V sighed as she went through a mental checklist in her head. When her husband had said he had a surprise for their anniversary, she did not expect a trip on such short notice! Now she was in a mad rush to pack and find a babysitter for the kids. Thankfully, she had somehow managed to convince Ruby and Sapphire to take them in for a week.
"Mom..." she heard a timid voice call out. She turned and saw Celina in the doorway, hair in little braids and the storybook in hand. "You promised." Celina begged, holding out the storybook. V glanced up from packing her bags, staring at her eldest daughter. She seemed to falter under her gaze. "I... I know you wanna make sure you have everything for your trip, but please...?"
V smiled at her, ruffling her dark green hair, nearly undoing the careful braids the girl had done.
"Chin up, Celina. I did promise your brother it would be actiony." V said. "Go get your siblings."
Celina let out a happy squeal and ran out of the room. V zipped up the suitcase, prepared to settle onto the bed when the phone rang. Glancing at the door and hearing Celina and Aini arguing, she looked back at the phone.
"Hello?" she asked, answering it.
"Hello."
"Ruby!" she smiled. "Did Sapphire talk to you about taking the kids? It's a bit last minute, but you're all I can think of."
"Um, about that..." Ruby trailed off, then swallowed. "Well, we can't."
"What? Why?!"
"Well, I have a big contest tour in Kalos. Can you believe they don't have contests yet? They want major and important coordinators there to support the grand opening of their first official contest hall."
"Dammit." V cursed, rubbing her temples. "Okay. Fine. I can think of something."
"You sure you're okay? I could always decline..."
"No. No, that won't be necessary." V said with a sigh. "I'm sure Amethyst is looking forward to it." she smiled, hoping the expression somehow reached through the phone.
"I really am sorry. If my wife," he said that word a bit louder than the others. "Would have informed me of matters before setting them, this wouldn't have happened."
Faintly, V heard Sapphire yell something at Ruby. She chuckled at their silly antics.
"It's fine, really. I'll work something out."
"... If you're sure. I'm really sorry."
"It's fine. Have a nice trip, okay?"
"Same to you."
"Bye."
"Bye."
"Mama?" she blinked as she saw Iri walk through the door. "Aini and Celina are arguing again."
"Are they, now?" V smiled, picking the small boy up. "About romance stories?"
Iri nodded, giggling.
"It doesn't really make sense to me."
"Me niether." V shook her head, carrying him down the hall, where little voices were heard yelling at each other. "Come on, then. We'll stop that fighting and finish Cinder-Yellow."
o.0.o.0.o
Cinder-Yellow Part Four
By the King,
A Proclamation-
All loyal subjects of his Imperial Majesty are hereby notified by royal proclamation that in regard to a certain glass slipper, it is upon this day decreed that a quest be instituted throughout the length and breadth of our domain. The sole and express purpose of said quest is as follows to wit: That every single maiden in our beloved Kingdom shall try upon her foot this aforementioned slipper of glass, and should one be found whose foot shall properly fit said slipper, such maiden will be acclaimed the object of this search and the one and only true love of his Royal Highness, our noble Prince Red. And said Royal Highness will humbly request the hand of said maiden in marriage to rule with him over the land as the Royal Princess and future Queen.
o.0.o.0.o
"Uh-oh." White murmured upon reading the poster. Black had an equally freaked out look on his face. "Red's not gonna be happy about this."
"He's going to flip his lid." Black responded. "If this doesn't send him over the edge, who know's what will."
"Wouldn't it be easier just to narrow the search down to all the blonds in the kingdom? Why try on a single shoe? That shoe could fit anyone!" White exclaimed, rubbing her temples. "Anyone could see the woman whom Red spent most his time with was clearly a blond!"
"With a brunette companion." Black added. "Plus he had a clear look at her face. No doubt that if we brought all the blonds in the kingdom together, had them try on the shoe, and it fit, then we could bring those blonds before Red and have him choose!"
