#februfluff2024

Kanan’s goal was the kitchen, as it usually was. Sometimes he’d make caf or tea, other times he’d make himself something to eat. Ezra had joined him a few times lately, so as he made his way down the hallway, he listened carefully.

He didn’t hear anything immediately. But as he entered the lounge, he sensed a familiar presence, and it wasn’t Ezra.

“Hera?” he asked, keeping his voice low as he frowned.

“Kanan?” Surprise colored her voice, and he heard her set down what sounded like a datapad. “What are you doing up?”

“Couldn’t sleep,” Kanan said, crossing the room to stand in front of the table she was sitting at. Letting his fingertips brush the tabletop, grounding himself, he said, “Is it the same for you, or have you just not gone to sleep yet?”

Her hesitation answered the question for him, and Kanan held back a wince. Hera had always had a habit of working long hours, from the first day he’d met her. It had only grown worse since they’d joined the Rebellion. And these days it had reached a fever pitch. “When was the last time you got a full night’s sleep?” he asked.

“When was the last time you did?” Hera countered, and Kanan couldn’t hold back a grin.

“That’s different,” he said. “I’m at least trying. You’ve been up since crazy early this morning— you need rest, Hera. We need you operating at your best.”

He heard her sigh— a sigh that he recognized well. It was the stubborn one, that meant she had no intentions of listening to him. “What we need is more people in this Rebellion. Until then, I’m what we’ve got. The longer I let these things slide, the worse it’ll get.”

She’s definitely not gonna listen to me. Plan B, then. “Okay,” Kanan said with a sigh. “I’m going to make something to drink. You want something?”

“Yes, please,” Hera murmured, her voice distracting as she tapped at her datapad. Already back to work. Kanan grimaced as he headed into the kitchen. This wasn’t going to be easy.

It took him a few minutes to locate the kettle— someone had moved it from its usual place. Filling it with water, he set it on the stove and started sorting through the tea boxes in the cupboard.

Sabine had recently gone through the cupboards and relabelled everything. She’d used a Morse code inspired system of raised dots and dashes, so Kanan could still read the labels. It was still taking a little getting used to, but it certainly helped with baking. Or, in this case, locating tea.

It wasn’t long before he found the teabags he was looking for— Chandrilan tea, fairly well known for its soothing quality that helped with sleeplessness. Leaving them on the counter, he grabbed two mugs from the cupboard just as the kettle started to whistle. He was pretty certain that he’d gotten the right mugs— he and Hera had drunk caf together enough times that blind or not, Kanan would know the shape and feeling of her favorite one in his hand anywhere.

Setting them down, he carefully filled them with hot water from the kettle, and added the teabags. Leaving them to steep for a while, he went to the other side of the kitchen and started digging through the fridge. While it wasn’t absolutely necessary to his plan, Kanan was pretty sure it had been a while since Hera had eaten— thinking back, he didn’t remember her being there with them at dinner. Internally, he cursed. I’ve been way too distracted lately. That stops now.

He almost got out the ingredients for waffles— but if he did, there was no way Ezra wouldn’t be out here in less than five minutes. His apprentice had an uncanny ability to sense when Kanan was making waffles, and the last thing he needed was more people up right now. The current goal was to get Hera to sleep, not keep her awake longer.

So instead, he pulled out a container of leftover chicken pot pie and heated that up. Filling a bowl with it, he stopped to collect their two mugs and a fork, and headed back out to the lounge.

Hera was still absorbed in her datapad, and didn’t notice as Kanan set the bowl, then the mug in front of her. Kanan paused for a minute, then said, “Hera?”

“Hmm?” Her voice was distracted, and Kanan sighed.

“Sorry about this.” Reaching out, he plucked the datapad out of her hands.

“Wha— Kanan!”

Tucking the pad under his arm, Kanan reached out with the other hand and pushed the bowl in front of her. “Eat,” he said firmly. “And have some tea. I’ll give it back when you’ve finished.”

“Kanan—”

“Hera,” Kanan said, his voice a little more forceful. “Just do it.”

There was a brief pause, and Kanan could picture the struggle in Hera’s eyes. Finally, she let out a long sigh. “Fine. But I’m getting back to work after that.”

Kanan chose not to comment on that. Instead, he settled next to her with his own mug. Listening to the sound of the fork clinking against the bowl, he sipped his tea, letting the silence settle around them.

