The Diamond Nutcracker


Once upon a time in a manor in the city, there lived a beautiful young woman named Sango Kimura. She lived with her parents and her two rambunctious little brothers, Kohaku and Hibiki. Every year, the family always held a big party at their home to celebrate Christmas Eve, Sango's favorite time of the year. It has always been her favorite holiday because every year she got to invite her closest friends and favorite relatives to the celebration.

And that time did come once again.

It was Christmas Eve and the three siblings were waiting patiently for their guests to arrive, mostly Sango. And soon enough, their patience was rewarded; folks all came pouring in. Uncles, aunts, cousins, grandparents, and even a close friend or two, were all splendidly dressed. Here they came for the happiest and most wonderful time of the year.

Once everyone had settled in and got themselves comfortable, they all gathered around in the gorgeous den which was wonderfully decorated with ornaments, knickknacks, trinkets, and garlands in various shades of red, green, and silver with a grand evergreen tree decorated just as fabulously while being surrounded by beautifully wrapped and perfectly placed presents and gifts as the centerpiece.

But before anyone could get their hands on a gift, it was time for games to begin first. Every woman and girl received a man or boy for a dance partner and they all danced around the room in perfect synchronization. The bright colors of the women's dresses bring more color to the den while the handsome smiles of the men brightened the morale. That was when something out of the ordinary happened.

A strange woman wearing a black cloak and top hat appeared and stopped beside a tree. Everyone silently gasped and huddled close together away from the cloaked woman, unaware of what was now happening. The woman removed her cloak and hat and Sango Kimura smiled enthusiastically. She immediately recognized the stranger as her beloved godmother Midoriko Ito. Magical things always happened when she came to the house.

"Aunt Midoriko! It's so wonderful to see you again!" Sango cried, embracing her godmother tightly.

"It's good to see you too, Sango," Madam Midoriko said with a beaming smile. "You're at least a head taller since the last time I saw you."

"I can't believe you came! For a minute, I thought you weren't going to come this year."

"And miss a chance to visit you and your family again? Pfft! Never! Something just came up and I had to take care of it, that's all. But I'm here now, so no harm done."

"Well, now that everyone is here for the party, let us continue with the festivities!" Sango's father, Takahiro, declared.

"Quite right, darling!" Sango's mother Emiko added. "Midoriko, would you please care to show us a bit of magic?"

"I'd be delighted to. Everybody, gather around," Madam Midoriko said, nodding her head and closing her eyes.

Soon, the den was illuminated with the natural light of the shrine priestess's beautiful magic. Without missing a beat, fireworks and sparks began flying out of the woman's hands, lighting up the room and the faces of the many excited guests. Her face was serene, her eyes focused on the lights above her head, making occasional glances at the brightly wrapped packages tucked in her saddle bags.

When her performance was over, everybody cheered and applauded like mad. The woman smiled warmly and looked back at her baggage.

"Don't worry. Everything will fall into place," She whispered, smiling to herself.

"That was wonderful, Aunt Midoriko! Sango Kimura cheered as she approached her godmother.

Madam Midoriko quickly covered her saddlebags with her cloak as her goddaughter came closer.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it, dear," she said.

"Hey, what's that?" Sango asked, cocking her head to the side to see the saddle bags under the black fabric.

"Oh, this?" Just a little something special for the occasion.

She held up the bag and opened it, revealing presents. Kohaku and Hibiki gasped when they saw it and ran over to Madam Midoriko.

"You have presents?!" Kohaku exclaimed.

"Gimme, gimme, gimme!" Hibiki pleaded.

"Boys, stop that! Don't pester her." Sango protested lifting her boys off of the floor and away from her godmother.

"It's okay, Sango. It's just about time for gifts anyway," Madam Midoriko said as she used her magic to levitate six beautifully wrapped boxes. She gave one to Kohaku and one to Hibiki.

"Here you are, boys," she said politely.

"Yay!" The two boys exclaimed as they began tearing the wrapping off the presents.

"Kohaku! Hibiki!" Emiko hollered, taking the packages from her son's hands. "You two have to wait until morning."

"No, no. It's okay. They can open them now." The woman assured her. "I think children should open at least one present on Christmas Eve."

Emiko sighed in defeat, smiled, and gave the boys their gifts so that they could finish unwrapping them.

"How was your trip, Midoriko?" Takahiro asked.

"Long." The priestess stated.

"Where did you go this time? I want to hear all about it." Sango insisted for she loved hearing about her godmother's travels.

