As the pale, milky light of morning spread across their little corner of the world, Eleanor woke up to a most delightful sight. Cinderella was sprawled all over the bed in all her glorious nakedness, sleeping soundly, and one of her hands was loosely laced together with Eleanor's. The older woman said a silent little prayer of gratitude directed towards whatever power had granted her this wonderful morning and the wonderful night before it.

I'm about to fall in love with her, she thought, wonderingly. But the thought seemed to hold no news value and she corrected herself, no, I already have. She smiled as her heart throbbed in her chest when she looked at the younger woman's face. Her skin was so smooth, her lips so soft, her mouth… oh, it had some remarkable skills, Eleanor could not deny that.

"Mmh…" Cinderella moaned and sighed deeply. Eleanor twitched in apprehension. If Cinderella woke up and looked at her with regret, or repulsion, or even surprise, she would bolt out of bed and hide somewhere. She couldn't take it.

But when Cinderella opened her large blue eyes, she looked at Eleanor and smiled. "Good morning, love", she said, stretched and yawned before rolling over on her stomach. "Ow, the back of my neck is stiff."

"Your neck? I can hardly move at all."

"You moved with quite a lot of grace and litheness last night. And I believe my neck hurts because I worked my mouth…"

"…with deadly accuracy", Eleanor filled in, and blushed fiercely even as she started to laugh. "I'm not sure if I'm meant to say thank you or don't ever do that again. I am an old woman, my body can only take so much."

"Your body? If I'm not mistaken, you're the one who nearly killed me! There was no stopping you… and I liked it."

"Mm, I liked it too."

The bed sheets rustled as she moved closer. Cinderella looked at her with an affectionate and yet challenging look in her eyes.

"Tell me one thing, Cinderella…"

"If I can."

"Oh, you can. Shall we do it again, or shall we have breakfast first?"

Cinderella opened her mouth, but her stomach replied first, with a loud rumble. Eleanor bit the inside of her cheeks trying not to laugh, but it was no use.

"That settles it then. Breakfast it is."

"I actually wanted to say the other way around, but I guess breakfast and going back to bed wouldn't be so bad."

"No, it wouldn't. So you… don't regret it?" Eleanor asked, trying to sound casual.

"It was the best night of my life. No, I don't regret it."

They got dressed - mainly because the house was chilly - and went downstairs.

As they were sipping their tea, Cinderella asked:

"What were you like as a little girl?"

"Now why would you ask something like that?"

"Curiosity. I mean, I can't imagine you being anything like…" she bit her tongue and looked down at the cup in her hand. "I'm sorry."

"I take it you mean anything like Drizella and Anastasia?" she said. "No, I wasn't. They're taking after their father, I'm sorry to say. I love them, but they are hopeless."

Cinderella dared a smile at this, a smile that Eleanor rewarded with one of her own, one so brilliant it knocked years off her face.

"I'll have you know I was perfect. Well-mannered, poised…"

Her voice was haughty, but combined with the smile and the mischievous glitter in her eyes, Cinderella knew she was joking. She tilted her head to the side and said;

"Really?"

"Of course not. I was terrible. A respected family's nightmare. I was the one making pranks. If I could, I would rather wear pants than skirts. I was a fearless rider and I despised everything that said a woman existed for marriage and child-carrying."

She sighed and the smile fell off her face.

"My father died when I was thirteen. His dying wish was that I would finally accept life for what it is, and have a suitable marriage that the family could be proud of. He said 'there is nothing wrong with dreams, but they must never interfere with reality'. So from that moment on, I never let them."

She looked at Cinderella.

"Until now."

Cinderella put her teacup down and walked up to the older woman, kissing her gently and pulled her up on her feet.

"Enough of the past. Let's go back to bed."

And they did.

A/N

I'm starting to get jealous of them. LOL That is all I can say.

Thank you so much everyone for reading, reviewing, enjoying… I'm seriously stunned by all your support! You are the best! I hope you'll keep enjoying it. ;)

Oh, and my apologies, but I can't grant the repeated requests for Fairy Godmother to appear. I thought about it already from the beginning, but it simply doesn't fit with the kind of story I'm writing. I'm sorry.