Gabrielle - After Happy Ever After

"I've been meaning to ask you…" Wendell said quietly and Danielle jumped when she realized he was talking to her. "My grandmother, does she…well, what I mean is, is she…"

"Spit it out, Wendell," Danielle pressed.

Wendell seemed surprised at being addressed that way, but nodded. She was right. "Did she seem like she was proud of me?" he asked so quietly that she had to lean closer to hear him.

"I'm sure she is!" Danielle assured him.

Wendell sighed with relief and smiled. "Thanks."

"Wendell, about that princess thing? You really meant that?" Danielle asked, changing the subject.

"Of course. I'll do whatever I can. But don't get your hopes too high yet," Wendell warned her.

"I won't," Danielle lied. She was silent for a little bit as she ate, half-listening to the conversation around her. Wendell kept assuring Peter that after he delivered one last message to Commander Forswell for him that he would have a long leave of absence. Tony was explaining bouncy castles to Maive. Cinnamon was silent, eating hungrily. "You know," Danielle commented suddenly, "This would make a great movie. Well, here I guess it would have to be a play. I would portray myself, of course. Maybe it could be a musical."

"A musical?" Maive asked.

"You don't have musicals here? I hope you have plays." Danielle frowned.

"We tend to call them traditional reenactments and they're only at major functions," Wendell offered.

“Oh, no, no, no. That won’t do. It looks like I’ve got a job to do. I’ll whip up an acting troupe… I’ll be like Shakespeare. Well, maybe not. I’ll start working on it and after graduation I’ll make a trip back and…boy, am I gonna have to think to work this one out. Oh, well. I’ll make Ivy do it,” Danielle shrugged.

Wendell smiled at her enthusiasm. “So you will be coming back?” he asked.

Danielle nodded. “Definitely. You think we could stay in the boring old Tenth Kingdom after this?”

“Boring?!” Maive exclaimed. “How could you call it boring? I’d like to go back just to figure out some of the things I saw!”

“I’d like to go, too.”

“Wendell?” Danielle asked, surprised. “But don’t you have…you know, king stuff?”

Wendell sighed. “You’re right, I suppose. I do have to try and repair the rest of the damages here. Paperwork all the way to happily ever after. Political conferences, official reports, diplomatic visits to the other Kingdoms. Especially the Second Kingdom. Sometimes, I almost miss being a dog,” Wendell sighed again. “What about you, Anthony? Are you going back to the Tenth Kingdom?”

Tony paused in his eating and thought. He slowly shook his head. “I don’t think so. Besides, I’ve still got those bouncy castles to make for you. I’ve made up some plans, but there’s still a lot to do. Plus, I’m a lord here! Why would I give that up?” Tony finished.

Wendell brightened a little. “Perhaps I will be able to sneak away one of these days then. You and Lord Rupert should be able to handle things,” Wendell said, getting more and more excited as he mentally made plans.

“Sure, Wendy,” Tony agreed.

Everyone was quiet again until Danielle pushed her chair back and stood up. “I think I’ll turn in. Is that Lord Rupert person still in the throne room?”

“Most likely,” Wendell nodded.

“Just look for a pink suit,” Tony added with a small sneer.

“Ooookay,” Danielle said as she back away, then turned and went back to the throne room. She entered just as Wolf was leaving. She waved at him and he waved back. Danielle spotted Ivy’s…(“Ivy’s” and “boyfriend” still sounded weird together) whatever. She walked over and held out a hand. He shook it uncertainly. “Hi! I’m Danielle, Ivy’s friend. You are?”

“Faolan,” he supplied.

“Faolan. Listen, from what I heard, you want to go back with us. As long as you’re going, there’s this dance at school that I’ve been trying to talk her into going to. She’s never gone to a dance and this one’s important. It’s called the Senior Prom. If you were to ask her…” Danielle trailed off suggestively.

Faolan seemed to like the idea. He nodded vigorously. “Thanks,” he said.

“No prob. Is that Lord Rupert? Must be. Well, I’ll see ya.” Danielle said and went over to Lord Rupert. He directed her to a room and she nodded and left.

Lord Rupert hurried over to Faolan. “Shouldn’t you be getting off to bed, young man?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Faolan agreed. “Could you tell me where Ivy’s…”

“Of course not!” Lord Rupert interrupted. “Do you think I’m a fool? I was your age once. I know what goes on in the mind of a young man your age.” Lord Rupert smacked Faolan smartly outside the head.

“Ow!” Faolan cried.

“Bad thoughts! You will sleep in your own room and if I catch you sneaking into hers…” Lord Rupert wagged a finger at him.

“Okay, okay! Huff-puff!” Faolan agreed hurriedly, rubbing the back of his head and glaring in an annoyed fashion at Lord Rupert.

“Up the stairs, second door on the left. Can’t miss it,” Lord Rupert directed.

