Well, something came up, and I have to go ahead and post the rest of the story now or wait a whole week. I'd rather post now, despite the fact that I'm kind of light-headed and weird and WHEE... (and in a bit of pain. ._. )
Sport: You bring out some good points that I honestly hadn't thought of before. I never gave much thought to their instincts, which is really sad considering that you'd think I'd be pretty familiar with cats by now (I live with 3 of them, after all). Brynn MUST have really good fighting instincts, and, unlike Hanso, has a natural weapon: retractable claws. That would explain A LOT as to why she acts the way she did. Maybe Hanso just wanted to be really harsh on Brynn at the moment and doesn't understand much about kougra hunting/self defence instincts. I don't know, haha.
Random thought #1: The linguist in me has a bit of an issue with the "I l—" thing: it's hard to do an "el" sound all by itself in English, since the sound is made by striking the tongue against the space above the teeth. As the tongue is released, a hint of the vowel following it should be there, even if the speaker is cut short. It might be possible if the jaw is clenched shut, but unlikely (and Brynn's mouth is open). So if she was going to say "I love you," what she actually said would have sounded like "I luh—" But that would have very plainly given away the word she was trying to say.
I was curious to see what she says in that scene in other languages, but the only other one I can really make heads or tails of is Chinese (and barely at that). In the Chinese version of the comic, right after Hanso says that he'll always be a thief to her, she says: "I don't think so/I don't think that way! I..." Slightly different from the English one, isn't it?
Random thought #2: Xandra's post-evil-breakdown appearance is reminiscent of Medusa, a character from Greek mythology who is usually depicted as having snakes for hair. (Hence the "hissis for hair" reference.) Plus, anyone who looked at Medusa would be turned to stone. I'll bet she was partially the inspiration for Xandra, huh? ("Xandra" is a Greek name, too!)
And now, the longest chapter of all...which was supposed to be 2 chapters, but I have to rush to post them, soo...
"Xandra still didn't trust me for some reason, probably because she was technically working against us the whole time, but we managed to convince her that I wasn't trying to play any tricks. We headed over to the ruins, which were a lot creepier than I remembered. The girls were frightened, so I bravely volunteered to go first, like the gentleman I am."
"No, you tried to get Xandra and me to go first, so we, uh...'volunteered' you." Brynn was smirking while the kids looked confused.
"'Volunteered'? What do you mean, Captain Brynn?" Nuala asked.
"I mean that Xandra and I grabbed him and shoved him in to the ruins first whether he liked it or not!"
Hanso brushed that off while the kids laughed. "Again, the details aren't important. What is important is that I went in first, and saw a few monsters that I'd never seen before. Big monsters that looked a lot like the ones we'd seen in Brightvale. I'm pretty sure I would have remembered those monsters if they'd been there before, so...I assume they were new."
"How did you know about the ruins in the first place?" Adele asked.
"Uh, well..." Hanso faltered a little, not exactly wanting to tell them about his history with the Thieves' Guild, "I spent some time there in the past. It was a great place for hiding out, since it was creepy and deserted. Of course, it was even creepier with those monsters in there! We ran from the monsters, but then Brynn said she'd distract them and told Xandra and I to go and find the artefact. I wasn't too happy about that, since Brynn had done such a great job of taking care of herself while facing the monsters in Brightvale, but I had no choice!"
"Cut it out, would you? I really can take care of myself," Brynn protested. "You just didn't give me much of a chance to prove it! And I didn't have you distracting me this time, either."
"What? You blame me for distracting you in Brightvale? Why, isn't that just sweet of you?" Hanso asked sarcastically, causing the kids to giggle and getting a glare and another light kick from Brynn, which Hanso was able to block with his own foot. "Nice try, Brynn, but I've learned my lesson now, too: how to stop you from kicking me.
"But, you're right: you were very brave in the ruins," he continued. "And I was absolutely enthralled to have to work with Xandra, but we somehow managed to find the other half of the artefact without incident. Why no one ever took it is a mystery, but it was pretty deep inside, so I guess there's a chance that no one had gone that far."
"Or maybe Xandra planted it there while you were in Brightvale?" Tanith suggested.
"That could be," Hanso admitted. "I guess we'll never know. Whatever the case, I thought it was really weird that it wasn't booby-trapped. It would have made sense if it was still there because it was connected to some elaborate trap, but it wasn't. I was expecting us to get a curse like Hannah did when she was in the Lost Desert."
