June 2015

Hello readers! I'm very glad you're all still enjoying my little brain droppings. I've updated my profile with the latest on my fanfic writing, and some new links to my other nooks around the 'Net. Please check it out and thanks for reading!

Now it's Anti-Cosmo and Wanda's turn for a little heart to heart. Writing for these two was fun.

FOP doesn't belong to me.

While Cosmo followed the group of fairy soldiers as they led a bound Anti-Wanda to the Anti-Fairy Prison, Wanda sat on the floor of the old warehouse and watched her husband's dark duplicate. After conjuring some food for Tabby, Anti-Cosmo had resumed his spot in front of the dirty window and was once again staring at nothing in particular.

If he had a plan, he certainly didn't seem to be in much of a hurry.

A soft whimper from Wanda's right drew her attention momentarily, as Tabby rolled over in her sleep. After eating her fill of the cheese sandwiches Anti-Cosmo had made, the little girl had sat with her godmother for a while before dozing off. Wanda wasn't terribly surprised—it was pretty late and it had been a long day. Since her goddaughter had fallen asleep, the little pink haired fairy had been sitting where she was now, just watching Anti-Cosmo. And thinking.

He was an anti-fairy, possibly the most brilliant anti-fairy in existence. He had snuck into her home, kidnapped her godchild, and now she herself was his hostage. He stole her wand, and was basically keeping them prisoner while he floated up there, staring out the window.

But.

He hadn't harmed Tabby, instead keeping her from harm on two separate occasions. He seemed sincerely upset at the thought of his wife in Jorgen's hands, and had admitted that he loved her and would gladly sacrifice himself and his freedom in order to keep her safe.

And dang it if Wanda didn't find all that at least somewhat admirable.

With a soft sigh, Wanda got to her feet and walked towards Anti-Cosmo. She stopped at nearly the same spot Tabby had a little while ago, and looked up at the floating dark fairy. If Anti-Cosmo knew she was there, he made no sign.

"Hey," she called softly, not wanting the echo of her voice to wake her sleeping godchild. "Anti-Cosmo?" The anti-fairy above her glanced down at her, an eyebrow raised.

"I'm surprised you're able to utter my name without choking," he remarked, turning back to the window. "As repulsed as you are by my very existence."

Wanda frowned. She deserved that.

"May I come up?" she asked, drawing another raised eyebrow from her husband's dark doppelganger.

"My my, aren't we polite all of a sudden," he muttered with a soft laugh. "What's brought about this incredibly suspicious change in attitude, I wonder?" The laugh died in his throat when he noticed Wanda floating up towards him. "Now I see where your goddaughter developed the very bad habit of asking a question and acting before getting an answer."

"I wanted to talk to you, but I don't want Tabby to hear," she said once she was level with him. Anti-Cosmo rolled his eyes as he turned back to the window.

"I take it you wouldn't want to add the no doubt long list of vulgarities you're about to hurl at me to the child's vocabulary," he said before uttering a heavy sigh. "Well, let's have it, then. I've far too much thinking to do to waste time arguing with you."

Angry comebacks leapt immediately to the front of Wanda's mind, and she clamped her teeth onto her tongue in an attempt to keep them back. He was on the defensive because she had put him there. She had no right to get angry about it. Besides, this wasn't what she had come up for.

"What I mean is," she began, talking slowly through her clenched teeth. "Tabby's asleep and I don't want our talking to wake her. She's just a little girl and needs her rest."

"She had a nap earlier," Anti-Cosmo responded without turning. Wanda blinked, startled.

"What? When?"

"After we left the Records Vault," he replied, still gazing out the window. "My darling wife put the child to sleep as she transported us to our previous home. The excitement of the day and all."

"Oh."

Wanda floated silently for a moment, studying Anti-Cosmo. This was getting a little surreal. These anti-fairies were not acting the way anti-fairies were supposed to. Bad luck should be all anti-fairies think about, not putting an emotionally tired child down for a nap. Where was the big scheme to wreck havoc upon the earth? Where was the brilliant plan to free all the other anti-fairies?

Where was the Anti-Cosmo Wanda could easily despise without a second thought?

"You really do care about your wife, don't you?" she asked quietly, a thoughtful expression on her face.

Anti-Cosmo turned to her then, his face practically glowing with annoyance.

