"Goodbye Lavinia" Peach smiled sadly and kissed Lavinia on her forehead. "Peachy why I go?" Lavinia asked with sad blue eyes. "It's... complicated. You'll understand when you're older" Peach chuckled softly at the irony, Fairy Godmother used to tell her that all the time when she was 16, now here she was doing the same thing to Lavinia.
"Whewe Blossom?" Lavinia asked "right here darling" Blossom said, appearing behind Peach. "I thought I was your only darling" Peach muttered, Blossom glared at her and Peach averted her gaze to stiffle her laughter.
"I no wanna go" Lavinia sobbed. "Oh baby-" "I thought I was your -" "Peach!" "Sorry." Blossom huffed and turned to Lavinia "your father is here to take you back home to where you...to where you truly belong."
"You no want me no mowe?" Lavinia asked tearfully. "Darling we will always want you no matter what, and when you're older you can visit us whenever you'd like" Blossom promised. "What's bisit?" "Visit, dear, VI-SIT, it means that even if you live somewhere else, you can come back here sometimes." Blossom explained.
"Lavinia, it's time to go" King Charming said gruffly once he appeared at the doorway of the oak tree. "Hews scawy" Lavinia whispered to the fairies. They giggled as the king looked miffed at his own daughter's opinion of him.
"Goodbye, our darling Lavinia"
-------
"Princess Lavinia, King Charming summons you to the throne room" Sir Geoff declared to the 18 year old girl sitting on a tree branch. It had been a decade since Lavinia had left the land of the fairies and she had grown quite a lot since then. She jumped off the branch and rolled before hitting the floor and stood tall with her arms in the air "TA-DA" she giggled.
"Huzzah Princess! But I fear we must away lest I lose my position as general of the royal army." Sir Geoff grinned fondly at the lady that stood before him.
"Then let us run to the castle my good sir!" Lavinia declared and pulled sir Geoff by the arm. They got a few feet away before sir Geoff abruptly stopped. "This is quite unseemly dear princess, we must compose ourselves with decorum" he said.
"Please, father knows that we are close friends" Lavinia huffed. "That may be so, but we must remember that I am but a soldier in the ranks while you are of royalty." Sir Geoff reminded her gently, removing a leaf from her hair and throwing it over her shoulder. "Position means nothing to me" Lavinia pouted while brushing the dirt off of her plain white shirt. "You'll understand when you're older" Sir Geoff smiled sadly.
-----
"Father, I have arrived!" Lavinia called out as soon as she arrived at the throne room. "Ah, my darling daughter" King Charming beamed, but dropped his smile as soon as he saw sir Geoff standing behind Lavinia. He cleared his throat and straightened himself up to appear more "serious" "thank you for accompanying Princess Lavinia, you're dismissed" he said.
With a slight bow sir Geoff turned and left the room.
"What's up?" Lavinia asked, her arms crossed. "Ah yes, well, what is up is that you are at an age now...the perfect age to marry" King Charming hesitated, hoping that Lavinia wouldn't object to what he was trying to say. "And you want me to get married?" Lavinia finished for him.
"Well...I at least hope that you will get married my dear. I have picked a suitor for you that I think might be a good match. He has agreed to court you, but I will only allow it if you like him as well." King Charming said. "Will I even meet him?" Lavinia asked. "Yes! Right now, along with his whole family." King Charming smiled. "Father! I am in no such state to be meeting anyone right now, look at what I am wearing!" Lavinia said, gesturing to her plain white shirt and jeans. "But darling you look beautiful no matter what!" King Charming said, aghast. "I appreciate your sentiments but I'd like to think that you're biased" Lavinia frowned.
"My beautiful princess, love of my life (don't tell your mother), my star in the sky-"
"will you please get to the point already?" Lavinia rolled her eyes.
"ehem, yes, what I am trying to say is, you look like this every day, do you not?" King Charming asked her.
"yes...I guess..." Lavinia said.
"Well then if he doesn't like you for who you are every day, then he is not worth changing for." King Charming smiled gently.
"You...you make an excellent point father..." she said.
"Of course I do! Now let's go to the dining hall where they are waiting for us!"
"Who are 'they' exactly?"
-------
King Charming and Princess Lavinia entered the dining hall to be greeted by the sight of 5 people at the long wooden table. At the head of the table next to where the king usually sat was Queen Cinderella. To the left sat Queen Aurora and King Phillip, and right across from them sat their children, Prince Herb and Princess Rose. As children, Prince Herb, Princess Rose, and Lavinia used to play together. Princess Rose was a year older than them.
However, as they grew older and started their individual trainings the visits and play dates stopped as soon as they turned 13.
Prince Herb was taller than he used to be, definitely taller than Lavinia. His shoulders were broader and his jaw more chiseled, stubble was growing on his handsome face.
Princess Rose was as beautiful as ever, her dark hair had been cut to the length of her chin and her bangs that used to cover her face were now set to one side to reveal her porcelain skin and startling green eyes. Lavinia lingered for a moment before being interrupted from her thoughts.
"So kind of you to finally join us my dears" Queen Cinderella smiled. "Apologies my love, poor sir Geoff had to exhaust himself while searching for this rascal. You know how she is." King Charming laughed. Everyone at the table giggled, except for Princess Rose who instead glared at Prince Herb.
'What's that about' Lavinia wondered before being led to the empty seat between Princess Rose and Prince Herb. "Let us feast!" King Charming declared. Servants entered the room holding plates of food and laid it on the table. "Finally, I'm starving!" King Phillip said, rubbing his hands gleefully at the roast beef before him.
"So, Princess Lavinia, I have it in my best interests to court you" Prince Herb said. "Whoa there, slow down, I don't even know you." Lavinia said. "Well, what would you like to know?" Prince Herb asked. "Why don't we eat first, okay Herb?" Princess Rose interjected. "Fine" Prince Herb huffed.
Lavinia tried to shoot a grateful look at Princess Rose but she had already turned away. The afternoon went on, Prince Herb tried to strike a conversation with Lavinia but was somehow always stopped by Princess Rose from getting any further. Lavinia suspected that Princess Rose didn't want her to marry Prince Herb, but she couldn't understand why Princess Rose was so against it.
After lunch, Lavinia gently laid her hand atop Princess Rose's "can we talk?"
------
Rose leaned against the column beside the garden with her arms crossed, wondering why Lavinia suddenly wanted to talk. "I called you out here because I want to know why you're against me and Herb getting...married" Lavinia admitted.
"I never said that I was." Rose denied.
"You didn't have to, every time that Herb and I were about to have a conversation you just shut it down" Lavinia said.
"Do you really have no idea why?" Rose challenged.
"Because you don't like me." Lavinia sighed.
Suddenly, Lavinia found herself with her back against the column and Rose right in front of her holding her against it, Rose's face so close to her own that if she just leaned forward a tiny bit they would be...kissing.
"Because you promised me that I was the one you were going to marry" Rose whispered into Lavinia's ear. Lavinia shuddered. "Can I kiss you?" Rose asked quietly, staring into Lavinia's eyes. Without thinking, Lavinia nodded her head enthusiastically. "I need verbal consent" Rose teased "Yes" Lavinia gasped out before Rose pressed her lips against hers.