"Were you there, too?" Ileana asked.
"Nope, I wasn't there when Hannah got cursed, but I heard—"
"Were you at Terror Mountain when the Bringer of Night attacked?" Erik asked.
Hanso hesitated. This was not something he liked to talk about! "Uh, well...maybe? Let's go back to the story about me becoming Neopia's greatest hero! We got the artefact without getting any kind of curse, and met up with Brynn in the hallway. She had managed all right on her own this time. Xandra said she thought this half of the artefact could reverse the spell caused by the other half. It was a longshot, but worth a try. So we went back to the Haunted Woods to find the others, just to get attacked by wraiths yet again. Thankfully, Altador saved us, along with the guards and the blind old ogrin! ...Oh, I guess Jazan was there, too. I don't know how much he really helped, though."
"He helped," Brynn said. "He's good with a scimitar."
"Whatever. I had a nice little chat with Jazan afterward. It went like this." Hanso held his hands out in front of him, using them like puppets. "Jazan said: 'Why aren't you in the dungeon?'
"I said: 'Because I'm too amazing.'
"'No, you're not.'
"'Yes, I am! I helped find the second artefact!' And then Jazan agreed."
The kids laughed, and Brynn groaned. "Hanso, I really, really doubt that."
"What did they actually say?" Cael asked.
"I don't know. I was too busy talking to King Altador, about important matters. I told him all that had happened in Brightvale, at the cave, and in the ruins. Knowing how Hanso and King Jazan get along, I really doubt it."
"But you didn't hear it, so who knows? I might be telling the truth. Anyway, as Brynn talked to Altador, Jazan wandered off towards them and Xandra went to talk to me instead. She was actually civil, and though I didn't realize it at the time, already trying to find a way to fit me into her evil master plan."
"Huh?" That caught Brynn's attention. She looked at Hanso, puzzled. He could tell she had just tensed up a little. "You already knew about her plan?"
"Nooo, but she said some stuff to me that seemed kind of weird. I mean, she tried to be civil to me, and, uh..." he trailed off. "Didn't I tell you? How she tried to make me doubt that we were friends and that our relationship wasn't just 'strictly professional'?"
Brynn slowly shook her head. "No, this is the first I've heard of it. If you told me before, well... I guess I forgot. ...'Strictly professional'? What in Neopia does that mean?"
The kids giggled at Brynn's tone. "Because I threw you in jail for a living?" Brynn continued. "I don't get that..."
"Eh, I'm the one who said it. I guess I didn't know what I meant, either," Hanso said quickly. "Let's talk about this later, okay? Xandra wanted to go somewhere open to reverse the spell. She claimed it was so she could see better, which really made no sense because everything around us was dark and spooky and being in an open area wouldn't have mattered at all."
"She just wanted to be in a place where she could clearly see Faerieland fall, didn't she?" Ileana asked, her voice uncharacteristically soft.
"Yeah." Hanso slowly nodded. "I think that was the reason. We were attacked by wraiths just as Xandra was about to begin, so Brynn volunteered the two of us to protect Xandra while the others fought off the wraiths. Xandra had us hold the artefact while she chanted the spell, and, uh...we soon realized we'd made a slight mistake."
"Slight mistake?" Brynn repeated. "Not only had we just helped an angry, crazy xweetok turn King Altador, King Jazan, the Ogrin Master, and the guards to stone, we actually helped her crash Faerieland into Neopia!That's not a 'slight' mistake, Hanso!"
"Hey, you wanted me to make the story more kid-friendly, right?" he pointed out. "But, it turns out that's exactly what we did. With our assistance, Xandra was able to speed Faerieland's descent and turned those working against her to stone. Of course, she didn't turn me or Brynn into stone, but we all were blown away by the artefact's power, and Xandra lost her glasses." He shuddered. "It was pretty scary."
"Was there a big earthquake when Faerieland hit the ground?" Nuala asked. All six children were paying rapt attention, their eyes wide and their voices soft and subdued.
"Oh yeah, there was. Something that big doesn't hit the ground without making a huge crater, and anything that makes a crater that big will really make the ground shake."
"There were bits of rock and debris flying everywhere," Brynn added. "It's something I hope no one ever has to see again."
