Fiona crept out of the bedroom, or what she supposed would be the bedroom, as it was only separated from the main room with a curtain of snake skins and a raised level. She had already taken a moment to fascinatedly run her hands over most of the strange materials used to create things within the tiny home that she'd only spent a handful of hours in. She figured Shrek had hand crafted everything, where else would he have gotten it from? She marvelled at the room around her once more before her gaze landed on the snoring donkey laid by the long burned out fire. She carefully walked over to the window, not wanting to wake him. Ever since arriving at the swamp, the animal had been excitedly chattering at them, they'd barely had a moment to steal alone. She watched the ogre for a moment. He was laying outside on the ground, using a large branch as a pillow, his hands tucked behind his head. For a moment she wondered if he was asleep, but he shuffled, scratching the base of one ear before returning his arms to their place. She stared for a moment more, doubting herself, she didn't know why she wasn't sleeping. She had been exhausted when she excused herself to bed, but hadn't even attempted to sleep. Glancing back at Donkey, she gently pried open the door and slipped out into the cool night.

Fiona paused for a moment, allowing the tiniest breeze to hit her. It was different… being outside. She had also spent a lot of time marvelling at that. She allowed a small smile to cross her face before her eyes landed on the ogre laying before her. She hesitantly approached, his ears perking up.

"Hey," she spoke simply as he leant on one elbow to meet her gaze, "I thought I was exhausted, but… I'm not."

He gave her a small smile at her explanation, "Yah, me too." He glanced back up to the sky.

She sat on the branch he was using to rest his head, looking up at the sky herself.

"Are you…" he caught her attention, "Okay?"

"Yes," she nodded, he looked somewhat nervous by her sudden presence, "Are you?"

"Yah," he nodded.

She looked around once again, the darkness made everything look different. The shadows in the trees made it seem like all that existed in the world was them. Them and the tiny home, surrounded by pools of murky water, reflecting the moon and stars above them. She looked back up, there were so many stars. It had been a while since she'd seen the sky so clearly, lava filled volcano remnants pulled many dark clouds which sat permanently over her home.

She could feel Shrek's gaze unwavering on her. She looked to him again, giving a quick glance to the house where Donkey was slumbering, she lowered herself onto the ground beside him, closer to him. "You were telling Donkey about the stars before," she spoke, her voice appropriately low. They weren't truly alone, she had to be wary of inviting their enthusiastic third wheel.

He looked confused for a second before his eyes widened in recognition, "Oh, uh... ye heard that? That night…" he scratched behind his head.

She smiled at him as she realised what it implied. The rest of their conversation. The conversation that was so prominent in her mind for hours if not days following. She glanced back to the house, they had plenty of time to talk about that, perhaps when there wasn't such a risk of having their conversation listened in on. "Show me," she gestured to the sky above them.

Shrek watched her apprehensively for a second. "Well…" he laid back down, considering the situation.

Fiona laid down too, she inched closer to him so they were laying shoulder to shoulder. She watched him scour the sky for a moment, picking out the right constellation. She didn't mind, the longer he took the better, she was happy to gaze at him.

"Ah!" his ears perked up, "There. That one," he pointed up into the stars. "That's one I showed Donkey, Throwback - the only ogre to spit over three wheat fields."

Fiona glanced at the sky for only a moment before returning her gaze to him. "And how many wheat fields can you spit over, hm?" she asked, a playful glint in her eye.

"I uh-" he looked at her, somewhat sheepishly until he caught her gaze, breaking out into a grin, "Depends on the wheat field," he shrugged, "Depends on the day. If ya get a good congested morning, get some phlegm in ya throat, it'll go way further ya know."

She giggled quietly, "Oh really?"

"Oh aye," he nodded at her.

Their locked gaze lingered for a moment. His ears seemed to droop a little as his gaze was suddenly erratic, she watched him questioningly. He wriggled the arm that was pressed against hers, lifting it.

"Uh, d'ya…?" he offered his side to her.

Her eyes alit in surprise, she could feel herself blushing. She nodded, shifting herself closer to him. She gently laid her head on his shoulder. He balled his hand into a fist, laying it against the small of her back.

"So, yah!" he forced enthusiasm into his voice, gesturing back at the sky, "That's Throwback. See?" he pointed again.

Fiona looked to where he was pointing, she blinked, scouring the stars he seemed so sure of. "Uh…" she was hesitant.

"There," he pointed again.

"Oh!" she exclaimed at the nothing in her vision. Donkey was right before, they were just a bunch of little dots.

He chuckled, "Ya don't see, do ya?"

Her hesitation was enough to prompt more of a laugh from him. She grinned at her own expense. "No, I don't see," she giggled, looking between him and the sky.