"And it was only a single dance, too!" White said, clearly exasperated. "So he danced with her for more than a single waltz. Big whoop! It's not like that's true love or anything! Why go through the trouble?"
"Because it's King Keun for you." Black sighed.
"I'll bet if Yellow came, they would have actually confessed." White pouted.
"Another one of your movie fantasies White." Black chuckled.
"Move it, you idle commoners!" someone hissed at them, rudely shoving them away. The two recognized the short figure of Agatha quickly, watching as she stared at the poster, then grinned, practically running through the streets. White and Black shared a glance.
"Do you think she's going to try to fit that slipper onto Lorelei or Karen's feet?" White asked. Black chuckled.
"Knowing her, she'll make them chop their toes off to get it to fit."
o.0.o.0.o
"Amarillo!" Agatha shouted, slamming the front door to her chateau closed. Agatha was, to say the least, angry when she came home that evening to find the tattered remains of what was her dress cleaned up, the house still intact, and Yellow happily humming as she swept up the last of the beads.
"Did you enjoy the dance?" she had asked.
"It was horrible." Karen spat.
"Some blond girl stole the prince and a brunette took the chief advisor." Lorelei huffed.
"Huh. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it." Yellow responded. "Do you want me to restring these, Lorelei?"
"Just throw them away." Lorelei spat.
Agatha found her mood to be a bit to chipper for her liking, but her disgust with Lance quickly overthrew that. How dare that man trick her! This house was supposed to be burning, Yellow's shrieks of terror echoing from the house.
"Amarillo!" she shouted again. "Where is that useless-"
"Yes, Aunt Agatha?" Agatha whipped her head around and saw her coming out of the kitchen, the faint smell of eggs and toast coming out behind her.
"My daughters." she snapped at her. "Where are they?"
"I-I believe they're still in bed." she said.
"Tch." she muttered, glancing up at their rooms. She snapped her gaze back to Yellow. "Well, don't just stand there!" she yelled at her, turning to go back up the stairs. "Bring up the breakfast trays at once!" out of the corner of her eye, Agatha saw Yellow staring up at her curiously. "And hurry!"
Then she scurried back into the kitchen like a frightened rattatta. That was better.
Agatha quickly climbed the stairs and yanked open Lorelei's door. She saw her eldest daughter sprawled out across the bed, books laying open here and there, glasses haphazardly laying on her face, a teddursa plush in her arm.
"Lorelei. Lorelei, get up!"
"Mwuh?" she grunted, sitting up and adjusting her glasses slightly. "Wha's goin' on?"
She squinted as the light assaulted her eyes, groaned, then turned over, covering her face with her blanket.
"Get up, Lorelei, we haven't a moment to loose!" she said frantically, moving on to Karen's room. She began shaking her awake, demanding that she wake up.
"Why?" Karen asked with a yawn. "What for?"
"Everyone's talking about it." Agatha exclaimed, opening her curtains as well. "The whole kingdom! Oh, hurry now, he'll be here any minute!"
"Who will?" Lorelei asked, coming into the room still half asleep.
"The chief advisor, Green Oak!" Agatha exclaimed. "He's been hunting all night."
"Hunting?" Karen murmured, blinking her eyes.
"For that girl!" Agatha spat. "The one who lost her slipper at the ball last night! They say he's madly in love with her!"
"The advisor is?" blinked Lorelei.
"He's not that bad..." Karen muttered. "Almost as handsome as the prince..."
"Not the advisor, the prince! The prince is madly in love with that girl from the ball!"
At that point, Yellow had walked into the room with the breakfast trays. Upon hearing those words her eyes widened and her mouth was agape.
"T-The prince?" she whispered. Fire, no, Red, he was... was in love with...?!
There was a crash of dishes and Yellow realized that she had dropped the trays. Agatha whirled around to look at her, horror visible on her face.
"You clumsy little fool!" she spat. "Clean that up! Then help my daughters dress."
