The Nutcracker Prince by St. Fang of Boredom

Me: MERRY LATE CHRISTMAS!

Fang: Yeah, we're having some timing problems...

Me: Better late then never!

Fang: I suppose...

Me: So, I originally wrote this little story for a Christmas Contest Fangalicous08 was holding on deviantArt, but now I'm posting it here for everyone!

Fang: Yay senseless fluff and cutesyness!

Me: ...Fang thinks this fic is too fluffy.

Fang: Because it is.

Me: Thanks a lot...Oh, by the way...

Dance of the Disclaimer Fairy: I do not own Maximum Ride. Whammy. I do not own The Nutcracker Ballet. Double whammy.

Fang: Well, let's get the fluff fest over with...

Me: ...-whacks Fang-

"Well, at least the music was nice." Iggy said grumpily, opening the door to the house. "Funny, they wouldn't let me walk up on stage and touch the actors so I could find out what color their clothes were."

"You didn't miss anything, Iggy." Gazzy told him. "It was really stupid and girly."

"Well, I thought it was beautiful!" Nudge said, pushing past the two boys to get into the warm house. "All those dresses! I think I want to be a ballerina someday. I want to learn to dance like they did and be on stage and listen to such beautiful music. Wasn't the music wonderful? Oh, and I loved how the girl's hair was put up in that bun. I want to wear my hair like that."

"I'm sure we could figure out how to put your hair like that." Ella said, cutting off Nudge's endless stream of dialogue. "I'll see what I can do."

"Who's up for hot chocolate?" Max asked, rushing in to get out of the cold herself. "Is the heat turned up in here? And... Iggy, Gazzy? You guys know how to start that fireplace without burning the house down?"

"Better let me do it, Max." Dr. Martinez said, following her daughter inside. "You just make up that hot chocolate."

"Thank you for taking us to see the ballet, Dr. Martinez." Nudge said, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet with excitement.

"Yeah, Mom." Ella agreed. "I remember seeing The Nutcracker as a little kid, but I think I get it a whole lot better this time around."

"See what I mean?" Gazzy muttered to Iggy. "Girly."

As the others went about their business talking and such, the last two members of the household made their way in.

'So, what did you think, Ange?" Fang asked his adoptive little sister.

She looked up at him, a wide smile spreading across her face. "Oh, it was beautiful!" She was clutching the program tight to her chest. "The music and the dancing...I want to be Clara."

Fang nodded. "Glad to hear you had fun."

"What did you think, Fang?" Angel asked him, taking off her coat as Fang shut the door. "You were really quiet through the whole thing."

"And how is that different?" Fang asked her.

Angel shrugged. "Just sayin'." She let Fang take her coat and hang it up in the closet. "Well, what did you think?"

Fang shrugged. "It was ok. I don't think I'm really into ballet."

"Yeah, I can really picture Fang in tights." Ella commented. She had been listening with Nudge nearby.

"And a tutu!" Nudge added, giggling.

Fang just rolled his eyes and headed for the kitchen, probably to talk with Max. Angel crossed her arms and looked at the two girls.

"Fang wouldn't look that silly." She said. "And he wouldn't have to wear a tutu. There was a guy in the ballet, and he didn't wear a tutu."

"Yeah, one guy." Ella said. "He must've had the testosterone sucked out of him to play that part."

"I thought he was really good." Angel said, but the girls just continued to giggle. Angel went over to where Dr. Martinez was trying to start a fire in the fireplace. The fireplace was one thing that came with their new safe house that everyone was really starting to enjoy. Total, who had been curled up under a blanket on the bed, was now sitting next to Dr. M, anxiously awaiting the return of the warm flames so he could really warm himself up.

"I'm glad to hear you had a good time, Angel." Dr. Martinez said as a flame finally caught. She threw another piece of wood on to keep the flames going and Total lied down on the carpet, content.

"It was amazing." Angel said.

"Ah, I wish I could have gone." Total mused from beside them. "What a fine introduction to culture."

Suddenly. the loud, duck-like noise of Gazzy letting loose one of his 'gifts' broke the silence of the house. Laughter and gags could be heard down the hall.

"An introduction some seem to have missed." Total said flatly.

Dr. Martinez chuckled, shaking her head. "Boys will be boys." She said, getting up to go break up the ruckus.

"As another male, I take offense to that." Total said from his spot on the floor.

