seen in him since they met. Duo turned and stuck his tongue out before turning his attention back to her.

"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Maxwell." She curtsied. Duo made a sour face; a comical expression on gingerbread man.

"Just call me Duo, Princess. I don't like formalities."

"Then please, call me Relena." She smiled at him. For being a giant cookie, he wasn't short on charm. 'One might even say he's sweet.' She grinned at her own pun.

"Sure thing, pretty lady." He winked again. Heero stepped between them.

"If you are done acting like an idiot, we need to focus on the task at hand." Wufei grumbled. He had yet to speak to her, and she to him, but he seemed a disagreeable, short-tempered sort.

"We need to get her someplace safe." Heero's stern and serious tone was a stark contrast with Duo's easy-going nature. The giant cookie gave a crooked frown.

"As personable as ever, eh pally?" Duo crossed his arms over his chest. "Guess you're right, though. They'll be sending reinforcements when this crew doesn't check in. Come on." Duo began walking and Heero motioned for her to move by placing his hand in the small of her back and extending the other. She fought back a shiver. Though made of wood, his touch seemed to warm her skin - in sharp contrast to the chilly morning. She blushed and began to follow Duo, but it took her only a moment to realize he wasn't behind her.

"Heero?" She looked at him.

"I'll bring up the rear. I'm going to cover our tracks." She hesitated but felt Duo touch her arm.

"He'll be alright, Princess." He smiled and she returned the kind expression.

"Come, woman." Wufei stated. Relena couldn't help but bristle.

"My name is Relena." She demanded, her words coming out harsher than she'd originally intended. At this point, she hardly cared. She had been attacked and nearly killed no less than twice in the last few hours. She was beyond a little upset.

"Hmph" the porcelain doll turned from her. "I know your name." Wufei stated somewhat coldly. Duo leaned over and whispered to her.

"He likes you." Relena eyed him, unsure, as he grinned at her. She finally shrugged and allowed herself to sigh.

"Yuy is right. We must see that you are safe." Wufei sheathed his sword and began to walk off. Realizing they weren't following, he turned. "Come on." She glanced at Heero who nodded to her. She turned to follow her gingerbread guide, and tried not to think too hard on the absurdity of her current situation.