"Of course I care about her!" he hissed, making Wanda unconsciously withdraw slightly. "She's my wife! Don't you care about that husband of yours?"

"Well of course I do!" she shot back, hands planted on her hips as she flew closer again. "But that's different!"

An angry snarl crossed Anti-Cosmo's face.

"Why? Because you're fairies and it's permitted? Whereas my wife and I are anti-fairies, so OF COURSE we aren't capable of any emotions whatsoever, least of all actual LOVE for anything but ourselves and the misfortune we cause!" He turned away again, returning his gaze to the window. His face was still pulled into an angry frown. "I honestly expected you to be less ignorant, Wanda. It's always disappointing when I'm shown to be incorrect, but it's especially disappointing in this case."

Wanda could do nothing but offer the anti-fairy a dumbfounded stare. Yes, she was expecting some sort of angry outburst from him at some point, but nothing in her experiences with anti-fairies could have prepared her for something like THAT. He had sounded . . . hurt. She had hurt his feelings by insinuating that he shouldn't care about his wife just because they were anti-fairies. Now that she thought about it, she realized just how thoughtless and rude such a comment was, no matter who it was directed at.

Honestly, she only knew the barest things about anti-fairies in the first place, so making assumptions regarding the existence or depth of their emotions was pretty foolish all around.

Of course, she'd also be pretty foolish to not at least entertain the notion that all this was simply part of a more elaborate plan designed to free all the anti-fairies, throw the earth into utter chaos and overthrow Fairy World in the process. Anti-Cosmo WAS an evil genius, after all.

But deep down, Wanda didn't really believe he had some bigger plan. His reactions to her had been much too real to simply be an act, especially earlier when he had discovered his wife missing. The panic on his face was unmistakable, as well as the worry etched in his voice. The old Anti-Cosmo—meaning the one they had first met when Timmy released all the anti-fairies on Friday the 13th—might have expressed annoyance at such a wrinkle being introduced to his plan, not fear and worry. Such strong emotions could not be so easily faked.

This Anti-Cosmo, Wanda finally admitted to herself, was definitely not the same anti-fairy that Timmy had released all those years ago.

"I—I'm sorry."

Anti-Cosmo turned to her, his face a mixture of shock and disbelief.

"Excuse me?"

"You were right," Wanda said, her voice soft and quiet. "I WAS being ignorant, in every sense of the word. I shouldn't jump to conclusions based on what little I know of you, and anti-fairies in general. So I apologize. Sincerely."

A number of emotions rolled across Anti-Cosmo's face at Wanda's apology—shock and disbelief of course, curiosity, embarrassment, and finally confusion. This last expression stayed as he turned back to the window, his cheeks turning slightly darker as a blush surfaced.

"N-no need to apologize," he stammered softly, not daring to look at Wanda. "There was a time not too long ago when you might have been correct in your assumptions. Anti-fairies ARE the exact opposite of fairies, after all. It only stands to reason that we would be less prone to the more . . . positive of emotions."

"But you're not like the other anti-fairies are you?" Wanda asked quietly, floating slowly closer. "Not anymore. Not since your operation with Cosmo to switch your fagiggly glands."

Anti-Cosmo grimaced.

"That blasted gland!" he whispered harshly, clenching his hands into tight fists. "This all started when I received that confounded gland!"

"It changed you, didn't it? After all this time, it's changed you. Made you less . . . well, less anti-fairy-ish."

"It's made me an outcast!" Anti-Cosmo hissed hatefully. "I no longer hold the same passion for causing mayhem and misfortune as I once did, and my wife has become more important to me than ever before. The little things that used to annoy me about her, I now find endearing and—heaven help me—charming!"

"You love her!" Wanda said, a smile on her lips. "There's no mystery or shame in that."

Anti-Cosmo shook his head urgently. "Not like this, Wanda, this is different. I loved her before but not like this, never like this!" he said quickly, the words almost pushing their way out. Now that he had someone who could possibly understand what he had been going through all these years, it was if a dam had suddenly burst. "My life used to be ruled by plots, schemes and plans of all sorts to free all the anti-fairies and set them loose upon the earth. But now, now all I can think of is my wife and keeping her safe and happy. I had tried many, many times to free her from that blasted prison in the years I've been free, and in those years the rest of my kind has come to hate me."

Wanda offered him a confused expression. "Why? Because you took so long to free her?"