Later that night, the entire household was gathered in the living room, chatting and playing games around the fire. Nearby stood the Christmas tree that Dr. Martinez had bought for the house and the younger kids had helped her decorate earlier that week. Under it, a mountain of presents had slowly started to grow. Presents from Dr. M, the CSM, and each other. Even Jeb had sent something, though Max hadn't allowed it into the house until they had made sure it wasn't ticking.

"Angel, stop cheating." Iggy complained, throwing down his cards after losing game of Poker to her.

"I'm not." She told him. And she wasn't, at least not in her mind. According to Angel, she was just being strategic. She read Iggy's mind to find out what conversation topics would be most distracting to him, then talked about those. So far, she'd won three games by talking about the voice of the girl who worked the cash register at the nearby gas station, the military's latest weapons testing, and what Ella was wearing tonight. For some reason, Angel's description of Ella's new crimson dress had totally thrown Iggy off of his game.

"Well, I'm broke anyway, so I'm out." Iggy said, handing Angel over his last couple of dollars. At the rate she was going, she'd be the richest kid in the Flock.

"Hey, everyone." Dr. Martinez said, getting the kid's attention. "Since it's so close to Christmas," she told them, pulling some new gifts out from under the tree. "I figured it wouldn't hurt to open one gift each a little early."

"Oh my gosh, awesome!" Ella said, running for the tree. Nudge followed her, Gazzy and Angel not too far behind. The other Flock members followed a little less excitedly, letting the younger kids get there first.

"I suppose I should see if anyone got me something better than a dog biscuit." Total muttered, following the crowd.

Dr. Martinez picked out one gift for each of them and handed them out, making sure to pick nothing to big or spectacular. Simple gifts.

They all began to unwrap their gifts, some attacking the wrapping paper like a rabid animal, others being a bit more careful with the delicate wrappings.

"Oh, look at this scarf!" Nudge exclaimed, twirling around with a new navy blue scarf. "It's perfect!"

"I've been dying to read this book!" Ella said nearby, flipping the hardcover around in her hands excitedly.

Angel sat down on the floor with her gift as the others had similar exclamations around her. She was holding a beautifully-wrapped red bundle in her hands with a large gold ribbon tied right in the center. She was almost afraid to open it, not wanting to ruin the pretty package.

Finally, the little girl couldn't bear it any longer. She gently tore the package open, making sure to save the gold ribbon. Under the beautiful wrappings was a red box, much like a shoe box. She placed the box on the floor and gently pried the top off.

She could barely contain a small gasp.

Inside, lying in a bed of red and green tissue paper, was a doll. But not just any doll. He was a prince, one who bore a striking resemblence to the prince in the ballet they had just seen. He had jet black hair and a sharp-looking red uniform with dark blue pants and sturdy black boots.

Angel gently lifted the doll out of the box and cradled him in her arms. She marvelled at his soft hair and intricate buttons on his jacket. He was the perfect gift in her eyes, just the thing to recieve after being mesmerized by that beautiful ballet.

"Oh, wow, Angel, he's nice." Nudge said, looking over Angel's shoulder. She had her scarf wrapped aroud her neck.

"Pretty cool." Ella added from nearby.

The others were soon showing off their new gifts as well. Gazzy had a remote-controlled helicopter that could fly around the room, but was too busy listing off all the songs on Iggy's new CD to him to try it out yet. Total had a new audio book of a story he had been wanting to hear, since it was a bit hard for him to turn the pages with paws. Max had gotten the new pair of combat boots she had been needing and, after some bothering, she got Fang to show everyone his new black ipod. (His old one had met a horrible demise at the hands of the group's two pyromaniacs.)

"I'm glad we did some gift opening early." Dr. Martinez said, trying on her new pair of oven mitts. "I'm going to need these to bake more cookies."

"Cookies?" Max asked, looking up from peering at Ella's new book.

"Can we make cookies, Dr. Martinez?" Nudge asked.

"It's a little late, kids, don't you think?" Dr. Martinez said.

But the kids begged and pleaded, and finally, Dr. M caved. She led them out into the kitchen, only leaving behind Gazzy, Iggy, and Fang, who weren't up to baking at the time for various reasons.

After baking for a little while, Angel decided to take a break to go check on her little prince, whom she had left on the couch in the living room so he wouldn't get covered in kitchen leftovers. The living room was near empty. Fang had gone to his room to load his new ipod with songs. Iggy had wandered out to the kitchen to take in the smell of freshly-baked chocolate chips, and Gazzy...

Gazzy was standing by the couch, holding a shirtless prince doll in his hands.