"Xandra had, uh...changed, just a bit. She clearly had deeper issues than just an anger management problem. She even looked different. It wasn't just the glasses. Her hair had gotten kind of wild, like it was made of hissis or something. She was constantly ranting and talking in an even more demeaning tone all the time. She suddenly became really authoritative, trying to boss us around—though, of course, the only person I allow to boss me around is Brynn."
"Hanso!" Brynn didn't hit him, but her angry tone contained a clear warning.
"What? It's true! Xandra went on about how Faerieland was just a symbol, one that Neopia had needed to get rid of a long time ago, and then had the nerve to try to bring us into it, which was really weird because I didn't have a clue as to what she was talking about! So she then went into how Brynn sees things too simply, everything's either black or white, right or wrong, blah blah blah... Basically, she said that Brynn couldn't see that there are some grey areas in life. The faeries, for example, were very powerful, but Xandra thought they didn't live to their full potential. Everyone had been told about how great and wonderful they were, but Xandra didn't agree."
"That was really mean," Adele said.
"Yeah," Cael agreed. "Xandra must've had a nasty mean streak."
"Xandra got one of the big wraith monsters to capture us and take us with her while she toured the new, ruined Faerieland," Hanso continued. "She insisted that Neopia would be ruled the right way this time, which...made no sense, really. But she seemed convinced, so she would do whatever it took to get her way. She told us that when she was young, she had been allowed to come and live with the faeries, and she had tried to convince them to get more involved in the lives of everyday Neopians, but they wouldn't. So she, uh, ended up resorting to drastic measures."
"That's an understatement," Brynn muttered.
"Xandra referred to the faeries as 'winged tyrants,' which made me realize that she had been Hubrid Nox in disguise, since he'd used the same term! She'd gone through all that trouble get that half the artefact back, and then ended up getting the second half of it with our help. Kind of...an 'oops,' on our part. Now that she had both halves, she believed she was unstoppable!"
"But you proved her wrong," Erik said with a grin.
Hanso nodded, though he wasn't grinning. This was serious stuff. "Sure wasn't easy, though. After she was done telling us all about her evil master plan, she said that we had qualities she could use and offered to let us join her. Brynn refused outright, and refused for me, too, so I had to remind her that I was capable of speaking for myself and Xandra tried to win me over."
Brynn shifted uncomfortably. Hanso knew this was the part of the story she hated most. He debated whether he should try to console her somehow, or just leave her be. It was then he realized that Brynn had already taken one of his hands and was gripping it tightly, her fingers securely laced through his. When had that happened? "Xandra tried reasoning with me, telling me I could be a hero, no one would care about my past, I could reach a status that wouldn't have been possible under the faeries, etc. Sure, it sounded good, but I knew that would never happen because Xandra would obviously make a really lousy queen. But, I had come up with a plan, and I needed to briefly gain Xandra's trust in order for it to work. Unfortunately, that meant that I had to pretend to betray my darling Brynn, though I figured she'd forgive me someday."
"'Someday'?" Brynn asked. "You mean, you don't think I've forgiven you yet?"
"Well, I guess I can't be sure, can I?"
Brynn sighed and rolled her eyes. "Why, Hanso, you..."
"I'm kidding! Of course I know you've forgiven me!" He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "She tried to stop me from joining Xandra, and I pretended I was mad at her. Well, some of the stuff I said was true, maybe, but I didn't mean to break her brain. Unfortunately, that's what I did. And you'll never guess what Brynn almost blurted out..."
"What?" Ileana breathed.
Brynn's face was quite pink as she buried her face into Hanso's shoulder. He squeezed her hand again, hoping he wasn't pushing things too far. Brynn could have said something if she wanted to, but she didn't, so he continued.
"She said 'I l—' Something that started with an 'el' sound."
"What did you say, Captain Brynn?" Tanith asked.
"I didn't quite get to say anything, I believe," Brynn said, trying to regain her composure. She wasn't blushing any more, nor was she trying to hide her face, but she was still gripping Hanso's hand very, very tightly. "Just...use your imagination."
"Something that starts with the letter 'L'?" Adele asked. "Uh...You lost something?"
"You...left something behind," Cael guessed.
"You laughed at Xandra's evil plan!" That was Erik.
"You...like faerie bubbles?" Tanith sounded very uncertain...and Hanso had to chuckle at that one, because it was true.
"You...lied about something?" Ileana guessed.