"Oh, you know, the usual places: The Leaning Tower of Pisa, The Great Wall of China, Mount Everest, and Big Ben. Then I picked up your gifts."

"Oh, wow!" Kohaku said in awe as they each held up a tin soldier. "Hibiki, look! New toy soldiers for our collection!"

"That's awesome, Kohaku!"

The two rushed to the glass cabinet, opened it, and took a male soldier with blue eyes and blonde hair.

"Commander Ken!" Kohaku exclaimed, speaking for the toy in his hand. "It appears you have some recruits! We need to put them through training right away!"

"You're right, General Ryan!" Hibiki added, voicing another male soldier with blue eyes and brown hair. "Where should we start? Wing-ups for the fairies and pixies or running laps for the mermaids and Unicorns?"

The rest of the family chuckled at their behavior. "These are for you two." Madam Midoriko said, handing two packages to Takahiro and Emiko.

"Oh, thank you!" Emiko said in gratitude as she opened her tiny box.

"Oh my!" Takahiro marveled, lifting a golden pocket watch out of his package. "Is this real gold?"

Madam Midoriko nodded her head. "I got that in New York."

"Midoriko, it's gorgeous!" Emiko exclaimed as she put an emerald bracelet on her left hand.

"That was from France," Midoriko replied.

"You really shouldn't have! I mean, these must've cost a fortune," Emiko said.

Midoriko lifted her hand and scoffed. "Money is no object when it comes to friendship."

She smiled at her goddaughter. "I have two gifts for you Sango Kimura and you have to treat them both with the best of care."

Sango raised an eyebrow in interest. "What are they?"

Madam Midoriko led her to the couch and handed her a small, red package wrapped in a sea foam green ribbon. Sango opened it and gasped. Inside was the prettiest necklace she had ever seen. It was a silver chain with a purple jeweled moon pendant.

"It's beautiful!" she said in wonder. "What kind of jewel is this, Aunt Midoriko?"

Midoriko smiled as she put the necklace around her goddaughter's neck. "This is a very rare Cosmic Moon. I saw it in the shop and thought it would look beautiful on you."

"I love it, Aunt Midoriko," Sango said, touching the moon pendant. "Thank you."

"Now for my second gift," She said, giving her a blue package.

"Hey!" Kohaku scowled. "How come she gets two presents?"

"Yeah!" Hibiki added. "No fair!!"

"I gave you each five soldiers. By simple arithmetic, you two received the most presents." That didn't seem to wipe the jealousy off the young boys' faces.

Sango peeled back the wrapping and opened the box. Lying inside the box was the figure of a male, only it was made of a large sparkling gemstone. He wore a royal blue jacket with golden buttons, a tall blue hat, dark blue trousers, black boots,s and a belt with a miniature sword. His face was fair with black hair and indigo eyes. His mouth was huge with bright white teeth painted on it. Sango carefully lifted the toy soldier out of the box.

"Oh, Aunt Midoriko." She whispered. "He's so handsome!" She blushed. "I mean..."

The shrine priestess chuckled. "It's okay, sweetie. He was carved rather well, don't you think?"

"I'll say he is," Sango answered, looking back at her crystal doll.

"What is it?" Kohaku asked curiously.

"Yeah, what?" Hibiki added.

"It's a diamond nutcracker. Here, I'll show you how it works."

"Midoriko, isn't Sango a little too old for dolls?" Emiko inquired.

"Nonsense. I'll need some nuts," The shrine priestess said as she levitated a small bowl of nuts onto the nearby coffee table.

She then took a nut from the bowl. She placed it inside the nutcracker's mouth, pulled down the lever sticking out of his back and the shell cracked inside the crystal jaw. Madam Midoriko took out the nut and popped it in her mouth. Sango excitedly grabbed another nut and tried the same thing. The parents and the other guests decided to leave the children with their godmother and set the table for dinner.

"This is wonderful! Thank you, Aunt Midoriko!" Sango exclaimed, standing up.

"Hey, that looks cool! I want a turn!" Kohaku exclaimed, standing up.

"Me too," Hibiki added before standing up after his brother.

Then the two boys grabbed the nutcracker out of Sango's hands. Their sister pulled on it and they pulled back.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" She demanded.

"We wanna play with it too!" Hibiki argued.

"Yeah! You should share!" Kohaku added.

"No! Stop! You'll break it!!"

"No, we won't!"