"For what?" Karen yawned as Lorelei fell back on her bed. "He's in love with that girl, why even bother?" They both pulled the covers over their head, giving up.
"Now listen you two!" Agatha said, yanking the covers off of them. "There is still a chance one of you might get it."
"One of us?" they asked in union. "Why mother, what do you mean?"
"No one, not even the prince, knows who that girl is." Agatha explained. "The glass slipper is their only clue. Now, Green Oak has been ordered to try it on every girl in the kingdom. And if they find one whom the slipper fits, then by the kings command, that girl will marry the prince!"
"Marry the prince?!" they both exclaimed, suddenly full of energy, yelling at Yellow to fix their clothes. Yellow was standing there like a grinning fool, a dreamy, faraway look in her eyes. Red wanted to marry the girl who fit the slipper. Her slipper. It didn't matter how heavy the load in her arms got, she felt light as air.
"Wh-What's the matter with her?!" exclaimed Lorelei, seeing as Yellow had barely moved, her expression hardly changing.
"Wake up, stupid!" Karen practically hissed. "We've gotta get dressed!"
"Dressed..." Yellow trailed off, looking down at her old dress. "Oh, yes." she gently passed the clothes into Lorelei's arms, turning and walking out the door. "I-It wouldn't do to have Sir Green see me like this, would it?"
Agatha and Lorelei glanced at the door after her.
"Mother, did you see what she did?!" she exclaimed.
"Amarillo." Agatha said, narrowing her eyes. "Is that Karen's ribbon?"
"Hmm?" Yellow turned, touching the ribbon holding her hair up. "Is it? I hardly noticed." She undid the ribbon, letting her hair tumble down her shoulders, passing it back to her. Yellow hardly cared at the odd request for the ribbon, simply followed orders. She felt like she was walking on air.
She was a girl in love.
"Guys!" she laughed upon opening the door. "It's so great!"
"Meh?" Topaz blinked, still tired from their late night escapade. "If it's anotha thing about that *bleep* prince 'o yours, I'm gonna *bleep*ing gouge your eyes out."
"But it's important!" Yellow exclaimed.
"Wake up, Topaz, she sounds excited." Opal grinned, fluttering in front of Yellow. "So we know that your mystery man in the market is actually a prince charming. What could be any better?"
"Well, you remember that slipper I lost last night?" she smiled. "Well, the king sent Green, his advisor, out to the kingdom to try it on every girl. And the girl who fits the shoe is the girl who the prince decided to marry!"
A moment of silence.
"Holy Ho-oh's." Ruby murmured. "Then why are we sitting idly?! Hurry, sit down, sit down! I may not be able to wave a magic wand like Blue, but I can make you look like a princess!"
"Or a normal commoner." Sapphire commented.
With all the excitement, everyone failed to notice Agatha in the doorway. It was when they heard a sudden click of a key turning that they looked at the door, only to see Agatha shove the key in her pocket and slam the door shut.
There was a long moment of silence before Yellow rushed to the door, tugging on the handle only to find it locked.
"No..." she murmured. "No, no, no, no...!" she began slamming on the wooden door with her fists. "Aunt Agatha, please! Let me out! Please!" her voice broke into sobs as she continued to beg. "You can't keep me here! Please...!"
Only Diamond and Pearl, returning from gathering breakfast, saw the elder woman shove the key in her pocket, callously ignoring Yellow's pleas.
o.0.o.0.o
"Lucifer." Agatha said as she exited from the attic room. The purugly lifted his head to his mistress, cocking his head as she poured an odd smelling liquid then lit a candle and set it on a small table. "Once we leave the house, knock that candle over. If you do so, I'll catch you all the fish you can eat." Lucifer's ears perked up at this, grinning. "I'll be waiting at the door for you."
Lucifer nodded, staring at the candle with the thought of a glorious dinner on his mind.