It was a little while before Hera spoke. “Thank you,” she said quietly.

Kanan smiled into his mug. “Any time, Hera. Have you drunk your tea yet?”

Letting out a huff, Hera said, “You know, you’re awfully hover-y tonight, Master Jedi.”

“Making up for lost time, Captain Hera.”

“I’m glad.” Her response was softer, a little warmer, and Kanan felt her shift a little closer to him, shoulder bumping against his.

There was a brief silence, then Hera said, “So, what’s it gonna take for me to get that datapad back?”

Kanan laughed. “Tell you what. You drink your tea, and I'll let you have your datapad back.”

“Datapad first,” Hera said. “And don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing, dear. It’s not going to work.”

Handing her the pad, Kanan said innocently, “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Uh-huh.”

As Hera leaned forward, picking up the mug of tea, Kanan slid nearer to her, closing the distance between them. She didn’t protest, nestling in the crook of his shoulder with a quiet sigh. Kanan wrapped her arm around her shoulders, and they settled into an easy silence.

The next little while passed by peacefully, with Hera working at her datapad and Kanan keeping her company. However, as time ticked by and Hera finished her tea, he could sense her getting more and more tired. The sound of her tapping at the datapad was less frequent, and he heard her stifle multiple yawns.

Gently, he brushed his fingertips up and down her arm, a repetitive, soothing stroke that was sure to lull her to sleep. It was one of his most surefire tactics, and it didn’t disappoint. Kanan felt her head bump against his shoulder before pulling upwards again. “I know what you’re doing,” she mumbled, her voice heavy with sleepiness.

Silently, Kanan reached out with the Force just in time to catch the datapad that slipped from Hera’s fingers. “I know,” he murmured as her head dropped against his shoulder. “You can yell at me tomorrow.”

“Sounds good.” Her words trailed off into an incomprehensible hum, and Kanan smiled. It was only seconds later that he felt her breathing even out into the slow rhythm of sleep.

They tackled one another, as he hover over her huffing and puffing. She looked up at him, titled her head seeing his hoodie fall off his forehead and hanging off his ear. She ended up with a cut on her left cheek.

“Do i know you from somewhere?” She asked underneath her breath.

“Possibly princess.” He replied with a light grin.

He leaped off the ground, grabbing her horse with a smirk and jumped onto the trusty steed. She stood up, ruffing dirt of her skirt and touched her cheek huffing.

