(( AN: Getting pretty close to the end now. :D ))

29.

Someone was shaking her. She was dimly aware of that much, at least, and it bothered her. Why were they trying to wake her up? Couldn't they see that she was sleeping? She was at peace and wrapped in the satin silence of darkness and she just wanted them to leave her alone. She turned her head away from the sound of the voices, hoping they would get the clue and leave her alone.

They didn't, just shook her again.

Gah, she was trying to sleep! They wouldn't let her, though, so, reluctantly, she opened her eyes, just a sliver. Brilliant blue eyes gazed back at her, full of worry and intensity so bright they nearly glowed. That was just silly... Eyes didn't glow. Must be a trick of the light. She smiled at the thought, then closed her eyes again and let herself go limp. Her body felt heavy, sluggish, as if she was moving through neck-high water.

She was jarred, suddenly, then instead of the soft warmth she'd felt under her cheek it was the cool stone of the floor. There were several voices now, all agitated. They were making it really hard to sleep. She'd just have to tell them all to go away. Yes, that's what she'd do. Tell them to go away so she could go back to sleeping. Her eyes slitted open again, tiredly looking up over her shoulder. There was someone above her, though her eyes refused to focus. The figure -- a he, she recognized now -- knelt next to her. Warm hands lifted her up, letting her rest back a strong, warm chest.

"Tobydoby," someone said against her ear. "Toby, wake up."

Dominic? She'd recognized his voice anywhere. It took a conscious effort for her to shake off more of the darkness that still clung to her, her mind clearing a tiny bit. "... Do..m...?"

"Oh, thank god," Dominic breathed, hugging her tightly, and she was confused. Why was he so worried? She'd just been taking a nap... Oh. Her mind cleared enough to remember what had happened, the events flooding into her and washing away the last vestiges of unconsciousness that had gripped her.

"Rosepink!" She sat upright, nearly toppled over, only Dominic's hands gripping her shoulders keeping her from planting her face in the step in front of her. "But I'm... I was... I'm not dead?" She spread her palm out, staring down at where the Fairy Queen had pierced her hand with the spindle. All that was left was a tiny puckered scar that was slightly iridescent when she shifted her hand back and forth.

"You were," Verum said, and Toby looked up and noticed for the first time that not only were Dominic and Verum there, but so were several well-armed Fairies standing between them and the Throne Room doors, which were ajar.

Beyond them, echoing through the open doors into the long hall, was the sound of fighting, the clang of steel on steel and the sharp punctuation of cries. Fighting? In Avalon? She looked up at both of them, bewildered. "What's going on? Why is there fighting? And Rosepink -- where is Rosepink?"

"It's okay," Dominic soothed, his warm hands on her shoulders. "You're safe now."

"Rosepink has fled. As for the fighting..." Verum glanced over her shoulder. She wasn't smiling. It was the first time Toby had ever seen her not smiling and happy. Whatever was happening was upsetting her deeply. "It seems that half of the Court is still loyal to her whereas half of the Court is loyal to you. So... currently they're disagreeing over who should control Avalon."

"Wait, they're fighting? Because of me?"

"Not just because of you," Verum said quickly. "Don't think this is your fault. This was going on long, long before you were crowned Princess. You're just the catalyst that's set things in motion... This is my fault, actually. I hadn't realized things had gotten so.. serious. I hadn't realized Rosepink's treachery ran so deep. To think... all of this time I've trusted her, confided in her... and it was all a lie."

"Hey," Toby said, alarmed at the guilt in the fairy godmother-in-training's eyes. "Don't blame yourself, either. She had everyone fooled." She pressed a hand to her head, which was pounding so badly she thought it was going to break the inside of her skull.

"Yes, but because I was not watching you, you..." Verum trailed off, staring at Toby with big eyes, as if she was going to start bawling.

Toby smiled faintly. "Hey, but it's okay, right? I'm not dead." She paused, then, and scrunched up her nose. "Why am I not dead?"

Verum and Dominic glanced at each other. She looked between them, confused. She felt like a look like that was meaningful somehow, but the meaning was escaping Toby. Then Verum looked back at Toby, smiling slightly. "A poison like that, Princess, can only be cured by --"

Toby groaned. "If you say anything about true love or kissing, I'm going to throw myself off a cliff."

"--True Love's Kiss," Verum continued as if she hadn't even heard Toby. She raised her eyes to Dominic and smiled widely. "It is a very good thing Dominic was so close."