"Because I tried for so long to free ONLY her," he corrected, his voice a harsh whisper. "Never once did it ever cross my mind to attempt an all out prison break. Never once had I ever considered freeing the rest of them. It was all for her. I wanted my wife by my side. I . . . I needed my wife by my side." He turned away from Wanda then, slightly embarrassed by his sudden confession. "This . . . change has made the rest of the anti-fairies hate me. They call me a traitor because they used to look to me for leadership and guidance and now all I care about is Anti-Wanda."

He was quiet for a moment, and Wanda let him have all the time he needed to continue.

"I need to free her, Wanda. I fear for her safety," he said softly. "I fear that muscle-headed superior of yours will continue to torture her in an attempt to locate me . . ." He paused, and when he continued next his voice was even softer. "But I think what frightens me more is what the other anti-fairies would do to her if they ever get the chance."

Wanda gasped silently. "You think they'd hurt her? But they're mad at you, aren't they?"

"During each of my attempts to free her, I heard rumors, passed from cell to cell. They don't know about my operation. They think she's the cause of my strange behavior. They think . . ." He sighed, and Wanda had an idea he might have been struggling to hold back tears. "They think that if they remove her from the equation, I'd return to normal."

"That's . . . that's horrible," Wanda muttered, her face pale.

Anti-Cosmo whirled around with, surprisingly, a satisfied smile. "That's why I doubled my resolve and tripled my efforts, and the very next attempt was successful!" he said, puffing his chest out proudly. "Finally, after evading capture for so long, I felt completely free! My wife was by my side once again, where I could protect her and care for her properly. I . . . I don't believe I had ever felt so happy."

Wanda couldn't help but smile. Seeing Anti-Cosmo express such happiness and elation helped reaffirm her belief that he had changed. Slowly her smile faded as a thought struck.

"So," she began, pulling him from his happy memory. "Why would you risk that freedom by kidnapping a godchild? You had to have known that you'd be pursued."

He sighed. "It would seem that I'm not the only one who has changed," he said softly as he turned back to the window. "Not long ago—seven years, perhaps—my wife began talking about . . . children." Wanda winced, but said nothing. "She was so excited at the thought of having one of our own, and the idea eventually grew on me as well. Besides, I loved her and wanted to give her what she desired. So we tried. And we tried. But no matter what . . ." He finished with a shrug.

"She can't, can she?" Wanda whispered, tears pricking the back of her eyes. Anti-Cosmo turned to her quickly, his eyes wide with shock. "She can't because I can't."

Wanda blinked quickly, trying to rid herself of these hateful tears. She could try to fool herself into thinking they were shed on behalf of Anti-Wanda's plight, but knew, deep down, they were for herself and her own sentence of infertility. Her self-centered thinking disgusted her, and she wiped her cheeks quickly, hoping this self-pity would dissipate as swiftly as it had settled upon her.

A gentle hand suddenly appeared on her shoulder and she jumped slightly, looking up into the compassionate eyes of her husband's dark double.

"My apologies," he said gently, a guilty smile on his lips. "Re-opening painful memories was not my intention."

She offered him a small smile as the rest of her tears—thankfully—dried up.

"It's not your fault," she said, quickly wiping her cheeks dry. "I've had a long time to deal with it, but sometimes the emotions still blindside me. I'll be okay, but I can certainly identify with your wife on this one. Very closely, unfortunately. I'm sorry she had to experience it, too."

"It would appear that we are all more alike than we previously thought," Anti-Cosmo said as he pulled back. One corner of his mouth pulled up into a half-smirk. "Or would admit to."

Wanda returned his smirk with one of her own. "So it would seem. Please continue."

"Well, to be perfectly honest, the bottom line is this—my wife was sad at our lot in life, so I wanted to do something to try and make her happy again," he said, ending with a slight shrug. "A godchild seemed the most logical way to help her fulfill her 'mothering instincts', and since I couldn't exactly go to Jorgen and ask for one, I thought of you."

"So instead of just coming to us and asking if you could get to know Tabby and possibly visit, you decided that the best course of action was to kidnap her?" Wanda asked with a raised eyebrow. "Really, Anti-Cosmo, I would have thought you'd be smarter than that."