“Wherever you are, i will find you!” She yelled, looking at her naked hand that held a smudge of blood from her chin.

~~~

It was quiet in Fighter-Town, but buzzing with movement it always felt on Friday nights. Inside Grandpa’s Diner, plenty of people seated eating, sharing drinks and or finding a quiet place to study. At one of the booths, Nikolai sat having dinner date with a nurse from the hospital.

He was trying to have a decent conversation with her, as he talked about work and life, wanting to have a simple set plan. The women was only half paying attention, as she was more focused on one of the waiters nodding every couple of moments.

He notice her eye-line.

Nikolai sighs with an eye roll, “A-are you even listening to anything I said?”

The nurse, Robins, looked back at him and nodded, “Y-yeah..you were talking about, um uh, work right...?”

“Not even close but yeah..sure, let’s go with that.”

“Sorry. A little distracted.”

“Mhmm..”

After a few short moments of speaking to one another, there was more of a friendly dynamic as the other didn’t even look interested at all. Melissa gave them both of the check, as Nikolai paid then walked out of the Diner grumbling how he couldn’t believe he listened go on a blind date with some girl.

As he was walking away, pulling down the hood of his jacket to notice the people of the town. He half smiled noticing couples and friends walking down the streets. On the edge of the sidewalk, he noticed a short haired brunette sitting down on the ground drinking a soda and looking at a crumbled newspaper.

“Hey, you okay?” He asked, glancing over at him.

He was startled for a split second but regained his thoughts, “Oh? Uh, yeah..kinda in a tight spot. Appears like the room, I was renting raised the bill and realized I lied about my age..”

“You lied about your age?”

“Mhm hmm..looking for a place to crash now. Got a few days..”

“You got any friends here who can take you in?”

“I don’t think anyone here would want me in their home..and I don’t really got friends.”

Nikolai heard from a couple of people that Ethan, one of new towners, was staying at the Bed & Breakfast until he found an apartment. And from what he learned that it doesn’t seem like the other adults would let him in, he sure as hell wasn’t gonna ask his brother for help either.

He remembered hearing about the younger folk of the town, the teens and kids, talk among themselves. Saying there is a curse, he didn’t believe it whatsoever but thought it was cute they were bonding at least.

He hummed, “What about Belladonna? Maybe she was convinced her mother..”

He shake his head, “I would but she doesn’t seem like the invited for a sleepover kinda person.”

“And you don’t want to give the wrong impression.”

“Right. What you doing up so late?”

“I’m an artist, I tend to be a night owl more than most. And I uh, was out trying a date.”

He winced seeing his face, noticing from the looks of it, none of it went as planned. The older brunette scoffed and shake his head with a shrug muttering how it was a stupid blind date.

“Ah well, if true love was easy, everyone would do it.” Joshua repiled with a half smile.

This time Nikolai chuckled, “Oh definitely. You know..I do have a spear home if you..”

“Oh no, I would be intruding your privacy..”

“Hm uh..well if you like to ever come over for a warm cup of hot chocolate, my door is always open.”

“That…that sounds nice. Thanks.”

“Don’t stay out too late, you hear?”

Joshua roll his eyes, jokes with a mocking tone, “Sure thing dad.”

“Very funny.” Nikolai replied with a grin walking away with a nod, silently chuckling to himself.

——

The following day, Riley and her friends were volunteering with their class at the hospital. Their teachers Rochelle, and her father Rick were watching over the group helping them hang banners. It was a nice thing to do, Rick lifted Riley up to pin a balloon to a wall.

Rochelle was helping a couple of other students, telling them to be careful and be kind. Some students were coloring, others were chatting with their friends and other hanging up decorations. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed her son George entering a patients room as she watched for a moment.

The patient was asleep. George was more of the bookworm, curious about things and one to keep to himself. He hang out with his twin sister, Georgina, and Riley so he read about the story they keep gushing about. He thought it was dumb, that it was girl stuff when it come to fairytales, he was more into comic books like Iron Man and rest of The Avengers.

But as he found a quiet room to place a set of flowers in, the patient caught his eye, a Jane Doe, asleep. She held a scar above her right cheek, similar to the tales he heard his sister talk about. According to Georgina, their mother was Cinderella and that she was friends with all the other charcters in the book. He read too many comic books to know a thing or two about design.

But before he can take a further look—

“Honey?” Said his mother, Rochelle, leaning against the door, “We could really use your help.”

“I’m good.” He replied, glancing at the women, “Is Ms. Doe gonna be okay?”

“I hope so. No one has come to claim her yet but for as long as I can remember, she has been peaceful asleep. She always seemed like a kind soul to me, or so I think.”

“What’s wrong with her? She looks fine.”

“Well sometimes things happen, sweetie, like they fall unconscious and it’s hard not to know what happened.”

“You sure no one knows or claimed him yet?”

“Well, that I know of, not really. I sometimes come with friends on my rounds and they stop by watch if something happens.”

“And does something happen?”

“Nope. But I hope one day it something well.”

George gave his mother a soft smile, “You sure you don’t know her?”

Rochelle smiled, “I think I would remember if I did, come on we’re heading out for lunch soon.”

As soon as lunchtime hits, George went to talk with his sister and Riley about his newfound discover. Riley squealed and Georgina grinned, knowing they have to tell Belladonna and her friend she hasn’t met yet. Riley was thinking about the other people who might be interested in their tale, but then thought it was better to keep it between them. A few short hours later, Belladonna was dragging Joshua to the park bench where the others were bubbling with discovery.

Georgina couldn’t wait and split the beans on her twins newfound information as Riley pointed to the small hand drawn doodles of the characters. Belladonna listened and nodded as Joshua stayed curious humming to the news as he introduced himself to the twins.

“According to the little monsters, you’re mother is Snow White..or that’s least what i got from Georgina’s sentence.” Belladonna said, referring to the book.

Joshua nods looking at the nicely crafted hand drawn pieces as he tilted his head, “..that’s who she is? Guess Riley was dead on.”

Riley grinned, “Duh! I can sense it.”

Her brother held the book as Georgina added, “The scar is the same as Geo says. In the same place! You need to find her Prince Charming.”

“Who is the tattoo guy! Nik-Nik..” Riley said trying to pronounce his name correctly.

Joshua smiled and helped her with the name, “Nikolai. That’s her charming..my dad? Uh, telling your possible love is in the hospital won’t be as ideal. It can hurt someone..”

Belladonna heard what he said and thought about it, putting her detective skills to good use. To her, yes it was kinda insane what the others are saying and pretty risky cause the person might not believe it but the again, she risked being grounded to bring her biological father here.

After a moment she spoke up analyzing the idea, “..not unless you read to them. Studies show reading to a patient can held them with brain function and get the neurons to fire up again. It won’t be the worst thing if she at least woke up from her coma.”

Joshua shared a look with her, thinking about for a moment as she was correct and nodded smirking deciding it was worth a shot. He went to go ask find Nikolai working at the coffee shop nearby the grocery store, he confused him for a moment, he thought he was a tattoo artist. But then the man explained before he was working with peoples skin at his shop, he was serving coffee. So he likes to come over and help out his fellow old workers if they are understaffed.

He followed the man out of the coffee shop into his man area of expertise, trying to explain the idea. He started to lean inside the exact words he wanted to say until Nikolai broke into a confused almost awkward chuckle and said, “You want me to read to a coma patient?”

“Yeah pretty much.” Joshua repiled, taking a seat in one of chair inside the shop watching the man clean his tools, “According to Belladonna, and she’s right, that reading will help her wake up. Maybe something will click.”

“She’s not right, I’ll give you that. Uh, out of curiosity, who do you kids think she was in your little book?”

“I uh..”

“Come on, I’m friends with the town’s parents. I heard Rochelle talking my ear off about her daughter’s cute stories while I was piercing her ear.”

“…uh, we..they think that she is Snow White.”

“And…I’m the..Prince Charming..? Well damn..I haven’t seen the girl yet, okay I’ll play, is she pretty?”

“You’ll have to see for yourself then.”

A couple of short hours later, Nikolai sat down in front of the girls bed with a storybook opening the tale. He took in her features, from her long dark brown hair to her lighter skin tone in the lights of the room. Not half bad, he thought to himself…