"You like, lost, lied, love, let...something?" Nuala shrugged. "I don't know!"
"Actually, what Tanith said is true, but I don't think that's what Brynn was going to say," Hanso said. "Sorry, kiddos, you didn't quite get it right, so we're not going to tell you, unless Brynn wants to."
Brynn shook her head, a hint of a smile on her lips. "No."
"See? So I pretended I was going to join Xandra—"
Tanith gasped, suddenly knowing what it was. "You love Hanso," she said softly, then giggled.
The other kids gasped. "Was that it? Was that what Captain Brynn was going to say?" Ileana asked.
"It was...it was just to keep him from joining Xandra, OK?" Brynn said quickly, her voice rather tense. She began to ramble, speaking so fast that it was hard for Hanso to pick up what she was saying. "Well, so, maybe not, but I was just shocked that...that I thought Hanso didn't trust me any more! Because, despite what anyone else said, despite what Xandra said, despite everything that he'd done in the past, I knew he was a good person. I always knew, right from the start, that he had a good heart. He wasn't evil. He wasn't like any other thief I'd ever met. He wasn't like any other neopets I'd ever met. And here, to see him pretend to join forces with someone who was evil...it was too much!" She swallowed hard. "I...I couldn't... I couldn't believe what was happening."
"But you meant it, didn't you?" Adele asked.
Brynn sighed and looked at Hanso, who was already looking at her with his eyebrows raised. Their eyes locked, and Brynn smiled and squeezed his hand. "Yeah. I meant it."
The girls giggled while the boys groaned. "Can't you continue? This is girl stuff," Cael said.
"To put it simply, my brilliant plan to trick Xandra worked," Hanso said, finally looking away from Brynn and back at the kids. "It didn't quite work the way I'd intended, because it seemed my fake betrayal had temporarily stunned Brynn out of her senses. I didn't know how much I meant to her until then, haha... Xandra, however, was completely fooled. She trusted me, so I took advantage of that by stealing half of the artefact from her, shoved her to the ground and threw it to Brynn, who, unfortunately, wasn't paying proper attention."
"Yeah, I...I was still shocked," Brynn agreed. "...Could you just move on, please?"
"Touchy, huh? Xandra reacted before Brynn could and began drawing the artefact back towards her, so I grabbed it and told Brynn to run! She did, sorta, but Brynn refused to get far away from me for some reason. Xandra, meanwhile, was, uh...a little bit angry. I formulated a new plan, which unfortunately would involve me dooming myself along with Xandra, but it would keep Brynn safe, provided that she stayed a safe distance away, and would restore the faeries and everyone else who got turned to stone. At least, I was pretty sure that it would."
"What exactly was your plan?" Erik asked.
"I'd have Xandra overload the artefact and then destroy it when she was right next to me," he answered. "It was very risky, but according to what I'd seen in the book, I knew it might work. Xandra decided to try to distract us by summoning this huge monster that she called 'Oblivion' to 'deal with' Brynn. Xandra probably thought I'd drop what I was doing to help Brynn, but I knew that Brynn would be able to take it on her own. She had to, because I was kind of busy with Xandra."
"How did you get Xandra to overload the artefact?" Ileana asked.
Hanso grinned. "Xandra had a short temper. I'm really good at annoying people. It was a snap: I'd annoy her, she'd try to blast me, I'd hold up the artefact that I'd stolen from her to block her attack, and voila! It absorbed the power, and eventually, it was cracked and unstable and I knew the timing was just right! Unfortunately, Xandra was really slow and her aim was terrible, so it took a while to get enough hits to overload the artefact."
"Your plan was very clever, though the way you word it, it sounds...way too simple, somehow," Brynn said.
"Was Oblivion hard?" Cael asked.
"I managed to keep it at bay," Brynn said with a shrug.
"Were you nervous?" Adele asked both of them.
"Nervous? I was terrified," Brynn said with a nervous laugh.
"I was more nervous than I've ever been in my life! It seemed like it would never absorb enough power. But, it eventually did, and once Xandra got close to me—threatening to kill me the whole time, of course—I threw it on the ground, told Xandra that although she might have some valid points about the faeries, she'd gone way too far, and plunged my dagger into it, destroying it and causing this brilliant flash of light to envelop us. And..." he paused. "That's the last thing I remember."
