Disclaimer: I'll Take Care of You and Celebrate You belong to Steven Curtis Chapman.

A/N: I hope no one minds the songs. I haven't put any in for a while, and SCC is my favorite singer, so I just had to put them in. I just want to know if they even fit, hehe. If you don't think they do, or if you're tired of songs, let me know in your review and I'll take them out in the rewrite.

P.S. This chapter is optional because it doesn't really have too much to do with the storyline, I was just bored, so I wrote it. Sorry the story's been so slow; it'll speed up soon, 'cause we're getting into the fun part. And I still really need Beta Readers. (And believe me, I'm going to keep saying so 'cause no one's taken me up so far, heehee)

Chapter Twenty: News, and Wishes Do Come True

My mother had only prompted me about choosing a husband a couple times since the ball, which had been three days past this morning. I was sitting at my bedstand brushing my hair when there was a knock at my door.

"Come in," I called and the door swung open and I could see my mom in my mirror. "Oh, hey," I said as she walked in. She sat down on my bed and folded her hands in her lap.

"Um, Val…" She began, her hands fiddling with her skirt.

"Yeah?"

"I'd like to talk to you about –"

I automatically cut her off, turning to face her. "Mother, I don't feel like picking a husband. And if you try to marry me off without my consent, I will refuse to say my vows," I stated calmly. She sighed and nodded.

"I know, darling, but…" She trailed off.

"Mom, why can't you understand? You know how it is to be forced to do things you don't want to," I reminded her desperately but quietly. I couldn't believe how calm I was. Usually I would be ranting and raving. Maybe it was because I knew if it came to a head, I could always just say I'd marry Shean and then ask him later, knowing he'd probably say yes anyways.

"Well, have you even looked at any of the young men?" She asked, sounding just as desperate as I felt.

"Yes, and most of them are arrogant, stuck up gizzards who only want me for the title," I replied evenly, tucking my golden-brown hair behind my ear as I turned back to the mirror to work on my hair.

Mother sighed. "All right, but everyone wants to have this settled as soon as possible. They think it should have been settled three years ago, or that you should have been betrothed at birth, but I want to give you the choice." I nodded, but she wasn't finished. "But," she continued as she stood up, holding up a finger, "if you don't choose for yourself, we will be pressured into having to choose for you." I nodded again and she left. About a minute after she had closed the door, there was another knock.

"Yeah?"

"It's Shean."

"Come on in," I called, standing up and sitting down on my bed, finishing up with my hair.

Shean opened the door and stepped inside, closing it firmly behind him and came over to sit down next to me.

"What was that all about?"

I sighed. "She was starting on the 'husband' thing again."

Shean sighed too. "You're going to keep being difficult about it, aren't you?" He asked in an almost neutral tone. I looked up, trying to figure out if he was disappointed in me or not. He was staring at the wall and didn't have much of an expression, so I couldn't tell.

I finally nodded. "Yes, I am."

He immediately smiled and turned to hug me and I let him hold me.

"Good. I don't want to loose you so soon."

I didn't quite understand, but I let it be.

"Besides," he continued as he let me go, keeping an arm around my shoulders and my head on his shoulder, "if it comes to a point, you know you can always tell her you'll take me if you haven't found anyone you can stand to live with."

I grinned. "That's exactly what I was thinking, but I wasn't sure you'd want to."

Shean laughed. "Why wouldn't I? I already told you I loved you."

"Yeah, but this is a lifetime commitment, and there's more responsibilities and stuff than most guys would have when they got married. And you'd have to be king someday." I sighed, knowing how much Shean hated that kind of thing. Instead of replying, Shean started to hum, then sing in a soft, murmuring voice. I smiled, knowing the song well.

I'll take care of you/

Don't be sad, don't be blue/

I'll never break your heart in two/

I'll take care/

I'll kiss your tears away/

I'll end your lonely days/

All that I'm really trying to say/

Is I'll take care of you

I want you to know that I love you so/

I'm proud to tell the world you're mine/

I said it before, I'll say it once more/

You'll be in my heart 'til the end of time

I'll take care of you/

Don't be sad, don't be blue/

Just count on me your whole life through/

'Cause I'll take care of you

I grinned as he ended. "Thanks, just don't tell the world I'm yours just yet."

He gave me a mock surprised look. "Why, aren't you?"

I laughed. "Yeah, but I don't want them to know just yet."

He smiled and started another song, though this time I joined in.

I'm no stranger to gentle reminders/

That the world does not revolve around me/

But no sooner have you spoken the words/

Then your love comes once again to surround me/

And every time I look in your eyes/

I see the reflection of myself/

But this time I want to look deeper/

And see you and nobody else

So, tell you what you think, and tell me what you feel/

I want to hear the thunder I'm so quick to steal/

Listen to the drams you're dreaming and celebrate you/

Let me show you what a treasure you are/

A priceless gift from heaven to this thankful heart/

I want to take this lifetime to celebrate you/

I want to celebrate you

I have heard you say so many times/

How you're sorry you're not everything you should be/

So let me tell you this one more time/

There's no way you could be any more precious to me/

But I know that lovely flowers and phrases/

Are not what you need the most from me/

You're longing for someone to listen/

And that's what I want to learn how to be

I want to share your laughter/

And I want to share your tears/

We're gonna share this life together/

And I'm gonna celebrate you/

Celebrate you

I smiled again. "Well, you do that, but don't let my mum know just yet."