Hibiki flicked Sango's head and Kohaku snatched the nutcracker. But all too soon, the nutcracker fell to the floor with a crash and its jaw immediately broke off. Sango gasped in shock, picked up the crystal doll, and looked at it in her hands. Her head rose and she glared darkly at her brothers. The boys backed away with nervous expressions on their faces.

"Oops," Kohaku squeaked.

Their lips quivered. "Sorry, sis..." The boys said in unison.

"Ugh!! I knew you'd break it! You two are never careful with anything! All you do is break things! You're impossible!!" Sango ranted, stomping her feet on the floor.

"Sango Kimura, don't be so hard on your brothers. They're only children after all," The shrine priestess said sternly.

"Whatever. That guy is ugly anyway. Come on, Hibiki. Let's go play with some real soldiers!" Kohaku huffed as he and his brother stood up.

"Right behind you," Hibiki answered as the two boys walked away.

Sango scowled at her brothers and then looked sadly at her nutcracker.

"Poor thing."

She took the green ribbon from her first gift and wrapped it around the nutcracker's head, holding his jaw in place.

"There. All better." She said with a smile.

Madam Midoriko smiled at her goddaughter's compassion towards others, even her toys. "You know, there's a story behind this nutcracker."

"There is?" Sango asked.

"Yes. Would you like to hear it?" Madam Midoriko asked.

Sango, who always loved a good story, nodded and sat beside her godmother.

"Have you ever heard about the Legend of the Nutcracker Prince? It's a tale as old as Japan itself, though these days, hardly anyone knows it."

"No. I haven't heard of it," Sango said, rather intrigued.

"In the old days of Japan, there was a kingdom on the outskirts of the land. The ruler was a princess who was known for being a bit selfish. She was very vain, stingy, spoiled and she held very little regard for her fellow monarchs, much less her fellow subjects. Her name was Princess Nabiki Tendo and she wasn't one of this kingdom's better monarchs like her successor."

'I can imagine. She sounds dreadful,' Sango thought.

"On the day that she was looking for a suitor to wed, something terrible happened to the princess. One of the suitors had cast an evil spell upon her, making her hideous as he was."

"What do you mean?" Sango asked.

"You see, the suitor himself was a hideous creature that no one, especially not the princess, would ever want him. As ugly as he was, he was still powerful and he was obsessed with dark magic and ancient curses. The only thing that could break the spell was the Corundum Nut, the most powerful nut in the world. A young prince managed to crack the nut and feed it to the princess, turning her as beautiful as she was before. But that didn't stop him. He cast another spell on the poor prince, turning him to crystal, and the princess, repulsed by his disfigured appearance, banished him from the land forever. After that, the demon started an uprising, overthrew the princess, forcefully took over the kingdom, and crowned himself The Demon King Naraku."

"Oh no!" Sango said, glancing down at the nutcracker. "So the Demon King turned that poor prince into a nutcracker? This nutcracker?"

Midoriko nodded. "Yes. The very same. And the only way to break the curse is true love's kiss. That was why the Demon King attacked and took over after Princess Nabiki banished him. So that he could never find someone to love him for who he is."

"This Naraku sounds horrible!"

The shrine priestess sighed. "Indeed, but anyone would act horrible if they hadn't been shown any kindness in their lives." She put her hand on her goddaughter's shoulder. "You must protect this nutcracker at all costs, Sango. Naraku won't let him live like this forever. He wants revenge and will do just about anything to achieve it."

Sango smirked. "That is a great story, Aunt Midoriko, but you don't expect me to believe all that, do you?"

Madam Midriko sighed and smiled softly. "No, I don't. Still, you'll take good care of him, won't you?"

"Of course, I will," Sango replied as she rose and walked over to the toy cabinet. "I'll even introduce him to some of my other dolls."

Midoriko watched with a smile as Sango interacted with her dolls. Her smile faded for a moment as her eyes fell upon the nutcracker.

"Soon. She's the one. I know it," she whispered.

After dinner, Sango was so tired that she fell asleep on the couch, with her crystal nutcracker tucked under her arms. Her mother and godmother both smiled as they watched her sleeping peacefully.

"Maybe we should put her to bed," Emiko declared.

Madam Midriko shook her head. "And ruin her dream? No, no. Let her sleep."

The woman sighed and nodded in agreement. Still, she wasn't going to let her only daughter freeze to death. She took a wool blanket from the couch and draped it over the sleeping girl.