"Mother!" Agatha hurried to the sound of Karen's voice, seeing her frantically combing her fingers through her hair. "Mother, he's here!"
"The head advisor!" Lorelei exclaimed.
"Oh, do I look okay? I hope I look okay. I'm just so excited that I don't know what to do with myself-!"
"Even if one of us doesn't get the prince, maybe we could land Green Oak." Lorelei said, also glancing over her appearance in the mirror. "He's just as handsome..."
"Now remember," Agatha said, leading her daughters into the foyer. "This is your last chance, don't fail me." she turned to the door, taking a deep breath, then held her head high and opened the door wide. She saw Green climbing the steps to her door, a pillow in his hand and a glass slipper upon the pillow, two guards flanking him.
"Now announcing his imperial grace, Green Oak!" one said.
"You honor our home, good sir." Agatha said, bowing politely.
"I'm sure." Green stated stoically, sounding bored and tired.
"May I present my daughters," she gestured to Lorelei and Karen. "Lorelei and Karen."
Green watched as they fluttered their eyelashes, curtsying.
"Your grace." both said.
Green resisted the urge to shudder.
"Charmed." he stated.
"His grace will read the royal proclamation!" one guard said, holding up a scroll. Green glanced at it.
"Long story short, your daughters have to try on this shoe." he said, holding up said slipper and batting the scroll away, obviously tired of reading the same thing over and over again. "If-"
"Why that's my slipper!" Lorelei exclaimed, cutting him off. Karen gasped.
"Well isn't that rich, it's my slipper!" she retorted.
"Excuse my younger sister, she hasn't the slightest idea what she's talking about." Lorelei stated.
"How could you stand there and deliberately lie...!"
Both lunged for the delicate shoe. Thankfully, Green sidestepped them both, and they ended up running into each other.
"Girls, girls," Agatha chuckled. "Your manners." She shot them both a venomous glare before turning back at Green, face kind. "A thousand pardons, your grace, please continue."
Green glared at them.
"As I was saying," Green continued. "If the shoe doesn't fit, the girl doesn't come before the prince." he glanced at them. "I'm sure they've already heard the news, so it shouldn't take to long to figure it out."
"You must be quite fatigued, your grace." Agatha smiled. "Shall we offer you some tea?"
"That won't be necessary." Green said. He honestly did not trust that this family didn't put some sort of sedative in the tea. That was the only way, he reasoned, that someone would want to be even remotely close to these three. "We must proceed with the fitting."
"Of course." Agatha waved to Karen. "Karen, dear." Karen pulled up a chair, smiling as Green stepped forward, sliding the shoe on her foot.
"There." Karen grinned. "I knew it was my slipper. Exactly my size." Green stared at her, pushing her foot up higher, revealing that the shoe barely fit her big toe. She blinked. "Er, my foot must have swelled up after all that dancing."
"Are you sure you're trying it on the right foot?" Agatha hissed.
"It's the right foot alright," Karen said. "It's just, sometimes glass isn't reliable-"
"It's not the glass, it's the fact that your toe is the size of a potato." Green stated, taking the slipper back. "Where's Loralee?"
"Loralei."
"Whatever."
o.0.o.0.o
"Yellow! We're a-comin' Yellow!" Yellow blinked through her haze of tears. Topaz blinked, squeezing under the door.
"Well, *bleep*." Topaz said through the door. "It's Pearl and Dia! They've got the key!"
"How?!" Platinum exclaimed, squeezing out beside.
"Is it really true?" Yellow asked.
"Yeah, it's tr-" the words were cut off by a startled shriek. Yellow kneeled down to see under the crack, trying to see what was going on. She saw two paws with a bowl, and the light glows of orange, golden yellow, and pale blue. No lavender and no key, though.
"Platinum!" Yellow exclaimed, slamming her fists on the door in a futile attempt to help her friend. "Lucifer! Let her go!"
"Let her go, Lucifer!" she heard Dia yell, then a startled cry from Lucifer. "Let her go!"
