Odette stared up at the full moon as she stood on the balcony from hers and Derek's bedroom. The sight of the moon shining above Swan Lake brought back so many memories. Two years had passed since Derek defeated Rothbart and freed Odette from his spell. Two years since she and Derek had married and moved into the same castle that the evil enchanter had once called his home. It had all happened so long ago, but it still seemed like it was only yesterday. And a lot had happened in those two years.

As Odette looked up at the moon, she frowned as her memories then went to the other two sorcerers, Clavius and Zelda. Both of them wanted the Forbidden Arts after Rothbart died, and they were both willing to kill her and Derek to get them. Tears swelled in Odette's eyes as she remembered that Zelda had been successful in killing at least her. If Derek hadn't burned the orb and the notes after Zelda was defeated, Odette wouldn't have been brought back and wouldn't be there that day. What would have happened to the kingdom if that had happened? All her friends and loved ones? What would have happened to Derek?

"Odette?" she heard a familiar voice say her name. The young princess looked and saw her husband standing in the doorway.

"Are you okay?" Derek asked with a concerned look on his face.

"Oh Derek…" she sniffed "Yeah, I'm fine. I was just…"

"Come on, Odette," Derek said as he took his wife's hands, "tell me what's wrong."

"Derek…" Odette started, "I want to make sure that the Forbidden Arts are gone for good."

Derek looked at his beloved in surprise, "Where's this coming from?" he asked in confusion.

"Ever since you brought me back, I've been worried that the Forbidden Arts are still out there," Odette explained, "and I don't want anything to happen to us again."

Derek sighed heavily, "You're right, Odette. I was a fool to keep those notes, and look what happened because of it. No one should have to go through what we've been through."

"So what do we do?" Odette asked.

"First thing tomorrow, we'll go down to Rothbart's hidden chamber and see if there's anything else he'd left behind, and whatever we find, we'll destroy it," said Derek.

Odette let out a smile as the tears stopped, "Thank you so much, Derek," she said as she wrapped her arms around her husband.

"You're welcome, Odette," Derek said as he held his wife close, "but for now…"

"For now what?" Odette asked. Derek then leaned in and whispered something in Odette's ear that made her blush madly, "Derek!" she exclaimed in surprise.

"So is that a no?" Derek asked.

A smirk then formed on Odette's face, "Why don't you follow me and find out?" She asked slyly as she led her husband back into the bedroom.


"Hmmm…" Rogers pondered at his desk the next morning as he looked over his notes, "No, this won't do at all."

"And what are you up to this time, Rogers?" asked Derek's mother, Queen Uberta, as she looked over his shoulder at his notes, "Wait, are these stage play notes?"

"Yes, your highness," Rogers replied.

"And may I inquire why you're writing these?" Uberta asked, "You're not exactly a playwright."

"Ah, but the theater is where timeless stories are told," Rogers began to explain excitedly, "stories of heroes and romance! Of comedy and tragedy!"

They then heard a chuckle and turned to see Derek's best friend, Bromley, "Never took you for liking that kind of entertainment, old man."

"What have I told you about calling me that?" Rogers growled.

"You don't scare me as much as she does," Bromley joked, pointing his thumb at Uberta.

"Now now, children," Uberta said.

"Children?!" Rogers shouted.

"Well, you're both acting like it!" the queen retorted, "Besides, Rogers, shouldn't you be focusing on preparations for the ball?"

Upon hearing those words, Rogers groaned in annoyance, "I haven't forgotten! The play is for the ball!"

"What ball?" asked Bromley.

"Derek wants me to arrange a ball in celebration of his and Odette's anniversary," Rogers explained.

"Oh, so he actually remembered this year, huh?" Bromley said with a chuckle, causing Rogers to roll his eyes.

"And as I said before, the play is for the ball," Rogers continued, "Odette asked me to organize one for the villagers so they have some entertainment as well."

"So what's the problem?" Bromley asked, "If it's for Derek and Odette's anniversary, just make it about them!"

"One problem, Bromley," Rogers said, "Odette doesn't want it to be about them."