"What did you do?" Angel exclaimed, rushing forward to save her gift.

Gazzy held him away from Angel, backing up. "I just wanted to see if it came off. It does." He said with a grin.

"Well, now put his jacket back on and give him back." Angel said, reaching for the doll.

Gazzy jerked him farther away from Angel's outstretched hands. 'Nah, I wanted to see what else he could do. You think he can swim?"

"Give him back!" Angel yelled, running forward.

Gazzy stepped back, twisting to avoid his raging little sister. She lunged again and he sidestepped. By the third lunge they were yelling and quarreling. On the fourth, Gazzy lost his footing and tumbled to the ground. The doll went flying, landing with a thud on the living room floor.

Angel wailed.

The little prince's landing was not a good one. Most of him came down in the same place, but the doll's left arm lay a good half a foot away from the rest of him, popped right out of its socket.

By then, the rest of the household had come out of their various rooms and surveyed the damage. Gazzy was led off by a disgruntled Max and Dr. Martinez, who ordered the others to go back to the cookies so they would not burn. Angel ran to kneel down by her fallen soldier, tears welling up in her eyes.

Suddenly, there was a swift movement in front of her and Angel looked up through her tears to see Fang kneel down in front of her. Angel looked back down at the broken doll and then up at Fang again, choking back a sob.

Without a word, Fang gently scooped up the soldier and his stray arm and walked him over to a work desk that sat in a far corner of the room. Angel got up and followed, wiping her eyes on her sleeve.

Fang sat down at the desk, placing the injured prince on the desk itself. He inspected the broken piece, then the socket from which it sprung. He then pulled open a drawer and, after some rumaging, produced a small bottle of glue. Carefully, he squirted two tiny drops into the doll's arm socket, then, taking the stray arm, popped it back into place with only the slightest effort.

He turned to Angel, still holding the doll. "You might want to find him his jacket, Ange."

She nodded once, still amazed by Fang's kindness and rescue, then ran off to the couch and retrieved the lost jacket. She handed it to Fang, who did his best to put the jacket back on, being very careful with the arm he had just repaired. He finally handed it off to Angel, who carefully re-buttoned his jacket.

Fang reached over the desk and pulled a couple tissues out of the box. He knelt down on the floor in front of Angel and wiped a few tears from her eyes. "There's, he's all mended up. So there's no reason to cry over him."

"Are you sure he's going to be ok?" Angel asked, still unsure.

Fang nodded, adding in one of his rare smiles. "Yeah. With a little rest, he'll be as good as new." He stood up, taking the little girl by the hand. "Come on, we'll put him somewhere to rest for the night."

Together, the two of them took the tissue paper-filled box the doll came in and made him a sickbed to rest on under the tree. After some cookies, hot chocolate, and an apology from Gazzy, Angel began to feel a bit better. When Angel began to tell the others of Fang's rescue of her doll, Fang didn't say a word, just shrugging when questioned of it. And when Iggy started to make cracks about Fang playing with dolls, Angel silenced him by asking Iggy if he still had that scarf that Ella had been missing tucked away in his bed. Iggy, Ella, and Dr. Martinez's faces all turned about four different colors, though their facial expressions were all saying something completely different.

Finally, one by one, each member of the household headed off to bed, yawning and stretching their way down the hall. Before Angel knew it, someone had carried her off to bed and tucked her in.

Angel drifted off to sleep, but not for long. She was awakened by thoughts of her little doll prince, alone out in the living room. She began to worry. What if Gazzy got up in the night and went for him again? What if the glue didn't hold?

Finally, all those 'what ifs' just overloaded the little girl's mind and she had to go check on her royal patient. She quietly crawled out of bed and tiptoed to her door, opening it with barely a sound. She crept into the hallway, making as little noise as possible, and made her way back towards the living room.

When she had safely made it to the living room, she almost ran to the base of the Christmas tree, knowing she was far enough away from everyone's rooms now that they wouldn't hear her pounding feet. She knelt down next to her little doll, checking his arm and cradling him against her chest. His injured limb seemed to be perfectly attached again and no harm had come to him in the short time he had been left alone. Finally, Angel placed the soldier gently into his box again, starting to get up to turn and leave.

But when she turned around, she froze where she stood.

There, just across the room, stood two huge rats, their tails twitching in the moonlight that streamed in through the windows. They licked their lips hungrily, slowly making their way towards the frightened little girl, walking on two legs, instead of the rat's normal four.

Angel let out a yell, but it seemed to just echo around the walls rather than travel down the hall where the ears of her sleeping Flock would hear.