A small thud.
"This means war!" Onyx exclaimed, flitting under the door with more of the fairies close behind. Chuchu was watching through the crack with Yellow, both trapped within the room and unable to get out. They watched as the purugly began slapping away all their attacks.
"This'll show you!" she heard Gold shout, and heard them dropping something on him. Rocks, maybe?
"Dody..." she said thoughtfully. "Pearl, Topaz!" she shouted. "Get Dody!"
o.0.o.0.o
"Of all the stupid idiots-!" Lorelei hissed, shoving Green away. "Get away from me, I'll do it myself." she grabbed the slipped, twisting it on her long foot. "I'll make it fit!" she grunted for a moment, then let out a strained sigh. "There." she held up her foot, the toes and heal shoved in, the rest of her foot arched awkwardly. "It fits."
"It fits!" Agatha smiled brightly. Green just stared at them.
"Stand up and walk." he said.
"What? That was never part of the deal!" Lorelei exclaimed.
"It doesn't matter. If it fits so well, then you shouldn't have a problem with walking in it."
Lorelai muttered something under her breath, standing up and taking a few odd, limping steps forward.
"See?" she said with a strained smile on her face. "No problem at all." she leaned against a nearby piece of furniture. Green rolled his eyes, kneeling down and lifting her skirt, seeing half her foot jutting out of the shoe.
"No, there is a problem." Green took the slipper back and stood up, glancing at the door. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of brown with two floating, glowing lights around it.
Was that a doduo?
Slowly, his gaze moved back to the three women.
"And you're the only ladies in the house?"
"There is no one else." Agatha said abruptly.
"Then good day." Green said, walking out the door and shutting it behind him.
o.0.o.0.o
Dody began to ferociously pecking at Lucifer, the purugly freaking out to the extent that, in order to get away from them, he threw himself down the stairs. Literally.
That didn't stop him from chasing him, though.
"Come on, Platinum!" Topaz exclaimed, smacking her face. "C'mon...!"
"I think she fainted." Diamond said gently.
"That doesn't *bleep*ing matter!" Topaz hissed, practically peeling the girl off the key and shoving her unconscious form into Diamond and, with Pearls help, shoved the key under the door. Yellow scrambled, hands shaking at the sheer thought of escape, realizing that this was probably the first time she's done anything against Agatha's orders since the day she saved Soul.
She wrenched open the door, cheers coming from her friends, Chuchu behind her every step.
Just as she reached the door leading to the main house, she gasped at the sheer heat that the doorknob gave off, seeing smoke filtering from under the door.
"Guys..." she exclaimed, backing up as she saw flashes of orange under the door. "Guys, someone set the house on fire!"
o.0.o.0.o
Prince Red was not in love.
In fact, he was far from love.
He was enraged.
The fight with his father was, to say the least, huge. He couldn't believe the nonsense spouting from his mouth. Marriage? The girl at the ball? Seeking her out? Marriage? It was utter insanity!
And on top of that, Green, the stupid traitor, was going along with it! Green probably didn't care enough to go against the kings orders, but honestly! Red hated getting backed into a corner, but his options were either marry the first girl that Green came across that was apparently wore a size four and a half or...
Or what? Find another person he wanted to marry?
"Crap." Red muttered, running a hand through his hair. He could hear his father happily humming a lullaby, as if already imagining little kids running about in the castle. He didn't care about that girl at the ball. The only reason she had his attention for a bit more than five minutes was because she reminded him of...
It sounds like you're in love with her.
"Holy Ho-oh." Red muttered, cutting himself off. The only reason he danced with the princess at the ball was because she reminded him of Yellow. Gently, he fingered the pin, dutifully placed over his heart. How could he have been so stupid?! He didn't care about the princess, about making her happy, about meeting her! He couldn't care less, and he didn't even realize the reason until now.
He didn't want to spend the rest of his life with some princess at the ball. He wanted to spend it with Yellow.
