Sion was starting to see the appeal of literature. There was something about it the drew him in. Of course, it could have just been because of Nezumi. Sion couldn't tell. Although he was enjoying reading, there was one genre that he didn't like at all. Sion disliked tragedies. Nezumi said they were more realistic since happy endings in real life were hard to come by. The dark-haired man always pointed out things eventually fall apart. According to him it was human nature to always mess up and do something wrong. Sion disagreed. It might be being too optimistic, but he held fast the idea that things could always get better.

Even though Sion did not like tragedies, for some reason Nezumi still recommended them. The dark-haired man claimed that it "built character" and always snuck one or two onto the prince's list. Sion found them an unwelcomed surprise. He hated when the book he was reading suddenly started spiraling down into despair. He felt betrayed whenever he realized a book was a tragedy. This time was no different

"I can't believe you made me read that." Sion slammed shut the play Oedipus Rex and glared at Nezumi who was watching him from behind him own book.

"You should have seen your face." Dark-haired man sniggered. "The slowly dawning horror, the shock, the dismay" his grin broadened, and he continued dramatically, "The betrayal."

"You should have warned me." Sion sulked crossing his arms.

"I did." Nezumi closed his book. "I said it didn't end well. It's not my fault you still read it."

"That's not fair!" Sion protested. "Not ending well does not always mean tragedy!"

"Oh?" Nezumi smile was becoming unbearable. "Then why didn't you ask me to clarify what I meant? That way you wouldn't have been surprised." Sion growled. He wanted to say something that would wipe the smile from the taller man's face. When nothing came to mind Sion opted to change the subject.

"What are you reading right now?" he asked.

"Hmmm?" Nezumi glanced down at his book. "I actually don't know. I was to busy watching you to even start it." Sion gaped at him.

"So instead of reading your own book you were watching me?" Sion finally asked. Nezumi smiled and shrugged.

"What can I say? You're amusing to watch." Sion glared down at the book sitting on his lap. It looks so innocent.

"I hate tragedies." He grumbled. "They're always so depressing."

"Not everyone gets a happy ending. Not everyone gets what they want." Nezumi said, his dark eyes staring Sion. Sion looked into Nezumi's eyes then both of them turned away as awkward silence filled the room. Although the dark-haired man hadn't said anything about what happened, Sion felt that Nezumi had strayed too close to that topic.

It had been over a mouth since Sion had confessed to Nezumi. Since then they had been pretending nothing had happened. Nezumi hadn't answered his confession and Sion was afraid to bring it up again. After the confession the actor hadn't talked to him for about a week. It was been a long and painful period of time for Sion. It wasn't like Nezumi was angry at the prince, or at least that wasn't what Sion felt from him. It was more like he was uncomfortable with the idea. Nezumi always keep people at arms distance. Sion was closest to him, yet he still didn't know much about the dark-haired man's past. He didn't even know Nezumi's real name. The prince always wondered if Nezumi was afraid of human interactions. He seemed to withdraw from people in general. For this reason, Sion choose to continue onwards pretending that he didn't confess. Nezumi, after a few awkward visits, calmed down and they went back to normal. Even so the optimistic part of him pointed out that he wasn't technically rejected by Nezumi. Sion held on to the faint hope that maybe, someday, he would be able to confess again. But today was not that day.

"Hey Nezumi!" Sion said changing the subject. "I want to show you something!" He jumped to his feet and dragged the startled man out of the library before he could respond. They trudged over the frozen dirt until they came to a fenced off area.

"Tah dah!" Sion said presenting it. Nezumi looked unimpressed.

"What is this?" he asked.

"Our garden!" Sion said excitedly. "In a couple of weeks, the ground will defrosted enough to plant on. We can start then."

"Ah." Nezumi's expression softened. "That's good." He smiled over at Sion, his eyes warming. The white hair man let out a breath. The tension was gone, and they were back to being friends. He beamed back at Nezumi.

"Now we need to start collecting gardening tools and seeds." The prince said.

"You know what we need more then I do." Nezumi shrugged. "You're the one who read about this kind of thing."

"You're going to help!" Sion said offended. "Some of these plants can be bought at local stores. There's no reason you can't go buy them yourself." Nezumi opened his mouth to reply when suddenly a voice called out.

"Prince Sion! Nezumi!" The boys turned to see Cinderella making her way towards them. Sion beamed and waved back. Nezumi's smile became forced. Sion had the feeling that Cinderella and Nezumi didn't like each other very much. Both parties denied it, claiming that they were perfectly fine with each other. Sion couldn't exactly put his figure on why he felt this way. Yes, their smiles became strained whenever they saw each other, and yes, their voices could be tight and snippy sometimes, but they were always polite and nice in his presents.