Anti-Cosmo raised his own eyebrow at her. "So you would have thrown the front door wide open and welcomed us in with open arms?" he countered, crossing his arms across his chest. "Really, Wanda, I would have thought you'd be smarter than that."

The pink haired fairy offered him a half smile. "Touché," she said, crossing her own arms. "You're right. I probably would have tossed you out on your ear."

"If I was lucky," he said with a smirk.

Wanda laughed slightly. "And if I was in a good mood," she added, making the anti-fairy chuckle.

An awkward silence fell over the two then, and Wanda turned to check on Tabby. Once assured that the little girl was still sleeping comfortably, she turned back, and found her wand in Anti-Cosmo's outstretched arm.

"What . . ?"

"This has gone too far," he said quietly. "Take the girl and return home. My only priority now is to find a way to free my wife. I apologize for all the trouble."

"Jorgen probably has security pretty beefed up, you know," she replied, slowly taking her wand back. "Assuming you got in, you'd most likely never get out."

He offered her a slight shrug and tired smile. "If I cannot free her, then I will allow myself to be captured. If she must remain imprisoned, she will see her husband in the cell beside her. At least then I can watch over her and do my best to keep her safe."

Wanda couldn't think straight. Warring thoughts battled inside her head, pulling her in two separate directions. Part of her, the part that was raised to distrust and hate anti-fairies no matter what, screamed at her to hurry back to Tabby and get out of there before Anti-Cosmo changed his mind.

But another part, the part that was greatly overshadowing the first part, urged her to do something. He'd never make it by himself, but if he had help, there was a chance that he and his wife could both escape safely.

But did she truly want to help an anti-fairy break his wife out of the strongest prison ever built in Fairy World history?

Anti-Cosmo suddenly reached forward and gently pulled Wanda's left hand to him, catching the pink haired fairy completely off guard. She raised her wand, more of an automatic reaction than anything, and watched with wide eyes as he placed a gentle kiss on the back of her hand.

"I'm glad we could have such a civil conversation, Wanda," he said as he sandwiched her hand between his. "And I appreciate your concern. Thank you. Goodbye." He raised his wand and the tip glowed slightly.

Wanda chose.

"WAIT!" she cried as she grabbed Anti-Cosmo's wand and yanked it out of his hand.

He stared at her, honestly confused. "What in blazes . . . ?"

"Do you want help?" she asked, pointing her wand at him.

His eyes flicked from the starry tip of her weapon to her narrowed pink eyes. "What?"

"Do. You. Want. Help?" she repeated, carefully enunciating each word. "Alone you probably won't have much of a chance in freeing your wife, but you just might make it with help. Do you want any? I won't ask again."

"Y—You'd help ME?" he asked, looking more confused than ever. "Why on earth would you do that?"

She offered a small shrug. "I don't know if I completely trust you yet, but I believe you're not the same anti-fairy I remember. That anti-fairy wouldn't be so eager to rush into what was obviously a trap to save his wife. He'd never be so self-sacrificing. So. What's your choice?"

Anti-Cosmo cast one more flick between the tip of Wanda's wand to her now not-so-narrowed pink eyes. Her face bore an expression of determination so similar to the one he sometimes saw on his wife, he offered her a small smile.

His choice, it would seem, was crystal clear.

"Yes," he whispered, the smile growing. "I would greatly appreciate the assistance. Thank you."

Wanda shook her head as she lowered her wand. "Don't thank me yet," she sighed as they flew down to collect Tabby. "We still need a plan, and there's a whole bunch of ways this could all fail miserably."

"Mmmm . . . wha?" Tabby muttered as Anti-Cosmo lifted the groggy girl into his arms.

Wanda smiled as she grasped the girl's hand. "It's okay sweetie," she said as she lifted her wand. "We're going home."

The sleepy child smiled wearily, nodding her head heavily. "Oh . . . good," she finished with a yawn before resting her head against Anti-Cosmo's chest and falling back to sleep. The anti-fairy blushed as Wanda's wand flashed.

She wondered just how she'd explain this to her husband.

-X-X-X-

Cosmo slowly flew through the house, frowning at the deafening silence. Tabby's parents were off . . . somewhere for the next week or so, and Tabby hadn't had any actual nannies for at least two weeks. He wondered when—if—her parents would realize they had been leaving their child 'alone' for the past month.