"Dad!" he yelled, whipping out the door. "I know the girl who I want to marry!"
"Haha, Red, I know you're trying to fool me!" his father laughed, patting him on the back.
"No, I'm serious! No joke!" Red bolted past his father, eager to get to the little chateau on the hill.
"Red?! Red wait!"
He heard his father running down the stairs after him, suddenly cutting him off.
"Red, you agreed to marry the girl in the glass slipper." he said, holding his arms out on the stair landing. "I completely agreed with you on this one!"
"Dad, I only agreed to that because you were forcing me into a corner." Red stated simply. "I need to go find Yellow-"
"Yellow?!"
"A servant girl who lives in the chateau on the hill."
"Servant girl? Chateau? How did you meet her, dare I ask?!"
"I snuck out."
"WHAT?!"
"Dad, please move!"
"No!" he exclaimed, holding his arms out. "I forbid you to take another step down these stairs!"
Red stared at him, then glanced at the window, seeing convenient vines growing over the ledge, obviously not having been trimmed in a while.
"Okay." he said simply with a grin, then leapt out the window.
"GYAH! Son! Come back! We'll find the girl! We'll find you a doctor! We'll make things right!" Red smirked as he continued down the vines, letting out a loud whistle.
"Aero!" he called for the Aerodactyl. The loyal pokémon swooped down, grabbing Red by the shoulders and whipping into the air.
"Guards! Stop Red! Stop my son! By Arceus, he's gone completely mad!" he heard his father yell as they whipped into the air.
"I'm coming, Yellow!"
o.0.o.0.o
"Stop the carriage! Stop!" Blue shouted, frantically waving her arms over her head in front of Greens coach. That shaymin-headed idiot, how could he leave...!
"You?!"
She let out a small sigh of relief at being recognized, Green climbing from the carriage to speak to her.
"You! You're that girl who-"
"Kissed you? Yes. Was with the mysterious girl in the green dress? Yes. What's my name? Blue. Where have I been all your life? Stuck training to be a good fairy godsister. Any other questions?"
"W... What?"
"Stupid question." Blue huffed. "We need to go back to the chateau. You forgot Yellow."
"Yellow?"
"The servant girl? Love of Red's life? Girl at the ball? Arceus, aren't you chief advisor? You're supposed to be smart!"
"I am smart." he responded.
"Then turn the carriage around and-"
She was cut off by the shriek of a pokémon. Both looked up, and saw an Aerodactyl flash over them, carrying a person.
"Red?!" Green exclaimed, whipping around to follow the figure. "What is he...?"
"Aw, the loverboy is going after his princess!" Blue clapped. "He finally realized it! This is turning out so much better than expected!" she turned to Green. "C'mon, smarty pants, we've gotta proposal to witness!" Green blinked as she pulled a... a silver stick? She waved it around a bit. "Bibbidi, bobbidi, blue!"
And then there was a really, really weird feeling. almost like he was dissolving, when he suddenly reappeared surrounded by smoke.
"What did you do, you pesky woman?!" Green exclaimed between hacks.
"Oh dear, this isn't how it happened in the original story!" Blue exclaimed, glancing around at the smoke filtering through the room. "Um... uh...?"
"Don't stand there like a slack-jawed village fool!" Green hissed, grabbing her arm and dragging her out. They practically stumbled down the steps out of the burning building.
"Green?!"
"Red?" Green glanced up and saw Red land in front of them, looking a bit bewildered and panicked.
"What happened?!"
"If I knew, don't you think I'd tell you?"
"Good point." Red muttered.
"Blue! Thank Arceus you're here!" both Green and Red blinked at a little glowing, crystal blue light.
"Crystal!" Blue immediately responded. Green and Red squinted, seeing that the glowing light was actually the outline of a girl with wings. A fairy? "What happened? What's going on?!"