"Whyever not?!" exclaimed Uberta, "They're story is probably the greatest love story ever told to date!"

"I know," Rogers agreed, "but Odette feels people may be tired of hearing it."

"That's ridiculous!" shouted Uberta, "No one would ever be tired of it!"

"That's not entirely true, Uberta," said a voice in the doorway. Everyone turned to see Odette.

"Oh, good morning, dear!" Uberta excitedly exclaimed, "But what exactly do you mean?"

"I know that Derek and I were made famous by our love story, but it's been told time and time again for almost two years now," Odette explained, "So I asked Rogers to write something else. A new love story that could rival even our own."

"No pressure, eh, old man," joked Bromley, causing Rogers to shoot him a deadly glare.

"I can't think of anything, Odette!" Rogers shouted, "I've read fairy tales, myths and legends, but still nothing has given me any inspiration!"

"Don't worry, Rogers," Odette reassured him, "the ball isn't for another month, I'm sure you'll think of something."

"I hope so…" Rogers groaned.

"In the meantime, Derek and I are going down into the cellars," said Odette.

"The cellars? What for?" Uberta asked.

"We're going to see if there's anything else Rothbart left behind," Odette explained.

"But Odette," Rogers began, "there's nothing left down there. Derek and I destroyed everything in Rothbart's old lair, and Derek burned the formula for the Forbidden Arts after…well, you know."

"I know," Odette agreed, "but I just want to make sure. I have this feeling that I can't shake that there's something else down there that we missed."

"Alright," Rogers said.

"Just be careful, dear," begged Uberta, "both of you."

"We will, Uberta," Odette reassured her mother-in-law with a smile.


A few minutes later, Derek and Odette found themselves walking down into the cellars, accompanied by their animal friends, Puffin, Jean-Bob, Speed, and Whizzer, who had decided to stay at Swan Lake ever since the incident with Zelda.

"This place always gives me the creeps," groaned Puffin.

"Tell me about it," Whizzer agreed, "It's even spookier than Zelda's place in the mountains.

"It's gonna be okay, guys," Derek told them, "just stay close."

"I still don't understand why we have to go down here!" Jean-Bob complained, "This is servant stuff!"

"Here we go…" Speed groaned in annoyance.

"What?! I am a prince! And a prince shouldn't be doing anything like this!" Jean-Bob shouted.

"So why is Derek doing this?" Odette asked. Jean-Bob opened his mouth to say something, but he was at a loss for words.

Eventually, they came to Rothbart's old portrait. Odette glared at it with complete disgust.

"We probably should've destroyed that too," Derek said as he wrapped his arms around his wife's shoulders. Odette then pushed her foot on the rock to trigger the door behind the painting to open.

"Let's get this over with."

They entered Rothbart's old lair and began looking around. They found the pedestal that the Forbidden Arts orb once rested on and the old fireplace, but there was nothing else.

"Well, there's nothing here!" said Jean-Bob, "I say we go back upstairs and get some breakfast!"

"Keep looking, Jean-Bob!" Puffin told him in annoyance.

"I hate this…" Jean-Bob complained as he sat down in front of the fireplace. He suddenly yelped as the brick beneath him sank into the floor. Just then, the wall at the back of the fireplace rose up, revealing a hidden staircase.

"Nice one, Jean-Bob!" Puffin shouted in excitement.

The little frog then widened his eyes in surprise, but then a smirk grew on his face. "But of course, I-"

"Do not say you meant to do that," Speed cut him off, causing Jean-Bob to groan in disappointment.

Derek and Odette went over and looked down the passageway in disbelief. "I'm guessing you didn't find this last time, Derek?"

"Don't you think Rogers and I would've said something if we had?" Derek asked.

"Well, you did keep Rothbart's notes a secret, didn't you?" Odette countered.

"Odette, I swear, we didn't find this last time!" Derek exclaimed in worry.

"It's okay, Derek," Odette reassured him, "I believe you. I was just messing with you."

Derek smiled at his wife, "Just like when we were kids."

