I didnt realize this chapter was so short until I uploaded it and saw the word count- sorry in advance/

BUT it's here! Hope you enjoy! Also, I do have a deviantart! It's PrincessNellas . deviantart. com !


Bella dipped her brush in paint before dragging it against the textured canvas. It was very soothing to see the white on the canvas become stained with the darker definitive lines that she was now beginning to add.

This was the same painting she'd been working on for nearly a month, and it still was in the works. The princess was trying to re-create the image from her head, but as the time passed she began to loose the sight of what it was. She bit her lip as she added more dark turquoise, hoping the image would come back to her.

Even though she was in her happy place, she could still feel stress soaking its way into her zone. The image on the canvas warped into Aspen, and made Bella's blood run cold. She almost pushed the easel over at the thought.

She couldn't continue doing this, could she? The very thought of the ice prince made the princess uncomfortable, and she didn't really think that was fair to anyone in the situation. She didn't deserve to feel trapped in a relationship with someone who made her feel this way, and even though Aspen held a less than desirable personality, he didn't deserve to be with someone who didn't love him back. She groaned at the thought of her amnesia once more. Why had it made her forget something so important? If only she could just remember...

"Wow, that looks beautiful Annabelle!"

Bella turned to see her best friend Toadette, holding on to a tray with teacups and cookies. The princess blushed at her words. "Thank you, Toadette."

The pink clad toad walked up to a coffee table that was positioned near the princesses easel, and set the tray down. "The queen and I couldn't help but notice that you didn't eat much for breakfast. She made you these for a snack."

The princess smiled at the thought of her mother and Toadette making cookies for her. She could feel her stomach growl, and knew she probably needed a cookie or two.

"Thank you. That's so nice of both of you." She said, taking off her apron and sitting down. She would always loose track of time while in her art room.

Steam rolled off of the tea, flowing to the princesses nose. She deeply inhaled the scent, and the sweet smell of the honey and lemon that were mixed in. It helped soothe her nerves if only for a moment.

They both sat at the coffee table in silence. Toadette munched on a cookie while staring at her own tea cup which sit on the table still. Bella stared at her reflection in the tea as the steam slowed down. She looked so conflicted about everything. It caused her to think about why, which led her back to her thoughts about Aspen. She thought back to the last time Aspen had been at the castle, and how she'd essentially ignored Toadette. She never apologized for that, did she?

"I'm sorry." She said, breaking the silence between the two. Toadettes eyes widened a little, as it was obvious that she was confused. "For what?" She questioned, genuinely curious as to what the Princess had to apologize for.

"Well, I didn't exactly stand up for you during the Aspen scenario."

Toadettes gaze softened, hurt coming back to her eyes. "Oh, that..." She remembered, before looking down to her tea and forcing a smile. "Oh don't worry about it. I'm just... Not sure what you see in him is all," She said with a cheery voice that was obviously forced. Her smile fell a little as she thought more on the subject.

"He always talks down to you, as if you owe him something... It's...creepy." she finished, eyes not looking at Bella. She agreed with her completely.

The princess sighed, before setting her teacup down on the table, catching Toadettes attention.

"Can you keep a secret?" The princess asked, her pleading eyes looking at her toad friend.

She blinked with wide eyes, as if to think of what to say before responding.

"Well not really," She answered with a nervous chuckle. "I am your advisor, but I'm also employed by your parents. I don't think I could keep secrets about their daughter." She said with an apologetic look. Bella wasn't expecting to hear this answer from her and brought her hands forward in a praying stance.

"Please Toadette... I need my best friend right now, not my parents employee." She begged, studying her friends face, desperately searching for some sign of change. The Pink clad toad felt her heart swell at the sound of the Princess' words as she gave in shortly after. "Okay, what is it?"

"I actually despise Aspen," She began, making Toadettes eyes go wide. She hated Aspen?! What?! "In fact, every time he's around me I feel more and more uncomfortable. He's made advances on me that make me feel gross and cheap-"

"Then why do you continue to see him?!" Toadette asked loudly, her blood now boiling at the thought of Aspen doing such things to her. Bellas eyes fell, as it looked almost like tears were forming in her eyes.

"Before the amnesia, he and I had been in a relationship." She answered boldly, causing Toadettes jaw to drop followed by her eyes widening. He had been lying to her this whole time?!