They laughed again together, before suddenly widening their eyes and glancing up towards the dark window, muting their joy.

Shrek smiled at her, "C'mere," he pulled her closer to him, pointing at the stars in question. She leant in, her head touching his, following his arm, to his fingertip.

She searched for the hidden constellation, before shaking her head a little, giggling again, "I can't-" she looked at him, as he looked at her, their faces barely apart. She stared at him, his eyes flickered from her eyes to her lips and back again. She felt the world that amazed her fall numb. The only thing that existed was the fluttering in her stomach she felt whenever he got close to her. And him. She leant closer, pressing her lips against his. His outstretched arm, collapsing, holding onto her so she was enveloped in his embrace. She was suddenly aware that his fist had flattened and was holding onto her hip from where he had pulled her closer. His other hand now against her back, pinning her arm to her side. She held onto his vest.

It was a strange sensation, she allowed herself to revel in it again, that she was in someone else's arms. That she was in someone else's presence. That someone being her true love.

It was warm, and it felt like home. More so than the house she now occupied. Perhaps she should sleep out here too, it was cozy enough.

They broke their kiss, though they didn't move away from each other. Fiona's heart was beating fast. Her knuckles pressed against his chest, she could feel his racing too. They had been close before, but not that close. She opened her eyes, he was too close to be in focus, she smiled fleetingly before he kissed her again. Now she had found her new home, she wished to stay there forever.

He broke their kiss, leaning back away from her again, though his hands stayed where they were, holding her. "I don't…" he paused, his thought dropping into a sigh, "Yer just… how-" he gave up, eyes searching her face, "Yer so beautiful," he spoke simply.

Fiona smiled self-consciously. She didn't think she could blush any more than she already had done, but she did. He'd told her that a few times, a handful, if you will. And each time she'd felt herself reject it - the compliment simply bounced off of her and she didn't know what to say. This time though, she felt it soak in. And she didn't like it.

She wordlessly kissed him again, to occupy his mind lest he want a reaction or a response from her. That cozy feeling had diminished somewhat - she couldn't help but silently chastise him in her mind for speaking. Still, she kissed him a little more fervently, hoping to also occupy her own mind. She slowly felt all her thoughts begin melting away, his leg shifted, somehow they were even closer now. The fluttering within her returned with a vengeance.

In her acute awareness of his touch, she felt his hand moving. It was slow, absent-minded, his conscious mind very distracted. It had slipped upwards from her hip, moving toward stomach territory. If he thought she was beautiful he couldn't touch her there. No…

She jolted away from the kiss, panting. Shrek stared at her, wide eyed, alarmed. He wasn't doing anything… nefarious with his hand, her brain told her. Perhaps she would have even preferred if he did. No. She took a breath, her brain scrambling to find something to say, an explanation that didn't involve telling him to please not touch her in places she wasn't beautiful… well… that was a lot of places, she guessed, in fact under those circumstances she'd prefer for him to not look at her at all. It didn't make sense, her brain was tangled.

"Sorry," he spoke quietly, clearing his throat. He let go of her, tilting himself away from her. His hand from the arm tucked beneath her balled into a fist once again.

"No, no," she hurried, sitting up, "It's-" she paused, realising what he thought she was thinking. Her mind took ahold of it, it was as good of an excuse as any. "It's fine," she concluded, "We just… we shouldn't yet."

He nodded at her, blushing, avoiding her gaze. She inwardly kicked herself at her unjust punishment. Her panicked brain couldn't think of anything to fix it, a part of her wanted to run away back into the safety of the bedroom - alone. But she willed herself to stay, staring ahead into the darkness, letting the storm of her thoughts pass.

Eventually, she looked back to him. He had been watching her. He instinctively looked away before realising he'd been caught and offered her a sheepish smile. She smiled back at him. She sighed quietly, she couldn't punish him for something that was a lie. Fiona gently laid back down, leaning her head on his shoulder again. His balled fist gingerly leant against her hip.

Her brain willed her to say something, she wanted to, but she couldn't. She brushed it aside in her mind. She tilted a little into him, laying a hand on his chest. She could feel him relax somewhat, loosening the fist he held.

"Can I stay here tonight?" she asked quietly, she didn't want to return into the bedroom alone after all.

"Yah, of course," he spoke softly back.

"Okay. Good."

"Aye."

She smiled, closing her eyes. It felt like home.

. . .

Don't mind me, lemme just… -nudges rating from K+ to T-

Here, have a prologue to Beautiful. I realised that's kind of what this is halfway through writing it. I hope you liked!

Big shout out to rawshark who helped craft this a while back!