~~~~~~~~

…in the lowly dark cave, the man collected his items among them being a small bottle of black dust as he smirked, putting on his sleek hat and walked out into the greenery and snow of the forest. After only a mere couple of steps, he was tossed up into a net as he shouted and snarled, quickly reaching for his dagger to cut himself out.

Then he heard. He whipped his head around to see a fair young lady, in cream almost pure white skirt and a corset to match, her hair was shorter as she stepped forward giggling. Her lips were as blushing red as her skin blended nicely within the scenery.

“I told you I’ll find you.” She said looking up at the net with a smile, “Whatever you do, I’ll find you.”

“Is this the only way you can catch a man? By entrapping him?” He replied with a light glare, using his dagger to point at her.

“The only way to find thieves like yourself. I am impressed by your work, though.”

He leaned forward as he smirked, “Well are you real darling princess?”

“I have a name you know..” She replied, crossing her arms.

“Don’t care, surprisingly, darling princess suit you. Now, cut me down, princess!”

“I’ll release you when you give me back my jewels.”

“You don’t look like the jewelry type, I’ve noticed.”

“Ar-what’s that supposed to mean? Are you insulting me?”

“Oh no, how dare i insult a princess? But then again, you don’t look like one.”

Charming smirked, watching her face turn to smile to a confused frown, as if he got under his skin. He has been around royalty enough to know a princess when he sees one, and her, she was no princess. Or least not like the ones he has encountered before, due to the fact that she went to find him and not a knight.

“I sold them.” He added for good measure, as his smirk grew seeing her face narrow down.

“What?” She asked, as her eyes narrowed not believing what he said and glared, “You’re lying.”

“Nope, i ain’t. Why do you care princess, don’t you have a little ol’ castle filled with them?”

“Theses were special. The jewels in there belonged to someone very important to me, they were a gift for my—”

“The nerdy asshole with the bad attitude, that’s what this is all about? Oh darling, you can do better.”

“..i’m his fiancé..well sorta..”

He snorted loudly, “Good luck, hell i’m a better option than him. You must be getting something impressive to agree to that marriage.”

“If you only knew..” She repiled with a sigh, “Look, it’s complicated enough, that i was picked out for the job but still..”

