Chapter 6: The Hour of Twelve

"You cannot be serious!" Robin exclaimed as they raced down a hallway, his eyes glued on the girl next to him.

"I am most serious, friend Robin," Starfire insisted. "I am indeed a fairy. Kori'ander is my name in Tamaranean. In English, it means Starfire."

"Well, that I mostly believe," Robin admitted. "I mean, you're beautiful! Wait, I didn't mean… Not to say you aren't… that is-"

"Robin quit flirting, we still have to find Gar and Raven," Victor scolded, causing his friend to blush even more than he already had been.

"Fine, I just don't understand this. You came from Tamaran to help Raven, who's father used to be rich, but died. She now lives with her 'evil step-family', and so you helped her get into the ball by dressing her up and giving her a carriage made from a pumpkin?" Robin asked incredulously.

"Yes," Starfire replied simply. "Why does this confuse you so?"

Robin groaned and continued, "And she has to get out of here before midnight or the spell will end?"

"Well, the spell shall end regardless," Starfire clarified. "It would simply not be wise for her to be in the palace during the ending of the spell."

"Right," Robin nodded, trying to absorb all this information. "Are we almost there, Vic?"

"Almost," Victor nodded, looking over his shoulder at the friends behind him. His eyes widened as he thought he saw someone watching them from around the corner they had just turned, but he blinked and the figure was gone.

"Where is it that we are going?" Starfire asked.

"The garden," Robin replied. "Ever since we were little kids, Gar's always gone to the garden when he wanted to be alone. If he wanted to be alone with Raven, it's going to be our best bet."

"Is there not a shorter way to this garden? We have spent nearly five minutes and forty-three seconds running through these hallways already."

"This is the fastest way we know," Victor replied. "Gar probably knows hundreds of ways to get there as quickly as possible, but we've never really asked or gone there with him. After all, he goes there to think and be alone."

"We're almost there though," Robin assured her. "It's just around this corner."

As they turned the final corner they opened a large wooden door and stepped out into the quiet garden. Straining their ears they could hear the music from the ballroom drifting out from somewhere, but they could neither see, nor hear their friends.

"We'll follow the music," Robin decided. "They'll probably be close so they can hear it well."

Taking the lead, the dark haired boy began to run in the direction of the music, staying close to the side of the palace wall. They quickly found an open door with music gently pouring through.

"They were here," Victor said confidently.

"But where are they now?" Starfire asked, looking around.

"I think I know," Robin answered. Victor and Starfire followed his gaze and groaned as they saw where he was looking. In front of them stretched a large maze made of thick hedges.

-

Victoria puffed, trying too keep up with the three teens ahead of her. She felt like screaming and yelling, but knew that for once it wouldn't do her any good.

She had been following them for what seemed like forever, when in reality it had only been five or six minutes. She had been happy to follow them at first, excited at the prospect of catching Raven red-handed. However, she had quickly learned that the trio was in much better shape than she was, and the fact that she was wearing a corset and heels didn't help the matter.

Finally she stopped. Leaning on her knees, she greedily sucked in the clean night air. She looked around, a triumphant smirk on her face, which quickly disappeared, as she realized that no one was around.

"I thought I heard them stop!" she complained, looking around the empty clearing. Finally her eyes rested on a gap in the shrubbery. The entrance to a maze.

Standing next to the entrance, she held her breath and listened carefully. There! She could hear voices! Smiling, she took a step into the maze. She walked down a straight path of bushes until she reached a fork. Listening for the voices again, she turned right.

She continued to follow the sound of their voices until finally she heard two extra voices just around the corner. She peeked her head around and saw that they had reached the center of the maze. A small water fountain sat in the middle, and two people sat on the edge, looking up in confusion at the three that had led Victoria there.

-

"Raven, I'm having a really good time," Gar said, leading Raven through a hedge maze. He walked through it confidently, like he already knew his way through. They turned around one final corner and they were in the center of the maze. A fountain trickled water in the center of the clearing, and they sat down on its edge.

"Me too," Raven admitted. "It's just too bad it can't last."

"Why not?" Gar looked over at her. His green eyes bore into her own, and she had to look away.

"Because it could never work out," Raven told him. "I'm a servant, you're… well you're some rich man's son."

"Raven, that doesn't matter," Gar insisted. "All that matters is that I love you. And I'm pretty sure you love me too. You've done your best to hide it, but I know you do. You just have to."

Raven looked down at the ground. She wanted to deny it. She had to deny it. But for some reason… she couldn't. Realizing she wasn't going to say anything, Gar plowed on.

"Besides, I already told you, I don't care whether you're rich or poor. I'd give up everything I have just so I could have you. I love you"

"Stop saying that," Raven demanded, voice barely over a whisper. "The more you say it, the harder it's going to be to forget you."

"Good," Gar replied. "I love you, I love you, I-"

"Stop!" Raven looked over at him. She could feel tears burning at the back of her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. "You don't love me. You're infatuated, perhaps, but it will wear off at midnight, when I have to leave."

"That's not possible," Gar insisted. "I've been in love with you since I met you three days ago, and true love never dies, or wears off."

Her breathing began to turn shallower as she fought back her tears, and she had to look away again. The tears were getting harder to contain, although she didn't know why she felt like crying in the first place. It wasn't like she loved him or anything… did she?

One of Gar's gloved hands reached over to Raven's chin, gently turning her head toward him. She looked at him. Her confusion was clear in her eyes, if not in her blank expression.

