A/N: WOW. I haven't updated in FOREVER. COLLEGE IS EATING MY SOOOUUULLL… And my time. So I can't really update much these days… I wanted to work on a chapter to a real story, but I couldn't muster anything decent… So I decided to work on these instead. You'll notice I only have the titles of songs on these. That's because I didn't actually listen to them or use their length as guidelines… I just used the titles as prompts.

Oh, and just so you know, The Lost Stories arrived in the mail yesterday. I haven't put it down. It's amazing. Though I've heard it has some really sad stories in it, I haven't gotten to any of them yet. I'm currently on Purple Prose and all I can think is: WILL, JUST SHUT UP AND FLEE WITH WHAT DIGNITY YOU HAVE LEFT!

...Anyway...

Devious Plan

Jenny watched Alyss drag Will onto the dance floor and shook her head.

"Honestly, I can't believe what you put him through," she told Gilan.

The ranger turned to her, confused. "How do you mean?"

Jenny scoffed. "I'm not silly enough to believe that Will was the only wedding party member not instructed in dancing lessons by mere happenstance. You and Halt didn't tell him on purpose, didn't you?" She cast her companion an accusatory glare.

Gilan looked affronted. "I'm surprised at you, Jenny. How could you ever suggest such mischief?"

She looked unconvinced. "So you and Halt had nothing to do with it?"

Gilan shook his head resolutely. "No, of course not, not at all, probably not, not really…" He waved his hands a few times, then slowly worked into a sheepish shrug. "Well… Perhaps just a little bit to do with it…"

"A little?"

"…A bit."

"Really?"

"…Perhaps."

She raised an eyebrow at him.

"…Yes."

"That's what I thought," Jenny smiled triumphantly and turned her eyes back to the awkwardly-dancing ranger. Despite her disappointment in Gilan and Halt for embarrassing Will so, she couldn't help but to smile. "I must say… I've never seen Will quite so flustered before."

Gilan beamed at her. "I'll say. It's the only way to embarrass the man – he's just too good at everything else."

The two watched for a silent moment, delighting in Will's show of incompetence. Jenny cast a glance at Gilan, and his wide, boyish grin infected her. She smiled more widely when she asked, "You're never going to let him live this down, are you?"

Gilan snorted derisively, his eyes alight with amusement. "Not while I'm still alive."

Fairy Tale

Like any other Araluen child, Princess Cassandra had been brought up on fantastical tales of far-off lands and beautiful characters. Knights in shining armor, Princesses like herself, trapped away by some evil witch, waiting for their true love. As a young girl, Cassandra had always tried to picture herself in a fairy tale, waiting for the day when a dashing young prince would save her from the humdrum days of princess-ly lessons and the endless walls of Castle Araluen. She hadn't the slightest idea who he might be, but she knew he would appear one day and whisk her away. They'd fall in love, get married, and live happily ever after. Even as a teenager, though she'd given up on the picturesque daydreams of her childhood, she spent time wondering when exactly her prince (for that was truly what he'd be) would appear in her life and make those humdrum castle days a bit more interesting. She kept her eyes peeled for some strikingly handsome nobleman, brave and true, with a winning smile and an adventuresome heart. She could never seem to find him.

Then one day, all that changed.

He hadn't appeared suddenly. In fact, when she finally realized that it was him, he'd been there by her side for years, as loyal a soldier and friend as anyone could ask for. He hadn't whisked her away – if anything, she'd whisked him, and he'd loyally remained with her to support and help her wherever she went. His bravery wasn't worn on his shield or in his ego, but on his daily acts of servitude and compassion that continually surprised her. His smile wasn't flawless, and was in fact rather shy, but it made her go giddy every time she saw it, because she knew it was connected directly to his heart. His heart was adventuresome, alright, but humble above all, and caring to those he called friend. All in all, he was her perfect prince, if not in a guise she hadn't been expecting.

Certainly, she had never expected him to come in the form of Horace Altman.

He was a peasant by birth, not a prince, and yet, she realized she would have no other man. She would make him a prince, for that was what he was at heart.

In a way just like and yet infinitely more perfect than any fairy tale, their romance fell together like the pieces of a puzzle, and they were quickly set for their 'happily ever after'. But unlike the stories, Cassandra's own life didn't end with that one line. As she smiled up at him through the white veil, she realized rather suddenly that this was merely the beginning of a story far grander, larger, and more wonderful than any fairy tale had ever been.

From childhood, she'd set out looking for a handsome rescuer and a happily ever after. Now, years later, she realized that she'd never found what she was looking for.

She'd found something much, much better.

Blush

He wasn't.

He couldn't.

Could he?

Pauline couldn't believe her eyes. Halt was blushing.

She wasn't sure she'd ever seen him do such a thing. But there he was, face as straight and taciturn as always, as red as a beet. She'd only known the young ranger for a few years, but in that time she couldn't ever remember him blushing. Certainly not because of the words of a lady.

Unbidden, a snappish anger rose in in the back of her mind, but Pauline batted it down. She had enough self-consciousness to realize that she'd been nursing a rather serious (if not completely ridiculous) crush on the Hibernian expat for several months, but she tried to ignore the fact as often as possible. Still, the fact that some other girl (whom Pauline thought she might have liked, if she hadn't started flirting with her ranger) could make Halt blush made a slight pang of jealousy spring up in her mind. And yet, she couldn't help but smiling when she looked at him.

Tight-faced or not, Halt was just so darned cute when he was blushing.

…Not that Pauline would have noticed.

At any rate, it was the first time she'd ever seen him flustered before, and she'd enjoyed it so thoroughly, she decided right then and there that she would make it her mission to catch Halt blushing again.

Unfortunately, Halt was a rather difficult person to catch flustered. Firstly, he was hard to catch at anything, because he was constantly skulking around watching, not being watched. Secondly, he was always so quiet and serious, it was nigh impossible for Pauline to gauge what might or might not embarrass the man. Nothing, it seemed. Thirdly, (and this was perhaps the most annoying of all) Pauline hardly got enough time with the scruffy young ranger to possible catch him at any of his few momentary lapses of dignity. After two months at trying, Pauline was ready to give up for frustration.

Then one evening, as Halt was walking her back to her apartment after a meeting with the Baron (as any self-respecting man would for a lady, in the dark of night) the cooking lady who kindly held open the door for them said quite innocently,

"Have a good evening, milady, Halt." She smiled, "You two make a fine couple, you know," she said, before hurrying off. At once, Halt's eyes widened.

"I, we're not, I mean, I'm not…" He trailed off as the lady left. "I… erhm…" He sighed and ducked back around.

And there, in the dull light of evening, Pauline could see that he was blushing as red as a ripe apple, from his collar to his hairline. She turned away quickly, lest he see her irrepressible smile.

Perhaps it wasn't so much as his blush as it was what he was blushing about, Pauline thought, but she suddenly had the thought that Halt looked particularly adorable that night. After they arrived at her apartment door, where he would normally bid her good night in a friendly and comfortable way, he seemed a bit stiff that night. He coughed and then said, "Have a good evening, Pauline,"

"You too, Halt," She said. Unlike her companion, Pauline was feeling particularly bold that night. Without a hint of shame, she stepped over to him and kissed him on a scruffy cheek.

She just had to see that blush one more time. And she did.

When she'd had her fill of his embarrassment, she bid him goodnight, stepped into her home, and went off to bed, smiling all the way.