Chapter 1: A letter from an old friend

It was a typical normal day at Shrek's swamp, Shrek had made breakfast for his and Fiona's ogre triplets, Fergus, Farkle and Felicia. And as they ate their breakfast, Fiona ventured forth outside to get the mail, which. to no surprise, was the usual batch: Junk, fan mail, regular letters, bills and a letter addressed to Fiona herself from Adam, which was a blue envelope with some gold trimmings.

Upon returning inside the house, Fiona sat at the table and began to sort the mail, Shrek looked at his wife lovingly as she returned.

"Anything new, Fiona?" he asked.

Fiona shook her head and replied, "No. It's just the same old usual batch, Shrek."

"It figures…" Shrek shrugged as he ate his omelet with extra onions and weed rat, but it was not too long before he noticed the blue envelope with some gold trimmings. "Hey, what about that one?"

Fiona looked at the envelope in question.

"Funny, I don't remember seeing this one." she said.

But upon gazing upon the familiar handwriting, her eyes widened, she stopped sorting the mail as a big wide smile spread across her face.

"Well, I be…" she giggled, "Adam, you old beast."

She then took her exit from the dining table to her and Shrek's desk, where Fiona taught the kids how to read and write.

Confused by his wife's remark, Shrek arched an eyebrow, "Adam? Who's Adam, Fiona?"

When he noticed that his wife didn't answer, Shrek soon saw that Fiona had already taken the liberty of opening the envelope and started to read the precious document that was addressed to her, and this is what it said:

"Dear Fiona, how's it going? I haven't heard from you in a long time, so I thought I'd write you just like how we used to for old time's sake. I've heard you got married to a man named Shrek, and it may interest you to know that I've also found the most beautiful girl I have ever laid eyes on, her name is Belle. And we also have a few children of our own, twins in fact, when compared to your triplets. Anyway, I'll get right to the point: how would you, your kids and Shrek like to come out to France? I was thinking of holding a reunion of sorts for us and so we can meet each other's spouse and children. Let me know if that works for you, I've really missed you. Sincerely, Prince Adam Proulx."

Growing more and more curious by the minute, Shrek then walked up to Fiona and waved a hand in front of her face still struggling to get her attention.

"Fiona, who's Adam?"

Noticing Shrek's hand, Fiona lowered the letter from her face.

"Oh, sorry, Shrek. I forgot you were there."

Keeping his temper in check, Shrek calmly nodded.

"Aye, clearly you did." He then became serious. "I'll ask again. Who the heck is Adam, Fi?"

Fiona didn't blame Shrek for being overprotective of her, for this was not the first time he had done so to guard her, so chose the right words on how to describe Adam.

"Oh Adam… Adam… Adam… Adam's an old friend."

Shrek was still suspicious, so he raised an eyebrow, "And yet you called him an 'old beast' ."

Fiona nodded and began to explain, "That's because he is…" She caught herself. "Or rather, he was one."

Shrek was speechless, he rolled his eyes, "Oh, what? He was an old lover?"

Alarmed, Fiona shook her head.

"Good grief, no!" Getting up from her seat, Fiona walked over to their library, looking for a book. "Have you ever heard of La Belle et la Bête, Shrek?"

Shrek was not one for reading, unless of course it was a story for the kids or a cookbook to make some delicious recipe, so he began to mispronounce the words his wife just said. "La Belle et la… Eh?" After several attempts on struggling to say the words, he was confused, "Speak English, Fiona. What are you talking about? Is that some kind exotic food recipe?"

When Fiona came around, she held in one of her hands, the book in question and showed it to Shrek.

"No Shrek, it's a fairy tale in French. It means Beauty and the Beast."

Understanding now, Shrek nodded and looked over the book, until he found two illustration of Adam, one of him in human form, and other in his beastly form.

"Ah. And I assume that Adam's…?"

His wife nodded, "The Beast."

Curious still, but also relieved, Shrek went on egging his wife with the question he was concerned about before.

"So, he's not a former lover?"

Fiona simply shook her head, "Of course not, Shrek. We're just very old friends. I just haven't heard from him in so long and I'm thinking of taking him up on his offer to catch up with him."

Now normally, Shrek paid attention to every occasion in his wife's circle of friends, but as this was a special occasion, he was intrigued.

"And why not? Especially if you haven't seen him in so long…"

Fiona smiled her husband's enthusiasm, "I'd like you to come as well."

Shrek was baffled, so he pointed to himself, "Why me?"

"He said you're invited, so it seems like the proper thing to do on you accepting his invitation, not me." Fiona replied. "Plus, I think you both will find you have a lot in common."

Having a good idea this would mean another adventure, Shrek was interested, so he and Fiona walked back to the dining table to resume eating, as they ate, he asked his wife, while looking at the book at the same time.

"Well, I guess that then beckons the next question how do we get to… Where does he live exactly?"

"He lives in Conques, France, Shrek," Fiona answered.

Shrek then took a look at an illustration of a young woman with brown hair in the form of a ponytail, she was no more than 4 years younger than Adam, but she certainly very beautiful.

"So, who's the brown-haired lass then, his sister?"

