~*~*~
~*~Part One~*~
“Momma! Momma! Look what Unca Xander and Unca Graham bought me!”
Willow looked up, smiling at the rapture on her daughter’s face. Her eyes drifted to the doll in the child’s arms and she gasped. “Xander. That must have cost a fortune!” The doll appeared to have a porcelain face and hands and was dressed in an elaborate princess costume. The beadwork on the dress looked much too delicate to be for a child’s hands, and she could only hope that Mina would treat the doll with the appropriate amount of caution and gentleness.
Xander shrugged. “Actually, no. There’s this new toy shop on First and they’re having all sorts of sales.” He smiled. “I couldn’t say no to her anyway, once she saw it. Her eyes just lit up and…”
The red head nodded, giving her friend a sympathetic smile. They all knew what it was like trying to say no to Mina when she really wanted something. It wasn’t that the child was spoiled, it was just that she had this way of looking like her heart had been broken. She gave her daughter a look. “Did you thank Uncle Xander for taking you out today?”
“THANK YOU UNCA XANDER!!!” The child yelled, causing her mother to shush her quickly. Mina glanced sheepishly in the direction of the twins’ bedroom, blushing ever so slightly. “Sorry, Momma.”
“It’s okay, honey.” Willow sighed, standing and stretching. She had been sitting in one place for nearly two hours, working on translating a spell book Angel had purchased her for her birthday. “Why don’t you go to your room and get ready for bed? You have school in the morning.” She reminded her daughter before the child could argue. “I’ll be in after I say goodbye to your Uncle.” She watched the child go before turning to Xander. “Thanks for taking her out for the day – it was nice to have a small break.”
“You know Graham and I will take her anytime you need, Wills.” He reached out, giving her a hug.
“I know, I know. The guys and I just hate taking advantage of you like that.” She smiled suddenly, a thought coming to her mind. “Hey…next week is your birthday. Any plans?”
Xander shrugged, sitting lightly on the back of the couch. “Quiet night with friends? Celebrate getting yet another year older.” He frowned for a moment. “Hard to believe I’ll be 27 soon…so will Cordelia for that matter….Gunn too. Poor Graham is already 28.” He gave her a small smile. “You’re the only one of us staying all nice and young, Wills.”
The red head’s smile faltered for a moment. It was true that all of
her friends were slowly getting older while she was staying the same. They
had been given the option, once, to be Turned and their souls restored.
None of them had wanted that. She didn’t really blame them, but it was
sad nonetheless, she would outlive her friends by an untold length of time.
They would all grow old and then die. “You know…Xan…”
“Shh, Wills. You know that’s not what I want. Or what Graham wants. Or what Gunn and Delia want. We all like Deadboy and Junior – but we don’t want to be just like them.” He stepped closer, giving her a tight hug. “I’m gonna go ahead and go home and have some alone-time with Graham. Give Mina my love, k?”
Willow nodded, opening the front door for him. “G’night, Xan.” She watched him go, vowing silently to find a way to keep those close to her by her side forever
~*~*~
It was late, but Mina couldn’t sleep. Daddy-Sire and Daddy-Spike were still out, working on a case. And mommy had tucked her only a few minutes before. She sighed, blowing a piece of hair out of her face. How much easier it would be to sleep if her Daddies were here to give her a goodnight story. She rolled onto her side, her gaze falling onto the doll sitting on the far side of the bed, against the wall. It really was a beautiful doll, she reasoned, and she had been lucky that her Uncles had bought it for her.
Pulling the doll towards her, she stared into the crystalline blue eyes, a smile creeping across her lips. “How about I tell you a story, Miss Emily?” She yawned, closing her eyes ever so slightly, just long enough to miss the flash of red that flared in the doll’s own eyes or the slight upturn of the porcelain lips. “That sound good to you? Alright then… Once upon a time…”
~*~Part Two~*~
Willow looked around the room in surprise, her body tensing up immediately as things began to melt, fade away. It was as if the entire room was morphing from what it was into something entirely different. She felt the floor beneath her feet heave, twisting upon itself as the wooden panels slowly became stone. It was impossible to tell how long the metamorphosis lasted, time itself seeming to twist in its own way. Her heart sped up; beating so hard she thought it would burst from her chest at any moment. With a nearly audible snap everything seemed to pop into place and the disconcerting shifting stopped.
‘Where am I?’
The red head looked around the room, trying to calm down enough to think rationally. A fireplace against the far wall, next to a large thickly curtained window, cast off both heat and light. She could hear the wood popping as the fire consumed it. Heavy-looking tapestries covered much of the stone walls, trapping in heat and providing decoration.
“Princess Willow?”
Nearly jumping out of her skin, Willow turned, noticing for the first time that she was no longer clothed in her jeans and t-shirt. The elaborate green dress she wore was made of what looked to be velvet. ‘Yep…velvet…’ She thought, confirming the former guess with a brush of her fingers. She gave the serving woman standing before her what she hoped was not a confused look and asked. “Yes?”
“I’m here to help you get dressed for tonight, m’Lady, remember? The Princes are coming?” The young woman blinked at her Princess innocently.