"His plan worked just as he thought it would," Brynn said. "As soon as that flash of light came, Oblivion started to weaken and disintegrate. And then it just vanished and the sun came out! It seemed like an eternity since I'd seen sunshine. I called out to Hanso, but...he didn't...answer." Brynn looked at him again, her eyes very soft, and she squeezed his hand. "I ran off to go find him, and discovered that he and Xandra had both been turned to stone."
The girls sniffled, though the boys appeared...intrigued, to say the least. "What was it like being a statue?" Erik asked.
"I don't know," Hanso answered. "I came to the conclusion that stone statues aren't too good at remembering things, because I don't remember anything that happened between that bright flash of light and the moment that Queen Fyora freed me from that stone form. It's like I wasn't there."
"I sat by you and Xandra until King Altador and the others found us," Brynn said. "They wanted to know what happened, and, it might shock you, Hanso, but King Jazan was not happy to see what had happened to you. He seemed very sad."
"Seriously?" Hanso furrowed his brow. "Are you sure he wasn't just sad because you were sad? I mean, maybe he was just feeling sorry for you, and not for me."
"That...could be," Brynn admitted. "Queen Fyora surprised us all by joining us. She was all right, as were the other faeries! Everyone who had been turned into stone was back to normal."
"Including us!" Ileana said proudly. "...Mother fainted when she saw what happened, though. One minute we were in Faerie City and everything was normal, and the next, we were in some weird ruined city that kind of looked like Faerie City, except it was on the ground and everything was broken up!"
"Yeah, it was really a shock," Cael agreed.
"The queen wanted to know what had happened, so we told her the entire story, and I told everyone how Xandra had deceived us all...and how Hanso had saved us. The queen confirmed that she did indeed know Xandra. She knew that Xandra was very powerful, but had allowed herself to go astray... And I was really proud of you, Hanso," she turned to meet his gaze as she spoke. "Not only did you do the right thing, you did it even though you knew you'd sacrifice yourself in the process."
"That's one way for a thief to become a hero, huh?" he asked with a grin.
Brynn nodded. "The queen said she owed you a debt of gratitude, and even though she was very weak, she'd try to restore you. And it worked! She was able to free Hanso from stone."
"And that's the next thing I remember," Hanso said. "I think I was still in mid-scream, too...if you can imagine me screaming, that is." He cleared his throat while the kids giggled. "And what a fine moment it was! Everyone was so happy to see me. King Altador praised my bravery. That old ogrin messed with my hair, but I forgive him. Even Jazan praised me, though he said I lacked finesse, which was totally a lie. Queen Fyora praised me, saying I had a courage that few neopets possess. She said that Xandra too was powerful and had lots of potential, but she wasted it all by being a jerk who couldn't see the good things faeries do."
"I don't think that's exactly what the queen said..."
"Well, that's what she meant, Brynn. And after Fyora disappeared with the Xandra statue, Brynn gave me the best reward of all!"
"Uh-huh. What did she give you?" Ileana asked with a giggle.
"Care to tell them, Brynn?" Hanso asked with a grin.
"You mean, after you tried to scare me to death by playing with the artefact?" Brynn asked, her tone dry.
"Did I? Oh, I guess I did..."
Brynn simply crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head.
"Sorry, kids, I guess we'll have to wait for Brynn to enlighten us later," Hanso said, giving Brynn a pat on the shoulder. "Jazan bought some of the jewelry that Queen Fyora—whoah!"
Brynn had pounced on him, embracing him and kissing him on the cheek, nearly knocking them both into the fountain in the process. But Hanso managed to catch himself, and held on to Brynn with one arm while he pushed them both back up with the other. The kids were all laughing, and Hanso found it impossible to keep from joining in, especially when he saw Brynn's smug grin.
"Now that was sneaky," he told Brynn. She loosened her grip on him, though, of course, he had no intention of letting her go, lest she try something like that again!
"I'm impressed! I thought you'd fall into the fountain," she said with a laugh.
"I am much too fast for that, Brynn. Besides, I woulda pulled you with me, you know!"
"It would have been worth it."
"It's better than that time you outright pushed me in," he agreed.
"She pushed you into the fountain as your reward?" Nuala asked, confused.
"No, she kissed me, for the very first time! And she did it so unexpectedly, she nearly knocked me over. She was just..." he turned to look at her, "demonstrating that as kindly as she could." He rubbed Brynn's back while she chuckled.