“Let me guess, he doesn’t want you either but you’re doing it for the good of your little kingdom. It’s cute, but seems like a last stitch effort to avoid war and you came all this way for your jewels back to—”

“Okay! Okay, okay, okay, I get it! Please, take me to where you sold them and get my stuff back.”

He shook his head a couple of time tell her that he won’t do it. There is nothing that would get it to do it. That was when she pulled out a scroll that showed his name, Prince Charming—Nikolai Morozov—wanted for treason and thievery agonist the The Dark Prince.

“So what would it be, sweetheart?” She asked with a smile.

He responded with a grunt and sighed, being impressed by her. He shook his head and agreed to take her.

~~~~

Soon they were on their merry way, crossing the path fill with some ice and snow, due to the recent fall the path few week. Charming took her hand, crossing a log carefully to not let her slip as Snow stayed close watching for any creatures nearby. It was a decent walk, making small talk as they did, throwing in a little comment here and there.

Charming asked, “So what’s your deal?”

“My deal? Your the one who who is wanted for stealing.” She replied, with a chuckle.

“Yeah well, it’s more than that.”

“Yeah? What made you look bad against the prince?”

“I was born.”

“Oh..sorry about that.”

“It’s fine. He’s just jealous, i guess.”

“Why do i feel like those posters are lies then?”

“Because they are. He says i ruined his life, that I was useless and untrustworthy.”

“You don’t seem useless or untrustworthy to me..yet.” She added smiling, a rather kinder one.

He paused for a moment hearing that bit, letting a smile reach his lips and nodded, “T-thank you. So how did the darling princess end up in this position huh?”

“Long story short, I was sorta hand picked by the prince. I tried to say no after seeing my friend’s sad look on her face..”

“Oh jeez. Why didn’t you? You could’ve said something.”

“It wasn’t the prince who picked but the king. His father, that prince, his name is Fitz loves my friend Jemma, but his father didn’t notice. Now i’m posing as his bride to cover up their romantic relationship.”

“That is..rather kind of you. Taking the time to do that.”

“Thank you. It’s why i need my jewels back, inside is a bracelet.”

“And the chain? I saw a chain with what looks to be a ring in there.”

“My mothers..it belonged to my parents.”

As the two of them made their way, the pair keep talking sharing a couple of laughs and be careful among the woods. They stopped to food and water, Nikolai tried to escape the girl but ended up being chased by 2 Dark Knights, as he used his sword to try and fight him. He was able to take one down easily with a blast of his shadow and his sword. He was dead within a matter of minutes. The other came out of nowhere starling him, fighting him the best he could when a arrow came into the knight’s back.

Out of breath he blinked, “T-thank you. W-why did you—i could’ve handled that. You didn’t have to come and help.”

“Well you ran off and i saw the black horses. I decided to help you.” She repiled with a little smile, shrugging.

“But why? You could’ve ran.”

“It was a good thing to do, i guess.”

They ended in at a troll bridge, 2 trolls came up asking him what exactly did the young prince want. He explained he wanted the jewelry back and he’ll return the money, holding out the coins. One troll was sniffling the girl weirdly, seeing her being seen as royalty by her jewelry. Charming tried to cover for her, saving she was nobody important.

But they didn’t believe him, as one of the troll held her back ready to hurt her as she shouted to let them go. They threw Charming’s bag on the ground along with his sword. Snow watched him being thrown back onto the ground then picked up kicked away. He was fighting one.

She was let go for a moment said sword to hit the troll telling him to run, as he nodded grabbing the pocket of jewelry then rushed off.

He thought she was behind him, looking over his shoulder to see her losing her grip and seemed more than tired. She lost the sword as it was on the ground. He looked at the pocket full of jewels, thinking on his feet as he smirked and pats his own pockets realizing he still had the dark dust.

Just as Snow thought she was toast, in came a gasping sword hitting one of the trolls as the creature turned around.

“Missed me?” Yelled Charming, as he took the dark dust into his hand and thrashed the troll away. He did the same with the others, before holding out a hand to lift the young girl from the ground. He gave her a gentle yet delightful smile.

She gladly took his hand, dusting off herself was still holding it, returning the lovely smile. She thanked him and asked, “Why come back for me?”

“It was the right thing to do.”

“You were right, those poster are all wrong.”

He picked up their things and lead out away from the troll bridge down the exact path they needed to be on. She blushed realizing she was still holding his hand as he grinned brightly at the moment, he rather liked it.

He realized he had to sadly see her go, returning the bag of jewelry to her. He noticed her open it and hold up a chain, with a tiny hoop that could’ve been mistake as a ring.

He grinned, “What’s that for?”

“For you.” She said, handing it over.

“I couldn’t possibly take it. It’s yours.”

“Yes but, you deserve something good for what you did.”

“I never got your name.”

“Some call me Snow White but others like to call me Amara...”

He repeated the names with a nod, “Amara and Snow..I sometimes get called Nicholas instead of Nikolai.”

She grinned this time, “Sir Nicholas..yet, rather Charming.”

“Charming?”

She shrugged playing it off cool as he chuckled, placing the necklace around his neck, bid her goodbye with a wink.

“Wait? Will i see you again?” She asked, shyly.

He thought about and nodded, “Yeah, we might. Hope to meet you here again soon, Snow.”