He floated upstairs and into Tabby's room, and stared at her bed sadly. She apparently hadn't made it this morning, because it was lumpy and the covers were askew. Wanda would have to remind her about keeping her room neat.

The little green haired fairy sighed and sat heavily on the edge of the messy bed. This morning. Everyone was still here, then. It seemed so long ago.

The sound of a flushing toilet drew him from his mope, and Cosmo leapt off the bed wide-eyed and clutching his wand tightly. Had a burglar broken into the house while they were all away? Why on earth would he use the toilet way up here when there was a bathroom downstairs? Would he wash his hands before touching anything else?

Before this train of thought could lead him who knows how far away from the actual point, he heard soft footfalls in the hallway. They were heading towards the bedroom. Cosmo panicked.

"Don't come any closer or I'll . . . I'll . . ." His mind went blank. The door began to swing open and Cosmo gasped, pressing his hands against his mouth.

"Hi Cosmo," Tabby said groggily as she padded her way back to her bed. In his complete shock, the little green haired fairy slowly dropped back down and sat heavily on the bed with a soft 'whump'.

"Tabby?" he managed to squeak as the little girl placed a sleepy kiss on his cheek before crawling back beneath the covers.

"Night Cosmo," she yawned before rolling over and falling back to sleep. He stared at her, eyes wide and mouth hanging agape.

"Cosmo," a voice called from behind him, and he spun around quickly, his heart pounding rapidly in his chest.

"Wanda!" he cried as he flew into her outstretched arms. He peppered her cheeks with kisses and sealed their lips together for a grand finale. "Oh Wanda, I'm so glad you're home and safe! How did you get away from AC? Did he hurt you? Where were you guys? Is Tabby oka—"

Wanda placed a gentle hand on his mouth, a loving smile on her lips.

"Slow down, sweetie," she said as she led him towards the dollhouse. "There's a lot I need to tell you." Confusion spread across his face like a shadow.

"Okay," he said slowly as Wanda poofed them into their secret home. They appeared in the kitchen, which had been magically 'renovated' to more closely resemble a real, working room. What Cosmo saw when they appeared made him cry out.

"YOU!" he hissed, pointing accusingly at Anti-Cosmo and pushing his wife behind him. "Look out, Wanda! He followed you!"

His dark double jumped up from his seat at the table and backed away as Cosmo brandished his wand threateningly. The green haired fairy regarded Anti-Cosmo with narrowed eyes, the tip of his wand pulsating steadily.

"Cosmo, calm down!" Wanda soothed, gently lowering her husband's arm. "It's okay. He didn't follow me, I brought him here."

The anger in Cosmo's face disappeared as confusion replaced it. "What? Wanda, why would you do that?"

"Because . . . well, honey there's a lot I need to explain," she said as she gently led her husband toward the living room. Before passing through the archway, she called over to Anti-Cosmo, "We'll be back in a few minutes, go ahead and make yourself comfortable."

"Certainly," he responded before they disappeared from sight. "Thank you."

The anti-fairy sat back down at the table as the muffled voices of his counterpart and his wife wafted through the air. He couldn't make out what they were saying, but judging by the tone, Cosmo was still confused as Wanda tried to sooth him. He imagined it was going to take a little longer than 'a few minutes'.

With a sigh, Anti-Cosmo sat back in his chair, absently sticking his hands into the pockets of his jacket. The fingertips of his right hand brushed gingerly against an old piece of parchment, and he paused. Sure that Cosmo and Wanda were still occupied in the other room, and would be for some time, Anti-Cosmo carefully pulled the paper from his pocket, and gently unfolded it.

Wanda had not thought to ask about the missing file from the Records Vault. In truth, he himself had almost forgotten about it. But now that he held it in his hands, once again reading the faded words on the decaying paper, he felt hope blossom within his black heart. Hope for success. Success in freeing not only his wife, but also every other anti-fairy, thereby regaining their trust and allegiance.

It didn't matter that Wanda trusted him—if only slightly—and had offered to help save his wife. It didn't matter that she would no doubt talk Cosmo into also helping, and most likely enlist the aid of her goddaughter as well. All the better, actually. It would all help Anti-Cosmo regain what he once had. Before that blasted operation. Before he began to change. Before he began to care more than an anti-fairy should.

And that's all that mattered to Anti-Cosmo, right?

He glanced toward the doorway, where the voices of the fairies still floated to him.

Right?