"Maybe not like that…" said Odette, "In any case, we'd better see what's down there."

Derek then lit a torch, and with that, they began descending the staircase. As they went down into the dark, the temperature grew colder. "It's freezing down here!" Whizzer exclaimed.

Just then, the young royals and their animal companions found themselves before two large doors with two symbols on them. On the left was a symbol resembling a blue shield with gold swirls in the shape of a heart and a small red rose at the bottom, and the symbol on the right resembled a sword with a red heart at the top, and gold curved protrusions resembling iris petals swirling around it. Each symbol had the same bird-like wing at the top facing away from each other.

"What is this?" Derek asked.

"I don't know, Derek," Odette answered, "but I don't think Rothbart knew about this place. It looks…ancient."

Just then, the doors began opening. As Derek and Odette walked inside, they gasped in awe at what they'd found. Inside there was a large chamber, banners hanging on the wall with the same symbols from the doors, and in the center was a giant dead tree.

"So we came all the way down here to find some dead foliage?" Jean-Bob said in annoyance, "Wonderful…"

"This was under the castle this whole time and we never knew?" Odette asked in amazement as she began to approach the tree.

"Be careful, Odette," Derek warned, "we don't know what this tree is or why it's here."

"I'll be careful, Derek." As Odette continued walking towards the tree, she saw two gilded swords at the base of it, one encrusted with bright red rubies, the other with dark blue sapphires, each one bearing one of the two same symbols. Just then, Odette heard a soft voice coming from the tree.

"Free them," the voice said.

"Did you hear that, Derek?" asked Odette.

"Hear what?" Derek responded.

"That voice," Odette answered.

"What voice?" Derek asked.

"Free them," said the voice again, but for some reason, Odette realized she was the only one who could hear it. Just then, the ground began shaking as a green light began emanating from the center of the tree, and Odette heard the voice again. "The time has come."

"Odette! Get back!" Derek called out, not wanting to lose his wife a third time. But the princess didn't listen. Odette simply picked up the ruby encrusted sword and began hacking at the tree.

"Derek, help me with this!" Odette shouted.

"What?!" Derek exclaimed in confusion.

"Just do it!" Odette responded. Seeing as there was no changing her mind, Derek sprinted forward and picked up the sapphire encrusted sword and started hacking at the tree as well.

"Are they crazy?!" Whizzer shouted in disbelief, "This room's about to go down!" But Derek and Odette didn't seem to hear. As they hacked at the tree, the green light began to grow brighter until they both hit the tree at the same time and a burst of energy knocked them off their feet. The light then vanished and the ground stopped shaking. After a few moments, the two royals collected themselves and sat back up.

"Are you okay, Odette?" Derek asked in concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered, "You?"

"I think so," said Derek before turning back to the animal friends, "What about you guys?"

"I think we're okay," Puffin answered.

"Define okay…" Jean-Bob remarked.

"What was that, Odette?!" Derek exclaimed, "You could've gotten yourself killed!"

"I just heard this voice and-" Odette began, but Derek cut her off.

"Odette, you need to be more careful! If anything happened to you again…I don't know what I'd do if I lost you for good…"

Odette then wrapped her arms around her husband and laid her head on his chest, "I'm sorry, Derek. I know I shouldn't have been so reckless, but it won't happen again."

"I hope not," Derek said as he returned his wife's hug, "Now let's get out of here."

"Uh, guys?" said Speed as he pointed to the tree. Derek and Odette looked to where he was pointing, but what they saw was not what they were expecting.

They saw two young people, a boy and a girl, both in their mid-to-late teens, lying on the ground in front of the tree, cocooned in each other's arms. The girl had bright red hair and the boy had dark blue hair. Derek and Odette rushed over to them to make sure they were alright.

"They're both breathing," Derek said.

Odette then ran over to the wall and pulled down one of the banners hanging on it, and rushed back over and used it to cover them. "Puffin! Go get help!"

"Right!" shouted Puffin before flying off.