"Cinderella," Nezumi said, his expression returning back to a pleasant smile. "What brings you here today?"

"Oh yeah, didn't you have a work today?" Sion asked. Cinderella had recently started working at a bookstore. It was a nice job and helped her save up money so she could move out of her house. Sion would be glad when she got away from her stepfamily.

"I got off early." She said beaming. "I met Sir Williams at the gate. He said they were holding dance practice inside for the noble's children." Her smile broadened. "He asked if I would like to join them." Cinderella had confessed after they met that she didn't actually know how to dance. It was only the fairy's spell that made it possible for her not to topple over on the night of the ball.

"That's great!" Sion exclaimed. "I need to work on my dancing as well. I'm not very good at it." His mother always chastised him for stepping on his the partner's feet.

"You're not that bad." Nezumi said rolling his eyes.

"Only when you lead." Sion pointed out. Nezumi had been giving Sion private dance lessons. He already knew how to dance since he had to do it many times for the theater.

"Then this is your time to practice leading." Nezumi said turning around. "Have fun you two."

"Aren't you going to join us?" Sion asked. Nezumi shot him a look over his shoulder.

"Dancing is a two-person activity. I'm not going to sit around while the two of you try to break each other's toes. I'm going to head back home. See you tomorrow."

"Oh ok." Sion watched the dark-haired man stole off. Despite the nonchalant way he spoke, Sion could tell that Nezumi was upset about something, though he didn't know what. Was it because the dark-haired man felt dancing was their thing? Sion had started to notice that Nezumi wasn't big on sharing activities that both he and Sion enjoyed. He was the main person Sion talked to about books and their garden. Nezumi was also his partner during rain walks. Sion and Cinderella usually did a lot of random activities together, but they really didn't have anything that was "their thing". Whenever Nezumi and Cinderella were in the same room it felt like Nezumi always stood back to give him and Cinderella space. The dark-haired man seemed happiest when he was alone with Sion. Did Nezumi see dancing as one of their things? Sion had assumed that Nezumi didn't want to get close to him after his confession. This made his reaction even more confusing. What did Nezumi want?

"Prince Sion?" Cinderella asked concerned. "Are you alright?" Sion shook his head clearing his thoughts. He'd worry about Nezumi later.

"Yeah, I'm fine, let's go."

.

.

.

Nezumi knew he shouldn't be sulky about Cinderella wanting to dance with Sion. It wasn't like it was special to him. Just because he enjoyed whisking the smaller man across a dance floor didn't make it their thing. Sure, he enjoyed leading the prince around the dance floor. Sure, he liked it when Sion's stumbling steps and protests slowly smoothed out to the beat of the song and he gained confidence in himself. But it didn't mean anything really. He knew he had to share Sion. If he really wanted Sion to himself, he should just go out with him. But he couldn't start something with the prince, therefore he shouldn't be angry when the prince ended up dance with someone else.

Yet he was.

Nezumi growled to himself as he hopped in through the window into his library. He searched around for a book to read, picking at random. Nezumi sat down and took a deep breath in. He should enjoy this time alone. At least he had time now to read his books without any interruptions. Not that he minded Sion's interruptions. Watching Sion read could sometimes be more interesting then reading himself. Sion was an open book and when a story got exciting, he squeaked and shuffled around with happiness. When it became dark or gloomily, he would huff in protest and scowl that the book. Even so Nezumi still enjoyed reading by himself. With no Cinderella to bother him nor any practice today he was free to read as long as he wanted. The dark-haired man smiled as he opened his book. No interruptions whatsoever.

Nezumi tried to get into the book but he was immediately interrupted by an unusual sight. A firefly fluttered past him. Nezumi watched it suspiciously for a few seconds before putting down his book. It was too early for fireflies to be out. His instincts told him something was about to happen. Before he could do anything, another firefly fluttered in followed by another and another. Soon a long line if fireflies were streaming around the room lighting it up. Nezumi stood up slowly stared at the little insects. Then they started swirly around and around. Nezumi's eyes narrowed. He remembered the last time this happened.

Just as he predicted, the fireflies suddenly disappeared leaving the fairy godmother behind. The woman looked worse than the last time he saw her. She had dark circles under her eyes and her clothes were disheveled. Her hair stood up at weird angles and she seemed restless.

"You're back." Nezumi said crossing his arms, trying to keep his voice neutral. No need for her to know how shook up her appearance made him. "What do you want? I thought you were going to leave me with the "great gift" of humanity." The fairy turned towards him and scold fiercely. Any sign of her "benign" kindness was gone.