~~~

…as Nikolai closed was about to finished reading the last couple of lines, he noticed the women, Jane Doe fingers twitch as if she was reaching out. His eyebrows raised and asked for a doctor, who came and check but the doctor responded that her status seems normal.

But he knew what he saw.

He walked out with a glare, not without a second look at the Jane Doe, running off to find the kids. Belladonna and Joshua was right.

The next day, he found Belladonna with Ethan sitting outside the Diner, explaining to them what exactly happened. Belladonna kept a neutral face as a small smile played on her lips meanwhile her father tried to understand what was going on, rolling his eyes.

His kid started to roll in the adults into her whole curse theory, asking if Nikolai believed in these tales as he got a semi-shrug in response, all he knew is that he helped in a odd way.

The trio entered the hospital after a couple of hours only to find Jane Doe went missing. Erik was there looking into it. Even worse, Nikolai found his older brother, Alexander, standing there asking what the heck is he doing here of all places. Belladonna eyed the man, suspicious of his role in this as she watched the brothers speak.

Ethan spoke up, “What is the mayor doing here?”

“I’m one of her emergency contact, Ms St. James’s mother brought her in a few short years ago, I offered to be on her list.” Alexander responded, glanced between the teen and both men.

“Of course Liane did. Well, she’s gone now, where do you think she would’ve gone?”

“As if I know, according to Sheriff Erik, she just left with no contact. I suggest you stay out of this, all of you.”

Nikolai scoffed, “You would like that, won’t you, Alex? Time is precious and if you’re not gonna help just leave. We both know you’re rather busy.”

Alexander looked at his brother, “Busy is not the word I would put it, I’m not going to argue with you right now. You want to play hero, go ahead.”

With that the man left as Belladonna’s eyes followed him out the double doors, whipping out her phone as she listened to the other’s talk.

Erik, Ethan and Nikolai talked trying to figure out how to go about this. Looking between rounds and security footage of the last 12 hours. They noticed that Jane Doe walked out alone, she was alright.

Ethan asked where did the others lead to, as Erik said, “The woods.”

Belladonna looked up from her phone hearing that last part, excusing herself to go home real quick, saying she got some homework to finalize. But what she really did was head back to home grabbing her copy of the book and finding Joshua to let him what happened.

Belladonna explained the story in full to Snow & Charming taking apart the lines to piece things together, as Joshua listening picking up any clues.

She figured it out before he did where Jane Doe was going, grabbing her flashlight and pepper spray. Joshua joked how they were gonna have to owe Riley and The Twins something like sweets for figuring out the story beforehand.

———

Belladonna lead them into the woods, following the adults trail being quicker than most. Joshua wanted to ask how was she so good at this stuff but decided against it at how impressed he was. He caught her once before she could trip on a log and she thanked him for it.

After a while, Ethan looked over as he was following behind Nikolai and Erik as he noticed the teens.

His eyes widen, “What are you doing here?! Liane is kill me then you, then me again.”

“Relax. Here I know where she is.” She replied calmly, sharing a look with the young brunette.

Joshua got the hint as he added, “It’s right in the details on the story. It’s the bridge.”

Ethan rolled his eyes, “Well, fine, if I lose you both then it be both my fault. Keep walking and don’t break bone while we’re out here.”