As Sango's parents left the room, Midoriko stayed behind and used her magic to carefully remove the nutcracker from Sango's grasp. She closed her eyes as she cast her spell and removed the green ribbon. Then she moved the nutcracker's jaw to check that it was back in place. As she gently returned the nutcracker to Sango, Midoriko glanced at her goddaughter's sleeping face. Her hand glowed again and her white aura engulfed the moon pendant.

'Just in case,' she thought.

When the lights dimmed, she leaned forward and whispered to the nutcracker, "Trust me. She's the one."

The clock struck midnight: the Witching Hour when magic is at its prime. The tiny fire that was still burning in the stone hearth glowed on the figure of the tin soldier sleeping on the sofa.

"And so it begins..." An unfamiliar male voice rang through.

At the stroke of twelve, an army of dark figures wearing silver and red armor and carrying weapons began to emerge from a tiny mouse hole in the wall. These figures were not mice, but shadowy creatures in the shape of mice. They marched quietly into the parlor and stopped as if waiting for something. Then another creature emerged from the hole, far taller and larger than the shadow mice and a toy soldier.

He was a creature that stood on two legs, with jet-black hair, and red eyes. He was dressed in a simple, common outfit. It was dark blue with a purple vest on top with boned armor. It was the Demon King himself. His red eyes squinted as he looked at the sleeping girl on the sofa. He paused as he got a closer look at her face.

"Pretty little thing, isn't she?" He mused. "Almost feel sorry that I have to get rid of her."

"You leave her alone!!"

The Demon King gasped as an all too familiar male toy soldier hopped from the daybed and onto the floor in front of the King and lashed out a sword from his belt. It was the Nutcracker.

"You!!" The King shouted.

"Have at thee!" The Nutcracker challenged. "Leave the girl alone!"

"Stay outta this, you miserable little punk! Even in this form, you'll always be a thorn in my side."

"And a thorn to you I shall remain, beast."

"I was merciful turning you to crystal rather than just killing you. Let me go about my business and it will stay that way!"

"Your quarrel is with me! Stay away from Sango!"

"Newsflash, kid: I'm not here for her. I'm here for you. So how about this? After I shatter you into nothing but useless shards, I kill her and take over your little kingdom."

"Over my dead body!"

"Why? What's she to you anyway? Don't you already have a wife?"

"You know that I never loved Nabiki! I never had somebody to love at all because of you!"

"Oh yes, that's right."

"If you want Sango, you'll have to get through me first."

The King rolled his eyes and groaned. "Fine, whatever."

He then reached into his belt and pulled a large sword out of its scabbard and pointed it at his opponent. "I'm flexible."

He swiped the blade at the nutcracker, but he quickly ducked out of his swing. The Nutcracker's sword then began to glow brightly, making his crystalline body sparkle all the while. Soon, an army of toy soldiers and other random toys from the nearby toy cabinet was standing right behind the nutcracker.

"You wanna do this the hard way, do you? Fine. Let's play," The Demon King said with a snarl.

And soon the battle broke out in the parlor. Swords clattering and screams and shrieks of soldiers echoed throughout the room as both parties fought. The sounds of foes fighting were enough to wake Sango Kimura. Her eyes fluttered open as she wearily lifted her head to see what was making the sounds. She moved her hand around the sofa as she realized that her Nutcracker doll was gone.

She lifted the blanket and pillow, but couldn't find him. Then she heard another clang and spun around to see her nutcracker over by the fireplace, fighting a frightening-looking doll his size. She shook her head and shut her eyes.

'What the heck? This must be a dream. It has to be.'

But when she opened them again, the strange battle was still going on. Surrounding the two foes was an army of tiny shadowy creatures in armor. The whole scene was bizarre to the young girl.

"Did I... did I hit my head or something?" She questioned, putting her hand to her head.

She didn't know what was going on, but it frightened her that this horrifying creature was trying to hurt her Nutcracker. The enemies' swords were pressing against each other and the Nutcracker was losing the struggle. Determined to save him, Sango raced over to the battle. The shadowy mice, toy soldiers, and the other toys scrambled so they wouldn't be stepped on by the large girl.

"You've lost your touch, bucko," The Demon King sneered.

He screamed and dropped his sword as he was snatched up off the floor. Sango Kimura brought the creature to her furious face.

"Leave me him alone!" She bellowed.

"Ugh!" The Demon King groaned. "Oh yeah, I forgot about you."

He was angry at her, then he smirked at the giant girl. "Now, don't you think you should pick on someone your size?"

His sword suddenly turned into a magical staff and before she knew it, Sango was engulfed in a black magical aura coming from the gem in the staff. She dropped The Demon King as she grew bigger. She glanced around and saw the whole room was getting bigger. No, she was getting smaller! The shrinking stopped when she was about the same size as the Nutcracker doll.