"You know... I've had this strong feeling... Like I was missing something," she continued, her gaze shifting to the door for an unknown reason. "Or someone,"

Her eyes fell back to the table in front of her. " They're feelings of love... I had no Idea who they were for until I met Aspen and he explained everything to me. "

Toadette stared at the princess with wide eyes as she set her teacup down. She really did have feelings for that Koopa prince, didn't she? Toadette shook the disbelief from her mind before continuing. "Bella... You were never in a relationship with Aspen before your amnesia." She said boldly, earning a sigh from Annabelle.

"That's just it. We'd met in secret. Nobody in the kingdom knew about us."

"Bella... I'm positive you weren't seeing anyone else." She said clearly, as if to make sure that Bella was hearing her correctly as she spoke. "How would you even know-"

"I know you weren't seeing him because you were seeing someone else!" Toadette blurted, immediately regretting it afterwards.

Annabelle's eyes widened with confusion and fear, ironically hoping that she'd heard Toadette wrong. "W-what?" The princess questioned.

Toadette sighed. How was she supposed to explain that to Bella without giving the princess her memory back?

"Who was it, Toadette?" She asked again, understanding the situation a bit more clearly. She'd suddenly felt a mix of emotions- some happy that she no longer had to put up with Aspen, yet most were furious that he'd lied to her and made her feel horrible for reasons that were false.

"I-I don't know. You never talked to me about that kind of stuff..." Toadette lied. Bella didn't question it, as her eyes fell to her lap. She'd never felt so stupid before. "No... Not again.." She cried, tears welling in her eyes as she began to sob. It broke Toadettes heart to see her friend like this. She hated lying to her.

"I'm so sorry, Bella..." She apologized, hopping from her chair to the Princess, and resting her hand on hers. Bella wrapped the pink toad in a hug that made Toadette begin to tear up. "No, I'm sorry... You were right this whole time... I should have listened to you." She said through sniffles as her tears subsided. While Toadette did appreciate the princesses awareness and apology, she didn't think that now was the right time for Bella to feel stupid.

"What am I going to do? The fall ball is tonight and he's supposed to take me..." She began, already dreading the hours ahead. "You don't have to go- we can stop him at the gates and banish him!" She said with all sincerity, even though it sounded sarcastic. "He wont give up that easy... He'll just keep finding a way back." Bella said with a sigh. "I mean, he did manage to break into my bedroom without any guards seeing."

Toadette rolled her eyes at the thought of the guards on duty that day. "Well you don't have to see him if you don't want to. We can easily make arraignments-"

"It's okay Toadette. As much as it will suck, I'll have to go down there and tell him myself so he knows for sure that I'm done with him." Bella declared. Toadette didn't really know if her being around Aspen was a good Idea, but the princess knew Aspens character more than she did.

"What an asshole." Bella said, catching Toadette off guard. Benito would have been proud.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Junior sat in his guest room and stared out the window. This had become routine for him, especially after the altercation he'd dealt with involving his older brother. He'd rarely come out to even eat. He didn't want to light a match on the oil spill that was Roys temper.

Junior thought about the Mushroom Kingdoms fall ball, and wondered if his father had said anything about their trip to the kingdom tonight. He remembered Benitos request- to keep an eye on her. Even though he wasn't looking forward to staring at the princess from afar while she made googly eyes at her new Prince, he still needed to hold his promise true.

He could feel jealousy welling up in his chest at the thought of the prince. He'd wanted to be the one to dance with her, and make her happy. Someone had taken his place it seemed and he hated it. He kicked himself for hiding his feelings for her for so long. They could have been together- in a relationship even- even if only for moment. His gaze fell to the floor as his own thoughts pierced daggers to his chest.

His vision became blurry, as he blinked and noticed he'd been crying. He hated feeling so weak, but there was nothing he could do to stop these feelings from taking over.

Suddenly a light tapping came from behind him. Junior wiped his eyes before turning around.

Roy stood in Juniors doorway, his knuckle resting against its cobblestone frame. "Can I talk to you for a moment?" He said, in a surprisingly calm tone. Junior blinked out of shock. Why was Roy here? Was there still more he had to say? He wasn't in the mood for any more lectures, but had no reason to deny his brother. Something felt different about Roys atmosphere that slightly re-assured Junior that he shouldn't fear him.