He laughed and squeezed my shoulder. "I think you've made that abundantly clear," he chuckled. "Would you like another one?" I assumed he meant a song.

I shook my head. "I think this is just fine, thank you," I murmured, laying my head back on his shoulder. He rested his head on mine and we sat in silence for a few minutes until there was a knock on my door and a servant announced through the door that breakfast was ready. I started and knocked the top of my head on Shean's chin and he bounced up, then laughed, and picked me up off the bed and set me on my feet, and we set out for the dining room that the family usually ate at when we didn't have important company.

When we walked into the room, the only person sitting at the table was Éralla.

"Where's Mom and Dad?" I asked as we sat down, looking around.

"Some meeting with their advisors or councilors or whatever," Éra replied, scrunching up her nose and sticking out her tongue. "They're always in meetings," she complained.

I sighed. "What's this one about?"

"Bore or four or war or something."

I dropped my fork and jerked up ramrod straight. "What?"

She shrugged. "I don't know; Nanny didn't tell me much of anything."

I dropped my head into my hands, then looked up at Shean with a resigned grimace. "Well, looks like this is our cue to go get that list ready to go."

He nodded. "Come on, let's get back to your room. We can have the servants bring up some food, right?" I nodded and we went back up to my bedroom.

"All right, here's what I have," Shean said, handing me a list that he had gotten when he'd ran back to his own quarters. I perused it.

"Well, looks good to me, though I don't know much about this kind of thing. I wonder why we needed to have this ready?" I mused.

Shean shrugged. "I dunno, but it's a good thing we knew beforehand, otherwise I wouldn't have had this ready. Maybe they figured out how to make a wish machine or something," he laughed.

There was a knock just then and a couple servants came in with our breakfast. We talked for a while before there came another knock and my parents came in. They seemed a little surprised to see Shean eating breakfast in my room with me, but they just sat down on the bed and didn't say anything.

"Val, we need to talk," my dad said. There was a pause.

"Well, um…" Mom trailed off and I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever you have to say, Shean can hear too."

They both sighed. "All right, fine," Dad all but growled. Must be serious. "Val, you know there have been tensions with Ferrel." I nodded. "Well, Ferrel wants to declare war." I didn't even gape or anything and my parents looked surprised.

"You're not surprised?" Mom asked.

I shook my head. "I thought I told you that I already knew."

She shook her head warily. "Well, anyways, we just wanted to tell you that you're going to have to go to stay somewhere else until we get this sorted out." And until we find some weapons that'll stand up to Ferrel, I heard from my dad, although he didn't say it aloud.

"Well, Shean and I have a list of weapons that might help, though I don't know where we might get them," I muttered, feeling stupid, but figuring I might as well let them know, even if it wouldn't do any good.

My dad looked up, an almost hopeful expression on his face. "Really? That was something else we wanted to talk to you about. Someone came up with… well, I guess you might call it a – well, a wish machine." Shean and I exchanged startled glances, remembering his remark earlier.

"How does it work?"

Dad opened his mouth, then shut it again, looking puzzled. "To tell you the truth, I'm not sure. All I know is that you write down what you want on a piece of paper in nice, neat handwriting, and insert it into the machine. There's a deposit room that will collect everything that comes out. It's limited to certain people and you may not get many wishes, but if you help us with things for the war, we can probably get you each three wishes or so."

I smiled. "Sure. Do each of the wishes need to be on a separate piece of paper?"

Dad nodded. "Yes, that would be helpful."

"Okay, we'll have it ready soon," I promised and they stood up. Shean and I stood up as well to see them out. When the door shut behind them, I collapsed backwards onto my bed.

"Wow, three wishes. I'll need to think of something good that I'll really, really use," I mused, folding my hands behind my head. I sat up again. "I'll make a list and decide which I need most," I decided. Here's how the list went, in random order:

Star Wars books

Our guitars and accessories

More t-shirts and pants (no one would make me any more)

All the Steven Curtis Chapman CDs, both already released and future ones

Solar-powered rechargeable batteries (my CD Walkman and headphones had made their way into my bag, but I only had about 36 more batteries)

Any Christian CDs that I'd probably like, both already released and future ones

I ended up crossing off the Steven Curtis Chapman CDs because that would fall into the sixth wish anyways. Except that that still made five wishes and I only had three. I showed it to Shean and he helped me narrow it down to number two, five, and six.

Shean's was somewhat similar and about the same length, but his had a couple different things, since he didn't bring his CD Walkman and stuff.

We organized the weapons list onto different pieces of paper to feed the machine, and my parents came to get us and our lists the next morning after breakfast. Shean had refused to let me see his list, but I could guess what was on it.

We were taken to a room under the castle in which there was a big machine that looked like one of those mad scientist concoctions from the movies. There was a little man standing next to the machine who looked very much the part of a mad scientist: white hair that sprung away from his head as if it had been shocked, very slightly hunched like he was always bending over something, white outfit and all.

