alright, here it is. For Yami Dragoness of Dark.

~enjoy!

Sleeping Beauty

Running. That's all he knew how to do. Run. And here he was now, doing just that, except he didn't know where to go. He panted and wheezed and yelled for help. Nothing. Not even his father came to his aid. "Mama!" he screamed, over and over again till his voice was hoarse. "Please! Help me!"

Then he fell into the dark.

Angelo sprang from his bed, breathing hard and fast. In his hand, he clutched his mother's necklace. The boy held it to his chest, curling over it like a distressed hermit crab. Just a bad dream. It's nothing. Nothing at all.

He sighed deeply, reaching over for his new book. "Alright, Grimmies, we're going for a little stroll".

Carefull, he left his room for the kitchen, a habit that was steadily developing. He slipped in through the door without so much a sound when suddenly, the lights switched on.

Lussuria jumped out of nowhere, scaring the living crap out of the boy. "Aha! So you're the little cake-stealing thief!"

"Uncle Luss?!? What the fuck are you doing here?!?"

"Hey, watch your language young man. Your mother wouldn't want you talking like that".

Angelo quickly clamped his mouth shut and marched to the table. Innocently, he asked, "May I please have some cake and milk? I'm really hungry".

Lussuria sighed deeply. "I swear, one day, batting those baby blues of yours won't work anymore".

He busied himself while preparing their food, while the child thumbed absently through the pages of his new book. "Hey, Uncle Luss?"

"Hm?"

"I like chocolate cake".

"So do I".

"What did Mom like?"

"Eh, a lot of things. Lamb chops, rhubarb pie, you". He laughed a little. "Especially you. She loved your Papa just as much, but she never really owned up to it".

"Why?"

"She's an ice queen. No pun intended, of course. Here, dig in". He set down two glasses of milk and two slices of cake, then he sat down next to the boy. "You keep eating like you are now, you're gonna get fat".

"No, I won't", he replied defiantly through a mouthful of chocolate cake. "Papa eats a lot, and I heard Mama had a pretty big appetite, too. And neither of them are even chunky".

Lussuria laughed. "That's because you're Papa is the Boss. And Mira was always using that brain of hers so she definitely burned those calories".

They ate in silence, till a random crumb landed on Angelo's book. "Whoops, my bad", said Lussuria, quickly wiping it off. "You must like my gift so much to have brought it with you here".

"It's pretty neat. Papa read me a story before bed, you know".

"Did he, now?"

Angelo nodded. "Well, would you like me to tell you a story?" asked the green-haired assassin.

"Yes, please".

"Alright. You mind saying that in French for me?"

Angelo pouted. "Oui, s'il vous plaît".

"Good", he smiled. I don't even know any French myself. He flipped through the pages till he settled for a certain story. "Here we are, Sleeping Beauty".

And thus he began. "Once upon a time, there was a beautiful queen who wanted to have a baby more than anything else in the world, but she couldn't. Then one day, while the queen was bathing in the royal pool, a frog appeared before her, and--"

"Stop filling the boy's head with your disgusting stories, you rutting pervert", said Mammon coolly, appearing out of nowhere.

He floated towards them and landed neatly on the table. "Young master, are you listening to him? Because I suggest that you don't. Your father wouldn't be pleased to hear that you let him pollute your mind".

"Oh, stop sucking up!" groaned Lussuria. "And this wasn't a sex story, you know, till you came along!"

Mammon turned his stony gaze at his colleague. "I'm not the necrophile here, imbecile".

"Oh, you're so mean, you devil baby", Lussuria pouted.

Angelo sighed deeply. "Can you please continue?"

Lussuria beamed at him. "Why, of course. So anyway...the frog who appeared in front of the queen during her bath--"

"Will you stop saying that?" Mammon interrupted. "He already gets the picture. Bathing means she's naked, you sicko".