Leaning over he captured his lips in hers. She gasped and leaned into the kiss, as she was flooded with feelings she had never experienced before.

She had kissed boys before. She remembered clearly when the butcher's son had stolen one a few years ago when she had been running errands in town, and another time when Milton, another boy in the city, had been dared to kiss her. Neither of those kisses had felt like this. They had been nice, perhaps, but nothing compared to this.

Her eyes snapped open when she realized that she had been kissing him back, and she pulled away. Gar looked at her sadly, wondering why she had stopped.

"Please, Gar," Raven pleaded. "Ever since my father died, I've done my best to hide my feelings and emotions. If you don't feel anything, you can't get hurt."

"You can't love either," Gar replied. Raven sighed. Looking into her eyes, Garfield took a deep breath. "Raven… I have to tell you something. I'm a-"

He was suddenly interrupted as three figures burst into the center of the maze. Raven and Garfield looked up in surprise as Starfire, Richard and Victor halted in front of them.

"Thank X'hal we have found you!" Starfire gasped, lowering herself to the ground. Gar's eyes nearly bulged out when he noticed the floating girl, but was quickly distracted as his friends began to explain what had been going on since they had left the party.

"Your father found out that Raven's here, and he's not happy," Victor told him. "We've gotta get her out of here right before he finds her."

"What? But-"

"We'll explain it all later Gar," Robin promised. "But right now, we need to help her escape. No doubt your dad's already ordered my guard to be on the lookout for a girl with Raven's description."

"She's got her hood, but-"

Ding

The sound of a loud bell cut off Gar's protests. Their heads all snapped towards the palace, where a large clock was placed on the side of the wall. Both hands were pointing at twelve.

Ding

"We must go now!" Starfire exclaimed. Quickly, she leaned over and whispered something in Robin's ear. Without another word she picked Raven up by the arms and soared over the maze, with the shocked girl hanging twenty feet above the ground. Without looking back, Starfire flew them over the garden wall and around to the front of the palace.

Ding

Setting Raven on the ground, they ran towards the pumpkin carriage. They heard a shout, and looked back to see several members of the palace guard pointing at them. Raven realized too late that her hood was still off.

Ding

Speeding up, the two girls neared the carriage. The sounds of soldiers mounting horses, while others simply ran forward urged them on.

Ding

Reaching the carriage, Starfire flung the door open. She jumped inside and held out a hand for Raven to climb in as well. Raven paused, looking back at the palace.

Ding Snapping back, Raven quickly followed Starfire into the coach, pulling the door closed behind her with a slam. Ding

With a snap of his whip, the newt-turned-coach driver spurred his horses into action, and they pulled the carriage towards the palace gates.

Ding

"Close the gates!" a voice ordered. The gatekeepers rushed over to the crank that controlled the gates and began turning it. The heavy metal grating slowly lowered as Raven and Starfire's coach advanced.

Ding

In a flash of green power, the carriage horses sped up to an unnatural pace. The carriage was pulled under the gate just a second before it closed on them.

"Open the gates!"

Ding

As the carriage raced away from the palace, guards hot on their heels, Starfire opened one of the doors.

"We must jump out, or the pumpkin will change and crush us," Starfire yelled over the sound of the wind rushing past the carriage.

Ding

"Jump!"

The two girls flung themselves out of the carriage, rolling as they landed with a thump in a grove of trees surrounded by bushes.

DING! They watched as the carriage turned a bend in a flash of green. Seconds later, the guards raced past, not noticing the two girls sitting in the bushes. They drove their horses on, turning the bend, unknowing that the coach they were chasing had disappear for good. Only once the rumbling feeling of hooves had left, did they allow themselves to breathe. Leaning against a tree, the two girls looked at each other.

"I am sorry your night has been ruined," Starfire apologized sadly.

"It wasn't ruined," Raven replied. "This night may have been one of the worst nights of my life, but it was also the best. Thank you."

Wearily, Starfire draped a comforting arm around Raven, pulling her into a half hug. Raven leaned into the comforting hug, trying to push her thoughts away from Gar. She could still see his face, watching her being flown out of the garden. She had felt- still felt- a strange pain, which had started in her chest and worked its way through the rest of her body. Heartbreak.

Suddenly, Starfire pulled her arm away. Raven looked at her, but the fairy didn't look back. Her eyes were focused on Raven's foot. Raven looked down and her eyes widened as she saw a glass slipper on her left foot. Her other foot was bare, and she now remembered being vaguely aware of the other slipping off her foot as they soared over the garden.

Carefully pulling off the slipper, Raven looked at it. What did it mean? She gazed at the shimmering glass, and as she looked she saw an image of herself and Gar dancing through the palace garden. She blinked her eyes and it was gone. It had just been her imagination.

She turned her head to ask Starfire why the slipper hadn't disappeared, and was surprised when she saw that the fairy was gone. In fact, the entire grove was gone, and she was left sitting on the swing in her own garden.

She shivered, although it wasn't cold outside. Had it all been a dream? No, it couldn't have been. The slipper was proof that it was real.

Pain seeped through her once more and with a heavy sigh, she stood up. Placing the slipper in her pocket, she walked back to the house. She had floors to scrub.

So, was it worth the wait? I hope so. I know it seems like I forgot about nosy little Victoria, but no. I really do have a reason for making her follow them, but it'll be more important in the next chapter. Not sure when that one will be ready, but I'll try to finish it quickly.

Tammy Tamborine