Marlin's Sword [A Mycroft Holmes Fanfiction]

A Study in Pink

Every story has a princess, a prince, and a villain. At least every fairytale has one. The princess was trapped in a bewitched tower for a hundred years. The prince climbed up the side of the tower, slayed the dragons, and freed the princess. And they lived happily ever after. Nobody ever talks about what happens in the happily ever after, because that's where the fairytale ends. Only for this princess, happily ever after included, marrying the prince, being dragged away to a palace, and being imprisoned there for the rest of eternity. What do you do if your prince is your villain? What can you do when the man you love is the one making you miserable? And you can't even see it.

In a dimly lit hospital hallway, a tall balding man sat with a little girl, who was playing with a marlin soft toy. 'One story please...' the little girl stood in front of the man and begged.

'Sweetheart, I don't know any good stories' the man said softly as he caressed her cheek, moving her blonde hair out of the way.

'Please...' she bounced and begged again.

'Fine, but you have to sit down first' he said and pulled her to his side, making the jumpy little girl sit next to him. 'Once upon a time, in a kingdom far far away, there was a beautiful princess. She lived happily with her family in the royal palace. One day an evil wizard disguised as a friend came and took her away. He locked her up at the top of a tall bewitched tower. The princess tried hard but couldn't get out, for the tower was guarded by deadly dragons. Then one day, a prince traveling from a far-away land came to visit the kingdom, for he had heard greatly of the princess's beauty. He climbed up the side of the tower, slayed the dragons, and freed the princess. And the princess and the prince lived happily ever after' he finished the story, and looked at the little girl dozing off on his shoulder.

A few hours later, a dark-haired man strode through the hospital hallway. He smiled tenderly at the sight of the little girl dozing off tiredly on his friend's shoulder. He placed his hand on her shoulder and gently shook her awake, 'Wake up, princess' he said softly. The girl squirmed and sat up, looking at him through her cerulean blue eyes. Sleep refusing to leave her face. 'Do you want to go see mommy?' the dark-haired man asked, and the girl nodded vigorously. She wiped the sleep out of her cerulean blue eyes and jumped out of the hospital chair. With one hand clutching her beloved marlin, and the other clutching her father's hand, she skipped through the hallway, excited to meet her mother.

Her father brought her to a dimly lit hospital room, where a thin, frail, sickly-looking woman was seated on the hospital bed, propped up against a couple of pillows. The woman weakly smiled at the little girl and threw her arms out for the girl to jump into. The girl instantly let go of her father's hand and walked to the blonde woman sitting on the bed. She carefully climbed up the bed with a little help from her father and a little support from her mother. She tenderly hugged her mother, careful not to hurt the woman. The woman breathed in the scent of her little girl's hair and kissed the top of her head.

'I missed you, Mommy' the girl whispered into her mother's chest, refusing to let go of her.

The woman smiled warmly at her daughter, 'I missed you too, baby. Are you ready to meet your little brother?' she asked cheerfully.

The girl nodded excitedly and looked in the direction her mother was pointing in. At the door was a nurse, holding a small blue bundle of blankets. She smiled at the small family as she walked to the bed, and handed the newborn child to his mother.

The girl, fearful of hurting the tiny human, instantly moved out of the way. But her mother was quick to pull her back. She held the child in one arm and her scared daughter in the other. She let the siblings get acquainted with each other and watched patiently. She looked at the wonder and curiosity in her daughter's cerulean blue eyes. She had never seen a site so mesmerizing. 'Do you have a name for him?' she asked softly, careful not to wake up the sleeping baby.