"Sure." he answered, as Roy sighed and made his way to sit next to Junior. There was a moment of silence, as nobody was sure who was going to speak first.

"I'm sorry."

Junior blinked yet again, shocked to hear his brother apologize. He stayed silent, wondering if he'd heard him correctly. "I shouldn't have hit you. I went too far, and I'm sorry." He clarified. Junior was truly shocked to see his brother let go of his anger to apologize.

"I've just been so... angry about everything." He added. Junior knew where his brother was coming from.

"I don't blame you. I cant imagine what It was like for you. I'm sorry." Junior apologized as well. Roy smiled a bit, before letting out a chuckle and shaking his head. "It wasn't easy. But its not your fault. That's something I've been overlooking this whole time," He began, catching his younger brothers attention yet again. "Our old man had us all convinced he was in the right. What Wendy said at dinner our first night here- she was right. We all were sucked into his stories. You're in the same boat as us." Roy declared, making Junior surprisingly feel a lot better about his situation.

"That's why I got so pissed. Dad apologized, and you're not really at fault here.. I don't know how to take out my frustration." He admitted. Junior hadn't expected this at all. He briefly thought about how much Roy had matured in 17 years. He still stayed silent, unsure of what to say.

"When you guys just... didn't come back, I felt abandoned and left. So I packed up and left as well," Roy began. Junior played close attention to his brothers words. "I had a decent chunk of money from the family that I used, as I had no kills to get any kind of Job. Kind of pathetic, honestly." He continued. His younger brother could see him doing something like that.

"And then I met Lydia." He said, a huge smile coming to his face. "She was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen- is," He continued. Junior couldn't help but think about Bella. "She had just finished school for social work and was without a home, job, food or money. I let her stay with me until she could get back on her feet and I fell hopelessly in love with her."

"Social work?" Junior questioned, unfamiliar with the title.

"She's a therapist. She listens to peoples problems and tells them how to deal with them. She also does counseling for families," Roy said with a smile. Junior suddenly understood everything a bit better. She must have helped him a lot through the years. "She loves children, too. In fact, her dream job is to be a councilor at a school for young students."

"She couldn't get a job anywhere?" Junior questioned, causing Roy to chuckle again. "Well, the thing about a land of hotheads, is that nobody wants to admit to their own hotheadedness."

Junior laughed at his brothers response.

"Ludwig began to change the laws around the kingdom and how everything worked. The rules he put into place allowed anyone to create their own business. It eliminated any need for her specific kind of training, especially not with what she'd get payed.. She's- we're kind of drowning in debt."

Junior had no idea- that must have been why Roy snickered at Ludwig during dinner on the first night they'd arrived.

"We want to give Tabitha the best life she can have, and its so hard. Especially when your money is dwindling and all your daughter can talk about is wanting the newest mock princess dress." He said with a light laugh, even though nothing about it was funny. Junior remembered Tabitha talking about Bella to him.

"Princess dresses?" He asked.

"There is this show that showcases princesses and their luxurious lives they lead." He answered. "You have no idea how weird it was to hear Tabby ask for a Annabelle Toadstool dress." He said, causing Junior to tense up. "Or maybe you do." Roy said with a laugh.

He wondered why his older brother wasn't shooting fumes at the thought.

"Annabelles on this show?" He asked again, cautious of how his brother would respond. "She's all they've been talking about. Her and Prince Aspen of the Southern Ice Lands."

Juniors blood ran cold as he almost forgot about him. "He's always talking about how in love they are," He said. Junior could tell his brother was probably enjoying this after what happened.

"Such a joke."

The younger brother blinked, almost unsure he'd heard him correctly. He turned his head to Roy, who turned his head to face him as well. "Dad and Ludwig told me everything."

Junior sighed with slight relief. So that's why Roy wasn't furious. Or, at least part of the reason. "They told me about her Amnesia and about how Rosalina gave it to her and about how you cant see her. Though Its hard for me to believe, I have to. Especially since the King and Queen would invite you to their Fall ball. They must really trust you around her." He confessed. Junior thought about it shortly.

"So, I guess I should too." Roy finished. His younger brother smiled, and hugged him. Roy was shocked at first, but soon hugged his brother back. It was a very unusual for either of them to show brotherly love to one another.

Lydia smiled to herself at the scene, as she slowly inched away from the doorway she had been peaking behind.