Angel tried to control their minds, but something blocked her power. Her mind shut down as fear consumed her. Slowly, she backed up, inching away from the terrible creatures.

Suddenly, her backward path was cut short by something tall, skinny, and very human-feeling.

Angel let out another terrified shriek and spun around, wanting to see this new attacker.

What stood before her was quite the opposite of what she expected. She first faced a pair of dark blue pants held up by sturdy black boots. As her eyes travelled upward, she took in a crimson uniform with perfect gold buttons. Then, looking down at her was a face to familiar for words.

"Fang?" She asked, but it wasn't Fang. He looked like Fang, but he sure didn't dress like him.

Angel glanced down at the box where she had just placed her doll prince just minutes before. The box lay empty at this person's feet.

She was looking at her prince.

The Prince reached out and pulled her towards him, just as one of the rats made a swipe at her while her back was turned.

"Back off, rodents." The Prince said, holding Angel close to him. "Your kind are not wanted here."

The rats made a hissing noise, their tails flicking angrily away.

The Prince grabbed one of the fire pokers from nearby and aimed it at the two rats, waving it around menacingly. The rats continued to back up and hiss, their ears flattening against their heads.

"Don't worry about him." A voice said from across the living room. The rats perked up, scurrying across the room to the owner of this new voice.

Angel looked across the room to see two figures standing in the doorway. One was tall and the other much shorter. The rats danced around them, happy to see their leaders again.

"The Rat Kings." The Prince muttered angrily.

As the two Rat Kings stepped into the moonlight, Angel nearly gasped. There stood Iggy and Gazzy, dressed in King's clothing. Yet, it wasn't them. It was the Rat Kings, smirking evilly at The Prince and the little girl.

"We have nothing to fear from a prince without a throne." Rat King Gazzy said, looking very smug.

"That won't be for long." The Prince shot back.

"We'll see about that." Rat King Iggy said. He raised up his hand and make a quick 'forward' motion with it.

Slowly, a rat army began to trickle in, two by two. They scurried toward The Prince and Angel, trying to surround them. Eventually, The Prince had backed them both up to the fireplace, holding off the rodents with his fire poker.

"What are we going to do?" Angel asked The Prince worriedly. "They have us backed into a corner!"

"The right corner." The Prince said with a smile. He reached into his pocket, and threw some kind of strange powder from it into the fireplace. A fire sprang to life, but not a normal one. One with many shades of purple and blue sparkling through it.

"Jump in." The Prince said.

Angel looked at the sparkling fire. Despite it's cheerful colors, it still blazed and crackled fiercly in the hearth. She hesitated. "I'm not sure..."

"Angel," The Prince said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Trust me."

Angel looked up at her Prince, into the eyes of a face she did trust with all her heart. Despite the fact that she was shaking with fear, she nodded once.

Slowly, she turned towards the dancing, colorful flames. She gulped, then slowly stretched out her hand towards the hearth. She braced herself, gritting her teeth as her hand came close to the flame.

And passed right through, unharmed.

Surprised, she waved her hand through the flame again. No heat, no burn.

"Angel, quickly!" Said The Prince. "I can't hold them off for long!"

Angel nodded. She faced the flames and, after taking a deep breath, stepped into the fireplace.

"They're escaping!" yelled the Rat Kings. "Get them! They're getting away!"

But their voices sounded far away and muffled. Angel felt like she was flying, only without having to flap or do anything.

"It's more like floating with a purpose." She thought to herself.

Suddenly, she was surrounded by rushing wind, pulling her through this strange, bright place where she was floating. The area ahead of her got brighter and brighter as she rushed forward, she closed her eyes, no longer able to take the brightness and afraid of what was going to be in that bright place when she got there.

Next thing she new, her face was being plastered into something cold and wet. Then, her whole body engulfed in an icy cold blanket.

She pulled her head up, opening her eyes and shaking the frost off of her face. She found herself staring at a snowy white landscape with sparse evergreen trees dotting the area around her.

She heard a yell from above and turned just in time to see an explosion of snow nearby as her Prince landed in the snow. She pulled herself up and ran to him, worried. "Are you alright?"

The Prince pulled himself into a sitting position, spitting snow out of his mouth. "Yes, yes, quite in one piece. You?"

"I'm okay." Angel said, looking around. "Where are we?"

"This is where I come from." The Prince said. "This was where my kingdom was before the Rat Kings drove me out."

"We need to get your kingdom back." Angel said.