"Someone set the house on fire!" Crystal explained frantically. "Carnelian said he saw Agatha rushing away in her carriage with Lorelei and Karen!"
"Where's the rest of your grove?" Blue asked. Crystal pointed, and they saw a large group of glowing lights- no, fairies- struggling to carry a basket of some sort. Blue rushed to it, flicking it open. "What is this?" she asked, seeing nothing but what looked like a spellbook, an old doll, a slightly charred sketchbook and...
"A glass slipper?" Green asked, glancing through the items.
"Those are Yellow's most precious treasures." Opal explained. "She... She told us..."
"You guys, don't you dare tell me Yellow is still in there." Blue said, voice suddenly becoming serious. No one said a word.
Red bolted for the front door. He whipped his head back and forth through the smokey interior, cursing his rash stupidity, knowing he wouldn't find Yellow since he had no idea where she was an she might already be incapacitated.
"Heya, boy! She's upstairs! Go upstairs!"
He blinked at the mans voice, but didn't question it, assuming that it was simply a fairy who followed him in.
He bolted up the stairs.
o.0.o.0.o
Yellow backed away from the door after she shoved a blanket over the crack, trying to keep the smoke from filtering in. If only her room wasn't in the attic!
She kneeled down by the window, trying to get as much fresh air as possible. Was this how she was going to die? Alone in a burning attic?
She wanted to feel sad or to cry, but oddly enough, she felt... relieved. What was so bad about dying? Her mother and father were on the other side, as was her dear Uncle Wilton. She'd get to see them again. Agatha and Lorelei and Karen would never be able to hurt her again.
And really, who would miss her? Certainly not Red. He was searching for a princess. How would he react if a servant girl was brought before him? No doubt he was her friend out of pity. The grove pitied her, White pitied her, Black pitied her, Red pitied her. No one would want her and she knew it. She was only good for cooking and cleaning.
She sighed, leaning her head back. At least, she decided, she had one happy night. She wasn't a servant. She wasn't Cinder-Yellow. She wasn't being ordered around. She was a princess and she was happy with that.
"Yellow, that's quittin' attitude!"
Yellow blinked in surprise. What...?
"There's always something worth fighting for!"
U-Uncle Wilton...?
"Stand up! C'mon, Yellow, you can do it!"
If Yellow wasn't so freaked out, she would have laughed. Unsure if it was some delirious hallucination with death nearing or her dearly departed uncle was really speaking to her beyond the grave, she stood and walked to the door.
"That's it, Sprout!"
She kicked the sheets aside and wrenched open the door, only to come face to face with Red. He blinked at her. She blinked back.
"Impeccable timing, huh?" he stated.
"Red?!"
"Yep."
"What are you... Why are you here?!"
"Well, initially to propse." Yellow gaped at him as her face went red. "But then this became an impromptu rescue mission." he smiled, taking her hand. "C'mon!" he turned to drag her down the stairs, only to see that half of the rickety steps had collapsed due to the scorching flames. Red let out a grunt of annoyance, shoving her back into her room.
"What are we going to do?!" Yellow exclaimed as the smoke began to fill up the room. Red glanced around, trying to come up with a plan. The only means of escape was a small window...
"Aero!" he called, whistling loudly. "Take Down! Yellow, take cover!"
Yellow nodded, ducking behind her bed with Red quickly joining her. For a moment, there was nothing but silence. A silence that was suddenly shattered by a roar and then a ear-shattering crash. Red had his arms around her as the house shook, both with their eyes squeezed shut. Once the rumbling ceased, and both peaked out, seeing Aero flapping his wings, dutifully waiting for his master to climb on.
"Good job, Aero!" Red grinned, scrambling over the ruble and lifting Yellow up.
"Will he be able to hold two people?" Yellow asked as she watched the pokémon clamp his claws around Red's shoulders.
"No idea." Red said as Aero seemed to prepare himself. "But you're so small, I'm sure he won't have trouble!"