"Yes. It's not easy to catch Hanso off guard," she told the kids, "but it's possible!"
"Now, where was I? Oh yeah. Jazan bought some of the jewelry Queen Fyora let me keep to give to his wife. I came to the conclusion that's the reason he was spying on me right after the faeries were turned to stone. It makes sense, right?"
"Hanso, honestly, why don't you give King Jazan a rest?" Brynn asked. "I know he's done some bad things to you, but the way you talk about him..."
"I don't like him and I never will," Hanso shot back.
"Right," Brynn said. "Well, at any rate, you and I stayed around Faerieland and Brightvale until Queen Fyora gave us our official positions, and we've been here ever since."
"Yep. I'll bet they never thought a master thief like me would be working with the Faerieland Guards," Hanso said with a grin. "But, here I am! It's a great job, and I love having lots of adoring fans. I could do without the fangirls, though..."
"Everyone else went back to their respective homes to check to make sure there was no damage," Brynn added. "The Ogrin Master went back to Shenkuu and last time we were there, we found out that he'd added classes on how to defeat wraiths to the curriculum of the Imperial Guard students."
"Which is pretty funny considering that he's blind and didn't really help us all that much," Hanso muttered. "What does he really know about fighting them?"
"Hanso, you really need to give him more credit," Brynn scolded. "King Altador first checked on his home country, discovered that the statue of the darkest faerie was missing, and left to search for it. We haven't heard much from him lately. King Jazan—"
"—is back at home with his second favourite ixi thief who now has a lovely collection of faerie jewelry he bought off me. She was most grateful, of course."
"Second favourite? Hanso, if he ever finds out you called Queen Nabile that..."
"I know, I know, he'll blast me, right? Well, if he didn't kill me for humiliating him in front of a bunch of stuffy nobles and Princess Amira, then I don't think he'll ever blast me for anything."
"Hanso!" Brynn buried her face in her left hand. "You're impossible!"
"Thanks, sweetie. You honestly don't remind me enough. I think Brynn already mentioned this, and you already know it but I'm going to say it anyway: she was appointed the head of the Faerieland Guards, which is quite a promotion from the Brightvale Guard, though she's still technically part of that. And I'm the queen's personal Master Thief. I even have a pin to prove it! It's a perfect position for me. I still get to have lots of adventures, but I get to hang around normal people and royalty, too. It can be boring when we're not on a mission, but most of the time, it's great."
"The pin doesn't really mean much, but it irritates the fire out of some of his old acquaintances," Brynn told the kids, who giggled.
"And that," Hanso sat up straight as he spoke, "is finally the end."
"That was really long, but that was cool!" Cael said.
"I can hardly believe that some of that happened!" Ileana said. "Like you catapulting yourself out of Brightvale! That's just crazy!"
"I want you to teach me how to use a sword!" Erik said to Brynn.
"Some other time, Erik. Well, Brynn and I should probably head back to the castle soon," Hanso said as he finally released Brynn and stood up to stretch. His legs were a little wobbly from sitting down for so long. He offered a hand to Brynn, and pulled her back up on her feet. "I'll bet you kids probably have to be home before too long, huh?"
"Make sure to throw your sundae glasses away," Brynn reminded them. Hanso now noticed that they had all eaten the wings that came with the sundaes. Had those wings not been as dangerous as they appeared?
"Can you tell us a story tomorrow?" Nuala asked.
"I don't know... This counts as a few days' worth of stories, doesn't it?"
"No, you should tell us one tomorrow, too!" Cael said.
"OK, well, next time we meet, I'll tell you the story of our recent adventure in Qasala. Or maybe I'll tell you about the time I fought off three Brightvale Guards at once. How's that?"
"What?" Brynn sounded surprised. "You haven't told them that story yet?"
"Well, that's one I want to tell when you're around, since you witnessed it and might help me fill in the details," Hanso said with a grin.
"It wasn't much of a battle," Brynn muttered. "You, uh..."
"Proved my mastery over them really fast? Yep, but I think I can pad it out to make it interesting."
"That would be great!" Ileana exclaimed. "Can you tell both stories next time, maybe?"
"If Brynn's with me, sure."
"Hey! I have an idea," Adele said. "Let's go bother the faerie at the healing springs, OK?"
"Oh, yeah, she can be fun! Come on, let's go!" Erik motioned for the others to follow him and Ileana, which they did. They disappeared down the street, heading towards the outskirts of Faerie City.