Toby's head snapped up. "... excuse me?"

Dominic chuckled softly, hugging Toby gently from behind. "You're not the only one who knows a little bit about fairy tales, silly."

"You... you kissed me?" Toby twisted to look up at him, confused. He nodded. "And it was... it fixed me?" He nodded again. Toby felt her head reel. This was all progressing way too fast. She'd just barely begun to wrap her head around the fact that Dominic liked her, never mind loved her, and certainly never mind how she felt about him. But he was her True Love? Whatever that meant... "Oh."

Dominic slid his arms underneath her, picking her up. "We should get you somewhere safe..."

"No, wait-- Wait, where's Kjavaeos?" Toby's hand gripped at the scabbard that only held the tip of the sword, casting about for the hilt and the rest of the blade. Verum glanced at Dominic, then nodded towards the throne.

"We already found it..."

Toby looked over and felt her heart sink. Where there had been half of a sword... now there were two halves of that half. Being slapped against the wall must have been more than the already fragile blade could have handled. She pushed at Dominic's arms and he obligingly set her down. She wobbled on her feet but his hands on her waist steadied her.

Walking over to the throne, she knelt in front of Kjavaeos, feeling as if part of her had been broken as well. "Oh... Kjavaeos..."

"I'm sorry, Toby," Dominic said softly.

Toby just nodded, quietly picking up the pieces of the sword and sliding them into the scabbard. She felt like crying and the thought that the Jade Lady was really going to kill her hadn't even occurred to her. Though when it did she mentally groaned again.

She reached up and delicately felt the empty holder where the crystal in her tiara had been, making a face.

"Well. We certainly didn't come out of this scrap on top." She sighed.

"I think we did," Dominic said from behind her, his voice quietly determined. "We know who was making the Princesses disappear, after all. We know we can't trust her or those who sided with her anymore. And... we know we have a true Princess." He reached up, cupping Toby's cheek with a soft smile.

Toby blushed and averted her eyes from his, taking a step back. She didn't know why she suddenly felt so .. uncomfortable around him, but she did.

"So... what do we do now?" Toby looked between the two of them.

Verum smiled faintly. "We wait until Georgette, Valiance, and Fizzybink return from the fighting to tell us it is safe. I am relatively sure that our forces will control Avalon at the end of this skirmish. Rosepink has, after all, fled the halls already. They need to locate Sparklydink and determine which faction she will be joining, then they will return to us. From there... Well..." Verum trailed off, her brow knitting. "We have many choices."

"We have to find the other Princesses," Toby said, with a sudden certainty that surprised even her.

"Toby, all of the other Princesses..." Dom began, but Toby shake her head.

"Listen. When Rosepink tried to... doubt me into disappearing or whatever, I almost gave in. I was this close to saying the words. So I felt what it was like. It wasn't like dying. It was like something was trying to grab me and ... change me somehow." She gripped Kjavaeos and looked between the two of them, green eyes completely serious. "I don't think they're dead. I think they're just... hidden. Maybe even right in plain sight. Only Rosepink knows what they turned into or were encased in.

"Finding them should be our first order of business. I'm not going anywhere, but just in case something happens to me, we need the other Princesses to be sure that Believe won't fall into a sleep again. That's what Rosepink wants."

"I agree," Verum said, and Toby blinked.

"You do?"

"Absolutely. The other Princesses also possessed skills and abilities that would aid us in subverting Rosepink's plans, whatever they may be." Verum smiled at Toby and the brunette felt like she'd finally done something right. Maybe Toby couldn't handle all the frilly girly stuff, maybe she couldn't even handle the public stuff, but she could do this. She could think and she could figure out how to avoid her enemies. She'd been doing it all of her life; Rosepink was just a prettier version of the bullies she'd dealt with for so long.

"Great. As soon as they get back, we'll have to start looking. And..." she paused, then looked down at her full, frilly skirts. "... I need pants."

Verum smiled. "I can take care of that!"

"No, it's oka--" Toby said hurriedly, but Verum had already flicked her wand at Toby. The brunette held still, worried at what she would find when she opened her eyes, but when the magic faded she was standing in a pair of pants. True, they were white and sparkly just like the fabric of her skirt and they had this rather girly overlay, but they were pants nonetheless. "... thanks," she said. Verum preened.

"No problem."

"This time," Toby muttered under her breath, then sat down on the dais to wait for the warriors to return, Dominic sitting next to her.