Yellow didn't feel much comfort from that, but went along with it, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly as they lifted into the air. With ease, much to her relief, Aero drifted down where Blue has summoned a Blastoise from who knows where, trying to put the fire out.
"You got her out!" Diamond exclaimed.
"Oh, thank Arceus." Platinum sighed. Red smiled, setting Yellow down and stepping back.
"Well, time to ask what I came here to ask." he said, taking Yellow's hand and getting on one knee. "Yellow, will you marry me?"
Yellow swore that if it wasn't for gravity, she would have floated away at that point.
"Yes." she nodded with a bright grin that nearly rivaled the sun.
A pause. Then Red facepalmed. Yellow cocked her head.
"Red? What's wrong?" she asked, kneeling down in front of him. Red glanced at her, his expression a mix of embarrassment and almost childlike guilt.
"In all the excitement, I forgot to get a ring."
o.0.o.0.o
"Later that day, Red got Yellow a ring. The fairies moved their grove once again, this time to the castle. Blue decided to stay as well, constantly trying to see how far she can push Green with her magical pranks or mischievous personality, trying to see which he would succumb to first. Agatha and her two daughters never came back to the town, but it is highly suspected that Agatha was responsible for the fire. Much to King Kuen's delight, the prince and his new bride later had two children, a boy named Orange and a little girl named Amber." V smiled. "And they lived happily ever after."
"Did it actually happen like that?" Aini asked. V cocked her head.
"What did?"
"Did Red actually forget the ring?"
V blinked, then chuckled.
"Yeah."
"What an idiot." Celina laughed. "But at least it worked out."
"Yes, it did." V smiled, standing up. "Time for bed you three, okay?"
With almost no complaining, the three got up and went to their respective rooms. V waited about a half hour before determining the three were absolutely, positively asleep until she went back to her room, beginning to flip through her address book, trying to figure out who would be willing to babysit her kids on such short notice.
It had to be someone in Hoenn, and grandparents were out of the picture. And Sapphire and Ruby couldn't babysit, and all the other dexholders were out of the country. Running a hand down her face, she continued flicking through the book, suddenly finding a name.
Starlight Sūta.
She remembered her. Apparently her parents were close with Ruby's parents, and the whole family got invited to his and Sapphire wedding. V recalled that she was a pretty woman with long, wavy black hair. She sat beside a rather grumpy-looking man with light purple hair and a small girl, four at the time, wearing a yellow pikachu hoodie despite the occasion. They were her husband and child, Eclipse and... Eon? There was something before that but she couldn't quite remember what it was. Around her was a large family- an older couple, obviously the parents and an older woman about three years Starlight's senior, a sister named Millenium, and two younger sisters six years her junior, twins named Sunny and Luna.
They had exchanged numbers because they had gotten along mutually, Celina and Eon hitting it off immediately. Both, coincidentally, were cripplingly shy in public, and both, as mothers, were ecstatic that their children seemed to have found a friend. If it weren't for the fact that she lived in Verdanturf Town and they in Petalburg, V was sure they'd be setting their daughters up for playdates every other day.
"I haven't called her in a while." she murmured, picking up the phone and dialing.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Starlight."
o.0.o.0.o
Oh Blue, don't break the fourth wall, okay?
Anyways, yeah. The part about the housefire is actually derived from a Cinderella ending where there wasn't actually a happily ever after. Apparently, there was an ending where Cinderella got burned at the stake for witchcraft.
Yeah. Bet ya'll didn't know that.
CHILDHOODS RUINED.
Anyways, next story I'm going a bit off track on the voting. See, KiwiWizard recently published PokéSouls Academy about two weeks ago. In celebration of the new publication, the next story will be an OC fic about my two OC's I submitted for Pokésouls, Starlight and Eclipse. If you don't want to read it, that's fine, you can wait until the next installment, which WILL be SoulSilvershipping.
Thanks for reading!
Amy47101 signing off! ^.^