"ANYWAY! The frog told her that she will be pregnant and have the baby she always wanted. And the frog was right, and later she had a beautiful baby girl. The King and Queen were overjoyed by her birth and--"

"Shishishishi...I bet you can't even spell that. Shishishishi...overjoyed", cackled Bel, sitting downon the table to join them. "You're really listening to this crap, Angelo? You know I could tell you a better story".

"Er...no, thanks. I'll pass. Continue, Lussuria".

"I can spell overjoyed, you know. It's O-V-E-"

"-R-J-O-Y-E-D", Angelo finished for him. "Now can you please get on with it? Maintenant?"

"Il ne comprend pas, Angelo", said Bel. "Ne perdez pas votre souffle".

Angelo quirked an eyebrow at him in amazement. "Vous parlez français, lui aussi?"

"Oui".

"Alright, will you two quit the Frenchie lingo? Trying to read a story here!" said Lussuria.

Bel cackled malicously. "Il essaie, parce qu'il ne peut pas lire les mots".

"Pouvez-vous s'il vous plaît Chut une minute? Je veux finir l'histoire". Angelo nodded for Lussuria to go on.

"Thank you. Now where were we? Oh, yes. So the King and Queen were overjoyed with their birth that they decide to throw her a grand party, inviting all the fairies in the kingdom. Now while they were handing out the invitations, they missed giving one to a single fairy and so she couldn't go to the party. She was furious, and so she decided to crash it. Now while all the other fairies were bestowing good gifts for the princess--"

"Bestowing...shishishishi. Another big word for you, Lussuria".

"Shut up! Now, anyway, the bad fairy cursed the princess, saying that on her 18th birthday, she'll prick her finger on a spindle and die.

"Guess she should've just hired her someone to make her own clothes for her", said Mammon.

"Shush, baby, let me finish. so the Princess grew up happy, healthy, and pretty. Her father, the King, ordered that all spindles in the kingdom be burned because he didn't want his child to get hurt. THe princess grew up without ever seeing a psindle her entire life til her 18th birthday. Sure enough, the bad fairy's curse came true, and she pricked her finger on a spindle. Now all the other good fairies came to her aid, and the only way they could save her was by reversing the curse so that she was only asleep, not dead. They also put the rest of the kingdom asleep, and only one thing can wake her and everyone else up. Do you know what that is?"

"A good slap in the face?" suggested Mammon. "Defibrilators are rather expensive, you know".

"No! I wasn't even talking to you". Next time, I'll read to him when they're all asleep, Lussuria thought. "It's true loves' kiss. So the Princess' story reaches other kingdoms, and soon almost every man out there is ready to risk their lives to free her. Of course, none of them ever succeeded. It stayed like that for a long, long time, and soon the whole kingdonm was covered in thorns and weeds. Then one day, a young prince came along who also wanted to free the sleeping princess. He wacked thorough all those terrible things and he finally reached her. And you know what happened?"

"shishishishi....he ran away because that girl was so wrinkled and ugly, right?"

"Ew no amount of plastic surgery can fix that", Mammon added.

"THEY KISSED, alright? Gosh! And so the Princess finally woke up and they got married and they all lived happily ever after. There. THE END. Are you guys happy now?"

"Oh, very. The stupidity of that is finally over", said Bel. "Time for bed".

"You should go to bed, too, Angelo".

He nodded, and left without another word.

Lussuria stared after the boy and smiled sadly. So young and so fluent in French already? He really does take after you, cupcake.

Angelo lay awake in his bed, running his mother's pearls through his fingertips. They were cold and smooth, just like his mother's hands when she came home on some days.

He turned in his bed and willed himself to sleep. Someday, Mom. Maybe one day, Dad will wake you up, too.

HINT, HINT! Looks like someone's going to make a comeback...

sorry if it took so long...

anyways, please review.

oh, btw, if you're going to request, make sure you have a NAME, k? no, ... doesn't cut it.