Written for one of my #fictionfriday prompts over on my tumblr, but it ended up fitting nicely into my When You Were Young!verse, so squeezed it in here. Also, for those of you who are interested in this verse as a whole and are currently unaware, the actual sequel has been started as it called If Angels are Fairytales, Dean is a Prince, so you can check that out also.
Prompt from pharocomics: Cas and Zachariah are 5-year-olds that wander off from a kindergarten field trip. Chaos ensues as they try to find their way back to the group before everyone goes home.
Unbeta'd. All mistakes are mine.
Castiel isn't sure just how he got sucked into leaving the rest of class, though he's sure it has much to do with Dean. Or Charlie. Dean or Charlie. That always tends to be the acceptable answer when Castiel is doing something he is sure to get in trouble for.
"I still don't understand why he's here," Dean grumbles, because for as much as Castiel doesn't understand how he got wrangled into wandering off, Dean seems just as unsure as to why Zachariah Fuller is with them.
"He's my friend, Dean," Castiel patiently reminds him.
Dean snorts, obviously still not liking the turn of events in the least. "I don't see why," he grumbles.
"I don't see why he's friends with you, either," Zachariah shoots off, positively glaring at Dean.
"What did you say!?" Dean shouts, lunging at the fairer haired boy.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Charlie calls out, stepping between the two boys. "Stop it! Both of you!"
Castiel watches helplessly as his two friends bicker. He thinks it is terribly unfair that both boys seem to dislike each other so much. After all, he's never had many friends before moving to Lawrence, never had any friends before that, actually, and now that he has three, he feels that it should only be fair that they all get along. They only ever argue, though, and have even been known to get in physical fights on the playground at school. True, they don't act that way when they're alone with Castiel, such as on the days it's just Dean and Cas (and sometimes Charlie) playing at each other's houses (never Castiel's though) or at the park, or on the days when Castiel and Zachariah play together in church. Castiel is thankful for those times; still, it would be easier if they could get along with each other as well.
The two boys continue yelling at each other, despite Charlie's physical presence between them. Castiel isn't even sure what the fight is about by this point, nor does he care. Instead of rewarding his friends' bad behavior with his attention, he addresses Charlie, "What game will we be playing today?"
Charlie turns to him, smiling brightly, now also choosing to ignore the other two boys. "I'm glad you ask, Cas!" She emphasizes her excitement with a clap of her small hands. "Today, we're on an adventure through a foreign kingdom, searching for a spell to save my kingdom from the clutches of the evil witch, Charlotte."
"For-en?" Dean questions, turning away from his fight with Zachariah. The word is heavy and awkward on his tongue.
Charlie and Castiel are both excellent readers, already quite advanced for only being in kindergarten. Poor Dean just can't keep up sometimes.
"It means different," Castiel explains.
Dean pulls a face. "Why didn't you just say that?"
Zachariah watches them in confusion. "Who is Charlotte?"
"Charlie's mom," Dean and Castiel answer at the same time, already completely used to Charlie's habits of casting her mother as the bad guy in their games of make-believe. By this point, they don't even bother to ask for the reason why.
Zachariah, however, is not around so much as to be in this habit. "Why is your mother the evil witch?"
Charlie scowls. "She took away my computer games for the month."
Zachariah continues staring at her curiously. "But why would she do that?"
"Because Charlie talked back," supplies Cas.
Dean answers, "Because she's addicted."
Charlie glares at the two children who are supposed to be her friends. "No. It's because she's an evil dictator."
Dictator is a word that even goes over Castiel's head, but they can all gather that dictator doesn't mean anything nice considering the context.
"Anyway!" Charlie continues cheerily, as if she hadn't just been forced to defend her honor from her two very best friends in the world. "Zach, since you don't play with us often, I'll catch you up to speed."
"My name is not Zach. It's Zachariah," he corrects primly.
"I'm the queen, Dean is my knight, and Castiel is our guardian angel," she tumbles on with her explanation, not even noticing that Zachariah spoke in her focused excitement for all things fantasy. Zachariah pouts at the dismissal, while Dean positively gleams. "What should you be?... Hm..." She places a finger to her chin in thought.
"The unwanted sidekick," Dean suggests unkindly.
Castiel huffs at him.
"No, no," Charlie dismisses, so enraptured in her own spinning ideas that she doesn't even register the suggestion for the mean barb that it is. "I know!" The three boys start with the suddenness of her exclamation. "We never did find a prince before! So! Zach! You can be the prince of this land, helping us so that the threat of the witch doesn't affect your kingdom."
Dean looks livid at her decision, though Cas has no idea why. He thinks it is a good idea and says as much. Zachariah would make a good prince, what with his light hair and pale eyes and his good posture. Castiel's even pretty sure that Zachariah's parents are fairly rich considering the nice suits they wear to church on Sunday services.
"It's decided then!" Charlie shouts, pumping her fist in the air.
The children spend the day running around the farm and surrounding trees, dodging adults of all variety ("They're all under the control of the witch! Her influence is spreading," Charlie whispers as they hide behind a large stack of lumber). By the time the field trip is over and they need to return to the bus, all four of them are worn out and covered in dirt. They're chastised sharply by the teacher and aren't allowed to sit near each other on the bus ride home. Instead, they must each sit with a chaperone. They're told their parents will be called when they get back to the school, but, for Castiel, it was all worth it. Sure, Dean and Zachariah still don't seem to particularly like each other, but under the rule of Queen Charlie, they seem to at least be able to tolerate one another, which is more than he ever thought could happen. Maybe they really had found a magic spell on their journey (though it certainly did have the effect Charlie hoped for, as her mother grounds her for another month when they get home).