Enchanted Feelings

Chapter IV

I rushed to get my dress on and properly dressed.

I ran down the halls and rushed to the opening of the castle. I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down.

"Belle, look at you in that gown," Mother said as she looked up and down at me. "The color is absolutely beautiful on you. Right, Harold?"

Father was biting his fingers, clearly nervous before looking at me, "Yes, yes, very beautiful."

I knew my parents favored Fiona more. Dad was always more concerned about her and fawned over her. Fiona was always more like Mom, strong like her and whatnot.

Between the two of them, I was closer to Mom. I was much more emotional like Mom, and we understood each other better. Basically, the only reason why Dad was semi-close to me, was because I was next in line for the throne. The only issue was... I wasn't sure if I really would get the throne.

Mom rolled her eyes at Dad as Dad began stressing over everything once again. Mom grabbed my hands and held them, "Ignore your father. He's not in his right mind." Mom fixed my crown, "No matter what happens, you are our daughter, and you are loved. No matter what's happened in the past."

I felt my eyes starting to water, so I closed my eyes and I gently shook my head, "I'm okay, Mom. I am." I opened my eyes and looked at Mom's gold crown.

"Mom, how come you, Dad, and Fiona have gold crowns? I'm the only one with a silver crown?" I asked.

Mother looked at me for a few moments. "Truthfully, I wanted you to have silver. Since you were the first girl, your father agreed that I got to do whatever I wanted... Long as he picked out a name for you," Mom finally said.

"Dad named me?" I asked, surprised.

Mom nodded, "He did. And when found out we were expecting Fiona, he wanted me to name her." Mother looked at me as she fixed my jewelry, "With you, you've always looked stunning in silver. Silver or that pinkish gold. Ultimately, we went with silver. For some silly reason, your father wanted gold for Fiona."

We paused, hearing the composition of people and trumpets.

"She's here," I said with a smile. "We can always talk about family stuff later," I said with a shrug.

We all stood outside of the castle, waiting on the red carpeting. I stood beside Mom.

I was slightly worried. I knew how Fiona turned out thanks to my mirror, but my parents didn't know. I knew Dad would most likely freak out, but Mom would be more understanding.

I bit my lips as an onion-looking carriage pulled up to the castle.

"This is it," I whispered to myself.

"Announcing the long-awaited return of the beautiful Princess Fiona and her new husband," a man announced before opening the carriage and the fanfare started. There was a release of a box of doves, blocking the reveal of Fiona and her husband.

I bit my lower lip more when the fanfare and the cheering stopped. I stopped for a moment when I started to taste a dull, metal-like taste. I realized that I had made myself bleed.

I looked over to see a stunned look on Dad. Mom, on the other hand, looked shocked, but she hid it well.

Mom and Dad waved, and I stood calmly, unsure to follow their movement.

"Who on Earth are they?" Father asked quietly to Mom as they waved.

"I think that's our little girl," Mom said softly as they took the first step from our position, "Belle, come with us."

I gently nodded and walked with them, "Yes, Mother."

"That's not little!" Dad exclaimed quietly, "That's a really big problem. Wasn't she supposed to kiss Prince Charming and break the spell?"

I noticed Mom roll her eyes at that comment.

"He's no prince charming, but they do look happy," Mom said.

I looked over at Fiona and her husband. They were walking towards us. I wasn't exactly sure why we had to meet in the middle, but hey, not really for me to question. He looked like he was reacting the same as Dad was. Nervous and ready to snap within a moment.

"Good! Here's our chance," Dad said before grabbing Mom's hand, "Let's go back inside and pretend we're not home."

I was happy to see that Mom was standing her ground. Then again, she never let anybody push her around.

"Harold!" Mom scolded him, "We have to be grown-ups. Whether you want to believe it or not, that's our daughter."

"Everything's going to be a disaster," Dad muttered, "There is no way we can do this."

It was my turn to roll my eyes, "Dad, you can do this."

We stopped when we were about a foot away from Fiona and her husband.

"Mom, Dad," Fiona looked at both of them, hugging them before looking at me, "Belle." Fiona and I hugged tightly.

My little sister was no longer little. She was in fact bigger than me, Mom and Dad.

Fiona pulled away from our hug and stood beside her husband, "I'd like you to meet my husband, Shrek."

I looked at Dad, seeing his face in clear disgust and anger. Mom was smiling politely, but you could tell she was uncomfortable. I think I was the only one who was genuinely smiling.

Shrek smiled politely, even more, nervous than everybody.

"Well, um... it's easy to see where Fiona gets her good looks from," Shrek said, trying to break the ice. He chuckled nervously.