"Come on." The Prince said, getting up. "I have some friends who live nearby. They may be able to help us."

The two trekked through the snow together. The Prince began to tell her of the Rat Kings and how they had taken his throne from him out of greed.

"What's that up ahead?" Angel said, pointing to some smoke in the distance.

"That's a village, Angel." The Prince said. "And our destination. That is where my friend lives."

The two kept walking, coming closer and closer to the rising smoke. Soon, Angel could make out what looked like brightly-colored buildings. As they approached the villagem however, Angel found them to be something quite different.

"Sugarplums." Angel said.

And so they were. Little sugarplum houses. Each one was a different color, covered by powdered, sugar-like snow.

"Come, my friend lives in a house near the end." The Prince said, taking Angel's hand. "Follow me."

The Prince led her through the town, walking purosefully down the road that ran through it. As they walked, strange-looking people, all female, would peek out to look at them.

Angel knew what they were immediately. "Fairies." She said, amazed.

The Prince nodded. "They're a friendly sort, not to mention loyal. They've always allied with me in the past, I'm hoping they will now."

At the end of the road stood the biggest sugarplum of all, one of purple mixed with green. At its base sat a fairy with short blondish hair, watching the two approach. Though definitely dressed differently and with different wings, the fairy looked a whole lot like a certain Flock leader...

"I haven't seen you in a long time." The Sugarplum Fairy said to The Prince when they were close enough to speak. "I was beginning to get a bit worried."

"I've been alright, just staying out of the Rat Kings' way." The Prince answered with a smile. "Couldn't wait to see you again, though."

"Sure... You just want my help to get your throne back. There's always a catch, Prince." Her eyes fell on the little girl beside him. "Who is this?"

"Her name is Angel." The Prince said. "She escaped from the Rat Kings with me."

"Welcome to my village, Angel." The Sugarplum Fairy said.

"Pleased to meet you." Angel answered, smiling her best smile to the fairy.

"I suppose we should discuss the return of your throne." The Sugarplum Fairy said, returning her gaze to The Prince.

The Prince and the fairy talked while Angel went into the fairy's house to get something to eat. Inside, she was met by two more familiar-looking fairy girls, one more like Nudge, the other like Ella, who helped her find some hot cocoa and cookies to fill her up with. When she was done, the two fairy girls led her back outside where The Sugarplum Fairy and The Prince were waiting to share their plans with her.

"My fairies and I will help you." The Sugarplum Fairy said. "We shall use our magic to scare away those horrible, oversized rodents."

It wasn't long before The Sugarplum Fairy had her whole village assembled. Together they, The Prince, and Angel hiked away from the sugarplum village and headed toward The Prince's castle.

It wasn't long before Angel could see it in the distance. Towers reaching high towards the sky, huge red double doors, dark gray stone. The Prince's castle was a beautiful sight.

Too bad it was literally crawling with rats.

Those giant rats the Rat Kings were so fond of were everywhere. Guarding the castle, hanging out of its windows, walking in and out through the red double doors. But when they saw the fairy army approaching with The Prince leading the way, they all quickly scurried inside, shutting the doors behind them and boarding up the windows.

"I demand to speak to the Rat Kings!" The Prince called as soon as they were close to the castle.

"The Kings will not have you!" Called down one of the rat guards. "They will only meet with someone face-to-face, and they refuse to come down, nor let you in to come up. Therefore, they cannot see you at all."

"I don't think so." Angel said. With a jump and a couple good flaps, she was soon soaring high above the fairy army to the window where the guard stood. Behind him stood the two very awestruck Kings.

"I will speak to you right here." Angel said. "Give this castle back to its rightful owner, The Prince."

"It's ours!" said Rat King Gazzy.

"We stole it fair and square!" Rat King Iggy added.

"Then we will attack you and take the castle back by force." Angel told them. With a huff, she dropped back down to join her friends.

"Wonderful, Angel." The Prince said, giving her a pat on the shoulder when she landed. "Thank you."

"Anytime." She said with a blush.

"Fairies!" The Prince called to his army. "It is now time to show us the true meaning of loyalty and friendship. Together, my friends, we shall take this castle back! By tonight, a party in our honor shall be held inside those very walls!"

The fairies cheered with glee and began to charge forward, running, flying, sliding and more. The battle soon became confusing as little skirmishes erupted all over the castle. The Prince and The Sugarplum Fairy stayed behind in the battle with Angel, giving orders, making plans, and tending to those wounded.