Faolan beat a hasty retreat and headed to his room. Lord Rupert looked after him and sighed. “Young love,” he said and wiped a tear from his eye. “It’s just so beautiful.”

Ivy woke with sun the next day. She rearranged the things in her backpack, taking out Faolan’s forgotten coat. She had nothing to pack. All she had to do was leave. That was the hardest thing of all, though. She didn’t want to go. She really would have liked to stay and see the Kingdoms without having to worry about evil witches. But she had already been gone too long. Break was over; she was missing school. Her parents were probably going out of their minds.

She turned, hefting her backpack and slinging it over one shoulder. She picked up Faolan’s coat and opened the door. When she opened it, she found Faolan sitting outside.

“Faolan! What are you doing…?” she began.

“I was waiting for you to wake up. I thought you would want to get an early start,” he said, jumping to his feet.

“Not much of a chance of that happening with Danielle traveling with us. And I still need to go speak with Virginia. Snow White said so. How long have you been out here?” Ivy asked.

Faolan shrugged. “A while. Come on. I smell breakfast getting cooked. I’ll bet Wolf and Virginia will be down soon,” Faolan said, taking her hand and pulling her down the stairs.

“Faolan…” Ivy protested, “Would you wait a minute?!”

“What?” Faolan asked, stopping and turning towards her.

“We need to talk. I’ve been thinking about what to do next, but I’m not sure.”

“Let’s talk over breakfast. I’m starving!” Faolan insisted.

“All right,” Ivy nodded and he proceeded leading her downstairs again.

Ivy let herself be dragged into the dining hall. Faolan pulled out a chair for her and she was so surprised, she plopped into it. No one pulled out chairs for her. Faolan ran around the other side of the table and sat across from her. No one else was there yet except for kitchen workers. "I've got your…" Ivy began, holding up his coat.

"Oh! Thank you," Faolan said quickly, taking it and slipping it on so he wouldn't have to carry it. Faolan took Ivy's hands, leaning across the table so he was closer to her.

Ivy looked from their hands to Faolan and frowned worriedly. "Is something wrong?" she asked.

"Oh, no! Nothing's wrong! I just…I need to ask you something. Huff, I'm kinda nervous," he admitted.

"W…what?" Ivy asked, her eyes wide.

"Well, it's actually two somethings. First, your friend, Danielle, told me about an important dance in the Tenth Kingdom called the Senior Prom and I want to take you to it. Can I?"

"I…but I…I can't even dance! I wasn't gonna go," she looked at Faolan who had dropped his head so that it rested on their hands and was looking up at her with his golden-brown eyes. Ivy sighed. "Okay. I'll go. I suppose that means I'll have to find a dress, too. Danielle's gonna have way too much fun with this. What was the other thing?"

"Will you…," Faolan paused and took a deep breath, "Will you be my mate?"

"Your…oh, god," Ivy said and nearly fell out of her chair. "Faolan, I'm not even out of high school yet. You can't ask me something like that! Just please slow down."

Faolan clamped down on a whimper and nodded. "Okay. I'm sorry. It's just that wolves always move fast," he said, looking down at the table.

Ivy saw how down he looked and felt bad. She wasn't really saying no, just asking him to wait. "Faolan?" she said to get his attention.

Faolan looked up questioningly. Ivy leaned closer and kissed him. She was as new at this as he was, but somehow it seemed right.

Faolan's eyes widened in surprise for a moment, then he closed them and kissed her back.

"Yep, I sent out two messengers already. One to my sister and another to Queen Riding Hood," Wolf said in an exceptionally loud voice.

Ivy pulled back and sat back down in her chair. Faolan had a dreamy smile on his face. Ivy felt a similar one appear on her own. She looked over at Wolf in time to see him wink at Faolan.

Wolf saw her looking at him and quickly turned to Virginia. "You must be ravenous. I know I am. Breakfast smells great," he said, leading her over to the table and sitting her down next to Ivy. He slipped around the table and took a seat next to Faolan.

Virginia raised an eyebrow. "Wolves on one side, um…associates on the other? Or guys on one side, girls on the other?" she asked. "Lord Rupert would be proud."

"Coincidence," Wolf offered with his wolfish grin.

"Virginia, I need to talk to you before I leave. After breakfast?" Ivy asked.

"Sure," Virginia nodded.

A servant brought out some breakfast trays just then, one piled high with bacon and sausage, the other with pancake-like things. Faolan and Wolf looked at each other, then at the bacon.

Virginia knew exactly what they were thinking. "Don't you dare eat it all, either of you. I'm not only eating for two, one of us has part of Wolf in him. I could eat a horse," Virginia warned.

"Yes, dear scrumptious Virginia," Wolf smiled.