The three of them followed the others, as Ethan and Erik found themselves near the tall trees that lead to a Toll Bridge. Before the kids and two men can say a word, Nikolai leaps across the lake to find the women on the ground nearby.

Nikolai and Ethan pulled whatever strength they had, get to Jane Doe laying upright. Erik without a second later, calls an ambulance as Ethan checks for anyone else that could have been near.

As Belladonna shine her flashlight and Joshua checks for any damage to her, it Nikolai who takes charge in bringing the women to wake up. As Joshua was doing started doing CPR, Nikolai did some mouth-to-mouth and as he pulled away, she came up for air.

“Oh, my God!” He said, cupping her face as if naturally pushing hair away from the girl’s face, “Hi there. You gave us all quite a scare.”

“You saved me..” She mutter.

“Do you know your name, sweetheart?”

“..no. Uh Mia…?”

“It’s okay, Mia.” He said, trying to reassure her, “You’re gonna be okay.”

“Thank you..”

——

“Her name is Amelia Spencer.” Liane St. James explained to the group at the hospital. After the 4 of them found Amelia at the woods, she was brought in to get checked out. She continued, “I remember I found her outside the streets some time back but never found true legal documents for her until later. Alexander helped me with that part.”

Ethan shrugged, “Odd. You just found the legal paperwork now for this woman. Is she married? Somebody we can call?”

“She has a friend who lives here in the town, I can call her. But no she’s not married or anything for that matter.”

“But she entered the woods as if she was looking for something.”

Joshua cleared his throat to catch their attention, nodding for Belladonna to speak up, “Or someone. She woke up and was looking for someone.”

Liane sighed looking at her daughter, “Why were you in the woods anyway? It’s dangerous for you, both of you.”

“I can handle myself, Mom. And I wasn’t alone, I knew what I was doing.”

Ethan looked between both young ladies and nodded, “She was fine. I told her to go home but she rather focused on staying.”

Meanwhile, Nikolai looked at the clear doors that held Amelia Spencer who was being looked at by nurses and doctors. She seemed uncomfortable, but her gaze soften as she looked at him. A nurse was checking her pulse as a tiny hoop played on her middle finger.

He sighed giving her a soft smile, playing with the chain around his neck. He knew she was being taken cared of and that’s what mattered. For a split second he thought of the story he read to her hearing the muttering voice of the teens in the background about the situation.

Nikolai stood there for a few short moments listening to the others before deciding to leave the hospital. Not without looking over his shoulder to see Amelia gaze falling on him once again then back to the nurse.

Joshua looked pleased to hear he helped out today, even if it was something minor, a part of him started to wire the whole idea of the tales and the real world together. It was silly but a little cocky hope wasn’t the worst thing. He patted Belladonna on the shoulder as she gave him a tiny smile, before heading out of the hospital.

As he walked out of the medical wing and onto the streets, he saw Nikolai zipping on his coat. He gave him a soft smile, “Hey.”

“Hi.” He replied turning around to face the young brunette with a similar smile, “Everything alright?”

“Yeah. Uh, by any chance that room is still available?”

“Yeah, yeah it is. Let’s go home.”

Joshua nodded following him to the older dark brunette, listening to him talk about some small rules he will need to be followed. Nikolai lead the way, onto the streets on Fighter-Town to his home—their home.

———

———

Ahh okay that’s what I got! Sorry if it was a long read 😅 This is one of my favorites so far, tell me what y’all think? ⚔️

Josh and Bella make quite a interesting team don’t you think? Idk it would be nice to possibly make them friends 🤷‍♀️

Being early February, the days were getting dark earlier, though it was still nothing like as early as it would be once daylight savings lost its grip on Victoria. But the light still lingered, gilding the trees and the flushed faces of Patience and Nathan, who were returning from a walk short in distance but made long by Patience’s inexperienced wielding of a new camera. She held it reverently, pausing to photograph a particularly photogenic piece of moss.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” she asked, pulling away from the camera to glance prettily up at him. “Look at the details! Isn’t God good?” The words came awkwardly to her lips, but she meant them with every fibre of her earnest soul. “What would we do without him?”

“We wouldn’t,” said Nathan, and laughed fondly at her.

“You know what I mean!” Her mock outrage did not shake her boyfriend’s smile.