"What...just happened?" She asked, nervously looking around.

She looked up as she heard the creature chuckle darkly. He now towered over her, about twice or thrice her size.

"Not so fearless now, are we, my little sweet?" He sneered.

She backed away as Naraku slowly approached her. "A-are you...The Demon King Naraku?" She stammered in fear.

"Ah! So you've heard of me. Then you must know why I'm here."

"You're here to hurt my Nutcracker, aren't you?"

"Hurt him? Ha! I'm afraid I'd be doing way more than that, sweetheart."

Naraku reached out his claw to grab Sango Kimura, but her necklace and a bolt of electricity shot out of it, shocking the Demon King's hand. He shrieked in surprise as the Nutcracker's sword twisted itself. He whipped his head around and growled at his foe as was spun around by the crystal toy.

"You'll have to go through me, first, ugly!" The nutcracker declared.

Naraku narrowed his eyes as he tried to get free.

"So be it!" He growled.

"Run!!" The nutcracker cried, looking at Sango.

Sango didn't hesitate and slipped away from the monster, running at top speed.

"NO!!" The Demon King screamed while shielding himself from the nutcracker's blows. "Minions, grab that girl!"

Sango screamed in terror as the mice chased after her. She skidded to a halt as a hoard of them blocked her path. The nutcracker saw her plight and looked over at the toy cabinet.

"Soldiers!" He called. "Protect Sango Kimura!"

Sango was amazed once again as her brothers' tin soldiers and all of her other toys charged toward the mice with either swords or cannons.

"Attack!!" One of the soldiers commanded.

The soldiers attacked the mice with the mice fighting back with all their might. Sango used this distraction to escape and she hid under the sofa.

She heard a cry and turned to see the Demon King leading her nutcracker toward the fireplace. A few more steps and he would be burned alive! Sango gasped as the nutcracker's sword was pulled out of his grasp. Naraku then pointed his blade at the nutcracker's throat.

"It's over," He chuckled.

Thinking fast, Sango removed one of her slippers and threw it hard at the Demon King. It hit him square in the back of the head and he let out a surprised cry.

"Ow!" He shrieked, spinning around. "Who threw that?!"

He growled when he saw Sango run from his sight. Meanwhile, the nutcracker scrambled around for his weapon.

"Idiots!" Naraku howled. "I've told you to get her!"

He sighed as he put his hand over his face. "Do I have to do everything myself?"

The nutcracker charged at the Demon King from behind, but he managed to turn around just in time. He used his magic to throw the Nutcracker against the wall. The nutcracker lay on the floor in pain. Parts of his body were cracked in some places.

"Sorry to cut our battle short, Your Highness," Naraku smirked. "But I have an annoying, meddling little girl to catch."

"No," The doll uttered, attempting to rise.

The Demon King began to pursue the young women, leaving the Nutcracker behind. As soon as Sango saw that Naraku was after her, she searched for a place to hide. She then looked up at her old dollhouse sitting under the tree, which was the size of a real house now. She ran toward the house's door and she slipped inside, slamming the door shut behind her.

The Demon King chuckled at her actions. "Silly little girl, thinking she can hide from me."

He ran into the house after her, smashing the door in front of him. He scanned the doll-sized room he was in, trying to determine which piece of toy furniture the girl was hiding behind.

"Where are you, my pretty?" Naraku called in a singsong voice. "Come out, come out, wherever you are."

With one swift motion, he turned over the toy couch and found nothing underneath. He pushed over a chair but was again unsuccessful.

"Come on. I won't hurt you. I'll make sure no harm comes to you." He kicked the table with his legs, but that, too, was empty.

Meanwhile, Sango Kimura was pressed up against the wall of the tiny closet. The darkness of the small room startled her and she had to stand on her tiptoes to fit, but she was more afraid of the creature lurking outside. What did he want with her?

"In fact, why don't you make things easy for us both and just hand yourself over to me to save your nutcracker, Prince?" He called out. "Your choice."

She held her breath as she heard him stop outside the door.

"Fine. Suit yourself. If you won't give yourself up and save your friend, I'll just have to keep hurting him until you do."

She gasped in fright. She realized her mistake too late and put her hand to her mouth. The door flung open and Naraku grinned a wicked smile at her. Sango screamed in horror as he snatched her up and lifted her out of the closet and closer to his face, staring at him dead in the eyes.