It wasn't too long before Randal, Tony, Cinnamon, Maive, and Breena joined them. The cooks were hard pressed to keep enough food on the table for four wolves, a pregnant woman, and three hungry humans. Breena didn't eat anything, but she participated in the conversation. Wendell came down a little later.

Danielle was the last to show. She ran into the room and quickly slipped into a seat next to Ivy. "I know we have to go, but there's something that we just have to do first. I saw it in my dream last night and I've been dying for some anyway," Danielle said quietly to her.

"Who's dying?" Faolan cried, worried.

"No one! Gosh, decaf, wolfie boy," Danielle said quickly.

Faolan sat back down, embarrassed. He didn't know what decaf was, but he got the gist.

"What are you talking about?" Ivy asked.

Danielle lowered her voice even further to a conspiratorial whisper. "Karaoke."

Ivy rolled her eyes. "Even if I tell you not to, you will so what the heck," she said.

"Great! This is so cool. I get to introduce karaoke to the Nine Kingdoms!" Danielle said, rubbing her hands together with anticipation, "Yeah, I've been thinking what CDs that I know you have. I'm making a list of good songs for this."

"Look out Nine Kingdoms," Ivy joked. "It's a good thing we have to go back today."

"Not 'till later, we're not. Where's Lord Rupert? I was talking to him last night and I think he can help. I'll need your CD player thing, too. I'll be back," Danielle said and ran off again.

Faolan looked at Ivy and she could see he was looking for an explanation. She shook her head. "That's Danielle for you," was all she could give him.

Virginia led Ivy into the room she shared with Wolf, figuring that the girl would want some privacy. She waved a hand at a chair against the wall, motioning for her to sit in it, and pulled over another chair for herself. When they were both settled in, she looked to Ivy to begin.

"It was Snow White's idea that I should talk to you. She said that I was lost like you were. I think she was right. My whole life I…well, I stayed in kind of a bubble and no one else could get through it. That's until Faolan (man, this is a bad analogy) popped it. I was all cold inside and I didn't even know it until recently. Life sucked. I'm a writer, so I had an escape. I'd write stories and make myself one of the characters so it was like I was somewhere else, living an exciting life, falling in love, being a hero. But I'd always have to come back, knowing that it wasn't real. During this adventure is the first time I've been able to cry in years. It hurt inside," Ivy bit her lip and couldn't believe she had just blurted all that to Virginia.

To her surprise, Virginia leaned over and hugged her. "You sound like me," she said.

"I am like you, I guess. That's why it seemed to me like we were repeating your story. The fact is, I just had to learn the same things you did almost," Ivy said.

"My story?" Virginia asked.

"You know. The 'Four Who Saved the Nine Kingdoms'."

"Oh! Where'd you hear that?" Virginia wondered.

"In Kissingtown."

"Really? They can't possibly know the whole story."

"The whole story? There's more?" Ivy asked curiously.

Virginia nodded. "The story starts back in New York in the old apartment I shared with my dad…"

Randal was bored. His brother had almost seemed to have forgotten him. He knew that wasn't true and all in all he liked being away from Faolan for a while. But still, that left him no one to bug. No, talk to. He meant talk to. Randal wandered into a different room and came across Ivy's friend. She hadn't noticed him; she was too busy writing on a piece of paper.

Randal edged up next to her. "Whatcha doing?" he asked.

The girl jumped in surprised and gave a short yell. Her papers fell all over. "You scared me. Not a tough thing to do in this situation, but…" she cut off as she noticed Randal sniffing. "You're a half-wolf, aren't you?"

Randal ignored her question. He seemed startled. "That's what it is! You like King Wendell!" he exclaimed.

"Shhh!" Danielle hissed, pulling Randal over to her. "Not so loud! What…what makes you say that?"

"I can smell it! Plus, I smelled something funny from your direction whenever King Wendell was around. I just never knew what it was. I just knew it reminded me of Faolan and Ivy," Randal explained.

"Okay. Let's say you're right and I have a little bit of a crush on him. Could I, hypothetically, rely on a young half-wolf, let's just say…you, to keep quiet about it?" Danielle asked.

"What's hypo…whatever mean?" Randal asked, making a face.

"Just answer the question."

"Yes," Randal said, fidgeting.

"Good. Now help me pick up these papers, would you? You must be Faolan's little brother, Randal. Ivy told me about you. I'm Danielle," she said as she gathered papers.

Randal handed her the rest of them. Danielle picked up her quill and sat back in her chair. She started writing again. She hummed a little under her breath. Randal peaked over her shoulder.

"I reckon I will what?" he asked. Danielle clamped a hand over the paper. "Excuse you."

"Why? Did I burp?" Randal asked, confused.

"No, but it's not polite…oh, forget it. It's a song called 'I Reckon I Will' and it's sung by a lady named Lila McCann. Speaking of Lila…" Danielle said and jotted down another song.

