A/N- Props to savethemadscientist, for guessing right!!! Hope you enjoy! I'm excited I got another chapter finished before the crazy week ahead starts. I hope I can update soon. Please review!- Md

Hansel and Gretel…Sort of

"What are doing here?!" I asked the Prince in shock.

"Baking a cake." He rolled his eyes. "What do you think I'm doing? The same thing as you."

"Well, duh, I know that." I took a deep breath. Two seconds with the man and I was already frustrated. "I meant, HOW are you here? How did you GET here."

"The same way you were thrown here." He told me. His eyes softened a little. "When you left the ballroom, I admit I felt bad. I was a jerk. I shouldn't have judged you so quickly. So I followed you. I saw Una confront you and then……mutate.." He shuddered as he thought back. "Then you disappeared into thin air. I demanded to know what happened to you, and well, Una, or whoever…WHATever, she was freaked out and sent me through this strange green portal. I ended up landing not to far from here."

"And then, let me guess, you got hungry and smelled the food?" I asked.

He nodded. I didn't talk again right away. I wasn't sure what to say next. I doubted he knew how to get out of this mess any more than I did. I did start to wonder though…..

"So, was that an apology?"

"Excuse me?" His eyebrows raised haughtily.

"For being a jerk, telling me I was only after wealth and fame." I raised mine just as high.

He was silent for a while, I could tell he was an extremely prideful person. It was taking all his effort not to belittle me somehow.

"Yes." Was all he said.

"Yes what?" I smirked as he grunted.

"You know, I should remind you that I am Prince. You, girl, are a peasant. You should show a little propriety."

"Sorry to break it to you, Your Highness, but here we're equals. You. Me. We're in the same boat my friend." I shrugged and let out a sigh.

Before he could respond, the kitchen door opened and old woman shuffled in, looking as sweet as ever. She gave me a sweet smile and continued with her work.

"Did you meet our new guest Hansel dear? Isn't she pretty? I think the two of you would look very fine together. Yes. Yes. Very fine." Her back was to us as she spoke.

I turned to the Prince and mouthed "Hansel?" He shrugged in return. Just then my stomach let out a huge roaring growl. The stress of the situation had made me even more hungry. Not to mention the whole house smelled of delicious food.

"Oh ho ho!" The old woman daintily laughed. "Hansel, did you hear that?" She looked at the Prince as she spoke. "Little Gretel is hungry!"

She clapped her small hands together and opened up her giant oven. (Have I mentioned yet how big her oven was? It probably could have fit an entire cow inside.) She leaned over and pulled out the biggest turkey I'd ever seen. It was surrounded by potatoes and carrots and all sorts of vegetables. The sight of it sent my mouth into a salivating frenzy. I forgot all about the fact I was scared and locked in a cage. All I wanted was that food. I looked over at the Prince and he was looking ferociously at the food as well.

The old woman took out two large plates from a cupboard and loaded food on both of them. She held one in each hand and walked towards us. She came to my cage first. She started to move the plate forward and it clanked against the metal bars. She pushed it forward a few more times. It was then I truly knew that the old woman had lost her mind.

"Oh dear." Her eyebrows crinkled together and she tried pushed the plate through the bars once more. "Well, this is quite the problem Gretel."

Just then she flipped the plate and the food flew through the bars of the cage and onto my lap. I tried to dodge the potatoes as they came flying towards my face, but I didn't really have much room to hide. A small slice of carrot whapped me in the eye and I yelped in surprise.

I heard the Prince forcing back a laugh. I help one hand over my injured eye and glared at him with the other. The old woman then went to his cage and threw his food through the bars too. Unfortunately, nothing hit him in the face. He did jump back though, no doubt because he was afraid to get his precious clothing stained.

"Oh you are a handsome young man, Hansel. Don't you think Gretel?" She looked at me.

"Sure." I managed to say.

"Ok dearies, eat up. I don't want you two going hungry." She reached the door and began to shut it. She turned and faced us before she closed it completely. "Because the meats are always best when they're nice and fatty." We could hear her cackling as the door clicked shut.

"She's going to eat us?!" The Prince said loudly, looking at me in surprise.

"Well, she's going to have a hard time swallowing you." I said. "You'd probably leave a bad taste in her mouth."

Sometimes I surprised myself with my uncanny wit. I smiled at the Prince as he tried to find something spiteful to say back. When he couldn't, I picked up a piece of turkey sitting on my lap, and bit into it. It was the best turkey I've ever tasted.

****

The sun had gone down. There were no windows in the room, but everything seemed darker. The old woman had come in and opened the oven again. This time she'd given us chocolate chip cookies. I wasn't sure how her oven was producing all this food. It must have been magic. She'd left a candle lit on the table below us. I could see the Prince's face, but only a little.

He hadn't spoken to me since my bad taste comment. I thought about apologizing, but I changed my mind. He deserved it right? I hated the silence though. There was no way to sleep comfortably in the cages we were in, so I sat and stared into the darkness that surrounded us, thinking about home, wondering if Nathaniel was worried about me. That was a stupid thing to be thinking about at such a time.

"I am sorry." The Prince said.

I looked over, shocked that he wasn't asleep. His breathing had been so even, I had just assumed. I was silent as he continued.

"My father told me your intentions were honorable, but I didn't believe him. I don't like being forced into doing things I don't want to, so I made up things in my head to defend my actions. I misjudged you and I am sorry. And if it means anything, I'll make sure my father honors his part of the agreement about taking care of your family. Even though the rest of the agreement is broken."

I was speechless. I opened my mouth a few times, then shut it. I felt like a dolt.

"Thank you." I said finally. "That means a lot that you would be willing to do that for my family."

"Well, don't thank me yet." He said, I could see a small smile on his lips. "I can only make sure it happens if we escape the crazy old cannibal."

"Speaking of the crazy old cannibal, Your Highness, but…." I couldn't help myself. "Tell me, how did such a strapping man, such as yourself, come to be overpowered by such a frail old woman?"

"Again with the lack of propriety!" He hit his hand against the bars of his cage, though I could hear it in his voice that he was smiling.

"I said 'Your Highness', Your Highness." I laughed.

"She's surprisingly strong!" He defended himself, "And on top of that, I was hanging upside down when she knocked me out with that cane!"

"Whatever you say, Your Highness."

****

The evil witch, Una, rolled her hands over a boiling pot of yellow water. The image of a house appeared.

"Well well. It looks like our two adventurers have found themselves in little old Trixie's place. Mwhaha, they'll make a tasty treat for her. Don't you agree boys?" Una looked at her two bodyguards standing silently in the corners.

She snarled when they didn't respond and turned back to the cauldron. She reached over to her table and grasped a bottle full of liquid. She poured it into the yellow goo below her, laughing as steam curled into the air.