Willow nodded as if she remembered. “Oh yes…the Princes.” She chewed thoughtfully at her lip, trying hard to think of how she could have possibly gotten where she was. Had she fallen and hit her head? Was this real? She was so immersed in her thoughts that she hardly noticed the servant come behind her and start unbuttoning the dress. Only when the heavy material fell down around her ankles did she finally become aware of what was going on. Flinging her memories back to high school and what she had learned about medieval societies, she deduced that this was probably normal and nothing to worry over.
“Do you want to wear the lovely blue one your light Prince brought back for you last trip or the exquisite red one your dark Prince did?”
“Umm…” Willow struggled to not to shiver in the room’s cool air. “The red one?” She shrugged slightly.
“Oh wonderful choice, m’Lady.” The servant grinned, walking across the room to the wardrobe. The wood creaked as the doors opened, displaying an assortment of clothes that seemed to have jumped right from the pages of a fantasy novel. She pulled the dress free of some others, brushing out the burgundy silk with a few quick swipes of her hand.
Willow stepped out of the pool of fabric that had been her first dress and allowed the young woman to dress her, trying to school her expression to something less than what she felt – confusion. “Wh-What time will the Princes be here?”
“Not too much longer now, Princess. That covered coach your father had built for them certainly works wonders letting them ride about during the daytime. I know how much of a struggle it was for you three because of their sun allergies.”
‘Sun allergies?’ The confused red head thought, a light bulb flashing in her head as slowly pieces began to lock into place. “Where is Peaches, Sylvia?” She asked, testing her idea.
“The kitten? Oh dear. Has she escaped from your room again?”
Willow felt her heart become moderately lighter as the servant walked over to the bed, kneeling to look beneath it. ‘Peaches. Sylvia. Dark Prince. Light Prince. – This is the place Angel tells Mina stories about at bedtime.’ She sighed. At least one part of the mystery was over with. Now for the bigger question – how did she get here and what would she need to do to get back to her own reality?
“Here she is, m’Lady. Sleepin’ under the bed as usual. Silly little kitty.” She held the ball of fluff out to Willow, a smile on her simple face. Willow took the animal, noting that it looked exactly like the one her daughter owned in real life. A few more flicks of the servant’s wrist and the dress was fastened. The red head turned to the mirror on the far wall, gasping in surprise.
The burgundy cloth was cut in such a way that it emphasized everything that was right with her body while detracting from any of her small flaws. She twirled slightly, watching the skirts flare out and enjoying the feel of the silk against her skin. Behind her she could hear the servant clap lightly, pleased as well with the effect the dress had. ‘Just proves I’m in a fantasy world, doesn’t it? Clothes fitting perfectly and feeling so sensuous.’
All in all it took nearly another hour before she was ready for the evening. She had allowed Sylvia, after much debate on both their parts, to put her hair up on her head, with only a few carefully curled locks free to frame her face. There was no makeup to hassle with, which Willow was quite fine with. Lastly there was the jewelry. Willow noted with a smile that the only ring she wore was one that looked exactly like her own wedding set in real life. ‘A gift from the Princes.’ Sylvia had reminded her with a smile, beginning to reminisce on the fine times the Princes had shown Willow since they came into her life. Willow had nodded, thinking it ironic how closely the events of this fantasy world mirrored those that had happened in reality. ‘I really need to pay more attention at night to Angel’s bedtime stories.’ She chastised herself. ‘If I ever get back home, that is.’
A sharp knock on the door brought their conversation to a close. “Enter.”
“Your Highness.” An out of breath page murmured, bowing low. “The Princes await your arrival in the main dining room.”
Willow stood, smoothing out her dress. She gave Sylvia a nod and followed the page out into the hallway. Would the Dark Prince and the Light Prince actually be Angel and Spike? Or just the made-up look-alikes from the stories? She hoped for the former, knowing she could definitely use Angel and Spike’s help in getting home. ‘Time to see if I’m the only one that got sucked into this.’
~*~Part Three~*~
“I just don’t understand…”
Spike looked up, glaring at his Sire. “You’ve already said that about five bloody times you ponce.”
The sound of the carriage rolling over a particularly nasty set of rocks drowned out the growl that rose from Angel’s throat following the blond’s statement. He fought back the urge to reach over and throttle his Childe, knowing that that sort of action would undoubtedly startle the human ‘servants’ driving the coach and riding on mounts around it as protection. He sighed, leaning back into the comfortable velvet lined seat and trying to ignore Spike.
They had been riding merrily along, nearly back to Willow and the kids when, out of nowhere, the earth itself had seemed to melt. His car had become a carriage and, as far as he could tell without burning himself in the sun, the land outside had become some sort of medieval countryside. Their ever helpful ‘servants’ had been very forthcoming with the information, as Angel covertly questioned them while Spike had glowered.
“Something about all of this seems so familiar….” Angel muttered, drawing back the small curtain over the carriage’s one window just far enough for him to see that the sun was indeed setting. Soon they would be at the Princess’ castle – back from, as the servants told it, a heroic mission to rid another kingdom of a horrible monster.