"What's karaoke?" Randal asked, mispronouncing it.

Danielle had a flash-back to her babysitting days and sighed. "You'll see. Hopefully I can talk your brother and Wolf into doing a number or two. Maybe even Wendell. And I have to get Virginia to do a couple with me and Ivy. Maybe I can find one for Maive and Cinnamon. I've got a lot to do, kid. If you're gonna stick around, will you help me?" Danielle asked.

"Sure," Randal nodded.

Faolan whined again. He resumed his pacing across the floor. Wolf looked up at the sound of his movement. "She's okay, you know. She's just talking to Virginia," Wolf said.

"Yes, but…she's been in there a long time and I feel that it's important stuff that they're talking about. You know, things that might be hard for her. I want to be there." Faolan growled with frustration.

"You have to let her do her own thing. Even if she is your mate, she's still her own wol…I mean, person," Wolf advised.

Faolan didn't stop pacing. "I asked her, you know," he said finally.

"What?"

"I asked her if she would be my mate. I wanted to hear her say it. She said not yet. She said to slow down," Faolan growled.

"But she didn't say no."

Faolan sighed. "But she didn't say yes," he stopped pacing. "I suppose she's right. I want to go with her. I need to go with her. But what about Randal? I can't leave him."

"I think Randal can take care of himself. Ask him what he wants to do. I think you should go with her. But if you do, be careful in the Tenth Kingdom. It's not like here. I don't even understand lots of it," Wolf said.

"Maybe you're right. Huff-puff, even if you are I still need her to come out and talk to me." Faolan heard a noise and spun around. "King Wendell!"

Wendell nodded to Faolan and Wolf as he walked over.

"There a problem, Wendy?" Wolf asked.

"Nothing catastrophic. Just something personal," Wendell said, sitting down. "How's my favorite step-sister?"

"She's fine. What's your problem?"

"Oh…it's just…Danielle," Wendell admitted.

"Ivy's friend? What about her?" Faolan asked.

Wendell wrung his hands and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I…well, I…I think that…"

"You like her," Wolf grinned. "I knew that. Ever since Breena brought us back and we found you two together."

"How?" Wendell demanded.

Wolf looked from Wendell to Faolan. "A wolf knows," he said simply. "So what's the problem?"

"So. What am I supposed to do? It's not like I can pursue it. One, I'm a king here and she lives somewhere in the Tenth Kingdom. Two, the Council of the Nine Kingdoms was already discussing prearranging my marriage to some princess. Kings aren't allowed to marry commoners. Not that she's common! Or that I intend to marry her!" Wendell sighed. "Am I completely hopeless or what?"

Wolf held up a hand to stop their conversation. He stood up and turned towards the side entrance just as Virginia and Ivy walked in. Faolan jumped when he saw her and bounded over. He stopped a pace from her and looked at her. "Hi," he said.

"Hi," Ivy replied, her mouth quirking at his sudden shyness. "What have you three been talking about?"

"Nothing," all three said hurriedly at the same time. Virginia and Ivy exchanged a look. Neither of them bought that. But neither of them would push it.

"Faolan, I have an idea about where you can stay. Is Randal coming with us?" Ivy asked.

"I don't know yet. Come on, let's go outside," Faolan said, taking her hand and leading her away.

Ivy shrugged and waved goodbye to Virginia, Wolf, and Wendell.

"What about you two? Are you going back to the Tenth Kingdom?" Wendell asked.

"Not until I have this baby. Tenth Kingdom doctors wouldn't respond well to a baby with a tail," Virginia said and smiled.

"I don't see why," Wolf said. "A tail is p…"

"Perfectly natural," Virginia finished for him.

"Well, it is," he insisted.

"Listen, Ivy…" Faolan began, sitting her down on one of the ebony benches in Wendell's garden.

"No, Faolan. You listen. I know what you're going to say. That I can tell you anything. That even if I'm not ready to be your mate, that you're mine. The truth is, I'm confused. The journey makes sense to me, but not the end. Danielle's happy as can be, everyone else acts like this is normal routine. Maybe it is around here. But…I helped kill the last of a species. How can I live with that?"

Faolan frowned. Why would she dwell on something like this? She had seemed so happy before. He had even begun to hope that all their problems were over, that from now on it would be…well, a fairytale. "He was evil. He would have killed us all. So would that witch. It's over. The others are just trying to get on with their lives. If you dwell on it, it'll destroy you," Faolan said.

Ivy buried her face in her hands for a moment. Maybe he was right. "Still," she said, looking up.

Faolan sat down next to her and put an arm around her. She leaned against him, surprised to find comfort in his strength. "Don't be sad, please," he said. "I don't like it when you're sad."

Ivy whimpered and laid her head against his chest. Faolan nuzzled her and put his head against hers. "You're right, I guess," she said without moving.

Faolan didn't reply.