Take My Hand (Rewritten)

Chapter 6

Hetty found Tarrant on his way to the balcony. "Oh my dear hat! Hetty you startled me!"

"Sorry Tarrant, where were you all day, anyway? I only ask because a certain someone, who you're madly in love with, opened her lovely brown eyes today. Actually, she had was already sitting up when I came in..." Hetty teased but he didn't deny it.

Tarrant looked like he could explode with happiness. However he did look rather confused. Then, that confused expression turned into a crestfallen one. "But it didn't work, she would have woken immediately. It had nothing to do with me, maybe someone else did it. Maybe it was time for"

"Tarrant!" Hetty stopped him in the middle of his rant.

"Fez. Yes?" He frowned at her, it was rather un-Tarrant like.

"What or who are you talking about, I take it that its Alice, so something didn't work, your attempts to - I don't- help Alice? You didn't try to hurt her did you!?!" Hetty was in tears at this point.

"Hetty, be reasonable. Why would I wish to hurt the fair Alice? Can you give me reason? No, because I could never bring myself to do such a horrible thing.... I love her, and I wasn't there when she awoke, and I had disappeared all day, when she finally came back to the land of the living." Now Tarrant's green eyes were swimming in tears.

"You love her? Why don't you tell her? And what didn't work?"

"One question at a time little sister, but yes I love her. I cannot tell her, because she probably does not feel the same about me, so I must hide my feelings, and be content with her friendship..."

"And what didn't work?" Hetty asked finally stopping crying, but she had blotches all around her eyes.

"Did she ever tell you the story of 'Sleeping Beauty'?"

"No, can you tell me?" He gave her a warm smile, the tears still filling his emerald eyes.

"The best place to start is at the beginning and so that is where our story commences." He then poured tea for himself and Hetty as they sat to rest on the ornate bench that resided on the balcony.

"Along time ago there was king and queen....." and he told the story, painting vivid imagery for her.

Tarrant Hightopp had always been an excellent story teller, most of the pauses he made were just for affect. However when came to the part where the prince reached the tower, he sighed, stopped completely, and allowed Hetty shake herself out of the trance she always seemed to get into when her older brother told stories.

"Why did you stop?" she questioned, she loved his stories.

"Sorry, I didn't realise that I had." Tarrant muttered, there was silence for a moment.

"Are you going to continue?........ Or should I ask Alice, I hear she's a better story teller than you anyway," she always knew how to tease her brother into doing exactly as she wanted, she always could.

"No, that won't be necessary.... Okay where were we? Ah yes! The Prince was bloodied by his battles but he didn't care, he saw the fair maiden, she was even more beautiful that the legends foretold. Her fairy God mother's appeared by his side, complaining about his appearance, despite the fact he just destroyed Maleficent, after escaping her dungeons and guards the fought through the briars. They healed his injuries and tidied him up. Then he asked 'How do I wake the fair princess?' 'True love's kiss' he was told. And with that he leaned down and placed a gentle kiss upon her lips and the princess awoke along with the rest of the castle's sleeping members," with that Tarrant concluded the story.
Hetty was quiet for a while, thinking about the story and what it possibly could have to do with what didn't work. "No! You didn't?!" She shrieked.

"What assumption have you made now?" Tarrant sighed.

"Did you kiss her?"

"Yes..."
"That means you woke her, meaning she's your true love and you're hers!" Hetty was getting very excited and Tarrant believed that she needed to calm herself, a lot.

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If you're wondering what Hetty looks like, she's the picture attached to this chapter. I drew her myself.
Fairfarren all xxx