Spike snorted. “You’re not that old, Peaches. I don’t know how all this medieval knights and castles nonsense can seem ‘familiar’ to you.” He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, pulling at the fabric of the ‘tights’ he had suddenly found himself wearing upon entering this world. The blond haired vampire was sure that somehow this entire mess, including the nancy-boy clothing, was his Sire’s fault. ‘Probably pissed off another bleedin’ gypsy and got us all cursed to this happy hell.’
Angel rolled his eyes. “I didn’t mean that I remembered it from first hand experience living in it, Spike. I meant that it seems familiar from something else…” He shrugged, turning his thoughts inward and pointedly ignoring the blond since he didn’t seem to have anything helpful to contribute to the situation. Willow would be sure to start looking for them when they didn’t come home. If anyone could figure out what had happened to them, it was her. He smiled as he thought of the beautiful red head, no doubt curled up with a book and waiting for them to get home. Mina would have already gone to sleep and the boys tended to sleep through the night without a problem. He knew that Willow would be enjoying her quiet time and only wished that he was there to spend it with her.
There wasn’t a single doubt in his mind that they would get back where they belonged. For some odd reason he couldn’t find it in him to get overly agitated or worried about the situation. Nothing about it seemed malicious – just odd. Even Spike wasn’t nearly as out of hand as he normally would be in the same situation. Even with the blond’s constant whining and complaining he was behaving himself better than normal. Angel looked over at his Childe through lowered lashes, admiring the way the ‘nancy-boy’ clothes hung on him. The tights stuck to every muscle of the blond’s legs, giving a nice view of every curve and line he already knew on an intimate level. The coloring of the clothing was perfect for the younger vampire’s hair and eye tones, the light blues making his eyes seem to sparkle with more light than normal. If they hadn’t been in such an odd situation to begin with Angel would have seriously considered making a real fantasy out of this ‘fantasy’ world.
Time ticked by, the steady sound of the carriage’s wheels on the dusty, rocky path lulling both of them into a state of relaxation. When finally the carriage came to a stop they sat still for a moment in confusion, looking at each other. What would they be expected to do now?
“Your Highnesses.” The door of the carriage swung open, held in place by a servant wearing, what Angel could only assume, the crest of their household. “Princess Willow will be meeting you in the dining room momentarily. Please to follow Arnold?” He pointed out another servant, this one dressed in the colors of another house.
“Princess…” Angel whispered, turning to Spike with wide eyes.
“…Willow?” Spike arched an eyebrow, looking out the carriage door at the castle where this ‘Princess’ lived. “You don’t really think that its our Red, do you?”
“Only one way to find out, m’boy.” He lowered his voice to a level only Spike would hear. “If it is or isn’t – they seem to expect us to be very happy about being here. Let’s not give them any reason to doubt that we are the ‘Princes’.” Angel grinned, jumping out of the carriage. He pulled at the bottom of his burgundy silk tunic, smoothing out any wrinkles that had occurred during the hours-long carriage ride.
The two vampires followed after the servant, trying not to gawk at the apparent luxury of the castle. Silken tapestries hung from the walls, no doubt created by skilled artisans. There were paintings and vases, each a masterpiece in their own right, placed carefully on pedestals throughout the wide hallways. Finally hey stopped before a set of double doors, each one polished to a high shimmer and carved with delicate willow trees. The doors opened with little fanfare, the servant running ahead to announce them.
“His Highness Prince Angel and His Highness Prince Spike.” The servant bowed once towards the men, and once towards someone standing in a far corner, their view of the individual blocked by the high back of a chair. As the door clicked shut behind the servant there was a flurry of motion as the mystery person ran towards them.
“Spike! Angel!”
Spike grinned, grabbing up Willow as soon as she was within reach. “Pet!” His lips met hers in what he knew an entirely inappropriate kiss for the current time period. As their lips parted he found himself suddenly without a witch in his arms and turned to see that his Sire was greeting their mate as well.
“Willow… You don’t know how glad I am to see you…” Angel murmured, pulling away from their embrace to stare into her sparkling green eyes. “How did we get here…wherever here is?”
“You don’t recognize this place?” She asked mischievously.
“Um…should I?” The dark haired vampire asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.
“Yeah – should he?” Spike asked suspiciously, giving his Sire an accusatory glare.
“Yes. It’s the same fantasy make-believe land you tell Mina stories about every night.”
“Its… Oh…” His eyes grew round and he looked around, as though taking in everything for the first time. “How did we get here?”
“Now there you’ve got me…” She smiled, gesturing for them to take seats at the table.
Spike sat heavily in one of the chairs, glaring at the room as if it would somehow disappear again if he just made it uncomfortable enough. “Luv… If we’re here and you’re here – who’s watching the kids?”
Willow gasped, leaning back into her own chair for support. “I – I don’t know.” Tears formed in the corners of her eyes and she sniffled loudly, provoking a glance from one of the guards placed at intervals along the walls. “Oh goddess…my boys…Mina… I need to get home.”
Angel nodded, silently agreeing with her as their dinner began to arrive from the kitchens.
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