Friends on a Different Path

The No Princess Club

"Well on that cheery note, Lilo go down to the clearing and tell Meg to set an extra plate." Aye aye Alice! Come on Stitch!" And they raced off into the forest, I watched them go with a smile as we made our way through the forest.

"She's a nice kid." "Lilo? Yeah she's sweet. Her sister's a bit of a different story." "She has a sister? Older or younger?" "Older, Nani, you won't see much of her around here." "Why not?" Shanti's face hardened. "No reason." I knew better then to question further. "Well here we are, home sweet home." My head snapped up at Wendy's voice, jaw dropping at what I saw.

Perched atop a relatively tall tree was a tree house, well made, two stories and with pink spotted curtains and sparkly ivy framing the edges. It had a Snow White cottage look to it that I instantly like. We walked up to the bottom where a tall makeshift latter led up to a decent sided hole in the floor.

"You guys live here?" Alice rolled her eyes. "Where'd you think we live? Underground?" "We tried though, didn't really work." Wendy said with a shrug.

One by one we stepped up the latter and entered a neatly organized living room exactly like Snow's, except for one thing; a little cartoon on the wall with Kida looking up at a character filled tree, the caption beneath it read; 'Can I join? They said I wasn't pretty enough...'

"What's this?" Shanti glanced over. "Oh that? A little something we found on the web a while back, every non-princess has one on her wall. It's like a badge of honor in way." I brushed my fingertips over the glass protecting it. "It's cool." Shanti smiled lightly. "Yes, yes it is." I looked back with a smile.

"Hey Melody, do you like tea? We made a batch this morning and there's some left over." My head snapped up. "Yeah I'd like some." Alice rolled her eyes as Wendy came in, holding a silver tray with light pink cups and a violet teapot. She placed in on a little brown table, well carved with little pictures here and there, and poured me a cup. I walked over and took it from her outstretched hand, thanking her before taking a sip. An interesting peppermint and honey taste came to my tongue and I smiled as I licked my lips.

"Mmm, this is good. What is it?" "Wonderland, a brew Alice came up with some time back. Peppermint, honey, chocolate, there's all sorts of things in there. It's our morning coffee in a sense." "Thanks." "Anytime." Alice rolled her yes again with a silent huff. Just then Shanti glanced up at the rainbow with purple hands clock hanging on the wall and gasped.

"Would you look at that? Melody, I do believe it's been ten minutes since you got here. We better get you back to the Princess side if you wanna make it to the party tonight." "I can still come?" "Well no duh Sherlock," Alice stated, "we're not the kind of people to just invite someone and then retract the invite like nobody's business. Now let's get going, I really don't wanna deal with another lecture from Minnie tonight." "Ditto." The other girls said, and I inwardly agreed.

~

Alice and Wendy stayed behind, saying they had to help prepare for the captain's return. Shanti and I went back, taking a moment to talk along the way.

"What's it like, living in the Forbidden Lands?" Shanti dreamily sighed. "Wonderful. We may be isolated but that makes it so much easier to have fun. It's not just the Forbidden Lands we live in either, every now and again we'll travel out of town and meet other non-Disney cartoon females. Like Anastasia, but she insists we call her Anya, makes her feel younger." "Sounds nice." "It is. But enough about me, what's your life like? I've never talked to a real Disney princess before." I gulped with a nervous shrug.

"What is there to tell? I mean...I have people that wait on my hand and foot, good parents, nice room. What more do I need?" She didn't so much as bat an eye. "Man, you haven't had any adventures since your first have you?" "Guilty as charged. But I have been back to the sea." She arches a brow. "Oh?" "Yeah, to see..." I paused, "a friend." "Oh." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Is it a very special friend?" I managed a small smile, nodding gently.

"So...you have a secret sweetheart?" My head snapped up. "How did you-?" "Please, it's as plain as the nose on your face. We have them all the time in the Forbidden Lands, they're like out-of-town adventures, everyone's had a least one." "Even you?" She blushes deeply. "Yeah." Her voice is suddenly a shy whisper.

"What about Alice and Wendy?" "Wendy's been chasing after Peter for years but we all know it'll never happen. And Alice thinks she's hiding one but we all now who it is." "Who? The Mad Hatter?" "Hell no!" We both laughed.

"Nah, Alice's lives out of town. She visits him at least every other week." "He must be very heroic." She stopped. "Wait, you think its a hero don't you?" I turned to her. "Yeah. I mean, that's what Disney females are supposed to date right?" She shook her head with an amused smile.

"You have so much to learn. Here." She slipped a folded piece of brown paper into my hands. "It's the phone number for the group and what time you need to come back for the party. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some water to gather from the spring for refreshments. Talk to you soon!" And with that she ran off into the afternoon sunshine.

Once she left, I unfolded the paper to see the words 'NEVER ALONE Time -- 5:30 PM' in gold curvy ink. I smiled.

Man I am so looking forward to this evening.