“Of course,” he agreed, and ran one hand through his hair. “Which is why I have to comment on it, because I’m just that sort of fellow. Obnoxiousness all the way down.” Again Nathan smiled.

Patience grinned in answer. “Don’t knock yourself,” she ordered him with a firm nod, and juggled the camera in her hands. “You’re not obnoxious.”

He looked away, suddenly uncomfortable. “It was a joke, Patience.”

“I know. Doesn’t stop me wanting to make sure you don’t really feel that way,” she said, offering him a hesitant smile. He smiled back, the moment fraught with awkwardness.

“And what if I do?” he asked, with energy that made her blink in surprise. “What would you do then?”

“Do you?” she asked straightforwardly, not meeting his eyes.

“Doesn’t everyone?”

Patience smiled at him. “How would I know? I’m autistic, I don’t know everyone.” She paused, noticing a drop of water on a leaf nearby, and took a moment to take a photograph. She hoped it would come out nicely; the setup was good.

“Nobody knows everyone,” he said calmly. “Whether autistic or not.”

She frowned faintly. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that sometimes the way you talk it’s as if non autistic people know everything, when we don’t.”

“Have you considered the possibility that you’re autistic?” she teased.

Nathan did not take the bait. “That’s irrelevant. I don’t know how to say this nicely, Patience—”

“Then say it anyway,” she said, hands tightening slightly around the camera, but otherwise hiding her emotions under a blank stare.

“—but I think sometimes you’re too prone to look at the problems and assume everyone else has it better than you.”

“Um, what?” she said, after a heartbeat of shock had passed. “What? Listen, I thought I was normal-but-broken for way too long. To find out I’m not broken and I’m just autistic was a game changer. I don’t focus on the negatives.” She hung the camera around her neck carefully so she could tap her fingers, one by one, to try and calm down. “I focus on life, and sometimes there are an awful lot of negatives.” Again Patience picked up the camera and took several more photos, firmly ignoring Nathan until she had finished.

He waited, then sighed. “I’m sorry—I said that wrong, but I don’t know how to say it better. My point still stands.”

“Have you considered your point is wrong?” she retorted.

“Have you considered that sometimes you’re too close to any given issue to know what’s the right next step?” he said. It was gentle, but Patience still winced at his words.

“Can we maybe move on from this conversation?” she said, and followed it up with, “I’m not trying to shut it down entirely. I just—I need to think about it and I don’t think getting into a slap-up argument about it would help.”

Nathan frowned. “‘Slap-up’—do you think I would—?” He left the sentence hanging.

“No! It’s an expression. I didn’t mean to imply that at all.”

“Right, I was just checking,” he said, looking relieved. “Meanwhile, the light is fading and we’d better get home before your dad comes out with a baseball bat.”

“A baseball bat? Nathan, honestly. What do you think my dad is like?”

“Well, I’m hardly being serious,” he said, a smile breaking through. “If I thought he would come after me with a baseball bat I’d think more than twice about dating you.”

“If my dad was a baseball bat wielding maniac would you still date me?” she asked winsomely.

A sigh. “If you asked nicely.”

Patience took off the camera, placed it carefully on the ground and leaned towards him. “This is me asking nicely.”

“This looks like you asking for a kiss,” he riposted, then coloured deeply as if he only just realised what he said. “I mean—”

“That works too,” she agreed, the smile draining away and being replaced by seriousness. As he looked down at her, she nodded. “Seriously, Nathan.”

“I thought we’d wait until we were, I don’t know, engaged or married or something,” he said hesitantly. “I thought that was what your family would want.”

“Listen, if you don’t want to of course we don’t have to, I just—I thought maybe—”

“You thought maybe what?”

“I mean, I’d be open to a kiss or two, just to—to see what the hype’s all about.” She wondered if it was possible to go any redder. “If you were—”

“Sure,” he said, and closed the distance between them.

It was weirdly awkward, standing there in the middle of a worn four wheel drive track for their first kiss. Patience had imagined something magical, but this wasn’t magical. There wasn’t anything wrong with it—it was just different. When they stepped apart again they were both smiling.

“Worth the hype?” he asked mischievously.

Patience glanced at the time, uttered an exclamation and picked up her camera hurriedly. “Worth the hype—but Nathan—!”

“Race you back,” he said, and led the chase the whole way home, where they arrived in the last glimmerings of warm summer light.