"Let me go!!" She yelled furiously, flailing her hands around trying to hit The Demon King.

"My, my, my," he snickered. "You're feisty little thing, aren't you? ...I hate feisty."

She didn't listen and persisted in trying to wrench herself out of his grasp as he flopped her over his shoulder and carried her away from the dollhouse. Outside, the Nutcracker was trying his best to get back on his feet, but due to his severe injuries, he couldn't.

"Somebody, help!!"

He turned at the sound of Sango Kimura's voice and saw the Demon King carrying her toward the mouse hole.

"Sango! NO!!" The nutcracker cried. He tried to stand up again but to no avail.

"Somebody!! Save her!!"

Soon, Sango Kimura used her magic to lift her slipper off the ground and she threw it again. Naraku yelped as he once again felt the slipper hit the back of his head. He turned around and searched for the culprit.

"Who keeps doing that?!" He demanded.

Suddenly, he lost his grip on the girl, who landed on the floor with a thud. She looked at him and her hands lit up again as a beam of magic shot the Demon King, zapping him right on his butt.

"Take that, you jerk!!" She cried as she got to her feet and ran to the Nutcracker's aid.

Naraku shrieked as he felt the beam hit him from behind. "Why, you little brat!" He grunted between his teeth. "You will pay for that!"

"Leave her alone!!" The nutcracker managed to scream.

The Demon King turned his head towards the two figures and he brought out his sword. "This girl is starting to get under my skin," He growled as he ran over to them.

He towered over the couple and looked at them with a look of disdain and rage on his face. Sango stood strong, not letting her terror cloud her thinking.

"You stood in my way ever since I arrived, you pesky girl. This is where it all ends." Naraku muttered.

He grabbed Sango's legs and his staff lit up with black magic. As soon as he did, light pulsed from the nutcracker's body and he grabbed his sword from the floor. There, he thrust the blade into Naraku's chest through his armor, striking him in the heart. He shrieked and cried out in pain as the cold blade was withdrawn from his body. He dropped his staff which caused it to break on contact with the hard floor.

The Demon King suddenly fell onto his side with a thud and he muttered something to the couple before losing consciousness, "You crystal pest."

The room was deathly silent, nobody or toy moved. The mouse creatures gasped and surround their king. They lifted his corpse off of the floor and they took him back to the mouse hole. The evil tyrannical Demon King Naraku was dead at last. Sango looked back at her nutcracker, holding his weak body in her arms.

"Oh, my poor Nutcracker." She whispered, stroking his hair.

"Don't worry, Sango. I'm just stone, remember?" The nutcracker muttered as he stroked Sango's face.

"No, you're not. I know you're much more than that to me...my prince."

It was there and then Sango Kimura tearfully bestowed the nutcracker with a passionate kiss. As she did, her pendant began to glow and did the crystal doll. Sango didn't seem to notice because her eyes were shut. But soon, she felt a hand touch her face. She opened her eyes and she saw that the nutcracker had been transformed into a handsome young prince who was smiling warmly at her. She gasped.

"Are...are you...the Nutcracker Prince?" Sango asked with wide eyes.

"I am. And thank you, Sango Kimura. You've released me from my curse." The young man said as he offered his hand. She took it and stood straight.

"So the story is true?"

"Indeed it is. But now, the Demon King Naraku is dead and I'm finally free. So...do you want to come with me?"

"Where?"

"Someplace special."

Sango Kimura's necklace glowed again and the two of them were bathed in a bright light as they closed their eyes. When the light vanished, Sango opened her eyes to see that she was standing in the middle of the most exquisite and lavish ballroom she had ever seen in her life. It seemed to her that everything around her was made of sweets and candy.

"What is this place?" Sango asked.

"My home, the Land of Sweets," The Prince said.

"Ah, my Prince!" A new voice cried.

The couple whipped their heads around to see a radiant fairy standing at the top of the grand staircase. She spread her massive white wings and brought them down, flying into the air and softly landing on her feet in front of the two. She seemed to tower over both of them.

"Your Highness, you've returned. And your spell had been broken! At last!" The fairy exclaimed before hugging the Prince.

"It's so wonderful to see you again, milady," The prince said, hugging the fairy back.

"And who is this?" The fairy asked, pulling away and looking at Sango.

"This is Sango Kimura, milady. She's the girl who set me free," The Prince answered.

"Is she now? Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, my dear."

"It's nice to meet you, too. But who are you?" Sango asked.