"That was before you started messing things up." she snapped.

"And how did I mess things up?" Nezumi asked raising an eyebrow. "You left me as a human."

"You weren't supposed to get in the way of Cinderella and the prince!" she hissed. "They were supposed to fall in love and get married. The prince was not supposed to confess his feelings to a rat." She snarled the last part. "You've made a right mess of things."

Nezumi paused at her words. He never thought much about why the godmother gave Cinderella a chance to go to the ball. He assumed it was just a nice night out. Now he saw that it extended farther than that. This wasn't good. It meant Nezumi was getting in the way of the fairy's plan. He wasn't sure what she was the going to doing about it. She was the one with magic. If she wanted to trap or kill him, she could probably do it in an instant. If that was the case, then he needed to get her wand before she could cast any spells. He was not going to continually be kicked around by this fairy. If she wanted a fight, he would give her a fight.

"So, what are you going to do about it." Nezumi said in a low voice bending into a crouch. The godmother noticing his aggressive stance and took a step back, fear crossing her face.

"Calm down please." She said frightened. "I don't want to fight you. I meanly want to make a deal with you."

"A deal?"

"This deal with benefited both of us. There's no reason to act this way." Nezumi paused for a second before slightly relaxed stance.

"Go on." He said. Nezumi was still in a good position. If he didn't like the deal, he still had enough time to strike at her. The fairy rolled her wand between two of her fingers looking nervous.

"Right now," She said. "the other fairies are not aware of you…existence. I could get into trouble if they find out you're human. Now it wouldn't have mattered if you had left the country or just stayed in town, but because you decided to befriend the prince… If Cinderella doesn't marry him or at least start dating him the others will soon start to notice." She looked anxious. "Cinderella is very popular among my kind. If her wish isn't granted…I could get into a lot of trouble." She shivered. "so, this is the plan. Ever since the prince's confession I have been working on a way to turn you back into a rat."

This got Nezumi's full attention. He straightened up his heart pounding. The dark-haired man struggled a minute trying to keep his face calm before speaking.

"You can do that? Why didn't you do it before?"

"It's not an easy spell!" she protested. "I need a spell that will erases all human knowledge from your mind then turn you into an animal. The wood and flower fairies do it all the time to humans who anger or upset them. The problem is that it isn't information that fairy godmothers usually have. Other than wood or flower fairies, only the head fairy godmother has that knowledge. I can't ask her without exposing my error, so I have been meeting with the wood fairies in secret." She scowled. "Do you know how annoying they are? You should be grateful." Nezumi snorted and crossed his arms.

"This is your fault in the first place." He snipped. "If you have the spell then turn me back."

"I haven't mastered it yet!" she exclaimed. "It takes a while to learn magic, especially if you have to learn it in secret. I don't want to mess this up. Who knows what could happen!"

"So how long will it take."

"A couple months to a year." The fairy said nervously.

"Fairies are useless creatures." Nezumi snorted. "Fine when you're done return and turn me back into a rat."

"I can't do that in here!" The fairy rolled her wand faster. "You're right next to a human dwelling. What if I turn them into animals by mistake!" She leaned in closer lowering her voice. "There's a natural garden near a pond a couple of miles out of town."

"Is that the one near the town's signpost?" Nezumi asked. "Won't to many people walk past there for it to be a safe place to turn me back?"

"We'll meet in the middle of the garden at night so no humans will be around" she waved her wand and a small green leaf fluttered down. The fairy grabbed it from the air and handed it to him. "This leaf will turn silver when I finish, and we need to meet." She paused for a second nervously, "Do we have a deal?" Nezumi took the leaf and looked down at it.

"Fine." He finally said. The fairy gave a sigh of relief.

"Then it's settled." She smiled at him. "I'll see you when the time comes!" The fairy godmother raised her wand, and with a flash of light, she was gone.

Nezumi stared at the place where she disappeared. He should feel happy; soon he would become a rat again. He could escape humans and their stupid rules and live free. He wouldn't need to deal with people anymore. He wouldn't need to eat as much nor worry about clothes and baths. He wouldn't need to deal with Cinderella nor his job. He didn't even need worry about Sion's confession anymore. Yet….

He felt nothing at all. He was numb all over.

"Damn it." He hissed. Why was he being so dramatic. This was what he wanted the whole time. It was the faint hope that he would turn back that kept him from falling into despair when he first turned into a human. He would wait patiently until the fairy finished her spell, then he would become a rat and be done with it.