Finally, the Rat Kings themselves came forth from the double doors. "You can't win, Prince!" The first Rat King yelled.

"There's two of us and only one of you!" Added the second.

"Yes, but you two have always been horrible fighters." With that, The Prince produced a long, sharp sword, brandishing it threateningly towards the two Kings.

"Oh no!" Angel exclaimed, hugging her Prince tightly by his side. "You might get hurt! You're my friend! I don't want you to get hurt!"

The Prince knelt down to Angel's level, smiling, and cupped her chin in his hand. "Angel, sometimes, we have to do the impossible, even if it scares us."

"How can you do something if it's impossible?" Angel asked.

The Prince grinned. "Makes you wonder what in this world, is really impossible, doesn;t it, if people keep doing it." With that, he let her go, standing, and walking towards the Rat Kings.

Angel started to run to go after him, but the Sugarplum Fairy stopped her. "He must do this, and on his own, little one." She told her as soothingly as possible. "He's smart, he's brave, and he's strong. His chances are good. Don't fret yet."

The Prince's fighting skills were like nothing Angel had ever seen before. Of course, Angel had never seen much of sword fighting, either. His thrusts and parries were like some kind of wiild dance around the courtyard of the castle, making the two Rat Kings trip over themselves with dizzyness. Soon, all the two Kings could do was run away from that ballet dancer with the sharp edge.

"You haven't defeated us yet, Prince!" Rat King Gazzy called!

"We'll be back!" Rat King Iggy added.

"And we'll be waiting!" The Prince yelled after them, amid the cheers of the fairies. Within minutes, the rest of the fairies had chased the rats out of the castle, sending them to the farthest corners of the country. Slowly, the Prince's royal subjects began to come out of hiding, where they had gone when the Kings took over.

Later that evening, just as The Prince had said, there was a party in the great hall of the castle, held in the honor of the return of The Prince and of the valiance of his friends, the fairies, and of Angel, his new dear friend. The Prince and The Sugarplum Fairy did most of their dancing together, causing everyone reason to clap and cheer, as they were like one perfect unit, making every movement in unison. knowing their partner's next move. But The Prince did save one little dance for his new friend.

"I wish every night could be like this." Angel told The Prince as they spun around the dance floor. "Exciting and fun. And have everything so beautiful."

The Prince smiled. "It would be nice, but I should think you'd get sick of it, little Angel. Think of your friends, your Flock. Wouldn't you miss being with them, spinning on this floor all the day?"

"My Flock!" Angel exclaimed. "Oh, they must be worried about me!"

"They will be if you stay too long." The Prince said, nodding. "I think it is time you went home."

"But I'll miss you!" Angel said, hugging her Prince.

The Prince chuckled, returning the hug with his own. "Oh, my little Angel, you don't need to miss me. I'll never really be gone." He gave her nose a little tweak, then turned to The Sugarplum Fairy. "I need the help of a little fairy dust, my friend."

The Sugarplum Fairy nodded and giving Angel a smile and a nod, pulled a bit of golden dust out of her pocket. "May your journey be safe, dear one."

"Thank you." Angel started to say, but the fairy had already put her dust to work. Soon, Angel was floating and flying again, colors swirling around in her eyes. She looked for the light, the one that got brighter as she got closer, but nothing came into her sight.

This time, with no warning, she landed on her head with a thump.

"Ow." She said, rubbing her forhead where it had made contact with the carpet.

"Ange'?" A familiar voice said. She turned to see Fang rolling out of the nearby easy chair. "You fall of the couch, kid"

"Fang!" Angel nearly screamed. She jumped to her feet, running towards him and wrapped his waist in a tight hug. "I'm so glad to see you again! I helped a Prince and some fairies defeat the Rat Kings and save a castle!"

Fang blinked a few times, patting his little sister on the head. "Yeah, cool. No more hot chocolate before bed..."

Suddenly, a thought occurred to the little girl, and she let go of Fang's waist, running to look under the tree. There, just where she had left him, sat her Prince, wrapped in his tissue blankets.

She picked him up, cradling him gently in her arms. "You were right." She told him softly. "You'll never really be gone." She held him up close to her chest, where her little heart beat. "You'll always be right here with me."

Fang: Bleh. Cutesy ending.

Me: So what if it was cute?

Fang: Blech. Cute.

Me: You're such a guy.

Fang: Thank you.

Me: Who plays with dolls.

Fang: ... -.-

R&R?

And, since I haven't had one in forever...Can I count this as an early/late Project: PULL update? Please?