"Oh yeah, sorry. Sango, this is Kagome Higurashi, the Sugar Plum Fairy, a good friend of mine."

"A pleasure. Well, now that we have the introductions out of the way, your subjects are waiting for you, Your Highness."

With a simple wave of her wand, the Sugar Plum Fairy transformed Sango nightgown into a lovely pink ball gown with matching shoes while the Prince's old uniform was turned into a Persian blue with a golden suit with black and royal blue boots to match. And on each top of their heads, a silver crown glistened like the moon. The ballroom doors suddenly flew open and enormous crowds of dolls and toys of all kinds poured into the room surrounding the Prince and Sango. They cheered for Sango and congratulated her for bringing their Prince back to them. That was when the Prince took her hand and bowed his head before asking, "May I have the next dance?"

Sango Kimura smiled warmly, honored that a real prince would be so forward with her, and she accepted his offer. Sango had never learned to dance before, but it didn't seem to stop her from gliding across the floor with her Prince by her side. As the two of them danced, the other dolls and toys could only stare at them in happiness and joy, none more so than the Sugar Plum Fairy Kagome herself. As Sango and the Prince gazed into each other's eyes lovingly, it seemed like this was all a wonderful dream come true.

"Sango?" The Prince asked, kneeling before the girl.

"Yes?" Sango asked.

"Will you stay here with me and be my Princess?" He asked, holding her hand in his.

"I...I don't know what to say!" Sango exclaimed.

"SAY YES!!" The crowd cheered.

"Oh, how I'd love to...but..." Sango's happiness soon faded and her smile turned into a frown.

"But what, my dear?" Kagome asked.

"What's the matter?" The Prince added.

"Nothing. I mean...I love it here, but this is where all of you belong, not me. I belong in Japan. I love you, Prince, I do, but I can't stay here forever. My friends and family need me and I need them. I'm sorry, I am."

"I understand," The Prince solemnly said.

But soon, the toys and the dolls in the crowds suddenly either began to freeze or disappear into thin air completely. Sango didn't understand what was going on.

"Sugar Plum Fairy Kagome, what's going on? What did I do?!" She asked as she ran towards the fairy.

"It's not your fault, Sango. Just go do what you want to do. And none of us will begrudge you for it." Kagome said before vanishing in a bright pink light.

Sango looked back at the Prince and tried to run to him, but she suddenly met the gaze of a familiar and horrific face. It was the Demon King Naraku. Sango screamed and backed away from the monster. He appeared to be holding his chest wound with his hand and parts of his body were somewhat turning to stone as he limped toward her, his broken staff helping him stand up and walk like a crutch.

"YOU?!" Sango cried in shock. "I thought the Prince killed you back in the parlor! I thought you were dead!"

"I'm sorry, my dear Sango Kimura, but if I told you I wasn't...you would be hearing a lie." The demonic King snarled at the girl.

Sango tried to hold off Naraku by throwing various sweets and pastries at him and blasting him with some of her magic, but her fighting him only made him angrier at her. As Sango tried to fight him off, the Prince began to vanish with the rest of his subjects, parts of his body deteriorating into white smoke.

"Sango," he said weakly as he fell to the marble floor, trying to crawl over to Sango.

"Get away from me! I said stay away from me! Leave me alone!" The young woman demanded as she was throwing a tray of cupcakes at Naraku's face.

"You ruined everything I've worked for. My plans, my spells, my reign, my world. And now...you will PAY!!" The Demon King roared as he withdrew his sword from his belt.

"Sango," The Prince managed to croak before disappearing entirely as well as the rest of the crowd and the Fairy.

Sango then backed into the balcony railing, realizing that it was a dead end. She screamed and covered her face with her hands, preparing for Naraku's sword to strike. But then, the Demon King fell to his knees and he finally came into contact with Sango's necklace. It burned his chest greatly, causing the wound in his chest to cauterize in the very instant as though the jewel itself was red hot. He howled in agony. Sango brought her hands under Naraku and she flung him off of her body and over the balcony causing him to land with a loud crash onto the unforgiving ground below. He was seen by anyone again. Breathing heavily, Sango looked back into the ballroom, only to see that everyone was gone.

"Nutcracker! Nutcracker, where are you?!" Sango shouted with tears in her eyes. "My Prince!! No, don't leave me!!"

She could just hear the Prince's voice faintly saying: "Sango Kimura...I love you."

"I love you too, my Prince! Please don't go! Where are you?! Tell me where you are! Answer me, please!! Where are you?! NUTCRACKER!!!"