Fiona shook her head, "No, Shrek. Adam had no siblings, that's actually his wife Belle, which means…"

"Beauty," he concluded."

It was now Fiona's turn to raise an eyebrow, "How'd you know?"

"I may have heard a translation of the name somewhere. Can't remember where exactly." Shrek answered.

Fiona was still impressed Shrek was taking this so well, "So, do you want to go?"

Shrek nodded, "I don't see why not." A moment later, he realized something, something which made him a little nervous. "So, if I and the kids are invited, then that must mean…"

Before Shrek could finish his train of thought, sounds of police sirens fill the air, Shrek and Fiona gasped in fear. One voice spoke, sounding a lot like a police officer, "Attention, you in the swamp, come out with your hands up where we can see 'em!"

Knowing they were outnumbered, Shrek, Fiona and their triplets raised their hands.

"What the…?" Shrek asked.

A second voice one soon joined in, but with this one, there was something familiar about this one's accent.

"Si, don't make us have to use force!"

Shrek began to walk towards the front door, "Okay, okay we're coming, we're…" But he stopped in mid-step and sentence as he realized there was something unmistakable about the voices in question, "Hold the phone… Donkey? Puss?"

Sure enough, Donkey, his wife Dragon and their children, the Dronkeys and former feline ogre killer and assassin for hire, Puss in Boots were outside, so the police sirens that the ogres heard earlier, died down.

Downhearted about the prank backfiring, Donkey asked, "What gave us away, guys? Be honest…"

To which Fiona answered, "It was Puss, Donkey. It's not that hard to recognize that accent of his."

Puss gave Donkey a mean look and hissed, "I told you that this scheme of yours wasn't going to work, you estúpido burro."

Deciding to play it safe, Shrek spoke rather calmly to Donkey, for if he knew the blabbermouth of a mule, and he did, Donkey would try to pull some of his usual shenanigans.

"If you've come for yet another play date with the kids Donkey, you'll have to take a rain check."

Thinking Shrek was trying to shoo him away, Donkey chuckled, "Oh, I see how it is, trying to pull a fast one and get away from old Donkey, eh Shrek?"

The ogre shook his head, "No, it's just that…"

Donkey went on, "You have a midlife crisis on your hands and you wanna work it out by yourself without me?"

It was now clear that Shrek was beginning to lose his cool, "No!"

Donkey continued once again, "You've fallen behind on your rent and you need a place to crash until you can get back on your feet? Got it!"

Really agitated, Shrek bellowed, "DONKEY!" He then started to calm down, "No, none of that. Fiona just received a letter from an old friend, and we were thinking of paying him a visit."

Puss, who was the more diligent between him and Donkey, simply asked, "So, who's the amigo, boss?"

To which Shrek answered, "Actually, the amigo is a fellow prince, Puss. And his name is Adam."

Shocked, Puss let out a huge gasp, safe to say he was overwhelmed with excitement.

"¡Madre de Dios! Prince Adam as in the Prince Adam from…?"

Shrek nodded, "Beauty and the Beast? The exact one." Realizing something, he arched an eyebrow, "Wait… You know him?"

Puss replied in an affirmative nod of his own, "Know him? Of course, I know him." he replied, "In my country boss, we've heard all sorts of tales, including La Bella y la Bestia."

"Ah, that would explain it," said Shrek.

Donkey was so excited, he was anxious to leave and check out the famous castle of the former Beast, "So, when do we leave?"

Fiona answered with a giggle, "Actually Donkey, I was just about to send my reply when you showed up."

If someone were to tell Donkey to calm down it be impossible as he said, "Sweet cheese and crackers! Maybe we'll be able to explore the village of…" He quickly became confused. "Where's his castle located again?"

Being the only one to know her old friend's whereabouts, Fiona answered, "It's in Conques."

Donkey was speechless, so he started joking around, "We're going another conquest? Awesome!"

Fiona giggled again, "Conques, Donkey. It's in France…"

Donkey simply said the following rather sheepishly, "Ooh, riiiiight!"

After eating her breakfast, Fiona then approached her and Shrek's writing desk. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I got a reply to send." She then took out a sheet of paper and quill pen to write her reply, and here's what she wrote:

"Dear Adam, you old beast, it's been far too long since we've last heard from each other. I look forward to catching up with you and have really missed you too. Let me know what time frame works best for you so me and Shrek can come down and see you. Your old childhood friend, Princess Fiona McSteig."

Walking outside, she then dropped the letter off in the mailbox and then re-enters the house.

There was a long silence before Donkey broke it asking, "Now what?"

To which Fiona answered, "Now, we play the waiting game."

Author notes:

* So that was my first chapter, and safe to say, I'm proud of it. Fill free to leave any and all comments, let me know what you think of it. Some things I should point out:
- McSteig as a surname that I thought of for Shrek is derived from the last name of his author, William Steig.
- I'm not sure exactly where in France Belle and Adam's castle is located, if anything, I was merely guessing.
- I chose Proulx as Adam's last name on my part because of it sounding so regal.

That said, until the next chapter, my fellow readers:
I'm M. R. Parkerson signing off…