"Vellen, this is my daughter and her friend Shean," Dad introduced us. "Val, Shean, this is Vellen, the maker of the Wish Machine."

Vellen gave us a nod and moved over to the front of the machine to explain it. He gave us a bunch of terms that made no sense whatsoever.

"Um, can you explain that in layman's terms?" I asked.

He looked confused, but then his expression brightened. "Ah, yes, I see. You don't understand. Well, without telling you how it works, essentially what this little beauty does is you insert your wish here-" He indicated a slot, "and pull this lever-" He indicated the proper lever, "and your item or items will come out in the next room. It is rather large, so you need not worry about size." He beamed at us and we nodded.

"Let's do the weapons first," I suggested, "then you two can get them collected and get started on getting prepared. We wrote down on the papers to include instruction packets on how to use everything, too."

My parents nodded and Shean inserted the first paper into the slot and pulled the lever. There was a cranking sound of grinding gears and other loud poppings and noises, and we all covered our ears. We continued doing this until the whole weapons list had been cranked through and retrieved to the weapons store by soldiers.

"Thank you, Val," my mom called as she and my father left to go inspect the weapons.

"Well, it's our turn now, I guess," I sighed and took a breath, starting to get excited. Then I stopped. "Um, Vellen, is there any padding in that room?" Vellen nodded. "Well, would it be sufficient to cushion a falling hollow wooden instrument without breaking?" He shook his head. "Then please ask a couple soldiers to go in there and catch our guitars."

He shuffled to the door and relayed my instructions. He waited there until he was assured that the men were in place, and then he came back in and I put in my paper and pulled the lever. Again we covered our ears at the loud noises the machine made and the soldiers came in with the guitars. I quickly stripped off the gig bag and caressed the instrument for a moment, feeling the familiar smooth wood under my fingers, then set it aside so I could put in my next paper. To my delight, there really were such things as solar powered batteries (I was just taking a guess and hoping really hard I was right).

My next wish turned out well. There was at least a whole wheelbarrow's worth of CDs that tumbled into the room, and Vellen assured me that any future CDs would appear in a box he gave me. I had also jotted down my CD player and batteries for it at the last minute, and that came with the CDs, cushioned so they wouldn't crush the CDs.

Then it was Shean's turn. His first wish turned up a little ball with a line around the middle and symbols all over it. Shean took it from the man who brought it in and looked at it, puzzled. Vellen took it from him.

"Here, young sir, look. It works when you take the ball in both hands and twist." He didn't demonstrate, which seemed odd to me, until Shean spoke, smiling more broadly than I'd seen for a while.

"I can go back and visit my Mom, Val," he cried excitedly, fondling the ball. I gasped and then grinned. I'd figured he might wish for something like that, but I wasn't sure if anything worthwhile would come out.

His next wish got carted off to his room without being brought in, and Shean didn't tell me what it was, though he had a sly, secretive smile on his face, and Vellen gave him a box almost identical to mine.

His last wish got carted off as well. Once that was done, we thanked Vellen profusely and carried our guitars and Shean's ball up to our rooms, men following us with the rest my things that had come through.

We deposited our things into my room, then Shean pulled me off to his room.

"Close your eyes," he instructed and I did so. He opened the door and led me into the room. "Okay, you can open them now."

I did so and gasped, then squealed. "Oh, Shean." I ran over to the big box that was sitting next to his bed. I had gotten a glimpse of a familiar logo inside and started digging through the box with delight as Shean set his little box down in the corner of the room.

"My gosh, Shean, why didn't you tell me you were going to get all the Star Wars books?" I squealed, still pawing through the best books in the galaxy. Shean laughed and came over. He picked me up under his arm and put me on the bed next to him.

"Hey," I cried, but didn't protest any more than that. I knew he'd let me read them later.

"I didn't tell you because they were a surprise. They're yours."

I stared at him. "Wh – what?"

"Yeah, they're for you."

"Wh – why?"

"Are you fishing for another 'Because I love you'?" Shean asked with a wink.

I shook my head, dumbfounded.

"Well, you're gonna get it, 'cause that's why."

I shook my head in bewilderment. "But – but Shean, what about all those other things on your list? Didn't you want those?"

He shook his head. "I don't need them, and it was more than worth it to see your face when you saw all the books," he added with a grin, giving me a quick peck on the cheek. I grinned.

"Wow, this is great. If you ever wanna read any, just go ahead and take them."

He laughed. "Okay, I'll hold you to that. But that's not all." He stood up and guided me over to another large box that seemed to be full of clothing. "These are yours too."

My eyes widened and I jumped up and down. "Oh my gosh, thank you, Shean." I spun around and hugged him tight, then picked up one of the t-shirts. "It's just the right size and it's even my color." I laughed, spinning around, then hugging him again.

He laughed. "Glad you like 'em. Now come on, let's get someone to take these to your room and we can go for a ride or something."

"Promise you won't speed on the ride?"

Shean just laughed.

A/N: Sorry about the songs. I'll try not to put any more in. Also,