"...That poor faerie," Brynn said once the kids were gone.
"I'm really surprised you didn't stop them," Hanso said, stretching again. "I am so tired. How did that make me so tired?"
"I think she can handle them! And that story is incredibly long," Brynn pointed out. "You're a good storyteller, you know. Even if you don't stick with the truth, and...like to embarrass me at every occasion, you manage to make it really amusing."
"Aww, thanks, darling. I really like this storytelling business. I'd like to keep it up when we have kids of our own one day."
Brynn nodded, then her eyes widened and she gaped at Hanso in what he assumed was disbelief. "What?"
What, indeed! He was mentally gaping at himself, too! Why had he said that? It seemed as though sometimes his mouth and mind would conspire to make him blurt out things he thought were buried safely in the back of his mind. Clearly, no matter what he told himself, he wasn't fully satisfied with the current status of his relationship with Brynn...but he wasn't sure anything could be done about that.
On the other hand... He might as well run with it! Besides, he'd love to see Brynn's reaction. Maybe she'd forget if it got too awkward. Or if he said something she didn't want to hear. "You heard me. It's pretty obvious that we're gonna marry someday, right? And married couples usually have kids, don't they?"
She scowled. "You seem awfully sure of yourself."
"Do I?" Hanso managed a grin, though, in reality, he was certain that Brynn would be able notice how tense he was. Then again, he was a good actor, so maybe she wouldn't pick up on it. "Speaking of which, Brynn... Theoretically, if I proposed to you right now, what would you say? Theoretically, mind you. I'm not going to. I'm just...curious, I guess."
Brynn crossed her arms over her chest and was silent for a few moments, deep in thought. "What would I say? Hmm..."
This wasn't particularly encouraging. "...Well?"
"I would say..." She looked back at him and smiled. "Yes! And then I'd demand to know why it took you so long to propose!"
"Whoah...OK!" Hanso laughed, thoroughly relieved, and grabbed her hand. "I'll keep that in mind. I kind of let my mouth run away with me there, but I'm glad I did! Let's go back, shall we?"
"What do you think our children would be like?" Brynn wondered aloud.
"I don't want to paint them faerie, that's for sure."
Brynn smiled. "And what if we have an adorable little ixi girl? Like Ileana? Wouldn't she be great painted faerie?"
Hanso thought about that a moment. "The girls? Sure. If they're ladylike and not a tomboy like you, they can be faerie, or pink, or eventide, or whatever. But not the boys, period. They should be pirate, or shadow, or fire. Something cool that'll make people realize they're as amazing as I am."
"I guess it's still a little early to talk about that, though," Brynn pointed out. "And this is such an awkward subject. I hope no one's eavesdropping..."
Hanso laughed and squeezed her hand. "You worry too much."
"What were you saying earlier, about this 'professional relationship' you talked about with Xandra?"
"Oh, trying to change the subject, huh?" Hanso mumbled. "I don't know what it meant, either. I was just trying to deny to myself that I had any feelings for you. It worked, obviously, didn't it?"
Brynn laughed, and, to his surprise, turned and hugged him, burying her face into his chest before she looked up at him. "It worked like a charm. I might be really hard on you sometimes—no, I know I'm really hard on you sometimes—and I know I get annoyed at you...a lot, but I love you regardless. I can't imagine life without you."
Hanso grinned and toyed with her hair, brushing back some of the loose strands that had escaped the scrunchie. "That's great, because I love you too!" He kissed the top of her forehead. "Hey, why don't we go the long way back to the castle? Through the garden by the cliff? We can be alone and have a nice chat."
"I'd like that."
"Then let's go!" He grabbed her hand and led her through the town, to the edge of the cliff at the bottom of the crater, not far from the final battle with Xandra. It seemed like a lifetime ago, and though it had really been a terrible experience for all, everything had worked out in the end. Worked out perfectly, in fact. How else could the mischievous thief and dutiful guard have finally worked out the issues that drove them, apart, huh? It was destiny!
Eeek, I don't know where that fluffy bit at the end came from. You know, TFR is a very dark and violent story when you really think about it. It need a happy, fluffy ending.
And I am going to just stick with doing one-shots and short stories from now on! This was, uh...much harder than I'd anticipated, haha. MUCH harder. I can't imagine how people write novels. That's gotta be so hard.