A few days passed since the hidden chamber was discovered. The boy and girl were taken upstairs to the castle infirmary where the nurses and maids tended to them. Odette even provided one of her robes to cover the girl, and Derek gave one of his nightshirts for the boy, but they still hadn't woken up yet. Odette went to the infirmary when she found Bridget tending to them.

"How are our patients doing, Bridget?" Odette asked.

"Boy and girl still in sleepy-sleep, Princess," the older woman answered.

"I suppose that's better than the alternative," Odette said in relief, "And you're certain Rothbart knew nothing about that hidden chamber?"

Bridget nodded, "Many secrets, Rothbart had, but not tree room."

"Alright…I'll take it from here, Bridget," Odette offered, "Why don't you go get some rest?"

Thankee, Odette," Bridget said with a yawn, "Me go get sleepy-sleep too."

Odette smiled as Bridget left the infirmary. The young princess then went over to the girl's bedside and took her hand, "You both must've been through something traumatic. I know all too well what that's like…" she said, "I don't know who you are or why you both were in that tree, but whatever happened to you two, it's over now. You're safe."

"I hope you're right, Odette," said a voice from behind her. Odette turned around and jumped a little as she saw Derek standing behind her.

"Derek!" Odette said in a bit of surprise, "How long have you been standing there?"

"I just got here, sorry if I startled you," Derek apologized, "So how are our new friends doing?"

"Hard to say, they're still unconscious from when we found them," Odette answered, "but hopefully they'll wake up soon."

Suddenly, they heard the girl begin groaning. She slowly opened her eyes and looked at them, "Where…am I?" she asked. The girl began sitting up, but had trouble. Odette put her arm around her shoulders and helped her sit up.

"It's alright," Odette reassured her, "Just take it slow."

Derek then sat on the bed and offered the girl a glass of water. "Here, drink this."

"Thank you," the girl gratefully said as she took the glass and sipped the water. "What happened?"

"We were hoping you could tell us," Derek answered, "My wife and I found you in a giant dead tree beneath our castle."

"Wait, what?!" the girl shouted in shock, "Where am I?! How long has it been?!"

"It's alright, just relax," Odette instructed, "You're at Swan Lake Castle."

"Swan Lake Castle?" The girl asked in confusion, obviously unfamiliar with the name, "I don't understand! Am I not in Neo Verona?!"

Derek raised an eyebrow with even more confusion, "Neo Verona? I don't think I've ever heard of a place like that."

"What do you mean?! There must be a mistake!" The girl shouted. Suddenly, her recent memories flooded into her mind, "I…no…I shouldn't be here! I shouldn't even be alive!"

"Just calm down, dear," Odette told her as she put her hands on the girl's shoulders, "Just start from the beginning. What's your name?"

"My…my name is-," but suddenly, the girl was cut off as she heard a weak voice coming from the boy lying in the bed next to hers.

"Juliet?"

The girl, now identified as Juliet, widened her eyes in shock and tears began to swell up as she instinctively recognized the voice. 'It can't be…' she thought to herself. She turned to the other bed and saw the boy sitting up. Derek knew the expression Juliet had on her face all too well. He had that same expression when Odette had been brought back to life after Zelda's destroying seeker had killed her.

"R-Romeo?" Juliet said in disbelief as she stared at the boy, tears streaming down her face. She then began to feel dizzy and then collapsed backwards onto the bed.

"Juliet!" the boy, Romeo shouted as he jolted out of the bed and rushed over to her.

Juliet opened her eyes and looked at Romeo with a tearful smile and placed her hand on his face. "I thought I'd lost you…"

"You'll never lose me, my love," Romeo responded, a tearful smile growing on his face as well. The two of them wrapped their arms around each other and held each other close.

Derek and Odette looked at each other, obviously confused as to what was happening, but something inside them told them this wasn't over. It was just the beginning.


Me: Howdy Y'all! This is a story I've had on my mind for a while now! Two of my favorite animated love stories brought together! Sorry it's not the Transformers story, but I've been in a creative slump with that one and have been struggling to get back to it, but I promise I will soon! Now then! If anyone has ideas for this story, please let me know!