Sango abruptly awoke early the next morning with a cold sweat and tears in her eyes. She frantically looked around, but nothing was found. The Diamond Nutcracker was gone. She looked at herself and saw that her ballgown was gone. She noticed that she was back in the parlor of her own home. She got up and looked around the toy cabinet but the Nutcracker wasn't there. She desperately looked all over the messy parlor, hoping to try and find him.

"Nutcracker? Where is he?" She asked, still trying to comprehend the events that happened the night before as she searched.

"Sango Kimura, you're up. Merry Christmas." Emiko and Takahiro entered the parlor.

"Mom? Dad?" Sango stammered as she turned her head to look at them.

"Wow. The mice must've had a party down here last night or something," Takahiro said, looking at the horrendous state of the parlor.

"No, Dad. It wasn't a party at all. It was a war," Sango blurted out. "The Diamond Nutcracker was fighting the Demon King who shrank me with a dark magic spell!"

"What?" Emiko said, confused. "Sango, what in the world are you talking about?"

"I've never heard such a story," Takahiro added.

"No, it's not a story! It happened! I swear!!" Sango insisted.

"Present time!" Kohaku and Hibiki shouted as they ran into the parlor.

Sango stopped them and looked at them sternly. "Kohaku, Hibiki, did either of you take my Nutcracker?" she demanded.

"Why would we want it?" Hibiki asked.

"Yeah, it's just a dumb chunk of rock," Kohaku commented.

"No, you're wrong! He's a prince, I mean a king! He's technically a king now! An evil demon cursed him and took the Nutcracker's kingdom for his own!" She explained. "It all happened last night, I swear! I saw it all!"

"What the heck are you talking about?" Kohaku asked.

"I think our sister has finally lost it," Hibiki whispered to his brother with a giggle.

"Where's all this coming from?" Takahiro asked.

"I've never heard such a thing, even from Midoriko," Emiko added.

"Aunt Midoriko," Sango whispered as she grabbed her coat, boots, and scarf and ran out the door.

Sango Kimura was now more determined than ever to find out the truth about the Nutcracker Prince and the events that happened the night before. She ran through the snow-covered streets of the town until she reached her Godmother's toy shop. She frantically pounded her hands on the door, demanding to be let inside.

"Aunt Midoriko! Aunt Midoriko! I need to talk to you! It's important! Let me in! Open up, please! Open the door!" she screamed.

The door suddenly opened and Madam Midoriko Ito was standing in the doorway.

Sango Kimura!?" she cried. "What are you doing out here? Come in. Come in."

Madam Midoriko let her goddaughter into her shop, closed the door behind her, and looked at Sango who was now in tears.

"Oh, Aunt Midoriko, it's the Diamond Nutcracker. He's gone!" she said in between sobs. "I have to know the truth. Did you personally know the Nutcracker? Was there a Demon King named Naraku? Is this lost kingdom a real place? Oh, Aunt Midoriko, I have to know, I just have to know!!"

"Hey, hey, hey! Slow down, dear. Slow down. It's okay," Midoriko said, comforting Sango as best she could.

"No, it's NOT okay! My Diamond Nutcracker Prince is GONE!!"

"Miss Midoriko? What's going on?" A new voice called.

Sango's ears perked up at the voice. It almost sounded familiar. She looked up and she almost gasped when she saw that it was a young man with fair skin, indigo eyes, and black hair standing behind her and Madam Midoriko. He looked at her and his eyes widened, she did the same. Sango turned around and smiled warmly at the young man.

"Sango, I don't believe you've met Miroku Yoshida. Miroku, this is Sango Kimura, the daughter of some dear old friends of mine," The priestess introduced politely.

There was a long moment of awkward silence between the two before Midoriko casually backed out of the room to give them some much-needed privacy. The young man approached the girl before him. He took her hand and kissed it gently.

"Hello, Sango Kimura. It's very nice to meet you." He said politely, blushing furiously.

"Hello. It's nice to meet you, too," Sango said kindly, blushing as much as he was.

"This may sound strange, but...do you want to dance?" Mirouku asked.

Sango said with a wink and a sly smile, "I'd love to. Besides, I can't say 'no' to the King."

So, Miroku took Sango's hand in his own and the couple began to dance around in the little toy shop together in a romantic manner. Madam Midoriko was watching them from a nearby hallway. She smiled, winked at him, and whispered, "See? I told you she was the one."

She smiled. For she knew that from then on, Sango Kimura and her Diamond Nutcracker Prince would live happily ever after.